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The Author
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<em>The Author</em>
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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1902-03-01
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The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
Vol. XII.—No. 8.
MARCH 1, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PAGE
:
...
149
:
:::
....
...
149
149
150
Notices ... ...
The Pension Fund of the Society of Authors ...
From the Committee ... ... ... ... ..*
Book and Play Talk ...
Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Property
Newspaper Copyright—"Thou shalt not steal
Standard Rules for Printing...
Perpetual Copyright ... ... ..
The Journalistic Free Lance...
The Authors' Club ... ...
A Ballade of Incapacity ... ... ... ...
133
133
136
139
142
144
144
146
General Memoranda ... ...
Warnings to Dramatic Authors
How to Use the Society ...
The Reading Branch ... ...
Authorities ... ... ...
Life: A Reply to “ A. C. B."
The Irish Literary Revival ...
Real People in Fiction
Mrs. Humphreys (Rita) v. Messrs. Butterworth & Co.
Correspondence... ... ... ... ... ... ...
: : : :
130
:::::::
153
153
: :
156
158
...
148
... 148
I
..
159
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
1. The Annual Report for the current year. 18.
2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary
Property. Issued to all Members gratis. Price to non-members, 6d., or 58. 6d. per annum,
post free. Back numbers from 1892, at 10s. 6d. per vol.
3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. MORRIS COLLES, Barrister-at-Law. 28.
4. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. 18.
5. The Cost of Production. (Out of print.)
6. The Yarious Methods of Publication. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. 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. 38.
Addenda to the Above. By G. HERBERT THRING. Being additional facts collected at
the office of the Society since the publication of the “Methods." With comments and
advice. 28.
7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With
Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, the Berne Convention, and the
American Copyright Bill. By J. M. LELY. 18. 6..
8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By WALTER BESANT
(Chairman of Committee, 1888–1892). 18.
9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By ERNST
LUNGE, J.U.D. 28. 6d.
10. Forms of Agreement issued by the Publishers' Association; with Comments. By
G. HERBERT THRING, and Illustrative Examples by Sir WALTER BESANT. 2nd Edition. 18.
[411 prices net. Apply to the Secretary, 39, ou Queen Street, Storey's Gate, S.W.]
## p. 132 (#532) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
The Society of Authors (Incorporated).
PRESIDENT.
GEORGE MEREDITH.
COUNCIL,
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E., C.S.l. | THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD CURZON | SIR A. C. MACKENZIE, Mus. Doc.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD AVE OF KEDLESTON.
PROF. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN.
BURY, P.C.
AUSTIN DOBSON.
THE Rev. C. H. MIDDLETON-WAKE.
J. M. BABRIE.
A. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.
SIR LEWIS MORRIS.
A. W. A BECKETT.
A. W. DUBOURG.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
ROBERT BATEMAN.
SiR MICHAEL FOSTER, K.C.B., M.P., GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
F. E. BEDDARD, F.R.S.
F.R.S.
J. C. PARKINSON,
SIR HENRY BERGNE, K.C.M.G.
D. W. FRESHFIELD.
A. W. PINERO.
AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, K.C.
RICHARD GARNETT, C.B., LL.D. THE Right Hox. THE LORD PIR-
THE REV. PROF. BONNEY, F.R.S.
EDMUND GOSSE.
BRIGHT, F.R.S
THE RIGHT HON. JAMES BRYCE, SYDNEY GRUNDY.
SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bart.,LL.D.
M.P.
H. RIDER HAGGARD.
WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK.
THE Right Hon. THE LORD BURGH MRS. HARRISON (LUCAS MALET). E. ROSE.
CLERE.
THOMAS HARDY.
W. BAPTISTE SCOONES.
HALL CAINE.
ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS.
OWEN SEAMAN.
EGERTON CASTLE, F.S.A.
JEROME K. JEROME.
Miss FLORA L. SHAW.
EDWARD CLODD.
J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D.
G. R. SIMs.
W. MORRIS COLLES.
RUDYARD KIPLING.
S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. ,
THE HON. JOHN COLLIER,
PROF. E. RAY LANKESTER, F.R.S. J. J. STEVENSON.
SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY.
The Right Hon.W.E, H.LECKY, M.P. FRANCIS STORR.
MRS. CRAIGIE,
J. M. LELY.
WILLIAM MOY THOMAS.
F. MARION CRAWFORD.
THE REV. W.J. LOFTIE, F.S.A. | MRS. HUMPHRY WARD.
Hon. Counsel – E. M. UNDERDOWN, K.C.
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT,
Chairman--A. HOPE HAWKINS.
SYDNEY GRUNDY.
GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
J. M. LELY.
E, ROSE.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
OWEN SEAMAN.
FRANCIS STORR.
A. W. A BECKETT,
A. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.
D. W. FRESHFIELD.
SUB-COMMITTEES.
ART.
HON. JOHN COLLIER (Chairman). I SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY. I M. H. SPIELMANN.
COPYRIGHT. .
A. W. À BECKETT.
A. HOPE HAWKINS.
J. M. LELY.
W. M. COLLES.
GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
DRAMA.
HENRY ARTHUR JONES (Chairman). I F. C. BURNAND.
A. W. PINERO.
A. W. À BECKETT,
SYDNEY GRUNDY.
EDWARD ROSE.
Suinitore_ FIELI), RoSCOE, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields.
16. HERBERT THRING, 39, Old Queen Street, S.W.
Secretary-G, HERBERT TARING.
OFFICES: 39, OLD QUEEN STREET, STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
-
## p. 133 (#533) ############################################
The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
VOL. XII.—No. 8.
MARCH 1st, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
-
-
--
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
to month as they come to hand. It has been con-
sidered unnecessary to print the full list with
every issue.
The office of the Incorporated Society of Authors
lias been removed to-
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
Donations ......................
........£1439 16
Subscriptions .................... 100 1
6
6
NOTICE.
T HE EDITOR begs to inform Members of the
Authors' Society and other readers of The
Author that the cases which are from time
to time quoted in The Author are cases that have
come before the notice or to the knowledge of the
Secretary of the Society, and that those members
of the Society who desire to have the names of
the publishers concerned can obtain them on
application.
DONATIONS.
Nov. 9, Dale, Miss .
Oct. 10, Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Malet)
Oct. 15, Rossi, Miss L. ..
Oct. 25, Potter, M. H. .......
Oct. 30, Stanley, Mrs.
Nov. 21, Balfour, A. ......
Nov. 22, Risley, J.......
Nov. 25, Walker, W. S.....
Jan. 24, Church, Prof. R. A. H.
Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace.
Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily..............
Feb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince
.........
Feb. 15, Wilkins, W.H. (2nd donation)
Feb, 15, S. G. ............
Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope .............
Feb, 19, Burrowes, Miss E.
2 11
5 5
0 10
0 12
0 10
0 5
0 5
1 0
2 2
0 4
0 10
1 1
1 1
1 1
50 0
0 10
- - e x US
0
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
(
0
0
0
0
0
0
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Subscriptions.
MEMBERS and Associates are again reminded that
the subscription to the Society is due on the 1st of
January in each year.
The Committee would feel obliged by punctual
attention to this rule, and request those who have
not already forwarded their subscriptions for the
current year to send the same to the Secretary
at their early convenience.
£ $. d.
Annual Subscription . . 1 1 0
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Life Membership . . 10 10 0
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Nov. 25, Vaux, P. .....
Nov. 25, Lambe, Lawrence ........
Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ........
Jan. 20, Nickolls, F. C.
Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ...
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
5
5
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0
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FROM THE COMMITTEE.
THE PENSION FUND OF THE SOCIETY
OF AUTHORS.
M
M
HE following is the total of donations and
subscriptions promised or received up to
the present date.
Further sums will be acknowledged from month
VOL. XII.
Notes from the Society.
HE Committee have to regret the sudden
death of Mr. P. W. Clayden, who has
been a Member of the Society and Council
since 1890. Though perhaps not so well known
as a writer of books as a journalist, he was always
in warm accord with the aims and objects of the
## p. 134 (#534) ############################################
134
THE AUTHOR.
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Society. The death of Mr. Aubrey de Vere, who Caine, T. Hall, amount dependent on
had been for some time a Member of the Society, sam required.
must also be chronicled with regret. His work as Clodd, Edward . .
. . £1 1 0
a poet was well known and widely read.
Colles, W. M. .
. 5 5 0
Collier, The Honble. Jol
. 1 1 0
Conway, Sir W. Martin
. 1 1 0
The Work of the Society.
Craigie, Mrs. .
2 2 0
The general meeting of the Society has been Dobson, Austin . .
1 1 0
fixed for Wednesday, March 19th, at four o'clock,
Doyle, A. Conan. .
: 15 00
at the rooms of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical
Dubourg, A. W..
2 2 0
Society, 20, Hanover Square, W. Members will
Foster, Sir Michael, M
1 1 0
receive formal notice in due course.
Freshfield, D. W.
5 0 0
At the February meeting of the Committee,
Garnett, Richard
3 3 0
eighteen Members and Associates were elected, Gosse. Edmund
3 3 0
making the number of elections for the current
Grundy, Sydney.
2 2 0
year thirty-nine. This number is quite on a level
Haggard, H. Rider .
3 3 0
with former years.
Hardy, Thomas . .
2 2 0
At the same meeting an interesting case was
Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Ma
1 1 0
laid before the Committee, and it was decided to Hawkins, A. Hope
10 0 0
take Counsel's opinion on behalf of the Member. Jerome K. Jerome
. 2 20
It will, no doubt, be possible, in a subsequent Keltie. J. Scott.
1 1 0
number of The Author, to print the opinion, but Kipling, Rudyard .
20 0 0
at present the name and matter in dispute cannot Lely, J. M."
. . . .
1 1
be given.
0
Loftie, Rev. W. J.
1 1 0
Since the last notice in The Author the Society Middleton-Wake, Rev. C. H. . . 2 2 0 )
has had nineteen cases in its hands. Of these Norman. Henry
1 1 0
seven were for money due, five for the return of Parker, Gilbert
3 3 0
MSS., and the others for the rendering of accounts, Pinero, A. W..
5 5 0
and various smaller matters. The Society has Pollock, Sir F..
during the said period obtained two judgments, Rose, Edward .
which are still unsatisfied, against a magazine, Scoones, W. Baptiste .
and a judgment on an account stated against a Sims, George R..
. . . . . () ()
publisher.
Sprigge, s. S. . .
20
All the matters reported in January have been Stevenson. J. J.
220
settled with the exception of two minor cases Ward, Mrs. Humphry
5 0 0
which are in the course of settlement and of no
great import. Of the nineteen entered into
Total £141 1 0
since the last statement, eight have been already
satisfactorily concluded.
Donations from Jembers anıl Others.
The Committee have decided to take two actions
into the County Court.
. . £0 10 6
Allingham, William, F.R.S.
.
1 1
The Right Honourable the Lord Avebury, P.C.,
0
Ames, Percy W.
. 1 1
who, as previously stated, consented to take the
0
Anonymous
1 1 0
chair of the Nobel Prize Committee, has been
Anonymous
0 6
elected a Member of the Council of the Society.
Anonymous
. . . . . 1 1 0
Anonymous
0 5 0
Anonymous
. ( 3 6
Besant Memorial.
Anonymous
. ( 26
Donations from Members of the Council. Anonymous
1 1 0
Anonymous. .
0 5 0
Meredith, George, President of the
“ Aunt Cherry”.
1 1 0
Society
. £10 0 0 Baker, James ..
1 1 0
Avebury, The Right Hon.the Lord, P.C. 1 1 0 Beeby, Rev. C. E.
. 1 1 0
à Beckett, A. W. . . . . 1 1 0 Bell, Mackenzie.
1 1 0
Barrie, J. M. . . . . . 5 5 0 Bentwich, Herbert
1 1 0
Bateman, Robert . . . . 5 0 0 Boevey, Miss Crawley. . . . ( 10 ()
Beddard, F. E. . . . . . . ( 0) Bond, R. Warwick
0 10 6
Bonney, Rev. T. G. . . . . 220. Brodrick, The Hon. Mrs. . . . 1 1 0
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Bullen, F. T. .
Barrowes, Miss E. ..
Carey, Miss R. N. ..
Carr, Rev. A. .
Church, Professor A.
Clarke, Cecil .
Clericus
Clifford, Mrs. W. K. .
Collins, F. Howard ..
Cook, C. H. .
Cordeaux, Miss K. M.
Cox, Miss M. Roalfe .
Croker, Mrs. B. M. .
Crouch, A. P. . .
Dale, Miss Nellie .
Davey, Mrs. E. M. .
de Crespigny, Mrs. .
Dixie, Lady Florence.
Doudney, Miss Sarah .
Duwsett, C. F. .
E. .
E. B. .
“ Edna Lyall”
Ellis, Walter
E, S. B. .
Evans, Miss
F. B. D. .
Fenton, Ferrar.
Garnier, R. M. .
Garvice, Charles.
Gibbs, Miss E. A.
Gill, Miss M. .
Gilliat, Rev. E. .
Gleig, Cearles .
Gollancz, Israel .
Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer.
Graham, James M.
Grahame, Kenneth .
Gray, Maxwell.
Gray, Miss Annabel .
Guthrie, T. Anstey .
Hales, Professor A. H.
Halford, Andrew .
Hamilton, Bernard .
Hardy, Thomas G. .
Harraden, Miss Beatrice
Harries, Miss Maud.
Harries, Miss Anita . .
Hellier, H. G. . .
Henderson, Miss Florence .
Hodgson, Shadworth H.
Hoey, Mrs. Cashel .
Hollins, Miss Dorothy
Holmes, Miss Eleanor
Honneywill, W. Keppel
el .
Hornung, E. W.
Hutchinson, Rev. H. N. .
Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe. .
. £1 1 0 1. J. A. .
£0 2 6
: 0) 5 0 Infelix .
5 0
. 1 1 0 Ivatts, E. B.
6. B. . . . . . . 1 1 0
1 10. Jacobs, W. W.
. 1 1 0
-Blake, Miss Sophia, M.D. . . i I 0)
1 1 0. Johnson, V. E. . .
0 5 0. Kelly, C. A. .
2 2 0
1 1 0 Kersey, W. H. .
. 0 5 0)
• 2 2 0 Lefroy, Mrs. C. P. .
1 1 0
1 1 0 Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc.
1 1 0
. 0 10 6 Maartens, Maarten .
1 1 (1)
0 10 0 Marks, Mrs. Mary
( 10 6
1 1 0 McBride, Captain E. E.
. 1 1 0
0 10 6 McKinny, S. B. G. .
1 1 0
: 0 10 6 Miller, Miss E. T. .
( 5 0
. 1 1 O. Moncrieff, A. R. Hope
. 1 0 0
( 10 ) Nixou, J. E.
. 1 0 0
. ( ō 0 Nunn, J. J. W..
. () 5 0
1 1 0 P.
. () 26
. 1 1 0 Parker, Miss Nella .
: 0 10 0
. 0 10 0 Parr, Mrs. Louisa .
0 0
: 2 2 0 Pengelley, Miss Hester
. ( 10 €
. 1 1 0 Penny, Mrs. Frank .
. 1 1 0
. 110. Perks, Miss Lily
. ( 10 0
0 5 0 Polkinghorne, Miss Ruby
: () 10 6 Pollock, Miss E.
1 1 0
10 0 Pool, Miss M. A.
. . . . () 5 0
5 0 Porritt, Norman .
0 5 0 Prichard, Hesketh
1 1 0
110 Reid, Sir Hugh Gilzean. LL.D. ..
1 1 0
() 10 0 Riddell, Mrs. J. H. . . .
1 1 0
1 1 0 Roberts, Morley . .
1 1 0
. () 10 6 Rossetti, W. M. .
( 5 (0)
. 1 1 0 Russell, Sir W. H.
1 1 0
1 1 0 Saxby, Miss E. M. A. F. .
. 1 1 (0)
0) 100 Shaw, Commander the Hon. H. N.
· 0 10 0
1 1 0 Sherwood, Mrs. .
0 10 6
220) Smith, H. W. .
( 10 0
: 0 5 0 Spencer, Herbert ..
2 2 0
1 1 0 Spielmann, M. H. ..
220
1 1 0 Spiers, Victor
( 10
1 1 0. Stanton, Miss H. M. E. . . . 1 1 0
0 10 0 Street, G. S. .
. 1 1 0
. 1 1 0 Stretton, Miss Hesba.
220
1 1 0 Swynnerton, Rev. C. .
0 10 0
1 1 0 Thring, the Rev. Prebendary Godfrey. 1 0 0
() 3 ( Todd, Miss Margaret .
1 1 0
0 % 0 Toplis, Miss Grace .
() 26
0 10 6 Toynbee, William ..
1 1 0
0) 5 0 Tozer, Basil .
0 10 0
. 1 1 0 Twycross, Miss Minna
0 0
. 1 1 0 Voysey, Rev. Charles .
0 5 0
1 0 0 Walker, Sydney F. .
0 10 0
0 10 0 Warren, Lieut.-General Sir Charles,
. 1 1 0 G.C.M.G. . . . . .
. 2 20. Watt, A. P. & Son .
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## p. 136 (#536) ############################################
136
THE AUTHOR.
Wheelwright, Miss E.
. £0 10 0 before every important college in the States. His
Whitby, Mrs. J. E. .
: 0 10 0 talks were always on historical themes, and to
Wilkins, W. H. .
• 1 1 0 academic audiences.
Wilson, Miss Aphra.
An article by a Member of our Society is appear-
Woods, Miss M. A. . . .
ing in the current number of the Nineteenth century,
Workman, James .
. 1 1 0 analysi
analysing the popular game of Bridge, and show-
W. P. K. .
.. ( 10 0 ing it in a new light as a game with unscientific
Zangwill, I.
. 1 1 0 foundations. It reproaches society for bringing a
slur upon the nation. Why throw over the renowned
Total £147 80 and world-widely played national game of whist for
Council Donations
141 1 0 an untested pastime?
“ The Chemistry of Paints and Painting," by
Total (Feb. 22nd)
Professor A. H. Church, is now in its third edition,
revised and enlarged (68., Seeley & Co.). As
Professor of Chemistry in the Royal Academy of
Arts, London, Dr. Church writes with authority.
It is a valuable manual by an expert. There is no
BOOK AND PLAY TALK,
book in English on the same lines, and it adequately
meets a felt want.
The International Society of Comparative Juris-
(R. ALFRED AUSTIN'S new volume
prudence and Public Economy, which has its head-
quarters at Berlin, but which boasts a distinguished
1 bearing the title, “A Tale of True Love,
membership throughout the civilised world, has
and other Poems,” is to be published at
just undertaken a work of great importance. It
Easter by Messrs. Macmillan. It is dedicated, in a
proposes to issue a series of volumes containing the
sonnet, to the memory of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Private Law of the different civilised communities
Her Majesty the Queen has accepted a copy of of the world, drawn up, so far as circumstances
Part I. of the “Songs of a Child," by Darling. permit, on the model of the German Imperial Civil
Part II. is in the hands of the publishers (Leaden- Code of 1900. The place of honour in the series
hall Press), and will appear in due course. As has been allotted to the English volume, the editor-
most people know, “ Darling” stands for Lady ship of which has been entrusted to Mr. Edward
Florence Douglas, now Lady Florence Dixie. Jenks, with whom a number of distinguished jurists
will collaborate. It is hoped that this volume
There is a long poem entitled “Esterelle ; or,
or, will appear before the close of 1903.
The Lure Witch of the Alpine Glen.” The poem
of some eighty-six verses called “Waifs and Strays;
George Paston's new book, “ Little Memoirs of
or, The Wanderings of a Bohemian Abroad,” was
the Nineteenth Century," is to be published about
written while wandering in the footsteps of an
Easter by Mr. Grant Richards. Its price will be
elder brother, who had passed through the scenes
10s. 611., and it is a companion volume to this
described by the writer, previous to his death on
author's “Little Memoirs of the Eighteenth Cen-
the Matterhorn. The three “In Memoriam” verses
tury,” which scored a deserved success, for the
on this brother, Lord Francis Douglas, have the
Memoirs were very well written, and were compiled
ring of true poetry.
with scholarly care.
The Berlin correspondent of the New York
The subjects of these “ Little Memoirs of the
Nineteenth century's are: B. R. Haydon. the
Times recently telegraphed to that journal that
hat artist ; Lady Morgan; N. P. Willis, the American
artist : Lady
Prince Henry of Prussia, acting presumably on the author of is Pencilings by the Way”: Lady
advice of Ambassador White, was engaged in Hester Stanhope : William and Mary Howitt; and
studying Mr. James Bryce's “ American Common Prince Püchler Muskau who wrote a 6 Tour in
wealth,” and Mr. J. F. Muirhead's “Land of
England and Ireland,” published in 1831.
Eng
Contrasts,” preparatory to his visit to the United
States. The latter volume is about to appear in
George Paston has chosen minor celebrities
a new edition, with the amended title of “ America:
whose stories seemed to illustrate the social life-
the Land of Contrasts.” Mr. John Lane is the
more especially the literary and artistic social life
publisher.
-of the first half of the century. Besides a
charming book on Mrs. Delaney, George Paston has
Mr. Poulteney Bigelow has just returned from a published half-a-dozen good novels. Of these “ A
lecturing tour in America, where he has lectured Writer of Books " was the last and the strongest.
## p. 137 (#537) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
137
e
n orkabire me publish it very soon Industrious
In his “ Anticipations" (Chapman and Hall) Mr. The same firm will publish about Easter a new
H. G. Wells has something to say about authors and book by Mr. Robert Barr, entitled “A Royal
publishers. After declaring that there is neither Tramp.” The Tramp in question is James V. of
honour nor reward—not even food or shelter—for Scotland. There are to be a dozen illustrations by
the American or Englishman who devotes a year E. J. Sullivan. Price 6s.
or so of his life to the adequate treatment of any Yorkshire in the early years of the nineteenth
spacious question, he goes on to say :-
century is the scene of Mr. Halliwell Sutcliffe's
“ The production of books in English, except the author forthcoming novel. There is a good deal about
be a wealthy amateur, rests finally upon the publishers, the Yorkshire wool-combers in the story. Mr.
and publishers to-day stand a little lower than ordinary
• tradesmen in not caring at all whether the books they seil Fisher Unwin will publish it very soon.
are good or bad. Unusual books, they allege-and all good Mr. S. Squire Sprigge's “ An Industrious
books are unusual—are · difficult to handle,' and the author
author
Chevalieru isto
Chevalier" is to appear about Easter. In some
must pay the fine, amounting, more often than not, to the
greater portion of his interest in the book. There is no
twelve episodes the author relates the knavish
criticism to control the advertising enterprises of publishers career of the hero, who is a smart rascal. Messrs.
and authors. A bastard criticism, written in many cases by Chatto and Windus are the publishers. Price 6s.
publishers' employees-a criticism having a very direct
relation to the advertisement columns-distributes praise
Sir Walter Besant's “ The Art of Fiction” is
and blame in the periodic Press."
being issued by the same firm. It is the lecture
Mr. Wells declares that the New Republic will
delivered before the Royal Institution in 1884. It
sustain its authors.
was printed as a pamphlet. Now it appears in an
attractive cloth binding at 1s. nett.
** In the past the author lived within the limits of his
patron's susceptibility, and led the world, so far as he did There is a long novel by E. Nesbit, called “ The
lead it, from that cage. In the present he lives within the Red House," running serially in Harper's Bazaar.
limits of a particularly distressful and ill-managed market.
... To write one's best is surely sufficient work for a
There is also a serial story for children by this
man ; but unless the author is prepared to add to his prolific writer appearing in the Strand Magazine,
literary toil the correspondence and alert activity of a A new volume of her poems is in preparation.
business man, he may find that no measure of acceptance
will save him from a mysterious poverty."
Miss Iza Duffus Hardy's new novel, “ Man,
Mr. Wells further declares that the men of the
Woman and Fate," is to be published some time in
April by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. Price 6s.
• New Republic will endeavour to shape great
publishing trusts and associations
Madame Bell Ranske's book, “Health, Speech,
and Song,” is illustrated by herself. It is published
** That will have the same relation to the publishing
office of to-day that a medical association has to a patent by Messrs. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.
medicine dealer. They will not only publish, but sell;
Mr. E. F. Benson's novel, “Scarlet Hyssop,”
M F F Benson's novel "Snorlet Hysson »
their efficient book shops, their efficient system of book-
distribution will replace the present haphazard dealings of is a study of modern society. Mr. Heinemann is
quite illiterate persons under whose shadow people in the its publisher.
provinces live.”
Mr. William Le Queux's latest novel is full of
“ Tom Genuflex ; or, Life's Little Day,” is the mystery and adventure. It is called “ The Under
title of a story by Aunt Cherry. Tom Genuflex is Secretary.” This entertaining author appeals to
a very Ritualistic curate. Though vowed to an increasing public. Messrs. Hutchinson & Co.
celibacy, he longs to make the fascinating-and are the publishers.
unscrupulous-Desirée his wife. She amuses her- «The Golf Lunatic." by Mrs. Edward Kennard.
self with him, throws him over, and marries a rich
is published by the same firm. The story of the
man. The end of the story readers must find out
golf lunatic is told-very well told—by his wife,
for themselves.
who develops a cycling craze. This popular
“Mamie ; or, When Daddy Comes Home,” is a authoress has done nothing better.
pretty little tale by the same writer. These stories, In a little autobiography which appeared in a
as well as “ Lyrics Low and Loud of Love and
and recent issue of J.A.P., “Rita," who is a prominent
Lamentation," can be obtained from the authoress
member of the Society, says, “ This year of grace,
at Llwyn-y-brain, Whitland, South Wales.
1902, I despatched my fiftieth messenger to a
Mr. Jerome K. Jerome's novel, “Paul Kelver," public that has been very kind to me.” Fifty
is now running, appropriately enough, in that books is indeed no mean record. “Rita” says :-
bright little weekly, To-Day.
“My adored Charles Dickens died soon after I came to
“ Bar, Stage, and Platform " is a volume of England ; but I had the pleasure of the acquaintanceship
autobiographic memories, by Mr. Herman Meri-
of his son, and did a great deal of work for him for All the
Year Round and lIousehold Words. Indeed, when the
vale, which Messrs. Chatto and Windus will publish
latter periodical was resurrected after many years, I was
shortly. The price is to be 128.
requested by Mr. Dickens to write the opening serial.”
## p. 138 (#538) ############################################
138
THE AUTHOR.
“ Dame Durden,” “ Darby and Joan,” “My Then there is Mr. Henry Norman's “Real
Lord Conceit,” and many of her earlier novels Japan”; Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's “Things
appeared in the columns of Householl Words. Of Japanese”; Mr. W. G. Aston's “History of
“Rita's "later novels, perhaps “ Peg the Rake" has Japanese Literature”; and, last, but by no means
been one of the most successful. It ran into least, there are Mr. Lafcadio Hearne's books.
edition after edition. But a new novel from Rita They make delightful reading.
is always warmly welcomed by her faithful public. The author of "Indian Nights Entertainments,"
The first edition of Dr. Panter's poem, “Gran- a book which attracted a good deal of attention
uaille,” published by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons, some years ago, is about to publish a similar
being nearly exhausted, a second edition will collection of Indian tales under the same title.
shortly appear.
“No Place for Her" is the title of a novel just
In important book just out is “ The Scenery of
published by Miss J. S. Wolff, author of “ Stories
from the Lives of Saints and Martyrs of the
England and the Causes to which it is Due,” by
Church,” “ Les Françaisen Ménage,” “Les Français
the Right Hon. Lord Avebury, F.R.S., D.C.L., Sc.
(Macmillan & Co., 15s. nett). It is admirably en voyage, &c. 38. 6d.
illustrated.
The “Henry Arthur Jones Birthday Book " is
to be issued shortly by Anthony Treherne & Co.
In this delightful book, at once fascinating and
It has been arranged by Mr. Sidney Dark, author
I has been a
thorough, Lord Avebury deals with the scenery of
of “Stage Silhouettes.” Mr. Jones's many ad-
England much as he dealt with the scenery of
the scenery mirers will welcome this collection of wise and
Switzerland. This latter was published in 1896,
890, witty extracts from his dramas.
and met with an encouraging success.
Mr. Jones has written two fresh plays. One of
Mrs. H. E. Hamilton-King, author of “The them is to be produced at the Duke of York's
Disciples," is about to publish, through Mr. Grant Theatre very soon. It is a comedy of intrigue in
Richards, a new volume of verse entitled “The four acts. Miss Irene Vanbrugh is to take the
Hours of the Passion, and other Poems.”
part of the leading lady.
Considerable interest attaches to the publication, Miss Lena Ashwell, who made such a favorable
by Mr. Heinemann, of the English translation of impression in “Mr. Dane's Defence,” will almost
the Latin text of the “ Trial and Rehabilitation of certainly have a strong part in Mr. Jones's second
Jeanne d'Arc.” This was translated into French play, which is a serious study of modern life.
by Guicheral, in the forties, for one of the French Mr. William Gillette's successful season with
learned societies; but it has never before been done “Sherlock Holmes ” will terminate on Saturday,
into English.
April 12th.
It is probably the only instance of a complete “Mice and Men,” at the Lyric, is proving such
biographical record of the greatest historical im- an unqualified success that Mr. Forbes Robertson
portance being taken down by evidence on oath, will extend his season until the middle of August.
The depositions cover the whole pathetic story of Miss Gertrude Elliott is a charming and truly
the childhood of the Maid, her military career as delightful Peggy.
commander-in-chief of the French armies, her Mr. Anthony Hope's witty and satirical comedy.
capture, imprisonment, and death at the stake, as
the stake, is “ Pilkerton's Peerage,” at the Garrick is drawing
« Pilkerton's
described by eye-witnesses.
smart audiences. Mr. Sam Sothern, third son of
In view of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty, Mr. famous Dundreary Sothern, plays --- and plays
Archibald R. Colquhoun's book, “ The Mastery of admirably—the part of Herbert V. Bascom, M.P.
the Pacific,” which has just been published by Mr. Mr. George Alexander will produce Mr. Stephen
Heinemann, has a special interest. Mr. Colquhoun Phillips's " Paolo and Francesca " at the St.
is one of the first living authorities on the Far James's Theatre on March 6th. “ Ulysses" is
East. He has lately visited the principal islands doing well at Her Majesty's Theatre.
of the Pacific, around which he believes the great
It seems that over 6,000 copies of the English
conflicts of the twentieth century will be waged.
edition of “ Ulysses ” have already been sold, while
The numerous illustrations are from specially taken
some 70,000 of Mr. Phillips's other books have
photographs.
been sold since the end of 1897.
A book worth re-reading in the light of recent
events is Mr. J. Stafford Ransome's “ Japan in
Transition ” (Harper's). The chapter on Japan
as an ally is particularly to the point.
## p. 139 (#539) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
139
1
By a careful arrangement the liability of the
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
contracts he has entered into is, when possible,
PROPERTY.
transferred to the company, and the magazine
proceeds on its precarious journey.
The magazine, run on parsimonious lines, fades
away, and in due course the capital of the company
Some Magazines, their Life Story.
runs short. Straightway those who are “in the
know” issue debentures securing their own debts,
M HREE or four years ago, owing to the and perhaps obtaining a little more capital to
disastrous way in which some magazines had carry on the concern. During the whole of this
been managed, and the subsequent pro- period the magazine is generally run on cheap
ceedings taken in bankruptcy against them, the lines so far as the mass of the writers are concerned,
Committee of the Authors' Society decided to although one or two well-known authors contribute
draft a small Bill by which contributors should on an advantageous contract, the financial side of
rank as preferential creditors.
which the proprietary takes good care to meet.
Such a Bill was accordingly drafted by Counsel, The supply of capital then comes to an end,
on the instructions of the Committee, but when it and still there are many contracts which have been
came to bringing forward the question in entered into by the editor on behalf of the company
Parliament considerable difficulty was experienced. which are binding at law, and from which the
One Member thought the matter of too small contributors cannot retire.
consequence (it was evident that he was not The crash at last comes. An enraged contributor
a contributor to the magazines himself). Another or printer obtains judgment, issues execution, and
thought that contributors should look after them- is at once met by the representative of the land-
selves, so far as the solvency of magazines was lord or the receiver of the debenture holders ; the
concerned. Another thought that the Government latter is often placed in possession, and continues
would be unwilling to increase the number of to run the magazine for the benefit of those he
preferential creditors. At last the Committee represents. From the point of view of the
obtained a Member bold enough to support the public and the outside contributor, it still
measure in the House of Commons, but, owing appears that the paper is going on a prosperous
to the fact that no opportunity arose, the Bill had course. Only those unfortunates who have been
to be laid aside.
trapped are aware of the difficulties of the
During the last year or so the difficulties arising position, and finally one of them sums up courage,
consequent upon the bankruptcy of magazines realises at last that the case is hopeless, and throws
have again brought this question strongly forward, the company into liquidation. A liquidator is
and it is necessary again to lay before the Members appointed, and in due course the Court orders the
what has already appeared in the pages of The compulsory sale of the assets. Then comes the
Author, namely, the modus vivendi that some opportunity of the individual who first started the
magazines adopt, deceiving the public, deceiving magazine. He obtains a little more capital —
the contributors, while they supply a precarious perhaps he has a little himself—and purchases the
living for the editor and a few of those who are whole assets of the company at a very low figure,
in the inner ring.
and continues to keep the magazine on the market,
A magazine may be started in the first instance and is ready once more to run through the cycle of
hy an individual with a small capital, who advertises quick changes.
largely for MSS. or obtains them by personal As it is often the case that the company is
connection. He then proceeds to sink the balance registered under an entirely different name to the
of his capital in advertisements. The magazine is magazine, it is very nearly impossible for those
run for a period of five or six months, and many outside to know the difficulties and dangers
contracts are entered into by the acceptance of through which it has passed, and a further batch
the "copy" sent in. The capital of the individual of contributors fall victims.
then begins to run short, but he has obtained a During all these vicissitudes the editor has
marketable commodity by the publication of the obtained a precarious though perhaps unsatis-
magazine for the few months, and by the contracts factory living. He is a preferential creditor who
that he holds with the many contributors. He can also guard himself by his knowledge of the
then looks round for someone with capital whio internal affairs of the company. He in most cases
is interested in literary productions, and forms a does so. He is also a debenture holder.
limited liability company, dealing out shares to Though ail bankrupt magazines, we are glad to
the provider of the necessary, and appointing say, are not run on such an iniquitous basis as that
himself as editor.
put forward, yet the dangers and difficulties in one
## p. 140 (#540) ############################################
140
THE AUTHOR.
form or another are constantly occurring, to the
detriment of those Members of the Authors' Society
who live by their contributions.
It must again be clearly understood that
Members cannot be too careful with what
magazines they deal, and must be always prepared
to demand prompt payment from those who are
not absolutely trustworthy. Very often when
the matter has been put into the Secretary's
hands at once, payment has been secured before
the final crash, and as a general rule, the Secretary
is cognisant of their financial position.
It would be to the advantage of all parties if
such a Bill as the Society prepared could pass
into law. Another clause, however, which ought
to be incorporated, would be to the effect that
as soon as a magazine becomes bankrupt, it should
be unlawful to continue to run that magazine
with the same name, with the same binding,
and generally the same format.
As, however, it appears to be impossible to get
even moderately reasonable legislation along these
lines, the only resource left is to strongly advise
authors that they cannot be too careful with what
magazines they deal, and to see that their contracts
are clear and their payments prompt.
G. H. T.
pocket in the case of the individual book, yet, in
the long run, is bound to damage both his pocket
and his reputation.
Publishers collect a series of sets of 68. books,
twenty-five in each set—and offer them to the
trade at 1s. each, provided that the bookseller buys
the whole set as selected by the publisher.
In each set there is, of course, a bait to trap the
unwary-say, a second-class novel by a first-class
writer.
From the publisher's point of view this method
was for a time successful; but the better-class
bookseller found that he was saddled with twenty
worthless books for every twenty-five he purchased,
and, in addition, had a strong objection to seeing
the second-class novel by the first-class writer sell-
ing at another shop for 1s. 9d. when he was trying
to sell the same book for 4s. 6d. The publishers
stoutly refused to call this a remainder sale.
The author's side of the question is very serious.
True, he is paid his full royalty, but it is no satis-
faction to receive a loaf of bread to-day, when you
see the loaf of bread which is yours for tomorrow
deliberately destroyed.
For the result may be that the public will not
buy to-day the print that may drop into its mouth
to-morrow,
In addition, the public may easily be persuaded
of the worthlessness of an author's writings if it
sees them sold within a short time from publica-
tion at what must necessarily appear to be remainder
prices.
Authors, therefore, must be careful of their
agreements, and must look to it that their books
are not remaindered at the arbitrary will of the
publisher when and where he likes.
Remainder Sales.
THE question of remainders is a serious one for
all authors. Many times has it been pointed out
in these pages that publishers are men of business,
although there may be still one or two left who
like to strut about in the garb of philanthropists.
But the cloak does not deceive. Snatch it away,
and they are as like their fellows as peas in a pod
-yes, men of business.
It is certain, therefore, that the author must
protect himself or go to the wall. As in other
points, so with regard to remainder sales.
Publishers with full lists, as soon as they have
sold a sufficient number of copies of one season's
books to cover their outlay and bring in their per
centage, desire to clear their shelves of stock, and
prepare for a fresh output.
It is essential, therefore, to give a book a fair
chance-which in many cases it does not get—that
a clause should be inserted in the agreement by
which no remainder sales should be made without
the consent of the author within, say, two years
from the date of publication.
This clause in an agreement would seem to the
uninitiated to put the case clearly, and to cover
all points. But there has come to our knowledge
a method of selling books at reduced prices, which,
though perhaps not damaging to the author's
Performing Rights.
As from time to time the question “how far
recitations may be called dramatic,” gives rise to
different disputes between author and actor, the
following opinion of Counsel, taken on behalf of
one of the Members of the Society, has been
published.
Though no doubt each particular case must be
settled on its particular merits, there are certain
leading cases and certain broad lines which govern
legal opinion.
We regret the author does not desire his name
mentioned, and that therefore it will be impossible
to mention the name of the book. Such a
publication would be of great importance in a
matter of this kind and the non-publication
a serious disadvantage.
Roughly, the details are as follows :-
A well-known actor wrote to an author no less
## p. 141 (#541) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
141
known, and asked him to write a poem for recita- Thus in Fuller v. The Blarkpool Winter Gardens
tion. The MS. was forwarded, and the actor at Co., 1895 (2 Q. B. 429), the Court of Appeal held
once commenced reciting it in public. There was that the song " Daisy Bell” was not a dramatic
no question of remuneration, but the actor stated piece, overruling the Judge in the Court of first
that the fame conferred by the recitation would be instance, who had decided on the strength of
as high a reward as the author deserved.
Russell v. Smith that the song was a dramatic
However, when the poem was recited the piece.
author's name was on every occasion omitted, and it is clear that the Court did not agree with
he was thus deprived of the fame which had Russell v. Smith, although that case is not over-
induced him to sanction the recitation.
ruled in terms. If that case is no longer to be
He thereupon wrote forbidding the recitation relied upon, the author's poem is not protected.
for the future, but received no reply whatever. Suppose, however, that the case would be followed
The work was subsequently published in serial to-day, is the author's little poem on the same
and book form, and in spite of the prohibition, the footing as the song in this case ? I think not.
actor continued to include it in his repertoire. The song was written with the intention that it
The questions put to Counsel were as should be sung in public, and sung with a good deal
follows:-
of action. The author's poem, on the other hand,
1. What performing rights had the author in
was first published in a magazine, and then as an
the recitation of his poem? (Russell v. Smith, 12
illustrated book ; and it was published primarily
Q. B. 217.)
as a narrative to be read, not as a piece to be
represented. According to Fuller v. The Blackpool
2. If he holds any rights, does he appear to have
transferred these rights to the actor ?
Winter Garden Co., it is a question of fact whether
3. If he has transferred any rights to the actor,
a composition is dramatic or not, and the question
has he any action against him for non-publication
must be what was the character of the composition
when first published.
of his name?
I do not think anyone can
4. If he has not transferred any rights to the
say that the character of the poem when published
actor, can he obtain an injunction to restrain him
was dramatic. Mr. Cutler in his little book on
from reciting ?
Copyright suggests a test as to whether a composi-
5. Generally as to the author's position under
tion is dramatic or not, which is worth applying,
the Copyright Acts.
but which is not supported by judicial authority.
He says that where a reciter assumes a personality
Counsel's opinion was as follows:-
other than his own he is giving a dramatic enter-
Literary compositions may as a rule be classed tainment. Hence a recitation of Tennyson's
under one or the other of two heads : (1) those “Northern Farmer” would be a dramatic enter-
that are purely literary; (2) those that are tainment, because for the time being the reciter is
dramatic. If a writing comes under the first head, the northern farmer. But a recitation of “ Enoch
I know of no legal principle available to prevent Arden” could not be such an entertainment,
any person from reading or reciting the piece in because the reciter is simply telling the author's
public, whether for profit or not. If it comes story for him. By this test, in my opinion, the
under the second head, then protection is afforded poem referred to is not a dramatic piece. At one
under the Act of 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 15 ; which is time readings from Dickens were common at
entitled “ An Act to amend the Laws relating to entertainments all over the country. I have never
Literary Property," and which renders an unauthor- seen it suggested, however, that such a reading was
ised person liable to penalties for giving a representa- an infringement of any copyright, or that it was a
tion of any dramatic piece. “ Dramatic piece” is dramatic entertaiument. Nor have I heard of
defined by 5 & 6 Vict, c. 45, s. 2, to mean “every any attempt to restrain anyone from reading in
tragedy, comedy, play, opera, farce, or other scenic public copyright prose or verse which was published
musical or dramatic entertainment.” In deciding with no expressed or implied intimation that it
whether any particular piece comes within the was intended to be represented dramatically.
protection of the first-mentioned Act, the diffi It must be remembered further that the law
culty of course arises with the pieces which are will not interfere to prevent a dramatic representa-
near the border line. In Russell v. Smith (12 tion of the story contained in a copyright novel.
Q. B. 217) it was held that a certain song sung by On these grounds I am of opinion that the author
one person with a good deal of action, but without has no performing rights in his verses, that he has
costume, was a dramatic piece. It is very doubt- nothing to transfer, and that he cannot obtain an
ful, however, whether the Courts will now follow injunction against the actor, or against any other
this case ; it is almost certain that they will not person who chooses to read or recite his verses, for
go nearly so far.
profit orotherwise, with or without an announcement
## p. 142 (#542) ############################################
142
THE AUTHOR.
of the author's name. This is, in my opinion, publishing books and other writings without the
the position since the poem appeared in print. Let consent of the authors or proprietors, to their very
us go back, however, to the period before it great detriment and too often to the ruin of them
appeared in print. The actor recited the piece and their families." I have ventured to italicise
with the author's consent, and that consent was the words " and other writings" because there is a
never absolutely withdrawn, but it looks as if he tendency nowadays to recognise copyright in
may have a cause of action against the reciter for books--that is, in bound volumes—as something
breach of contract, though the facts before me totally distinct, and worthy of a protection which
are hardly full enough to enable me to express a is denied to any other writing not in a bound
definite opinion on this. When the author sent volume. It is perfectly evident that though the
his poem in MS., did he expect to be paid for it? Act was avowedly" for the encouragement of
If so, did he forego his right to payment in con- learned men to compose and write useful books,"
sideration of the fame he hoped for from the reci- the word “books " was used to cover all literary
tation of his verses by so well known an actor, matter, the penalty was fixed per sheet, and what-
and was the actor's letter an undertaking on his ever was registered at the Stationers' Company
part to try and bring that fame?
was a book.
If these questions are answered in the affirma. But in the days when that Act was passed there
tive, the author appears to have a cause of action was the same opposition to this protection of books
against the actor for breach of his contract, as the as there is now to the protection of books not in
suppression of his name was certainly a breach of volume. In 1735 “The Whole Duty of Man," in
that undertaking. I cannot suggest any other legal 1739 “Paradise Lost," in 1763 “ Thomson's
step which can be taken with any prospect of Seasons," all became subjects of litigation, and no
success.
doubt the would-be reprinters of those works
HENRY W. DISNEY. urged then much the same arguments as are urged
4, Elm Court.
now by people who, while they would regard the
republication of the most trashy novel without the
consent of the author as a dishonest act, have not
the smallest hesitation in habitually republishing
other literary work, which may be much more
NEWSPAPER COPYRIGHT_“THOU
valuable, which may have cost quite as much
SHALT NOT STEAL.”
effort-provided only they find it in a newspaper.
Those arguments are mainly three :-
(1) That it has become so common a practice
M HE above quotation from the Decalogue is that it is sanctified by custom.
I probably familiar to a large number of (2) That, provided the origin of a stolen para-
persons who, while praying weekly that graph is acknowledged, no act of dishonesty is
their hearts may be “inclined to keep this law,” not committed.
only make their living by daily theft but advocate (3) That it is in the public interest that news
with all earnestness, and I believe with honest should be made public, and that it is against the
sincerity, that as receivers and retailers of stolen public interest that it should be confined to the
goods they are performing a meritorious duty to readers of a single paper.
the public.
The first argument is one that at different stages
The Law of Copyright is the eighth command of civilisation it was possible to urge in defence
ment applied to a particular class of goods. The of all theft.
complicated conditions of modern life have rendered
“ The good old rule, the simple plan,
necessary a variety of terms to cover the different
That he should take who had the power,
sorts of offences which were comprised in four
And he should keep who can,"
words of the Decalogue. Theft, larceny, shop-
lifting, piracy, misappropriation, breach of copy is not so very old; but the fact that everyone
right are among the number; the last as the most stole when he could did not make theft less a
recent, and as applying to a new class of property, breach of the eighth commandment, did not render
is less generally understood. It is only 250 it less immoral or less illegal. The fact that theft
years ago that the property in literary work was is difficult to detect or expensive to punish may
acknowledged in express terms as a Common Law make it common, but cannot make it right. “You
right, less than 200 years since the first Act was might as well” (to quote Mr. Justice North)"plead
passed to remedy a complaint that “printers, book- the custom of Hounslow Heath.”
sellers, and other persons had of late frequently Equally fallacious is the second argument. To
taken the liberty of printing, reprinting, and quote the same authority : “A man cannot justify
## p. 143 (#543) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
143
the taking of what he has no right to take by driven to contend that there can be no property
stating whence he has taken it, though he mayin newsjust as it was contended, some 150 years
thereby avoid the additional dishonesty of passing ago, that there could be no property in Milton's
off as the product of his own labour what really is “Paradise Lost ” or in Thomson's “ Seasons."
stolen from another.”
To defend this position it has been found neces-
Of course, if the person from whom it is taken sary to assume that news is synonymous with fact,
has no objection to its being taken with such and to assert the obvious truism that there can be
acknowledgment, then it is no longer a question of no copyright in a fact. I do not know whether it
theft ; but if nine persons hold this view and the was argued that spring, summer, autumn, and
tenth objects the property of the tenth must be winter could not be property, and that, therefore,
protected.
there could be no copyright in Thomson's “ Sea-
The most plausible argument is the third. Let sons,” but the one argument is as good as the
us see what it amounts to.
other.
“It is in the public interest that news should A man has the right to the protection of the law
be made public.”
“ in the free use, enjoyment, and disposal of all
The public, we are given to understand, is his acquisitions, without any control or diminution
devoured by an anxiety to read newspapers—it is save only by the laws of the land." It is imma-
almost an essential to their existence that they terial whether that acquisition is of small or of
should have newspapers ; everyone who provides great value-whether, that is, it has cost him much
them with a newspaper is therefore helping to or little labour to acquire it-it is his, a poor
supply a public want, and anyone who renders that thing perhaps, but his own. It may be a Raphael
supply more difficult is a public enemy. If the or the photograph of a daub ; it may be an epic ;
law of copyright is enforced, the production of it may be the mere shorthand report of a speech.
newspapers will be made more difficult and more Has he honestly “ acquired” it ? " That is all. If
expensive-consequently, whoever attempts to so, and he thinks his property in it worth de-
enforce the law of copyright is a public enemy. fending, it must be respected.
Such, I think, is a fair statement of The arguments The argument that because there is no property
used. Well, bread is also an essential to human in a fact there can be no copyright in news is
existence-perhaps more essential than news- analagous to saying that, if a man has picked up
papers--but no one suggests that the product of in the bed of a river a piece of quartz which might
the baker should therefore become public pro- have been picked up by anyone else, he has no
perty. If we could rifle a baker's shop and dis- property in the gold discovered in it, which may
tribute the loaves to starving families in the alleys be stolen from him with impunity. An event
and garrets, we should no doubt be conferring a takes place ; it is absolutely within the right of
benefit on a large number of people, to the detri- anyone who sees, or hears of, that event to report
ment only of bakers. Yet no one suggests that it it. There is no copyright in the event ; there is
would be right to rob the baker, because it is copyright in each report of it, whether it cost a
recognised that the general principle of protection thousand pounds by telegraphy or a penny stamp
of a man's property is more important and of by post-whether it was acquired by years of study
greater public benefit than even the saving of a or by the mere accident of propinquity.
few people from starvation.
Driven from this last shelter, the objector urges
Is it seriously contended that the supply of news one other argument: “Admitted that a newspaper
to the public is of such vital importance that this has the right to exclusive possession of its own news,
general principle must be suspended, and that the what harm is done by allowing that news to be
laws of meum et tuum, which apply to every available to all the public, at all events if the
other sort of property, are not to apply to the source of that news is fully acknowledged ?" And
contents of newspapers ?
the answer to this is the answer that may be given
In parenthesis let me ask why, if this principle to the same argument applied to any other form of
is to be admitted, the providers of the literary larceny. Property must be protected, because it
matter should alone suffer. If the cheapening is the only way to ensure the production of that
of the cost of production of a newspaper is of such property, and, the more valuable or necessary to
vital importance, may I suggest that a still greater the public is that property, the more necessary is
economy might be obtained by many newspaper it that in the interests of the public it should be
proprietors if they stole the paper on which they protected.
print the news which they steal. Yet no one of I am far from attaching the value that is gener-
them — not even the Newspaper Society-would ally assigned to the publication of news, but the
defend this method.
whole argument against copyright in news is based
Faced by this absurdity, some people have been on the assumption that it is of importance to the
## p. 144 (#544) ############################################
144
THE AUTHOR.
public. Now I suppose it will be admitted that
news is only valuable in proportion to its complete-
ness and accuracy, and therefore the interest of
the public is to promote news of this quality.
Such news can only be obtained by the employ-
ment of every grade of journalist. They have to be
paid, and their pay, as in every other profession,
must depend upon the value of their work to their
employer. If their work is not protected—if, as
soon as it is printed, it may be appropriated by
any other person, who has not contributed one
penny to the cost of its production—the value is x.
If, on the other hand, it is protected if the
employer gets the exclusive use of what that man's
brains, intelligence, enterprise, or industry have.
produced, then the value is three, four, or five
times x. Protection to the contents of a news-
paper, whether it be news, reports, articles, or
paragraphs, means more value to the newspaper,
therefore better pay to the journalist; therefore
better work and encouragement to the careful,
painstaking, accurate journalist ; therefore a better
service to the public, better journals, and a higher
class of journalist.
C. F. MOBERLY BELL.
If the compositor is working on 'stab," the loss caused
by diversities of practice falls of course on the employer,
who is mulcted because the compositor has been accustomed
to a different “use.” to adopt an ecclesiastical term. else.
where. These are but two instances; a host might be
quoted, but it is not necessary to do so, as cases of the
kind are so well known. It is strange, by the way, that so
many diversities of all kinds occur in printing. The brevier
of one founder is different to that of another, although an
outsider would think that the word indicated a definite
body of type. In describing a forme, the gutter means one
thing in one office and something else in another. Even
in regard to parts of machines there is no uniformity in
the use of technical terms. ...
In regard, however, to orthography, a standard might,
and we think ought, to be recognised. There would be
immense difficulty in carrying out the idea, and for the
simple fact that we have, in this country, no standard
dictionary of the English language. French printers,
for instance, are free from this difficulty. They bave a
dictionary, recognised by the Academy as a standard of
right orthography. By referring to it a printer can at
once tell whether a word is rightly or wrongly spelt.
There is nothing of the kind here. Here is a case in point.
In ninety-nine offices out of a hundred in Great Britain
the spelling is adopted, “abridgment," " acknowledgment,"
“judgment," " lodgment." At Oxford if a compositor so set up
his copy, he would find that he would have to put in the
e of the syllable before the "-ment”: asó abridgement," etc.
Mr. Horace Hart is fortified in this custom by the learned
editor, Dr. J. A. H. Murray, of the “ New English Dic-
tionary.” He says, “I protest strongly against the vulgar
and unscholarly babit of omitting it from "abridgement,"
etc., which is against all analogy, etymology, and orthoëpy,
since elsewhere g is hard in English, when not followed by
e or i. I think the University Press ought to set a
scholarly example, instead of following the ignorant to do
ill, for the sake of saving four p's." Mr. Hart adopts this
in the “learned" side of bis Press; but in the Bible House
the other spelling is followed, at least partially. In an
Oxford Bible of the Authorised Version, again, we find
“judgment"; in an Oxford Bible of the Revised Version it
is “judgement." More strange still, in an Oxford Revised
Version with the Concordance appended, we find the worl
spelt one way in the body of the book and another way in
the supplement. The Cambridge Concordance has "judge-
ment”; the King's Printers' Bibles "judgment." ....
The whole subject is surrounded with great, but we will
not say insuperable, difficulty. Mr. Collins will have done
good service, even to the humble comp, if he can do some-
thing towards abolishing the anomalies now prevalent, and
which waste so much of the time of the reader as well as
of the compositor, besides being a source of many vexatious
troubles to book-printing firms.
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
M
H E following extracts from a long article in
The British and Colonial Printer and
Stationer dealing with Mr. Howard Collins'
m ind
article in last month's Author are of interest as
showing the importance to the composilor of
standard rules for printing :-
Mr. Collins concludes with a most valuable suggestion,
as to a rearrangement of the matter in its alphabetical
form, giving a specimen of the manner in which he would
have it done. This is an admirable idea, and one that we
hope may be carried out.
Now, this subject concerns printers as well as authors,
and is one that comes directly within the range of “Our
Observatory." It affects master printers, readers, and
compositors. It is an always existing source of discussion,
of friction, and disagreement. A compositor takes a berth
in a house with a style whereof he is not acquainted. Nor
can he learn it except through costly and annoying
experience, for the rules are unwritten, or at any rate
unprinted. If he is working on piece, he has to carry out
all the marks” made by the reader at his own expense.
When his proof is returned to him by that authority he
will almost certainly find that a number of these marks
are not those of errors that he has made-which he would
not object to do in his own time—but of alterations due to
peculiarities in “the style of the house." Here the hard-
ship comes in. It is not a matter of what is right or
wrong in the abstract, but what is usual in that particular
office. It may be entirely different from that in the office
in which the compositor has previously worked.
PERPETUAL COPYRIGHT.
W HAT question of all importance to authors
1 – the duration and limitation of copyright
-seems likely again to come prominently
before the public.
In an issue of the Morning Post there was a
long article dealing with perpetual copyright which
was well worthy of consideration by all those who
possess copyright property. The writer, however,
## p. 145 (#545) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
145
makes one astounding mistake. He states as reduction in taxation, the profits that arise from so
follows :-
valuable a property.
In commencing this article it was not intended
“Suppose the author dead before his book is born to its
printed existence. Then the forty-two years count from to discuss the question of perpetual copyright, but
the date of death, and his representatives or assignees rather to refer with interest to the opinions put
benefit thereby."
forward in the Morning Post by foreign writers on
It is curious how a person who has studied the this subject.
copyright law with evident care should have made from France it appears that those who are
such an erroneous assertion, as the Act runs as members of the Société des Gens de Lettres are
follows, and is particularly clear on the point : strongly in favour of perpetual copyright, but it is
“And the copyright in every book which shall be curious to nnd a man with such a wide public as
published after the death of its author shall endure for Pierre Loti stating that he knows nothing about
the term of forty-two years from the first publication these matters, and that he has never given them
thereof."
any consideration. It is almost as if a farmer,
The copyright runs, therefore, not from the breeding live stock for the market, stated that he
date of the author's death, but from the date of did not know anything about their management, or
first publication. It has been thought necessary what was the best method to be adopted to obtain
to bring this point forward, not with any desire of the best results.
minimising the value of the article referred to, but Monsieur Jules Le Maître's reply is almost
for fear least any one reading the article should have equally vague, and Monsieur Henri de Bornier
been misled.
candidly confesses that he is very ill-informed re-
Touching, however, the question of copyright, garding this most complicated of questions.
curious ideas have been, from time to time, put Turning to some of the German opinions, we find
forward.
Dr. Von Wildrenbruch puts forward an opinion
Granted that an author has any property in copy- which is amusing in its paradox. He says, from
right, there appears to be no sound reason why the standpoint of right and justice, the property
that property should not be perpetual ; but it has of an author in his work is inextinguishable.
been pointed out by the Secretary of the Society in We should have thought that this standpoint
certain articles that the public for many centuries was the highest it would have been possible to
(owing to the fact that printing had not been in adopt, but no, he has found one higher than that
vented) looked upon the author's property as its of right and justice, namely, the standpoint of the
own, and dealt with it as such. From this position common weal, and from this standpoint he agrees
it was very difficult to turn, but at length a copy- that the term of copyright should be limited. We
right law was passed, and the tendency of all cannot but think that if the standpoint of the
modern legislation has been to increase and not to common weal is not that of right and justice, the
decrease the period of years confirming the rights sooner it ceases to exist the better.
to the author.
Prof. Kuno Fischer also puts forward an amusing
The argument that there is danger to the public reason for the limitation of the term :
in knowledge being withheld or sold at too high a “No writer produces of himself alone. He is
price is easily refuted. The consideration of supply indebted for his productions to the spirit of the
and demand has always governed the question of age, and to the people amidst whom he lives."
price, and there is no book for which there has But surely no person is indebted to himself alone
been a large public demand which has not been for anything. The very coat he wears, the house
lowered in price in order to meet the market ré- he lives in, the food he eats are all the result of
quirements. The danger of works being withheld labour of thousands of his contemporaries; but they
from the public by the owners can easily be are not a wbit the less the property of the man who
remedied by law. At present, there is a clause in pays for them, and the perpetual property of that
the Act of 5 & 6 Victoria dealing with this point. man.
The absurdity of the present position, however, is It is a curious fact, looking through the opinions
readily shown by the fact that it is not the public as a whole, that many who are ignorant of the
who benefit by the limitation of the term of copy- questions dealing with the property they create,
right, but a limited section—the publishers—who and others who appear not to be ignorant of the
make their money out of non-copyright books. If questions, are still willing to give over their pro-
the argument of the property being public was perty after a limited period. The latter shows an
carried to its logical conclusion, all the copyrights altruistic spirit amongst the profession of authors
at their expiration should be managed by a great which is highly to be commended, but which is
Governmental department, and published for the hardly practicable in this very practical age.
benefit of the public, who should obtain, by a One word more. It is curious that while there
## p. 146 (#546) ############################################
146
THE AUTHOR.
are many struggling to limit in time the rights of this fact, he neglects to make a clain for pay-
that belong to authors, these same people, by ment and consequently does not receive his just
international treaties, are seeking to extend the due. This applies particularly to paragraph matter,
same rights territorially.
although I have known an equal reticence to be
Why they should seek for a world-wide recog displayed on the part of the cashiers of newspapers
nition of that property which they would limit in when even important articles are concerned. I
time must be left as a riddle for their own solving. myself have sustained several pecuniary losses
G. H. T.
owing to the enforcing of this regulation. When
I have mildly hinted to the editors in question
that contributors should be relieved of the necessity
of searching files in order to compile their claims,
THE JOURNALISTIC FREE LANCE. I have usually met with a severe reproof. I notice,
(BY ONE OF THEM.)
however, that both the Pall Mall Gazette and the
Westminster contrive to make out their contributors'
accounts, and to do 80, moreover, with a com-
(Continued.)
mendable and inspiriting promptitude. It is the
more excellent way.
TOT only does the rate of payment vary Where two or three free lances are gathered
considerably according to the class of together the conversation invariably veers round,
periodical in which the free lance's work sooner or later, to the discussion of what-for
appears, but the time that elapses before the dis- want of better term I would call the “ Ethics”
bursement is made is seldom the same in any two of editing. To all members of my craft this is a
papers. For example, more than three years ago I subject that is fraught with extreme importance,
wrote an article for the Strand Magazine; I was for, since editors hold us in the hollows of their
paid for it last week. In the spring of 1899 I had hands, it behoves us to study their ways very
a story accepted by the Windsor Magazine; I have closely. As my own experience extends only over
not yet received the honorarium due for it. Twelve a period of some three years, it would, perhaps, not
months after it had been accepted I wrote to the be becoming of me to lay down the law with respect
editor suggesting that, since life was at the best of to this. Nevertheless, I would give it as the result
but a transitory nature, a cheque in settlement of of my personal investigations that, where first-
my account would be welcome. In reply, I was class periodicals are concerned, the outside con-
informed that the rule of the firm by which the tributor has remarkably little to complain of;
magazine was owned was to pay only on publication. with regard, however, to periodicals that are not
This regulation seems to be very generally in force. in the first flight, this is by no means the case.
When accepted matter is printed within a reasonable Indeed, I have reluctantly come to the settled con-
period of its receipt, there is no great hardship in it; clusion that there is some subtly contaminating
when, however, matter is “ held over " for months influence about association in an editorial capacity
and years, it is a different case altogether. Perhaps with journals that come within this latter category.
I am unduly prejudiced on the subject, but I am The effects of it, indeed, even seem to sap, as it
convinced that I shall be but evolving the opinion were, the moral fibre of such individuals and to
of my brother free lances when I contend that divest them of the attributes of common humanity.
there is no real reason why editors should not pay Now, lest this should be accounted too hard a
for matter when they accept it. If I go into a saying, let me set forth some of my own experiences
shop and choose a hat I am required to pay for it in connection with this matter.
forth with. It is of no use my explaining that I Some little time ago I wrote an article on a
propose to pay for it the first time I happen to subject of topical interest and sent it to a certain
wear it.
Weekly Review. As no notification of its receipt
Another hardship-or at any rate, inconvenience was vouchsafed, I reluctantly concluded—after two
-to which the free lance is subjected consists in months had passed that it had been summarily
the common practice of requiring him to send in consigned to the waste-paper basket, and that
an account before the money due to him is for another use had been found for the stamped and
warded. This, of course, necessitates his keeping addressed envelope which had accompanied the
a close watch upon the paper to which his work manuscript. At the end of this period, however,
has been sent. After doing this for some time, I chanced to take up a copy of the paper and to
without finding his contribution printed therein, sce my contribution duly published in it. To my
he probably gives up looking for it. As soon as surprise, however, it appeared in the form of a
he has done this, it is as likely as not that his “letter to the Editor." I waited for four weeks,
article will be inserted, and, since he is ignorant and then sent in a claim for payment. In reply
## p. 147 (#547) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
147
I received a dignified intimation that “ it was not that there had been interpolated into it a totally
the practice of the Review in question to pay for unwarranted reference to the excellence of the
correspondence.'” It appeared, however, to be the hats of a firm advertising on the journal's covers.
practice of the paper to fill its columns gratis by The remark in question had at a certain point
the simple expedient of converting articles into in the story been put into the mouth of one of
this form without the sanction of their writers. my characters, in place of the one which I had
It is worthy of note, however, that the “ letter to originally selected. Although I candidly admit
the Editor” in which I expressed this view did that it made no material difference to the story, I
not receive the honour of publication.
felt, nevertheless, that a protest would not be out
A second experience occurred in connection with of place. I went off to the office, accordingly, and
a certain evening paper. I sent it an article which demanded to see the “editor." In reply I was
was returned as “neither topical nor suitable.” shown into a room containing three young ladies,
Having a different opinion on this subject, I who assured me that they shared the editorial
promptly submitted it to another evening paper. functions between them. I harangued them at
Here it met with immediate publication. On the some length, accordingly, on the enormity of the
day after it had appeared in print, however, I offence they had committed and almost reduced
found it reproduced to the extent of a column and them to tears by assuring them that to alter so
a halt in the paper which had already declined it. much as a comma, without the express permission
The fact that it was described as “an extract from of the author, was taking the first step in the
an interesting article in a contemporary” did not path which eventually leads to the criminal dock
deter me from hinting to editor number one that of the Old Bailey.
if an article was sufficiently “ topical” to copy from The goal on which the free lance fixes his eyes
ilnother periodical it was sufficiently “topical” to yearningly, as he plods laboriously along his path,
print when originally offered to him. This view, is of course that of promotion to the staff of a
however, does not seem to have met with accept- paper. When this coveted prize is his, be pro-
ance ; at any rate, although six months have cecds at one bound from the receipt of an irregular
passed since I expressed it, I have not been income to that of a regular one. Instead of having
favoured with any reply thereto. It is when this to rack his brains to write that which shall find
sort of thing happens to him that the free lance favour in editorial eyes, it is then his more
sits down and writes articles on “ Editorial pleasing task to sit in judgment on the work of
Hooligans.”
others. Of course, he has to give up something in
Another grievance under which the outside return for this—to sacrifice a good deal of his old
contributor labours at times is that of having his freedom for one thing—but he does so with the
work mangled-I believe the technical term is utmost willingness, for, to the chance contributor,
“sub-edited”—by those through whom it passes freedom from calls upon his time is exceedingly
before it is published. Of course, when the author unremunerative. Although all the editors that I
18 favoured with a proof, this seldom occurs. ever came across were always loud in their com-
Still, this is not invariably the case, for in an plaints about their “pressure of work" and
article which I contributed to one of the monthlies “ numerous responsibilities,” they never evinced
the other day I noticed with feelings of the the slightest inclination to change places with
keenest anguish several wholly unauthorised myself. The fact is, their positions are not at all
einendations. The peculiar hardship in connec- easy to obtain ; and, once one has been secured, its
tion with this practice consists in the fact that a occupant takes excellent care not to relinquish it
signed article is naturally taken by its readers to without very good reason. As to how they are
be an exact expression of the writer's views. It obtained in the first place, it is very difficult for
is, however--horribly ungallant though it seem to most people to discover. After having given a
say so—when working for papers edited by ladies great deal of thought to the subject, however, I
that I have suffered most on this account. Quite have arrived at the conclusion that the best way
recently, for example, I sent a short story to a for the free-lance journalist to find his ambition
periodical which I will call Our Girls. Although realised is to go to Oxford with the son of a news-
I accompanied it by a stamped envelope, I was paper proprietor. At any rate, I know of several
not notified of either its acceptance or rejection. instances where this course has been pursued with
As I knew that the paper was edited by a lady, I the happiest results. One such case, for instance,
did not expect so ordinary a courtesy to be is that of an acquaintance of mine, who is now
obserred. I accordingly looked carefully through assistant editor of a well-known illustrated weekly.
each number as it appeared, and in one of them This position he owes entirely to the fact that he had
eventually saw my contribution published. As the forethought to be a University contemporary
I glanced through it, I found to my horror- of a near relative of the paper's chief proprietor.
## p. 148 (#548) ############################################
148
THE AUTHOR.
Even with the best will in the world, however, it
is not given to all of us to be able to follow this
example. A second plan is to marry an editor's
daughter. There is, however, a certain element
of risk about this which-although I have known
it to be carried out at times with immense success
-makes me unable to commend it without con-
siderable reservation. Difficulties, too, of putting
it into practice may be caused by circumstances
over which the most deserving of aspirants have
no real control. For the most part, therefore,
there is nothing for the free lance to do but to
wait, and watch, and hope for the coming of that
“tide” which in his case—as in that of any one
else-will sooner or later assuredly “ lead on to
fortune.”
H. W.
It was almost impossible, he stated, to conceive
such colossal ignorance as they betrayed.
The evening ended very pleasantly by Mr.
Poulteney Bigelow giving a short account of his
recent lecturing tour in America. He also pointed
out how the American experience as colonists in
the Philippines had tended to modify American
feeling with regard to the Boer War and English
colonisation generally.
A BALLADE OF INCAPACITY.
THE AUTHORS' CLUB.
M HE dinners of the Authors' Club continue
1 very successful. On Monday, February
3rd, Mr. Max Pemberton took the chair,
and Mr. A. E. W. Mason was the guest of the
evening.
Mr. Pemberton, in a speech proposing the health
of the guest, expressed his appreciation of Mr.
Mason's writings, and made some remarks with
regard to the romantic side of fiction. .
Mr. Mason responded and stated shortly his
ideals as far as his own writings and also as far as
the aims and objects of fiction writers in general
ought to be concerned. Other speeches followed.
Mr. Benjamin Swift, in a few very pointed remarks,
refused to romantic fiction all right to the claim
of being the ideal work of the fictionist. Mr
Clement Shorter responded for the guests.
On February 17th Dr. Conan Doyle took the
chair, and Mr. Hesketh Prichard was the guest of
the evening. The guest is the author of-in
collaboration with his mother—the novel called
“ Karadac,” and other works. He is also a
traveller of considerable experience. His book,
“ Where Black Rules White,” is the relation of
his adventures in the Pacific. Recently he has
returned from an expedition to Patagonia, and his
book on the subject will be published shortly.
Though in his wanderings he has not made such
a discovery among mammalia as Sir Harry Johnson,
ohnson,
yet he has brought home the skin of a distinct
variety of puma.
He made an amusing speech, dealing not so
much with his own experiences as with the opinions
of the inhabitants of some of the countries through
which he had been travelling, on the Boer War.
“My lord, I cannot speak."-MACLEAN, the highway.
man (on his trial).
" QYILENCE is golden,” saith the saw,
D And rightly is extolled ;
For speech, too oft, outrides the law
By waxing overbold ;
Yet he, I think (of mortal mould),
Most feels the need of “ cheek,''
The man who can no tale unfold,
The man who cannot speak!
He listens with a kind of awe,
And hears around him rolled
The long, reverberate guffaw
That greets the quicker-souled;
He hears the jest, or new or old,
And, speechless, eats his " leek”-
Is classed as either dull or cold,
The man who cannot speak /
He may have “Latin in his mawe;"*
He may keep down controlled
Potentialities of " jaw,”
Unmatched of any scold;
He may have thoughts of sterling gold
For each day in the week ;
But he must all these things withhold,
The man who cannot speak.
Envoy.
FRIENDS, 'tis of me the fable's told,
Your sufferance I seek ;
In me that shameless sight behold-
The man who cannot speak.
AUSTIN DOBSON.
dem.-- This was written for the dinner at the
Whitefriars Club in November, 1901, and given
to Mr Shorter who printed it in the Sphere and
the Tatler. It was recited, by request, at the
dinner of the Authors' Club on January 20th.
* Chaucer.
## p. 149 (#549) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
149
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
ITERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
1 agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,"
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor!
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“ Cost of Production."
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :-
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :-
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :-
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(6.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.e.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (6.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
N EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
1. D VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
V advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
## p. 150 (#550) ############################################
150
THE AUTHOR.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
Communications for The Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storer's
Gate, S.W., and should reach the Editor xor 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.
For the Opinions expressed in papers that are sumed
or initialled the Authors alone are responsible.
None of the papers or paragraphs must be taken
as expressing the opinion of the Committee unless
such is especially stated to be the case.
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTEKS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR On all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members' agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
an readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
THE READING BRANCH.
V EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
M branch of their work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS, can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
lieaders are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
M HE autobiography of Sir Walter Besant, as
readers of The Author are already aware, is
about to be published. We are apprised of
the same fact by a paragraph in The Book Lover,
which is in reality the book puff of the firm which
produces the work. What is our astonishment,
then, to see in that periodical the following
statement :-
- To the literary world Sir Walter was chiefly famous
for his championship of his brother authors, though, unfor-
tunately for the cause, be set about it the wrong way.
mistaking particulars for generalities, and classing all
publishers as rogues and the deadly enemies of authors."
The italics are not ours, but the Publishers'.
We are not prepared to discuss the taste of such an
announcement, issuing from such a source. All
lovers of our dead Founder and all who read The
Author will make their own deductions. Neither
are we prepared to discuss whether “he set about
the championship of his brother author's in the
wrong way.” The result has justified his ur-
selfish and unstrerving labour. But we will not
NOTICES.
THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of
1 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
58. 6d. subscription for the year.
## p. 151 (#551) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
151
ibara
allow those statements thrown broadcast to pass Apropos of the same subject, it is stated that
unchallenged which in his lifetime he so constantly M. Sully Prudhomme, who was one of those to whom
and so frequently denied, and again we must ask the Nobel Prize was granted last year, has decided
for the writer's authority for such a statement that to found an annnal prize of 1,500 francs, to be
he classed all publishers as rogues and the deadly awarded to some young French poet using the
enemies of authors.
traditional classical verse of France.
The writer continues—“ But de mortuis nil nisi The Société des Gens de Lettres will act as
bonum ; and no doubt he meant well.” It is arbiters in the matter, or, at any rate, make arrange-
almost ludicrous if it were not sad that the hack- ments by which the amount will be awarded.
neved Latin proverb should be dragged in after This is very cheering news. Perhaps some day,
such a statement when the writer knew that the when Anglophobia shall have retreated into its
fighting spirit who held such a virile pen was no hole like a dyspeptic dragon, an English author will
longer alive to defend himself.
be crowned by the Swedish Academy, and then
Of “ The Pen and the Book," the same paragraph perhaps the Capital Fund of the Society, or its
states : “ This was a tirade against publishers recently-started Pension Fund, will partly share
which contained a good deal of rather amusing Mr. Nobel's magnificent donation.
fiction."
Again we say nothing about the taste of the
statement, coming as it does in this particular In last month's Author there was a note in the
connection, but would ask the person, whoever he “Authorities” touching the performing rights in
may be, to come from the region of fiction to the musical pieces, and it was demonstrated how these
dull realm of fact and kindly forward his references rights might become a large property for composers
to the Editor of The Author, who, by the way, is if rightly managed.
not, as he states, Dr. S. Squire Sprigge, the writer The question is of growing importance owing to
of the Preface and the editor of the Autobiography.
the fact that hand organs and the many other
mechanical contrivances for reproducing music, such
as the pianola, phonograph, &c., are having a large
and increasing sale.
Owing to the misconstruction of certain writers, It was decided in a very interesting case heard
presumably of an idealistic tendency, of a letter not long ago before the Courts that the perforated
tbat appeared in one of the daily papers, referring sheets by which the music of composers was
to the award of the Nobel Prize, No. 39, Old produced was not an infringement of copyright.
Queen Street, has been the centre of a whirl of There is no doubt, however, that the reproduction
excitement.
would have been an infringement of the per-
Mr. Robinson has considered that the Committee, forming rights if the performing rights had been
instead of being merely a channel for conveying retained by the composer.
the votes to the Swedish Academy, was a Com- Under these circumstances it is clear that if
mittee appointed to judge of the value of his composers desire to stop this they must reserve
idealistic writings, and the same idea has obscured their performing rights. The fact that there is
the brain of Brown and Smith.
considerable outcry amongst the profession against
Robinson's epic of the Creation is no doubt this form of legalised robbery may give the
full of interest, so also may be Brown's book on necessary stimulus to draw composers together,
Microbes, or Smith's on the Building of Birds not only to protect themselves from piracy of the
Nests.
performing rights, but to protect the copyright and
But the strongest and most intelligent Com- to establish some reasonable form of agreement
mittee imbued with the wisdom of Solomon, and with the publishers who produce their works.
granted the longevity of Methusaleh, would hardly
be strong enough to deal with the demands of all
personal applicants desiring a criticism of their In reading the February number of the New
work.
York Bookman, we come across an article entitled
« But all is well that end's well," as Shake- “In the Camp of the Enemy,” which is practically
Bacon wisely remarks ; and for the present year on the lines of the article from the Free Lance
the wave of excitement has subsided on the duck- Journalist which is now appearing in The Author.
pond of the illiterate. .
We recommend the perusal of it. It shows
Ample time will be given to deal with the that the path of the magazine contributor across
matter more satisfactorily next year, and ample the water is impeded with thorns and brambles
explanation will, no doubt, be published as to the to the same extent as is the case in the Old
real functions and limitations of the Committee. Country.
## p. 152 (#552) ############################################
152
THE AUTHOR.
One memorandum that the author received from One of the artists, a man of ready wit, entered at
an editor is amusing. It contains, among other once into the spirit of the jest, and wrote back to
conditions: “If agreeable to you, we shall retain the vendor of preserved fruits, informing him that
the MS. at your risk, paying for it when pub- he also had started a prize for the best samples
lished.” On further inquiry by the author, the of preserved fruits, and that if the gentleman in
editor stated that she would be willing to keep it question would forward him a dozen boxes or so
for an indefinite time-it might be a month or of his choicest productions, he would have much
it might be two years--she really could not say pleasure in entering his name for the prize, the
which. If at the end of that time it had not been value of which he mentioned. The artist, how-
mislaid or burned (in which case the author alone ever, pointed out that the fruit sent in by com-
would be responsible) it would appear in print, petitors would become his property, whether they
and the author would receive the princely sum of won the prize or not.
five or six dollars-considerably less than half a The story does not record whether the vendor of
cent a word.
candied delicacies entered into the competition or
We are glad to say that the author had a small the spirit of the joke.
revenge.
We, however, quote the story here, as the mer-
Another example of New York journalism is chant's liberal offer calls to mind so forcibly the
given.
literary prizes offered from time to time by various
The same author forwarded to a prominent magazines. Unfortunately, in these cases the
Sunday newspaper an article on a local subject, contributor is denied the pleasure of the “ retort
illustrated with his own photographs. The editor courteous" allowed to the artist, as the collection
expressed the greatest satisfaction with them, and of penny dreadfuls, sixpenny monthlies, and other
begged the author to leave them, yet they were magazine refuse would be hardly of much value
returned the next day without a word of regret to the contributor who offered a prize for the
or explanation.
best periodical production. The magazine editor
About a fortnight afterwards, in the same paper who offers a prize for a literary competition
a similar article appeared, illustrated by photo has, it is clear, a decided advantage over the
graphs taken from almost the same point of view. manufacturer of preserved fruit.
What had happened was quite evident. The From time to time we have shown in the pages
editor had sent one of his own staff—as it was of The Author the fallacious nature of these prize
cheaper--and had reproduced the article. The competitions, and how an ingenious editor, by
author suggests that it was perhaps justifiable what may appear to be a liberal offer, can secure
according to newspaper ethics, or, he adds, the for his paper literary matter, fill his pages, and
ethics of that particular paper. We trust it was save his proprietor's pocket for a considerable
the ethics of that particular paper.
period.
Similar instances have come to our knowledge In all these prize competitions it should be an
in England, but it may be fairly remarked that essential that all those contributions which do not
the ethics of the particular paper are not the win the prize should be returned or definitely
ethics of all English journals.
accepted—if accepted, should be paid for at a
It is pleasing to hear from the same pen that, reasonable rate. To retain all the contributions
though an unknown writer on arrival in New as a free gift-as was the desire of the vendor of
York, the author has been successful. “I believe," preserved fruits—is hardly fair to the anthor or to
he says, “more firmly than ever I did, that it is the artist.
perfectly possible to succeed in gaining editorial
recognition without any pull whatever, provided
you can do good work.”
We are sorry to quote the enclosed paragraph
from a contemporary :-
"One of our reviewers who had — sent to him for notice
wrote to say that he did not like to say what he thought
A well-known manufacturer of dried fruit was
about it, as it might shock our readers. Besides it would
desirous of obtaining a work of art as the means offend the publisher and we sbould lose his support. Well.
of advertising his wares.
there is something in that. We dare not say what we think
of the books in question for fear of losing the advertise-
He accordingly put up a sum for the prize, and
ments of the firms who publish them."
issued a circular to the leading artists of his
fatherland. He stipulated, among other condi This is really a serious admission, and speaks
tions of the competition, that he should become volumes for the modern methods of reviewing. It
the possessor of all the drawings that were sent would appear clear that the attitude of the pub-
in, whether they obtained the prize or not.
lishers is to blame for the action of the reviewer.
## p. 153 (#553) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
153
As authors ever since publishing was a trade
have frequently suffered material damage at the
hand of the united brotherhood, publishers have
in their turn suffered from time to time moral
and intellectual damage (we beg to thank Mr.
Kruger for this apt phrase) from the pen of their
victims.
Byron's story is ever fresh in the memory, and
Borrow in “ Lavengro” throws some amusing
cynicism, a milder vitriol, over the sect.
It is poignant and burns. The following
quotation has, however, its amusing aspect.
The author speaks :
Above the far horizon's rim
And steals across the sombre sea,
Shall I not stir each straitened limb,
And, half-awakened, drowsily
Hear the faint call of sleepy birds,
The timorous flutter of their wings,
And know that o'er the earth which girds
My narrow house, all sentient things
Share the sweet privilege of light,
Wake to a life, dear God! how fair ?
Ah! then, poor prisoner of the night,
Shall I not care, shall I not care ?
St. John LUCAS.
for ? :
THE IRISH LITERARY REYIYAL.
By John TODHUNTER.
“My money was growing short, and I once asked him (the
publisher] to pay me for my labours in the deceased
publication.
“Sir,' said the publisher, 'what do you want the money
" " Merely to live on' I replied. It is very difficult to
live in this town without money.'
6 · How much money did you bring with you to town?"
demanded the publisher.
“Some twenty or thirty pounds,' I replied.
“And you have spent it already ?'.
". No' said I, 'not entirely, but it is fast disappearing.
“ • Sir,' said the publisher, 'I believe you to be extrava-
gant--yes, sir, extravagant!'.
"On what grounds do you suppose me to be so ?'
“Sir,' said the publisher, 'you eat meat ?
** • Yes,' said I, I eat meat sometimes. What should I
eat ? :
"Bread, sir,' said the publisher : bread and cheese.'
• • So I do, sir, when I am disposed to indulge; but I
cannot often afford it; it is very expensive to dine on bread
and cheese, especially when one is fond of cheese, as I am.
My last bread and cheese dinner cost me fourteen-pence.
There is drink, sir ; with bread and cheese one must drink
porter, sir.'
" . Then sir, eat bread—bread alone. As good men as
yourself have eaten bread alone ; they have been glad to
get it, sir. If with bread and cheese you must drink porter,
sir, with bread alone you can perhaps drink water, sir.'”.
It is amusing to note the publisher's interest in
the domestic economy of the author, and the
paternal solicitude as to the methods that should
guide the conduct of the unfortunate.
Rather perhaps it would be amusing if it were
not sad. Far better keep to cold, unsympathetic
business methods than indulge in uncertain and
hollow friendships, or bow to generous patrons.
We hope those times have gone.
(Continued.)
I MIGHT pick out many poems of merit first
printed in the Irish newspapers. Mr. l'. J.
McCall, for instance, author of Irish Noinins"
(Daisies) and “ Songs of Erinn,” deserves more than
a passing mention, and I regret that I can only
give a few stanzas from his " Oh, that the Wars
were All Over”—a ballad of '98. It tells howa
poor woman's husband joined the “rebels," and
how, seeking for news of him, she met her death at
the hand of a “ Yeo"-one of the Yeomanry, who,
like the Hessians, played a conspicuous part.on
the English side in '98, and the subsequent reign
of terror :-
“ Like a wraith by the river below the bleach green,
Sat the saddest of women that ever was seen,
With a heart-song as sore as the skylark's despair
When over his nest hangs a bawk in the air!
As she wished :-. That the wars were all over!'
Wishing :--Oh, that the wars were all over!'
66 6'Tis seven lone Sundays,' she said, since he came
O'er the stones of the river-Oh, was I to blame,
When he said to me, “ Nan, I'll go fight with the boys!"
That I kissed him and blest him, though mute was my
voice!
Then she prayed :- That the wars were all over!'
Praying :-Oh, that the wars were all over!'
The last stanza runs :
“ She passed in the night by the Bridge of Knockclo,
And there on the ledge nook stood smoking a Yeo.;
He primed his horse-pistol and fired at the mark,
And shot the poor wife, through the heart, in the dark !
And she sighed :-'That the wars were all over!'
But she died ere the wars were all over."
Apropos of newspapers, I should like to say a
good word for the All Ireland Review, edited by
Mr. Standish O'Grady, and published by Sealey,
LIFE.
A Reply to "A. C. B.”
WHEN I am lying in my grave,
Ah ! surely I shall sometimes hear
The midnight murmur of the wave;
And when the dawn comes opal-clear
## p. 154 (#554) ############################################
154
THE AUTHOR.
Briers and Walker, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin. enough for Tennyson when condescending to the
It is not a newspaper in the ordinary sense, but peasant mind; but is not good enough for the
rather a weekly magazine of a very Irish, and, to much more delicate work of Miss Barlow.
the conventional English mind, whimsical kind- It is otherwise with Miss Nora Hopper, whose
racy of the soil, in l'act. Mr. O'Grady, who has prose sketches are somewhat crude, while many of
done much to popularise some of our Bardic her poems are charming in their individuality.
literature, in his prose epics of “The Coming of They have a genuine lyrical quality ; the emotion,
Cuchullin," and his Homeric version of the wars expressing itself in the metre, gives them that
of the Red Branch, is a most original editor. In vital rhythm which haunts the ear of memory and
the Donnybrook Fair of Irish opinion, with its makes them pleasant and compassionable things.
animosities, religious, political, and personal, still In much of their love-poetry women seem to
eddying like cross-currents of the great national stand tip-toe on their soul's mountain-tops, atter-
movement, he has assumed the post of reconciler. ing a somewhat thin and melancholy wail. That
He valiantly opens his columns to men of all shades unappeasable babe, the human heart, always crying
of opinion, with the result that he has to stand for the moon, especially when its -sex is feminine,
the brunt of many indignant assaults from all tends to become monotonous in the expression of
sides. He is the recipient of many letters, and the its woes. But if Miss Hopper is melancholy in
subject of many articles, sometimes couched in her love-poems, she has the grace of being musical,
language that may be termed ultra-Parliamentary. which is much to be thankful for. Here are some
But he takes it all good-humouredly, as part of the verses from her “Moonstone”:-
day's work, and firmly holds by the faith that is in
“ I am a moonstone, and my heart lies deep
him, answering wisely and courteously even the
Under a weight of water, fixed in sleep-
most bitter of his assailants. He has, however,
But let the one hand touch me, though it were
many warm supporters, and deserves the support
Light as the flutter of a woman's hair,
he has received. I commend his paper heartily to I shall hear, feel, and know the time to glow
all lovers of adventurous journalism as a periodical
And break my heart to let my colour show,
Colour not dreamed of by the soul that strays
of a most original kind. Literary evolution has, in
Seeking the moonstone many weary days."
the All Ireland Review, produced a new species,
which I hope may survive.
These lines are characteristically feminine in
One feature of the Irish literary movement their note, and tender and beautiful in their
worthy of note is the amount of work, in both rhythm. So also are the “ Elegy” and “ Elusion,"
prose and verse, some of it of rare excellence, done
which seem to me as good of their kind as any-
by women.
thing Miss Hopper has written, and that implies
Some of the most original and interesting literary
a rare freshness of sentiment and charm of
work of last century has been done by women ; expression. Here is the “ Elegy":-
but its value hitherto has often depended more
“She had as many loves as she had follies,
upon its sincerity and fearlessness of statement
And all her light loves lightly sang her praises.
than upon its artistic form. It is well that women But now, laid low beneath sharp-leaved sea-hollies
should unpack their hearts even crudely in prose And pale sea-daisies,
or verse ; but it is better that they should attempt,
Here at the limit of the hollow shore
Folly and praise are covered meetly o'er.
as they are now doing, to make language a
dexterously touched instrument for the expression “ We will not tell her beads of beauty over :
of their thoughts and emotions; and it is most
All that we say, and all we leave unsaid
Be buried with her. There's no lightest lover
gratifying to be able to say that, in poetry as in
But scatters on her bed
prose, some of our Irish women have done work Pansies for thoughts, and woodruff white as she,
which, in form or matter, need not fear comparison And, for remembrance, quiet rosemary.
with the best of what has been recently done in
“ Here is the end of laughter : quenchel together
England.
Are grief and mirth; here dancing feet fall still,
I need only mention the “ Irish Idylls" and Here where wild thyme and sea-pink brave wild weater,
other stories of Miss Jane Barlow, excellent in
And die at the wind's will,
Bring her in dreams here to her quiet home,
style as in matter. In ber stories in verse she
Thou sea, her sister! bring her weeds and foam."
has not as yet quite found herself. They are well
told, and have turns of expression which are Irish That is an exqnisite piece of fantasy, all
in feeling as in idiom ; but in adopting the apparently suggested by that first rhyme of sea-
monotonous metre used by Tennyson in some of hollies with follies. It might almost be a song in
his sketches in soliloquy, she is handicapped, not an Elizabethan play, it is so dainty in its perfection,
by any comparison with him, but merely by the but for something modern and feminine in its
metre, which in its joy-trot quality was good emotional colour.
## p. 155 (#555) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
155
an Iriin some of th, or
The Inot te
Mrs. Tynan-Hinkson's work in prose and verse I might quote from other ladies deserving
is so popular in England as in Ireland, that it is honourable mention : Miss Ellen O'Leary, Mrs.
only necessary to mention her name, to set some Clement Shorter, who sweeps from her Irish harp
verse of hers aflutter in the memory of one of her wild dirges, with a recurrent note of desolate yet
admirers. She is as persistent and voluble in her heroic melancholy distinctively her own ; Miss Alice
song as an Irish nightingale, if we had one ; but Furlong, Miss Alice Milligan, who in her “Last
is at her hest in some of those poems of domestic Feast of the Fianna” has dramatised an episode
pathos like “The Dead Son," or " The Last Word,” in one of our bardic tales with a feeling of its
in which her fluency of utterance has not tempted imaginative atmosphere; and others. But in
her to exuberance ; and in some of her delicately- giving place aux dames I have left myself little
touched impressions from nature in “ The Wind space for the men.
Among the Trees.”
Mr. Yeats's work in prose and verse, always
In * Moira O'Neill's" little volume, “Songs original and “of imagination all compact,” is too
from the Glens of Antrim," we have five-and- well known to need comment here. To him and
twenty short poems, each of which is finished with Mr. Martin we owe the foundation of the “ Irish
a rare feeling for artistic craftsmanship. In fact Literary Drama," which, though in its infancy, is
many of these “songs" may hold their own a child of promise.
against all comers; for they are original in con- Mr. Russell, who writes under the signature
ception, and as nearly perfect in form as such “A. E.,” is, like Mr. Yeats, a mystic. The unseen
things could be. Every word seems right, and world of the spirit is always present with him.
not a word is superfluous. They have a quaint His poems are the conceptions of a grave and
lilt of their own, in which the rhythm seems to limpid imagination, and always delicately finished.
spring naturally out of the sentiment. It is not That entitled “ Dawn” may serve as an example
easy to handle Irish dialect in serious poetry ; but of his work-
here the dialect of the glens is made the poetic
vehicle of that reticent expression of emotion in “Still as the holy of holies breathes the vast,
which pathos is touched with humour, so charac-
Within its crystal depths the stars grow dim :
teristically Irish. The reader at once finds him-
Fire on the altar of the hills at last
self on friendly terms with these little poems, if
Burns on the shadowy rim.
he is sympathetic ; but they never lose their self-
"Moment that holds all moments ; white upon
respect, or give themselves away. They are
The verge it trembles ; then like mists of flowers
sensitive things, and have too much dignity to
Break from the fairy fountains of the dawn
hunt an emotion to death. “Moira O'Neill” is
The hues of many hours.
particularly happy in her use of refrains-
“ Thrown downward from that high companionship.
* Och Corrymecla an' the blue sky over it,"
Of dreaming inmost heart with inmost heart,
Into the common daily ways I slip,
has the true “ lyrical cry.”
My fire from theirs apart.”
Such a poem as “Denny's Daughter” is a
masterpiece of twenty lines-
Professor Savage-Armstrong, though not a
Nationalist, seems to have felt the influence of the
* Denny's daughter stood a minute in the field I be to pass, literary movement in his last volume of poems,
All as quiet as her shadow lyin' by her on the grass; “ Ballads of Down," in which there are many
In her hand a switch o' hazel from the nut tree's crooked charming poems in the dialect of the County
root,
Well I mind the crown o'clover crumpled undber one
Down. I have no personal acquaintance with
bare foot.
this dialect, which seems, from the specimens he
For the look of her, the look of her
gives, to be very like Lowland Scotch. Here are
Comes back on me to-day,-
Wi' the eyes of her, the eyes of her
a couple of these poems, each in a different key,
That took me on the way.
and each admirable of its kind---
Though I seen poor Denny's daughter white an' stiff upon
her bed,
THE WEE LASSIE'S FIRST LOVE,
Yet I be to think there's sunlight fallin' somewhere
on her head :
A cannae hear his name an' hide
She'll be singin' Are Jlary where the flowers never wilt,
My thought wi' ony art ;
She, the girl my own hands covered wi' the narrow
A cannae see him come, an' calm
daisy-quilt.
The flitterin' uv my heart ;
For the love of her, the love of her
It's pain tae meet him when A walk,
That would not be my wife ;
Or meet him nae ava;
An' the loss of her, the loss of her
A wish him aye tae come tae me,
Has left me lone for life."
A wish him aye awa'.
## p. 156 (#556) ############################################
156
THE AUTHOR.
A dinnae kén what's wrang wi' me ;
A'm vixed, A kennae why ;
A cannae talk, A cannae wark;
My min's a' gang'd agley ;
A say sich foolish thin's at whiles,
My face is scorched wi' pain ...
O let them lave me tae mysel'!
A jist wud be alane.
That is a grave and stately poem, and shows that
our men also can sing.
Mr. Stephen Gwynn has recently published a
volume of poems, which I have not seen ; but if it
contains many poems as good as the one I give
with some omissions, written in a North Country
dialect, it is a promising first volume :
A'm nae sae tall as Elsie Barnes,
A hae nae een like May's,
Yit aft he turns frae May tae me,
An' ne'er wi' Elsie strays.
A canna' thole tae see him laugh
Wi' Grace or Rose or Jean,
An' yit he's stan'in' nigh my side
Mair aft than ony ane.
He's aye sae courteous, kin', an' free
Wi' mon an' lass an' chiel ;
Mayhap he cares nae mair fur me
Thau jist tae wish me weel . .
But ah, the kin'ness uv his voice!
An' ah, his dark blue ee !
An' ah, his face an'coortly grace!..
A think A jist cud dee.
OUT IN THE DARK.
Oh, up the brae, and up and up, beyont the fairy thorn,
It's there they hae my baby laid, that died when he was
born.
Afore the priest could christen him to save his soul, he
died;
It never lived at all, they said-'twas livin' in my side.
He'll sure be thinkin' long for me, an' wearyin' his lone
Up in thon corner by the whins wi' neither cross nor stone;
Ay, tho’ I'd died wi' him itself, they wouldna let us be-
The corner o' a field for him, the holy ground for me :
The graves are all that tiny that they'd hardly raise a
mound,
And couples o' a Sunday do be coortin' on thon ground,
An' th' are none that thinks upon them ; but my heart'll
be there still,
On the sod among the bracken an' the whins upon the hill.
I'd be feared to come o' night there, for the hill is fairy
ground,
But th' are, may be, more nor fairies dancin' in the fairy
round
Och, an' if I only thought it! sure, I'd let them do their
worst,
An' I'd go to see my baby, tho' I be to be accursed.
But I'll never reach my wean now, neither here nor in the
sod,
An' I'm betther wi’ the Christians an' the souls that's saved
for God :-
Och, to feel his fingers on me, an' to clasp him when he
smiled!
Sure ye'd think there'd be one heaven for the mother an
the child.
DEATH AND LIFE.
“ Puir Wully is deed!”-“0, is he? ” —
“Ay, cau'd in his coffin he's leein'!"
“ Jist noo A em muckle tae busy
Tae trouble me heed aboot deein';
There's han's to be got fur the reapin';
We're gaun tae the wark in th' murn;
An' A'm thinkin' the rain ’ill come dreepin',
The-night, an' destroyin' the curn.”'
I must conclude with two poems which seem to
me noteworthy contributions to our Irish literature.
The first is Mr. T. W. Rolleston's fine translation
from the Irish, the haunting rhythm of which is
worthy of the heroic subject :
THE DEAD AT CLONMACNOIS.
I am sorry that space does not permit me to say
anything about our recent prose literature, nor
about what is being done to preserve old Irish
music, and to encourage the production of new. I
hope, however, even this very imperfect article
may be sufficient to show that the West is really
awake at last.
In a quiet water'd land, a land of roses,
Stands St. Kieran's city fair :
And the warriors of Erin in their famous generations
Slumber there.
There beneath the dewy hillside sleep the noblest
Of the Clan of Conn,
Each below his stone with name in branching Ogham
And the sacred knot thereon.
REAL PEOPLE IN FICTION.
There they laid to rest the seven Kings of Tara,
There the sons of Cairbré sleep-
Battle-banners of the Gael, that in Kieran's plain of crosses
Now their final hosting keep.
And in Clonmacnois they laid the men of Teffia,
And right many a lord of Breagh ;
Deep the sod above Clan Creidé and Clan Conaill,
Kind in hall and fierce in fray.
row far a novelist may, with propriety,
T1 select his characters from the men and
women immediately surrounding him is a
question which the good taste of the writer usually
decides. Against flagrant abuses of the unwritten
canons of literary conduct, the law of libel as
it stands is no doubt adequate protection. If
you deride your neighbour's morals, manners or
appearance so clumsily that all who know him
Many and many a son of Conn, the Hundred-Fighter,
In the red earth lies at rest;
Vany a blue eye of Clan Colman the turf covers,
Many a swan-white breast.
## p. 157 (#557) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
157
may recognise the portrait, the victim will have now visit Tarascon in the hope of finding him.
an excellent chance of obtaining damages in a Usually they are disappointed, yet the novelist
court of law. These risks most publishers wisely drew a type of character whose oddities fit
keep in view in their agreements with authors. not a few black-bearded, comic, self-indulgent
Indiscretions of this loose nature are less frequent sportsmen who flourish opulently in the splendid
than is generally assumed. Character drawing, South. In a less striking degree Daudet's bril-
even with a model, is exceedingly difficult, and the liant accident may happen to any observant writer,
“ people taken from real life” (usually by the although it far too rarely does. He may thus
awkward amateur) are not always recognisable inadvertently offend a dozen people, who apparently
even by their relations. Still there are writers had no actual existence outside his own imagina-
with powers of observation and expression just tion.
great enough to show up their friends in “book Social changes constantly bring fresh types
form." This fumbling literary portraiture, how- of character into existence; the writer who intui-
ever, is of no importance, since those who encourage tively finds thein is sometimes accused of piratical
it are as proud of appearing in third-rate novels as raids on the sanctities of real life. The arrow
in newspaper paragraphs. Both obscure flashes of shot at a venture occasionally hits a bull's-eye.
publicity tickle that sense of personal importance In the case of Falstaff, even Shakespeare is sus-
which cypics desire us to believe is a common pected. Instinct persuades us that he must have
weakness of humanity.
seen a dazzling fragment of the “Fat Knight"
How, then, does " character "get into fiction if under the big doublet of one or other of his
not "copied” from sometbing actually existing ? contemporaries. Still, so much wit, wisdom and
The question is frequently put to “people who immoral audacity could scarcely have been entirely
write” by people who don't, but who fancy the lavished on one mortal. Perhaps the genesis of
trick must be easy because it seems so simple. Falstaff is not dissimilar to that of Tartarin.
What takes place in most cases is this : the Either portrait might conceivably provoke an
novelist conscicusly seeking subjects in the world action for libel simply because there is so much
about him naturally falls under the influence humanity in man.
of certain dominating types. The world is very When Cervantes wrote “Don Quixote,” it is
busy, very active—often very ridiculous. Vitality unlikely that he had any particular hidalgo
can be infused into a book of contemporary life in his mind's eye, although there may have been
only through the medium of a writer's sympathy twenty unconscious sitters for that dazzling and
with the movements and idiosyncracies of en- touching portrait of the dying spirit of chivalry.
vironing society. It is the reflection of the what It is doubtful if one of the great characters of
is without its pages which gives the novel fiction outside historical romance ever actually
vivid life. Genius takes impressions as a sponge existed except as fragmentary human characteristics,
takes water, but amplifies or idealises all it half un- observed and collected over a wide field by the
consciously grasps. Then—and even the creator immortal writers who have filled their creations
knows not how-real men and women walk into with the tenderness and breath of life. To most
a book and lead an existence all their owu, over of us the inhabitants of the world of fiction are
which even he seems to have but limited control. far more alive than the men and women of
These men and women may resemble a dozen history. The first are portraits for which all
models, no one of which the writer ever consciously humanity has sat; the others individuals whose
met.
personalities have been lost under raw masses of
There is the well-known example of Alphonse record.
Daudet. When he drew his famous Tartarin of The writer who aims at success by the crude
Tarascon, the South immediately discovered the device of putting real people into his novel usually
hero throughout the length and breadth of sunny fails, and deserves to fail, although commercially
Provence. His very name got the author into he may obtain some sort of a reward if his trick
trouble. On the hero's first appearance-I am not be discovered. His book will hardly find a
sure it was not in The Figaro-his name was becoming place among the good novels even of a
Dardarin. It chanced that a certain Méridional bad year. The novel should be, only not con-
answered to that name. He objected, and it was sciously, a criticism of life-of types, not of the
only by changing the d's into t's, and by offering individuals whose names we read in the newspapers.
an apology, that Daudet escaped a libel suit. But To raid society to make fiction entails the sacrifice
did the inventor of Tartarin ever meet the hero of the higher aims of the craft. Today the
in the flesh? Probably not ; but throughout the novel of manners chiefly prevents atrophy in the
Midi Daudet may have made his acquaintance in spirit of comedy, now that its hold on our stage
fragments, out of which Tartarin grew. Tourists has grown so precarious. The charming and
## p. 158 (#558) ############################################
158
THE AUTHOR.
subtle art might vanish if it became the unblushing ... Has the author any claims against the
practice of popular writers to make “real people” printers or any other parties concerned in the
play the part which only the children of the distribution of the book ?
imagination can worthily fill. Reduced to its 3. If the author has any ground of action, in
lowest dimensions, the novel would become an what Court and in what form should proceedings
impertinent and misleading form of biography. be commenced ?
What, then, are the limits which should be To these questions the Counsel employed by the
observed in dealing with character ? They seem Society—Mr. T. E. Scrutton, K.C., of 3, Temple
perfectly clear.
Gardens, Temple—answered as follows:-.
The novelist is not justified in trying to produce “I think the publication by Publisher No. 3 is
his effects by dragging living men and women a fraud on the public, and any purchaser buying it
into his books. It is poor art and worse manners; under the belief that he was buying a novel by the
it is cheap, vulgar and offensive. If, however, in author different from the novels known by various
dealing with types of character the writer appear other titles, could proceed against the publishers
at times to become personal—as in the case of either civilly or criminally.
Tartarin-that is purely accidental, and may be “Under these circumstances I think the words
accepted as evidence of the cunning of his art. “Author's' novel " -- here follows the title -
The greatest writer takes his impressions from the “ followed by the old novel are capable of the
world about him, tracing them consciously to no meaning that the author approves of and is a party
single source. If he meet a suggestion of Don to a publication which is a fraud, and are therefore
Quixote or Sancho Panza, of Falstaff or Becky defamatory, and the subject matter of an action for
Sharp, of a Micawber or a Père Goriot, his imagi. libel, which would be whether the publishers were
nation will, if he have genius, do the rest.
or were not owners of the copyright. A somewhat
PERCY WHITE.
similar action was successfully brought in Arch-
bold v. Sweet, 5 C. & P. 221; and Kekewich, J., in
declining to grant an interlocutory injunction in
MRS. HUMPHREYS (RITA) Y. MESSRS.
the case where Dr. Lee complained of an abridged
BUTTERWORTH & CO.
edition said that the only possible cause of action
was libel.
“Further, if any actual damage could be proved
THE following matter has been settled by the the case would come within the principle stated by
I aid of the Society on behalf of one of its Bowen, L.J., in Radcliffe v. Evans, 1892, 2 Q. B. at
Members.
p. 527, I think an action will lie for written or
It will be seen to contain many points of great oral falsehoods not actionable per se or even
importance, and although the case did not actually defamatory where they are maliciously published,
go into Court, as it was settled after an action had where they are calculated in the ordinary course of
been commenced, yet Counsel's opinion and the things to produce, and where they do produce
full course of events will afford much information actual damage, is established law. Such an action
to the Members of the Society.
is ... an action on the case for damage willully
Many years ago one of our Members, under a and intentionally done without just cause or
nom de plume, wrote a book and sold the copyright excuse.'
of it 10 a publisher. The copyright was trans- “I think there is here a falsehood, and a malicious
ferred, and finally came into the hands of Publisher falsehood, but I don't suppose the author can
No. 2. Suddenly Publisher No. 3 produced the prove actual damage.
same book in a cheap form with another title. “Answering the questions put to me I am of
The public would naturally conclude that this was opinion-
a new book from the author's pen.
"1. That the author can sue the publishers for
In the first instance the matter was laid before libel, whether or not they are owners of the
Counsel, who was asked to answer the following copyright.
questions :
"2. That as the words published are, I think,
1. Could the author, although not the holder of libellous, an action lies against the persons
the copyright, take any action against Publisher distributing, including the printers, but it would
No. 3—
be better to sue the real culprit—the pub-
() If they had been legal owners of the cops- lisher.
right?
“3. The action would be one for libel in the
(b) Under the present circumstances of the K. B. D.
case, for issuing the old book under a new
“(Signed) T. E. SCRUTTON.
title ?
“ 3, Temple Gardens."
## p. 159 (#559) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
159
---
-
On receipt of this opinion the Committee of the get rid of our practical difficulties. Many thanks
Society decided to commence an action against for your help in the matter,
Publisher No. 3, and also the printers. The
L. GOMME.
Society's solicitors accordingly issued a writ and Spring Gardens, S.W.,
proceeded with the action, but before the case 10th February, 1902.
came on for trial it was settled on the following
[We have much pleasure in printing this letter,
terms :-
The payment of £21 to the author as
which has been received from the Clerk of the Lon-
damages ; the payment of an agreed sum to cover
don County Council, and are glad to see that the
Council has shown such earnest interest in main-
the cost of the action as between solicitor and
client; and the insertion of an apology in two
taining historical associations in London.—ED.]
papers, the Times and Spectator, the wording of
which was settled by the Society's solicitors.
We regret for some reasons that the matter was
not carried to trial, but the settlement was, no
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
doubt, the most satisfactory for the author.
To the Eólitor of THE AUTHOR.
SIR, --Your readers have seen Mr. Howard
Collins's letter about the Rules for Compositors
which Mr. Hart has prepared, and have probably
CORRESPONDENCE.
agreed with him that a set of general rules for the
spelling of doubtful words, and for certain ques-
tions of punctuation, would be a very good thing.
THE BESANT MEMORIAL FUND.
Many of them, however, have probably not seen
Sir,-As an old Member of the Society, I ven-
the Rules themselves, and I think their attention
ture to protest against the apathy shown by certain should be drawn to a chief characteristic of this
of its most eminent members in regard to the
little book.
Besant Memorial.
This is, that it is in many respects an attempt
In allowing their names to remain absent from
to go back to the spelling of half a century or
the subscription list, they are not only impairing
more ago : to substitute the fast-disappearing
the prestige of the memorial, but are conveying
z for sin such words as civilise, authorise, apologise
the impression that they are not in sympathy with
-the Rules give nearly three columns of them ;
Sir Walter Besant's methods and policy in con-
ethods and poliere in con- to reinstate the e now almost universally omitted
nection with the Society. the effects of which in judgment, acknowledgment, and so forth : to
cannot fail seriously to prejudice its position and
return to an hotel, an heroic, ard the like; and
capacity for usefulness.
to adopt many spellings now so unusual as conjurer,
Surely esprit de corps, if no other sentiment,
loth, install, lisyllable, siphon, stanch, tire (of a
should induce the members in question to recon-
wheel). The compositor is also directed not to .
sider their attitude.
print anglicised French words in italics, but yet
to retain their French accents ; and a curiously
Faithfully yours,
old-fashioned air is given to the book by its
RANK AND FILE. injunction not to put the initial letters of laronir,
10th February, 1902.
herculean, latinity, and such words, in capitals.
Has any one during the last century written of
“ a Laconic epistle of doubtful Latinity ?”
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
I send these comments to you, rather than to
the author of the pamphlet, that Members of the
DEAR MR. THRING,--Referring to the article Society may learn what are the rules they are
in the Author of January last as to changing asked to endorse. I should like to add that in
the name of Warwick Street, Cockspur Street, most other respects these Rules appear to me
Charing Cross, I write to say that the com- sensible and useful.
mittee dealing with the matter have decided
Yours faithfully,
to alter the name to Warwick House Street,
EDWARD ROSE.
and have given instructions for the usual notices
to be posted. Subject to the consideration of
30, Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, N.W.
any objections that may be raised, the Council February 21st, 1902.
will be recommended to approve the name. This,
I think, will preserve the historical name, and also
## p. 159 (#560) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
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--
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The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
Vol. XII.—No. 9.
APRIL 1, 1902.
- -----
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
E--
--
CONTENTS.
PAGE
175
176
..
176
PAGE
... 161
... 161
161
... 165
165
167
170
..
Notices ... ... . .
***
The Pension Fund of the Society of Anthors
From the Committee
An Apology ... ... ..
***
..
"
.. "*
... ...
Book and Play Talk ...
Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Property ...
Standard Rules for Printing...
Net Prices and the American Publishers' Association
General Memoranda ... ... ... ... ... ...
Warnings to Dramatic Authors
179
How to Use the Socie
The Reading Branch ... ...
Authorities ... ... ... .
The Annual General Meeting ...
The Canadian Society of Authors ...
Canadian Letter
American Notes
The Literary Year Book
Correspondence... ...
179
180
181
172
175
183
...
175
..
184
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
1. The Annual Report for the current year. ls.
2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary
Property. Issued to all Members gratis. Price to non-members, 6d., or 59. 60. per annum,
post free. Back numbers from 1892, at 10s. 6d. per vol.
3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. MORRIS COLLES, Barrister-at-Law. 38.
4. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. 1s.
5. The Cost of Production. (Out of print.)
6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. 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. 38.
Addenda to the Above. By G. HERBERT Thring. Being additional facts collected at
the office of the Society since the publication of the “Methods.” With comments and
advice. 2s.
7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With
Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, the Berne Convention, and the
American Copyright Bill. By J. M. LELY. 18. 6d.
8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By WALTER BESANT
( Chairman of Committee, 1888–1892). 18.
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LUNGE, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.
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G. HERBERT THRING, and Illustrative Examples by Sir WALTER BESANT. 2nd Edition. 1s.
[All prices nel. Apply to the Secretary, 39, ou Queen Street, Storey's Gate, S.W.]
## p. 160 (#564) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
The Society of Authors (Incorporated).
PRESIDENT.
GEORGE MEREDITH.
COUNCIL
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD AVE-
BURY, P.C.
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ROBERT BATEMAN.
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EDMUND GOSSE.
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WILLIAM MOY THOMAS.
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Hon. Counsel – E. M. UNDERDOWN, K.C.
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.
A. W. À BECKETT.
A. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.
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DRAMA,
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16. HERBERT THRING, 39, Old Queen Street, S.W.
Secretary-G. HERBERT TARING.
OFFICES: 39, OLD QUEEN STREET, STOREY'S GATE, S.W .
## p. 161 (#565) ############################################
The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vol. XII.--No. 9.
APRIL 1st, 1902.
PRICE SIXPENCE.
---
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CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
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VOL. XII.
The Dinner of the Society.
T HE Annual Dinner of the Society has been
1 fixed for April 30th. It will be held in the
Grand Hall, Hotel Cecil. Mr. A. Hope Hawkins will
take the chair. The Committee have decided that
on this and future occasions the Chairman of
## p. 162 (#566) ############################################
162
THE AUTHOR.
the Dinner shall be the Chairman of the Managing Steel, Mrs.
Tweedie, Mrs. Alec •
Committee for the current year.
Storr, Francis
Ward, Mrs. Humphry
The following members have consented to act as Sutherland, Her Grace Watts-Dunton, T.
Slewards :-
the Duchess of Wemyss, The Right
Thompson, Sir Henry, Hon. The Earl of
Abbot, The Rev. E. A., Foster, Sir Michael, F.R.S.
White, Percy
D.D.
K.C.B., M.P.
Todhunter, John
Zangwill, Israel
à Beckett, A. W. Freshfield, Douglas
Afalo, F. G.
Garnett, Richard, C.B.
The formal advertisements will be sent to the
Allingham, William, Gollancz, Israel
papers in due course, and a circular with full
F.R.S.
Grand, Madame Sarah
particulars will be issued to the members.
Archer, William
Graves, A. P.
Arnold, Sir Edwin, Gribble, Francis
K.C.S.I.
Grundy, Sydney
SINCE the last publication of The Author the Com-
Avebury, The Right Haggard, H. Rider
mittee have to chronicle the death of Sir Richard
Hon. The Lord, P.C. Hardy, Thomas
Temple, K.C.I.E.
Ball, Sir Robert, F.R.S. Harraden, Miss Beatrice The Society will hear with regret of the death
Bateman, Robert
Hocking, The Rev. of one who was an original member. He was
Beddard, F. E., F.R.S. Silas K.
elected in 1884, the year of incorporation.
Begbie, Harold
Hornung, E. W.
Sir Richard Temple on all occasions was an
Bell, Mackenzie
Humphreys, Mrs. Des earnest supporter of the work and aims of the
Belloc-Lowndes, Mrs. mond (“ Rita")
Society.
Benson, A. C.
Jacobs, W. W.
His contributions to literature it is perhaps
Bergne, Sir Henry, Jones, Henry Arthur needless to mention, or to give the list of the
K.C.M.G.
Jex-Blake, Miss Sophia, distinguished appointments that he held in India
Besant, W. H.
M.D.
before he finally came to take up political life in
Bigelow, Poultney Keary, C. F.
England.
Birrell, Augustin, K.C. Keltie, J. Scott, LL.D.
Bonney, The Rev. T. G., Kennard, Mrs. Edward
F.R.S.
Lecky, The Right Hon.
On the afternoon of March the 18th an influential
Browning, Oscar
W. E. H., P.C.
deputation waited on Mr. Gerald Balfour, the
President of the Board of Trade, at his rooms in
Brunton, Sir T. Lauder Lee, Sidney
the House of Commons.
Bryce, The Right Hon. Leighton, Mrs. Connor
The different sections of the deputation pre-
James, M.P.
Lely, J. M.
Bryden, H. A.
Lennox, Lady William
sented petitions urging the Government to press
Bullen, F. T.
forward copyright matters.
Lockyer, Sir Norman,
Burden-Sanderson, Sir K.Č.B.
The Society of Authors was represented by Mr.
Marsh, Richard
A. Hope Hawkins, the Chairman of the Society,
Campbell, Lady Colin Mason, A. E. W.
and by the Secretary.
Carey, Miss, R. N. Middlemass, Miss Jean
There were also present representatives of the
Castle, Egerton, F.S.A. Morrison, Arthur
Copyright Association, the Publishers Association,
the Musical Publishers Association, and other
Nicoll, Rev. W. Robert-
Cholmondeley, Miss
bodies interested in the question of copyright.
Mary
son, LL.D.
Norman, Henry, M.P.
Church, Prof. A. H.
Mr. Balfour gave no hope of the Bill coming
Collier, The Hon. John Norris, W. E.
forward this Session, but stated that he was doing
Clodd, Edward
Parker, Gilbert, M.P.
his utmost to press forward the matter, and that
Courtney, W. L.
Parker, Louis N.
he hoped at no distant date the Government would
Craigie, Mrs.
Pinero, A. W.
be in a position to put their Bill before the House
Croker, Mrs. B. M. Praed, Mrs. Campbell
and the public.
Davidson, John
Pryce, Richard
Dobson, Austin
Scott, Clement
The Work of the Society.
Douglas, Sir George, Seaman, Owen
At the meeting of the Committee, held on March
Bart.
Senior, William
10th, another large batch of members and asso-
Dowden, Prof. E., Spencer, Herbert ciates was elected.
LL.D.
Spielmann, M. H.
The number that has been elected up to the
Fife Cookson, Lt. Col. Spiers, Victor
present date amounts to sixty, and the progress of
F. C.
Sprigge, S. Squire the Society from this point of view appears to be
Fitch, Sir Joshua Stanford, C. Villiers thoroughly satisfactory.
G.
## p. 163 (#567) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
163
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In addition to the usual letters of advice, Bateman, Robert
£5 0 0
solicitors' letters, and other business, the Secretary Beddard, F. E. .
. 2 0 0
has had nine cases to deal with since the issue of Bonney, Rev. T. G.
..G. . . . . 2 2 ()
last month's Author.
Caine, T. Hall, amount dependent on
This number is not so large as that in the sum required.
previous month. Four cases out of the nine have Clodd, Edward . . . . . 1 1 0
been satisfactorily settled, and the list of the Colles, W. M. .
. 5 5 0
former months has closed up.
Collier, The Honble. John .
1 1 0
The Committee have taken up two cases on Conway, Sir W. Martin
1 1 0
behalf of members, with intent to carry them
S.. . . . . . .2 2 0
through the Courts if necessary. It is too early Dobson, Austin .
1 1 0
as yet to pass any comment.
Doyle, A. Conan. . . . . . 15 0 0
Dubourg, A. W..
2 2 0
Foster, Sir Michael, M. P., F.R.S. .
Besant Memorial.
Freshfield, D. W.
. . . . 5 0 0
To the last list of subscriptions towards the
Garnett, Richard
. . . . 3 3 0
memorial to Sir Walter Besant, the names and
Gosse, Edmund .
. . . . 3 3 0
amounts state below must be added. We trust
Grundy, Sydney .
. 2 2 0
that in the next few months the total will show a
Haggard, H. Rider .
. 3 3 0
considerable increase, for the work that our
Hardy, Thomas.
. 2 2 0
founder did for the cause of the profession cannot
Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Malet)
be over-estimated.
Hawkins, A. Hope
. 10 0 0
The Editor regrets that owing to a mistake, for
Jerome K. Jerome .
. 2 20
which he was responsible, Lady Florence Dixie's
Keltie, J. Scott .
. 1 1 0
subscription in the last list was entered as 58.; the
Kipling, Rudyard
. 20 0 0
amount was £5.
Lely, J. M.
1 1 0
The alteration has at once been
Loftie, Rev. W. J. .
. 1 1 0
made, bringing the subscriptions
Middleton-Wake, Rev. C.
C. H. .
2 2 0
chronicled last month up to: .£293 4 0
Norman, Henry.
. 1 1 0
To this must be added the amount
Parker, Gilbert ..
pero . . .
3 3 0
Pinero, A. W.
received up to the present date, Feb.
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5 5 0
Pollock, Sir F. . .
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10
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6
1 1 0
Rose, Edward .
Total . . . . £303 5 6
Scoones, W. Baptiste .
Sims, George R. . .
5 0 0
Sprigge, S. S. . .
2 2 0
Anonymous
. . . . £1 1 0 Stevenson, J.J..
. 2 2 0
Champneys, Basil
. 1 1 0 Ward, Mrs. Humphry
5 0 0
“ Colonia,” Natal, S. Africa
1 1 0
Fife Cookson, Lt. Col. F. C.
1 1 0
Total £141 1 0
Gunter, Lt. Col. E. A.
0 10 0
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
1 0 0 Donations from Members and Others.
Hurry, A. .
0 10 6 Aflalo, F. G.
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
.
. £0 10 6
Allingham, William, F.R.S.
tioned)
. . 1 1 0
Ames, Percy W.
Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. . . 0 5 0
. . . . 1 1 0
Anonymous
Millais, J. G. .
1 1 0
1 0 0
Anonymous
Quiller Couch, Miss M
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Sterry, G. Ashby .
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Temple, Lieut.-Col. R. C. .
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Underdown, Miss E.
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. 05 0
Anonymous
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Donations from Members of the Council.
Anonymous
. . . 1 1 0
Anonymous.
. 0 5 0
Meredith, George, President of the
“ Aunt Cherry”.
. . . . 1 1 0
Society .
. £10 0 0 Baker, James .
Avebury, The Right Hon.the Lord, P.c.
. . . . 1
i i ở
1 0
Beeby, Rev. C. E.
. 1 1 0
à Beckett, A. W. .
. 1 1 0 Bell, Mackenzie . .
. 1 1
Barrie, J. M.
0
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164
THE AUTHOR.
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Bond, R. Warwick .
Brodrick, The Hon. Mrs.
Bullen, F. T. .
Burrowes, Miss E.
Carey, Miss R. N. .
Carr, Rev. A. .
Church, Professor A.
Clarke, Cecil . .
Clericus . . : : :
Clifford, Mrs. W. K...
Collins, F. Howard .
Cook, C. H. . .
Cordeaux, Miss K. M.
Cox, Miss M. Roalfe .
Croker, Mrs. B. M. .
Crouch, A. P. .
Dale, Miss Nellie .
Davey, Mrs. E. M. .
de Crespigny, Mrs. .
Dixie, Lady Florence.
Doudney, Miss Sarah .
Dowsett, C. F. .
E. . .
E. B.
“Edna Lyall"
Ellis, Walter
E. S. B. .
Evans, Miss
F. B. D. .
Fenton, Ferrar
Garnier, R. M. .
Garvice, Charles.
Gibbs, Miss E. A.
Gill, Miss M. .
Gilliat, Rev. E..
Gleig, Charles :
Gollancz, Israel .
Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer.
Graham, James M.
Grahame, Kenneth.
Gray, Maxwell . .
Gray, Miss Annabel ..
Guthrie, T. Anstey .
Hales, Professor J. W.
Halford, Andrew .
Hamilton, Bernard
Hardy, Thomas G. .
Harraden, Miss Beatrice
Harries, Miss Maud .
Harries, Miss Anita . .
Hellier, H. G. .
Henderson, Miss Florence .
Hodgson, Shadworth H. .
Hoey, Mrs. Cashel . .
Hollins, Miss Dorothy .
Holmes, Miss Eleanor
Honneywill, W. Keppel .
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. ( 10 6 Hutchinson, Rev. H. N.
. 1 1 C Hgne, C. J. Cutcliffe.
. 1 1 0 1. J. A. . .
: 0 5 0 Infelix ..
. 1 1 0 Ivatts, E. B. . .
1 1 0 Jacobs, W. W..
. 1 1 0 Jex-Blake, Miss Sophia,
. 1 1 0 Johnson, V. E. .
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1 1 0 Kersey, W. H. . .
• 2 2 0 Lefroy, Mrs. C. P. .
O Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc.
0 10 6 Maartens, Maarten ..
0 10 0 Marks, Mrs. Mary .
1 1 0 McBride, Captain E. E.
0 10 6 McKinny, s. B. G. .
0 10 6 Miller, Miss E. T. .
1 1 0 Moncrieff, A. R. Hope
. 0 10 0 Nixon, J. E. . . . .
5 0 0 Nunn, J. J. W..
1 1 0 P. . .
1 1 0 Parker, Miss Nella . . .
0 10 0 Parr, Mrs. Louisa .
2 2 0 Pengelley, Miss Hester
. 1 10 Penny, Mrs. Frank .
. 1 1 0 Perks, Miss Lily
0 5 0 Polkinghorne, Miss Ruby K.
0 10 6 Pollock, Miss E.
. ( 10 0 Pool, Miss M. A. . . .
0 5 0 Porritt, Norman
0 5 0 Prichard, Hesketh .
1 1 0 Reid, Sir Hugh Gilzean, LI
0 10 0 Riddell, Mrs. J. H..
. 1 1 0 Roberts, Morley. .
0 10 6 Rossetti, W. M.
. 1 1 0 Russell, Sir W. H. .
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. 1 1 0 Saxby, Miss E. M. A. F..
. 0 10 0 Shaw, Commander the Hon. H. N.
1 1 0 Sherwood, Mrs.
. 2 2 0 Smith, H. W. . . . .
. 0 5 0 Spencer, Herbert
1 1 0 Spielmann, M. H. .
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: 0 10 0 Street, G. S. ..
. 1 1 0 Stretton, Miss Hesba . .
. 1 1 0 Swynnerton, Rev. C. .
. 1 1 0 Thring, the Rev. Prebendary God
0 3 0 Todd, Miss Margaret . . .
0 3 0 Toplis, Miss Grace ..
0 10 6 Toynbee, William ..
0 5 0 Tozer, Basil
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## p. 165 (#569) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
165
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Watt, A. P. & Son .
Westall, William .
Weyman, Stanley J. .
Wheelwright, Miss E.
Whitby, Mrs. J. E..
Wilkins, W. H. .
Wilson, Miss Aphra
Woods, Miss M. A. .
Workman, James
W. P. K..
Zangwill, I.
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0
AN APOLOGY.
To C. J. Wills, Esq., KEW GARDENS.
SIR, -I regret that in the issue of Woman's
Life, dated 15th February last, I inadvertently
published a copyright story of which you were the
author and proprietor. Had I known that the copy-
right belonged to you I should, of course, have
asked for your sanction before printing it.
The story was originally sent by a correspondent
to l'it-Bits, and secured the prize for the best story
of the week ending March 22nd, 1890. It was not
sent as an original story, but I was not aware that
any copyright in it existed or that it was your
work,
Yours faithfully,
GALLOWAY FRASER,
Editor of Woman's Life.
Southampton Street, Strand, W.C.,
March 11th, 1902.
to the right understanding of their art and its principles,
and to guide them into true practice of those principles,
while they are still young, their imaginations strong, and
their personal experiences as yet not wasted in foolish
failures."
" Rules," says Sir Walter, “will not make a man a novelist,
any more than a knowledge of grammar makes a man
know a language, or a knowledge of musical science makes
a man able to play an instrument, ... The art itself can
neither be taught nor communicated. If the thing is in a
man, he will bring it out somehow-well or badly, quickly
or slowly. If it is not he can never learn it.”
On page 76 there is a noteworthy passage :
“ Unfortunately there has grown up of late a bad fashion
of measuring success too much by the money it seems to
command. It is not always, remember, the voice of the
people which elects the best man, and though in most
cases it follows that a successful novelist commands a
large sale of his works, it may happen that the art of
a great writer is of such a kind that it may never become
widely popular.”
Again, speaking of the sort of contempt with
which the world at large is apt to regard the
story-teller, Sir Walter says :
" It is, I acknowledge, a kindly contempt-even an
affectionate contempt; it is the contempt which the
practical man feels for the dreamer, the strong man for
the weak, the man who can do, for the man who can only
look on and talk.
"The general—the Philistine-view of the profession is,
first of all, that it is not one which a scholar and a man of
serious views should take up: the telling of stories is
inconsistent with a well-balanced mind; to be a teller of
stories disqualifies one from a hearing on important
subjects.
“At this very day there are thousands of living people
who will never understand how the author of Coningsby'
and Vivian Gray' can possibly be regarded as a serious
statesman-all the Disraeli literature, even to the comic
cartoons, expresses the popular sentiment that a novelist
must not presume to call himself a statesman ; the intellect
of a novelist, it is felt-if he have any intellect at all, which
is doubtful-must be one of the most frivolous and lightest
kind; how can a man whose mind is always full of the
loves of Corydon and Amaryllis be trusted to form an
opinion on practical matters ?"
One more quotation ! This from the Appendix :
“ Remember that all publishers are eager to get good
work: they are prepared to consider MSS. carefully-
most of them pay men on whose judgment they rely, men
of literary standing, to read and taste' for them ; there-
fore, it is a simple and obvious piece of advice that the
writer should send his work to some good publisher, and it
is perfectly certain that, if the work is good, it will be
accepted and published. There is little or no risk, even
with an unknown author over a really good novel ...
Persevere, if you feel that the root of the matter is in you,
till your work is accepted ; and never, nerer, NEVER pay
for publishing a novel."
Our Founder's “ The Pen and the Book,"
published in 1899, by Thomas Burleigh, is no
doubt in the hands of many of our members. It
might be read with advantage by every aspirant
and beginner.
Sir Walter Besant was one of the thirty
“comrades in letters” who signed a letter of
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
TN the new edition of Sir Walter Besant's “The
I Art of Fiction,” just issued by Messi's. Chatto
and Windus at 1s. net (being a lecture
delivered at the Royal Institution, April 25th,
1884), there is a passage which has a particular
interest for members of our Society :
"I am certain that if these laws (i.e., science of fiction)
were better known and more generally studied, a very
large proportion of the bad works of which our critics com
plain would not be produced at all. And I am in great
hopes that one effect of the establishment of the newly
founded Society of Authors will be to keep young writers
of fiction from rushing too hastily into print, to help them
## p. 166 (#570) ############################################
166
THE AUTHOR.
congratulation and homage addressed to Mr.
George Meredith, on the occasion of his seventieth
birthday.
The Tatler, of February 19th, contains a poem
addressed to Mr. Meredith on the attainment of his
seventy-fourth birthday. The lines are from the
pen of Mr. Arthur Beckett, of Eastbourne.
Mr. Thomas Hardy's readers will probably be
sorry to hear that Messrs. Harper and Brothers do
not intend to publish an India paper edition of
his works at 3s. and 28.; though a paragraph,
stating that the first volume of such an edition
would be issued this month, has appeared in a
paper.
Mr. Frank Bullen's new book is a novel of
whaling life, and is entitled " The Whaleman's
Wife." It is on the lines of the “ Cruise of the
Cachalot,” but with a much stronger religious tone.
Mr. Bullen has, of course, drawn upon his own
experiences for scenes and incidents, but he has
been very careful not to duplicate any of those
recorded in the “Cruise of the Cachalot.”
Mrs. Flora Annie Steel, the popular author of
“ On the face of the Waters,” “In the Permanent
Way," &c., &c., is not publishing anything this
season, nor has she a book on hand at present.
Neither shall we have a new book from Mr. I.
Zangwill for some time to come. Owing to his
absorption in Zionist work his literary activity has
been much crippled. Possibly he may make a
collection of his verses.
Mrs. Stepney Rawson's new novel, “ Journeyman
Love,” is to appear shortly (Hutchinson & Co., 6s.).
It is a pure love story, and deals with the spiritual
development of a young man from Western England.
This Gilbert Helicar breaks loose from his family
-a commercial one—and goes over to Paris.
There he falls into a musical circle and meets
Chopin, Georges Sand, Berlioz, &c.
Mr. G. S. Layard, author of " The Life Letters
and Opinions of Mrs. Lyon Lynton," has just
completed a novel called “ Rupert the Mummer:
an Extravaganza."
“ The Power of the Past" is the title of a new
novel by Miss Daisy Hugh Pryce. It is a Nile
story, the scenes of which are laid among the
ruins of ancient Egypt — Sacchara, Karnac,
Thebes, and Philae. It is dedicated to Lord
ra
Kitchener.
Graham Hope has recently published a selection
of optimistic thoughts from the writings of Robert
Browning, entitled “All's Well.” This little
volume of some seventy pages is published by
H. Wilford Bell, at the price of 3s.
The same author's new book, “My Lord Wine-
hender," is to appear on April 30th. Messrs.
Smith Elder are the publishers.
Mr. Frankfort Moore, author of “A Nest of
Linnets," &c., &c., has followed his usual custom
of publishing a modern story after one of his
eighteenth century romances. His new novel,
“A Damsel or Two," deals with some aspects of
modern society.
A new novel, called “ The Way of Escape,” has
just been completed by Graham Travers (Dr.
Margaret Todd). It is to be published immediately
by Messrs. Blackwood, who also produced her
previons novels, “Mona Maclean” and “ Windy-
haugh.” The first of these is now in its fifteenth
edition.
“An Antarctic Queen,” by Captain Charles Clark
(Fred. Warne & Co.), is a capital adventure story
for boys and girls. Incidents are plentiful, the
action never flags, and the hero, Percy Percival,
is one of the right sort. Who the Queen of
Lastfoundland is and how the story ends readers
must find out for themselves.
Mr. Frederick I. Winbolt's “ Frithidf the Bold”
is an interesting drama in blank verse based on
the Norse Saga. There is a prologue, three acts
and eleven scenes. Ingeborg, the ill-fated
daughter of King Bele, loves and is loved by
Frithidf, son of old Roderick the peasant. The
cruel, cowardly Helgi makes his sister Ingeborg
wed old King Sigurd Ring, during Frithidf's
absence. Ingeborg dies; but Frithidf is roused
from his depair by King Sigura. Frithidf's words
of hope close the drama.
Mr. W. W. Jacobs's new novel, “ At Sunwich
Port,” is to be published in volume form at the
end of this month ; and a collection of his short
stories is to appear in the autumn.
Mr. Fisher Unwin is publishing shortly two new
books by John Oliver Hobbes. One is “ Tales
About Temperament," price 2s.6d. nett; the other is
a comedy in five acts, entitled “ The Flute of Pan”
(cloth, 3s. 6d. ; paper, 28. nett).
We hear that Mr. Kyrle Bellew may reappear in
London next season in Mr. Stanley Weyman's
“Gentleman of France."
The fiftieth performance of “ Pilkerton's
Peerage,” took place at the Garrick on Satur-
day, March 15th.
The Sh
The Shakespeare Festival at Stratford-on-
Avon will commence on the 14th inst., and will
be continued till May 3rd. “Henry VIII.” is to
be revived, and Miss Ellen Terry will appear as
“Queen Katherine." "Twelfth Night,” “Othello,"
“Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “King Lear,"
and “ Henry V.” are also to be presented.
## p. 167 (#571) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
167
Mr. Tree will almost certainly give a series of have been produced by Messrs. Hurst & Blackett,
Shakespearean performances at Her Majesty's is bringing out almost immediately a new novel
Theatre, before the close of the present season. entitled a “Son of Mischief.” Messrs. Digby,
Sir Henry Irving is to reappear at the Lyceum Long & Co. are the publishers.
on 25th, in “Faust,” revised by A. C. Calmour.
Mr. J. C. Wright has just published a work
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
of considerable local interest, entitled “Bygone
PROPERTY.
Eastbourne." It endeavours to give an account
of its people, its occupations, its government, in a
word its life in the olden days, and its develop-
Titles.
ment as modern Eastbourne. The book is illus-
trated by copies of old engravings, and the price
M HE thorny question of the property existing
is 8s. net.
in the titles of books is one that will
“Sordon," Benjamin Swift's latest novel, grips
rouse even the dullest author. Disputes are
the reader from start to finish. It is essentially a constantly arising. Actions are threatened, and
short story based on a situation powerfully handled.
blackmail is levied. Some with legal rights are
It is also, as might be expected, a keen phsycho- bluffed into quiescence, whilst, others with rights
logical study. About this very individual young which exist nowhere except in their perverted
author's method there is more than a hint of the
nt of the
imagination
imagination, ride roughshod
ride ronchsh
over their timid
dashing expert surgeon and his steel-bright dis- brethren
secting knife. To reveal the basic situation here
The legal side of the question has been dealt with
would be a work, not of supererogation, but of from time to time in The Author. so it is needless
superfluity.
to touch on that subject; but it might tend to
In “Scottish Art and Letters” (Feb.—April, some useful end if other sides were put forward.
1902), which is an illustrated quarterly review of There is no copyright in a title, so The Author
literature and the literal arts, edited at Glasgow says.* Does the property, therefore, define it as
by Mr. Arnold Fraser-Lovat, Benjamin Swift has you may, which is inherent in a title, last beyond
an article on Philistinism, which "gives one to the period of copyright, or is it coterminous with
think " more than a little. Says the writer : it ? Has the point ever been decided ? Is there
“ Philistinism is the beef-essence of ignorance. But it is any power to stop authors of serious novels—no
not the naïve, delightful ignorance of the peasant, that names mentioned from producing a series of
ignorance of the world's affairs which almost amounts to a “Tom Jones'” or “ Clarissa Harlowes" ? Will
kind of negative wisdom. Far from it. The Philistine is
any one throw light on the subject ?
a person of full-blown judgment. For instance, he has
invincible opinions on the necessary morality' of Art.
Again, coming to commercial considerations,
Obviously, if Art is only a reduplication of the world, then, titles are sometimes hopelessly deceptive. The
in so far as it mimics gross things, it must be regarded as a following story—the writer does not vouch for its
stimulus to immoral conduct. But the mere material of Art
truth-may illustrate this. The pupils of a certain
can never be the subject of moral condemnation, but only
'the method of handling its material.
scholastic establishment were allowed to submit
"I do not believe that there is anything pertaining to to the Head the list of books to be purchased for
human experience which may not be nobly handled by a the library. The Head had a very strong objec-
great artistic genius. But Philistine criticism professes to
tion to works of fiction, but allowed “ Cometh
be shocked by the mere choice of material. As if the whole
world were not the theatre of Art. The miserable doctrine
up as a Flower” to pass, thinking it a work on
that only what is pleasant' must be reproduced by the botany. The moral is evident, and while the
artist is only Philistinism parading as refined taste. If British public suffer, the author gains no material
that doctrine were true, half of the best Art of the world
advantage.
would require to be surrendered. . . The sphere of æsthetics
is co-ordinate with the entire sphere of Tragedy, and any
Many will tell you that a good title is every-
other doctrine reduces Art to the level of a cock-tail and a thing, but the quarrel is one of definition. What
pick-me-up."
is a good title ? Is it one that deceives the
William Westall's “ With the Red Eagle” has public ? Is it one that, without deceiving the
been translated into German by Fraulein public, affords it no information ? Or is it one
Ernestine Hebberling, of Munich, and before that explains to a small degree the contents of the
appearing in book form will be run serially in the book ? The curiosity inherent in human nature
Deutsche Alpenzeitung, a magazine published in 1* Please give reference, as we find in Author, September,
Munich and Leipsic.
1900, p. 63, as follows:-(1) Speaking generally, it cannot
be said that there is copyright in a title. (2) If there is
R. E. Salway, author of "The Finger of Scorn,"
copyright, then the title must retain distinct originality.
“ The One Alternative," and other novels which ED.]
## p. 168 (#572) ############################################
168
THE AUTHOR.
II.
U
desires to be satisfied to a certain extent. The
deceptive title is repugnant. The colourless title ALL Members of the Society of Authors having
is useless; but the descriptive title gives an qualified by publishing at least one volume may
appetite for the contents. Take any literary be expected to know something about titles.
paper at random-read through the list of pub- Happy those who have not experienced difficulty
Iishers' advertisements. In works of fiction the either in selecting or securing the most suitable
title of perhaps one in ten mildly suggests the name for their work! It is stated, upon good
contents, in poetry and drama perhaps the authority, that there is no copyright in titles
same proportion; but turning to biographical, as such, and in the legislation projected for the
scientific, theological and historical works, the better protection of literary property it is not pro-
title is generally a clear statement. The pros posed to confer the right of ownership upon the
pective reader is satisfied, and chooses accordingly. first user of a title. Possibly many of the difficulties
Would it not be an advantage, then, to carry out connected with titles arise from the exclusion of
the same idea in fiction ? The cynic, who deems the designation of the work from such legal status
it a satisfaction to start a policy of mild deception, as the work possesses. It would be presumption
is surely the only person to raise an objection. on the part of a new Member of the Society, as I
There was a book published called “The Vision am, who is not a lawyer to say what ought to be
Splendid.” One reviewer on taking it up stated done to make the ownership of titles legally valid.
that he thought its contents would prove to be a The present state of affairs is unendurable, and
new “ Pilgrim's Progress." It was in reality a book must be remedied. As I understand the case, a
dealing with theatrical life. Would the “Pil title is copyright only as part of a book; take it
grim's Progress” title gain more readers and away from a particular work, and it is not copy-
purchasers than such a title might repel ? Surely, right; join it again to some other work, and it is
as a general rule, what is gained on the one side is protected in part. It is much the same as though
lost on the other. But a practically descriptive my ownership of a suit of clothes could be made
title would be most satisfactory thus :
good at law, but my ownership of my hat could
not, unless it was a cap made of the same cloth as
(General) . Historical Novel.
(Particular) French Revolution.
the suit, or habitually worn with a particular suit,
then, as long as the suit lasted, I could substantiate
(Critical): Incident and Adventure.
Author : Thomas Jones.
my ownership of the cap, but not longer.
This laxity respecting the copyright of titles has
Or again :
made authors, and publishers too, less particular
(General) Rural Life.
than they ought to be as to originality in titles.
(Particular Cumberland District.
Critical). Character Study of Peasantry.
The piracy of printers and publishers has been
stopped with a strong hand; the felony of unblush-
Author . Charles Brown.
ing plagiarism is punished ; but this petty larceny
If the author writes two or three books along of filching titles is tolerated, just as is the pur-
the same lines, then the others would be marked loining of umbrellas when it is done by the
thus :
respectable and reputable. It must be stopped.
“Rural Life II. or III."
How, the Society of Authors must determine.
The grievances are of two kinds : first there is the
This method of classification has been adopted taking of a title from a manuscript. This is much
in the matter of music with no unsatisfactory more common than people think. The young
result. Why should it not be equally successful author, the beginner, must have a good taking
with literature? The purchaser would be able at title for his article or story, or it will not receive
once to decide upon his purchase. The bookseller much consideration. If, by an attractive title, he
would have some knowledge from which to push wins the attention of the editor, or reader, to his
his wares. The purchasers would not wander MS., that may be accepted. Sometimes it is the
aimlessly in search of the desired object, but could title only that is good—then that lives in the
at once touch the spot, instead of taking up book editor's memory, all recollection of the article or
after book in the vain hope of gaining information story fades, and, at some appropriate moment, that
as to their contents-information which the book title surges up again into remembrance and serves
seller is often absolutely unable to supply. Let to designate the work of the editor or of some
this matter be seriously considered. Let one or other contributor ; or it may be that the editor is
two of the leading authors adopt the method, and asked to suggest a title by some brother penman,
the thing is done. The sale of books will be and gives away that which he knows not how he
enormously facilitated.
came by. I know, for I have suffered. To have
A. C. B. a manuscript rejected is a matter of little moment;
## p. 169 (#573) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
169
to have an original title annexed by the rejecter is If it be true that there is no Act of Parliament
maddening. It is torture equal to having a sound which it is not possible to evade, so is the converse.
tooth removed for the sole purpose of putting it into And although there is no copyright in titles, yet
some fossil jaw it does not fit. It is the sort of there may be for those who agree to recognise that
thing that stops the young author's bile flowing prior claim gives rights of ownership. The matter
freely, and makes him wish all editors were dead, of titles concerns authors chiefly, but the co-
or at least did not write—some can't, by the way. operation of publishers is to be desired. If
With respect to grievances of this nature I wish Members of the Society of Authors agree, and can
to anticipate some objectors. There are those who persuade publishers—or at least Members of the
will say that it is more difficult to find a remedy Publishers' Association also to agree, all that is
than to endure the evil. The lawyers will draw required is a register of titles. On this register an
the red-herring of common law across the scent, author would claim to have a title inscribed ;
and assert that a remedy is already provided for the publisher would require a certificate of such
such wrongs, wherever the wrongful doing can be registration before sending the book to press.
proved. The big, successful author will beg the I do not think it necessary to give exact details,
question by stating that he doubts if the practice or to draft rules, but the procedure suggested
exists, since he has never met it. By the way, it would be somewhat as follows :
is astonishing how many of the commonest diffi- (a) The Society of Authors will depute some
culties that beset the paths of authorship are missed officer to keep a register of titles.
by successful writers ; all obstacles appear to vanish (6) An Associate or Member of the Society,
at the majesty of their superb reputation. Then wishing to register the title of a book prior to
there are those who say that all the good titles publication, shall send such title, together with
have been used already. It is just as true that all a registration fee of 1s., to the keeper of the
the good things have been said, and thought, and register.
tbat nothing is new.
c) The keeper of the register shall search the
There are others who will contend that the register to see that no like title has been already
minor scribe has taken a good title to append it to registered, and shall look in the index volumes
inferior work, and deserves to be robbed. To of the English Catalogue (and the weekly lists
these the obvious answer is that in the great published since) with the same view.
republic of letters all authors must possess equal (d) If the title is not upon the register, or in
rights, otherwise honest men will quickly get out. the English Catalogue, the title shall be entered,
The evil exists; it is a grievance ; there must be and a certificate to that effect given to the appli-
a remedy. So far I have found it most effective cant for registration.
not to put good, original titles to MSS. sent out (e) If the title is already upon the register, the
on approval. I use instead some designation descrip- applicant will be informed of that fact, and, at his
tive of the article or story, and state that it is only request, may be put into communication with the
descriptive, and that, if the MS. be accepted, I person who has already registered the title. If the
should like to suggest a title for it which I believe title appears in the English Catalogue, the appli-
to be better.
cant will be referred to the entry, date of publica-
The next order of grievance is in respect of tion, publisher, and author also being given, where
printed volumes. Old titles are used ; new ones, these appear. The 1s. fee will be retained as pay-
taken almost simultaneously, clash. To the first ment for the search made.
division belong “ Through Siberia” (Constable), (f) Any number of titles may be registered by
“ Fifty Years in South Africa” (Smith, Elder), one applicant, but a separate fee of ls. must
“ All the Russias ” (Heinemann), within the last be paid for each entry and search. Titles if not
year. They are the result of carelessness, because used within one year from the date of entry lapse,
if the “ Reference Catalogue of Current Literature," unless renewed (g), and when so lapsed or aban-
or any good bibliography, had been consulted, doned, may be re-entered either by original appli-
earlier works in circulation would have been found cant or by any other person.
listed. The remedy is obvious. But it has hap- (9) Titles may be renewed a second year, and
pened that two authors decide upon the same title from year to year, upon application and payment
for books in MS. or at press, and until one is of the fee of 1s., and also, at the written request of
announced for early publication it is next to im- the registered owner, may be transferred on pay-
possible for the other author to know of its exist- ment of the same fee.
ence. It is for instances of this kind that I wish (h) The register shall be considered and treated
to suggest a remedy-a remedy which the Society as private and confidential, and may not be in-
of Authors can provide, and one which will, if spected by either an applicant for registration,
adopted, raise the status of titles generally. publisher, or other person than the keeper of the
## p. 170 (#574) ############################################
170
THE AUTHOR.
register. Preferably, it should consist of a card
index, numbered seriatim, so that where necessary
the entry particularly required may be produced in
evidence without endangering the secrecy of the
file.
() Persons not Associates or Members of the
Society may apply for a title to be entered in the
register, this application to be treated just as an
application from an Associate or Member of the
Society, but to be accompanied with a fee of five
shillings, unless received through a publisher,
when the fee shall be half-a-crown.
(k) Duplicate certificates of any entry will be
issued to the original applicant on payment of a
fee of one shilling for each such certificate.
There are several details which may be amended;
for instance, each application might be made on a
special form of printed card, which, numbered and
dated on receipt, would itself be filed, and consti-
tute the entry. Then, instead of searching through
all the indices of the English Catalogue, it might
suffice to go back only as far as 1880 ; and, in-
stead of one shilling, it might be necessary to
charge more in order to make the register pay its
way, and not become a charge upon the funds of
the Society; or it might be possible to give one
free entry to each Associate and Member with the
receipt of his subscription for the current year.
If authors and publishers will agree upon the
principle, I believe the plan I propose, when per-
fected by experimental working, will prove of
incalculable benefit to all who write books and
publish them.
WILLIAM GREENER.
character would have remedied the evil, nothing has been
done. Did the law permit a man to enter a jeweller's shop
and appropriate articles of jewellery, immediate redress
would be given ; but in the greatest city of the world it
is apparently the business of nobody to protect the product
of men's brains.
"Such an abuse as the present would not be possible
either in America or any other civilised country, and, con-
sidering the large number of people it indirectly affects, it
is astonishing that we have to request the assistance of a
foreign State on behalf of its citizens before justice can be
done to our own."
In view of the next paragraph, the words
“scandalous robbery" seem somewhat strong.
DEATH OF A SONG-WRITER.
Signor Henry Pontet Piccolomini, the composer of “Ora
Pro Nobis," "Whisper, and I shall hear," and other popular
pieces, has just died in Hanwell Asylum.
The composer met with great misfortunes, which, preying
upon a keenly sensitive organisation, caused him to become
mentally deranged, and about two years ago he became an
inmate of Hanwell.
Though his publications must have brought in thousands
of pounds, he derived comparatively little benefit from
them. He lived and died a poor man, and his wife and
children are left with nothing.
Unless some effort is made to help the distressed widow,
the amiable and gifted composer will rest in a pauper's
bio yao
grave,
Do not the street hawkers rather add to than
detract from the popularity of a song, in the same
way as do the street organs ? It can scarcely be
contended that poor people who buy a piece of
music for one penny in the streets belong to the
same class as those who would go to the music shops
and give two shillings for the same song. If the
protest were entirely on behalf of the authors, Mr.
Boosey's action would be heroic, but apparently
the publisher is to be the chief gainer from the
present agitation.
R.
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
1.
Musical Piracy.
A DAILY newspaper of the 12th of March inserts
the following articles in the same column :-
PIRACY OF MUSIC.
LORD WINDSOR TO RAISE THE QUESTION IN
PARLIAMENT.
Lord Windsor has given notice in the House of Lords
"to call attention to the serious loss inflicted upon copy.
right holders of music by the illegal sale in the streets and
elsewhere of copyright music by hawkers, and to the
impracticability of their obtaining redress under the exist.
ing law, and to ask His Majesty's Government whether
they see their way to passing some temporary measure to
protect those who suffer by reason of these illegal
practices."
Mr. William Boosey writes from Paris as follows :-
“Now that there is a possibility of the American Govern-
ment intervening to stop the pirating of music copyrights,
perhaps our Government will be forced to take some steps.
Failing this, there is no doubt that there will be a serious
breach of the peace as a protest by copyright owners and
authors against the present scandalous robbery of their
works.
“ The present abuse has been existing for years, and
although at any time a short Bill of a non-controversial
VEY best thanks to those many correspondents
V who have written to me in answer to my
request in the January Author !
The main conclusion I draw from the letters
received is that for a standard set of rules to be of
any practical use it must be exhaustive. The
writer upon any particular subject wants to have
that one subject thoroughly dealt with, and ex-
haustively treated, so that it may be possible to
settle any question that arises in it.
Now, as it would be quite useless to think of
compiling a set of rules for each different subject,
the alternative 18 to compile & much larger set
of rules dealing more or less completely with all
## p. 171 (#575) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
171
subjects likely to be wanted. This means, to deal II.-Notes on the Clarendon Press Rules for
adequately with the requirements of all English
Compositors and Readers,
authors, editors, compositors, and readers, a book
of some five hundred pages.
General Observation.
In order to see whether such a large work would AN author should know his business well
be satisfactory to those who have expressed interest
enough to be able to settle all these matters by
in this matter—and I gladly acknowledge here the simply writing “ follow copy " on his MS. How-
very great number of good wishes that I may be
ever, as literary talent does not always include
able to arrange a satisfactory set of standard rules spelling, punctuation, or the faintest sense of beauty
-I have compiled to the best of my ability Part 1. in books considered as objects to be looked at as
of such a set of rules as appears will alone satisfy well as read, it is as well that rules should be made
the wants of such diverse writers as Novelists—who for the incapable.
want nothing but the correct spelling of a few dis-
puted English words ; Geographers—place-names ;
Pages 7, 8. Spelling.
Historians—names of people ; Chemists-names of
As s and 2 mark distinct sounds, and the
substances ; Geologists_names of—but I need not
suppression of z is a deliberate impoverishment of
continue, for every one can fill a long list on these
our insufficient alphabet, the termination ize ought
lines.
to be used in every word that is not common
This Part I. deals with the letter A only, and is
enough to have made the ise irresistibly familiar.
now being set up at the University Press, Oxford.
Advertize, analyze, circumcize, emprize, improvize,
I shall hope during next month to forward copies
mainprize, minimize and paralyze, could all be
of it to my correspondents, and to any others who
established with much less friction than tantalize,
may express a wish to see it. From the opinions
criticize, exorcize, equalize, dogmatize, pulverize,
sent me, I must decide whether, in that form or
any other, it may seem worth while continuing it a
&c., as recommended.
through the other letters of the alphabet.
Page 9. Footnote.
In mentioning this first part, I feel I must
specially thank the Committee and Secretary of
Dr. Murray's attempt to restore the e after dg
the “ London Association of Correctors of the does not really save any ambiguity in the pro-
Press," not only for their valuable assistance nunciation. The only cases of g being hard after
already given, but also for their cordial offers of
offers of d are Ludgate, Fladgate, etc. A foreigner might,
help in the future.
on the analogy of Ludgate, pronounce judgement
So many different opinions have reached me jud-ge-ment; but no human mouth could pro-
with reference to the spelling of the suffixes “ ize" nounce judgment with a hard c.
and “ise," that I am sure every correspondent and
every reader of these columns will be pleased to
Spelling generally.
read the following admirable letter which has just
I always use the American termination or for
reached me : it goes to the root of the matter, and our. Theater, somber. center. etc. I reject only
will carry conviction where such be possible : because they are wantonly anti-phonetic : theatre,
“ DEAR COLLINS,-By all means stand up for
sombre, etc., being nearer the sound. Such
the Rules (of Mr. Hart] in respect of the use of
abominable Frenchifications as programme, cigar-
z in place of s wherever the sound dictates it. You ette, etc., are quite revolting to me. Telegram,
quartet, etc., deprive them of all excuse.
may. if you like. quote me as saying that our
I
language is irrationally unphonetic, and it is
should like also to spell epilogue epilog, because
absurd to make it more unphonetic still, and this people generally mispronounce it, just as they
is done wherever s is used in place of 2 in such would mispronounce catalogue if the right sound
words as authorize and anologize. To spell these as were not so familiar. That is the worst of un-
though they were pronounced authorice and apologice
phonetic spelling : in the long run people pro-
when we have actually the letter which conver's nounce words as they are spelt ; and so the
the right sound is simply a retrograde movement ; language gets senselessly altered.
and the Clarendon Press Rules are to be approved
for adhering to the 2, and should indeed extend its
Page 15. Contractions.
use. I always make my own printer substitute the The apostrophies in ain't, don't, haven't, etc.,
z for the s wherever it is possible.—Truly yours, look so ugly that the most careful printing cannot
HERBERT SPENCER."
make a page of colloquial dialogue as handsome
F. HOWARD COLLINS. as & page of classical dialogue. Besides, shan't
Iddesleigh, Torquay.
should be sha"n't, if the wretched pedantry of
## p. 172 (#576) ############################################
172
THE AUTHOR.
indicating the elision is to be carried out, I have
written aint, dont, havnt, shant, shouldnt and
wont for twenty years with perfect impunity, using
the apostrophe only where its omission would
suggest another word : for example, hell for he'll.
There is not the faintest reason for persisting in
the ugly and silly trick of peppering pages with
these uncouth bacilli. I also write thats, whats,
lets, for the colloquial forms of that is, what is, let
us ; and I have not yet been prosecuted.
Page 18. Hyphens.
I think some of the hyphens given are question-
able. Smallpox is right; and small pox is right;
but small-pox is, I should say, certainly wrong.
A hyphen between an adverb and a verb, or an
adjective and a noun, is only defensible when the
collocation would be ambiguous without it.
The rule given that compound words of more than
one accent should be hyphened is, like most rules,
a mere brazening-out of a mistake.
Page 23. Italics.
This is deplorable. To the good printer the
occurrence of two different founts on the same
page is at best an unavoidable evil. To the bad
one, it is an opportunity of showing off the variety
of his stock : he is never happier than when he is
setting up a title-page in all the founts he possesses.
Not only should titles not be printed in italic ; but
the customary ugly and unnecessary inverted
commas should be abolished. Let me give a
specimen. 1. I was reading The Merchant of
Venice. 2. I was reading “ The Merchant of
Venice." 3. I was reading The Merchant of
Venice. The man who cannot see that No. 1 is
the best looking as well as the sufficient and
sensible form, should print or write nothing but
advertisements of lost dogs or ironmongers'
catalogues : literature is not for him to meddle
with.
On the whole, and excepting expressly the deplor-
able heresy about italics, these Clarendon Press
rules will serve the turn of the numerous authors who
have no ideas of their own on the subject, or who
are still in their apprenticeship, or who, as English
gentlemen, desire to do, not the sensible and
reasonable thing, but the thing that everybody
else does. At the same time, the poverty of the
rules shews how far we still are from having an
accurate speech notation. To the essayist and the
scientific writer this may not greatly matter ; but
to the writer of fiction, especially dramatic fiction,
it is a serious drawback, as the desperate phonetics
of our dialect novels show. Now the Claren-
of
don Press prints for the essayist and the
professor much more than for the fictionist. I
therefore suggest that some well-known printer
of novels should be asked for a copy of his rules,
if he has any. A Scotch printer for preference,
as the Scotch intellect likes to know what it 18
doing.
G. BERNARD SHAW.
Page 21. Division of English Words.
The notion that words at the end of a line
should not be divided if the division can possibly
be avoided leads to a great deal of villainous
printing, because the compositor gets it into his
head that he may justify recklessly provided he
ends the line without breaking a word. I had
much rather see even a syllable divided than a
line spaced so widely as to make a whitish bar
across the black of the letterpress. The com-
positor should be taught that the evenness of the
f the
color of his letterpress is far more important
than the philological vedantries of word division.
Even from the pedantic point of view there is no
there is no
sense in recommending impor-tance and respon-
dent, and barring exal-tation and imagi-nation.
If it is wrong to divide the last syllables of exalt
and imagine, it is equally wrong to divide the last
syllables of import and respond.
Page 22. Punctuation.
Stops are clearly as much the author's business
as words. The rules given here are very properly
confined to matters of custom in printing. I wish,
however, that the Clarendon Press, or some other
leading house, would make a correct rule for
the punctuation of quotations between inverted
commas. The common practice is to put the
points belonging to the sentence in which the
quotation occurs inside the inverted commas
instead of outside. For example : Was he wise to
say “Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we
die?” The correct, but less usual punctuation is :
Was he wise to say “ Let us eat and drink ; for
to-morrow we die" ?
NET PRICES AND THE AMERICAN
PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION.
M HE following plan to correct evils connected
with the cutting of prices on copyright
books was adopted at a meeting of the
American Publishers' Association, held February
13th, 1901; amendments referring to fiction were
adopted at a meeting held January 8th, 1902 :-
I. That the members of the American Publishers
Association agree that all copyrighted books first
issued by them after May 1st, 1901, shall be pub-
lished at net prices which it is recommended shall
## p. 173 (#577) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
173
be reduced from the prices at which similar books the copies then remaining in the dealers' hands
have been issued heretofore, provided, however, they must be re-sold to him on demand.
that there shall be exempt from this agreement all V III. That when the publisher sells at retail a
school books, such works of fiction (not juveniles) net book published under the rules it shall be at
and new editions as the individual publisher may the retail price, and he shall add the cost of post-
desire, books published by subscription and not age or expressage on all books sent out of the city
through the trade, and such other books as are not in which the publisher does business.
sold through the trade.
IX. That for the purpose of carrying out the
II. It is recommended that the retail price of a above plan the Directors of the Association be
net book, marked “NET,” be printed on a paper authorised to establish an office and engage a
wrapper covering the book.
suitable person as manager, and endeavour to
III. That the members of the Association agree secure from all dealers in books assent to the above
that such net copyrighted books and all others of conditions of sale. Under the direction of the
their books shall be sold by them to those book- Board the manager shall investigate all cases of
sellers only who will maintain the retail price of cutting reported, and when directed shall send out
such net copyrighted books for one year, and to notices to the Association, jobbers, and the trade,
those booksellers and jobbers only who will sell of any persons violating the above provisions.
their books further to no one known to them to X. That it shall be the duty of all members of
cut such net prices, or whose name has been given the Association to report immediately to the said
to them by the Association as one who cuts such office all cases of the cutting of prices which may
prices or who fails to abide by such fair and reason- come to their knowledge.
able rules and regulations as may be estaolished XI. That the Association through its agents and
by local associations as hereinafter provided. members aid in the formation of booksellers' asso-
A dealer or bookseller may be defined as one who ciations in the important centres and cities in the
makes it a regular part of his business to sell books, United States, the object of which associations
and carries stock of them for public sale.
shall be to assist the Publishers' Association in
IV. That the members of the Association agree maintaining prices on net books as aforesaid, and
that on all copyrighted works of fiction (not net) to establish such lawful rules and regulations
published by them after February 1st, 1902, the respecting the conduct of business in their locality
greatest discount allowed at retail for one year as will tend to secure fair, honourable and uniform
after publication shall be 28 per cent. ; and all the methods of business in each important centre or
rules for the protection of net books shall apply to section of the country. That the Association
the protection of fiction to this extent.
pledge itself to support such local associations by
The conditions governing the sale of fiction are every means in its power in maintaining such law-
such that the Association does not attempt to fix a ful rules and regulations as may in this way be
uniform price at which works of fiction (not net) agreed to.
shall be sold, but only to name a maximum dis-
count, which, however, it is hoped will rarely be In response to the request of the Secretary of
given.
the Incorporated Society of Authors for informa-
V. The only exceptions to the foregoing rules tion about the American Publishers' Association
shall be in the case of libraries, which may be and its plan for the protection of prices, I send
allowed a discount of not more than 10 per cent a copy of our plan as amended at the last
on net books and 33 1-3 per cent. on fiction. meeting of the Association (printed above). It
Libraries entitled to these discounts may be de- will be seen that the recent changes were made for
fined as those libraries to which access is either the purpose of including fiction, although it is not
free or by annual subscription. Book clubs are intended to insist upon the publication of fiction
not to be entitled to discount on net books, nor to at net prices.
any special discount on fiction,
The American Publishers' Association originated
VI. That the Association suggests a discount on in a demand from booksellers for some protection
net copyrighted books of 25 per cent, to dealers as against the ruinous cutting of prices, which had
a general discount, leaving the question of discount, reached a point where upon many books there was
however, entirely to the individual publisher. no margin of profit whatever for the retailer, the
VII. That after the expiration of a year from books being advertised and sold to the public at
the publication of any copyrighted book issued the lowest wholesale price. In the summer of
under these regulations, dealers shall not be held 1900 a committee of leading booksellers called
to the above restrictions, and may sell such book at upon the publishers and requested them to get
a cut price ; but if on learning of such action the together and take some action to put a stop to such
publisher shall desire to buy back at purchase price underselling. After many informal conferences,
## p. 174 (#578) ############################################
174
THE AUTHOR.
a meeting of publishers was held and an Associa- books are sold in different cities throughout this
tion formed, and a committee was appointed to large country ; but these provisions do not go into
recommend some course of action. The report of operation until February ist.
this committee was made and unanimously adopted Thus far the plan has worked with great satis-
in February, 1901, and the plan went into effect faction to all interested. There have been no
on May 1st. I recite these facts to show that withdrawals from the Association, a number of new
action was taken with the utmost deliberation. members have been admitted and the Association
Omitting from consideration the subordinate is now practically complete, including thirty-five
questions of postage, libraries, &c., the plan briefly firms, representing New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
outlined is as follows :
Chicago, and other large cities. The entire book-
Members of the Association agree to publish all trade of the country, with the exception of one
their new copyright books, except fiction, at net large department store in New York and three or
prices, and in order fully to protect these prices four smaller dealers, received the plan with great
for one year, they further agree not to sell any of favour and has given it cordial support. Up to
their publications to any one who breaks the price January 1st there were 550 books published net
of a net book ai retail during the first year after on the new basis. In a few cases prices have been
its publication. The rule is very comprehensive, criticised as being too high, but the general report
including all copyright books, except works of is that the net system has in no way retarded sales
fiction (omitting, of course, school-books and sub- and the benefit to the trade has been great. Per-
scription books upon which no action was required), haps the most encouraging sign was the attitude
and the penalty for underselling a “net” book of the department stores, for it has never been the
includes the withholding of all books, whether purpose of the Association to confine its interests
“net” or “regular.” On the other hand, these to any particular class of retail dealer. Our object
regulations being observed, every publisher is free is to make the sale of our publications profitable
to manage his own business in his own way. There to whoever deals in them, and we have no intention
has been no interference with his right to fix his of trying to change the current of activity. The
own retail prices and to decide for himself what department store is quite as important to the
discount he will allow the trade. It is important American publisher as the bookseller, so called,
it be clearly understood that no attempt has been and in many cities the book department is fully
made to fix prices, but only to maintain them for the equal of the book-store. But the time has
one year. There is, of course, the danger that passed when the selling of books in such stores is
some publisher may make his prices too high, or any novelty, and it was found that they were as
give too large a discount, or not give a large willing to make money at their book counters as in
enough discount to the trade, but the correction other departments of their business ; besides, there
of such abuses is left to the ordinary operation of is still left an indefinitely wide range of books on
business laws.
which bargains can be offered.
The most difficult question which confronted I have not referred to any effect this movement
the Association was what should be done with may have upon authors, because the interests of
fiction, and as the committee could not at that the author, so far as maintaining prices is con-
time recommend any action that promised success, cerned, seem to be identical with those of his
it was finally decided not to attempt to regulate it publisher. The only way in which the system
in any way until the plan had been tried on other might affect the author would be through the
books. There was at first some disappointment at changing of the retail prices of books, royalties
this, but the wisdom of not undertaking too much being usually based upon these prices. In the
in the beginning was very generally recognised. case of works of fiction no change has been made
The success of the plan, however, has now en in the retail price, and as to other books, a large
couraged the Association to include fiction, but in and increasing number of them were already being
a modified form. In the case of novels, the sale of published at net prices, and the only effect of the
which has been unprecedentedly large during the regulations is to maintain those prices. And in
past few years, it was not thought advisable to any case, the only books affected are new books,
maintain a uniform price, but to make some con- and if any change of royalty is required, it can
cession to those who prefer to sell at a “cut” easily be made. There are no “concealed profits,"
price, only placing a limit to that cutting, so that and the publisher should be willing to show his
some profit will be assured to any dealer who may author exactly what discounts are given to book.
be forced to meet such prices. This method is a sellers.
conservative one, and has the advantage of causing
CHARLES SCRIBNER.
the least possible disturbance to business. It New York,
allows for the varying conditions upon which
January 30th, 1902.
## p. 175 (#579) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
175
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
ITERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
N agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,"
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor!
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“Cost of Production."
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :-
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(6.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.e.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (6.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of onc-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important,
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTIIORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
NTEVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
1. T VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
V advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
## p. 176 (#580) ############################################
176
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for The Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey's
Gate, S.W., and 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.
For the Opinions erpressed in papers that are signed
or inilialled the Authors alone are responsible.
None of the papers or paragraphs must be taken
as expressing the opinion of the Committee unless
such is especially stated to be the case.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members' agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
an readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter.
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
THE READING BRANCH.
M EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
M branch of their work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
TT has been frequently stated that modern
1 criticism is practically useless. To anyone
perusing the praise and blame of the same
book which come from the pens of the critics, it
would appear that a fair standard of criticism was
impossible. There is, however, one method which
may mean a great deal and express very little.
We give the following quotation :
“Mr. 's name on a book is a sure sign of
its quality.” The reader must fill up the blank
with the name of a publishing house.
To the outside public this criticism may be very
satisfactory, but to those who know the publisher
it may mean disaster to the book.
It calls to mind an advertisement of a book
which included several extracts from the news-
papers, of which one ran as follows:“Mr. So-and-So's
book is the book of the season.” To this extract
was appended the name of a well-known literary
paper. On reference to the paper, however, it
appeared that “ for ungrammatical rabbish, and a
NOTICES.
THE 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
58. 6d, subscription for the year.
## p. 177 (#581) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
177
total disregard of the principles of writing, Mr. reaches a higher level than the American. The
So-and-So's book is the book of the season.” personal paragraph in America has been carried
Critics should be careful how they word their rather too far.
sentences if this advantage can be taken of them.
There is another story told about Lord Beacons-
field with regard to books that has a double The question of the length and evolution of the
meaning, and is an example of the same kind of ordinary six-shilling novel forms a subject of no
doubtful compliment: it may with advantage be small importance. This fact seems to be clear,
repeated here.
that the public will not buy at the price of six
On receipt of a book from a gentleman whose shillings a volume by an author, however popular,
qualities as a friend were greater than those as a which does not contain a certain amount of
writer, Lord Beaconsfield responded, “I will lose matter. One notorious case will, no doubt, come
no time in reading your book," and he took care to the mind of many authors and readers, of a
that the time was not lost.
story of 25,000 words which was spun out, by the
use of large type, spacing, and other details, to
the size of the six-shilling volume. The result
was disastrous both to the author and the pub-
An article in the American Bookman deals with lisher. No doubt some will say this would have
the great newspapers of the United States. It is been the case in any event, that the book was
anecdotal and amusing.
a bad one—but we do not entirely agree that this
Bennett, as everyone knows, was the founder of was the sole cause.
the New York Herald. It appears that on several Another case came before our notice. A short
occasions he was personally assaulted, and on one book, from a well-known author, was published
occasion was chastised in his own office. The next in six-shilling form with an addition of 48 pages
day there appeared in the Herald a description of of publishers' advertisements. Such additions are
the affair from Bennett's pen, headed “Horse- not fair either to the author or to the public. It
whipped Again.”
would be well for authors to consider whether it
The Tribune was the great rival of the Herald would not be worth their while to insert a clause
in the forties, and there was a systematic war in their agreements forbidding the insertion of
waged against the latter newspaper by “ Wall
y "Wall publishers' advertisements beyond a certain number
Street Holy Allies," as Bennett called them. of pages. Although this fault does not often
The following selections from the epithets hurled occur, yet it is possible that, with the modern
against the Herald have been cut from the same craze for advertising, it might grow into a serious
article, and give a curious insight into the jour difficulty.
nalism of that day.
By Park Benjamin, in the Signal—“obscene
vagabond,” “infamous blasphemer," “ loathsome
and leprous slanderer and libeller," " wretch," In the articles that appeared in The Author
“profligate adventurer," "venomous reptile," "ac- dealing with the question of agents, it was stated
cursed sting,” “ pestilential scoundrel," " instinct that the agent's remuneration was too high for the
of brutes," "ghoul-like propensity," "polluted work he did. In a good many cases he asks £5
wretch," "prince of darkness," “ caitiff," “mon before he commences to work, and in addition
ster," "foul jaws," " black hearted,” “ dirt," a charge of ten per cent. on what he places. In
“ gallows."
the case of a successful book ten per cent, on the
By H. H. Noah, in the Evening Star—“rogue," returns is an enormous profit for the work done.
“ cheat," “ licentious,” “vile,” “outrage," "com- There appears to be no other agency that takes
mon bandit," "scaffold," "pollution," " depraved anything like such a large percentage on account of
appetite," " not live an hour," "inquisition,” its labours. The house agent, for instance, does not
“torture," " villain,” “turkey buzzard."
take a percentage throughout the whole lease; the
American journalism has always been a wonder scholastic agent does not take a percentage for
to the more sober journalistic workers of London, all the years a master's situation endures ; no
but we think that the veriest rags of journals on agent that we can call to mind takes a per-
the English market have never descended quite so centage lasting during the existence of the pro-
low as this.
perty. We think it right, therefore, to place
Another point of comparison between modern this point before all authors, and to suggest that
American journalism and modern English jour. some limit should be made to these returns—that
nalism is the personal paragraph.
the agent should reap the benefit of ten per cent.
Here, also, we think that the English journalist for a limited time, or until some limited figure had
## p. 178 (#582) ############################################
178
THE AUTHOR.
been reached. It is exceedingly hard on an author In last month's Author we drew attention to the
that his returns for one book should be burdened question of “ Advertisements and Reviews.” The
by a constant drain during the whole time that statement that we then made with some diffidence
copyright lasts.
has been amply corroborated by letters appearing
in the Publishers' Circular.
Is the whole system hopelessly corrupt ? Is it
Many complaints have been made in the musical impossible for a genuine Book Review co exist
papers by musical publishers against the wholesale when run on absolutely independent lines ?
piracy of copyright popular songs and melodies. Surely the devious methods of the financial
This form of theft is begun by piratical printers press and the tricks of the notorious company
and carried on by their agents, the street vendors promoters do not taint those responsible for the
of music.
literary reviews! and surely the heads of the great
It will be impossible to eradicate this evil until, publishing houses would not demean themselves by
under a new Copyright Act, some swift and sure condescending to this kind of bribe !
method is devised of dealing with these people. The question has been started in the Publishers'
The music publishers are loud in their complaint, Circular. Where is the Publishers' Association ?
for when under the present régime the machinery Cannot they form a committee, establish a commis-
of the law is brought into action, it is altogether sion, and throw light upon these dark doings.
too slow and cumbersome.
We trust that the Association will prove itself a
The street vendor is irresponsible and impe- virile body, will boldly grapple with a great evil,
cunious, and it is almost impossible to discover the if indeed it exists, and will devote its spare time to
printer or the previous circulator of the stolen goods. something better than drafting impossible agree-
Even when discovered he is generally a man of ments to lay before the unfortunate author.
straw, and to bring an action for damages is nothing
more than a waste of money. Some publishers,
copyright holders, have spent much money in
bringing these gentlemen to book, but have
The following story is interesting as bearing on
found that the result is neither final por altogether
the same subject :-
satisfactory.
An editor of a well-known newspaper met an
Summary jurisdiction, and a fine or imprisonment
author-also well known—and enquired how it
is the only method of dealing with these piratical
street hawkers. When that ideal copyright law
was that none of his books was sent him for
is passed, no doubt all will be right.
review, and that his publishers refused to advertise
in his paper.
“Oh,” said the author, “the matter is quite
clear. I take great interest in the advertising of
We see with much regret that Mr. Gerald my book, and never send copies to papers that
Balfour does not hold out any hope of a copyright review me badly."
measure being passed this session.
Not long after this the advertisement agent
The Society has with a praiseworthy obstinacy called round on the pablisher and asked for an
and determination kept legislation continually advertisement. The publisher, who had full know-
before the authorities whose business it is to deal ledge of the author's methods with regard to the
with it, and everyone who is at all cognisant of the books sent for review, replied that he never
ins and outs of this complicated and difficult advertised with papers that failed in a just
question—a question dealing so closely not only appreciation of his publications,
with intercolonial but also international relations Assurance was immediately given that if the
must give the Committee of the Society and its book just published was forwarded to the office a
supporters all praise for their perseverance. Dogged favourable review would be obtained, and the
persistence will no doubt in the end accomplish advertisement was accordingly pressed for. The
its objects.
publisher, however, was not to be taken in by this
We all know the proverb of the water and the method of doing business. He led the agent
stone. When the looked-for millennium of copy- clearly to understand that if a farourable review
right is upon us, we sincerely hope that all authors, appeared, the advertisement would be sure to follow.
in whatever branch of authorship, whether Members He was not going to pay for an article which he
of the Society or those who may from motives had not already seen.
of their own hold aloof, will realise the work, the In due course a favourable review appeared, and
time, the trouble, the money which have been the advertisement agent received the required
ungrudgingly spent to obtain this great object. order.
## p. 179 (#583) ############################################
THE AUTHOR. :
179
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. obtained in the Act itself, and that it was too soon
to press for more.
Mr. Perry Coste raised again the question of
GENERAL meeting of the Society of printing a list of the Society's members' for circn-
Authors was held at 4 P.M. on Wednesday, lation in the Society only, and urged that such a
March 19th, at 20, Hanover Square, W., with
list, even though not complete, but containing
Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins in the chair.
only the names of members consenting to be placed
The Chairman opened the meeting by laying in it, would be of use to those desirous of com-
municating with their fellow-members upon matters
mittee of Management for the year ending affecting the Society. In reply, the Chairman
December, 1901. In commenting on the report, referred to previous experience with reference to
Mr. Hope Hawkins referred to the loss sustained this topic, and said that the inatter should again
by the Society in the regretted death of Sir Walter have the careful consideration of the Committee.
Besant, and to the scheme set out in the report Mr. G. H. Perris called attention to the case of
for raising a memorial to him. He called atten- Neufeld v. Chapman and Hall, suggesting that an
tion to the other losses sustained in the past year undesirable result had been obtained in the setting
by the Society, and also to the general increase in aside of a trade custom by a legal decision. The
its numbers. Having explained the importance Chairman pointed out that the judge had to apply
attached by the Committee to the employment by a contract which sold a copyright, but stipulated
the Society of an official to act for it in the for payment by royalties ontú
United States, Mr. Hope Hawkins proceeded to vision for payment if publication was in serial
urge upon the members of the Society at large form, to what had eventually taken placenamely,
the duty of supporting by their contributions the the publication of the book in serial form. In
Society's Pension Fund. With regard to this it was reply to the same gentleman. Mr. Hope Hawkins
pointed out that the number of subscribers is at laid stress upon the word " informal,” in con-
present relatively small, and that a more or less junction with the word " inexpensive." with regard
universal apnuul contribution of small sums, such to the recommendation of arbitration in cases of
as ten or five shillings, would establish the fund at dispute made in the Society's report at page 12.
once upon a footing more in accordance with the As there was no further discussion on the report,
intentions and hopes of its promoters. On the the election of a member to the Pension Fund
questions referred to in the report concerning the
Committee was dealt with Mrs. Alec Tweedie
employment of literary agents, the Chairman said was unanimously re-elected, and the business of
that there were two impressions abroad as to the meeting was concluded with a hearty vote of
the attitude of the Society and its Committee
thanks to the Chairman and the Committee for
- the one that there was some connection
their willing labours on behalf of their fellow-
between the Society and one or two individual members of the profession.
agents; the other that the Society as a body dis. There were among those present. besides the
approved of and denounced agents. Neither of members whose names are mentioned above: Sir
these views was correct. The question whether an Joshua Fitch. Sir William Charley. K.C. Mr. R.
agent should be employed or not must be decided Warwick Bond. Mr. C. A. Kelly, Mr. Edward
by the author according to circumstances. There Rose, Mr. Arthur Wilson. Mr. Basil Field, Mr.
were good and bad agents, and the Society advised Mackenzie Bell. Miss E. M. Symonds. Mr. Reynolds
that it was of importance to distinguish between Ball, Miss Olive Katherine Parr. Mr. G. H.
these, while it was able and willing to assist its Thring. &c. &c.
members in doing so. In conclusion Mr. Hope
Hawkins commented upon the steps taken by the
Society during the year under consideration to THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF AUTHORS.
assist its members in legal matters.
· In the course of a brief discussion which followed
upon questions arising out of the report and the M HE annual meeting of the Canadian Society
Society's work in general, Mr. F. Stroud asked for 1 of Authors was held at the Victoria
information upon the working of the American
University on Friday, February 14th. The
Copyright Law and any prospect that there might be following officers were appointed for 1902 :—Hon.
of diminishing such loss as it might bring to the President, Prof. Goldwin Smith, LL.D.; Presi-
British printing trade through the setting up of dent, Hon. Geo. W. Ross, LL.D.; Vice-Presidents,
type in the United States for books to be published Dr. Bryce of Winnipeg, Dr. Drummond of
in the two countries. The Chairman, in reply, Montreal, Dr. Frechette of Montreal, Hon.
suggested that a considerable concession had been J. W. Longley of Halifax, Duncan Campbell
## p. 180 (#584) ############################################
180
THE AUTHOR.
Scott of Ottawa; Secretary, Prof. Pelham Edgar; Britain and Canada for printed matter should be
Treasurer, John A. Cooper, B.A.; Executive lowered without delay, and some movement is being
Committee, Messrs. James Bain, Jun., Castell made from this end with a view to agitating for
Hopkins, B. E. Walker, Bernard McEvoy, Mac- this reform. The publishers of American magazines
donald Oxley, Mayor Howland, J. S. Willison, have at present an undue advantage over the British
Prof. Lefroy, Prof. Mavor, Prof. Davidson. A publisher, and the consequence is, we are flooded
bibliography of the contributions of the members with Yankee productions which are often not to
to current literature will be soon ready for dis- our taste. If it were not for the heavy postal rates,
tribution in the society.
many British magazines would have double and
treble the circulation here they now have.
The Canadian Society of Authors has during the
CANADIAN LETTER.
past year chiefly confined its action to occasions of
à social kind. It has given two or three “pipes
and ale" réunions, and last month Professor Mavor
S“The Man from Glengarry” was written by
gave a brilliant “At Home," in honour of Dr. W. H.
a Canadian, the success that has attended
Drummond, the author of "The Habitant," who
. its publication here would seem to be a
was at Toronto to lecture at the University. Dr.
contradiction of the saying that a prophet is usually
Drummond may be said to be the most popular
destitute of honour in his own country. The sale
author in Canada. He is also a physician with a
has been larger than that of any book since “David
large and demanding practice, and takes up litera-
Harum.” Literature observed that “ The Man
ture simply as a hobby and side issue. His success
from Glengarry " had “nothing to do with litera-
is due, not only to the admirable way in which he
ture.” The Canadian readers, who have bought
has exploited the French Canadian dialect, but to
the book by tens of thousands, do not care for that the sympathetic and humorous way in which he
in the least, even if it be true. What they like 16 has displayed the essential human nature of the
the swing of the story, the truth and “go” of the habitant
lumbering fights and scenes, the true depicting of
Among the books announced for publication
Canadian life, and the unmistakable evangelical during the next few weeks is one by Mr. Bernard
trend of the whole. Its mingling of prayer meet. McEvoy, which will give in book form the delightful
ing and pugilism is exactly to their taste. The
series of letters contributed by him to the Toronto
novel has had an equally good reception in the Mail and Empire during his recent extended trip
United States, and people who want to write novels through Western Canada
through Western Canada. The volume is entitled
The volume
that will be sold by the 100,000 shonld remember “From the Great Lakes to the Wide West.”
that they must tap this productive vein of book- William Briggs has the work in hand, and will
buyers. But there are few writers who can tap it issue it in his best style, illustrated plentifully
successfully. E. P. Roe did it, and so did Mrs.
with picturesque scenes-new plates from recent
H. B. Stowe, and of late the respective authors of
photos-along the route across the Continent.
" David Harum," and "The Man from Glengarry," " A feature of the book trade in the whole of
have been almost as successful. The latter work
Western Canada which may be interesting to
was brought out in very good style by the old yet
English readers is the circulating library which is
progressive house of William Briggs.
to be found in every bookseller's shop. The books
An altogether different reception was encoun-
circulated are for the most part paper-covered
tered by “The New Anteus," the Canadian edition
novels, which sell in Canada at 75 cents. You go
of which was brought out by Morang & Co. Not
to the booksellers, pay your 75 cents, and take
even the fact that it was written by the unknown
away your new novel. That is, it is new to you ;
and much-exploited author of. “An English woman's
it may have already passed through some one else's
Love Letters,” could save it from any other fate hands. When you have read it you take it back,
than a succès d’estime. The reviews that appeared
pay 10 cents, and get another 75-cent novel, and
in Canadian papers were evidently, for the most
so on as long as you like to continue the process.
part, done in a perfunctory way, though a reviewer
There are no fines, there is no book-keeping ; you
in the Mail and Empire wrote as though he had
can keep the novel as long as you like, or you can
read the book, and maintained the theory that both
keep it altogether. Some authors are complaining
it and the “Love Letters” were written by Mr.
that this passing from hand to hand of one copy
George Meredith. Book-buyers were rather scan-
decreases sales ; but, on the other hand, it certainly
dalised by the publication of the “ Love Letters,"
leads to a book being more widely read than it
and as for the “New Anteus,” they could make otherwise would be
neither top nor tail of it if they tried.
The prohibitive postal rates between Great Toronto, 1902.
## p. 181 (#585) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
181
AMERICAN NOTES.
dollars on their investment. The effect of an irre-
deemable paper currency on morals seems to have
been truly appalling.
T AST year is admitted on all hands to have “ American Diplomatic Questions,” by John B.
U been a record one for the output of books in Henderson, jun., is another book which is worthy
America. Yet the publishers complain, of attention. The writer's viewpoint is less
especially as to novels. Their complaints appear Imperialistic than Professor Hart's; he bases the
to us to be occasionally rather contradictory. For Monroe doctrine on an organic law higher than
instance, it is argued on the one band that quantity the right of self-protection.
is swamping quality, whilst it is at the same time The historical romance is still in favour. Two
asserted that nowadays a novel has no chance of the latest products in this field are Justin
unless there is something striking in it. The one Huntly McCarthy's “If I were a King” and Miss
contention seems at first sight to answer the Mary Johnston's “ Audrey." The former has
other ; unless, indeed, “ striking" merely means Villon for its hero ; the latter is a story of
sensational.
eighteenth-century Virginia. To the same period
Various anachronisms have been discovered by belongs Miss Edith Wharton's “ Valley of Deci-
the diligent in that ever-popular historical novel, sion”; but the scene of her book is laid in Italy.
“ The Crisis.” Mr. Winston Churchill seems to The author of " Monsieur Martin ” (Wymond
have antedated the tune “ Lead, kindly Light” and Carey) brings upon his stage Charles XII. of
the use of “nickel ” for five cent pieces. On the Sweden and Augustus the Strong, father of many
other hand, a successful case for the introduction children, and thus breaks fresh ground. “The
of “ Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean” would House of De Mailly” is a story of the court of
appear to have been made out for the author. Louis XV., which king banishes the hero for love
The story continues to be in great request, Mr. of his American wife. The authoress, Miss Mar-
Gilbert Parker's “ Right of Way” being the only garet Horton Potter, of Chicago, who has recently
work of fiction which comes near it in popularity, become Mrs. Black, is, we are sorry to say, in
though some of the historical tales we mentioned trouble. At the age of sixteen-she is now, we
in our last “ Notes” have by no means lost their believe, barely twenty-one—she produced a story
vogue.
called " A Social Lion," under the name Robert
Of non-fictional works Seton-Thompson's“ Lives Daley Williams. This gave local offence from the
of the Hunted” (which, we believe, is attracting fact that it was supposed to contain recognisable
some attention across the Atlantic) continues to portraits, and publication was stopped. Now, we
be much read. Another book which appeared late gather, somebody has got hold of a copy and is
in the autumn, has created some stir. This is bringing out a surreptitious edition. We are not
Jacob Rüs's “Making of an American,” a fresh, aware to what extent the original charge against
breezy, naïve work by the author of “How the the book was true; but the fault was at any rate
Other Half Lives.” It is the autobiography of a venial one in a novice, and everything possible
the “boss reporter," who by a famous trip up the was done to placate the real or supposed sufferers.
Croton watershed obtained an unpolluted water So that, we think, Mrs. Black is entitled to some
supply for New York. The last half of the book sympathy. Meanwhile, we hear that she has
tells the story of the great work he did for the ready another novel, “ Istar of Babylon,” from
slums.
which much is expected.
Two rather notable books on American history Of fiction of a lighter nature “Bagsby's
are “ The Foundations of American Foreign Daughter," by Miss Marie Van Vorst and Mrs.
Policy,” by Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, and John Van Vorst, has made a decided hit on both
“ The Confederate States of America, 1861-5," by sides of the Atlantic. This amusing story was
Professor Schwab, of Yale. The author of the written in France, where the authoresses usually
former denies the “abnormality” of American live. From Paris also hails the clever study of
action in the Cuban question ; endeavours to American womanhood, entitled “Eve Trium-
establish the thesis of continuity of interference in phant,” by the lady calling herself Pierre de
foreign policy by a recital of historical precedents; Coulevain. It hits off very happily, from a
and maintains that “territories" are not distinguish- foreign viewpoint, the peculiarities of an American
able from colonies. Professor Schwab's book is woman educated in France.
largely concerned with the finance of the Southern A book which will appeal to some, and probably
States during the war. The history of Confederate upset the mental equilibrium of more, readers is
currency is described as “instructive, entertaining, “Melomaniacs,” by James Huneker, who is known
almost amusing”—except, presumably, to European as the author of a work on Chopin. His present
bondholders, who, it is calculated, lost 9,750,000 effort is a collection of tales dealing in ironic vein
## p. 182 (#586) ############################################
182
THE AUTHOR.
with modern idols, not only those of the musical is little to be said about it here. The verse of
world, like Wagner and Chopin, but also heroes of Mr. Edwin Emerson is (if we may be allowed to
modern culture—Ibsen, Nietzsche, and Schopen- utter such profanity), like that of his illustrious
hauer. The last-mentioned is surely rather out of namesake, more philosophic than poetic. Miss
his element in this company.
Josephine Preston Peabody's dramatic poem,
A volume of short stories published by McClure, “Marlowe,” however, shows much promise, which
Phillips & Co. is of more than ordinary we trust will soon become achievement. Books
merit. The author is Shan F. Bullock, and his on Shakespeare are always, we suppose, coming
theme the Irish peasantry. The collection is out, so that it is not necessary to attribute any
aptly named “ Irish Pastorals.” Two tales of the impulsive force to the arch-heretic, Mrs. Elizabeth
North and South Pole, though not of equal literary Gallup. That lady, by the way, has been most
merit, are perhaps as much off the beaten track. unmercifully dealt with by an anonymous scribe
The hero of “ Thyra : a Romance of the Polar Pit” in the Critic, who shows a very pretty talent for
goes to the Arctic in a balloon. “The Great humorous versification. We notice, too, that the
White Tale," by Albert Bigelow Paine, is a tale of editor lends support to his orthodoxy in sober and
the deepest South, whither a jocular millionaire chastened prose. But some of these aforesaid
conducts an expedition.
Shakespeare books are superfluous, if not silly. As
A notable piece of biography by a good work- the first we should characterise a book by Professor
man is John Coleman Adams's study of William L. A. Sherman, of the University of Nebraska,
Hamilton Gibson, artist, naturalist, and author. called, “What is Shakespeare?” This is described
Another good piece of work in this department of as “an attempt to make it possible for any reader
literature is Professor Alpheus S. Packard's treatise to come into direct personal relation with
on Lamarck, the forerunner of Darwin, who, Shakespeare without the intervention of an inter-
except in France, has completely overshadowed preter.” But what is there to prevent this,
his fame as a scientific pioneer. Yet another life should the reader desire it ?-that is to say, if
of Washington—this time from the pen of Mr. any definite meaning is to be assigned to this
Norman Hapgood. In connection with American deliverance at all ? Apparently, however, all that
heroes, an undertaking is on foot which will do the Professor really aims at is merely to bring out
for them on a small scale what the British the human interest of the plays and avoid its
“ Dictionary of National Biography” has done for being obscured by textual criticism. He seems,
those of the mother country. This is “The however, to be in some confusion, since, while
American Immortals," which Mr. George Cary girding at the latter, he proceeds to supply some
Eggleston has written for Messrs. Putnam. The of those very technicalities which he set out by
selection is catholic, but one would have thought declaring so unnecessary. An example of the
that places might have been found for Oliver simply silly is a preposterous work on “ The
Wendell Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe, not to Secret of Hamlet," issued by the Abbey Press.
mention certain earlier worthies. It is remarkable The author (who shall be naineless) has discovered
also that no women are admitted into the Valhalla, that Hamlet was a “psychometrest"; and he
not even Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. But then finds a world of meaning in an etymology he has
Victoria Woodhull did not secure election to the constructed for himself out of the names Hamlet,
Presidency of the United States.
Horatio, and Ophelia. They all, he solemnly points
A book of contemporary biography which should out, begin with an “H,” which letter, he declares,
be full of interest is the “Sixty Years in Public signifies spirit. No other characters of the play
Affairs” of George S. Bontwell, who was Grant's have this letter in their names, we are further
Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of Massachu- bidden to remark. We are not acquainted with
setts, and many years member of Congress. The two Icelandic, and cannot therefore challenge the
volumes may be out before these notes appear. assertion that aml means “toil," and lothi
Meanwhile, we have something in the shape of a “devoted to " ; but we still retain enough Greek
link between fiction and biography in “ Captain to confute the statement that Ophelia in that
Jinks, Hero," the author of which, Ernest Crosby, tongue connotes “serpent." (Elsewhere in his
has written a satire on up-to-date militarism. The book the writer endeavours to get into the name
hero begins his military ardour as the owner of the word for sun, which, to put it mildly, is a
lead soldiers, next enters a boys' brigade, and trifle inconsistent.) And we are really unable to
culminates in a cadetship at“ East” Point. There attach any coherent meaning to a sentence which
is undeniable humour here, though whether it will speaks of a secondary significance of the name as
be to the taste of a large audience remains to be referring to “her mental Ophelia or Aphelia."
seen.
The man who wrote this book thought, let us
Poetry does not flourish in America, and there hope, that he meant something by this strange
## p. 183 (#587) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
183
I.
medley of bad philology, confused logic, and
THE LITERARY YEAR BOOK.
watered German sentiment. But there seems
always to be a public for smatterers who deal in
imperfectly apprehended terms of science or philo-
sophy, and in America that public is sometimes M HE sixth issue of the “ Literary Year Book"
a very large one.
has come to hand, and we gladly give it
We turn from these futilities to note two useful
the praise it deserves.
undertakings which are just being launched by We have read through, with great care, the
the Harper Brothers and Dodd, Mead & Company. parts that are most interesting to Members of
The first is the “Encyclopædia of United States the Society, namely, those that deal with the
History,” in ten volumes, which, we learn from the technical side of literary property—the article
draft prospectus,“ presents rare, original documents on agreements and the article on copyright.
and maps and plans, and gives all the great epoch-
The method of dealing with agreements is cer-
making orations and speeches in full.” The four tainly more satisfactory than the method adopted
thousand biographical sketches are accompanied in previous issues. Fairly common forms of
in many cases by portraits ; and there are over agreements are dealt with in a sound and critical
three thousand illustrations in addition. The late spirit. But to discuss a subject so wide in the
John Fiske, Cardinal Gibbons, Professors Goldwin space allotted, when the clauses are constantly
Smith. Moses Coit Tyler, and Alber B. Hart are varying, and the traps and pitfalls for the unwary
among the chief contributors. The span of the author are many, would be an impossible task.
work is from 458 to 1902 ! Special advantages are The book, therefore, cannot be taken as a reliable
held out to those who accept à“ before publication guide from which an author could judge every
offer.” The other enterprise is less ambitious but agreement that might be set before him ; but
not less serviceable. It is a new magazine, The the points that are put forward, and the deduc-
Bibliographer, the title of which explains its object. tions that are made, are satisfactory. Authors
It is to be edited by Paul Leicester Ford, but is will still want special advice if they desire full
not to be confined to American literatureexclusively. protection, and the question must be asked
Special features will be facsimile reprints of whether this half advice is not rather a snare
rarities and advance notes, and reviews of impor- than a safeguard ; "a little knowledge is a
tant auction sales ; and there will be a department dangerous thing.”
of notes and queries. The subscription price is Similar remarks may be made when referring to
five dollars a year, which will include pine num- the article on copyright. It is absolutely im-
bers, as publication is to be suspended in the possible to deal with the question of copyright,
summer months. There should be a ready welcome
months. There should be a ready welcome also full of dangers and pitfalls, in the space
for a periodical such as this.
allotted. Yet here, also, the result, as far as it
The new edition of Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole's goes, is good.
Multivariorum “Rubáiyat” of Omar Khayyam, The question to be considered is, whether it
which is to be brought out by Messrs. L. C. would not be better to take one form of agreement,
Page & Co., is another bibliographical venture of or one point in the copyright law, annually, and
this spring, which promises to be only less busy a deal with it at length and exhaustively.
season than was the fall.
By this method the consecutive volumes of the
We cannot close this article without referring “Literary Year Book,” to those who bought it
to the loss which American literature in general. regularly, would in the end form a thoroughly
and the firm of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. in sound and reliable guide, supposing that the ques-
particular, has recently met with in the death of tion of agreements and the Copyright Law had been
Mr. Horace E. Scudder, whose “Life of Lowell” dealt with on a sound and reliable basis. It would
we noticed appreciatively in our last “Notes.” not be difficult to pick holes in minor matters as
The death of the former editor of the Atlantic far as the agreements and the comments upon
Monthly was immediately followed by that of Mr. them are concerned, or to handle in the same way
Azariah Smith, who was also connected with the the essay on copyright; but this, perhaps, would
same house, and was remarkable for the blended be hypercritical. It would be easier still to point
literary and commercial skill which he displayed to sins of omission, errors in silence which might
in writing their bulletins. To the obituary list is carry with them disaster and dismay to the ignorant;
also to be added the name of Elbridge T. Brooks, but this is the fault, not of the editor or the author,
late literary adviser of the Lothrop Company, a but of the system. A literary year book is bound to
former editor of St. Nicholas, and the discoverer of contain something authoritative on the matters
Irving Bacheller.
under discussion, and on the whole the work is good.
The rest of the matter in the book, as far as
## p. 184 (#588) ############################################
184
THE AUTHOR.
we have been able to look through it, is a distinct
improvement on the issue of last year.
There is a sound and appreciative statement of
the relations between Sir Walter Besant (our
founder) and the Society, and there are other
short and interesting essays.
The tables seem to be very full and complete,
though a table of authors must necessarily be
deficient.
Two names that happened to strike us on looking
casually through the list were found wanting:
Prof. Arthur Hassall, the well-known educational
and historical writer ; and Mr. E. H. Lacon Watson,
the author of that pleasant novel, “ Christopher
Deane.”
From an author's point of view, the book ought
to be an essential. No doubt it will be found on
the bookshelves of all our Members.
G. H. T.
contained therein reveals several errors. Thus, a
number of magazines, &c., are referred to as though
they were still in existence, when they have been
defunct for some little time past. In the same
way, some of the addresses of editorial offices are
incorrectly stated. Again, Black and White is
declared to accept no fiction, when, as a matter of
common knowledge, quite the reverse is the
case.
These, however, are comparatively small matters,
and it is chiefly as a serious attempt to compile a
volume of real value to its consultants that « The
Literary Year Book for 1902” must be judged.
Considered from this standpoint, the volume is to
be heartily commended.
H. W.
CORRESPONDENCE.
II.—The Author's Vade Mecum.
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
AMONG the fixed impressions of every author
and journalist is that he could compile an ideal SIR,—There can be no doubt that contributors
6 literary year book.” It is not until-some in the past have suffered many things at the hands
confiding publisher taking him at his word—he of editors and have at times been actually de-
finds himself called upon to undertake the task frauded, and our Society has done good service in
that he realises the difficulties besetting it. exposing such discourtesy and injustice.
Writers are notoriously hard to please, and each May I point out, however, that there is another
individual one of them is, as a rule, pleased in a side to the case, as the following instance will
different way. A real debt of gratitude is ac- show ?
cordingly due to the one who will make the essay. Two years ago I published a short article by
In the present (which, by the way, is the sixth) an anonymous and, to me, unknown contributor.
issue of "The Literary Year Book” this task has The letter accompanying the article was accidentally
been assumed by Mr. Herbert Morrah. The con- mislaid, and as there was no name on the MS. I was
crete result of his labours is, on the whole, a unable to discharge the debt, which has since been
praiseworthy one, and the volume for 1902 cer- standing on the ledger of my journal. Last week
tainly justifies its existence. In every way it is I received a letter from which I will quote :-
a distinct advance upon its predecessors, and it “Some two years ago I sent you an article. I
may at last be properly regarded as being of real did not receive even an acknowledgment, and
value to those for whom it is primarily intended. supposed that you had rejected it as unsuitable.
As compared with last year's issue, the present What was my surprise some months after to have
one shows an increase in size from 420 pages to my attention directed to an article on pub-
468. It contains many new features of a useful lished in your paper and to find it word for word
nature, and omits several whose inclusion in the my own! I always supposed that a respectable
former volume was scarcely called for. Prominent journal at any rate offered some remuneration for
among the new features are a biographical direc- the articles it accepted, and that at any rate it
tory of authors, and a useful list of photographers would not print an article in this sort of under-
in different portions of the world. The editor hand way."
being merely human, there are of course some The gentleman received a cheque by return of
notable omissions in each of these departments; post, accompanied by a mild expostulation, but in
on the whole, however, they have been compiled acknowledging it he declined to admit that in
very thoroughly.
bringing the charge of dishonesty he has done
To the journalist—as apart from the author anything unworthy of an Oxford M.A, and a
proper-the section entitled “The Contributors' gentleman.
Guide” will be specially interesting. An expert
Yours, etc., .
examination of the list of “periodical publications"
AN EDITOR.
## p. 184 (#589) ############################################
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
VOL. XII.—No. 10.
MAY 1, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
185
PAGE
197
185
197
:::::
Notices ...
The Pension Fund of the Society of Authors
From the Cominittee ... ...
*** *** "
Book and Play Talk ... ... ..
Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Property
A Common Fraud ... ... .. . *** "
A Heavy Handicap ... ... ... ...
Patchwork Legislation and Musical Performing Right
General Memoranda ... ... ...
Warnings to Dramatic Authors
How to Use the Society
199
199
:::::::
202
The Reading Branch ... ... ... ...
Authorities ... ... ... ... ..
Whom the Gods Love...
"The Censorship of Plays "... ...
The Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant
Feuilleton: Right is Might ... ... ...
The Compleat Journalist ... ... ...
Financial Obligations of Art to Trade ...
The Kingdom of Dreams ... ... ...
Correspondence... ... ...
185
186
188
189
190
192
196
196
196
203
206
208
...
210
***
211
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
kinds examined. offic
1. The Annual Report for the current year. ls.
2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary
Property. Issued to all Members gratis. Price to non-members, 6d., or 5s. 6d. per annum,
post free. Back numbers from 1892, at 10s. 6d. per vol.
3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. MORRIS COLLES, Barrister-at-Law. 38.
4. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. ls.
5. The Cost of Production. (Out of print.)
6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE. 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. 38.
Addenda to the Above. By G. HERBERT Thring. Being additional facts collected at
the office of the Society since the publication of the “Methods." With coinments and
advice. 2s.
7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With
Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, the Berne Convention, and the
American Copyright Bill. By J. M. LELY. 1s. 61.
8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By WALTER BESANT
( Chairman of Committee, 1888-1892). 18.
9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By ERNST
LUNGE, J.U.D. 28. 6d.
10. Forms of Agreement issued by the Publishers' Association; with Comments. By
G. HERBERT THRING, and Illustrative Examples by Sir WALTER BESANT. 2nd Edition. 1s.
11. Magazines and their contributors. Giving the Terms on which the different Magazines
and Periodicals deal with MSS. and Contributions. 6d.
[All prices net. Apply to the Secretary, 39, ou Queen Street, Storey's Gate, S.W.]
## p. 184 (#592) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
CHATTO & WINDUS'S NEW BOOKS.
NEW SIX-SHILLING NOVELS.
A Slow Awakening, By Edith GRAY WHEELWRIGHT, Author of “ Anthony Graeme.”
Man, Woman, and Fate. By Iza DUFFUS HARDY, Author of "The Lesser Evil," &c.
Mazeppa. By FRED. WHISHAW, Author of " A Forbidden Name."
The Shadow of the Rope. By E. W. HORNUNG, Author of “ Peccavi," &c.
An Industrious Chevalier. By S, SQUIRE SPRIGGE, Author of “ Odd Issues."
The Tear of Kalee. By HERBERT INman and HARTLEY ASPDEN.
The Cat's-paw. By B. M. CROKER, Author of “ Diana Barrington ” &c. With 12 full-page Illustrations by
F.EDC. PEGRAM. THIRD EDITION.
The Grand Babylon Hotel. By ARNOLD BENNETT, Author of The Gates of Wrath,".&c. SECOND EDITION.
Fan Fitzgerald. By H. A. HINKSON, Author of “ O'Grady of Trinity," &c.
Judah Pyecroft, Puritan. By HARRY LINDSAY, Author of " Methodist Idylls," &c.
A Blow over the Heart. By ROBERT MACHRAY, joint Author of “The Vision Splendid."
The Old Bank. By WILLIAM WESTALL, Author of "With the Red Eagle." SECOND EDITION,
The King's Counsel. By FRANK RICHARDSON.
(Shortly.
Annals of the Horse-Shoe Club. By Finch MASON. Illustrated by the Author.
[Shortly.
NEW THREE-AND-SIXPENNY BOOKS.
Between Ourselves : Some of the Little Problems of Life. By Max O’RELL, Author of “Her Royal
Highness Woman."
Shillelagh and Shamrock. By M. McD. BODKIN, K.C., Author of “Dora Vyrl."
Rash Conclusions. By G. W. APPLETON, Author of "François the Valet."
Through a Keyhole; and The Glamour of the Impossible. By Cosmo HAMILTON. In one volume. !
As it was written. "By T. W. SPEIGHT, Author of The Mysteries of Heron Dyke,” &c.
Uniform Edition of Zola's Novels. Edited with Introductions by E. A. VIZETELLY. Crown Svo,
cl th, 38. 6d, each.
His Masterpiece.
The Conquest of Plassans.
The Downfall.
The Joy of Life.
The Dram-Shop.
Doctor Pascal.
Germinal: Master and Man.
The Fat and the Thin.
Lourdes.
The Honour of the Army, and Other Stories.
Money.
Rome.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression,
His Excellency.
Paris.
The Fortune of the Rougons.
The Dream.
Fruitfulness.; Work.
NEW SERIES OF TWO-SHILLING NOVELS. Picture cloth, flat backs.
[The first three are issued for the first time in book form.]
The Tale of the Serpent. By SUNDOWNER. I A Sappho of Green Springs. By BRET HARTE.
His Own Ghost. By D. CHRISTIE MURRAY.
The Lady from Nowhere. By FERGUS HUME.
Plotters of Paris. By EDMUND MITCHELL.
Sport and Spangles. By BYRON WEBBER.
The Temple of Death. By EDMUND MITCHELL.
The Constable of St. Nicholas. By EDWIN LESTER ARNOLD. Towards the Eternal Snows. By EDMUND MITCHELL.
St. Katherine's by the Tower, BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley. By BERTRAM MITFORD.
Dora Myrl, the Lady Detective. By McD. BODKIX, K.C.
The King's Assegai. Bv BERTSAM MITFORD.
Vincent Trill, Detective. By DICK DONOVAN.
The Waters of Edera. By OUIDA.
Dark Deeds. By DICK DONOVAN
A Modern Dick Whittington. By JAMES PAYX.
A Crimson Crime. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN,
The Drift of Fate. By DORA RUSSELL.
| The Red Shirts. By PAUL GAULOT.
In London's Heart. BY GEORGE R. SIMs.
The Track of a Storm. By OWEN HALL.
Citoyenne Jacqueline. By SARAH TYTLER.
In a Hollow of the Hills. By BRET HARTE.
Joan the Curate. By FLORENCE WARDEN,
NEW SIXPENNY BOOKS.
| Ready-money Mortiboy. By BESANT and RICE.
Foul Play. By CHARLES REATE.
The Chaplain of the Fleet. By BESANT and RICE.
“It is Never too Late to Mend." By CHARLES READE
Man and Wife. By WILKIE COLLINS.
Pott 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 28. net each; leather, gilt edges, with marker, 38. Let each.
THE ST. MARTIN'S LIBRARY.
Pocket Volumes, handsomely printed from new type upon tine and very thin paper.
Under the Greenwood Tree. By THOMAS HARDY.
Familiar Studies of Men and Books. By ROBERT LOUIS!
The Cloister and the Hearth. By CHARLES READE.
STEVENSON.
It is Never too Late to Mend." By CHARLES READE.
New Arabian Nights. By ROBERT Louis STEVENSON.
The Deemster. By HALL CAINE.
The Life of the Fields. By RICHARD JEFFERIES.
Small 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 28. net; leather, gilt top, 3s. net.
The Pocket R. L. S.: Favourite Passages from the Works of STEVENSON.
The Art of Fiction, By Sir WALTER BESANT, Author of The Orange Girl." F"cap. 8vo, cloth, red top, 1s. net.
Recollections of Dublin Castle and of Dublin Society. By A NATIVE. Crown 8vo, cloth, 68.
Bluebeard: An Account of Ccmorre the Cursed and Gilles de Rais ; with a Summary of various Tales and
Traditions. By ERNEST A. VIZETELLY. With 9 Full-page Ilustrations. Demy 8vo, cloth, 9s. net.
(May 8th.
Crowns and Coronations. By WILLIAM JONES, F.S.A. With 91 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, 3s. 6d.
The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris Salon. Twenty-fourth Year. With over 300 Illustrations.
Demy dvo, 38.
London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111, St. Martin's Lane, W.C.
## p. 185 (#593) ############################################
The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
VOL. XII.- No. 10.
MAY 1st, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
considered unnecessary to print the full list with
every issue.
Donations ......
......................£1439 16 6
Subscriptions .................... 111 6 0
The office of the Incorporated Society of Authors
has been removed to-
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
.
.
.
NOTICES.
.
.
.
TOR the opinions expressed in papers that are
N signed or initialled the Authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para.
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
.
DONATIONS.
Nov. I, Dale, Miss ...
Oct. 10, Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Malet)
Oct. 15, Rossi, Miss L. ..
Oct. 25, Potter, M. H.
Oct. 30, Stanley, Mrs. ..
Nov. 21, Balfour, A.
Nov. 22, Risley, J.....
Nov. 25, Walker, W. S........
Jan. 24, Church, Prof. R. A. H. ...
Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............
Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily..............
Feb, 12, Brown, Miss Prince .........
Feb. 15, Wilkins, W. H.(2nd donation)
Feb. 15, S. G. ...
Feb. 17; Hawkins, A. Hope .............
Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss E. ............
Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. .............
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Nov. 25, Vaux, P. .................
Nov. 25, Lambe, Lawrence ........
Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ...
Jan. 20, Nickolls, F. C. ...
Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ...
Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H. C. .....
Mch. 25, Stroud, F. ... ... ... ....... .
Apr. 9, Kitcat, Mrs. ..... ......... ......
2 11 0
5 5 6
0 10 0
0 12 0
0 10 0
0 5 0
0 5 0
1 0 0
2 2 0
( 4 0
0 10 0
1 1 0
1 1 (,
1 1 0
50 0 0
0 10 0
0 5 0
..........
The Editor begs to inform Members of the
Authors' Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases wbich are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
1 1
1 1
0 5
( 5
1 1
0 5
0 10
1 1
0
0
0)
0
(0)
0
6
an
THE PENSION FUND OF THE SOCIETY
OF AUTHORS.
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
M HE Society has to deplore the death, during
THE following is the total of donations and 1 the past month, of Prof. J. M. D. Meikle-
subscriptions promised or received up to
john, of St. Andrews University.
the present date.
Like Sir Richard Temple, Prof. Meiklejohn had
Further sums will be acknowledged from month been a member of the Society since its foundation.
to month as they come to hand. It has beenHe was elected in 1884.
VOL. XII.
.
L
## p. 186 (#594) ############################################
186
THE AUTHOR.
·
·
BOLO
NA
·
·
·
·
As one of those educational writers who pub- “ Colonia," Natal, S. Africa
£1 1 0
lished his works at his own expense, he on several Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F. C. . . 1 1 0
occasions helped the work of the Society by sup Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. .
0 10 0
plying interesting accounts of this method of pub- Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
1 0 0
lication and its profits.
Hurry, A. _ .
0 10 6
Only a few months ago, when the discussion Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
concerning Commission Publishing was going on tioned)
in The Author, he kindly volunteered to place some Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. . 05.0
fresh statements before the Secretary.
Millais, J. G. .
1 0 0
Unfortunately, a meeting was never arranged, Quiller Couch, Miss M. .
0 5 0
and consequently those facts can never be made Sterry, J. Ashby .
1 1 0
public.
Temple, Lieut.-Col. R. C. .
1 1 0
Prof. Meiklejohn's experience shows that in Underdown, Miss E. .
0 · 0
certain circumstances and under certain conditions Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
22 0
it is more profitable for an author to produce his Beale, Miss Mary
own books than to receive a royalty from a publisher, Bolam, Rev. C. Ē. .
(0) 5 0
however large.
Egbert, Henry . .
0 5 0
Eccles, Miss O'Connor
1 1 0
Darwin, Francis
1 1 0
The Work of the Society.
Campbell-Montgomery, Miss F. F. . 1 1 0
At the Committee meeting, held on Monday, Mediecott. Cecil
0 10 6
April 14th, fifteen Members and Associates were
es were Saxby, Mrs. .
. . . . 1 1
elected to the Society, making a total of seventy-
0
Caine, T. H. Hall
10 0)
four elections during the year.
The Committee decided to have a telephone put
up in the office. As soon as the work is completed,
formal notice will be given in The Author and on
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
the paper of the Society.
Mr. Frampton, R.A., has now been instructed to
TN his recent address to the Sesame Club Mr.
proceed with the Besant Memorial, and it is hoped
Gilbert Parker, M.P., said many interesting
that at no distant date it will be possible to print in
and suggestive things regarding the Art of
The Author a sketch of the proposed medallion.
In one of the cases brought before the Com-
Fiction. Here are a few of them :-
- Books of real power are not the mere incandescence of
mittee it was decided to take counsel's opinion on
genius ; works of art are not tossed off. · Works of pure
behalf of the Member concerned.
fancy, like · Tartarin of Tarascon,' “The Prisoner of
During the past month the Secretary has had to Zenda,' and Mr. Isaacs, tales of fantastic imagination,
deal with sixteen cases. Of the sixteen, four related whether written in a week or in a year, have behind them
to accounts, six dealt with the questions of money
a lifetime of knowledge. A man must know truth to write
fable."
unpaid to contributors, five referred to the non-
“ There are no such things as 'schools of fiction'; fiction
return of MSS., and the remaining one was a can be learned but cannot be taught. ... In the art of
dispute about an agreement.
fiction the individual is thrown on his own innate talent.
He may saturate himself with the style of great men and
their methods, but unless he has in himself that true
temperament which schools cannot give, he cannot pass
Besant Memorial.
their style and methods through the crucible of his mind
The Besant Memorial now stands as follows : and spirit and produce a crystal of his own making in
Up to the end of March subscrip-
the end."
“ No worthy work of fiction may properly be labelled
tions were received, according to the
romantic, realistic, or symbolistic, since every great work
long list already issued, amounting to. £293 4 0 of art contains all these in some proportion. Love and
During the month of March the
tighting are not necessarily romance; nor are soup-kitchens
subscriptions received amounted to . 10 1 6
and Divorce Courts necessarily realism ...".
"Mere transcription is not the work of an artist. ...
During the month of April the sub-
There seems no reason why the artist should not choose
scriptions received amounted to . 17 9 () any subject, if the production itself contributes to the
satisfaction of the world, making a picture of life, or of a
Total ... £320 14 6
phase of life, in compliance with the demands of art,
beauty and truth. Taste is the arbiter of the subject, for
taste is always moral, always on the side of the angels,"
Subscriptions received during March and April.
“There is only one test for a novel : that it be, first and
Anonymous
before all, a well-constructed story ; that it deal sincerely
with human life and character ; that it be eloquent of
Champneys, Basil . . . . 1 0 feeling ; that it have insight and revelation ; that it
:
Champneys, Basii
.
£1 1 0
## p. 187 (#595) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
187
preserve idiosyncrasy ; but before all, that it he wholesome. many well-known people. Several articles on the
To produce such a book, a sane, tolerant, impartial
subject, written by her, have appeared in The
temperament and a wide knowledge are necessary.'
Queen, Pall Mall Gazette, &c.
In conclusion, Mr. Gilbert Parker said :-
Mrs. Aylmer Gowing's last novel, “ As Cæsar's
“In the thing really great there is no eccentricity, Wife," deals with a cause célèbre in England by
nothing morbid. It is all normal, but the normal form
and power are infused with life, composed of genius-a
which the fortunes of a rising young barrister
supreme and perfect sanity. This means, of course, that became entangled with those of a dangerous
one must be in earnest. A man must hold his art foreigner, a beautiful unscrupulous baroness from
seriously, himself as nothing—the vehicle, the machine, Bavaria. An interesting story is involved. A
the loom through which pass the strands of emotion or
experiences of passion, of human comedy and tragedy
good deal of the action passes in Bavaria among
woven into a web of life, which men seeing shall say : the Passion Players, and their beloved “Mad
* Behold, this is the garment of truth ; this is the mantle of King” appears as a picturesque historical
beauty !'"
personage. The book has already attained a larg
The Coronation Ode by Sir Lewis Morris was circulation.
written 'at His Majesty's request, and, with his Miss Montgomery-Campbell has been gathering
approval, has been entrusted by Sir W. Parratt, the fresh material for her pen in Southern Tyrol. For
Master of the King's Music, to Dr. F. M. Cowen this her knowledge of German dialects has given
for setting. This setting is now approaching her special facilities. Her last book, “Worth the
completion.
Struggle” (Jarrold), has proved an even greater
The Ode is ninety lines long ; probably only a favourite than its predecessor, “Not Wise but
portion of it will be set to music. It was intended Fond,” with the women of the working classes.
for the Abbey service, but as time will not allow of Miss Beatrice Harraden is at work on a long
its being used there, it will be given at some of the book which will be finished at the end of the year.
State functions during the Coronation Week. It will appear serially in The Queen, and it will
For a full report of Mrs. Craigie's brilliant afterwards be published by Messrs Blackwood.
lecture on the “ Art of Composing Dialogue," Part of the scene is laid in Norway. Translations
delivered a short time ago to members and friends will be published simultaneously with the English
of the 0. P. Club, we refer our readers to The book in Swedish, Danish, French, German and
Stage of March 27th.
Dutch.
There is one enlightening passage, however, Miss Harraden hopes to finish a play before the
which we must quote :
end of the year—a light comedy-which will
“ The truth is that the greatest epigrammatists have probably be published first in book form. She is
been Englishmen. The old English comedies, beyond any also planning a volume of short stories.
question, are the most epigrammatic productions in any
The third poem of the new series which Mr.
language. Congreve has written more epigrams than all
the French dramatic authors put together; and it is well John Davidson is writing is called “The Testa-
known that Voltaire himself came to England in order to ment of an Empire-Builder.” The poem is
see the man who could write with such unsurpassed and
preceded by a prose parable in which Mr. Davidson
dazzling brilliancy of phrase. Congreve was not a
financial success, and the greatest comedy of manners in appeals against recent personal attacks upon him-
the English language was à failure, because no audience self. This number is more than twice the length
could possibly think so quickly as that phenomenal genius. of its predecessors.
He condensed whole chapters of psychology into one
paradox, whole family histories into one pithy speech.
Mrs. Gertrude Atherton's new novel, “The
... But the old comedy-writers must not be judged Conqueror," is to appear at once. It is an
by Congreve only. Wycherley, Farquhar, Vanbrugh, historically accurate life of Alexander Hamilton
Sheridan, and Goldsmith were all masters of the epigram- presented in fiction form. Messrs. Macmillan are
matic manner. I do not place that school above the
sentimental school, or below it. I merely wish to point the publishers.
out that it is purely English."
“The Holy City, Athens, and Egypt, founded
Mrs. Alec Tweedie took the chair at a recent on Personal Observation and the Researches of
New Vagabond dinner--it was a Ladies' Night - Modern Explorers.” Such is the title of the work
and Mr. Pett Ridge made a most amusing speech. just completed by Sir William Charley. He has
Mr. Gilbert Parker, M.P., who was the guest of been engaged on it for the last three years.
the evening, spoke on “ Authors in Politics." Miss Clementina Black has written an essay on
There were nearly three hundred people present. Frederick Walker. It is to be published by Messrs.
Mrs. Alec Tweedie's “Mexico as I saw it" Duckworth and Co., in their Popular Library of
has run into a second edition. About eighteen Art. This is a series of volumes planned expressly
months ago she was in Canada, and saw something for the general public. There will be from thirty
of the Eastern Provinces under the auspices of to sixty illustrations in each volume.
## p. 188 (#596) ############################################
188
THE AUTHOR.
thoughts, and sufferings of commonplace people,
with great breadth of sympathy, compassion, and
love.
Miss Netta Syrett's play, re-named “The Finding
of Nancy,” will be produced by Mr. George
Alexander early this month. It will be played for
one matinée. The proceeds will be given to the
Actors' Benevolent Fund.
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
A new and cheaper edition (1s.) of “The Case
for the Factory Acts” has just been issued by Mr.
Grant Richards. The volume is edited by Mrs.
Sidney Webb, and there is a Preface by Mrs. Hum-
phry Ward. Miss Black, who is an acknowledged
authority on the subject, has contributed a paper
on “Some Current Objections to Factory Legislation
for Women.”
Miss May Sinclair is engaged on a longer novel
than any she has yet written. It is a study (purely
imaginary, of course) of a modern man of genius.
The scene is laid chiefly in London. This clever
writer's last volume did very well. It contained two
stories, (1) “The Cosmopolitan,” (2) “Superseded,"
under the title “ Two Sides of a Question.” Messrs.
Constable & Co. published it.
“High Treason : a Romance of the Days of
George the Second,” is the title of an anonymous
historical novel lately published by Mr. John
Murray. The author of this well-written story is
a Member of the Society. In it we are introduced
to a Jacobite maiden, her Hanoverian lover, Prince
Charles Edward, Mr. Pelham, and last, but far
from least, to the author of “Tom Jones.”
In “The Royal Parish of S. Martin-in-the-
Fields,” the accounts of the church wardens from
1525 to 1603, edited by Mr. J. V. Kitto, we have a
volume that will be of much interest to the anti-
quarian. It is also of value because it is an exact
duplicate of the original, and therefore preserves
the records of the parish clerk (in his accounts),
should the original be damaged or destroyed by
any ill-chance. The index of people and places was
carefully carried out, under the editor's direction,
by Miss Rose H. Schloesser and Miss W. M.
Willis-Swan.
Captain Lionel Trotter, author of “ John Nichol-
son” and “A Leader of Light Horse,” is now
engaged upon a popular life of Sir James Outram,
whose brilliant career extends from the days of
Lord Hastings to those of Lord Canning and the
Sepoy Mutiny. Captain Trotter's book, while based
on published documents, will comprise some new
materials which Sir James Outram and other note-
worthy persons have kindly placed at his disposal.
The fifth of a series of Oxford University
Extension Lectures on “Some Nineteenth Century
Novelists " was delivered, a short time ago, by the
Rev. E. J. Bodington, M.A. (Brazenose College),
in the Southgate Lecture Hall, Gloucester.
George Eliot was the subject of Mr. Bodington's
coinprehensive lecture. He thought that for
episodes, particular incidents and scenes done to
perfection, “ The Mill on the Floss ” was the best
of all her books. George Eliot had an almost
infinite appreciation of the value of the doings,
Newspaper Copyright.
A propos of the able article written by Mr.
Moberley Bell in the March number of The
Author, entitled “ Newspaper Copyright: Thou
shalt not steal,” we insert the following letter
which has been issued by the London District
of the Institute of Journalists :-
78, FLEET STREET, E.C.,
March 12th, 1902.
DEAR SIR,—The following resolution was unanimously
adopted at the last meeting of the District Committee,
held on March 3rd :-.
“ That the following memorandum be printed and issued
to the editors and managers of every newspaper in the
London District; to every member of the Newspaper
Society ; to every member of the London District of the
Institute ; and also to the Secretaries of the other Dis-
tricts, inviting them to place the matter before their
Committees, with a view to similar action being taken
throughout the country, viz. :-
“ The Committee of the London District desires the
co-operation of all in a position to lend their aid in taking
steps to put a stop to the practice, on the part of some
journals, of pirating matter contributed to other papers
without payment to the author. This practice is illegal,
and it is hoped that all connected with the management of
newspaper offices will make a point of giving such instruc-
tions in their sub-editorial and business departments as
will secure to the writer the remuneration to which he is
entitled. The Committee invites all journalists who may
have cause of complaint in the matter to lay their cases
before it with a view to obtaining such advice and assist.
ance as may be necessary to secure redress."
In accordance with the terms of the first paragraph, I
have the honour to bring the above resolution to your
notice.
Yours very faithfully,
RICHARD A. NORTHCOTT,
Hon. Secretary.
Prices.
The prices paid for literary work vary greatly,
and probably many writers who contribute to the
leading magazines are quite ignorant of the scale
of remuneration offered by the minor periodicals
## p. 189 (#597) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
189
published “ for the million.” From some trust- his contributor, or of any desire of the editor to
worthy information recently received it would appear appropriate an author's work without his consent.
that the writers of novelettes are willing to accept The letter, however, reminds me of a form of
almost anything by way of honorarium which fraudulent traffic, which I imagine to be more or
may be offered to them. The following items less common, with regard to which also I should
are an account of actual transactions :-The rather like to know the opinion of the readers of
Aldine Co., 50s. for 17,000 words, £t for 20,000; The Author. I refer to the republication of
66 The Orb " Co, paid £3 13s. 611. for 15,000 words; stories, articles and other short matter, which is
“The Family Budget," £5 for 22,000 words; either sent to an editor by a literary thief who
“ Princess Novelette,” £8 for 26,000 words; and pretends it is his own and is paid for it, or is
“ Cherry Blossom,” £4 108. Od. for 16,500. In possibly, in the case of lower-class publications,
comparison, therefore, the sums paid by such inserted by an editor who has lifted it for himself.
better known publishers as Pearson, Harmsworth, I say that I imagine this kind of thing to be
and Roberts are extravagant. Transactions with common because it has happened twice to myself
these firms show : Roberts, £5 5s. Od. for 13,000; to have found short stories of my own, a few
Pearson's “ Home Notes Library,” £7 10s. Od. for years after their original publication, inserted in
13,000; Harmsworth’s “Heartsease Library,” £10 periodicals to which I had never sent them, illus-
for 22,000 words. In all cases the prices are trated, and with the names of strangers, as their
for fiction, chiefly love stories, and refer to the authors, prefixed to them, and if this has happened
period just before the commencement of the twice in my case who am not a prolific writer,
South African war. Since that date there is said I imagine that it must have happened more
to have been something like a decline in literary frequently to others. What I want to know,
values, and possibly some of the firms mentioned however, is what the author should do, and what,
above do not now exist, and others may be offering in the opinion of authors, the editor should do.
less, with the exception of the last three, whose In both cases to which I have referred, the editors
prices are stable.
expressed regret, and in both cases I asked for
and obtained a cheque for the use of my story.
Although I offered to assist in every way in my
Some idea of the present stagnation in the power in convicting and punishing the persons
literary market may be gained from the following who, the editor said (no doubt truly), had sent
figures supplied to us by a Member, who has a them the stories, I regret to say no prosecu-
system of book-keeping which admits of ready tion followed. In the one, the editor told me
reference. During the quarter which ended Lady the person who sent him the story had asked for
Day last he offered work in eighty-two places and obtained payment before it appeared, and
Forty-four of these offers related to MSS. on a had since changed his abode. This person, no
subject of which he has special knowledge. Three doubt, was untraceable without some difficulty, but
were placed, thirty-one rejected, ten offers were the police might, of course, have been allowed to
still under consideration. Thirty-eight offers try their hands. In the other case, the editor
were of MSS. of a miscellaneous character ; of declined to initiate any legal proceedings, giving
these two were accepted, twenty-five rejected, and as his reason that if it were made known how easily
eleven still under consideration. A novel offered the fraud could be achieved, it would become
in three places was not accepted, and nearly all more prevalent, and editors would suffer still more
the MSS. sold were short, the longest realising often than before by being made its victims.
only £15. Next quarter, if there is greater From this view I respectfully but entirely dissent.
activity by this writer, or more enterprise among I have no hope that the honest man, whether an
the periodicals, we hope to be able to give further author or not, will ever be unduly rewarded, but I
figures for comparison with these.
have an old-fashioned desire to see the dishonest
punished, and I believe in putting a check on
crime by detection and punishment. It is quite
obvious that tons of literary matter are at the
A COMMON FRAUD.
disposal of the literary thief. Probably in a
number of cases his theft will be unrecognised,
but I believe he is usually of a class that will be
THE “ Apology" printed in the last Author, deterred by knowing that a month or two of hard
1 from the editor of Woman's Life, suggests labour will certainly reward him if and when he is
that the editor has started a form of com- caught. Typewriting renders his detection and
petition likely to lead to legal complications, but conviction more difficult, but I am not discussing
there is clearly, no suggestion of fraud on the part of this side of the question. I should like to know
## p. 190 (#598) ############################################
190
THE AUTHOR.
whether, in the opinion of others, a prosecution Yet it is quite apparent. What, for instance,
(presumably for obtaining, or attempting to obtain, was the motive underlying the movement for an
money by false pretences) is not a better course in Imperial penny postage ? Was it not patriotism
the interest of writer and editor alike, than an and British imperialism in a mild form ? But
established policy of clemency or inaction. the penny postage was only one of the reforms
Curiously enough, at another time, when I was which have been urged. There are still anomalies
editing an illustrated newspaper, I came across a in that system which must be eradicated. The
somewhat similar but not altogether identical chiefest of these anomalies is the prohibitory
case with regard to an illustration. A casual rate charged for the carrying of newspapers and
contributor, in order to illustrate some current periodicals within the Empire. It costs one
topic in one of the colonies, sent in a sketch, which dollar a year to deliver The Weekly Globe of
I published. It was a scene in the country Toronto to an English subscriber. It takes
referred to, containing a group of its inhabitants, seventy-two cents in postage to deliver The
and it was in due time recognised by a firm of Canadian Magazine to a subscriber in Great
photographers as a copy of one of their produc Britain, Cape Colony, or Australia. It costs about
tions. For this infringement of their copyright ninety-six cents a year to carry Pearson's, The
they obtained, quite properly, pecuniary compensa- Strand, Pall Mall, Blackwood's, The Windsor, or
tion, but in this case I do not know that there any other British monthly or weekly to a Canadian
was a clear intention to defraud on the part of or Australian subscriber. It costs 2 d. a week
the contributor. He knew the country, and had to mail an Australian weekly such as The Mel.
helped himself to draw bis picture by borrowing bourne Leader or The Sydney Town and Country
from the photograph, but to draw a scene which Journal to a Canadian subscriber, or about $1.20 a
someone else has photographed, from the photo- year. The Toronto Public Library pays nearly
graph, is not, to my mind, the same thing as $200 a year postage on British publications. The
taking someone else's story, copying it out, imperial newspaper and periodical rate is eight
putting a fresh title to render discovery less likely, cents a pound, an exorbitant, unwise, and unpa.
adding an imaginary author's name or initials, triotic tax on the publications which make for
and last, but not least, drawing payment as for an British sentiment.
original contribution. Personally, as I have said, On whom lies the blame for this unpatriotic
I believe that in this case the matter should be tax? In a paper read before the Canadian Press
put in the hands of the police, and that an editor Association last March, Mr. E. B. Biggar shows
who obtains the punishment of such an offender that the Hon. Mr. Mulock, our Postmaster-General,
defends himself effectually from any possible is not the guilty person.
suggestion that he is himself the delinquent. At It is quite evident that the Canadian authorities
the same time I admit that there is some force in have been willing to reform the system in this
the argument that the fraud is easy and may regard. Further, many Canadians have brought
become popular. Easy it certainly is, for of the matter before the British authorities. Mr.
course no editor can be expected to be omniscient, James Bain, librarian of the Toronto Public
and the matter lifted is usually short and trivial. Library, urged it some seven years ago, when
No one would “serialise” a well-known author's on a visit to London. Mr. Hale, of The Orillia
short story or a novel of 80,000 words who had not Packet, has been an ardent advocate of it for
unusual nerve as well as ingenuity and dishonesty. some years. At the meeting of the Canadian
A. A.
Press Association referred to above, the following
resolution was passed :-
---
-
A HEAVY HANDICAP.
A Canadian Outlook.
IMPERIAL RATES ON NEWSPAPERS AND
MAGAZINES.
IMPERIAL POSTAGE,
“Believing that a cheap system of news, book,
and letter postage is of the highest necessity in
bringing about the full interchange of thought and
knowledge by which the peoples of the Empire can be
brought into a mutual understanding of each other,
into common ground of action, and into closer
commercial relations, this Association warmly
commends the efforts already made by our Post-
master-General to this end, and earnestly trusts
that the Canadian Government will continue to
TT may be a matter of some surprise to find a
I writer urging that there is a relation between
the Post Office and patriotism, between the
Post Office and the ideals of a British people
## p. 191 (#599) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
191
urge upon the Imperial Government the early in Australia, and other colonies, and even getting
inauguration of such a postal system for all parts a strong foothold in Great Britain itself. Where-
of the British Empire, and that, as a first step to ever they go they are leading United States
such a system, the Canadian Government offer to manufactures with them. With a large home
the British Government a free exchange of all our market for profitable subscriptions under the low
mail matter at the present domestic rate of each domestic rate, the United States publisher can
country.”
afford to lose a little on foreign subscriptions for
In considering this question the reader must the sake of the reputation it is giving him and the
remember that international postal rates depend trade he is helping to create for his own country's
upon international agreement and sanction, and that goods. In fact, a little loss in subscriptions is
inter-imperial postal rates depend upon Imperial no loss in reality, for it is more than made up in
agreement and approval. The Canadian Post the advertising revenue it brings to his own paper
Office must charge eight cents a pound on news- through the foreign business he creates for his
papers, periodicals and books mailed to Great patrons. On the other hand, the British publisher
Britain, because that is the rate charged by the is so handicapped by the burdens of the rate of
British Post Office on similar matter.
postage at home that he cannot afford to lose on
What are the present consequences of this his subscriptions abroad.”
unpatriotic postal tax ? In the first place, the The Canadian historian, the Rev. Dr. Withrow,
United States charges only one cent a pound on strongly urges the reduction of this unpatriotic
newspapers, periodicals, and certain classes of rate.
books sent to Canada, and United States magazines The Montreal Gazette quotes this opinion
and periodicals have crowded British magazines approvingly in an editorial in its issue of Nov. 20.
and periodicals out of this market. The Strand The Toronto World for Nov. 25, says :-
sold here is an American edition, smaller and less “ The scarcity of the British newspapers and
valuable than the British edition. So with Pear- magazines in Canada is owing more than anything
son's and others. The Illustrated London News, else to the excessive postal rates charged on papers
The Graphic, Black and White, Studio, and other and periodicals. Canada has a reciprocity treaty,
British periodicals come to Canada through New as it were, with the United States, for the handling
York, with a New York dress. Canadians have of mail matter. We accept free at the border all
to be satisfied with emasculated, Americanised matter coming from the United States, and the
editions of British periodicals, or else pay a tax of latter similarly accepts ours when it reaches the
from one to two dollars a year for the British United States. But the deal is not a fair one
edition. This may be satisfactory to the Britisher, for Canada. Perhaps fifty times more papers and
who does not foresee the inevitable result, but to magazines come into Canada from the United
Canadians who do not look with complacency on States than pass the other way. The convention
the ending of British connection with this con between the two Post Office departments is alto-
tinent it is far from pleasing.
gether in favour of the United States. If a similar
convention cannot be established between Great
TRADE FOLLOWS THE PRESS.
Britain and Canada, something at least ought to
be done to stimulate the interchange of the
Another consequence of this unimperial rate is periodicals and newspapers between the mother
to encourage United States trade at the expense of country and her leading colony. The substitution
British. Mr. Biggar sums this up in a strong of the English magazines for those from the
paragraph :-“Now, leaving out of consideration United States would be a commendable change,
the higher claims of the press as a means of while the circulation of the Canadian papers in
education and moral influence, it can be safely Great Britain, especially between emigrants in
affirmed that no instrument for creating trade can Canada and their friends in the old country, would
be compared with the printer's ink. As stated at prove an effective emigration medium. A cheap
the outset, trade follows the newspaper in all newspaper rate is of even greater importance for
civilised countries, and hence the people of the the unification of the Empire, than Imperial penny
United States have shown true foresight in framing postage as applied to letters. The former would
their postal policy with the object, not of making appeal to a much larger constituency than the
revenue, but merely to cover the cost of the service, latter. The question is ripe for action.”
wbich enables its publishers to push their literature
over the English-speaking world. United States
WOULD AID CANADIAN LITERATURE.
newspapers and trade and technical publications Canada has a vital interest in this question.
are not only flooding Canada, but have been for Every class of publication in this country, with
years guining on British papers in South Africa, the possible exception of the daily newspaper, is
## p. 192 (#600) ############################################
192
THE AUTHOR.
suffering from the keen competition of the public
cations of the United States. The restriction of
that competition and the opening of the gate to
an Imperial circulation would make a wonderful
difference to Canadian literature. For it is not
an idle statement that the growth of literature
under modern conditions is due in a considerable
measure to the demand for articles and stories to
fill the columns of the magazine and the weekly
journal. If Canada had four or five magazines and
four or five strong national weeklies circulating
throughout the Empire, the demand for Canadian
literature would be ten times as great as it is.
The increased market value of native literary
material would greatly stimulate its production.
The opening of the Imperial market for reading
matter would mean a beneficial reciprocity. The
United States market is open to Canadians, but a
conflict of political sentiment and interest prevents
reciprocity. To Great Britain, Canada is au
interesting possession, to Australia, the Dominion
is sister to the Commonwealth, to the United
States, Canada is an interesting strip of territory
forming the southern boundary to the North
Pole.
This matter was brought up in the British
House of Commons last session, and a stereotyped
reply received to the effect that the four-and-a-half
million annual surplus in the British Post Office
required, as a safeguard, the maintenance of this
prohibitory tax on the interchange of British
periodicals and newspapers between the mother
country and the colonies. Recently Lord London-
derry, as Postmaster-General, in reply to a request of
The Canadian Gazette for uniform halfpenny postage
for newspapers between Great Britain and Canada,
stated that “the financial objections to a general
scheme of this kind are insuperable.” Never-
theless, if the question were considered by the
authorities at Ottawa, either in Council or in the
next session of the House, and a request made of
the British Government looking to the needed free
trade in literature, it is tolerably certain that this
anomaly would vanish within six months.
JOHN A. COOPER,
Editor of The Canadian Magazine.
Mr. T. E. Scrutton, K.C., in his book entitled
“The Law of Copyright,” page 46, says :
“Since 1842 artistic copyright has been dealt with by
an Act of 1862 ; the drama is the subject of an Act of
1833, known as Bulwer Lytton's Act ; lectures are partially
provided for by an Act of 1835 ; and music has been very
unsatisfactorily legislated for in 1882. The whole patch.
work and piecemeal collection of Acts waits, and has waited
for years for a codifying and simplifying measure, which
Parliament cannot find the leisure to bestow."
In addition to the Acts above mentioned may
be cited the International Act of 1844, the Inter-
national Act of 1852, the International Act of
1875, the International Act of 1886, endeavouring
to give effect to the Berne Convention, and the
Musical Compositions Bill of 1888, to say nothing
of the Colonial Acts.
Mr. Scrutton states in the same work :
· Thus books, plays, which may be either represented or
printed, lectures, which may be both orally delivered and
printed, engravings, sculptures, paintings, drawings and
photographs, and music, have each a separate statute or
statutes to establish and regulate copyright therein. These
statutes are, without exception, of most involved and inar-
tistic draftsmanship, and present to the Legislature a
suitable, even an urgent, case for codification, though
nothing has been done to attain this desirable end since
the report of the Copyright Commission in 1878."
On referring to the report of the Royal Copy-
right Commission of 1878, we find the following
opinion expressed therein on the state of the law
as it then stood : -
- Art. 7.--The first observation which a study of the
existing law suggests is that its form, as distinguished from
its substance, seems to us bad. The law is wholly destitute
of any sort of arrangement, incomplete, often obscure, and
even when it is intelligible upon long study, it is in many
parts so ill-expressed that no one who does not give such
study to it can expect to understand it."
"Art. 9.—The fourteen Acts of Parliament which deal
with the subject were passed at different times between
1735 and 1875. They are drawn in different styles, and
some are drawn so as to be hardly intelligible. Obscurity
of style, however, is only one of the defects of these Acts.
Their arrangement is often worse than their style. Of
this the Copyright Act of 1842 is a conspicuous instance."
" Art. 10.- The piecemeal way in which the subject has
been dealt with affords the only possible explanation of a
number of apparently arbitrary distinctions between the
provisions made upon matters which would seem to be of
the same nature."
" Art. 12.-The law is not only arbitrary in some points,
but is incomplete and obscure in others."
“ Art. 13.-l'pon all these grounds we recommend that
the law on this subject should be reduced to an intelligible
and systematic form. This may be effected by codifying
the law, either in the shape in which it appears in Sir
James Stephen's Digest, or in any other which may be
preferred ; and our first, and, we think, one of our most
important recommendations is that this should be done.
Such a process would, amongst other things, afford an
opportunity for making such amendments in the substance
of the law as may be required."
Since 1878, the date of these scathing strictures
by the Copyright Commissioners, we have had, as
PATCHWORK LEGISLATION AND MUSICAL
PERFORMING RIGHT.
TN an article mainly dealing with musical and
I dramatic copyright it may not be out of
place at the present time to quote the opinions
expressed by some eminent legal minds as to the
state of our copyright laws.
## p. 193 (#601) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
193
if to make confusion worse confounded, the Act
of 1882 (about as muddlesome a piece of panic
legislation as could very well be conceived), the
International Act of 1886, and the Musical Com-
positions Act of 1888, than which it would be
impossible to imagine anything more encouraging
to piracy; and since then Committees of the House
of Lords have sat month after month, year after
year, enquiring into copyright matters.
Bills have been drafted and redrafted, even
reaching the stage of second reading in the House
of Lords, but only to be dropped for a new Bill to
be brought forward : again drafted and redrafted
and dropped, in a desperate endearour to bring
about something like comprehensive legislation on
copyright matters.
Thus those interested in copyright matters have
had the following proposed Bills to study since
1890 :-
On the 25th of November, 1890, a Bill intituled
an Act to amend and consolidate the law relating
to Copyright.
On the 8th of February, 1898, a Bill intituled
an Act to amend the law relating to Copyright
in Periodical Works, Lectures, Abridgments, and
otherwise.
On the 4th of March, 1898, a Bill intituled an
Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to
Copyright.
On the 18th of April, 1899, a Bill intituled an
Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to
Literary Copyright.
On the 18th of April, 1899, a Bill intituled an
Act to simplify and aipend the law relating to
Copyright in Artistic Works.
On the 24th of July, 1899, a Bill (as amended
by the Select Committee) intituled an Act to
amend and consolidate the law relating to Literary
Copyright.
On the 5th of March, 1900, a Bill intituled an
Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to
Literary Copyright.
On the 13th of July, 1900, a Bill intituled an
Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to
Literary Copyright (brought before the Lords the
13th of July, 1900).
Over and abore these Acts, there are the volu-
minous reports of the various copyright committees,
and their minutes of evidence, showing an appalling
amount of work done and time occupied which,
judging by results, can only be said to have been
wasted.
Copyright may by many be considered to repre-
sent a very small, even insignificant, part of the
nation's affairs, but if the above is a fair sample of
legislative attempts, then it is no wonder that
Parliament cannot find time to do its business,
seeing that the same work is gone through over
and over again, only to be put on one side as it
reaches completion.
The late Mr. Cecil Rhodes is reported to have
said in one of his answers given to the South
African Committee, “ Governments spend their
whole time in making Conventions and in tearing
them up again.” It would certainly appear as if
the Special Commissions and Committees on Copy-
right had spent all their time in drafting Bills,
only to tear them up again.
Such a state of affairs is very deplorable, and it
is difficult to see how copyright owners can be
expected to know what their legal rights are, or if
they have any at all, when the judges themselves
are so constantly puzzled to define them.
A more fruitful cause of litigation it would be
difficult to imagine.
In the case of Enoch & Sons v. The “ Morocco
Bound” Syndicate, Limited, and Miss Letty Lind,
in 1893, Mr. Justice Chitty said that “in the pre-
sent state of the law such questions were very
difficult to determine," and he expressed his “re-
gret that the Legislature has not amended and
consolidated the mass of enactments upon the
interpretation of which such enactments depended.
It was of great importance to the public that
piecemeal and patchwork enactments on such a
subject “ should be consolidated and presented in a
form which ordinary men could unclerstand.”
It is sufficiently evident from the foregoing that
intellectual property has never been legislated for
in a definite and comprehensive manner. As a
consequence we have a series of detached Acts of
Parliament, grudgingly granting certain limited
rights in various forms of literary and artistic pro-
perty, each liberally strewn with obscure provisions
and legal riddles which none but the copyright
owner with a very long purse and great philan-
thropic or combative qualities can afford to unravel
for the benefit of the less fortunate of his confrères.
When a copyright question comes up for de-
cision, simple and clear though it may be, it will
go hard if the counsel employed are not able,
by liberal quotations from various contradictory
statutes, to make it obscure and incomprehensible.
As a result the judges themselves find it difficult
to know what the Acts do or do not mean.
Seeing the deplorable results which have hitherto
followed piecemeal legislation it is sincerely to be
hoped that our legislators, now that so much time
has been spent in endeavouring to draft a compre-
hensive measure including all forms of intellectual
property, will not allow themselves to be worked
up to a state of panic, nor induced to pass any
more slapdash, patchwork Bills in the interests of
one section only.
The dangers of panic legislation will become
still more apparent if we reflect on the frequently
## p. 194 (#602) ############################################
194
THE AUTHOR.
divergent natures of copyright and performing publishers. I have referred to the Acts of 1882
right.
and 1888.
Let us take, as an example, musical and dramatic By the Act of 1882 the owner of the performing
works. There are two rights in musical and right was placed absolutely at the mercy of the
dramatic works—the right of publication and the publisher, who, if he thinks it worth his while, can
right of performance.
omit to print the mention of reservation, or may
They are separate and distinct properties, legis- print it on the first edition and not on a subsequent
lated for at various times in separate and distinct one. The owner of the performing right can only
Ways.
find that out after he has taken an action at law
They may be, and very often are, vested in and lost it on account of the absence of the
entirely different hands. The right of multiplying reservation.
copies is one which authors almost invariably Such absence may be due to oversight, neglect,
assign to the publisher, either for the payment of or may be wilful on the part of the publisher. But
a sum down or the payment of a royalty, or both. the owner of the right may in all innocence think
As regards the performing right, its exercise has it is there, take action, and lose his case.
two objects : That of allowing the author to pro- In any event it seems certain that the publisher,
tect himself against inferior performances of his however valuable a performing right may be, can
work, and that of obtaining adequate remuneration wilfully destroy it by omitting to print the reserva-
for his work by authorising its performance on tion, and it would appear that he is only liable to
payment of certain fees or royalties.
pay a few pounds to the owner of the performing
Some works are valuable only from the point of right for so doing, whilst the latter may have to
view of the performing right, others only of the risk hundreds of pounds to obtain them. As very
publishing right; many are valuable from both often the two rights are in separate hands, and
points of view.
the owner of the performing right does not know
The libretto of a comic opera, as a rule, has what has been done, or what is being done with
very little value apart from that of performance, the publishing right, the former is constantly in
though the lyrics may have a certain publishing jeopardy.
value in conjunction with the music.
But granting that he has been able through
The majority of novels are valuable only for sheer good fortune to get the mention printed on
publication ; a minority of them lend themselves every copy of his work, he has then to run the
to dramatisation, but such value does not accrue to gauntlet of the Act of 1888, which compels him to
the author of a novel, inasmuch as our copyright prove (in spite of the notification of performing
law does not yet protect the novelist against right reserve on the copy) that the parties respon-
dramatisation.
sible for the performance knew that the rights
Some dramas are valuable from the point of were reserved. If he fails to prove this to the
view of publication as well as performance. On satisfaction of the Court he may lose his case.
the other hand, we have musical compositions in Supposing he has come through successfully and
which the dual rights exist, but with seeming proved his case, he may get a shilling damages and
greater antagonism than in any other form of be condemned to pay all his own costs.
copyright property.
It is difficult to conceive under the circumstances
The composer, in the case of a purely musical what object Parliament had in reserving the right
composition, and the composer and the author, in at all, inasmuch as the owner appears to be treated
the case of a song, usually assign their copyright by this style of legislation as one who, if he seeks
to the publisher. For many years the performing to protect his own property, is doing something
right was not dealt with at all, except in a few cases. undesirable, from which he ought to be restrained
The publishers have invariably objected to its as far as possible.
exercise when it has not been under their own It would have been more intelligible if the
control, and in the majority of cases the owner of Legislature had suppressed the right entirely
the publishing right would most gladly see the instead of placing it in the unsatisfactory position
performing right destroyed. But such destruction it at present occupies.
would be as much piracy as the unauthorised print- The presumed object of the Act of 1888 was to
ing of the work by the owner of the performing prevent innocent members of the public un-
right in his own interests. But is it always con- wittingly performing a protected composition from
sidered so ?
being mulcted in heavy penalties and damages by
We may perhaps find some light on this point if any uncrupulous owner of performing rights.
we pause to consider two Acts passed since 1878 This purpose would have been as well attained
(the date of the report of the Special Commission by fixing a minimum nominal penalty and placing
already referred to), and mainly promoted by the costs at the discretion of the judge.
## p. 195 (#603) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
195
But the Act goes much further in its protection frequent, though the owner of the performing right
of piracy. It relieves all interested in the perform- may, and generally does, meet with very little
ance from any responsibility at all, even if they sympathy in the matter.
have never taken the trouble to find out whether a Any unprejudiced mind that takes the trouble to
work is protected or not, and even where the read the Acts of 1882 and 1888 cannot fail to
mention of reservation may figure on the copy of recognise how unfairly performing right owners are
the music.
dealt with.
Under this Act, it would appear that anyone is These Acts in effect destroy the performing right,
free to perform a work, whether it bears a notifica- whilst pretending to do nothing of the kind.
tion that the rights of performance are reserved or Personally, I should like to see all rights dealt
not, until the owner of the performing right finds with on a basis fair to the owners of rights and fair
it out.
to the public. But of meddlesome and muddlesome
He then bas to notify them, and if after notifica legislation there has been enough and to spare.
tion they continue to perform, he can proceed For years past we have been promised a codifica-
against them with some chance of getting a tion of the law, and copyright owners of every kind
shilling damages and possibly no costs.
and degree have waited in patience for the new
A proprietor, tenant or occupier, which practically order of things ; and there can be no justification
includes everybody, is free from all responsibility, for all their hopes being frustrated by a little more
and may go on performing, or causing to be panic legislation for a class interest.
performed, and get all the benefit from such per It may be as well to consider whether the
formances. until the owners can discover the performing right is really a valuable right or not,
infringements of their right and give him notice particularly as at the time of the passing of the
to discontinue.
Act of 1888 it was stated in the debate in the
I particularly desire to emphasise this, which is the House of Lords, that “in the evidence given before
actual state of the law as to performing right, the Commission it was stated by a music publisher,
because, as it was brought about by piecemeal who was well qualified to judge, that he did not
legislation in the interests of the publishers, who believe any living composer had derived sixpence
strongly backed it up, it will be curious to contrast profit from the performance of his songs. That
what they consider sufficient protection to the was the kind of property which the noble lord said
owner of the performing right as compared with would be taken away by this Bill-property which
what they deem to be adequate protection for the had never been worth sixpence to its owner.”
owner of the publishing right.
This was one of the most outrageous statements,
They are at present asking for a new Act. ignorant or worse, ever permitted to influence
I do not say that publishers should not be given legislation.
as ample provision for the protection of their rights Many thousands of unauthorised performances of
as would be adequate to enable them to prevent the musical compositions upon which the right of public
piracy of their properties. On the contrary, it is performance is reserved annually take place through-
of course only right and necessary that they should out England, and it is utterly impossible that the
enjoy such protection.
owners of the performing right, in the present
But all other owners of rights are equally state of the law and of performing right interests,
entitled to consideration on the part of Parlia- can stop them. The performing rights of many
ment, to enable them to adequately protect their musical compositions have undoubtedly very great
property.
value, but it is only by a combination of all
The Copyright Laws are even more unfair to performing right interests for mutual protection
many other forms of property than that of that anything can be done to give performing
publication.
rights any permanent settled value at all.
The difficulties in the way of the owners of It is obvious that as the law at present stands, no
performing rights are much greater than those of individual owning a performing right can success-
owners of publishing rights for the protection of fully protect his works from piracy with any
their respective properties, because the infringe- advantage to himself.
ment of a publishing right takes some tangible If we look abroad we can see what methods have
form, producing a visible record of the piracy. been adopted to successfully protect performing
It is therefore easier to trace and to find out, rights and render them really valuable property,
whereas in the case of performance the difficulty of and I will in my next article deal as briefly as
finding out that a right has been infringed, and of possible with the history of the Société des Auteurs,
proving it to the satisfaction of judge or jury, is Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, of France.
infinitely more difficult.
ALFRED MOUL.
Such infringements, however, are common and
## p. 196 (#604) ############################################
196
THE AUTHOR.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
TERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property —
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,"
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor!
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“ Cost of Production.”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :-
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(6.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Shonld
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.c.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (6.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that ne
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed.
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very greåt risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
N EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
1. LIVERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
## p. 197 (#605) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
197
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright Communications for The Author should be addressed to
and publishers' agreements do not generally fall within the the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey's
experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple
u solicitors. Therefore, do not scrupleGate, S.W., and should reach the Editor NOT LATER
to use the Society.
THAN THE 21st OF EACH MONTH.
All persons engaged in literary work of any kind,
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
whether members of the Society or not, are invited to
whether members of the Soc
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The communicate to the Editor any points connected with their
Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new work which it would be advisable in the general interest to
or old, for inspection and note. The information thus publish.
obtained may prove invaluable.
4. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are return articles which cannot be accepted.
advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members' agreements and their preservation in a fire. THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, and he requests members who do not receive an
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers : answer to important communications within two days to
-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give write to him without delay. All remittances should be
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
an readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep by registered letter only.
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
AUTHORITIES.
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
D Y order of the Committee, the inset in the
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members,
D January number of The Author, entitled
“Periodicals and their contributors," has
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
been considerably enlarged and republished.
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions The sanction of the editors has been in many
and act accordingly.
cases obtained to the form and substance of the
insertion, and where this is the case a note to that
effect has been appended.
THE READING BRANCH.
Three hundred copies of the revised edition
have been printed, and are now for sale at the
offices of the Society. The price is 6d. a copy.
M EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this As the pamphlet cannot fail to be of use to all
branch of their work by informing young writers those who contribute to magazines, the Committee
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
trust there will be no difficulty in disposing of this
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
number.
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
lieaders are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
Mr. George Morang, publisher, of Toronto, has
written a pamphlet on the Canadian Copyright
Question.
We shall have much pleasure in forwarding a
NOTICES.
copy, on receipt of a postcard, to those Members
of the Society who are interested in following the
T HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of course of events,
1 the Society that, although the paper is sent to them Mr. Morang's pamphlet is a clear exposition of
free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a
the Canadian copyright legislation up to the
very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great
present date. It has been written with the purpose
many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest
58. 6d. subscription for the year.
of convincing the Toronto Board of Trade that
## p. 198 (#606) ############################################
198
THE AUTHOR.
considerable danger exists in attempting to obtain This method has its risks. It may be legal to
a distinct law for the Canadians, which would seize the printed copies of songs, but it is illegal
have the effect of withdrawing them from the to commit an assault. It is difficult, therefore, to
influence of the Imperial Statutes.
accomplish the one without the other when a lusty
This important subject has been constantly street hawker is hanging on to the property he
before the Committee of the Society. They have has acquired by purchase.
from time to time during the past years dealt fully T he result is not always satisfactory, and a fine,
with the intricacies and difficulties involved. or in the alternative seven days, has been the result
We see with much regret, therefore, that Mr. in one case. In the meantime, what are the
Morang-although he has all along been cognisant composers doing? Are they taking any steps to
of the efforts that the Committee have made with protect themselves from the publishers, as the
a view to settlement—has entirely ignored the work publishers from the pirates ? Apparently not.
of the English Society of Authors in the solution The publishers' action may in the end benefit
of this question.
the composers. When the former have forced
His statement of the law is clear and correct. through satisfactory legislation by bringing the
He has, however, made serious omissions in ex- question within the range of practical politics, the
plaining the causes that brought about the present latter may combine to obtain satisfactory agree-
results. From the historical standpoint these ments and to secure their property for themselves
omissions are regrettable. It is only just to the and their heirs. Will the composers explain the
Committee that the Society's work should be reason for their apparent indifference ?
recognised. Some day, no doubt, it will be possible
to give all the facts. In the meantime a mild
remonstrance is not untimely.
In a letter forwarded recently by one of the
Members to the Secretary a complaint was raised
that a communication received through his pub-
The following paragraph appears in the lishers had been opened.
American Author :-
He objected to the course the publisher had
" The leading publishers have responded with alacrity to
thought fit to adopt, and not without reason.
the effort of the Society of American Authors to establish The position was aggravated by the publisher, in
a standard form of contract, which shall be mutually pro answer to a letter of remonstrance, remarking that
tective of the rights and interests of author and publisher. it was the custom of the trade to open all letters
While an agreement may not be reached at once, the directed to antbors "pare of their publishers
outlook is hopeful.”
We should hardly have thought that a matter of
It is quite natural that the publishers should this kind would have come within the range of
show alacrity in responding to the efforts of the “trade custom.” It is surely a matter of good
American Society of Authors. They are likely to feeling and good manners.
gain much more than they lose by a compromise The Secretary at once wrote to Mr. Macmillan
of the kind suggested. If the publishers propose and Mr. John Murray. It is satisfactory to state
agreements drawn on the same lines as those put that both these gentlemen repudiate the “trade
forward by the English Publishers' Association, custom."
the American Authors' Society will have a tough No other answer could possibly have been
fight.
expected from the representatives of these old and
To have a standard form of agreement is a responsible firms.
mistake, and may inflict considerable hardship The point is mentioned, however, as this is not
on authors. The interests to be protected are the only complaint that has occurred.
so diverse, it is impossible to settle one form of
agreement which will deal satisfactorily with all
the rights that an author possesses, and to multiply
In the Canadian letter printed in the April
standard forms is a course which would only tend
number of The Author reference is made to the
to make confusion worse con founded.
prohibitive postal rates between Great Britain and
Canada.
This subject, as will appear from the article
The musical publishers appear to be taking the law printed in the present number, is evidently one
into their own hands. The Daily Chronicle remarks that exercises the minds of the Canadians to a
“they have gone down into the street, tucked up great extent, and, from the arguments put forward
their sleeves, and fought for the property which in the letter, deservedly so.
some person or persons unknown stole from them.” The article has been printed not only because
## p. 199 (#607) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
199
Mr. John A. Cooper is a well-known Canadian
author, editor of the Canadian Magazine, and
a member of the English Society of Authors,
but also for the reason that English authors and
the English public appear to have no knowledge
of the question—a question which, satisfactorily
solved, might bring great benefit to those engaged
in literary production in England.
to read. This boycott may cause Mr. Hocking a little
financial loss, but we feel sure that he will welcome the
measure as the sincerest compliment possible to the power
and importance of his works.
Either Mr. Hocking does lose money or he
doesn't lose money by his literary protests against
the insiduousness (sic) of the Romish Church, but
we do not know whether to rejoice or weep with
him,
The following story may amuse those who are
interested in the intricacies of language :-
WHOM THE GODS LOYE.
"Johnny had written a composition in the narrative
style, and was showing it to his mother for her approval
before submitting it to the teacher.
THE gods their best-belovèd take
" · Here's a sentence that will not do, Johnny,' she said, as 1 In the meridian of life's May,
she read it : "When the man found that he had called at
- While yet the emerald gems the brake,
the wrong door he politely explained himself away.' A
And the merle lavishes his lay!
man can explain a thing away, my dear, but not himself.'
** I don't see why,'contended Johnny. 'A man can bow For them no pall shall winter spread
himself out, can't he ?'
Of stricken leaves and sterile sods ;
"Certainly.
Only the vernal turf they tread,
** Then why can't he explain himself away?'”
The best-beloved of the gods !
Among the hypercritical the question how far
They pass, by sorrow's shaft unfound,
colloquialisms may be retained as part of the great
Unpierced by tribulation's thorn,
English language, is like the golden apple of dis-
With arrowy footsteps, amaranth-crowned,
cord cast among the gods and goddesses assembled
To the sun-mantled slopes of Morn!
in conclave.
Jaded of soul and sere of heart,
The spelling of the great English language
Life's pilgrim on his journey plods,
sometimes produces a similar uproar.
But in their golden prime depart
This calls to mind another story :-
The best-beloved of the gods !
An able-bodied seaman was passing the neces-
sary examination in the elements of English, and
WILLIAM TOYNBEE.
was asked to spell “ blocks." He at once replied
“b-1-0-x."
On being informed by the examiner that the
“THE CENSORSHIP OF PLAYS.”
spelling was incorrect, his retort was ready : “If
b-l-o-x don't spell blocks what does it speli ? "
“ Immoral ! God bless my soul, gentlemen !"— De Quincey.
Messrs. Ward. Lock & Co. should have revised M HAT man is not to be envied who can rise
the paragraphs which they have circulated about
from reading the “ Areopagitica” without
Mr. Joseph Hocking's anti-papistic novels before
being inflamed against all censorships what-
inviting the Press to insert them. Apart from
soever ; so amply has the English nation justified
spelling, these paragraphs contain an obvious
Milton's faith in its good sense, and fulfilled his
error of fact. In the first the following sentences
ecstatic prophecy of the greatness that should
may be found :-
attend her freedom of speech. And to-day nobody
In numerous instances public attacks have been directed
would be so foolhardy as to propose a censorship
at Mr. Hocking's works, and in some localities efforts have
of the English press, or of English literature.
been made to exclude them from the public libraries. Of Milton's main unanswerable argument against
course, far from obtaining the desired results, the books the censorship of books, is of equal force against
have been more talked about than would otherwise have
the censorship of the modern English stage ;
been the case, and the normal sale of his works in the
Southern Continent doubled.
namely, that the palate of any healthy community
Just as an editor has worked himself up to may be trusted to find out what is good for it.
congratulate Mr. Hocking on the fact that his
“ Doth not the ear try words ? And the mouth
purse is not suffering by his conscientiousness,
taste his meat ? ”
he may read in the second paragraph :-
It may be urged, however, that in the matter of
So stirred has Rome been by his treatment that Mr,
stage-plays the bearings of the question are shifted
Hocking's books have been included in the Index Expur by reason of their being performed in public.
gatorius-the list of books which Catholics are not allowed A crowd does not behave as the individuals
## p. 200 (#608) ############################################
200
THE AUTHOR.
composing it would behave. A crowd leaps to foolish and his most earnest opinions and convictions turn
and unreasonable judgments ; is easily startled into the windiest commonplaces, the moment he
into panic ; loses its head in all sorts of ways. leaves Westminster and steps upon the boards of a
Would it not be well, in the matter of stage-plays, theatre. So little have party politics to do with
to brush aside all Milton's arguments, and to hunt that essential humanity which alone is raw
up some all-wise benevolent policeman, and set him material for the serious dramatist.
over us, to prevent us from making asses of our- Good-humored farcical handling is best fitted
selves, or doing ourselves some mischief in respect for political matters on the stage, and from under
of those grave matters where we are so eager to go this guise the dramatist may shoot much wisdom.
astray--religion, politics, morality, decency? truth, and satire at current events and opinions.
These are obviously the four concerns which in But it may be asked, “Why may he not equally
the theatre are committed to the charge of the shoot his truth and wisdom and satire at prominent
licenser of plays.
political personages ? Our present-day statesmen
We will deal with religion first.
and public men are caricatured in Punch and other
Nearly twenty years ago I had occasion to periodicals, and no objections are raised, nor do
inquire into the relations of religion and the private or public reputations sensibly suffer there-
drama ( Religion and the Stage," Nineteenth Cen- from. Why, then, should not prominent political
fury, January, 1885). I claimed that so far as personages bè caricatured on the boards of our
religion is a matter of character and conduct, the theatres ? " The only answer that can be made to
dramatist is within his right to deal with it on the this argument is, that the theatre so intensifies
stage ; but that so far as religion is a matter of the feelings and so inflames the passions that it
doctrine and a system of theology, he has no would be very difficult, if not impossible, to draw
business with it. I think that broad rule is a safe the line between legitimate caricature and cruel
one to govern the treatment of religion on the and spiteful libel, while the latter would probably
stage. Whatever his own particular creed may be found to be the most popular, and would draw
be, scarcely any playgoer would wish that the the most money.
mysteries and dogmas of Christianity should be Further, though it is more than a generation
exposed in an argumentative way on the London since the English Government of the day has been
stage to-day. But so strange are the whims and threatened with serious internal disturbances, vet
riots that men are led into by harebrained a social revolution is always conceivable in a
enthusiasm, or by thirst for notoriety, that it complex civilisation such as ours. Our democracy
is quite conceivable the withdrawal of the censor- has recently shown an admirable coolness and
ship might bring about occasional mockeries which patience and good sense under very trying and
would be highly offensive both to believers and galling conditions. But who can answer that this
to unbelievers. And if in regard to this aspect of self-control would be maintained in a European
religion, the licenser of plays regards himself as an war after the loss of a naval battle or two ? Even
all-wise, benevolent policeman, whose duty it is to the gradual loss of our commercial supremacy, as
interfere before the event, I do not see that any soon as the pinch was felt, might very possibly
great objection can be taken to his office. But if rouse a state of public feeling in which the theatre
he strangles, or attempts to strangle, plays that would become the manufactory of explosives more
sincerely deal with religion in so far as it informs subtle and maddening and destructive than any
character and conduct, then he may easily do great that could be generated in an ordinary public
mischief to the drama, and in the long run will meeting. We have so long enjoyed an internal
be found an equally bad friend to religion.
serenity that this last danger may appear too
When we return from religion to politics, we remote and imaginary to need serious attention ;
find somewhat similar reasons for retaining the but inasmuch as it is the first necessity of
services of our all-wise, benevolent policeman. It every government to protect its own existence,
is difficult on the stage to take a serious view of I have thought it worth while to bring it into
present-day home politics, and an air of unreality review.
has hung over all attempts to portray a modern But even if we dismiss the possibility of any
statesman as an actual living personage, and to revolution that might be guided or influenced by
place him amongst actual every-day events. The theatrical representations, our all-wise, benevolent
political questions upon which men feel strongly policeman is still left with a considerable field
and take sides, are instinctively felt to be unsuitable wherein to exercise a good-humored forbearance
for heroic stage treatment. The sturdiest defender with all political satire and criticism that is not
or attacker of the licensing laws, the doughtiest obviously personal and libellous. That is to say,
champion of Home Rule on the one hand, or of no great objection can be taken to his office while
Imperialism on the other, becomes a man of straw, he maintains a general beneficent neutrality, and
## p. 201 (#609) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
201
never threatens to show bis truncheon except in currently supposed to have formed our national
such cases as those I have glanced at.
character, to whose influence our present greatness
It is scarcely, however, on the grounds of religion is constantly ascribedif these books were to be
or politics that the office of the censor of plays is published for the first time to-day, they would lie
challenged. He is chiefly brought into notice as so far outside general acceptance as a heavenly
the champion of public morality. In mentioning revelation, that it is probable some zealot would
the four national concerns which come under his start a criminal prosecution against them. While
jurisdiction, I have purposely made a division to come back to the matter of this article, it is
between decency and morality. We are all agreed quite possible that Shakespeare would fare little
as to the boundaries of public decency, and here our better after an original performance of “ Hamlet.”
all-wise, benevolent policeman may be of consider. “Why bring this most unpleasant theme into an
able service to prevent any possible trespassing. English theatre, where English wives and daughters
But when it comes to a question of morality, I are assembled.? Can Mr. Shakespeare devise no
think our all-wise, benevolent policeman should other foundation for a play than the incestuous
sheathe his truncheon and leave the public to love of a fratricide for his brother's wife ? Are
judge for itself. In America there is no censor- there no pure love-stories to be told, that our
ship of plays, and I am sure that public morality dramatists must needs rake into these filthy recesses
has not thereby suffered. Indeed the public taste of human nature ?”
in America is at once more capricious and more It is difficult to thread a path through all this
severe than in England. In England the strangest maze of confused hypocrisies; but above them all,
results have followed from the attempt of the one wild, sweet madrigal is ringing ever fresh
censor to constitute himself the guardian of public and clear, whose music the very heart of nature
morals. Thus we find that quite putrid French herself is thumping out, “ Vitality is morality,”
farces are sanctioned, while the instances of pro- “Morality is vitality”; “ Vitality is morality,"
hibition that soonest spring to remembrance are “Morality is vitality.” Perhaps that is what we
“ Oedipus," " The Cenci,” and “Ghosts.”
really believe, whatever maxims may pass our lips.
In George Meredith's essay on “Comedy” there is I could place this subject in a far fiercer and
a sovereign phrase which we may repeat to illumine stronger light, but enough has been said to show
the whole matter. It runs thus,“ It is deeply that of all the thankless and thorny positions held
conceived, therefore it cannot be immoral.” Now by man, the office of censor of plays must be
“Oedipus” and “The Cenci” deal with terrible the most thankless and the most thorny. And
subjects, but the heightened beauty of their treat- so far as morality is concerned, it is surely a
ment purges them from any sickly or unwholesome reductio ad absurdum of the whole business when
infection. As regards the play of “Ghosts," its we find that the recognised masterpieces of the
iron-hard realistic treatment brings it into another world's literature are condemned, and that any
category. God be praised, I have no use for it French farce is admitted that hastily snatches the
either medicinally or aesthetically. But nobody scantiest covering over its corrupt nakedness.
can deny that “It is deeply conceived, therefore Milton's main argument remains unanswerable,
iu cannot be immoral.”
and can be hurled again and again at any one who
How bewildering, how stupefying it is to glance questions that in matters of morality the public
at this question of morality on the English stage is the first, the last, the only judge. No possible
and in English life! How impossible it is to get gain can come to English morality by proclaiming
English people to sort out their notions, and to ask from the Lord Chamberlain's office that men and
theniselves what they do really believe and what women are not men and women, but are in fact
they do really practise, and what relation the one wax dolls, and act not according to the laws of
has to the other !
morality that prevail amongst human beings, but
Shelley, the atheist, the scoffer at matrimony, is according to the laws of morality that prevail
expelled from his college at Oxford, and after two amongst wax dolls. While what gain can come
generations returns in marble to mock at the codes to the drama by enforcing a standard that had it
and conventions that could neither bind, nor prevailed in the past would certainly have excluded
break, nor gag, nor sequester him.
three-fourths of English general literature, and
Byron, the libertine, the arch-violator of all that more than nineteen-twentieths of the dramatic
British morality and respectability holds dear, is literature of the civilised world ?
so far from being execrated amongst us that we To sum up. In the matter of public decency,
have awarded him a far more enviable and more religion, and politics, it may be advisable to
lasting place in our affections than we have retain the censor for the prevention of possible
awarded even to the late Mr. Spurgeon.
eccentricities and disturbances. But all matters
To go a step further, if the books that are of morality should, I think, be left to the good
## p. 202 (#610) ############################################
202
THE AUTHOR.
sense and good taste of the public at large. And
meantime, we may take as a useful guide the
sentence I have quoted from George Meredith-
“ It is deeply conceived, therefore it cannot be
immoral.”
Henry ARTHUR JONES.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR WALTER
BESANT.*
M AIS autobiography will give great pleasure to
I all who have any intimate relations with
literature, as well as to those who know the
profit that may be derived from studying in detail
the lives of good and great men ; it will assuredly
be read with peculiar interest by the members of
the Society of Authors, in whose behalf Sir Walter
ant spared no pains and for whose benefit he
incurred misrepresentations that have hardly ceased
with his lamented death.
In a forecast of the work, which circumstances
placed us in a position to make. we said in the
Author :-
" It is neither a diary, nor does it contain lengthy trans.
scripts from a diary ; it includes no letters from eminent
friends, and is remarkably free from personal references ;
it says nothing at all about the pecuniary side of his career
as a professional man of letters ; and is quite silent
about his domestic life. It tells briefly and modestly of
the influences which led him to be a novelist and an
antiquarian, and of the circumstances which conduced to
his success; and undoubtedly the main purpose which
Sir Walter Besant had in writing it was to draw attention
to what he considered to be the proper equipment for
sound and useful literary performance. He tells the story
of his childhood with some detail, and draws an interesting
picture of his school and college life.”
Now that the completed volume is in our hands
we have only to expand our forecast to give an
accurate estimate of the work.
The earlier portions of the autobiography form a
charming record of Sir Walter Besant's childhood
and boyhood. His description of his home in old
Portsmouth, of the friends that he made as a
child, of his father and mother, of his rural
rambles, and, especially, of his infant dreams,
bear the imprints of absolute sincerity. Here is
no adding of picturesque touches to accentuate the
pathetic side of an episode, or to broaden the
humour of an escapade. No one can fail to see
that Besant has recorded his memories exactly as
they were present in his mind, and the result is a
picture of his up-bringing which accounts in a
striking manner for much of his after fame.
Bookish from infancy, he was born in a house
well-stored with books ; industrious by nature, he
was reared in an environment of domestic frugality
and inspired by the academic successes of an elder
brother ; with a keen eye for the humorous, he
was fortunate enough to have parents who could
appreciate the ludicrous side of affairs. For it
must be remembered that in the “forties," with
evangelical conviction weighing on the spirits of a
large proportion of the people, there were many
households where goodness was tantamount to
gloominess, and where Besant's bubbling spirits
might easily have been quenched.
With armfuls of prizes from different grammar
schools, Besant proceeded to King's College.
London. Thence, with more prizes and also with
a substantial scholarship, he went to Christ's
College, Cambridge. Introduction to University
life was one of the great events in his career ; in
fact the influence exercised over him by Cambridge
cannot be over-estimated. He points out in his
autobiography that at the time of his matricula-
tion the University lad was a very different
person from the undergraduate of to-day. The
school curriculum of the “ fifties” gave a boy no
insight into general affairs, no knowledge of litera-
ture, no familiarity with current events. Travel
was unknown to the average lad, who arrived at
Oxford or Cambridge straight from the sixth form
benches or the country vicarage, whatever his equip-
ment in Greek or trigonometry might bappen to
be. Therefore, Oxford and Cambridge were schools
of manners in those days to an extent that they
are not now for the undergradnates had evers.
thing to gain from a social intercourse, arriving, as
they did, with all their local prejudices bristling.
Besant, who entered Christ's under a strong tutor
when it was one of the best colleges of the
University, made the best of the opportunities he
found under his hand. As far as academic studies
went he took a good degree, being fourteenth
wrangler, but mathematical lore was the smallest
thing that he acquired at Cambridge. What he
gained was the society of clever men, the power of
appreciating good literary work, increased mental
breadth and the stimulus of serious ambition.
His college set was a brilliant one, and they recog.
nised in Besant one who had a right to belong to
their set-one, indeed, who would be heard of later.
College life was followed by an agreeable inter-
lude in the Mauritius. And here Besant made a
new set of pleasant and clever friends, read an
enormous amount of French, and equipped himself,
more or less unconsciously, for his future as a
novelist. The chapter which tells of his colonial
experiences is one of the most interesting in the
book, not only because it is told in a particularly
lively and pleasant fashion—it having been an
evident pleasure to the writer to set down his
* “ The Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant.” With
Prefatory Note by s. Squire Sprigge, and etched portrait.
(Hutchinson & Co., 16s.)
## p. 203 (#611) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
203
tropical reminiscences—but because we can see in his picture with grace and accuracy, often with
it how much his tolerant views, his hatred of humour, and always with modesty. Never before,
priggishness, and his zeal for justice grew out of we believe, has a successful man made his life into
his sojourn in the Ile de France, with its steady a book with such an entire absence of undue self-
course of varied reading and its amusing intercom. assertion. Dignified allusion is now and again
munication with all sorts and conditions of men. made to his unquestioned triumphs, but through-
On his return from the Mauritius, Besant became out, the presentment is studiously modest.
Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund, where There are certain passages, especially those deal-
his work was congenial to his antiquarian turn of ing with the religious views of the old-fashioned
mind and where he was thrown into intercourse Evangelical party, and with the reviewing methods
with able men of varied schools of thought. It of certain modern journalists, that are written with
was during his term of office at the Palestine great asperity. Mr. Squire Sprigge, who has edited
Exploration Fund that he met James Rice, and the autobiography, and written a brief introduction
laid the foundation of his literary fame by the to it, suggests that these passages would have been
part production of “Ready Money Mortiboy " and modified if Sir Walter Besant had lived to revise
16 The Golden Butterfly.” With regard to the his proofs. It may be that verbal alteration woulu
details of his partnership with James Rice he have been made, and that by doing so a risk of
remains almost silent, and gives his reason for this giving offence to some people would have been
attitude:
avoided ; but all who love truth, as Besant loved
“If I were asked," he says, “ for my opinion as to collabora ruun, WI verad that the autobiography has been
tion in fiction, it would be decidedly against it. I say this published without mutilation. His views are set
without the least desire to depreciate the literary ability of before us, and a little crudity of expression here
my frierd and collaborateur. The arrangement lasted for and there should not weigh for a moment against
ten years, and resulted in as many successful novels. I
i a frankness that in these days is all too rare.
only mean that, after all, an artist must necessarily stand
It
alone. If two men work together, the result must inevit. is because of this frankness that we have read the
ably bear the appearance of one man's work ; the style book with absorbing pleasure. No sensational
must be the same throughout; the two men must be rolled incidents and no well-considered anecdotes, such
into one ; each must be loyal to the other ; neither can be
held responsible for plot, incident, character, or dialogue.
as contribute to the success of most autobiographies,
There will come a time when both men fret under the con- will be found here. Besant secures and retains
dition ; when each desires, but is not able, to enjoy the affectionate attention in a worthier way by the
reputation of his own good work; and feels, with the intimate manner of his relation of simple facts.
jealousy natural to an artist, irritated by the loss of half of
himself and ready to accept the responsibility of failure in
The author is throughout the good and brave man
order to make sure of the meed of success. Now that Rice that his books proved him to be; and he speaks to
is dead it is impossible for me to lay hands upon any passage us in his pages, as his wont ever was, truthfully,
or page and to say. This belongs to Rice—this is mine." modestly, and clearly.
We need not pursue the thread of Besant's life One word more, we must thank Mr. Squire
story further, for from this point all our readers Sprigge for his admirable preface. From the
know what there is to be said. As novelist, time Mr. Sprigge was elected Secretary of the
historian, philanthropist, antiquarian, and executive Society of Authors, he became the firm friend of
chief of our Society, he lived his full and useful life Sir Walter Besant. No one, therefore, was better
before our eyes. He may have had some feeling qualified to put before the public, with sympa-
that the publicity of the last twenty years of his thetic feeling, those points in Sir Walter Besant's
life made an autobiography less necessary for the character which must necessarily be lacking in an
understanding of his views, as the later chapters of autobiography written by such a man. He has
the book are much briefer and scantier in detail than
carried out his difficult task to the satisfaction of
the earlier ones. Probably his brevity at the end may Sir Walter Besant's friends ; no greater praise is
have been due to the fact that the real purpose of
his autobiography was largely fulfilled when he
had brought the record up to his thirty-fifth year.
For the design of the work was to describe the
FEUILLETON.
evolution of a novelist, to show how, taking his
own case for an example, his parentage and early
Right is Might.
social position, his home, his education and his
friends, his chance opportunities and his deliberate “T H ERE!” he said in a tone of exultation,
achievements, had all had their influence in equip.
turning the envelope upside down, so
ing him for his career of man of letters. He
that they fell out upon the table. “Do
presents himself in his autobiography as the inevit. you recognise anybody?”
able derivative of the events of his life, and draws “Oh, Christopher !” she exclaimed, " what
nece
## p. 204 (#612) ############################################
204
THE AUTHOR.
simply splendid photographs! how like you! was a defeated rival of Christopher, who on
wbat a lot of positions too! what must they have account of a few thousand pounds left him by his
cost!”
father and a reputation for astuteness earned by
He was a little inclined to be extravagant in the success of a journalistic venture in which he
the newness of his prosperity, and she had a was known to be deeply interested, had won and
frugal soul, as a maiden should, who is about to long enjoyed the favour and support of Dorothy's
marry literature, and to depend, beyond the limits father and mother. She had, however, told them
of her own dress allowance, upon literature for that "Vitriolic Bits” was not really a quite nice
her sustenance. Twelve months before he had paper, although no doubt many found it amusing.
thrown himself at her feet, after a period during Neither her father nor her mother read anything
which, if one of her dearest friends was to be but the Morning Post as a rule, and neither was
believed, she had persistently and consistently well enough able to understand “Vitriolic Bits"
thrown herself at his head. Eleven months later, to know whether it was a “nice” paper or not.
the marked success of his newest book, “ A Quest Their friends took it in largely.
in a Cul-de-Sac,” had broken down the stubborn
opposition of her parents, and for one month of
unclouded happiness Christopher bad been engaged Three weeks after the day on which Christopher
to Dorothy.
showed Dorothy his new photographs, he came to
« They cost nothing," he said, looking at his tea on Sunday afternoon. He had evidently
portraits with satisfaction. “They take celebrities something on his mind and was silent and absent,
free. These are by a new man who has just set until she took him into the back drawing-room
up near Baker Street. He took me in five posl- and asked him what was the matter.
tions, and he gives me six copies of each free, with
“They have got a very complimentary review
as many more as I like at two guineas the dozen.
of the Quest'in · Vitriolic Bits,” he said, drawing
I'm not likely to want more than thirty to give a folded paper in a bright blue cover from his
away though, am I ?"
pocket; "they give me a whole page and repro-
“I shall want one of each for myself and a few duce one of those photographs, amite large. What
for my friends to look at,” said Dorothy. “But does it mean? Does that beast want to be
how does it pay the man ? I don't like anybody asked to the wedding ?.
being able to buy your photograph. I know a “It means he shows very good feeling ; I shall
girl who has a perfect gallery of her favourite certainly invite him," said Dorothy, immersed in
authors and actors—will she be able to buy the notice of Christopher's masterpiece.
you?”
“ Timeo Danaoset ilona ferentes," quoted
“I suppose so,” said Christopher. “And then Christopher, but she was so busy that she did
the illustrated newspapers will take them to not even ask him what he meant.
reproduce and pay half a guinea or so each
time I write a new book. They are to have
me in ‘Literary Snips' next week, with an
“Dash it all !” exclaimed Christopher the next
interview."
time he saw Dorothy, which happened to be on
“How lovely!” exclaimed Dorothy. “Won't
the following Sunday. “What does it mean?
• He' be green? He'll want to put it in his
That beast who runs Vitriolic Bits '" (he never
horrid paper, but he won't get it."
could bring himself to name his defeated rival),
“He won't wish to," answered Christopher. “He
“has got a whole page of me in yesterday's
has not eren given me a notice yet, though I'm in
number. He has reproduced all five of those
nam
my third edition.”
photographs, and only last Wednesday in the
""A Quest in a Cul-de-Sac" had had a genuine
column he writes in the Overlooker,' he had a
and well-deseryed success. It was a detective
paragraph slating literary men who advertise
story of considerable merit, and the element of
themselves. He says they often send their
mystery which had deepened in each successive
portraits to new illustrated papers and tell small
chapter as it ran through the most popular
stories about themselves for publication. I shall
magazine in England, had been sustained to the
write to the photographer and stop it.”
very last page. In volume form it was already
earning royalties at a rate beyond the wildest
dreams of its author, and he had already “planted”
a half-finished work on the strength of his first Next week “Vitriolic Bits” changed its tone
real success.
slightly. It had a note about young authors and
“He' is a pig,” said Dorothy, emphatically. the King's English, and it quoted from “ A Quest
“He" was never alluded to by name. «He” in a Cul de Sac” a line which had already cansed
## p. 205 (#613) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
205
some offence to Dorothy, even though it was put
in the mouth of the villain :—“In order to fully
appreciate single-blessedness, a man must get
married." Christopher's portrait accompanied the
paragraph, with the “cut-line" beneath, “ A Cyni.
cal Young Author who uses the Split Infinitive.”
“ Those photographers,” Christopher said to
Dorothy after they had jointly cremated “ Vitri-
olic Bits” in the back drawing-room fire, “ have
the cheek to say that as I did not pay for my
photographs, I have not any copyright in them,
and it does not concern me who publishes
them.”
The following week's issue of “ Vitriolic Bits”
caused Christopher to take a cab to Montagu
Square, on Saturday afternoon.
** Did you say the beast' who bosses this rag
played Rugby football for Oxford ? ” he cried,
crumpling it in his wrath.
“I did," answered Dorothy.
.“ Then what am I to do ? Look at me. I weigh
nine-stone twelve, and look at this." He smoothed
out “ Vitriolic Bits” for her inspection.
There was his portrait, one of the largest and
most life-like of the series of five, and under it was
the query “Is this the mysterious author ?”
Below again came a paragraph setting out the
number of editions through which “A Lady's-
Maid's Love Letters " had run. Almost everyone
had read them who could afford to spend half-a.
crown, net, on a copy. Dorothy's brother had
left his about, and their father, after reading it,
had burnt it, declaring that anyone who brought
such books into his house should go out of it.
Dorothy, who was a very nice girl, had always
said she did not care for what was vulgar without
being funny, and had not read it, but had heard it
quoted with disapproval.
“ It's a libel,” she remarked at once.
“That's what I said,” answered Christopher,
“ but a friend of mine, a barrister, whom I showed
it to, said he did not see that it would be libellous
to suggest that I had written a book which has
gone through nineteen editions and been refused
admission to Smith's and Mudie's. Besides, I've
suffered no damage yet.”
“You will, if papa sees it and won't believe
that it's a mistake,” said Dorothy. “ What
is to be done ? Surely a solicitor can do
something !
And so a solicitor did do--something--but not
much. He earned, or at all events sent in a bill of
costs to the amount of, £27 13s. 4d., and he drew
up a statement of what he had discovered, which
he declared himself ready to embody in a brief, for
the opinion of counsel. This, with a copy of the
correspondence and counsel's fee, would cost an
additional £9 15s. 8d., and the facts disclosed
amounted to this :--The photographers liad sold to
the proprietor and editor of “Vitriolic Bits,"
(Christopher's defeated rival) their copyright in
the five photographs of the author of "A Quest in
a Cul de Sac," subject to their being permitted to
print from the negatives such copies as Christopher
might require, according to his agreement with
them. The “ Vitriolic Bits" man denied that he
had infringed any right belonging to Christopher,
or that he had libelled him ; indeed, he pointed to
his review of the “Quest” and the advertisement
of its author in his pages in disproof of all malice.
He had meanwhile printed one of the portraits
next to that of a celebrated mad murderer, invit-
ing a comparision of their phrenology, and another
(which he declared to be an accidental circum-
stance) upside down, with a paragraph announcing
Christopher's approaching marriage. He had put
in two more à propos of nothing. He further
declared his intention of reproducing them when-
ever occasion offered or did not offer itself, and he
defied Christopher's solicitor to prevent him. He
also admitted that he had assigned or leased the
right to multiply the photographs for advertising
purposes to a manufacturer of a medicine for
strengthening the brain, and the patentee of a new
soap. He wrote to the effect that he could not
conceive what the connection might be between
Christopher and brains, a question which was the
advertiser's affair, but that he did not see that it
could be libellous to suggest that he had brains or
used soap, even if either or both innuendoes were
proved to be untrue. These details, however, he
repeated, concerned those who published the
advertisements, and were of no consequence to
limself.
He ended by saying that he had found the five
copyrights cheap at £20 a-piece, and that he was
ready to make an offer for more if the talented
subject of them would consent to sit again as
he appeared when writing one of his adinirable
novels.
The solicitor did not consider it necessary to
disguise his own view of the situation. He was
an old friend of Christopher.
Christopher had only one suggestion to
make.
“I must alter my appearance and change my
identity at once,” he said. “I shall wear my hair
long and grow a beard."
“Shall you ?" was Dorothy's rejoinder.
“And I shall change my name,” he added.
“ Then I shall not,” said Dorothy. “Long
hair and a beard! Oh-h-h! Besides, a man who
will part with the copyright in his own face-
But tears drowned the end of her sentence.
## p. 206 (#614) ############################################
206
THE AUTHOR.
A
T
interdentably less estenderish appreciate
“contributions should be accompanied by stampau
THE COMPLEAT JOURNALIST.
and addressed envelopes, for return in case of
rejection," and that “manuscripts should not be
written on both sides of the paper.” The infor-
T intervals (which I could wish might be mation, however, that the Athenaum does not
considerably less extended) an honoured publish short stories, or that M.A.P. articles
1 relative testifies to his high appreciation should not as a rule exceed ten thousand words
of myself by sending me a small but welcome in length, is withheld. The omissions are
cheque. His largess, he invariably explains in a noticeable.
covering letter, is to be applied to the purchase The most ambitious of these guides to the
of pens, ink, and paper, "as this is all that is manufacture of The Compleat Journalist is, it seems
necessary to enable you to successfully follow your to me, the one entitled “How to Write for the
career as a journalist.” I have only to remark Magazines.” Concealing his identity under the
that my worthy benefactor hails from Inverness veil of an “impenetrable anonymity," its author
to absolve him from the charge (which might simply writes himself down as • £600 A Year From
otherwise be levelled against him) of writing in a It."
vein of humour. He is, I am confident, abso- An author such as this, who deliberately sets
lutely sincere in his impression that a regular out to instruct the world in the secrets of his craft
supply of the items thus enumerated amply suffices and the art of making a £600 A Year From It,"
the busiest press-man for all his needs. In this has every claim to be considered a philanthropist.
naïve belief he is by no means alone, for I have It is not so certain, however, that he can be
found it held with equal firmness by a very large regarded equally as a stylist. Here, for example,
number of other persons. Indeed, its general is the concluding sentence of his second para-
prevalence makes one blush for a country in which graph: “ It is intended by the writer of this
compulsory education has been in force for some book that it should be of some, probably much.
thirty years.
practical use in guiding writers thus placed into
A few days ago one of these good people sent what it is hoped may indeed prove profitable paths
me (out of the kindness of his heart) three little for them, as it has already done for the author
books, which he said might help me to succeed in himself.” Similar flowers of lucidity will be found
my profession. I think that he was secretly scattered elsewhere throughout the volume's 150
disappointed at not finding me (after three years pages.
of journalism) installed as editor of the Nineteenth A gift-book, however, should not be looked at
Century. He was considered by his family to be too closely in the style. I will, accordingly.
a person of no mean literary attainments, having proceed now to deal with the subjects treated of
once published a letter in the Times to say that by its modestly-opinionated author. These are
a cuckoo had been heard in his village on the more or less what one would expect of a volume
21st of February. The correspondence that this professing to throw light on the dark places of
contribution occasioned is one of his proudest free-lance journalism. Thus, the reader is solemnly
memories. I mention these family matters in no told to suborn his own views to those of his editor.
boastful spirit; my object is merely to point out to make his work interesting rather than merely
that my esteemed relative did not take me to task instructive, and that articles accompanied by suit-
without authority.
able photographs are more likely to meet with
The reinforcements which my library thus acceptance than are others, etc., etc. On the impor-
received are called respectively (1) “ How to tant matter of deciding which periodical to submit
Publish a Book or Article,” (2) “How to Write one's contributions to our guide gives us the follow-
for the Press," and (3) “How to Write ing valuable hint : “It is obviously unlikely that
for the Magazines." The lack of originality in the Quiver will accept an article glorifying the
the titles of these manuals is no less marked in slaughter of soldiers upon fields of battle, seeing
their contents. Each of the trio, for instance, that that magazine, being a religious one, is
has chapters on “ Preparing a Manuscript,” “ The supposed to be constantly opposed to warfare."
Art of Interviewing,” Payment for Contributions," To drive the principle still further home, the same
“Short Story Writing,"and finally, “How to Dispose subject inspires this second announcement: “Nor
of Manuscripts.” So far as they go, the hints given would the proprietor of the Gentlewoman care to
on such subjects by the compilers of these volumes see too many articles about horse-racing in his paper
are sound enough. I am by no means convinced, for ladies." The information, too, that a manu.
however, that they go very far. It is a little script should always be addressed to “The Editor."
difficult, for example, to believe that even the should earn for its imparter the gratitude of those
yoụngest writer requires to be seriously told that who have hitherto been under the impression that
## p. 207 (#615) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
207
it ought to be addressed to the lady-typist or the already referred to. It is in the refusal of its
junior office-boy.
author to take refuge in any anonymity. Unlike
Another book on the same subject, but which “ £600 A Year From It,” or “ An Editor,” the
is marked by considerably less fatuity on the part compiler of these chapters proclaims himself a
of its writer, is the one entitled “How to Write pioneer by having his name blazoned on the title-
for the Press.” As with the volume already page for all the world to read.
discussed, anonymity once more shrouds the author- As will be gathered from its title, the scope of
ship of this one. All that the purchaser is per- this volume is a somewhat comprehensive one.
mitted to learn thereon is that it is the work of “An Journalism is not the only subject dealt with
Editor.” One may therefore regard it as being therein—as is the case with “ How to Write for
written by the literary director of any periodical the Magazines,” and “How to Write for the Press"
one pleases—from the Times to Ally Sloper. ---for two-thirds of the contents are devoted to
From internal evidence, however, I doubt if our books and plays. To deal with these portions,
“ Editor" adorns the staff of either of these journals. however, is not within my present province.
I am of opinion, rather, that he is a valued con- Shunning their attractions, accordingly, I will
tributor to Best Bits, or some other paper of this examine only those chapters referring to writing
class. He writes simply, yet vigorously, and for the periodical press.
contrives as a rule to serve up his rather trite T hese are twenty-six in number, but many of
observations in a fairly attractive form. The them are of so brief a description that it would be
saving graces of being practical and keeping complimentary to describe them as anything but
strictly to the point are also his. Thus, he does paragraphs. Their scope is decidedly catholic,
not set out to write a chapter on, say, “ magazine dealing as it does with such matters as "Early Dis-
remuneration,” and suddenly wander off into a appointments,” “Traps for the Unwary,” “Making
long discussion on the" advantages of typewriting," a Beginning,” “ Magazine Verse," and “Rates of
as does the compiler of more than one other of Payment,” together with many others on subjects
these volumes.
equally germane to the issue. To a certain class
In bis advice to the budding pressman, our of readers the hints given thereon may prove
author makes the somewhat amazing confession helpful ; one of them, at any rate, clears up all
that he has “ always held the belief that the finest doubt on the vexed question of where an author
training for the journalist is a thorough ground ought to write his name and address. The correct
work in Euclid and Algebra.” Now, I have place is--it is here remarked in language that can
certainly known the elementary propositions con- leave no room for doubt-the first page of the MS.
tained in the former science to be regarded as It is obvious, therefore, that those who think it
models of construction and development for writers ought to be inscribed on the back of the envelope,
of short stories, but I cannot see that proficiency or in the middle of the concluding paragraph, are
in discovering the value of x will stand the most altogether in the wrong.
persistent of paragraphists in much stead. Still, The literary neophyte desirous of acquiring the
the author of “ How to Write for the Press " is three volumes of this “ How To" series will have
pleased to think otherwise, and his opinions are to to expend nine shillings and sixpence on their
be respected, for he has the courage of them. That purchase. Of course, it is possible that he may
they require it is evidenced by the fact that he borrow the books and thus avoid a cash transaction
does not shrink from characterising the Pall Mall altogether. The borrowing of books, however, is
Gazette as a “ dull sheet."
not a practice that can be commended. Rather
The cover of the third and last of these manuals than hare it on my conscience that I have in any
in my possession is inscribed tout court“ How to way encouraged it, I am prepared to present the
Publish.” On the title-page, however, this is world free of all cost with a certain guide to the
elaborated into “How to Publish a Book or whole art of achieving success in journalism. It
Article, and How to Produce a Play.” In case, is contained in four short words—“ Write what is
apparently, this should not make the nature of the wanted.”
H. W.
volume quite clear to prospective purchasers, a
second explanatory line — " Advice to Young
Authors ”—is added as well. Consequently, any Just at present every one is naturally interested
one who buys the volume, under the impression in the late Mr. Cecil Rhodes. People who know
that he is thereby acquiring a treatise on Chinese are saying unhesitatingly that the most exact
cookery, or a guide to the British Museum, has appreciation of the character of this remarkable
only himself to blame.
man that has hitherto appeared is that one which
In one important feature “ How to Publish” (of course under a veil of fiction) is to be found
differs from either of the companion works I have in Mr. Morley Roberts' novel, “ The Colossus."
## p. 208 (#616) ############################################
208
THE AUTHOR.
FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF ART
It seems to me not superfluous to echo this
master's sentiments, for there is a prodigious amount
TO TRADE.
of nonsepse written in many of the literary papers
of to-day. I would even go a little farther, and say
that so far as the output of their books is concerned,
(We have pleasure in publishing this article supplied by
authors are tradesmen too, and suffer no loss of .
anthors are tradesmen
a gentleman who is not a member of the Society.-ED.)
dignity by openly confessing the truth that they
D EING recently one of a company of people desire to make money by their wares. The Incor-
engaged for the most part in literary pur- porated Society of Authors is not a police force ;
suits, I was interested when the conversa- it is to all intents and purposes a Trade Union,
tion turned upon the Society of Authors and the and in its general objects is exactly analogous to
conduct of its official organ, The Author. I found the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. If this
that by most of those present the former was latter body may deal with, say, Sir John Aird on
regarded in the same sort of light as is our police the basis of his being a tradesman, why may not
force—as an organisation required to deal with a the former deal with, say, Mr. John Murray on the
criminal class which doubtless exists, but is not same basis ? Both societies are founded to regulate
commonly met with in polite society, and, for all the conditions of labour in the trades included in
that was known to the contrary, as an efficient them and the relations of their members with them.
organisation, but nevertheless one that is accepted and to promote the general and material welfare
and tolerated only because it is less an evil than of their members. Quâ publishers, authors are
that which it may prevent.
tradesmen, just as publishers are quâ authors.
With regard to The Author, the general opinion Quâ anything else both can be artists, professional
was adverse to the periodical ; its tone was criti- men, and gentlemen. Most of them are. If The
cised to its disadvantage ; the objection was raised Author were to contend that no tradesman is a
that it is too fond of calling people names ; its gentleman it could be refuted by Debrett and
matter was open to question, and its manner was killed by ridicule.
not characterised by the best possible taste.
There is, however, one respect in which I think
To all of this Î, being of a somewhat silent most of the publications issued either officially by
habit, listened with due humility, hoping to derive the Incorporated Society of Authors or unofficially
some ultimate advantage therefrom.
by sympathisers with its objects, have hitherto failed
Presently one of the party, a member of the to be quite equitable ; they have not made adequate
Society and a well-known writer, delivered himself acknowledgment of the financial obligation under
somewhat as follows:
which the art of authorship lies to the publishing
“As Sir Roger observed on another occasion, trade. Omitting, as less liable to the obligation,
there is much to be said upon both sides. The the two classes of poetry and fiction, literature
fact is you are all too damned superior "—the con- owes a large debt to those who may be described
versation was post-prandial. “ Publishing is not as the merchant princes of the world of books.
a profession which can be practised only after Historical instances need not be cited in a note
qualification, under licence from a faculty, and such as this, which is a suggestion merely, and not
subject to a defined code of custom and etiquette ; an elaborated essay.
it is not an art, whether mechanical or liberal ; it It should not be forgotten that in proportion to
is a business of buying and selling carried on for the amount of money expended by the proprietor
profit, and as such it is a trade and nothing of a great newspaper business on paper and ink, to
else. If The Author calls a publisher a tradesman, say nothing of plant and wages, the cost of author-
it calls him by his proper name; if it calls him ship is insignificant. It is a humiliating reflection
a dishonest tradesman, it can be mulcted in that the author may not matter, may be a person
damages, if it has done him an injustice or an of no importance ; but in the newspaper world it is
injury.”
true. The reason why so many periodicals perish
“Moreover,” he proceeded with some vigour, “if in infancy is that they owe their existence to
a publisher informed me that he was not a trades- literary amateurs who have not learned the elemen-
man, I should not desire to have commercial dealings tary fact that if the management is all right the
with him. I want a man who will buy my books editorial department is relatively unimportant;
and sell them as widely as possible. My first novel they pay so much attention to their copy that they
was issued by a philanthropist, and I didn't have forget all about their distribution, and the result
enough to eat; since then I have resorted to trades- is no sale. Their journals are not put before or
men, and I am rivalling Jeshurun. Tradesmen ? taken up by the trade, and consequently they do
Of course they are tradesmen, or ought to be," and not get through.
he snorted.
The point of the remark is that the money which
## p. 209 (#617) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
209
most of us are seeking is to be found in the lap of is also possible that publishers have more initiative,
the trade. Few artists make a fortune ; many art- a shrewder notion, developed by their knowledge
dealers do. In the newspaper world it is the of trade, and a quicker anticipation of what the
“ trade," not the journalist, that makes the fortune, public want.
but there is no grievance in that. If the journalist For it is not only in " series” and “libraries ”
contributes to the success of the newspaper pro- that publishers display their initiative power, nor
prietor he is, in his own turn, benefited thereby, for cyclopædias that they reserve their enterprise.
for the newspaper businesses, in which such a huge Just as in journalism many a man owes his reputa-
capital is invested nowadays, commission a vast tion to having been sent out as special commissioner
amount of authorship which, but for them, would to investigate some particular question or do some
never see the light.
particular thing, so in literature does many an
And of journalism, so of literature. The pub author owe his beginnings to a publisher who has
lishers who sit in their offices and wait for fortunes chosen him to write up some particular subject.
to be brought to their doors in the shape of packets It applies to history, genealogy, and biography, to
of manuscript, wait in vain. The history of all science, to travel and sport, and within my own
the great publishing houses goes to prove that their knowledge there have been frequent cases of “ the
fortunes have been made by sheer hard work in trade” employing authors to write books for which
trade, and not upreared on a few isolated literary it believes there will be a demand, but which the
successes. If you buy for a pound, and sell for a authors would not bave thought of doing if left to
pound and a penny, you will come home if your themselves. Some question is in the air; a year
turnover is large enough; but you will never come hence it will be of the first importance. Ninety-
home if you buy for a penny on the chance of being nine out of every hundred authors wait until the
able to sell for a pound. Yet that is one respect year is up and then cry simultaneously, “ Lo ! here
in which I venture to think the Society of Authors is a subject; come let us write about it," and they
misapprehends the publisher's policy ; it is apt to all do so at once. The publisher, with his trade
assume that publishers run their business on those instinct, anticipates the event. He selects some
lines, whereas in fact they do not. If the Society man to go to the spot and study the question, write
of Authors can teach its members not to make the book upon it at his leisure, and when the year
improvident bargains, it will justify its existence is up the book is ready-the standard up-to-date
and the trade will not mind, for when the Society work upon the question before the world. The
has done its utmost and settled an absolutely author receives the fee agreed upon, and ranks as
equitable agreement, there will still be enough left the authority upon the subject; it is his own fault
for the publisher to make his profit out of if there is if, having thus become a specialist, he derives no
really any money in the book; if he does not think further advantage from his learning; the publisher
so, the chances are that the agreement is not abso- receives the profits, to every farthing of which he
lutely equitable; but in any case he can decline is in equity entitled. For some of us who write it
to complete the matter, and the negotiations can is an alarming thought that the publisher should
be broken off without anybody being a penny the have so many of us from whom to select. What-
worse.
ever difficulty there may be in hitting upon fresh
The first point, then, is that publishers make subjects for books, there is none in finding authors
their fortunes by sticking to their trade, not by competent to write them : competent authors are
robbing improvident geniuses, and I do not think very common objects of the strand.
it will be seriously questioned. The second point However all this may be, the amount of work
is possibly more contentious. It is that most of suggested to and commissioned from authors by
the literary ventures to which authors are indebted publishers is very large, and represents an ever-
for so much remunerated employment nowadays increasing sum of money. I only pu: forward these
are originated by the trade. From the “Dictionary notes, which owe their origin to a chance conversa-
of National Biography,” down to the latest penny tion, in the hope that in any future computation of
series, whatever it may be, the originating idea as the mutual indebtedness of authors and publishers,
well as the financial support necessary to maintain this liability of the art to the trade may not be
the scheme during the interval between its con- omitted. If the obligation exists, authors will only
ception and its development into success ought add to their reputation for courtesy and honour by
most commonly to be credited to the “trade." It making frank and generous acknowledgment of the
is possible that one explanation of this lies in the debt.
fact that authors are not, as a rule, moneyed folk,
and lacking means to put their ideas into execution
for themselves, allow them to remain latent rather
than incur the risk of having them stolen. But it
## p. 210 (#618) ############################################
210
THE AUTHOR.
THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS.*
method, and finds that his great power lies in his
intense local feeling. Scott could scarcely admire
a landscape that was innocent of legend ; but, as
TN the preface to his volume, Mr. Henry A.
Stevenson saw, he was intensely alive to the human
Beers has admitted, or perhaps one should
possibilities of the lonely moor, the weather-beaten
rather say, has boasted, that he has used the
term
inn, the dark, sea-lashed shore where the smugglers
“ Romanticism” in its narrower sense ;
landed, or the mountain side where the fiery cross
regarding it as connoting only the revival of the
flared. “Background,” says Mr. Beers, “was the
style of mediæval Christian and popular literature.
important thing in his novels.” Background,
“Every writer," he says, " has a right to make his
indeed, is the key-note of all the music of romance.
own definitions”-a dangerous assertion, surely, in
“ Point de salut sans la couleur locale," writes
an age when few people are clever enough to avoid
Prosper Merrimée, and Mr. Beers admits that “the
authorship-but apparently Mr. Beers disdains to
picturesque, while by no means the highest of the
trust in himself, for immediately afterwards he
tells us that he prefers “the simple dictionary
literary arts, is a perfectly legitimate one.” But
he forgets that the picturesque is not merely an
definition ” to any more pretentious explanations.
appeal to the sense of curiosity, it is an appeal
Mr. Beers is doubtless perfectly in the right when
to the sense of beauty also. “Why," he asks,
he asserts that mediævalisin is the inost charac-
“does the picturesque tourist (sic), in general,
teristic element of Romanticism, but it is not an
object to the substitution of naphtha launches for
essential ; the romantic spirit, as Pater has said,
gondolas on the Venetian canals ? Perhaps,
only sought the Middle Age because, in its over-
because the more machinery is interposed between
charged atmosphere, the qualities of curiosity and
man and the thing he works ou, the more imper-
the love of beauty could best be illustrated. The
sonal becomes his nature.” But, surely, the
“Romantic Revival” was not an atavistic movement,
objection in this case is purely aesthetic ; a naphtha
but a renaissance ; a macabe renaissance, perhaps,
launch is ugly, a gondola is lovely; that is all.
but still a definite return to the literature of human
Mr. Beers' explanation is far too ingenious, and we
emotion, and a definite protest against formal tra-
would remind him that tourists are not necessarily
dition and didacticism. Mr. Beers is unashamed,
picturesque because they are in search of that
and rightly unashamed, that his definition excludes P
Cowper, Wordsworth, and Shelley ; but does he feel
quality.
9
Space forbids us to do more than make a mere
no pang of regret for “Wuthering Heights"?
allusion to Mr. Beers' careful catalogue of the works
The characteristic element of Romanticism, we
that influenced Scott. His genius was essentially
admitted, is the mediæval; but the essential
chthonic ; he owed little to the German ballads
element is quite distinct from it, and may be found
that he loved in his youth, or to Tasso, Ariosto,
in a work so “unromantic” as the Bacchæ of
and Pulci; but everything to such books as Percy's
Euripides, and in the Odyssey of Homer-an
“ Reliques" und Macpherson's “Ossian.” He was
epic whose romantic quality even Mr. Beers admits..
The desire for the strange, the mysterious, the
always a historian, and his wildest tales were con-
nected with definite places. His influence on the
haunting, finds its satisfaction in the spirit of any
age of the world's history—is, in fact, an inseparable
romantic movement in Germany, and on the latest
adjunct of life itself, and may be traced from
revolt in France that began with “ Hernani” and
Æschylus down to the last foolish novel of our
the gilet rouge of the admirable Gautier, cannot
be over-estimated ; and though he cared little for the
commonplace epoch.
But it is scarcely necessary to attack Mr. Beers
literary conflict that waged around the claims of
Pope to a place on Parnassus, a conflict which Mr.
on what is, after all, greatly a question of nomencla-
Beers discusses admirably in his second chapter, and,
ture. He has added to our somewhat unremarkable
indeed, never posed as a high priest of the move-
collection of literary histories a work that is both
ment at all, yet his position in Europe was certainly
scholarly and interesting, and has fortunately not
as important as that of Hugo in the France of
been afraid to pass beyond the limits of his “ dic-
the thirties.
tionary definition,” as, for instance, when he deals
Mr. Beers' study of Romanticism in Germany
with the influence of the old Norse Sagas on William
cleverly elucidates an age terribly bewildering to
Morris. Realising that there is one man towards
the ordinary reader. He has emphasised the great
whom all the lines of the eighteenth century romantic
truth that whereas in England and in France the
movement converge, Walter Scott, he has devoted
romantic revival was mainly a literary movement,
his first chapter to a careful exposition of his
in Germany it extended to philosophy and theology,
and was, indeed, an upheaval of the whole fabric
* " History of Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century,"
of national thought. Even its purely literary side
by Henry A. Beers. (London : Kegan, Paul.)
was deeply tinged with mysticism, and it affected
## p. 211 (#619) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
211
the other arts, causing a movement in painting the history of our literature, and though, as he
analogous to that of our own Pre-Raphaelites, and says in his preface, he regards the writers whom
sowing the seeds of the music dramas of Wagner. he describes from the single point of view that is
Through Coleridge, and later, through Carlyle, indicated by his title, it is obvious that he possesses
German romance invaded England a second time ; aesthetic as well as historical judgment.
but as Mr. Beers points out, this invasion was of
Sr. J. L.
far less importance than the irruption in the days
of Bürger and Götz, and Monk Lewis and the
youthful Scott. In 1820 our romanticism was a
CORRESPONDENCE.
native growth that flourished healthily. The French
romantic movement, so charmingly chronicled in THE INTERNATIONAL LITERARY BUREAU.
Gautier's“Histoire de Romantisme,”and caricatured
TO THE EDITOR OF The Author.
in his “ Jeune France," was in its most important
aspect a revolt against outworn academic tradition,
Mr. John Samson, editor of the South American
and a return to the realism of the Renaissance
Journal, and director of the “ International
rather than a revival of the Middle Age. “Hernani,"
Literary Bureau," at Dashwood House, 9, New
however, the bolt that slew the classicists, not only
Broad Street, E.C., desires to intimate that as it
deliberately violated every rule of Racine, but
has been pointed out to him that the title he
had for its subject the chivalric stock-in-trade of
originally adopted-namely, “ The International
Spanish romance; and long before Chateaubriand
Literary Agency of London ”-might lead to con-
had uttered the romantic note that Byron after-
fusion with that of the “ Literary Agency of
wards reiterated so loudly. The movement in
London," of 5, Henrietta Street, W.C., he has
France was influenced by England and by Germany;
decided to alter it as above.
its counter-influence was not apparent in England
JOHN SAMSON.
until much later. Though purely artistic, it was
Dashwood House, E.C.,
taken very seriously by the French, who, in spite
22nd March, 1902.
of their volatile nature, seem always to realise the
importance of art. If an academy of letters has
no other use, at least it serves to lend weight to
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
the revolt against its own pompous authority.
Having examined Romanticism abroad, Mr.
SIR,—Should it not have occurred to “ Editor"
Beers returns to pick up its threads in England. (p. 184 of Author for April) that he might have
As he says, there is scarcely a poet since Keats appended a note to the article in question, stating
who has not been romantic in at least one of his that the author's address had been lost, and asking
poems. This list (in spite of that dictionary defi him to communicate again ? An obvious expe-
nition) is too long for comment. A movement dient of this kind is, as a rule, easily hit upon,
towards Mediævalism is too borně to end otherwise when it is a question of claiming, instead of paying
than sadly, and the thought of the crowd of those money.
who imitated imitation is depressing. But though
the form to which Mr. Beers is bound by his defini-
J. F. MUIRHEAD.
tion has expired, let us hope for ever, the fine spirit
of romance, which he affects to regard as secondary to
mediævalism, can never die. It is not in such work
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
as “ The Forest Lovers ” that we must seek it, but
II.
ratherin“A Shropshire Lad”and“ Richard Feverel." SIR, -As your correspondent in the April number
Space has forbidden us to comment on Mr. Beers' justly observes or suggests, the path of the Editor
excellent criticism of Keats, and his exposition of is not always strewn with roses. He puts forward
Byron's attitude in the Pope controversy. His one incident; let us consider another. An author
study of the art of the pre-Raphaelites is most unsolicited forwards me MSS. to the office. After
convincing; he has emphasised the relations the lapse of a few days, perhaps a week, a letter is
between the Oxford movement and Romanticism, received complaining that no decision has been
and shown how William Morris's socialism and come to.
love of the Middle Age were connected. The neo- The Editor is human. He is annoyed, and
Celtic school he regards with interest, apparently, returns the MSS. by almost the next post. Another
but he has not learnt that their high priest is called batch of MSS. arrives from the same quarter. As
William. J. B. Yeats is the name of the clever the Editor's annoyance, for he is still human, has
artist who illustrated “The Secret Rose.” Mr. not worn off, he puts the MSS. aside. The author
Beers' book, in fine, is a valuable contribution to commences to write. His first letter is generally
Yours,
## p. 212 (#620) ############################################
212
THE AUTHOR.
-
-
-
-
-
-
promptly answered, but it is impossible to reply to question which may result in a good deal of litiga-
the many letters that follow.
tion, and I cannot do better than illustrate it by a
The Editor is full of good intentions, and is case in which I am interested. A book of mine,
hoping daily to get time to peruse the author's which still has a steady sale, was published some
invaluable productions, but everyletter in the well- eight years ago. The price was mentioned in the
known hand rouses his temper a little more and agreement, and the royalty was, of course, also
postpones the issue.
mentioned. The book was then pubiished at 58. 6d.
At last the importunate author appeals to your The publisher of this book has recently adopted
Society, and a politely-worded letter is the result, the new system, publishing all his books at net
asking for a notification of acceptance or for the prices, and my book now appears at 5s. 6d. net,
return of the MSS.
which is a higher price than before. I believe he
The Editor, ever ready to grant a polite answer had no right to thus raise the price without my
to a polite communication, returns the MSS. and consent, and he declines to pay any larger som in
the incident closes.
respect of royalties per volume than he has hitherto
Some day I hope it may be possible for me to been paying, though his profit is greater, and the
record fully my many experiences, in your valuable public pay more. I am fairly confident that his
paper.
contentions are legally unsound, and as the question
Do not, however, wait for that event, but hasten is one which must be of importance to many authors,
to obtain the expression of the views of some other I trust the opinion of the legal advisers of the
Editors of more importance than those of
Society will be obtained upon it and published in
Yours truly,
The Author.
ANOTHER EDITOR.
Yours faithfully,
John BICKERDYKE.
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
Gurnard, Cowes, Isle of Wight,
I have now received from the printer copies of
April 21st, 1902.
my attempt to codify the best typographical
customs in use at the present day. It deals
THE INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISTS.
so far only with those matters which come under
London District.
the heading of the letter A, and is a development of
the Oxford “ Rules for Compositors and Readers,"
DEAR SIR,—The Coronation Ceremonies Sub-
Committee desire to make arrangements for, and
and of the correspondence which resulted from my
article in the January number of The Author for 1902.
assist in every possible way, those colonial and
American journalists who may be coming to London
It runs to eighty-eight pages in length, and is
on professional work in connection with the
printed with a single column only on each page, Coronation. With a view to obtaining the names
so that ample margins are left for remarks.
of these journalists, so that they may have no
I shall be pleased to forward a copy to any one
who may be sufficiently interested in the matter to
difficulty in being brought into touch with us, and
go carefully through it, and who will subsequently
thus securing whatever assistance and introduc-
tions we are able to give them, I beg on behalf of
send ine their remarks and criticisms.
tbe Sub-Committee to ask you to be kind enough
F. HOWARD COLLINS.
to give publicity to the following paragraph.
Iddesleigh, Torquay.
Yours very faithfully,
RICHARD S. NORTHCOTT,
AUTHORS' ROYALTIES ON NET BOOKS.
District Hon. Secretary.
SIR,— A question of great importance has arisen
18th April, 1902.
in connection with the general adoption of the net
system by publishers and booksellers. Under the Colonial and American journalists who may be
net system a book published at 10s. is charged at coming to London on professional work in connec-
a higher price, both to the bookseller and to the tion with the Coronation ceremonies, are requested
public, than is a book published at 10s, under the to communicate with Mr. Richard Northcott, 78,
old system. The publishers, however, seem very Fleet Street, E.C. A Sub-Committee has been
much disposed to pay authors exactly the same authorised by the London District of the Institute
royalties, whether the book is published on the old of Journalists to assist these gentlemen in every
system or on the new, though the profits in the possible way, and to facilitate matters, visitors
former case are greater than in the latter.
should state the name of the journal they represent,
With regard to new books, authors can make and the probable date of their arrival in the
their own arrangements, but there is a more serious metropolis.
## p. 212 (#621) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
& UTERARY@GENCY
SALE OF MSS. OF EVERY KIND.
Literary Advice, Revision, Research, etc.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR
Printing, Publishing, Illustration, Translation, etc.
THE LITERARY AGENCY OF LONDON,
5, HENRIETTA STREET, W.C.
G. H. PERRIS.
C. F. CAZENOVE.
TYPEWRITING COMPANY, Oswald House, Queen Victoria Road, Coventry.
Typewriting of every description, from Ninepence per Thousand Words
(including good paper). Specimens on application.
Unique and Artistic Specimens of Typewriting may be seen at the above Address.
Testimonial.-“Undoubtedly the finest piece of work I have ever seen produced on a Typewriter."
" REMINGTON STANDARD" up-to-date Instruments.
MRS. GILL,
TYPE-WRITING OFFICE,
35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C.
(ESTABLISHED 1883.)
DARLINGTON'S HANDBOOKS
Authors' MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Duplicate
copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day or week.
French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations
supplied. References kindly permitted to Messrs. A. P. Watt & Sull,
Literary Agents, Hastings House, Nortolk Street, Strand, W.C.
THE WEST KENSINGTON TYPEWRITING AGENCY.
SIKES and SIKES,
"Sir Henry Ponsonby is
commanded by the Queen to
Hapo thank Mr. Darlington for a
1 copy of his Handbook.'
“ Nothing better could be wished for."--BRITISH WEEKLY.
" Far superior to ordinary gnides."-LONDON DAILY CHRONICLE.
Edited by RALPII DARLINGTOX, F.R.G.S. 1s. each. Ilustratel.
with Maps by John BARTHOLOMEW, F.R.G.S.
THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
TIE (HANNEL ISLANDS.
THE VALE OF LLANGOLLEX. THE NORFOLK BROADS.
BRECON AND ITS BEACONS. THE SEVERN VALLEY.
BOURNEMOUTH AND THE NEW FOREST. THE WYE VALLEY.
BRIGHTOX, EASTBOURNE, ILASTINGS, AND ST. LEONARDS.
ABERYSTWITH, TOWYX, BARMOLTH, AND DOLGELLY.
MALVERX, HEREFORD, WORCESTER, AND GLOUCESTER.
LLANDRINDOD WELLS AND THE SPAS OF MID-WALES.
BRISTOL, BATH, CIEPSTOW, AND WESTON SUPER-MARE.
LLANDUDXO, RIIYL, BANGOR. (ARXARVOX, ANGLESEA.
CONWAY. COLWYN BAY, BETTWS-Y-COED, SNOWDON, &c.
NORWICH, YARMOL'TH, LOWESTOFT. AND TITE
VORFOLK BROADS.
13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith Road, W.
ESTABLISHED 1893.
Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms.
"Edison-Bell" Phonograph used. Translations.
Legal and General Copying.
Typercritten Circulars by Duplicator,
LESSONS GIVEN. AUTHORS' REFERENCES.
TYPEWRITING,
Authors' MSS. accurately copied from 8d. per 1,000
words. Experienced in all kinds of scientific and
difficult MSS. Reduction for large quantities.
MISS CARRINGTON,
27, Kelmscott Road, Clapham, S.W.
"The best llanaltook to London ever issued." LIVERPOOL DAILY Post,
“THE Handbook to Londou-it very emphatically tips them all."
DAILY GRAPHIC.
4th Edition, Revised, Bs. 60 Illustrations, 24 Maps and Plans.
LONDON AND ENVIRONS.
By E. C. Cook and E. T. Cook, M.A.
THE AUTHOR."
SCALE FOR ADIERTISEMENTS.
ALLOWANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 20 PER CENT.)
Feap. Svo. 15. THE HOTELS OF THE WORLD.
Allandbook to the Icading Hotels throughout the world.
Llangollen : DARLINGTON & Co. London : Simpkin, MARSHALL & Co.
LTD. Railway Bookstalls and all Booksellers.
PHOTOGRAPHS. - BIRTHDAY and SEASON CARDs from negatives by
RALPH DARLINGTOX, F.R.G.S., of Scenery, Ruins, &. in Italy, Greece,
Asia Minor, and Egypt, Is., ls. 61., 28., and 2. od. List, post free, of
DARLINGTON & CO., LIANGOLLEN.
Front Page
... £4 0 0
Other Pages
.. ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 0 0
Hall of a Page
... ... 1 10 0
Quarter of a Page
... ... 015 0
Eighth of a Page
... 076
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per inch 0 6
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... per 2,000 3 0 0
Reduction of 20 per cent, made for a series Sind of 25 per cent. f
Twelve Insertious.
Advertisements should reach the Office not later than the 2001. for
insertion in the following month's issue.
All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to the
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER, The Author Office, 39, Old Queen Street,
Storey's Gate, S.W.
Old Manuscripts of Known Authors, and Drawings by Kate
Greenaway. The Advertiser can arrange for disposal of these.
Address-H. G, HELLIER,
17, Princes' Square, Bayswater, w.
## p. 212 (#622) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ESTABLISHED)
(XVIII, CENT
The Athenæum Press, Taunton.
BARNICOTT & PEARCE
INVITE ENQUIRIES RESPECTING PRINTING.
ESTIMATES OF COST, AND OTHER DETAILS, PROMPTLY GIVEN.
TYPEWRITING.
Authors' MSS. carefully and accurately copied. Plays and Scientific MSS. a speciality. Contract prices for books or
permanent work. Machines and operators sent out to all parts of London or the Provinces.
Miss RANSOM, 2, Westbourne Grove, London, W.
Close to Paddington, Royal Oak, and Queen's Road Stations (Tube and Metropolitan).
THE BUSH LANE HOUSE TYPEWRITING & SHORTHAND OFFICE,
Principal :
Bush Lane House, Bush Lane,
MISS MORGAN.
Cannon Street, London, E.C.
Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied from 10d. per 1,000 words. General Typewriting, Shorthand and
Translations executed by skilled workers. Privacy and accuracy guaranteed.
Special Terms for large quantities or contract work. Estimates and Specimens free on application.
THE MSS. CIRCULAR,”
COPYRIGHT.
The Quickest, Cheapest, and BEST Medium for bringing MSS. of Novels, Stories,
Articles, &c., before the notice of Publishers and Editors.
For particulars send card to “The Writer” Office, Bank Chambers, Blackburn.
AUTHORS' TYPEWRITING, NOT " TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE”!
Novels typewritten, from 9d. per 1,000 words;
two copies, 1-
PRICE LIST AND AUTHORS' OPINIONS ON APPLICATION.
L. A. ST. JOHN, 104, Churston Av., Upton Park, E.
ALMOST EVERY AUTHOR reading this could, at any time, have practically
any MS. considered by any Editor or Publisher WITHOUT-directly or
indirectly-PAYING FOR POSTAGE OR CARRIAGE. (No literary agent, for the pur-
pose, necessary.) The saving that, during a working lifetime of average length,
this would effect, we need not point out. Are you one of the writers to whom we
allude? For answer to this question, send stamped, addressed envelope to the
NATIONAL LITERARY BUREAU, 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, London, (See Author,
Jan., 1900, p. iii.)
TYPEWRITING,
AUTHORS' MSS. and PLAYS Accorately Copied.
8d. per 1,000 Words.
Miss M. T. DOYLE,
201, Barcombe Avenue, Streatham Hill, S.W.
A LADY (Experienced) undertakes Researches in British
Museum Reading Room. 2/- an hour; 8/6 a day.
E. B., 17, OWEN MANSIONS,
QUEEN'S CLUB GARDENS, W.
Literary Agents.--Authors are warned against dealing with
any Literary Agent without referring to the Society for infor-
mation Authors are also warned not to sign Agreements on the
advice of Literary Agents alone. All Agreements should be
submitted to the Society for advice.
By Order, G. HERBERT THRING,
Secretary Society of Authors,
39, Old Queen Street, Storey's Gate, S.W.
TYPEWRITING
With Accuracy and Despatch.
Authors' MSS. 9d. per 1,000 words. In duplicate, 1s.
per 1,000. Plays, Translations, General Copying, Samples
and References on Application.
MISS JANET WAY,
33, Ossian Road, Stroud Green, N.
The “Forms of Agreements" issued by the Publishers
Association can be obtained at the Office, with a full explanation
of their meaning, price 1s. post free. Authors are warned not
to sign any agreement which may embody the Clauses exposed
without submitting it first to the Society.
By Order, G. HERBERT THRING,
Secretary Society of Authors,
* 39, Old Queen Street, Storey's Gate, S.W.
Printed by BRADBURY, AGNEW, & Co. LD., and Published by them for THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS (INCORPORATED)
at 10, Bouverie Street, London, E.C.
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 12 Issue 10 (May 1902)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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The Elu tbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
VOL. XII.-No. 11.
JUNE 1, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
PAGE
226
213
226
228
228
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Notices ....
213
The Reading Branch ... ... ...
The Pension Fund of the Society of Authors
Authorities ... ... ...
From the Committee ...
After Sunset
214
...
..
... ***
Book and Play Talk
215
Literary Provluction in England ...
Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Property ...
210
Two Americans...
S... ... ...
The Annual Dinner ...
218
William Black: a Biography
Patchwork Legislation and Musical Performing Right
219
The Obligations of Art to Trade ... ...
Tauchnitz Editions
".. .. ... ... ... ... 221
A Page from a German Publisher's Advertisements
Bricks and Mortar ...
223
Romantic Germany... ...
General Memoranda ...
225
The Literary Side of President Roosevelt ...
Warnings to Dramatic Authors
225
How to Use the Society
Correspondence... ... ... ... ... ...
230
::::::
231
232
232
233
234
235
The Society of Authors (Incorporated).
PRESIDENT.
GEORGE MEREDITH.
COUNCIL
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. | THE RIGHT Hox. THE LORD CURZON ! THE REV. W. J. LOFTIE, F.S.A.
THE RIGHT Hon. THE LORD AVE OF KEDLESTON.
THE REV. C. H. MIDDLETON-WAKE.
BURY, P.C.
AUSTIN DOBSON.
SIR LEWIS MORRIS.
J. M. BARRIE.
A. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
A. W. 2 BECKETT.
A. W. DUB0UᎡG.
GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
ROBERT BATEMAN.
SIR MICHAEL FOSTER, K.C.B., M.P., J. C. PARKINSON.
F. E. BEDDARD, F.R.S.
F.R.S.
A. W. PINERO.
SIR HENRY BERGNE, K.C.M.G.
D. W. FRESHFIELD.
The Right Hon. The LORD PIR-
AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, K.C.
RICHARD GARNETT, C.B., LL.D.
BRIGHT, F.R.S
THE REV. PROF. BONNEY, F.R.S. EDMUND GOSSE.
SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bait,LL.D.
THE Right Hon. JAMES BRYCE, M.P. SYDNEY GRUNDY.
WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK.
THE RIGHT Hon. THE LORD BURGH H. RIDER HAGGARD.
E. Rose.
CLERE
MRS. HARRISON (LUCAS MALET). W. BAPTISTE SCOONES.
HALL CAINE.
THOMAS HARDY.
OWEN SEAMAN.
EGERTON CASTLE, F.S.A.
ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS.
Miss Flora L. SHAW.
EDWARD CLODD.
JEROME K. JEROME.
G. R. SIMs.
W. MORRIS COLLES.
J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D.
S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE.
THE Hox. JOHN COLLIER,
RUDYARD KIPLING.
J. J. STEVENSON.
SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY.
PROF. E, RAY LANKESTER, F.R.S. FRANCIS STORR.
MRS. CRAIGIE.
THE RIGHT Hon.W.E. H.LECKY,M.P. WILLIAM MOY THOMAS.
F. MARION CRAWFORD.
| J. M. LELY.
| MRS. HUMPHRY WARD.
Ilon. Counsel – E. M. UNDERDOWN, K.C.
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.
Chairman-A. HOPE HAWKINS.
Vice-Chairman -- A. W. À BECKETT.
d. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.
J. M. LELY.
E. Rose.
D. W. FRESHFIELD.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
OWEN SEAMAX.
SYDNEY GRUNDY.
GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
FRANCIS STORR.
S.Jitme (FIELI), ROSCOE, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields.
G. HERBERT THRING, 39, Old Queen Street, S.W.
Secretary-G. HERBERT THRING
OFFICES: 39, OLD QUEEN STREET, STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
## p. 212 (#624) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
SALE OF MSS. OF EVERY KIND.
Literary Advice, Revision, Research, etc.
. TeLTERARY AGENCJA
ARRANGEMENTS FOR
BAONDO
Printing, Publishing, Illustration, Translation, etc.
THE LITERARY AGENCY OF LONDON,
5, HENRIETTA STREET, W.C.
G. H. PERRIS.
C. F. CAZENOVE.
TYPEWRITING COMPANY, Oswald House, Queen Victoria Road, Coventry.
Typewriting of every description, from Ninepence per Thousand Words
(including good paper). Specimens on application.
Unique and Artistic Specimens of Typewriting may be seen at the above Address.
Testimonial.-“ Undoubtedly the finest piece of work I have ever seen produced on a Typewriter."
" REMINGTON STANDARD" up-to-date Instruments.
MRS. GILL,
TYPE-WRITING OFFICE.
35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C.
DARLINGTON'S HANDBOOKS
(ESTABLISHED 1883.)
Authors' MSS. carefully copied from ls. per 1000 words. Duplicate
copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day or week.
French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations
supplied. References kindly permitted to Messrs. A. P. Watt & Son.
Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk Street, Strand, W.C.
N
“Sir Henry Ponsonby is
commanded by the Queen to
e thank Mr. Darlington for a
copy of his Handbook."
"Nothing better could be wished for." - Britisu WEEKLY.
“Far superior to ordinary guides."— LONDON DAILY CHRONICLE..
Edited by RALPH DARLINGTON, F.R.G.S. 18. each. Illustrated,
with Maps by John BARTHOLOMEW, F.R.G.S.
THE WEST KENSINGTON TYPEWRITING AGENCY.
SIKES and SIKES,
13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith Road, W.
ESTABLISHED 1893.
Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms.
Phonograph used. Translations.
Legal and General Copying.
Typewritten Circulars, etc., by Duplicator.
LESSONS GIVEN. AUTHORS' REFERENCES.
TYPEWRITING.
THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.
THE VALE OF LLANGOLLEN. THE NORFOLK BROADS.
BRECON AND ITS BEACONS. THE SEVERN VALLEY.
BOURNEMOUTH AND THE NEW FOREST. THE WYE VALLEY.
BRIGHTON, EASTBOURNE, HASTINGS, AND ST. LEONARDS.
ABERYSTWITH, TOWYN, BARMOUTH, AND DOLGELLY.
MALVERN, HEREFORD, WORCESTER, AND GLOUCESTER.
LLANDRINDOD WELLS AND THE SPAS OF MID-WALES.
BRISTOL, BATH, CHEPSTOW, AND WESTON-SUPER-MARE.
LLANDUDNO, RHYL, BANGOR, CARNARVON, ANGLESEA.
CONWAY, COLWYN BAY, BETTWS-Y-COED, SNOW DON, &c.
NORWICH, YARMOUTH, LOWESTOFT, AND THE
NORFOLK BROADS.
Authors' MSS. accurately copied from 8d. per 1,000
words. Experienced in all kinds of scientific and
difficult MSS. Reduction for large quantities.
MISS CARRINGTON,
27, Kelmscott Road, Clapham, S.W.
THE AUTHOR."
SCALE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS.
(ALLOWANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 20 PER CENT.]
"The best Handbook to London ever issued."-LIVERPOOL DAILY POST.
“THE Handbook to London-it very emphatically tops them all." -
DAILY GRAPHIC.
4th Edition, Revised, Bs. 60 Ilustrations, 24 Maps and Plans.
LONDON AND ENVIRONS.
By E. C. Cook and E. T. Cook, M.A.
.
Front Page
*" ..
Other Pages
...£4 0 0
... ... 300
Half of a Page ...
... ... ... 1 10 0
Quarter of a Page
... 0 15 0
Eighth of a Page
... 0 7 6
Single Column Advertisements
... per inch 0 6 0
Bills for Insertion
per 2,000 3 0
Tieduction of 20 per cent, made for a Series of Sir and of 25 per cent. for
Twelve Insertions.
Advertisements should reach the Office not later than the 20th for
insertion in the following month's issue.
All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to the
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER, The Author Office, 39, Old Queen Street,
Storeys Gate, S.WS.
Fcap. 8vo. 15. THE HOTELS OF THE WORLD.
A Handbook to the leading Hotels throughout the world.
Llangollen: DARLINGTON & Co. London: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & Co.,
LTD. Railway Bookstalls and all Booksellers.
PHOTOGRAPHS.-BIRTHDAY and SEASON CARDS from negatives by
RALPH DARLINGTON, F.R.G.S., of Scenery, Ruins, &c., in Italy, Greece,
Asia Minor, and Egypt, ls., 1s. 64., 2s., and 2s. 60, List, post free, of
DARLINGTON & CO., LLANGOLLEN,
## p. 213 (#625) ############################################
The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Jonthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
VOL. XII.–No. 11.
JUNE 1ST, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
considered unnecessary to print the full list with
every issue.
Donations ......
......................£1439 16 6
Subscriptions ......
..... 111 6 0
The office of the Incorporated Society of Authors
has been removed to-
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
DONATIONS.
1
os
.
....
....
...
....
0
6
NOTICES.
DOR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Nov. 9, Dale, Miss .....
Oct. 10, Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Malet)
Oct. 15, Rossi, Miss L.
.........
Oct. 25, Potter, M. H. ...... ......
Oct. 30, Stanley, Mrs..
Nov. 21. Balfour. A. ........
Nov. 22. Risley, J..........
..........
Nov. 25. Walker, W. S......
Jan. 24, Church, Prof. R. A. H. ...
Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ..........
Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily................
Feb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince .........
Feb. 15, Wilkins, W. H. (2nd donation)
Feb. 15, S. G. ...............
Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope ............
Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss E. ............
Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. ...............
April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel......
April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,
F.R.G.S.........
May 5, A Beginner ...............
......
May 20, Nemo ........................
May 20, Dr. A. Rattray
2 11
5 5
0 10
0 12
0 10
0 5
0 5
1 0
2 2
0 4
0 10
1 1
cer BOERNO er er
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
50
0
0
0
0
0
0
THE Editor begs to inform Members of the
Authors' Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in me Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
d that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
........
0
1
2
0
5
1
0
5
0
(0)
0
0
M
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
THE PENSION FUND OF THE SOCIETY Nov. 25, Vaux, P. .
OF AUTHORS.
Nov. 25, Lambe, Lawrence ........
Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ..........
Jan. 20, Nickolls, F. C. ..........
HE following is the total of donations and Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ...
subscriptions promised or received up to Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H. C. ......
the present date.
Mch. 25, Stroud, F. ...
Further sums will be acknowledged from month Apr. 9, Kitcat, Mrs. .....
to month as they come to hand. It has been May 1, Heatley, Richard Y........
Vol. XII.
1 1
1 1
0 5
0 5
1 1
0 5
0 10
1 1
0 5
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
(0)
0
## p. 214 (#626) ############################################
214
THE AUTHOR.
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
Ta meeting of the Committee held on Monday,
| May 12th, it was decided to close the office
of the Society on Saturday, June 28th-
the Saturday following the Coronation holidays.
The sanction of the editors has been in many
cases obtained to the form and substance of the
insertion, and where this is the case a note to that
effect has been appended.
Three hundred copies of the revised edition
have been printed, and are now for sale at the
offices of the Society. The price is 6d. a cops.
As the pamphlet cannot fail to be of use to all
those who contribute to magazines, the Committee
trust there will be no difficulty in disposing of this
number.
Canadian Copyright.
THE Committee consider that the time has now
arrived to make a full statement of their action
with regard to Canadian copyright.
They take this step as there appears to be mis-
understanding of their position by certain trade
associations in Canada which are not in sympathy
with certain aspects of the Imperial view of the
copyright question.
Since the refusal of the Canadian Government to
collect the royalties under the Foreign Reprints
Act, and since the passing of the Canadian Act of
1900, an Act which gives to the Canadian pub-
lisher security of contract when trading with the
English author, the Committee have advocated no
alteration in the status quo.
It was in order to place before the Canadian
authorities the views of the Committee, and in
order to throw the weight of the Society's in-
fluence on the side of a just and liberal policy,
as opposed to the narrow trade issue of a printing
clause, that the Committee sent Mr. Thring, the
Secretary of the Society, to Canada in 1898.
His efforts were advantageously forwarded by
Mr. Gilbert Parker, a member of the Authors'
Society Committee, and in 1900 an Act was
passed which effectually secured those points for
which the Committee had been struggling.
The Committee desire a free and untrammelled
copyright, unbampered by trade restrictions of
printing, licensing, and Government-collected
royalties. Firstly, for the benefit of Canadians
and Canadian literature, and, secondly, for the
protection of the property of the authors in the
United Kingdom and the Empire at large.
To put forward anything else would be in the
interests of a system of copyright legislation
destructive to international agreement, and
analogous to the legislation of the 18th century,
prior to the existence of any international agree-
ment with regard to copyright.
The Work of the Society.
Since the last issue of The Author, the Secretary
has dealt with ten cases.
Of these, five referred to the return of MSS.,
two were claims for money, one for breach of
contract, and two for the rendering of accounts.
Of the cases taken up in previous months there are
still four unsettled. Of these, three claims are for
money due ; but as two are against a bankrupt
magazine, it is probable that the authors will
obtain nothing. The third case is in course of
satisfactory settlement, and a substantial offer has
been obtained from the other side.
Three of the cases taken in hand during the
past month have already terminated in favour of
the author.
Since the beginning of the year, eighty-nine
members and associates have been elected to the
Society. The last election registered eleven
members and five associates.
Besant Memorial.
The Besant Memorial now stands as follows :-
Up to the end of February subscrip-
tions were received, according to the
long list already issued, amounting to. £293 4 0
During the months of March, April,
and May the subscriptions received
amounted to . . . . . 31 11 6
Total ... £324 15 6
Subscriptions received during March and April.
Anonymous . . . . . £1 1 0
Champneys, Basil .
“ Colonia,” Natal, S. Africa
1 1 0
Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F. C.
1 1 0
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. .
0 10 0
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
1 0 0
Hurry, A. . .
0 10 6
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
tioned)
Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. . . . ā 0
Magazines and Contributors.
THE inset in the January number of The
Author, entitled “Periodicals and their contri.
butors," has been considerably enlarged and
republished by order of the Committee.
## p. 215 (#627) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
215
·
·
· ·
·
·
·
·
· ·
·
· ·
·
·
·
·
· ·
·
·
·
.
· ·
er oororo
.
.
·
.
· ·
.
.
·
.
·
.
·
Millais, J. G.
• 1 ( 0) expects to get it finished in preliminary form, and
Quiller Couch, Miss M.
0 5 0 the first pripting done, sometime in June. It will
Sterry, J. Ashby .
1 1 0 then undergo two different revisions -one for each
Temple, Lieut.-Col. R. C.
1 1 0 number as it comes out, and the other before it
Underdown, Miss E.
0 - 0 finally appears in book form.
Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
2 2 A translation of " Eleanor” is appearing as the
Beale, Miss Mary .
0 2 feuilleton in the Giornale d'Italia. It is at
Bolam, Rev. C. E. .
0 5 0 present uncertain when the dramatised version of
Egbert, Henry . .
0 5 0
* Eleanor” will be produced.
16 Floone" willen
Eccles, Miss O'Connor
1 1 0
Mr. Arthur Morrison's new novel, “ The Hole in
Darwin, Francis .
1 1 0
the Wall,” is to be published in the autumn. by
Campbell-Montgomery, Miss F. F. 1. 1 0
Messrs. Methuen & Co., and in America by
Medlecott, Cecil
0 10 6
Maclure, Phillips & Co. It is a story of London
Saxby, Mrs. .
1 1 0
life. The scene is laid in Wapping and Ratcliff
Caine, T. H. Hall .
10 0 0
Highway, with the docks and river, about thirty-
Marris, Miss Murrell
0 5 0
five years ago, when that neighbourhood was one of
S. B.
0 5 0
the most picturesque in the world, despite its squalor.
Bloomfield, J. H. .
1 0 0
F. 0. B. (Coventry).
“ Fuel of
0 5 0
Fire," Miss Ellen Thorneycroft
Seton-Karr, H. W..
1 0 0
Fowler's new novel, is to be published in book
Heriot, Cheyne
( 5 0
form at 6s. next October, by Messrs. Hodder and
Charley, Sir W. T.,
. 1 1 0
Stoughton.
Mr. Louis Zangwill has been working at a long
novel entitled “One's Womenkind,” which will
BOOK AND PLAY TALK,
probably be published in the autuin.
There is a strong article in the May number of
The New Liberal Review by Mr. I, Zangwill under
“ CYEVEN Years' Legislation " is the title given
the title “ Why Jews Succeed.” He begins by
O by Mr. J. M. Lely to the just published
saying, “I welcome the task of answering this
supplemental and fourteenth volume of the
question, Why Jews Succeed, if only for the
fifth edition of “ Chitty's Statutes of Practical
opportunity of explaining that they do not.”
Utility” (Sweet & Maxwell, Limited ; Stevens &
Sons, Limited). It contains more than two hundred
Mr. John Huntly Skrine, Warden of Glenalmond,
and author of "A Memory of Edward Thring,"
Acts, from 1895 to 1901, both inclusive.
“Joan the Maid,” etc., etc., has just published a
The Acts selected and annotated include the
volume entitled “Pastor Agnorum : A School-
Friendly Societies Act, 1896 ; the Workmen's
master's Afterthoughts” (Longmans, 58. net).
Compensation Acts of 1897 and 1900 ; the Bene-
fices Act, the Criminal Evidence Act, and the
Mr. Foster Fraser's new work, “ The Real
Vaccination Act of 1898; the London Govern-
Siberia,” has just been published by Messrs.
ment Act of 1899; the Commonwealth of Australia
Cassell & Co. It contains eighty-seven illustra-
Constitution Act : the Companies Act, and the tions from photographs.
Agricultural Holdings Act of 1900 ; and the Civil The serial rights of Mr. G. S. Layard's novel.
List Act of 1901. The work is a consolidation, "Rupert the Mummer," have been purchased by
with additional notes up to date, of the seven Messrs. Pearson.
annual issues which followed the publication of the Miss Jetta S. Wolff, author of “Les Français
fiſth edition in 1894.
en Ménage,” “Les Français en Voyage," etc., etc.,
In the Preface attention is drawn to the curious and of the recently-published novel, “No Place
facts that the Ballot Act and about 100 other Acts for Her," has just brought out a third volume of
are still temporary only; and that our twice- the series illustrative of French life and language.
revised Statute Book still treats Calais as part of It gives a succession of scenes from child-life in
England, still consigns perjurers to the pillory (to France, under the title “Français pour les tous-
which they are to have both their ears pailed), and petits.” Like the preceding volumes, it is
Sunday traders to the stocks; and is still in admirably illustrated by Mr. W. Foster (Edward
various other ways strangely in conflict with Arnold, is.).
modern legislative views.
Miss Rosa Nouchette Carey's new novel is to be
Mrs. Humphry Ward is still at work on her new published in the autumn by Messrs. Macmillan.
novel, “ Lady Rose's Daughter,” which has begun The same publishers have just issued a sixpenny
to appear in Harper's this month. Mrs. Ward edition of Miss Carey's first novel, “ Nettie's
## p. 216 (#628) ############################################
216
THE AUTHOR.
ixpenny seringillan, and added een purchased by
Memories.” It has been abridged by Miss H. M. Queen,” published by Mr. Edward Arnold, bas
Burnside, the poetess.
just been produced by Messrs. Appleton & Co. in
“ Other People's Lives," another of Miss Carey's America. The New York Press have given it
novels, which was formerly in the hands of Messrs. good reviews.
Hodder & Stoughton, has been p:irchased by In a recent interview (" The Young Man ") Dr.
Messrs. Macmillan, and added to the three-and- Garnett speaks hopefully of the literary future.
sixpenny series of Miss Carey's works.
He does not think that there is any decline in the
In her new novel, “ The Blood Tax: A Military proportion of students of the best literature. The
Romance,” Dorothea Gerard deals with the spread of culture is preparing the taste of the
question of conscription. The authoress, whose people for something better, and the demand for
real name is Madame Longard de Longgarde, is higher quality will produce those capable of satisfs-
the wife of an Austrian officer, and as such she ing the demand. The writers of to-day are paving
has had special opportunities of studying the
opportunities of studying the the way for the approach of a grander and more
various Continental military systems at close
brilliant literature than has hitherto been known.
quarters. Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. are the Miss Mary Cholmondeley has nearly completed
publishers.
a new novel. Miss Cholmondeley is a most pains-
- “ The Night Side of London," by Mr. Robert taking writer, every sentence being carefully
Machray, consists of a series of sketches describing weighed, and if necessary rewritten.
London night life, and it is illustrated with about The first edition of Mr. Aylmer Maude's book,
a hundred original pictures by Tom Browne, “Tolstoy and His Problems," has been out of print
R.I., R.B.A.
for some time. A second and cheaper edition will
This book has been in preparation for more shortly be issued by Mr. Grant Richards.
than a year, and is a faithful record by pen and Mr. Richard Whiteing has written an introduc-
pencil of things seen in London at night during tion for the new edition of “ No. 5, John Street,"
1901—2. There is an édition de lure at one which Mr. Grant Richards is issuing as the first
guinea. The price of the popular edition - the volume of a new three-and-sixpenny series of
first impression consists of 10,000 copies—is 6s. select novels. The volume has been re-set from
Mr. John Macqueen is the English publisher, and fresh type.
Messrs. Lippincott are publishing it in America. We must not expect to see any drama from the
Mr. Robert Cromie has published, through pen of Mr. Sydney Grundy produced this season.
Messrs. Digby, Long & Co., a romance called “Pilkerton's Peerage” will be withdrawn at the
“ A New Messiah.” The story is crowded with Garrick on June 6th. Mr. Arthur Bourchier will
exciting incidents. Mr. Cromie is known as the produce a new comedy by Mrs. Craigie and Mr.
author of “The Crack of Doom,”. “Kitty's Murray Carson, called “ The Bishop's Move."
Victoria Cross,” “A Plunge into Space,” etc., etc.
Early in October Messrs. Marlborough & Co.
will publish a companion or supplement to Eastern
guide-books, entitled, “Hints for Travellers in the LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
Near East.” It is written by Mr. E. A. Reynolds-
PROPERTY.
Ball, and it will contain all kinds of practical
advice, hints, maxims, wrinkles (exploring, sport-
Reduction of Postage on Authors' MSS.
ing, medical, etc.), likely to be of use to those
travelling in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Egypt,
CANADIAN, writing from the standpoint of
Palestine, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and the Levant.
a patriot and an Imperialist, brought forward
“Horrors at Holmlands," by J. Harris Brig.
this question in The Author—the question
of reduced postage on MSS. From other motives
house, a member of our Society, is a short,
the American Authors' Society has prepared and
exciting tale in pamphlet form. The mysteries
brought forward a Bill before Congress. It has been
have, we understand, a scientific solution.
introduced by the Hon. Amos J. Cumming, and
Mr. Hamilton Aïdė's new volume is a collection referred to the Committee on Post Offices and Post
of seven little plays, called “We are Seven : Half Roads.
Hours on the Stage, Grave and Gay.” One of The American Author says :
these little pieces has been acted by Madame “ Perhaps there is nothing in which writers are so uni-
Sarah Bernhardt; another has been played by versally interested as in this movement. The lengthening
Mrs. Kendal, and another by Madame Modjeska. of the duration of copyright appeals only to the few who
Mr. John Murray is the publisher.
have been long in the field, and who tind the period of
forty-two years insufficient for the full realisation of profit
Miss Theodora Wilson - Wilson's “ T'Bacca from their classic productions, and to those who hope their
## p. 217 (#629) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
217
efforts may live to be classic for the benefit of their the very essence of this case, that has been con-
descendants.
stantly brought before the members of the Society
“ It is the young writer particularly who sees the fruit of :
his toil eaten up, often before it is earned, by the amount
in other forms and with a bearing on other matters.
which he must expend for the frequent trips to be made It is essential in the publication of a book, in the
by his manuscript before it reaches favourable consider. publication of an article in a magazine, in an
ation, and is returned accompanied by the printed arrangement between an author and agent, in all
reproduction.
in the arguments in favour of the Bill are many, and it matters of business, to have a precise contract
is difficult to think of any reasonable cause for opposition. clearly defined and clearly expressed. Fully half
The postal revenues are large, and but for extensively the disputes that arise are due to this lack of
subsidised star routes and many abuses of second-rate finality,
matter, which might easily be remedied, there would be a
.
"M
Mr. Heinemann, in the article he wrote for The
namonn in the in
considerable surplus revenue.
" The question has been asked, How could the privilege Author some months ago with regard to agents,
once granted be safeguarded ?
said that the work done by an agent could be
“ That a law may be violated is no reason why it should
settled as easily by a solicitor. This statement we
fail of enactment. The regulations of the Post Office
Department now provide for the examination of all mail
have grave reasons for doubting. Many contracts
matter not sealed, and it would be easy, if necessary, to have come to the office settled by the ordinary
formulate additional rules to prevent letter writers availing solicitor which were by no means final. There
themselves of manuscript privileges; then, too, a severe
were many omissions which might give rise to
penalty would act as a deterrent.
“ When accompanied by proof manuscripts are now
difficulties and quarrels owing to the solicitor's
carried at third-class rates—why not when alone ?
ignorance of the technical side of copyright law
"His manuscript is the author's merchandise. Why and publishing contracts.
should he be discriminated against when all other mer Mr. Longman, at the same time, suggested that
chandise goes for third-class rates ? England has seen her
way clear to make this reduction, and many other foreign
agents were useful in that they took away the
countries have followed suit. They have been able to
business part of the contract from the author, and
prevent its abuse-why not the United States ?
thus enabled the author and the publisher to meet
. “Manuscript can be sent to, or returned from, publishers together on more friendly grounds, to discuss
in foreign countries at third-class rates, why should it cost
other questions dealing with the publication of
more to send them from Dobbs Ferry to New York, or
from point to point in the city? To send ten ounces of the book.
manuscript to a publisher in England costs five cents. To We are inclined to agree with Mr. Longman.
send it to one in Twenty-third Street costs twenty cents. Many authors go to publishers because they
** An author must pay two postages on every manuscript
know them personally.
in
to carry it to a publisher and bring it back if rejected, and
this process is ordinarily repeated many times before the Some sort of contract is entered into either by
final resting place is reached. On the other hand, the dry word of mouth or contained in a series of letters.
goods stores deliver small packages of goods which are
The exact terms are obscure, misty, and indefinite.
The exact terms are obscure misty and
handled but once, and pay but once, one cent for every Thors or omissions about which the author
There are omissions about which the author
two ounces. In the interests of fair play and justice, the
change should be made, and now,
knows nothing. He does not take advice, he is
• Every one interested should unite with the Society in dealing with a friend. Even on some points that
its effort for the benefit of the craft, and promptly impor- are clearly antagonistic to his interest he is silent.
tune his, or her, representative in Congress to carry the Why? fe is dealing with a friend.
measure through at this session."
The result is often disastrous. The author,
Whatever motive prompts those who are agitating perhaps, is dissatisfied on some minor question, and
in this cause, this point is clear, that the greater finds that the contract is ill expressed. He loses
facilities given to authors throughout the world faith in his friend's honesty, when as a matter
for the transport of their MSS., the greater will be of fact with a little business precision at the
the benefit to those who live by their pen.
commencement everything might have been
“ His MS. is the author's merchandise.” Cheap clear.
transport of merchandise must benefit the producer. Something beyond mere honesty is desired on
both sides in order to avoid disputes, namely, that
everything should be settled on a business footing
by those who understand the business. The
Contracts.
publisher, the editor, and the agent as a rule
THE case of Fitzgerald 2. Newnes was decided understand the business, when, probably, the
in the Courts at the end of April, and judgment author does not. The moral from the author's
was given for the defendants.
point of view is clear-
There were many points in dispute bearing on (1). Have a thoroughly sound contract.
literary property and the work of literary pro- (2). Hare some one who is thoroughly versed in
ducers. These were fully set forth and discussed dealing with literary property to advise you on the
in the judgment. There is one point, however, contract.
## p. 218 (#630) ############################################
218
TJIE AUTHOR.
Nett Prices.
we do, where should we be, without the Society ?
An article from the pen of Mr. Maclehose, of
The chairman pointed out, with a passing gibe at
Glasgow, on the above subject, was printed in
the Academy of Letters, that, with the exception
The Author of November, 1901. The American
of the body he represented that evening, literature
standpoint has been ably treated by Mr. Charles
had no corporate existence. Time was when the
Scribner, President of the American Publishers'
individual author stood absolutely alone—a shorn
Association.
lamb exposed to the untempered wind. After a
The American Author has had several interesting
rapid and comprehensive review of the work of
articles on the same subject, dealing with the
the Society (in which he hinted that the com-
methods employed in America for enforcing the
mittee were not infrequently expected to perform
system, and the success which has attended those
impossibilities), he laid some stress upon the
methods. To all authors, of whatever nationality,
improved position to which this much-abused
the welfare of the Booksellers—those who put their
body had now attained. Serene in conscious merit,
wares before the public is a matter of primary
it could now afford to disregard insulting para-
importance, and both in England and America
graphs. It continued to fight—so long as it
the nett system appears to have worked with
existed it would continue to fight; but it was
satisfactory results.
noticeable that it could now afford to fight, so to
speak, with more urbanity than before. It had no
intention of relaxing its efforts in the cause of
authors' rights, but certainly in the relations
between author and publisher matters were now
THE ANNUAL DINNER.
more harmonious than they used to be. We
understood Mr. Hawkins to say at this point that
COME two hundred members and guests of the when he died the words “Canadian Copyright "
D Society met together at the Hôtel Cecil on would be found engraved upon his heart.
April 30 for the double purpose of discussing an The Committee, he complained once more, did
excellent dinner, and of listening to some very their best, but could not always give satisfaction.
admirably expressed after-dinner oratory. In fact, They were asked not only to shut the stable door
the speeches were distinctly above the average. after the horse had been stolen, but even to
Post-prandial eloquence is not commonly held to recover the steed and restore it to its careless
be an English characteristic, but the Society of owner. What the committee really liked, he
Authors is exceptionally fortunate in possessing explained, was a good, hard, dry point of law.
in Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins a master of On such they had always hitherto scored successes.
polished phrase who, whether he has anything of Mr. Hawkins concluded a very interesting speech
importance to say or not, always says it in the with an eloquent appeal on behalf of the Pension
best possible manner ; while it would be difficult Fund.
to find in any country speakers more agreeably The composite toast of “Literature and the
fluent and incisive than Mr. W. L. Courtney, Mr. Drama” was allotted to Mr. W. L. Courtney, who
Pett Ridge, and Captain Marshall.
opened by observing that cynics might say the
After the customary loyal toasts, Mr. Hawkins two were strangers. However pleasant they might
rose to explain his position in the chair and to sound in conjunction, it was rare to find them
propose the health of the Society. We gathered comfortably mated in real life. In favour of
that the committee of management, finding itself “Pilkerton's Peerage” he made a gracious excep-
happy in the possession of an ideal chairman, had tion. Many flashes of epigram and paradox
skilfully contrived a jesolution that the director decorated the remarks of the eminent critic who
of its own councils for the time being should proposed this toast. Pessimism, par esemple, “the
preside also at the annual dinner. In former occasional solace of age and the perpetual privilege
years it had been the custom to pounce upon stray of youth.” He turned out his Pandora's Box of
men of eminence-a practice that naturally gave giſts literary and dramatic, and was gratified by
rise to envy and all uncharitableness. It was finding Anthony Hope at the bottom thereof. It
perhaps a good sign, he modestly explained, that might be a paradox, but he thought literature and
the Society felt itself able now to contemplate with the drama did meet, perhaps, in criticism : that is
equanimity the selection of so undistinguished a to say, they joined readily enough in abusing the
chairman as himself. By an easy transition he critic, as husband and wife, though apt to quarrel,
passed on to review the work of the Society, will combine to repel any meddlesome intruder.
founded twenty years ago by the eminent novelist Of critics in general he remarked that they
and man of letters whose death last year still cast generally agreed upon two things—the very good
a shadow over all who were present. What should and the very bad. An Eastern legend was quoted
## p. 219 (#631) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
219
in support of the proposition that criticism was while besides Mr. Hawkins (chairman) and the
one of the oldest of all professions. Adam's first other speakers mentioned above, the list also com.
recorded remark (uttered presumably while naming prehended Mr. R. Garnett, Mr. A. Colquhoun, Sir
his subjects) is said to have been, “ This is an Joshua Fitch, Mr. S. S. Sprigge, Mr. A. P. Graves,
Ass.” The Oriental fable was provocative of much Mr. E. H. Lacon Watson, and Mr. G. Herbert
laughter, as was also the story of a certain Thring, secretary.
American dramatic critic who proposed that a
performance of “Hamlet” which he had just
witnessed should be utilised to solve the Shake- PATCHWORK LEGISLATION AND MUSICAL
speare-Bacon controversy. “Open the tombs of
PERFORMING RIGHT.
the two celebrated men,” he wrote, “and see which
has turned in his grave.” Mr. Courtney's was per-
(Continued.)
haps the speech of the evening-excellently turned
and full of humorous touches. He coupled with TN striking contrast to the condition of English
his toast the names of Mr. Pett Ridge (literature) 1 copyright legislation, with its chaotic
and Captain Marshall (drama).
jumble of Acts, are the broad and simple
The genial humorist who rose in reply affected principles governing French legislation on the
to believe that the gentleman who arranged the same subject.
toast-list invariably looked round for the least So far back as 1791 the importance of conserving
eminent writer present to fill the position he now and protecting the performing right in that
occupied. Nevertheless, so great a respect had he country was recognised and comprehensively
for a self-confident manner and a sonorous voice dealt with by law, enabling the establishment
that he believed, if the toast-master had called of a Society for the collection of royalties and
upon him for a song and dance, he would have fees on dramatic works.
complied to the best of his ability. As a fact, he This Society was established for the protection
spoke at some length, fluently and with plenty of of the author's rights of dramatic performance,
fun. Captain Marshall, who followed, delivered and the collection was limited to theatres only.
a carefully prepared harangue in delightfully Outside such dramatic performance all frag-
polished language. He had the air of reciting a ments of operas, symphonic music, light or classical
written speech, which perhaps rather marred the music, dance music, songs, and chansonnettes
effect of his deftly-turned periods ; but this was no could be freely sung in public without any
doubt an illusion due to his excellent delivery. restriccion.
Mr. A. W. à Beckett next proposed the guests There was suitable provision in the law of
with extreme cheerfulness, taking occasion to France for their protection, but no effort had been
introduce a story of a Highlander, out of compli- made to systematically control the rights of
ment, no doubt, to Dr. Robert Farquharson, M.P., performance in musical compositions.
who responded. The doctor spoke rapidly and composer could not by himself protect his
vivaciously in reply, but so indistinctly that we performing rights, and in addition to that dis-
failed to catch any of his remarks except a re-issue ability there was the opposition of publishers to
of the time-honoured jest about Daniel in the lions contend against; so that before anything could be
den. The health of the chairman was proposed done as regards the formation of a Society, it was
by Mr. W. W. Jacobs, who was understood to necessary to obtain some decision from the French
express a wish that Mr. A. H. Hawkins would in Tribunals to show that the law of 1791 applied to
future confine himself to after-dinner speaking, performing rights of all musical works, whether
and give less popular writers a chance. The dramatic or not.
chairman returned thanks in a few suitable In 1818 two chansonnette writers were passing
phrases, and the meeting slowly dissolved into the a café concert in the Champs Elysées, and catch-
adjoining room.
ing a few notes of a chansonnette of which they
It was a successful evening, perhaps one of the were the authors, they decided to go in and hear it.
pleasantest of the annual reunions held under thc The proprietor of the establishment claimed an
auspices of the Society, and the speeches, as we admission payment of two francs from each of
have indicated, were decidedly above the average. them. “But," said they, “it is our song and we
Mr. Hawkins is always an admirable chairman. want to hear it.” “ That does not matter to me,”
Among those present we noticed the names of replied the proprietor, “ you must either pay or
Miss Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler, “Helen Mathers,” go.” They paid, vowing that the disbursement of
“ Rita," Mrs. Alec Tweedie, Mrs. Mona Caird, their four francs should be an expensive affair for
Miss May Sinclair, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, Mrs. R. him in the long run.
Connor Leighton, representatives of the fair sex ; One of the song-writers in question, with the
## p. 220 (#632) ############################################
220
THE AUTHOR.
help of his collaborateur, another composer, and a catalogues, to create agencies and draft out a
publisher, discussed the subject from a practical policy of administration capable of enabling the
point of view, finally coming to an understanding work of the Society to be efficiently controlled in
not to allow their works to be performed in future all its branches, and to secure its extension and
at public places without their consent, which continued prosperity.
would only be given on payment of a reasonable fee. This control was to extend to every form of
The little committee of four obtained two other performing right which up to that time had been
adherents, and a campaign was opened by inter unprotected, and to every class of establishment
viewing the publishers in order to try and get that had hitherto compiled its programmes free of
them to co-operate in the new undertaking. Pro- all restrictions ; to all forms of concerts, music.
prietors of public places of entertainment were halls, public balls, musical societies, municipal
interviewed in order to feel the ground in that entertainments, circuses, fragments of dramatic
direction, and to find out the nature and strength works, and musical works in theatres, in which
of the opposition which might bave to be encoun latter establishments the Dramatic Society (up to
tered ; and opposition very speedily made itself that time) alone had collected fees.
manifest, bitter and uncompromising, both from It was not easy to make it clear to the minds of
entertainment managers and publishers.
all public caterers that the Society had right on its
Nothing daunted, however, the little band of side, and that it was fully justified in charging
reformers struggled on, and in the course of the fees for the performance of the works of its
years 1848, 1849, and 1850 actions were taken in members.
the names of authors and composers against concert Violent opposition continued to be met with on
and music hall entrepreneurs for unauthorised all sides, and during the first period of twenty
performances.
years actions at law were taken in every part of
The various Tribunalsin every instance recognised France against concert promoters, proprietors of
that the principle of the performing right con- café concerts, and of public balls. Each and all
tained in the law of 1791 extended to all works had to be dealt with in turn, but with the result
without distinction, whether dramatic or musical. that the Society, whose receipts for the year 1851-
Strengthened by these decisions, the little group no 52 amounted to the small sum of 14,000 francs,
longer hesitated, but it was not till 1851 that had increased in the year 1861-62 to 115,400
owing to numerous new adherents, they became francs for the year.
sufficiently important to think of forming a Society. The opposition of the theatrical managers was
At that period, with the exception of one pub- very great, for although they had been in the habit
lisher, Colombier, the music trade was stubbornly of paying fees for the dramatic works since 1789,
hostile to the Society and the principle of the they could not understand why they should now
reservation of the performing right. But in spite be made to pay for the works which had been per-
of all opposition, the authors and composers held formed freely at their establishments before 1851.
their meetings, drew up rules and regulations, and Many actions had to be taken before this opposition
on the 31st of January, 1851, the Société des was finally laid to rest.
Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, of As a result of the collection of fees at theatres
France, was definitely established.
by the new Society, authors of dramatic works
The new Society had for its object the placing also hastened to become members.
in common of the rights of the members.
But all these results were not reached without
By their adhesion to the rules of the Society, grave difficulties, inside the Society as well as out-
the members made over their rights to it; this side of it, for the members had incessantly to
was the only possible way to successfully establish encounter and combat the opposition of their
a new form of property, and to appoint a Syn- publishers, and it required unceasing labour to
dicat (or Board of Directors) having full and bring them little by little to look more favourably
exclusive power in itself, or through its power of upon the subject of the reservation of the performing
attorney, an agent-general, to authorise or forbid right.
the public performance of the works of its mem. It was not till 1854 that the publishers at last
bers, and to collect fees in France and abroad. gave way, and seeing that the authors and com-
Since the 31st of January, 1851, the Society has posers were determined to control their performing
been working regularly. It had from the start to rights, they agreed to become members of the
provide for every contingency, to regulate every- Society,
thing, to establish catalogues for the formation of The founders of the Society had already foreseen
the repertoire, to distribute the fees among the and provided for this contingency, and the statutes
inembers, to establish a system for the declaration of the Society admitted the publisher to a share of
of works to the Society, to help to form the the revenues ; this explains how it came to be
## p. 221 (#633) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
221
named the Society of Authors, Composers and
Music Publishers."
From year to year the receipts of the Society
have steadily increased. The war of 1870–71 only
produced a temporary break in the scale of pro-
gress, and as figures are more eloquent than words,
the best way to summarise the work of the Society
will be to give the amounts of its revenue year by
year from 1851 to 1900.
ANNÉES SOCIALES
DE 1851
au 30 Septembre, 1900.
TOTAUX
DES
Recettes brutes.
10
13
Tre Année 1851-52
1852–53
1853–54
1854–55
1855–56
1856–57
1857-58
1858-59
1859—60
1860-61
11
1861--62
12
1862-63
1863-64
14
1864-65
15
1865-66
1866–67
1867-68
18
1868-69
1869–70
18704-71
1871-72
1872–73
23
1873-74
24
1874–75
1875–76
1876–77
1877–78
IIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
14.408 50
24.689 75
28.818 30
40.789 85
51.800 55
64.953 45
71.991 44
96.678 72
107.448 31
115.434 67
129.455 42
148.830 12
170.903 88
200.776 19
246.209 51
294.775 49
384.408 13
360.110 12
376.820 60
203.717 64
325.023 28
412.191 41
462.552 17
505.534 45
531.258 75
562.656 37
600.237 21
It will be seen from the above that it took the
Society thirty-five years, from 1851 to 1886, to
reach the total collection of 1,000,000 francs in
the year—i.e., £40,000 per annum, The Berne
Convention coming into force in 1887, agencies
were founded in such of the European countries as
it was found possible to do so, and within the last
fifteen years the Society has more than doubled
that first million.
The revenue for 1901-2 exceeded 2,500,000
francs, or £100,000 for the year, a truly stupendous
result when it is remembered that no capital has
been furnished to bring it about. The Society has
been from the first to the last self-supporting ; its
only capital has been drawn from the fees collected.
The enormous revenue of £100,000 per annum
would represent the return on an invested capital
of £2,000,000 sterling at five per cent. per annum.
This magnificent sum may fairly be said to repre-
sent at the very least the amount which English
authors and composers permit their publishers to
throw away annually in England, for there is no
doubt that had a similar Society been established
in England for the same period as in France, its
annual revenue to-day would be equal to if not
surpassing that of the French Society.
Thanks to their powerful organisation, the
Society has been strongly represented at all the
International Congresses, and has been able to
voice its opinions and make its influence felt to
the benefit and the extension of international
rights.
Its immense revenue is regularly distributed
quarterly and pro rata among all its members
whose works have been performed in public during
that period. A small percentage of the funds is
put on one side annually as a pension fund. All
members of twenty-five years' standing over sixty
years of age are entitled to a pension, and there
are now 168 bénéficiaires.
There is also a fund for the relief of impecunious
members and for medical aid.
Since 1851 more than 40,000,000 francs, or over
£1,600,000, has been collected, and if the income
of this French Society continues to increase at its
present rate, it bids fair before very long to exceed
the entire revenue of the London publishing trade
-an income earned without capital !
ALFRED MOUL.
- - -
TAUCHNITZ EDITIONS.
16
17
19
20
21
22
1878-79
1879--80
- du 16/3 au 30/9 1880
701.028 74
682.306 89
376.023 46
31
35
|||||||||||||||!!
1880--81
1881-82
1882-83
1883-84
1884-85
· 1885-86
1886-87
1887--88
1888-
1889 -90
1890-91
1891-92
1892-93
1893–94
1894—95
1895–96
1896–97
1897--98
1898–99
1899-1900
812.678 02
841.540 86
882.771 74
928.473 33
990.419 08
1.045.386 00
1.057.315 88
1.095.057 29
1.212.735 51
1.228.068 01
1.382.798 94
1.405.614 11
1.518.130 06
1.564.900 18
1.624.883 51
1.694.992 59
1.734.775 73
1.862.160 42
2.017.570 61
2. 234.347 81
N
HE prices that authors receive for their books
1 in England from royalties and other methods
of payment have, from time to time, been
quoted in The Author, and compared with the
profits obtained by the publisher.
-
## p. 222 (#634) ############################################
222
THE AUTHOR.
....
...
1450
Sir Walter Besant has several times tabulated taken as the price paid to the most successful
the profits of both parties, taking into account authors. The average price runs between £10
large sales, small sales, large costs of production, and £25. Let us take £20 on which to base our
small costs of production.
calculations.
Though these matters have been exhaustively
Marks.
dealt with, the questions of authors' other rights in £20 at 21 marks to the £ equals ... 420
America, in translations and in Tauchnitz editions Publisher's profit on the sale of 3,000
have never been tabulated on the same principle. copies
The following statement, therefore, may afford Less average amount paid to author... 420
some information to those authors who are selling
their rights in the Tauchnitz editions of their
Profit to the publisher ... ... 1030
works.
Even supposing that a certain amount of this
Take the ordinary book of about 80,000 words. sum, say 10 per cent., be taken off for what is
This would be produced from the Leipsig house
commonly called "publisher's expenses, sundries,
in one volume. At the lowest computation, 3,000
&c.," there is still a profit to the publisher of over
copies would be printed. The numerous markets twice the amount received by the author.
covered by these books must be considered. They Authors should consider the position.
circulate in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Take again the same example, only substitute
Russia, from China to the North Sea, Egypt, £50 as the amount paid to the author instead of
South America, and many other large book-buying £20. The following result is obtained :-
countries. If we take, as a basis of calculation, an
Marks.
edition of 3,000 copies, the number may be safely
£50 taking 21 marks to the £ ... 1050
reckoned as a small edition.
The cost of production of 3,000 copies, roughly Deducting this from the cost of production,
reckoned, amounts to 1,400 marks (the roughness 1,400 marks, the balance in favour of the pub.
is in the publisher's favour), and these 3,000 copies lisher is 350 marks, no mean return for the capital
are sold to the trade (very few being sent out for invested.
review) at the following prices :-
It is not likely, however, that the book of an
author whose reputation is so large as to be able
Mark. Per Cent.
to obtain a price of £50 for the Tauchnitz edition,
Single copies on credit ...
would only sell to the extent of 3,000 copies, or
For ready money ...
•05
that only 3,000 copies would be printed.
For 7 vols, at a time
.95
The next case to be considered occurs when an
For 100 , „ ...
edition of 5,000 copies is printed.
For 500 , „ ..
.85
Roughly speaking the cost of production is 1,800
marks. This is an excessive calculation, but we
The same price rules when francs are paid, the
only difference being that between the value of the
gladly give the publisher the benefit of the
difference.
franc and the value of the mark.
For instance-
Taking the sale price of the book to be the
Franc. Per Cent. same as in the former case,
Marks.
Single copies on credit
•50
5,000 copies will sell for... ... 4750
The same for cash..
.25
For 7 copies
•20
Deducting the cost of production
For 100 ,
from the sales ... ... ... 1800
For 500 ,,
6
Profit
2950
The average price, however, can be taken at
Again reckoning the average price
.95 marks, or in francs, 1.20.
given to the author for the book 420
An edition of 3,000 copies would therefore
Profit to the Publisher ... ... 2530
bring in -
Reducing the same to £'s, about £120.
2850
If we take the author's remuneration at £50,
Less cost of production ... 1400 the sum will work out as follows :-
Marks.
Profit ... ... ... 1450
Profit by sale
...
2950
To author of book
1050
The next point is the price that is given to
English authors for these rights. £50 may be Profit to the publisher ...
1900
20
.90
...
Marks.
...
## p. 223 (#635) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
223
Reducing it again to £'s, about £90.
of figures, an author with a moderate reputation,
One inore example.
on the sale of 5,000 copies would obtain half of
The cost of production of 10,000 copies is 2,950 marks, or 1,475 marks. These marks turned
approximately 2,800 marks.
into £'s would amount to £70 58., or between 30.
The sale of the 10,000 copies at the average and 4d, a copy royalty on every copy sold ; 3d.
price as before, ·95 marks, would bring in 9,500 a copy amounting accurately to £62 108., 4d.
marks.
a copy to £83 6s.
Deduct from this the sum of 1,050 marks paid to In the case of the successful author the profits
the author, a profit of 8,450 marks is left to the on the sale of an edition of 10,000 copies would
publisher.
amount, after the cost of production had been
It is necessary now to sum up the question from deducted, to 4,750 marks, or £226—between 5d.
the facts displayed in this article. On an edition and 6d. a copy on every copy sold. The royalty of
of 3,000 copies, which may be reckoned when the 5d. a copy amounts to £208 68., a royalty of 6d. a
huge extent of the Tauchnitz markets are taken copy to £250.
into consideration, an average sale for an average As the figures in the cost of production and on the
author, the profit to the publisher is 980 marks, sales of the books have been taken slightly in favour
and the profit to the author is 420 marks.
of the publisher, an author would not be asking by
If erery advantage in the figures is given to any means too high a figure if he demanded 3d.
the publisher, and every possible expenditure is a copy royalty on the sale of 3,000 copies, 4d. a
taken into consideration, the publisher's profit is copy on the sale of 5,000, and 6d. a copy on the
twice as large as the author's. Even in the case of sale of 10,000.
an exceedingly popular author, and a small edition, The reader should also bear in mind that these
the profit to the publisher is not at all unreasonable, figures are worked out on the understanding that
when the capital invested is considered.
the book is produced as one volume. When a
As the editions grow larger, the profits to the novel runs to more than 80,000 words it is usually
publisher also grow in proportion, for it is quite produced in two volumes, and the profit is propor-
the exception that a royalty is ever paid to an tionately increased. It follows, therefore, that the
author on this form of issue. At last, when an royalty should be paid on every volume. The fact
edition of 10,000 copies is published, the profit to that the firm of Tauchnitz act as their own printers
the publisher is 8,450 marks against the sum paid no doubt enables them to put the books on the
to the author of 1,050 marks. It follows, there market at a cost smaller than that shown by the
fore, that the publisher's profits are to the author's figures printed above. This is a further advantage
remuneration in the proportion of 8 to 1.
that this firm obtains.
After a careful consideration of these figures, it English authors would do well to make a study
is clear that some effort should be made by authors of these figures, and to approach the head of the
in order that matters may be arranged on a more great firm with a view to obtaining, if possible,
equitable basis.
some equitable basis on which to found future con-
It will afford no small advantage to look at tracts. It is quite possible that Baron Tauchnitz
the position from an entirely different point of has never looked at the figures from this point of
view.
view, and has never had his attention drawn to
Take, for instance, the case of the ordinary a comparison between the profits of author and
author, who can obtain a sale of 3,000 copies. publisher.
According to the figures that have already been put The great reputation of the firm is well known.
forward, there would be a profit of 1,450 marks, No doubt if the case is clearly stated, authors will
after deducting the cost of production from the find their views favourably considered.
amount realised by sales. If the author takes a
G. H. T.
half-share of these profits he would obtain 725
marks. (It must not be considered that half-
profits to the author is essentially a fair return,
but it is a good basis on which to build a calcula-
BRICKS AND MORTAR.
tion.) Seven hundred and twenty-five marks if
turned into English money at the rate given
above, of twenty-one marks to the £, would W HEN an architect undertakes to work out a
work out to £34 10s., or between 2 d. and 3d. a W design for a house it is not sufficient that
copy on every copy of the edition. 24d. a copy " he should bring into play his imagination
royalty works out to £31 58., 3d. a copy to for the lines of beauty in the scheme of the out-
£37 10s.
side structure or his technical skill in satisfying
If the same principle is applied to the next set the needs and comforts of men in the internal
## p. 224 (#636) ############################################
224
THE AUTHOR.
development. He needs more than this. He “ royal octavo.” This portion of the book is no
needs full knowledge of the different materials doubt one of the most important parts to him who
out of which the house is built-of the wood, of would gain full knowledge of the “ bricks and
the bricks, of the slates and tiles, of the pipes, of mortar.”
the mortar.
“Methods of Illustration ” comes next. Nowa.
It is quite true that an author, unless he is days illustration in books is distinctly on the
publishing on commission, has no call for the increase. It follows then that the maker of books
same intricate knowledge of materials, and does should understand some of the methods by which
not need to handle the details of structure in the his work is rendered more fascinating to the
same intimate way; yet this knowledge, though general public. The days have gone by when the
not absolutely essential, may be exceedingly useful. addition of the simplest picture was looked upon
It is curious what a lack of information most as a serious and expensive item. Nowadays
authors have. They cannot tell what a book costs beautiful and artistic work can be reproduced at a
to print, or what kind of type should be used, very moderate rate. The different processes are
although in an indefinite kind of way they may here fully explained.
know what kind of type they prefer. The same Chapter V. deals with papers. If “ Types and
remark applies with equal force to the paper and Margins ” was one of the most important portions,
binding.
“Papers” is the most important. Upon the
An author's answer may well be that the Society quality of the paper depends the longevity of the
has at its command all the information that is book. Paper is sold by weight. It sounds a
requisite. To a certain extent that answer is simple transaction, but in fact is complicated by
justifiable, but the man who can do a thing for technicalities. Paper is of many kinds, of which
himself has always more power than the man who the two main classes are machine made and hand
has to employ an agent.
made. The subdivisions are numerous; the most
Detailed information concerning the “bricks important are dealt with.
and mortar” that go toward book production has The chapters on “The Sizes of Books" and
been collected by Mr. C. T. Jacobi.* He first “Binding" cannot be passed orer. Knowledge of
deals with the manuscript, and puts forward some these points is essential.
useful suggestions. On this point it is possible that It is doubtful whether there was any need in a
the author may need but little assistance. He has book of this kind to deal with “Publishing" and
most probably learnt his lesson by bitter experi- “ Copyright." These subjects bear but little on
ence, but he may well take to heart the paragraph the questions of the “bricks and mortar," apper-
on page 8:-
taining to the solicitor's rather than the architect's
“ The charges made for corrections are based on department. They are involved and highly
the time consumed in making them, and are very technical. To deal with them in these short
difficult to check even by an expert." This sub- chapters is impossible, and a mere superficial state-
ject has been dealt with exhaustively in The ment is likely to do more harm than good.
Author, and with the exception of advertisements, To sum up, there is very little to be said against
is the most frequent cause of dispute between the method the author has employed in dealing
author and publisher.
with his subject. He shows full knowledge; he
The next chapter, “ The Index,” is hardly has placed it clearly before the public. The cost
satisfactory. To many books no index is neces- of many of the items has not been touched upon
sary. But the author who desires to compile an except in a few general statements. This, the only
index needs fuller instructions to make the result fault, is a serious one. It is not enough to know
reliable.
that one paper is good and another bad, or one
“Types and Margins.” Those who are dwellers form of illustration more expensive than another.
in the printing chapel have a wondrous language The writer who goes so far in his study of
of their own. To the ordinary mortal it is as a “bricks and mortar" will certainly demand inore
foreign tongue. Let him then, if he thinks of details of finance. This side ought to be dealt
turning author, carefully digest these pages. He with in some other issue.
will be able to stand the test of the severest The Glossary is instructive. Pages full of type
examination and puzzle himself and his hearers by
varying in shape and make, leaded and solid, and
discussing learnedly about “founts," “ems,” others made up of different samples of paper, com-
"ens," "pica," "double pica," “crown,” and plete a treatise really useful and satisfactory to all
those—and there should be many—who are
interested in the details of the material side of
* “Some Notes on Books and Printing," by C, T. Jacobi.
Published by the Chiswick Press, Took's Court, Chancery book production.
Lane.
A. C. B.
## p. 225 (#637) ############################################
• THE AUTHOR.
225
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
STERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property S
1. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise.
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,"
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor!
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
"Cost of Production."
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :-
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld,
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(6.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.c.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (6.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication,
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTITORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
N EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
1. DIVERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member,
## p. 226 (#638) ############################################
226
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for The Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey's
Gate, S.W., and 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.
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members' agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
an readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
U ITH the assistance of that valuable society,
the Association Littéraire et Artistique
Internationale, the brass-workers of Paris
have been successful in their endeavours to put
their designs under the protection of the French
copyright law. The protection which this law will
now give them is of a very extensive character,
and will prevent piracy of designs of every kind.
France was and is always in the forefront when
it is necessary to protect works of literary or
artistic merit.
THE READING BRANCH.
M EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of their work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
leaders are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
While mentioning the subject of artistic copy-
right, it is interesting to call to mind the case of
Brittain and Others v. Hanks Bros. & Co., which
has recently been decided in the Courts.
hos
In this case the plaintiff brought an action
against the defendants for copying the design of
a tin soldier which the plaintiff was selling as a
toy for children.
After hearing the case the Judge decided that
the model had artistic merit, and that therefore,
as the plaintiff had complied with the other
provisions of the Act, an injunction must be
granted.
The real position of these cases must depend
upon the fact how far the production is a work of
NOTICES.
THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of
T the Society that, although the paper is sent to them
free of charge, the cost of prodncing 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
58. 6d. subscription for the year.
## p. 227 (#639) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
227
art. It is quite possible that a tin soldier might Hawkins say to a Society of Orators ? " Well,
be as high an artistic production as the statues what would he say? Where is the “fundamental
that are set up in the prominent squares of absurdity”? Are all trade and professional com-
London.
binations absurd ? Where is the analogy ? Oratory
is neither a trade nor a profession. And lastly,
where is the logic ?
A WRITER in the Pall Mall Gazette commented
a little bitterly on the statements of our Chairman
at the dinner of the Society.
"The author,” he says, scoffing at an assertion of
An intricate question came before a member of
Mr. Hawkins', “was always as free as any other
the Society. How should it have been answered ?
citizen to consult and instruct a solicitor." True,
The details of the case are as follows :-
At the desire of a certain wealthy American, a
but the writer has not taken the trouble to
remember that the Copyright Acts are difficult
member of the Society was employed to compile a
and involved, and that the dealings with copyright
book. A limited number of copies of the book,
property are peculiar and technical
which was an expensive work, were printed, bound,
We have seen agreements for the publication of
and delivered in completed form in England. The
books and for the performance of plays prepared
book was not for publication, but for the private
by the family solicitor ; they were interesting
use of the American.
curiosities. Technical information on a highly
A number of copies, amounting in all to 500 or
technical subject is essential; this the Society
so, had to be forwarded to America, and, under
the American Tariff Act, it is necessary to state
affords. The number of its Members is a fair
proof that its work is appreciated.
the value of the book as merchandise. Ought the
Secondly, he states, “as the case of Macdonald
books to have been valued at their actual cost of
v. the National Review showed, the Society had
production, or at the probable amount they would
bring in if offered for sale in the open market ?
been too ready to disturb men as honest as them-
The actual wording of the law is that dutiable
selves by vexatious litigation.” A man may be
honest; he may also be unbusinesslike. The
articles " should be appraised at their fair market
value.”
Society deals with the business side of literary and
dramatic effort, and in endeavouring to obtain
We believe it has been the custom for pub-
lishers to invoice books to America at the cost of
proper business methods between editor or publisher
and author, is doing good to all three parties.
manufacture. In this case, however, there was no
Some of the present Members may forget the
market value, as the books were for private
details of the case.
circulation.
An author sent an MS. to the National Review.
It was set up in type and returned for correction.
The author returned the MS. Subequently the A purposed notable feature in the coming St.
article was rejected.
Louis World's Exposition is an exact reproduction
The Judge held that the setting up in type of the birth-homes of two or three of the greater
was such a dealing with the article as to constitute English and Scotch writers—littérateurs who are
acceptance, and the proprietor had to pay ; that is recognised as “the world's men of letters.” The
the rough outline of the facts.
suggestion is that exact facsimiles of the buildings
This is distinctly not vexatious litigation. The and the chief historic relics they contain shall be
editor had merely to write a business letter pointing made. It is proposed that these shall be rebuilt
out that the article was not accepted. The author in permanent form, so that they may remain in
would then have had the option of withdrawing Forest Park, St. Louis, long after the less stable
the article or waiting the editor's pleasure. What portions of the World's Fair have done their
did the editor expect the author to conclude? Did duty and disappeared. Recent talk on these sub-
he expect him to wait calmly and indefinitely for jects has now become a fact. The Burns' Cottage
the editor's decision?
Association has been organised in America, with
The editor's side is “vexatious litigation,” the John V. Dick as President, and James Muir
author's “ vexatious delay"; and the Society's Dixon, Secretary
point of view is finality in business as well as The “Auld Clay Buggin," the very humble
honesty. The Society's standpoint is justifiable. cottage under the thatch of which Robert Burns
The third “Occasional Note” is amusing in its was born on the 25th of January, 1759, is of clay,
illogical deduction, “Only let it be remarked that with a sanded front, whitewashed, and was built
there is something fundamentally absurd in the mainly by the hands of the poet's father while
idea of a Society of Authors. What would Mr. he was working as a gardener for Ferguson of
## p. 228 (#640) ############################################
228
THE AUTHOR.
LITERARY PRODUCTION IN ENGLAND.
Doonholm. The house, as all pilgrims to Ayr know,
is one storey high, and consists of a kitchen in one
end and a best parlour in the other. In the latter
is a fireplace, and, in a niche by its side, is a bed.
As to Bobbie, it is the opinion of the old wives of
the town that,
66 The bed in which he first began
To be that various thing called man,'
was in the tiny kitchen. Replicas of the bed and
of the other important items in the little white
house in Ayr are included in the St. Louis
scheme.
The co-operation of the leading Burns' Societies
and other Scottish associations, both here and in
America, has been promised. A suggestion has
been made that the replicas of the cottage and
relics shall be free gifts from the sons of Scotland
-Whether at home or abroad-to St. Louis.
Further, if permissible, it is proposed also to build
some other historic Scottish structure on the Fair
Grounds, as room will be needed for the accumula-
tion of Scottish relics that promises to pour in.
The Scotch element is strong and influential in
American life, and keeps itself in closer relations
with the old home than any other foreign strain
to be found there.
The address of Mr. George F. Parker, the Resi-
dent British Representative of the World's Fair,
is Sanctuary House, Tothill Street, Westminster,
S.W.
THE Editor of The Author has asked me to give
1 some statistics relating to the production of
books in this country. Books, of all things,
are essentially individual entities whose qualitative
worth interests more than a quantitative view of
them, but despite this obvious disadvantage, it is
possible that the following facts concerning books
in bulk may have some interest. Moreover, a not
inconsiderable proportion of the books may per-
haps be regarded more appropriately in bulk than
as separate existences.
Every year the Publishers' Circular contains an
analytical table of the new books published during
the preceding year. I have summarised these
tables for the last ten years, so as to get a broad
fact-base into which are merged the accidental
fluctuations of individual years. The following
statement contains the essence of these ten years'
facts, and it relates only to new books, not to new
editions of books.
NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED KIxGDOM
DURING THE TEN YEARS 1892–1901.
Class of Book.
Number
published.
Percentage
of each Class,
upon the total
number
published.
per cent.
299
16,434
6,269
114
AFTER SUNSET.
9.5
5,206
4,540
8.2
3,572
5:1
1. Novels, tales, and juvenile
works. .
2. Educational, classical, and
philological . .
3. Theology, sermons, bib-
lical, etc. . . .
4. History, biography, etc. .
5. Year-books and serials in
volumes .
6. Political and social eco-
nomy, trade, etc. .
7. Poetry and the drama .
8. Belles - Lettres, essays,
monographs, etc.
9. Arts, sciences, and illus-
trated works . .
10. Voyages, travels, geo- i
graphical research .
11. Medicine, surgery, etc..!
12. Law, jurisprudence, etc..!
13. Miscellaneous, including
pamphlets, not sermons
2,822
2,460
2,38+
2,294
-
-
-
-
2,056
1,415
895
3.7
2.6
1.6
[Reprinted, by kind permission of the Author, from
* Sonnets of this Century,” edited by William Sharp.]
V OCAL, yet voiceless, lingering, lambent,
white
With the wide wings of evening on the fell,
The tranquil vale, the enchanted citadel,-
Another day swoons to another night.
Speak low : from bare Blencathra's purple height
The sound o' the gbyll falls furled ; and, loath
to go,
A continent of cloud its plaited snow
Wear's far away athwart a lake of light.
Is it the craft of hell that while we lie
Enshaded, lulled, beneath Heaven's breezeless
sky,
The garrulous clangours and assoiled shows
Of London's burrowing mazes haunt us yet ?
City, forgive me : Mother of joys and woes,
Thy shadow is here, and lo ! our eyes are wet.
HALL CAINE.
-
-
4,650
8:53
i
Total, new books published,
1892-1901 . . .
54,997
1
100.0
We see that during the last ten years 55,000
new books have been published in England.
An average of 5,500 per annum, or, taking 300
working days to the year, eighteen new books per
diem without cessation.
## p. 229 (#641) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
229
the output of new books during the two five-yearly
periods was-
1892-1896 ... ... ... 26,059
1897—1901 ... ... ... 28,938
It is impossible to conceive that there has been
a demand for this vast supply of new books. I,
myself, am responsible for four of these 55,000
books, and only two of the four books have
justified their existence. It is not unlikely that
à considerable proportion of them-in Class 1,
novels, etc., for example-have been published at
the authors' expense, without regard to adjusting
supply to demand.
But although we may not be able to regard this
supply of new books as balancing the demand for
them, it is not improbable that the foregoing
widely-based facts do give a fairly reliable indica-
tion of the relative degrees of demand for each
class of book. Looking at the facts in this light,
we see that novels, etc., make up 30 per cent. of
the total number, educational books coming second,
and books on theology, etc., third. These three
principal classes, merged into one group, supply
more than one-half of the total output of new
books—their combined share being 50-8 per cent.
Of the ten other classes, books of history,
biography, etc., lead with 8 per 100 new books
published. Books on political and social economy,
etc., have a slight lead over poetry and the drama,
each of these two classes coming near to 5 per cent.
of all new books. Medical books and law books
are, as might be expected, the last two classes on
the list.
Looking at the output of new books in each year
of the ten now under survey, without classification
of the books published, the facts are as follows :-
Total... ... 54,997
This is an increase of nearly 3,000 books, i.e., of
11 per cent., during the later period as compared
with the earlier five years, and we may ascertain
how this rate of increase compares with the increase
in the number of persons who—to use an actuarial
term-have been “at risk” of reading the books
produced. The use of this technical term is per-
haps justified, for although the readers of the
books have not read them at the risk of death,
they have certainly read some of the new books at
the risk of injury to themselves.
Taking the population of the United Kingdom
as the number of persons at risk of reading the
books, the increase in this number from the earlier
to the later period was at the rate of under 5 per
cent., and this is a smaller rate of growth than the
rate of growth of the output of new books.
If during 1897—1901 the growth of new books
had coincided with the growth of the population
during the same period, the number of new books
published during 1897—1901 would have been
27,290. But the actual number of new books
published during 1897—1901 was 28,938, and
thus the actual output exceeded the “expected”
output by nearly 1,650 new books. This is not a
very large difference between theory and actuality,
in the matter of new books published; but it
suffices to show that, despite all disturbing causes,
the output of new books during the last five years
has exceeded the normal expectation.
This last point reminds me that the editor of
The Author has asked me to make a statement with
regard to the output of books at the beginning of
the nineteenth century as compared with the output
of to-day. I am not able to do this, for 'lack of the
facts. But we can go back as far as seventy years
ago, thus including the whole of the Victorian era.
The following statement shows the average
yearly number of new books published in this
country during the periods named, and also the
average yearly number of new books per million
of the population.
Year of
Publication.
Number of new
books published.
1892
1893
189+
189.7
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
4,915
5.129
5.300
5,481
5,23+
6,24+
6,008
5,971
5,760
4,955
Total
1892–1901
54,997
After fluctuation during the period 1892-1896,
the maximum was reached in the year 1897, when
6,244 new books were published. From 1897 to
1901 there was a continuous decline in the output
of books, until in 1901 the number was only
slightly in excess of the output in 1892. Reviewers
may perhaps have thanked the war for mercies
other than the consolidation of the British Empire.
Ignoring the fluctuations in individual years,
Period.
Average Yearly
Number of New
Books published.
Average Yearly
Number of New Books
published, per million
of our population.
1828–1832
1866—1869
1892–1896
1897-1901
1,060
3,220
5,212
5,788
105
13+
143
## p. 230 (#642) ############################################
230
THE AUTHOR.
The growth of books bas, we see, largely ex- his death, sprang into fame so long ago as the year
ceeded the growth of population. Seventy years 1870, when “ The Heathen Chinee" first captured
ago, the yearly output was only 45 new books per the ear of the public, and a mighty peal of laughter
million of population. To-day, the yearly output ran rippling from one end of the English-speaking
is 143 new books per million of population—a world to the other. Bret Harte never, to our
more than three-fold growth in the output of knowledge, wrote a successful long book, but he
books per million of population. And this has was a master of the conte, and not until Kipling
occurred during the last seventy years.
appeared can his supremacy in this line be said to
I am tempted to suggest that the vast produc- have ever been seriously assailed. “The Luck of
tion of new books which has now been stated Roaring Camp," “ The Outcasts of Poker Flat,"
would not have occurred if the makers of the “ The Idyll of Red Gulch," may be cited as in-
books had pondered the words of the popular stances of his supreme excellence in the difficult
Latin poet, written more than 1900 years ago, art of the short story. He combined, perfectly, a
whose admirable sense of propriety causes his wonderful pathos, fine descriptions of camp life
ancient thought to be a valuable working-maxim and western scenery, vivid and masterly delineation
for authors of to-day :-
of character, and a humour which was often irre-
“Ye authors, choose a subject suited to your sistible. “The Heathen Chinee” may be said to
abilities, and long ponder what your strength have been unknown and unappreciated by the
is equal to, what it is too weak to support. Anglo-Saxon race until Bret Harte discovered him
He who chooses a theme according to his in the rude mining camps of California, labelled
powers, will find neither command of language him, and introduced him to the American and
nor lucid arrangement fail him. And herein British world. Who that takes up that inimitable
lies, unless I deceive myself, the power and picture in verse, even after this long interval of
beauty of arrangement ; if a writer says at time from its first appearance in print, can resist
once only what ought to be said at once, its trenchant satire and abounding humour ?
reserving most points, and omitting them for For thirty years had Bret Harte continued to
the present."
pour forth tales, poetry, and sketches. It was in-
J. HOLT SCHOOLING.. evitable that some of his later work should have
lost the freshness and force of his earlier writings;
yet the reader will find, even in his last book of
stories, published in the very month of his death,
TWO AMERICANS.
work which showed distinctly that his hand had by
no means lost its ancient cunning. He never could
forget the scenes and the characters of that strange,
EATH has, within these last few weeks,claimed wild Californian life which in his early and im-
two notable figures from the ranks of litera- pressive youth laid such a hold upon his imagina-
ture. Frank R. Stockton and Bret Harte, tion. In his last book he returns, and returns with
whose loss the whole reading public have to lament, success, to the old familiar ground, stakes out his
bad long since established their fame. Both claim, and quarries good ore. Bret Harte will
died elderly men ; yet neither had retired from live, if only for his “Plain Language from Truthful
the great army of active workers ; nor can it be James,” his inimitable “Heathen Chinee," his
said that either had outlived his reputation. “ Poker Flat," and "The Luck of Roaring Camp.”
Frank Stockton, who died a week or two before We should like to see a good anthology of his
his fellow countryman, had never attained quite poems, and a couple of volumes of his best short
the world-wide popularity of Bret Harte; nor stories. Upon these his fame would stand assured
probably will his writings linger so long in the for many a long day.
public mind. Yet he had accomplished much good The death of Bret Harte only serves to accentuate
work, and the present generation will still cherish the extraordinary dearth of anything like real
in their minds pleasant recollections of “ Rudder humour in the literature of the present day. Is
Grange,” and others of his books. That curious this quality to become extinct ? Are the con-
little study, “ The Lady or the Tiger,” will, from ditions of life so onerous, so stern, or so re-
its very incompleteness, and the problem which it pellent, that humour, always a delicate plant, is
leaves to the reader, live, probably, longer than not now to be raised among us? It is a curious
any other of Stockton's writings. An admirable problem. Upon the whole, we are inclined to
humorist of the quieter sort, Frank Stockton's think that the next decade or two may see a
death is sincerely to be regretted.
marked revival of this lost art of amusing people,
Bret Harte, whose last volume of stories, “On of creating hearty laughter. Just such a revival
the Old Trail," was published about the time of took place after the Restoration. Purged, of
## p. 231 (#643) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
231
course, of its grossness, we could welcome such an author had such a tribute paid to him as was
a rejuvenescence of an almost lost art. At present paid to Black by the artists who jointly illustrated
we can count our lumorists easily upon the his“Macleod of Dare.” Pettie, Graham, Boughton,
fingers of one hand. The sudden rise and success Orchardson, Colin Hunter, MacWhirter, C. E.
of Mr. W. W. Jacobs indicates very clearly how Johnson, Aitken, and Thomas Faed, all contributed
eagerly the advent of any writer capable of stirring to translate into pictures Black's written words,
genuine laughter is welcomed among the publishers. the greatest possible compliment to his descriptive
Yet Mr. Jacobs' example seems as yet to attract powers from those best able to judge.
few followers into the same field.
He also possessed what Sir Wemyss Reid well
describes as a “sympathetic insight which enabled
him to depict the characters and temperaments
of pure and beautiful women in such a manner
WILLIAM BLACK. A BIOGRAPHY.*
as to command universal assent and appreciation.”
The artist's eye and sympathetic insight are,
however, most commonly accompanied by a retiring,
TROM all those who enjoyed the privilege of almost secretive, disposition, and Black's best
intimate friendship with William Black qualities must, therefore, be sought in his own
Sir Wemyss Reid's Biography will receive books, and not in books about him ; consequently,
a welcome in which there will be no suggestion to say that one is conscious of some chose qui
of reserve. His straightforward account of a life
manque in Sir Wemyss Reid's life of his friend is,
which, without being eventful, was still a full one, perhaps, tantamount to saying that one wishes the
will serve as a storehouse of memories for all who
book were other than it is. This particular reader
participated, however slightly, in it. I cannot help
would have preferred a biographical and critical
thinking, however, that thosc, like myself, who study to a biography pure and simple, but doubtless
never saw Black, but derived a rare pleasure from Sir Wemyss Reid preferred to let Black's work be
his work, will be conscious of a certain sense of judged by all upon its merits, and confine himself
disappointment when they lay the volume down. to a mere record of his old friend's daily life.
It has, it is true, the essential merit of being
Black was a member of the Society of Authors
interesting, but somehow in Sir Wemyss Reid's
from its very early days, and while he did not
work the touch of the great portrait painter is identify himself with it in the same way that Sir
missing, and the picture does not seem alive.
Walter Besant did, it is interesting to seek in this
This is not to suggest that it could have been “life” of the one some corroboration of what is to
done better by any other hand. I do not, indeed,
be found in the “autobiography” of the other, in
at all suppose it could, for Black's principal
the shape of advice to those of us who are still at
characteristic seems to have been an unusual faculty
the bottom of the ladder.
of detaching himself from the world while he was The first lesson taught in practice by both men
at work, and an equally unusual faculty of detaching
is that no one should embark upon the struggle
himself from his work when that was done; add for life as a man of letters unless he has something
to this a reserve amounting almost to austerity, fixed and definite in the way of income to fall back
except where his most intimate friends were upon. In Besant's case the something was com-
concerned, and it becomes sufficiently obvious that paratively easy to find because of his academic
Sir Wemyss Reid's self-imposed task of showing qualifications ; in Black's case it was less easy,
the real man would have been beyond the power of because he never had “any systematised education
almost any one else to perform.
to speak of "—the words are his own—and his
The “artistic temperament” is a phrase so youthful work for the Glasgow newspapers was not
commonly abused that one is loth to use it in sufficiently remarkable to gain him a journalistic
connection with any author for whose works one appointment in London at the outset. He took
has great admiration. Of Black it is better, the first post that offered--a clerkship in Birchin
perhaps, to say that he had the artist's eye for
Lane--and there remained, devoting all his spare
nature, and a rarely developed power of reproducing time to the production of copy, until he got his
natural beauty through the medium of words. first journalistic appointment on the editorial staff
He appropriated the Hebrides as Hardy appro- of The Morning Star.
priated “Wessex” and Blackmoor Devonshire,
The second lesson taught by both, as it is taught
and his fine word-painting was inspired by love by all who succeed in any and every department
of the region he described. Seldom, if ever, has of life, is the necessity of work, of unflagging
industry and perseverance. Success is only won
* By Wemyss Reid (Cassell & Co., Limited, London,
that way, and, what is perhaps more important to
1902)
remember, it is only kept that way. Sir Wemyss
## p. 232 (#644) ############################################
232
THE AUTHOR.
Reid makes it plain that although literary work when the publisher waited for the unknown author
was congenial to Black-was, indeed, his true to come to him with his manuscript. But of late
vocation--it was real and even hard work, during the unknown has so frequently developed under
the doing of which everything in the shape of exploitation, and by direct solicitation of the pub.
amusement was laid aside, and with which nothing lisher, into a “money-making proposition" of such
was allowed to interfere. That is an interesting formidable proportions that there is hardly a pab-
part of Sir Wemyss Reid's book in which he lishing house that does not now hunt him out with
describes Paston House, and Black's mode of all the resources at its command. Certain fields
work—the pains he took over his descriptive pas- are worked with the thoroughness, almost, of a
sages, minutely sketched in note-books on the spot; political canvass, and if a given State-say, for
the care with wbich he thought out every detail instance, Indiana-has suddenly evolved into a
in a chapter before committing it to paper ; the region of great literary activity, it is open to
silent seclusion in which he passed the alternate suspicion that it is not because there is any
days devoted to the actual task of writing ; and the inherent literary quality in the people of the place
severely simple room in which he conjured up the greater than in other States, but that certain firms
visions that have charmed so many people since of publishers are “ working the ground.”
There are few writers to whom the existence of the
creatures of their brain has been more intensely
real than it was to William Black ; but men make
worlds for themselves only by infinite pains, and
Black was no exception to the rule.
A PAGE FROM A GERMAN PUBLISHER'S
For the rest, it is enough to say that this bio-
graphy is characterised by good taste and restraint.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
It shows the vigour and virility of Black's nature,
his scorn of affectation and insincerity, and the
reticence and reserve which had been inculcated in
Literary Hints for the Wealthy and Cultivated.
him as a child. If it fails at all, it fails in reveal-
ing to those who did not know the man the lovable A GENTLEMAN does not give his daughter
qualities wbich evoked such a friendship as endured
a dowry of from five to fifty thousand
between Villiam Black and Sir Wemyss Reid
pounds and forget to provide her with a
himself.
book-case.
V. E. M.
A gentleman does not have a full wine cellar
and empty book-shelves.
A gentleman does not use eau-de-cologne and
THE OBLIGATIONS OF ART TO TRADE.
read greasy volumes from a circulating library.
A gentleman does not borrow good works which
he is in a position to buy.
A gentleman does not talk about the latest
[TAE following paragraph is taken from an article
entitled "Salt and Sincerity,” by Frank Norris, published
literature when he is acquainted only with what
1
in the American Critic for May. We print it without has been said of it by the reviewers.
comment à propos of the article in the last issue of The A gentleman does not cut books with his fingers,
Author, entitled - The Obligations of Art to Trade."- even after having washed his hands.
Ev.]
A gentleman does not possess a box of carpenter's
T present the stimulus to, and even the tools, but no paper-knife.
A manner of, production of very much of A gentleman does not receive books for review
American fiction is in the hands of the pub- and give them away or sell them without opening
lishers. No one not intimately associated with any them.
of the larger more important“houses” can have any A gentleman does not make presents only of
idea of the influence of the publisher upon latter-day things which are entirely without intellectual
fiction. More novels are written-practically-to value.
order than the public has any notion of. The pub. A gentleman does not send to his bookseller for
lisher again and again picks out the man(one speaks, a parcel of books on approval, and, after having
of course, of the younger generation), suggests the read them, return them saying that none of them
theme, and exercises in a sense all the functions of suit him.
instructor, during the period of composition. In A gentleman does not buy only sixpenny cheap
the matter of this “ picking out of the man ” it is editions.
rather curious to note a very radical change that A gentleman does not depend for his reading
has come about in the last five years. Time was upon the daily journals and illustrated weeklies.
## p. 233 (#645) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
233
ROMANTIC GERMANY."
Romanticism in Germany was the result of a
definite movement, or rather, a definite conspiracy,
whereas in England the members of the Romantic
TROM the point of view of literature, the School worked independently. The Germans were
T Romantic movement in Germany may be intimate friends; they worked together, and had
summed up in the outworn phrase, “ Much their common art theories and programmes.
cry, but little wool.” This, at any rate, is the Novalis and Wackenroder were edited by
impression given by the second volume of Dr. Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel ; Arnim married
Brandes' great work, and though, as he says in Brentano's sister Bettina — Goethe's Bettina ;
conclusion, the School possesses permanent literary Caroline Böhmer was the wife of A. W. Schlegel
interest, and compares favourably with equivalent and, later, of Schelling. And in Germany the
groups in other lands, he rather discounts this reaction, as a recent critic has shown, was not
judgment by observing in his introduction that merely literary: it concerned itself also with religion
“ of all that the German Romanticists produced,
in Romanticists produced and with the affairs of actual life. Schleiermacher,
little will endure-some masterly translations by Friedrich Schlegel, and many others, had decided
A. W. Schlegel, a few of Tieck's productions, a theories on the marriage laws, and did not hesitate
handful of Hardenberg's and another of Eichen- to reduce them to practice ; Tieck and Wacken-
dorff's lyrics, some of Friedrich Schlegel's essays, roder were the apostles of Roman Catholicism,
a few of Arnim's and Brentano's smaller works,
and Brentano passed six years in ecstatic con-
a select number of Hoffmann's tales, and some
templation of the stigmata of the nun Catherina
very remarkable dramas and tales from the pen
Emmerich. One and all were the apostles of
of that eccentric but real genius, Heinrich von freedom, though to the majority the word seems
Kleist."
to have meant nothing but thraldom in the dungeon
It is not, perhaps, a very imposing group ; to of their own hallucinations and desires.
the present writer, at least, it seems to compare
To Lessing, the liberator of German thought,
unfavourably with the movement in France which the Romanticists really owed little; as Dr. Brandes
could boast such names as Chateaubriand, Hugo, says,
Gautier, de Musset, and Baudelaire. One is
“The Romanticists could not possibly claim a champion
tempted to think, too, that one “St. Agnes' Eve"
of reason, pure and simple, as their forerunner, hence they
is worth all the terrors that a host of Hoffmanns attempted to characterise the nutritive element in Lessing's
could conjure up, and that the “Undine" or the works as mere seasoning, as the salt which preserves from
“ Sigurd ” of de la Motte Fouqué, whose heroes, as
corruption. They owed far more to Herder.... In Herder
Heine wittily said, have the courage of a hundred
the new century germinated, as in Lessing the old had
come to its close. Herder sets genesis and growth above
lions and the sense of two asscs, cut a sorry figure thought and action. To him the true man is not only a
beside " Ivanhoe” and “The Talisman." And thinking and moral being, but a portion of nature. ...
these impressions are strengthened rather than The man of intuitions is to him the most human.”
diminished by a study of Dr. Brandes' book. His
aim, as he avows, is “to treat the history of
Herder excluded the idea of purpose ; he was
literature as humanly as possible, to seize upon
the foe of all i posteriori reasoning, and this
the remotest innermost psychological movements
attitude appealed most powerfully to the Romanti-
which prepared for and produced the various
cists. Their philosophy of aimlessness is only a
literary phenomena." The defect of this method
caricature of his theory, but, wretched though it
lies in the fact that when it is applied to a
seens, it owed its origin to his wide intellectual
movement consisting of one or two great writers
powers and quick, clear-sighted genius. Indeed,
and a swarm of neurotic nonentities, it inevitably
from the philosophical standpoint, the history of
results in a mode of criticism that is pathological
German romanticism is the history of distorted
rather than literary. Dr. Brandes has shown us
ideas, and a lamentable example of how the
the brain-sickness, the neurosis, the feeble intellects
theories of genius may be reduced to absurdity
and morbidly excitable senses of a great number
by the stupid zeal of fanatics.
of interesting ladies and gentlemen with such
From Goethe the Romanticists derived their
wonderful skill that we are almost forced to regard
theory of the rights of the free personality. The
the literary aspect of these people as that which
early works of Goethe and Schiller had been
possesses the least iinportance.
inspired by the “ Freigeisterei," the antinomian
demand for freedom ; both “Götz” and “Die
Räuber” are declarations of war against society.
• "Main Currents in 19th Century Literature: II. The
But the Romanticists' strife against convention
Romantic School in Germany," by George Brandes
was not for the sake of the rights of humanity, but
(Heinemann, 1902).
for the rights of the heart; “not against the
## p. 234 (#646) ############################################
234
THE AUTHOR.
wrongs of life, but against its prose.” And here THE LITERARY SIDE OF PRESIDENT
we may discover the secret of that antinomian
ROOSEVELT.
attitude which the school adopted. They were
angry because actual life did not resemble the
finer, shadowy existence of their dreams ; they (Reprinted from the “Bulletin of the Society of
could not understand that the romantic glamour American Authors.")
which they admired so greatly was a purely literary
CINCE the days of Thomas Jefferson, no literary man
product.
D has held the office of chief magistrate until the
Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and the philosophy of coming of Theodore Roosevelt, who for twenty years
Fichte, with its doctrine of the absolute authority has been a most prolific writer on out-door life and historical
of the Ego-these are the great fountain-heads
topics. The Times says that Mr. Roosevelt's writing is at
its best when it approaches the most nearly to action :
from which flowed the so troubled stream of “In his histories and biographies Roosevelt the writer is
German romanticism. From these it derived most successful when Roosevelt the man is most completely
(with how little real authority from the first two enlisted, and when his subject is of the sort to which his
sources !) its defiance of order, its exaltation of
multiform activities have been most closely related. They
are best, certainly they are most interesting, where they
selfish caprice, and its amusingly deliberate aim-
are the unconscious representation of the author's mind
lessness. These qualities, and the enmity to and character. He misses, for instance, some of the most
Hellenism, that it learned froin Hölderlin (for significant phases of the curious and original nature of
whom Dr. Brandes, to us, at least, seems to
Gouverneur Morris, one of the strongest, most penetrating,
and most strangely limited minds in our early or later
possess a strangely exalted admiration), may be
history, but he grasps firmly and renders clearly the
traced in the critical work of A. W. Schlegel, the working of the essential forces that went to the · Winning
dreary, ostentatiously naughty “Lucinde ” of his of the West.' These he feels ; he has been in active alliance
brother. Tieck's “ William Lovell." Jean Paul's and co-operation with them, and has had to wrestle with
them. He has known in personal intimacy the survivors
“Titan”; indeed, in almost every work of the
and present representatives of the victors in that mighty
members of the School, and in most of their lives. struggle, and the men who are developing what their
Such qualities, of course, cannot harm a great ancestors or forerunners won. His sympathies are intense
artist; Fichte's philosophy finds its most melodious and so is his imagination, but they are also somewhat
limited, and his estimate of men and events when his
echo in Shelley, and there are not a few who prefer
sympathies are not awakened or his imagination kindled
Swinburne the antinomian to Mr. Swinburne the is sometimes defective and even unjust.
serenader of infancy; but it was the misfortune of “ His essays are models of their kind, and their kind is
Germany that her romantic movement possessed
an extremely difficult and risky one. They are direct in
narrative, clear and succinct in description, well weighed
few men of real genius.
and convincing in their judgments, moderate in temper
Dr. Brandes' second volume is especially remark and simply indispensable to the reader who wishes to study
able for the way in which he has attained minute the subjects with which they deal. They reveal directly,
historical detail without endangering his usual fine
as the histories and biographies reveal indirectly, the mind
and character of the writer. They are almost entirely free
critical standpoint. Especially interesting are his
from the extreme criticism and sweeping theorizing which
studies of Wackenroder and of Novalis, with the dis for this hater of mere critics and theorists seem to have a
tinction drawn between the instability of the latter fascination that he can resist only when his mind is engaged
strange, chaotic genius and Shelley's championship
on facts with which he himself has dealt. Of his defects
and temptations there are also examples in the essays,
of truth. The account of the mysticism of the
especially in those that suggest lay sermons, in which the
romantic arama, with the " plays within plays O preaching is strikingly inferior to the author's practice."
Werner and Kleist, is far more amusing than the His first publication, an historical work, appeared when
most fantastic collection of dreams, and the chapter he had been only a year out of Harvard, where he was
graduated, in 1880 ; * The Naval War of 1812 ; or, The
on Romantic Politicians contains a very interesting
mg History of the United States Navy during the Last War
criticism of Gentz. But though the book is a with Great Britain," was published in 1882.
part of one of the classics of European literature, Mr. Roosevelt's next work, published three years later,
one closes it with a sigh. The story of German
was entitled “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman ; Sketches
of Sport on the Northern Cattle Plains, together with
romance is infinitely more pathetic than their most
Personal Experiences of Life on a Cattle Ranch." It was
tearful volume. One feels that it should have illustrated by A. B. Frost, R. Swain Gifford, J. C. Beard,
been published by the Psychical Research Society. Fannie E. Gifford, and Henry Sandham.
Still, like all people who possess a deficient sense
In 1887 Mr. Roosevelt wrote the "Life of Thomas Hart
Benton," and in the following year “ Gouverneur Morris,"
of humour, the German Romanticists are very
both duodecimo volumes published in the “ American
amusing.
Statesmen " series. In the same year another duodecimo
Sr. J. L. volume by him was published by the Putnams under the
title “Essays on Practical Politics." It was in the series,
“Questions of the Day." His most important work
appearing that year, 1888, however, was “Ranch Life and
the Hunting Trail," illustrated by Frederick Remington.
The first two volunes of the work which has been called
## p. 235 (#647) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
235
perhaps Mr. Roosevelt's most substantial literary achieve.
ment, the-Winning of the West," were issued by the Putnams.
The whole work is in five volumes, octavo, with maps.
The third volume came out in 1894. Its sub-title is “The
Founding of the Trans-Alleghany Commonwealths,” and it
deals with the period from 1784 to 1790.
In the fourth volume, issued in 1996, he was still engaged
with this phase of American development. The volume is
" Louisiana and the Northwest, 1791 to 1807."
In 1891 Mr. Roosevelt published his “ New York" in the
“ Historic Towns," a new edition with a postscript appearing
in 1895 ; 232 pages, duodecimo. .....
“ The Wilderness Hunter ; An Account of the Big Game
of the United States, and its Chase with Horse, Hound
and Rifle," was published in 1893, illustrated by Frost,
Beard, Sandham and Remington. Many of the illustrations
are not ideal drawings, but studies of animals which Mr.
Roosevelt himself killed.
In the same year came “ American Big Game Hunting ;
the Book of the Boone and Crockett Club." In this Mr.
Roosevelt and G. B. Grinnell collaborated in the editing.
It is devoted to big game hunting in this country and to
questions of forest reservation, different papers having
been contributed by various members of the club. An
appendix gives a short account of the literature of American
big game hunting, a list of forest reservations, etc.
* Hunting in Many Lands." also a part of the book of the
Boone and Crockett Club, in which Mr. Roosevelt again
collaborated with Mr. Grinnell, was published in 1895, and
in 1897 still another volume of this club book appeared,
from the same editorial hands, entitled “Trail and Camp
Fire." Also in 1897, Mr. Roosevelt published “ American
Ideals, and other Essays, Social and Political.” Its con-
tents are : - American Ideals : True Americanism; The
Manly Virtues and Practical Politics : The College Graduate
and Public Life ; Phases of State Legislation ; Machine
Politics in New York City: Six Years of Civil Service
Reform ; Administering the New York Police Force; The
Vice-Presidency and the Campaign of 1896 ; How not to
Help our Poorer Brother; The Monroe Doctrine ; Wash-
ington's Forgotten Maxim ; National Life and Character;
Social Evolutions ; Laws of Civilization and Decay."
Two years before this Mr. Roosevelt, in conjunction
with Serator Lodge, of Massachusetts, had prepared a
volume of “ Hero Tales from American History.”
In 1899 appeared “The Rough Riders," followed by
“ Oliver Cromwell” and “ The Strenuous Life."
There may be omissions in this list, which certainly is a
remarkable output from a man who has also been soldier
and statesman, and is only in his forty-fourth year.
It is my practice to write a polite letter of
inquiry as to MS. of mine which has been
retained by editors for more than six weeks, and,
if necessary, a week hence to write again; and they
are usually returned within a few days, but never
with one word of apology for their retention. Is
this politeness?
I do not think it fair or reasonable for any
editor to retain MS. for longer than a month
without first asking the permission of the con-
tributor. In social life it would be bad manners.
to do otherwise. But editors are a law to
themselves.
Editors declare they are not responsible for lost
MS. I doubt if that would hold good at law. A
case should be tried in the county court; and the
editor's books requisitioned to show if the MS.
was received, etc. Such books are, or should be,
1
kept. A jury would be more likely to decide
against the editor than for him. And certainly, if
anthors were to register their MS. and enclose
with it postace for return registration editors
would not have a leg to stand on. But so long as
authors are willing to be snubbed by editors, so
long do they deserve the scant courtesy and civility
they occasionally receive.
I have before me the MS. of an article recently
returned by the editor of a first-class magazine.
It is scored in places with blue pencil marks, and
my gra!nmar has been altered in two places, though,
in my humble opinion, without improvement. No
sort of apology was offered me for this act of
impertinence; and before I can submit the article
elsewhere, I shall have to rewrite the MS.
(1,500 words). Is this the act of a gentleman
editor or of a common fellow?
Yours faithfully,
SCRIBBLER.
Jay 8th, 1902.
CORRESPONDENCE.
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
I.
SIR, -I don't doubt others better qualified than
me will reply to your correspondent, “ Another
Editor.” But if you can find space for a few
remarks of mine, I should be obliged.
I agree with him that editors are human, by
which I understand, amongst other things, that
they can put on their worst manners when it suits
them. As to polite letters from editors to polite
letters from contributors, it is not my invariable
experience.
SIR, I imagine many of your readers must
share my amusement at the ingenuous letter of
“ Another Editor” in your May issue. The descrip-
tion of this poor harassed creature, “full of good
intentions," and occupied in despatching“ prompt”.
and “polite” notes to the unreasonable authors
who expect him to read and decide upon their
unsolicited contributions within a few days—“per-
haps a week '—would be both impressive and
pathetic, did it not, alas ! compel an unbelieving
chuckle. Unfortunately “ Another Editor” pro-
tests his promptitude and politeness a little too
much.
In the first place, the incident he quotes hardly
## p. 236 (#648) ############################################
236
THE AUTHOR.
seems worthy of the importance be assigns to it. discussed and disputed authorship. It would be
No one but either the crudest amateur, whose interesting to know whether it has been declared
doings it were unprofitable to discuss, or a writer in any other way more likely to reach the general
of such eminence as to have a right to an imme- public, and if not, why any further attempt at
diate decision, would dream of expecting any editor concealment should be kept up. In Mudie's new
to decide on a MS. within a week. The ordinary catalogue published this year neither of the two
contributor, conversant with the habits of the works referred to are inserted under the name of
ordinary editor, knows better than to expect any Housman, but both under that of the author of
such supernaturally prompt attention. If he the “ Love Letters.” It is to be presumed that it
received it he would be sure that the editor was is only with Mr. Housman's sanction and consent
too good for this world, and might reasonably feel that the authorship has been disclosed in the
anxious as to his state of health.
Literary Year Book, and one wonders why the
The real fact of the matter—which “ Another “Englishwoman's Love Letters” was not also
Editor" ignores-is, that authors are subjected to included in the list of his works given there.
a great deal of annoying delay at the hands of
N. C.
editors which cannot possibly be necessary, at any
May 12th, 1902.
rate in the case of a writer whose name is in any
way known. Personally, I do not ask for polite
notes and good intentions. What I do ask is, that
AUTHORS' LETTERS.
an editor shall read a contribution submitted to SIR, À propos of the complaint raised by a
him within a reasonable time, and either accept or
accept or member of the Society in your last issue, “that a
reject it without further delay. If his hands are
communication received through his publisher had
so full of copy that he is unable to consider MSS.
been opened,” an experience of my own may not be
until several months after receiving them, then he
without interest.
should notify that fact on the front page of his
A few years ago I contributed an article to one
magazine, and return all contributions unread.
of the leading magazines published by an “old and
No one, I should think — except " Another responsible firm.""
Editor's” important contributor-expects to receive Within a week or two I received a flattering
an editorial decision within a week of submitting letter from the head of 7
MSS., but on the other hand a delay of, say, two
lunch at his country house to discuss the writing of
Innch at his conn
months over the consideration of a few short stories
a book which he had long held to be a necessity,
is surely as ridiculous as it is uncalled for. Yet a
but for which he had not hitherto found a com-
case of this kind is at present engaging my own petent author. I was to have two years for the
attention, and, though I have already written twice
task, generous remuneration, and a fine advertise-
on the subject, I have received none of the polite
ment. Then the publisher died, the scheme fell
notes which “Another Editor" is always despatching
through, and the book has not been written by
to his more fortunate contributors. Neither do I
me or any one else.
expect to do so. But, when the gentleman I refer
Two or three years later I contributed another
to receives my third letter--which he will do shortly · article to another leading magazine. In sending
---requesting the immediate return of my MSS.
me a cheque for the contribution, the Editor
unless he wishes me to apply for the assistance of
incidentally asked me how it was I had never
your Society to recover them, I have not the slightest
answered a letter which he had addressed to me,
doubt that he will wonder aggrievedly why I am
care of the first-named publisher, on the occasion
in such an extraordinary hurry, and consider him-
of the publication of the first-named article, in
self as much an innocent and misunderstood martyr which he had asked me whether I was willing to
as “ Another Editor."
undertake for him the writing of a book on the
Yours faithfully,
very subject discussed by me with the first-named
publisher at his country house.
I replied that I had never received his letter,
and he then informed me that the envelope which
A MODERN ANTÆUS.
covered it had borne the device of his firm.
SIR.—May I draw attention to the fact that in The conclusion to be gathered was obvious, and
the Literary Year Book for 1902, “A Modern I was thus deprived of a commission which I
Turray, 1901), is given in the list of could, at that time, ill afford to lose.
books by Mr. Laurence Housman ? Now as " A
Modern Antæus” is published by the author of an
I am, yours truly,
“ Englishwoman's Love Letters,” this is, of course, Malvern,
G. S. LAYARD.
equivalent to an announcement of the much May 2nd, 1902.
USCRIPT.
## p. 236 (#649) ############################################
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Special Terms for large quantities or contract work. Estimates and Specimens free on application.
In One Volume, Crown 8vo, Scarlet Cloth. Published Price, 3/6. Usual Discount.
"FRITHIOF THE BOLD." By F. 1. WINBOLT,
Author of "King Helge," "Aslog,"
" In stirring blank verse. Mr. Winbolt recounts the ancient Scandinavian legend. Frithiof the Bold.' The drama is in three acts, and besides
providing an interesting and enthralling story, is calculated to convey to the reader an excellent idea of the primitive motives which prevailed
among the Norse and similar hardy races. Frithiof is of humble birth, but, like the typical hero, he is bold and brave, and graceful of
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## p. 236 (#650) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Part II. of LADY FLORENCE DIXIE'S BOOK
"THE SONGS OF A CHILD,"
WITH WHICH WILL BE PUBLISHED
A THIRD EDITION OF PART 1.
It may be ordered of Messrs. W. H. SMITH & SON, 186, Strand, W.C.;
J. D. MENZIES, Edinburgh; or any other Bookseller or Library.
• · PRICE 5s, ..
IT CONTAINS THREE COLOURED PORTRAITS.
PUBLISHERS-
THE LEADENHALL PRESS, 50, Leadenhall Street, E.C.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, New York.
Reviewing an advance copy of this book, The Literary Guide for May says:-. The perusal of the SECOND PART of
Lady Florence Dixie's poems increases our astonishment at the extraordinary development of her mental powers in
early life. The present volume possesses special interest. . . . Her poetic drama · Abel Avenged 'was written at the
age of fourteen, and one knows not whether to be the most astounded at the boldness of her language or the fact that
at so early a period of life the doubts and the obstinate questionings which the work reveals should have arisen at all.
The chief personage is Cain, whose character is conceived with striking power and sympathy. ... Lady Florence
Dixie is a writer who dares to think for herself-one who can, moreover, express her ideas with refreshing vigour and,
in most cases, unmistakable clearness. The Poetry of Revolt and the Poetry of Sympathy with animal life are
distinctly enriched by the publication of this volume. To have performed such a service is an achievement of which
any author might be proud. That it should have been done by a child is one of the most remarkable facts in
present-day literature."
In a long review of an advance copy of the book in The Agnostic Journal of May 10th, “ Saladin" remarks in his
"At Random” sketch :--The lyric of the poem “Saladin ') is deft and musical, but it is the little schoolgirl's
chivalrous treatment of he who was Christendom's most formidable foe that entitles it to distinction. To try a person
or a cause by his or its intrinsic merits, and not in the light of the extrinsic prejudices with which it has come to be
encrusted, is, in addition to the function of a poet, the deed of a heroine. ... The child's precocious rejection of
religious orthodoxy is recorded in the ambitious dramatic effusion, `Abel Avenged,' an earnest and gifted child's
succedaneum for Byron's Cain,' and in • The Sceptic's Defence. The assault on Orthodoxy is from the moral side.
The teaching of the Church is impugned on the ground of its incompatibility with truth and justice, and-nobly
characteristic of the writer--for its disregard of the sufferings of sentient creatures. . . . Any educated lady of rank
and fashion can secretly hold unpopular tenets; it takes a Douglas to avow them. The volume here is of gold.”
AN ADVANCED CHRISTIAN'S VIEWS OF PART II.
In a letter dated May 1st the Editor of The Golden Age writes :—“ Please accept my warmest thanks for the
pleasure you have given me, and let me offer you my sincerest congratulations. The world has been certainly the
poorer in consequence of the delay in the publication of the poems, for they are both beautiful and remarkable in
many ways, to say nothing of the helpful thought and sentiment contained in them. If · Abel Avenged' had been
issued as a lost manuscript (re-discovered) by Milton, no one would have doubted the authenticity. Are you Milton
re-incarnated ? I wonder! The manner in which you have thought out the deepest problems of Life and handled
them in this poem and in The Sceptic's Defence'is remarkable."
Printed by BRADBURY, AGNEW, & Co. LD., and Published by them for THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS (INCORPORATED)
at 10, Bourerie Street, London, E.C.
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Obe Elutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
Vol. XII.-No. 12.
JULY 1, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
PAOE
251
253
253
:
239
25
Notices ...
The Pension Fund of the Society of Anthors ...
From the Committee ...
Coronation Honours ...
Book and Play Talk ...
Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Property
“ Brockhaus "--The New Centenary Edition
Standard Rules for Printing... ...
Canadian Copyright ... ... ...
English Authors for French Readers ...
Performing or Play Rights ... ...
A Book about Books ...
CONTENTS.
PAGE
237, 264 Financial Obligations of Trade to Art
237 General Memoranda ...
238 Warnings to Dramatic Anthors
How to Use the Society
239
The Reading Branch ...
242
Authorities
244
Dumas Père (1802–1870) ...
245
American Notes
246
Paris Notes .......
247
The Annual Dinner of the Women Writers
248
The Authors' Club
250
Correspondence...
:::::::::
::::::::::::
254
254
256
258
260
262
262
... 263
The Society of Authors (Incorporated).
PRESIDENT,
GEORGE MEREDITH.
COUNCIL
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. 1 THE RIGHT Hox. THE LORD CURZON J. M. LELY.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD AVE- OF KEDLESTON.
THE REV. W. J. LOFTIE, F.S.A.
BURY, P.C.
AUSTIN DOBSON.
THE REV. C. H. MIDDLETON-WAKE.
J. M. BARRIE.
SIR CONAN DOYLE.
SIR LEWIS MORRIS.
A. W. à BECKETT.
A. W. DUB0Ꮯ ᎡG.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
ROBERT BATEMAN.
SIR MICHAEL Foster, K.C.B., M.P., SIR GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
F. E. BEDDARD, F.R.S.
F.R.S.
J. C. PARKINSON.
SIR HENRY BERGNE, K.C.M.G., C.B. D. W. FRESHFIELD,
A. W. PINERO.
AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, K.C.
RICHARD GARNETT, C.B., LL.D. THE RIGHT Hon. THE LORD PIR
THE REV. PROF. BONNEY, F.R.S. EDMUND GOSSE.
BRIGHT, F.R.S.
THE RIGHT Hox. JAMES BRYCE, M.P. SIDNEY GRUNDY.
Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bart.,LL.D.
THE RIGHT Hon. THE LORD BURGH. H. RIDER HAGGARD.
WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK.
CLERE
MRS. HARRISON (LUCAS MALET). E. Rose.
HALL CAINE.
THOMAS HARDY.
W. BAPTISTE SCOONES.
EGERTON CASTLE, F.S.A.
ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS,
OWEN SEAMAN.
EDWARD CLODD.
JEROME K. JEROME.
G. R. SIMS.
W. MORRIS COLLES.
J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D.
S. SQUIRE SPRIGGE.
The Hon. JOHN COLLIER.
RUDYARD KIPLING.
J. J. STEVENSON.
SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY,
PROF. E. RAY LANKESTER, F.R.S. FRANCIS STORR.
MRS. CRAIGIE.
THE RIGHT Hox.W.E. H. LECKY,M.P. WILLIAM MOY THOMAS.
F. MARION CRAWFORD.
| LADY LUGARD (Miss FLORA L. SHAW). | MRS. HUMPHRY WARD.
Ilon. Counsel - E. M. UNDERDOWN, K.C.
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.
Chairman-A. HOPE HAWKINS.
Vice-Chairman -- A. W. A BECKETT.
J. M. LELY.
E. Rose.
HENRY NORMAN, M.P.
OWEN SEAMAX.
SIR GILBERT PARKER, M.P.
FRANCIS STORR.
SIR CONAN DOYLE.
D. W. FRESHFIELD,
SYDNEY GRUNDY,
Solicitore
FIELD, ROSCOE, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields.
(G. HERBERT THRING, 39, Old Queen Street, S.W.
Secretary-G. HERBERT THRING.
OFFICES: 39, OLD QUEEN STREET, STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
## p. 236 (#652) ############################################
ADVERTISEMENTS.
HELTERARY DEKOR
SALE OF MSS. OF EVERY KIND.
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by
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Unique and Artistic Specimens of Typewriting may be seen at the above Address.
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66 REMINGTON STANDARD » up-to-date Instruments.
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Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate
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French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations
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Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk Street, Strand, W.C.
"Sir Henry Ponsonby is
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copy of his Handbook."
“Nothing better could be wished for."-BRITISH WEEKLY.
“Far superior to ordinary guides."-LONDON DAILY CHRONICLE.
Edited by RALPH DARLINGTON, F.R.G.S. 18. each. Ilustrated,
with Maps by John BARTHOLOMEW, F.R.G.S.
THE WEST KENSINGTON TYPEWRITING AGENCY.
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Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms.
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Typouritten Circulars, etc., by Duplicator.
LESSONS GIVEN. AUTHORS' REFERENCES.
THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
THE VALE OF LLANGOLLEN. THE NORFOLK BROADS.
BRECON AND ITS BEACONS. THE SEVERN VALLEY.
BOURNEMOUTH AND THE NEW FOREST. THE WYE VALLEY.
BRIGHTON, EASTBOURNE, HASTINGS, AND ST. LEONARDS.
ABERYSTWITH, TOWYN, BARMOUTH, AND DOLGELLY.
MALVERN, HEREFORD, WORCESTER, AND GLOUCESTER.
LLANDRINDOD WELLS AND THE SPAS OF MID-WALES.
BRISTOL, BATH, CHEPSTOW, AND WESTON-SUPER-MARE.
LLANDUDNO, RHYL, BANGOR, CARNARVON, ANGLESEA.
CONWAY, COLWYN BAY, BETTWS-Y-COED, SNOW DON, &C.
NORWICH, YARMOUTH, LOWESTOFT, AND THE
NORFOLK BROADS.
TYPEWRITING.
MISS MARY T. DOYLE,
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Authors' MSS. from 10d. per 1,000 words.
Plays. French Translations. Price List on application.
ACCURACY AND DESPATCH.
"THE AUTHOR."
SCALE FOR d DVERTISEMENTS.
[ALLOWANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 20 PER CENT.)
“The best Handbook to London ever issued."-LIVERPOOL DAILY Post.
“THE Handbook to Londou--it very emphatically tops them all." -
DAILY GRAPHIC.
4th Edition, Revised, 5s.60 Illustrations, 24 Maps and Plans.
LONDON AND ENVIRONS.
By E. C. Cook and E. T. Cook, M.A.
:
:: :
Fcap. 8vo. 15. THE HOTELS OF THE WORLD.
A Handbook to the leading Hotels throughout the world.
Llangollen: DARLINGTON & Co. London: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & Co.,
LTD. Railway Bookstalls and all Booksellers,
Front Page
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per inch 0 6 0
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per 2,000 3 00
Reduction of 20 per cent, made for a Series of Su and of 25 per cent. for
Twelve Insertions.
Advertisements should reach the Office not later than the 20th for
insertion in the following inonth's issue.
All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to the
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER, The Author Office, 39, Old Queen Street,
Storey's Gate, S.W.
...
PHOTOGRAPHS.-BIRTHDAY and SEASON CARDs from negatives by
RALPH DARLINGTON, F.R.G.S., of Scenery, Ruins, &c., in Italy, Greece,
Asia Minor, and Egypt, 1s., 1s. 6u., 2s., and 28. 6d. List, post free, of
DARLINGTON & CO., LLANGOLLEN,
## p. 237 (#653) ############################################
The Author.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
VOL. XII.- No. 12.
JULY 1st, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
The office of the Incorporated Society of Authors
has been removed to-
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY'S GATE, S.W.
to month as they come to hand. It has been
considered unnecessary to print the full list with
every issue.
Donations ...... ..........£1439 16 6
Subscriptions .................... 111
NOTICES.
.
.
TOR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
.
.
CONOOooo
.
2 11
5 5
0 10
0 12
0 10
0 5
0 5
1 0
2 2
0 4
0 10
1 1
1 1
1 1
50 0
0 10
0 5
1 0
.
ܕ ܒܰܡܘ ܕܘ ܗ ܟܬ ܥܛ ܕܝܢ ܝܕ
DONATIONS.
Nov. 9, Dale, Miss .......
Oct. 10, Harrison, Mrs. (Lucas Malet)
Oct. 15, Rossi, Miss L. ..
..........
Oct. 25, Potter, M. H. ............
Oct. 30, Stanley, Mrs. ..
Nov. 21, Balfour, A. .....
Nov. 22, Risley, J. ..........
Nov. 25, Walker, W. S. ......
Jan, 24, Church, Prof. R. A. H. ...
Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............
Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily... ... ... ... ...
Feb. 12. Brown, Miss Prince .........
Feb. 15, Wilkins, W. H. (2nd donation)
Feb. 16. s. g. ...
Feb. 17. Hawkins. A. Hope ...............
Feb. 19. Burrowes Miss E. .............
Mch. 16. Reynolds. Mrs. ..................
April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel......
April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,
F.R.G.S. . ...
May 5, A Beginner .........
May 20, Nemo ...,
May 20, Dr. A. Rattray .........
0
6
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0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.
.
THE Editor begs to inform Members of the
Authors' Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
MEMBERS of the Society are reminded that, under
the new arrangements for the publication of The
Author, the August and September numbers will
will
not be produced.
The next number of The Author will be produced
on October 1st.
0
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ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
THE PENSION FUND OF THE SOCIETY
OF AUTHORS.
Nov. 25, Vaux, P. ................
Nov. 25, Lambe, Lawrence ........
Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ...................
Jan. 20, Nickolls, F. C.
Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette
Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H. C. ......
Mch. 25, Stroud, F. ..
Apr. 9, Kitcat, Mrs. .....
May 1, Heatley, Richard ..........
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
5
5
1
5
10
1
5
0
(0)
0
0
0
0
6
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0
THE following is the total of donations and
1 subscriptions promised or received up to
the present date.
Further sums will be acknowledged from month
VOL. XII.
## p. 238 (#654) ############################################
238
THE AUTHOR.
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
date, and members are requested to assist in this
effort by sending to the Secretary early notification
Publication of a List of Members.
of the material particulars.
A copy of the form to be sent to members and
TT will be in the recollection of members to be filled up and returned to the Secretary is
1 who attended, or read a report of, the subjoined :-*
last General Meeting, that the question
DEAR SIR,
of the publication of a list of members of the
1. I object (or do not object) to my name being
Society was raised, not for the first time, and
printed in the list of members.
that the Chairman, in response to speeches
2. I object (or do not object) to my address
urging such a step, undertook to bring the
being printed in the list of members.
matter before the Committee. In the early days
3. I wish (or do not wish) my pseudonym
of the Society, when members were few and
(viz., ) to be printed,
membership was liable to create a prejudice against
(a) With my own name,
the member in some quarters, the publication of
such a list was considered inexpedient. The Com-
(b) By itself.
Yours truly
mittee do not differ from the opinion of their
Name
predecessors, but, having considered the question
Address
anew, they have come to the conclusion that the
change in the position and standing of the Society By order of the Committee,
justifies an alteration of practice. The reasons
(Signed) G. HERBERT THRING,
against publication of names have lost their force
Secretary.
with the increase of members and of strength
which it has been the good fortune of the Society
to secure ; the reasons for it have become more
The Work of the Society.
urgent. It is most desirable that members should Since the last issue of The Author, the Secretary
know who are brethren and who are not, that they has taken in hand eleven cases.
should bare the means of approaching and (if need Two cases were claims for money due, three
arise) of canvassing fellow members in regard to for infringement of copyright, five for the
the action of the Managing Committee or any other return of MSS., and one for accounts. It is
matter of common concern, of uniting to secure the satisfactory to state that eight out of the eleven
election of proper persons to the Pension Committee, have already been settled, and that those left open
and of exercising by joint effort an influence on the from the former month have all been closed with
policy and conduct of the Society.
the exception of cases against bankrupt papers.
The Committee, therefore, have decided that a list To enforce the author's rights would have been to
of members shall be printed and be sold at a small incur needless expense with no adequate return.
price. In view, however, of the fact that special Of the three cases of infringement of copyright,
reasons may cause some members to object to their one has been settled, one is on the verge of settle-
names appearing, a form will be sent to every mem- ment, and one has only just commenced.
ber, in order to ascertain whether he (or she) does or I t is necessary to remark that during the past
does not desire his (a) name, (b) address, (C) pseudo- two or three months there have been several
nym (if any) to appear in the list. Members should instances where articles and stories have been lifted
indicate in reply whether they desire any one or all from magazines and papers, and reprinted in smaller
of these particulars to be given. In view of the provincial issues.
strong feeling in favour of the publication of It not infrequently occurs—in spite of the efforts
names and addresses which has been shown, the of the Times—that mere statements of news are
Committee feel justified in publishing them unless reproduced without acknowledgment; that is bad
express notice of objection is received. They will be enough, but it is going a little too far and is unfair
much obliged if all members will fill up and return to the author to reproduce articles and short stories
the form sent to them immediately; but in case no bodily without remuneration.
answer be received on or before the 15th August, The Society has, however, been able to obtain
1902, they will deem themselves at liberty to insert recognition of the rights infringed, although the
full particulars in each case. Where members editors of some provincial papers are inclined to
signify their desire to remain unnamed, their wish look upon this form of petty larceny as theirs by
will be respected, and a statement of the number right of birth. In fact one editor was astonished
of members whose names are not inserted will be at the tone the author adopted, as the author,
given at the end of the list. It is hoped to publish he asserted, had gained a valuable advertisement
the list annually, and to keep it thoroughly up to by this form of publication.
## p. 239 (#655) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
239
·
· ·
·......
· .
..
.
· ·
Magazines and Contributors.
Bloomfield, J. H. . . . . 1 0 0
The inset in the January number of The
F. 0. B. (Coventry).
0 5 0
Author, entitled “ Periodicals and their contri-
Seton-Karr, H. W..
1 0 0
butors,” has been considerably enlarged and
Heriot, Cheyne .
republished by order of the Committee.
Charley, Sir W. T., K.
1 1
The sanction of the editors has been in many
Anonymous
05
Charlton, Miss Emily
0 5 0
cases obtained to the form and substance of the
insertion, and where this is the case a note to that
Kroeker, Mrs. .
( 10 0
effect has been appended.
Aflalo, F. G. . . . . . 2. 20
Three hundred copies of the revised edition
have been printed, and are now for sale at the
offices of the Society. The price is 6d. a copy.
CORONATION HONOURS.
As the pamphlet cannot fail to be of use to all
those who contribute to magazines, the Committee
trust there will be no difficulty in disposing of this W E must congratulate Sir Conan Doyle and
number.
W Sir Gilbert Parker, two active members
of the Committee of the Society of
Authors, on receiving the honour of Knighthood.
Besant Memorial.
Amongst the other gentlemen distinguished in
literature we see that Sir F. C. Burnand has been
THE Besant Memorial now stands as follows :-
made a Knight. He is on the sub-committee of
Up to the end of February subscrip-
the Society that deals with dramatic questions.
tions were received, according to the
Sir William Laird Clowes and Sir C. Villiers
long list already issued, amounting to. £293 4 0
Stanford are also among those who have received
From March to the date of issue the
the honour of Knighthood.
subscriptions received amount to . 313 6
We see with much pleasure that Sir Leslie
Stephen has been made a K.C.B. As the first
Total ... £327 17 6
editor of that excellent production, the “ Dictionary
of National Biography,” he was fully entitled to
Subscriptions received from March to the date of issue. any honour the King thought fit to confer.
Sir Henry Bergne, who has acted with such
Anonymous .
£1 1 0
Champneys, Basil
distinction in the cause of International Copyright,
. 1 1 0
• Colonia," Natal, S. Africa
has received in addition to his K.C.M.G. a C.B.
. 1 1 0
Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F. C.
The new Order of Merit has been conferred on
Gunter, Lt. Col. E. A. .
the Right Honourable John Morley, and the
0 10 0
Right Honourable W. E. H. Lecky. The latter
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
1 0 0
Hurry, A.
has been a member of the Council of the Society
. .
. (10 6
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
for some years.
tioned)
Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. .
0 5 0
Millais, J. G. .
1 0 0
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
Quiller Couch, Miss )
. 0 5 0
Sterry, J. Ashby .
• • . 1 1 0
Temple, Lieut.-Col. R.
1 0 A N important work of Mrs. L. T. Meade's will
Underdown, Miss E.
0 5 0 A come out in the early autumn. It con-
Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
220)
sists of the stories of the Bible written
Beale, Miss Mary .
0 2 6 in a new form and most beautifully illustrated.
Bolam, Rev. C. E. .
0 5 0. These stories have already appeared in The Sunday
Egbert, Henry . .
0 5 0 Strand under the title “Voices out of the Past."
Eccles, Miss O'Connor
1 1 0 The publishers will be Messrs. Newnes & Co.
Darwin, Francis
1 1 0
Campbell-Montgomery, Miss F. F.
Mrs. L. T. Meade's usual girls' books will also
1 1 0
Medlecott, Cecil
be published in the autumo.
.
0 10 6
Saxby, Mrs. . . . . . 1 1 0 Mr. Carlton Dawe's new farcical comedy
Caine, T. H. Hall .
· 1000 “Brother Bill,” which has lately been delighting
Marris, Miss Murrell
: 0 5 0 suburban audiences, is now making a tour of our
S. B. . . . . . . 0 5 0 chief provincial cities, and is doing very well.
1
1
0
0 oor
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
## p. 240 (#656) ############################################
240
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Dawe's novel, “ The Demagogue,” recently Mr. St., John Lucas writes forcibly on " the
published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, is true decadence.” He demonstrates wisely the
being considerably talked about. This is hardly misapplication of the term to those who, filled
to be wondered at, as the book deals with certain with true if eccentric genius, break away from
social and religious topics which are of perennial convention and run riot through the established
interest to the educated reader.
laws of art, and confines its true application to
Mr. Charles Garvice's new novel will be pub- those writers who are remarkable for general and
lished by Messrs. Sands & Co. in the autumn.
mournful deficiency in artistic spirit, whose readers
The second edition of the same author's “ Just a are callously contented with the slovenly and the
Girl” is in the press.
garish. And he proceeds :-
Lady Florence Dixie has a work called “ The “When realism degenerates into a chronicle of the
Story of Ijain ; or, The Evolution of a Mind," unimportant, and romanticism becomes a puppet show of
coming out in a serial form in the columns of the paint and tinsel whose limp figures jerkily obey the
unimaginative commands of the archæologist or the
Agnostic Journal. On completion it will be issued
historian ; when the drama is a show room for the dresses
in book form. It is a synopsis of Part I. of a and doings of the dull, or a temple where the devout can
much larger work of the same name commenced worship sham princes and impossible peers ; when poetry
in 1877, and completed that year. Part II. was
totters on the slack wire of convention, and painting
possesess a Helicon of its own with a number of prosperous
completed last year. Neither will be published at
gentlemen for Muses—when, in fine, the art of any country
present.
not only becomes slavishly imitative of antiquity or firmly
Another work written by Lady Florence in fettered by a dominant school, but also gradually gives
place to the spurious products of those who are not artists,
1877 will shortly appear in serial form, and will
then, surely, the real decadence appears. The true decline
afterwards be published in book form, entitled of art begins with the popularity of the inartistic."
“Isola or the Disinherited.” This will be followed
by the issue, in the order in which they were Benjamin Swift's last novel, “ Ludus Amoris," is
written, of all Lady Florence's unpublished as far as scenario goes, the most complete thing
writings between 1877 and the present day. this author has yet done. Covent Garden, with its
The King has been graciously pleased to thank
heaps of fruit and flowers, is the centre of the
Miss Stredder for her verses on the Coronation,
game of love which is not mere comedy: it is
also tragic sport. The writer's beloved Sussex is
which have been printed for private circulation
introduced. Indeed, half the work was written
only.
out of doors, in a boat on the river Arun, near
It seems that the Dorset rustic sometimes looks
Arundel.
askance at printed references to himself. A
Bridport paper recently made liberal extracts from
Mr. Frank Bullen's new novel will be dedicated,
Mr. Wilkinson Sherren's “Wessex of Romance"; by permission, to Theodore Roosevelt, President of
and one of its subscribers, thinking he recognised the United States of America.
a family portrait, wrote to the editor complaining
of its accuracy.
President Roosevelt, whose “The Strenuous
Sir W. T. Charley's recently published book, Life” has been doing remarkably well, is the fore-
“ The Holy City, Athens and Egypt,” mentioned most and principal contributor to an illustrated
in a previous number of The Author, represents volume in the American Sportsmen's Library, which
the diligent research and careful study of many treats of the “ Deer Family” in America. His
months. The student of theology will find it à experiences of hunting the Mule-deer, the White-
valuable work of reference. There are illustra- tail, the Pronghorn, and the Wapiti are recorded
tions beautifully reproduced from photographs. with enthusiasm, for the President is a keen
Macmillan's Magazine for June has three articles naturalist and sportsman. He has the true sports-
that strongly appeal to those who follow the literary
man's disiike for the wanton destruction of game
or dramatic profession.
and the shooting of record bags.
Mr. W. P. James deals with Opera and Drama. Under the title of“ The King Alfred Millenary"
Mr. James is a skilled essayist. He is sure to Messrs. Macmillan are publishing a volume compiled
illuminate whatever subject he grapples by his by Mr. Alfred Bowker, late Mayor of Winchester.
lucidity of style and by his thoughtful treatment. It contains a reprint of all the principal speeches
An anonymous writer has some sensible remarks delivered at the preliminary meetings and during
to put forward on “Our Unhappy Language.” the ceremony, as well as a detailed account of the
“ Split Infinitives” “and which ” and “ American proceedings at Winchester, and of the subsequent
isms” are roughly handled, especially the last. honours paid to the King's memory in the United
Some wonderful examples are quoted.
States. The volume is illustrated.
## p. 241 (#657) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
241
“Greater Russia” is the title chosen for the
book on Siberia and Manchuria which Mr. Wirt
Gerrare will publish in September through Mr.
Heinemann. The American edition will be issued
by the Macmillan Co., of New York.
A guide to Lake Ulleswater and the neighbour-
hood has been published by Mr. George Reed, of
Penrith, Cumberland. It is illustrated with over
sixty reproductions of photographs by well-known
amateur photographers, and the letterpress is
concise to a praise worthy degree. This Guide can
be purchased for sixpence.
Mr. Grant Richards has, amongst his autumn
books, a volume entitled, “Wit, Wisdom, and
Philosophy of Modern Women-Writers," being a
series of quotations, compiled and arranged, with
critical notes, by Frances Tyrrell-Gill, a member of
this Society. The excerpts are from some of the
best-known women authoresses, including, amongst
others, Mrs. Meynell, Lucas Malet, Mrs. Humphry
Ward, Sarah Grand, Mrs. Rentoul Esler, Miss Chol.
mondelev, and Miss Harraden, and are examples of
some of the finest things they have written.
Mr. James Bryce, M.P., who is a member of
our Council, delivered the Romanes Lecture at
Oxford on June 7th. The subject of his address
was “ The Relations of the Advanced and Back-
ward Races of Mankind." In the course of his
eloquent and most interesting lecture he said :
“ Broadly speaking, a point has been reached at which the
conditions likely to affect the relative development of the
various branches of mankind have become so far known
that students may begin to deal with them in a positive and
practical way. They have passed from the chaos of con-
jecture into the cosmos of science. ...
* It is hardly too much to say that for economic purposes
all mankind is fast becoming one people, in which the
hitherto backward nations are taking a place analogous to
that which the unskilled workers have held in each one of
the civilized nations. Such an event opens a new stage in
world-history, a stage whose significance has perhaps been
as yet scarcely realised either by the thinker or by the man
of action."
Mr. Bryce said, in conclusion :-
“ I have sought to call your attention to a great secular
process in the history of the world, a process the steps in
which are reckoned by centuries, and whose magnitude
transcends the political or commercial questions that claim
our thoughts from day to day. It is a process which has
now entered a critical phase, and we see opening before us
a long vista in which there appears possibilities of an
immense increase in the productive powers of the earth
and man, possibilities also of trouble and strife between
races now being brought into a closer and more general
contact. ...
The sentiment of race-pride, the keenness of race-
rivalry, have been intensified. But the sense of a common
humanity has grown stronger. When we think of the
problems which are now being raised by the contact of
races, clouds seem to hang heavy on the horizon of the
future ; yet light streams in when we remember that the
spirit in which civilized States are preparing to meet those
problems is higher and purer than it was when, four
centuries ago, the great outward movement of European
peoples began.”
Mr. Bryce is at present gathering for publica-
tion a number of biographical sketches written
during the last twenty years.
“Johnnie Courteau and Other Poems” (Put-
nam's Sons) is the title of Dr. William Henry
Drummond's new volume of Canadian poems,
daintily illustrated by Dr. Coburn, who is, like
Dr. Drummond himself, a Canadian.
In such poems as “ Johnnie Courteau ” ; “ The
Corduroy Road” ; “The Cure of Calumette”:
“My Leetle Cabane ” ; “ The Hill of San Sebas-
tien”; “The Windigo”; “Madeleine Vercheres”;
“ The Log Jam"; and “ The Red Canoe,” Dr.
Drummond sings the feelings, the thoughts, the
doings of those simple, sturdy folk of the North
Woods who are members of the British Empire.
Like his former volume of poems, “ The Habi-
tant,” of which, by-the-bye, 25,000 copies have
already been sold, “ Johnnie Courteau” has more
than an ephemeral value ; it throws a revealing
light on our kinsfolk living and working in the
great and growing Dominion across the water.
“A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and
Tales,” by Jonathan Nield (Elkin Mathews), is a
useful and timely compilation. The order in which
the books are placed is, on the whole, according to
the periods dealt with, from the Pre-Christian era
to the present century. Author, publisher, and
subject are tabulated after the title of the book.
As a help in the choice of suitable books for the
attainment of a truer historical sense, the author
has made out, at the end of the volume, two special
lists for boys and girls respectively.
Among the members of the Society whose poems
have been put under contribution by Mr. Orby
Shipley for the second series of the Carmina
Mariana are Sir Edwin Arnold and G. N. Count
Plunkett, F.S.A. Mr. Plunkett is known as the
author of " The Jacobite War in Ireland,"
“Sandro Botticelli,” &c., &c.
Mr. Frederick C. Nicolls has just published a
useful book for students of music called “ The
Technique of the Pianoforte Pedals.” Rubenstein
has been known to say: “ The more I play the more
thoroughly I am convinced that the pedal is the
soul of the piano,” Mr. Nicolls considers that the
art of using the pedals, more especially the right
or sustaining pedal, has only begun to receive the
careful attention due to it.
Mr. Lawrence Binyon, who has been in Italy
this spring is working at some poems on Italian
subjecus.
subjects. He has also completed a romantic
narrative poem. Part of his poem “The Death
## p. 242 (#658) ############################################
242
THE AUTHOR.
of Adam,” which appeared in The Monthly
Review, has been published recently in L'Occident.
Mr. Edward Rose, who is a member of our
Committee of Management, is publishing at once,
through Messrs. Methuen, his “Rose Reader.” It
is a new method of teaching children to read,
which gets over the great difficulty of the
irregularity of English spelling by employing only
regularly-spelt words till the learner has a firm
grasp of the principles of reading, and of its
practice.
A work of the first importance just out is,
66 All the Russias : Travels and Studies in
Contemporary European Russia, Finland, Siberia,
the Caucasus, and Central Asia," by Mr. Henry
Norman, M.P., who is a member of our Council,
and is also on our Committee of Management,
There are a hundred and thirty-seven illustrations
in this handsome volume, chiefly from the author's
photographs, and four maps.
In his preface Mr. Norman tells us that the
volume is the outcome of fifteen years' interest in
Russian affairs, culminating in four journeys—one
of nearly 20,000 miles-in European and Asiatic
Russia.
He goes on to say :-
- My own modest aim has been to present a picture of
of
the aspects of contemporary Russia of most interest to
foreign readers, with especial reference to the recent
remarkable industrial and commercial development of
Russia, and the possibility of closer commercial and
political relations between Russia and Great Britain. This
last I regard as the most important question (after Anglo-
American relations) in British foreign politics to-day."
As our very limited space prevents anything like
adequate quotations from its fascinating pages,
our readers are, one and all, referred to “All the
Russias” itself.
Mr. Leonard Williams, late correspondent of The
Times at Madrid, and author of “ Ballads and
Songs of Spain ” and “ A Child's History of Spain,"
has finished two new works relating to that country,
which are in the press, and will be published very
shortly by Messrs. Cassell & Co., Ltd. Their
titles are, * The Land of the Dons,” and “Madrid:
Her Records and Romances.” Many of the illus-
trations will be from Mr. Williams' own drawings
and photographs. The binding also is from his
design.
Another new and important book is “ Lord
Milner and South Africa,” by E. B. Iwan-Muller
(Heinemann, 15s. net).
Mr. Edward Clodd's recently published book on
Huxley (Blackwood) is doing well. It meets a
want. Mr. Clodd deals with Huxley as the man,
the discoverer, the interpreter, the controversialist,
and the constructor.
“Rossetti," with fifty illustrations, by Mr. Ford
Madox Hueffer, and “Rembrandt," with sixty
illustrations, by Auguste Bréal, have just been
issued by Messrs. Duckworth & Co. They are
the two first volumes of their Popular Library of
Art;, planned expressly for the general public
(cloth, 28. net ; leather, 28. 6il. net).
“ The Bishop's Move," a new play by John
Oliver Hobbes and Mr. Murray Carson, was
successfully produced by Mr. Bourchier on the
night of June 7th, at a special performance in aid
of Queen Alexandra's fund for the families of
soldiers and sailors.
Some loyal verses by Mr. Owen Seaman were
effectively recited by Sir Squire Bancroft at the
end of the concert which preceded the play.
Mr. William Le Queux is busy re-writing his
new novel of Italian life, “ The Uunamed," which
has just concluded in Cassell's Magazine. There-
fore it will not be issued by Messrs. Hodder and
Stoughton until the autumn.
Rear-Admiral H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has
accepted a copy of “With the Flag at Sea," by
Walter Wood, published by Messrs. A. Constable
& Co., Ltd., and containing, amongst other
original matter, the log of the Victory for the
Trafalgar period, from the MS. General the Duke
of Connaught has accepted copies of the same
author's histories of the Rifle Brigade (of which
regiment His Royal Highness is Colonel-in-Chief)
and the Northumberland Fusiliers. These two
regiments have been the heaviest losers in the
South African war.
Messrs. Longmans have decided to publish in
October an important new historical romance
entitled “By the Ramparts of Jezreel.” bs Le
Voleur, in collaboration with Arnold Davenport,
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
Germany and the United States Copyright.
M HE German-American Literary Treaty of
1 1892 is not considered by the Germans to
be working satisfactorily. They point out
that under the terms of reciprocity the Americans
obtain ipso jure all the advantages of the new
German law, including a protection of longer dura.
tion than they have in their own country. On the
## p. 243 (#659) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
243
contrary, the more successful a German work is, the The same publisher offered £5 for the copyright
worse the author finds himself protected in the of a technical work of about 50,000 words, from
United States. It is asserted that during the year the pen of a well-known authority on the subject.
1901 only two German works obtained copyright in Here, again, the offer was rejected.
the United States, whilst every work produced in It is quite right from a strictly business point
the United States had copyright in Germany. of view that the publisher should seek to buy in
the cheapest market, but it is quite right from the
author's point of view that he should endeavour
to sell his wares to the best possible advantage.
The International Literary and Artistic
Surely a publisher would hardly expect, unless
Association.
there were some special circumstances arising from
We have received from M. Lermina, Perpetual
the poverty or the affluence of the author, that an
offer of so small an amount would be accepted.
Secretary of the “ Association Littéraire et Artis-
tique,” the programme of the approaching Con.
on. Another publisher purchased the sole copyright
gress of the Association, to be held at Naples 23rd
in a MS. of 95,000 words for £15. It subsequently
to 29th September next.
came out that he had sold the American rights on
The subjects to be discussed at the Congress are
a substantial royalty to a first-class American
as follows :--
firm. In this case the acceptance of the offer was
1. The revision of the Berne Convention.
due to one of the reasons stated previously. No
2. Means of procuring new adhesions to the
doubt the publisher has made an excellent bargain.
These facts are put forward, not with a view of
Berne Convention.
3. The institution of a paying public copyright.
a vaving public copyright hurling abuse at the publisher, but merely as a
hurling at
4. Legal deposition of literary and artistic
warning to the author.
In no circumstances should a book be sold out-
works.
5. Mechanical musical instruments.
right for an absurdly inadequate sum. Such a
6. Legislative movements in various countries.
course is disastrous to the author.
Co
It throws
Italy— Proposed reform of the Italian legislation.
temptation in the path of the publisher.
France-Consequences of the law of 11th March.
An author should always be able, if, as some-
Germany-Application of the new laws respecting
times occurs, his book secures a large sale, to reap
literary and artistic works ; reform of the laws
part of the profits of that sale, however small his
respecting plastic arts and photography. Greece-
remuneration may be to commence with.
The position of literary and artistic copyright in
There are but few publishers nowadays who do
Greece. Roumania-Protection of foreigners.
not admit the justice of this principle.
United States of America—The refabrication
An author who asks for this advantage will
clause. South American States—A pan-American
receive the concession.
convention.
7. Intellectual property from the point of view
of theatrical art.
An Author's Account Book.
8. The constitution of an international tribunal
nalIn the May number of The Author a cor-
of arbitration.
9. The creation of an international juridical
respondent, giving some information on the
vocabulary.
slackness of the literary market and drawing his
deductions from offers he had obtained for his
own MSS., alluded to his method of keeping his
Prices.
books as one which admitted of ready reference.
Letters from other members of the Society have
In the May number of The Author the prices come to the office inquiring if it was possible to
for certain articles given by certain magazine pro- obtain any information on the subject of this
prietors were quoted. Since that article appeared method of bookkeeping.
some further offers have come to our knowledge. It is with much pleasure, therefore, that the
A publisher offered £10 for the copyright of a sample page is printed below.
novel of 80,000 words, basing his offer on the fact It is needless to say that the example taken, both
that the former work of the same author had not as regard the names of the magazines and the prices,
been successful, and that he had lost £100. It does not relate to any special case.
this was the case it seems curious that it should The member who kindly forwarded this sample
have been worth the publisher's while to offer the sheet states that the register is of 100 pages to
author anything at all for so long a story. The (the size is reduced for the purpose of The Author),
offer was refused.
with an alphabetical index for the titles of the
## p. 244 (#660) ############################################
244
THE AUTHOR.
articles, and that at the end of the book there is a to the periodicals to which the articles have
series of cash columns for entries of the payments been sent.
obtained for each article. For instance, £1 78, 3d. Personally he uses a blank sheet for this further
in the example printed would be carried to the index, and crosses out the number as soon as the
cash column at the end of the book.
MS. is returned or paid for.
The book, however, he regrets to say is not It is clear, however, that an index in the book
perfect, as in addition there should be an index itself would be much more satisfactory.
TITLE, “PAYING HOBBIES.” BY A. TYLDEN.
Ref. No. 86.
DESCRIPTION... Article.
LENGTH...1000.
To WHOM SENT.
DATE SENT.
DATE
RETURNED.
Paid OUT.
£ 8. d.
DATE.
7/698
16/6/98
Johnson (Typist)
Young Woman
Our Sisters (B.)
Woman's Weekly ...
Lady ... ..
Ladies' Field
English woman
Reporter's Mag. ...
Money Maker
11/6/98
17/6/98
26/6/98
30/6/98
78/98
9/8/98
8/:/98
16/1/99
10/11/99
16/6/98
18/6/98
29/6/98
6/8/98
9/8/98
15/8/98
22/9/98
18/1/99
Written
Typed ...
Accepted
Proof received.
Proof returned.
Published ...
Account sent ...
Account paid...
Receipt sent ...
25/11/99
24/11/99
24/11/99
£
$.
d.
Cash.
Received
Less paid out
29
1
7
3
Remarks :-
* Price to be arranged.
B. wrote asking to call.
Copyright bought.
Paid by P.O.
101158 10/-
Sent to Smith.
3,446004 Sent to Fowner.
33
“BROCKHAUS”—THE NEW CENTENARY
EDITION.
The Value of Translations.
On Monday, June 16th, before Mr. Under-
Sheriff Burchell and a special jury, Messrs.
Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd., publishers,
of Paternoster Square, were awarded $350 and
costs against Mr. Kaur Trübner, a publisher
of Strassburg, for breach of contract to give the
right of producing an English translation of a
“ Short Comparative Grammar of Indo-Germanic
Languages,” which is being brought out in German
by Professor Brugmann, of Leipzig, being an
abridgment of a treatise in five volumes brought
out by him some years ago in collaboration with
Professor Delbrück, of Jena University. The
translation was to have been executed by Professor
Chase, of Cornell University, in the United States
of America. The defendant did not appear before
the Under-Sheriff to contest the question of
damages.
m o praise “Brockhaus "would be an impertinence
1 on my part. I have had this work at my
elbow, in successive editions, since the year
of the Franco-German War, and at the same time
the “ Britannica” and the “ American Appleton
Encyclopædia.” Of late years I have also found
much comfort in the “Century Dictionary of Names"
— particularly good for the verification of a
biographical or bibliographical fact when in a
hurry.
But“Brockhaus" is the one which, after all, comes
in for the most handling, because of the enormous
number of heads under which to search — the
conciseness, impartiality, and completeness that are
## p. 245 (#661) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
245
apparent everywhere, even on such a theme as If the ending is in e, keep the “e”; if there is no e in
the war in South Africa.
the ending of the infinitive present, do not add one,
“Brockhaus” was started in 1796, and we have e.)., changeable, workable.
now the 14th edition before us—at least, the first There should be exceptions only for
eight volumes of the set of 17. There will be 3. Words of Latin origin, which take ible
some 17,000 pages, and about 10,000 plates of instead of able. Let them do so in all cases ; why
various kinds. Each volume costs 148., and these allow accept, etc., to be an exception ?
volumes succeed one another at intervals of two 4 . The tendency of the English language has been
months.
hitherto to abolish “ ize" endings, and to establish
Nothing is easier than to find fault with a & universal “ ise" in its place. Why not let the
cyclopædia or a military campaign. Indeed, I tendency continue ? Unless people know Greek,
have in a merely casual glance through the first they never know for certain which ending to use
eight volumes stumbled upon one or two-but it if there are two possible ones.
would be idle to waste time in such a search. 5. We ought to agree with Dr. Murray about
Here it is more to the point to call the attention of words ending in ment; let the rule be to add ment
my fellow-craftsinen to a work which is a marvel to the word as it stands, like the proposed rule
of accuracy, of comprehensiveness, of convenience. about words ending in able.
The maps, and plates, and tables alone entitle it to 6. The same principle should be held in spelling
pre-eminence. The purchase of reference works is participles ; ing should be universally added to
å burden which few active authors can escape. I the present infinitive, without any cutting off of
find this item alone a fairly heavy annual budget, “e's.” The syllable ed begins with an “e”; it is
from “Whitaker's” and “Who's Who” to the various reasonable and comprehensible to cut off an e
Dictionaries of National Biography. If, however, before adding it, so as not to bring two “e's ”
I had to limit myself to one work alone as a together.
travelling reference library it would be this 7. Fullin composition should drop an “l"univer-
“Brockhaus."
sally, e.g., fulfill, or skillful, willful, useful ; but
POULTNEY BIGELOW. there is no reason why verbs and nouns should.
MÜNICH, June 22.
Their greater importance should be accentuated
by the retention of the double “1.".
8. When a verb ends in a consonant preceded
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING. by a vowel, there has been a rule to double the
consonant before adding ed or ing. But there
have been so many exceptions, that the rule is no
1.
rule. Either let it be universal-(it only requires
M R. HOWARD COLLINS is to be con- the dictum of a Dr. Murray to make it so)-or let
M
g ratulated on an imprimatur which his the practise be to add el, ing, er, or whatever the
“Rules for Authors, Editors, Readers syllable may be, to the present infinitive of the
and Compositors" have lately received. The verb, without any consonant doubling.
committee of the London Association of Correctors 9. Why keep the z in cognisance ?
of the Press has passed a resolution “generally Why keep the x in connection ?
approving ” Part I., dealing with the letter A., Why keep the a in dependent ?
and has also offered the assistance of its members Why keep the x in infection ?
for the remainder of the work.
License, practise, prophesy, should always have
the “s"; the context tells the part of speech.
10. Some words beginning with h no longer
II.-Note on the Clarendon Press Rules.
have the “h” mute, as in earlier times, and as is
1. Rules for compositors are rules for all the mentioned ; surely herb, hero, history, hotel,
English-speaking world, including its children. hostel, have so grown, and might have an a
The commencement of a new Dictionary, like the instead of an before them. Let those only that
one in progress by Dr. Murray, was a great oppor have not so grown continue the an—viz., heir,
tunity for authors, compositors, and school teachers honour, honest, hour, (h)ostler.
to organise for some kind of reform, so as to render 11. Let people who use slang and provincialisms
our system more regular. We have too many sense. spell them as they please ; why make any rule
less exceptions to our grammatical rules; these about the spelling of ain't? it ought not to be
are a sore puzzle to children and foreigners; and recognised at all; it is not a real word.
seldom have any good reason for their retention. 12. Page 25. Dates.--If you are writing a date
2. For instance, words ending in able. Why in figures the order is (1) day, (2) month, (3) year ;
not in all cases add able to the infinitive present. if a letter or heading of a chapter is being dated,
## p. 246 (#662) ############################################
246
THE AUTHOR.
this universal order should be followed ; thus, similar lines to those originally suggested by our
“19 May, 1862.” But if a date is being mentioned Committee, as shown by the following letter of
in a descriptive sentence, the number of the day Professor Pelham Edgar, secretary of the society,
should be written in letters, thus, “ It happened to the Dominion Ministers on the subject :-
on the nineteenth of May, 1862.”
13. English Counties, same page.—Why make a
I beg respectfully to submit the following statements on
the question of copyright. I speak as representing the
quite unnecessary difference between contractions opinion of the Canadian Society of Authors :-
in the spelling of the counties ? Bucks. and 1. We endorse any action which the Canadian Govern-
Hants, are as much contractions as Yorks. Wilts. ment may take towards securing increased legislative
Berks. etc. Let there be one rule ; let all con-
privileges in this as in all questions where doubt as to the
extent of Canada's prerogative exists.
tractions of words be marked by a point.
2. While affirming this position we would deprecate any
14. The proposed division of words is depre- retrogressive legislation which would impair the privileges
cated. On page 21 dimin-ish, inter-est, and Canada at present enjoys as a part of the British Empire.
3. We would as strongly register our protest against any
pun-ish are correct. Why not follow the same
action being taken that would involve our withdrawal from
rule—the rule of the root-in the other cases the Berne Convention. This agreement we regard as an
mentioned, and in all other cases ? The endings enlightened measure, which recognises the principle of
ance, ence, ant, ent, er, or have well-defined and reciprocal international concessions, and accords to the
well-known meanings as separate syllables. The
author the right to control the products of his own brain,
4. Any licensing clause upon the lines proposed by the
divisions should be abund-ance, depend-ent, cor-re- Board of Trade would necessitate our withdrawal from the
spond-ence, esta-blish-ment, import-ance, minist Berne Convention.
er, respond-ent. So also starv-ation, observ-ation,
5. Canada would then be isolated in the civilized world.
exalt-ation, gener-ation, imagin-ation, origin-ally,
a system of retaliation would be substituted for a system of
international reciprocity, and Canadian authorship would
and so on; the rule being that all words should
be seriously hampered in its growth,
be divided according to their natural syllabic The Federal Executive, by maintaining existing condi-
formation.
tions, can, on the other hand, encourage the development
F. P.
of a Canadian national literature.
6. The foremost publishers in Canada are opposed to the
introduction of such a licensing clause. The publishers in
question-Geo. N. Morang & Co., Limited, the Copp.
III.
Clark Co., Limited, and Wm. Briggs of the Methodist Book
SIR,—It is very easy for Mr. Bernard Shaw and
and Publishing House-brought out forty-nine British and
American copyright works last year, as against two pub-
his like to say that the author can settle such
lished by the firms now agitating for a change.
matters as spelling, for instance, himself, and order 7. We humbly submit that the views of the united body
the printer to “ follow copy.” But how about the of Canadian authors have more intimate bearing upon
small author ? For thirty years or more I have copyright than the views of a section of Canadian printers.
written the word judgement with an "e" after “g,” Mr. Morang, the Canadian publisher, has also
and spelt advertize and artizan with “z”; but never been in the forefront of the battle supporting the
have I seen the word printed so, although I may same view of the case.
have corrected two sets of proofs.
It is to be hoped that neither the efforts of the
As to Americanisms, one must grin and bear them Canadian Society of Authors nor of the Canadian
if one sends copy to the United States. “Odor," publishers, headed by Mr. Morang, will be less
“ favor,” etc., etc., make me shudder ; and even energetic owing to the reactionary views adopted
French names of towns, such as Lyons and Nismes, by a few Canadian printers.
appear in print as witnesses of the poor author's The Canadian question, it appears, will be one
ignorance and want of observation when he travels of the questions discussed at the meeting of the
Yours faithfully,
Premiers.
The printers of Canada should not be given the
power of dealing arbitrarily with property not their
own—the copyright of Canadian authors, or the
CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.
contracts of Canadian publishers ; nor the inter-
international and colonial arrangements of the
Empire be upset in order to benefit a small trade
TN last month's Author the Committee made a section in Canada.
I statement setting forth the course of action Everybody throughout the Empire who is
they had adopted on the question of Canadian interested in the preservation of the status quo
copyright. This course of action, begun some owe gratitude to the Canadian Authors' Society
years ago, has been persistently pursued.
and to Mr. Morang, who has so energetically led
Since the formation of the Canadian Authors' the Canadian publishers and defended the rights
Society it has been strenuously working along of property and stability of contract.
## p. 247 (#663) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
247
ENGLISH AUTHORS FOR FRENCH on this feature, fiction and plenty of it, that
READERS.
the able editors of the French printing offices to-
day compete. For years past, ad ex., there has
been the keenest possible rivalry between Le Petit
F late a certain demand has arisen in Paris Parisien and Le Petit Journal, and the battle has
for the French translation rights of modern been exclusively fought by the champions of the
English fiction, a circumstance which adds serial story for the respective proprietors. And
somewhat to the profits of the English novelist's recently the directorate of Le Petit Parisien decided
métier, and may be more profitable yet as the to give the Marinoni paper a knock-out blow, and
demand develops. And this it is likely to do, at so enlarged their sheet to six pages, with three
least for some time to come.
serial stories. Upon which Le Pelit Journal
In this article, at the request of the editor of followed suit, and now supplies an equal banquet,
this magazine, I express my personal views on the in three feuilletons, for the daily halfpenny.
cause of this demand and the results that it is These papers, of course, do not concern the British
likely to lead to. If, on the one hand, and in the author. He could never aspire to appear in
first place that is to say, as to the cause of this translation in their pages -- I use the word
demand--my l'emarks are not very flattering to my “aspire” in an ironical sense--for the fiction here
British brother authors, and in the second place, is special, and must be home-made. But the
as to the probable net results thereof, I do not example they have set has forced the other
show very optimistic, those interested may dis journals which comprte for a vast reading public
regard as purely personal observations what I all over France-halfperny papers like Le Journal,
am saying here.
L'Echo de Paris, Le Matin, Le Français, &c.—to
I do not think, then, that the Entente Cordiale give more and more space to fiction, and as the
or any similar society of reciprocal admiration and competition is sure to be waged vet. more
friendliness has had anything to do with the lessly in the future, and as fiction is the only
demand in the literary Rialto of Paris for British feature on which competition is obligatory, the
fiction. Nor do I think that this demand in any demand is likely to increase. I expect soon to
way implies that our neighbours the French have read the announcement that Le Petit Journal is
suddenly aroused themselves to the fact that we offering four diurnal dollops of sentiment and
English produce, in the matter of imaginative sensation, an announcement which is sure to be
literature, a good and substantial article. I do followed by the further notice that if you want
not think that English novels will ever be popular five thrilling serials for your halfpenny you must
in France, for the French and we are men of a go to Le Petit Parisien, and no other. The other
breed and a psychology altogether different. Our papers will have to follow suit or to abandon all
bumour puzzles them, our sentimentality bores hopes of deviating into their reservoirs any
them, and our theories on the relations and mutual trickling streams of the copper Pactolus.
observances of the sexes are to them a constant Now in France, serial fiction of the approved
cause of irritation. Not a single British author, order is a costly commodity, and has to be paid
either of the past or of present times, can rightly for. At tenpence a line, which is the usual price,
be described as popular in France.
and where
Still, there is the demand, and here it is I fear to “ Yes."
read unflattering.
“ No.
Newspaper proprietors in France have recently “Yes, I say."
awakened to the fact that the French public don't " The Baron smiled."
read newspapers, and that if they buy newspapers “The Marchioness wept.”
it is because these contain other things than news represent five lines, or four shillings' worth of copy
In which opinion they are altogether in the right. (the late Alexandre Dumas having established the
The average Frenchman cares nothing about news · "line" from the feuilletonist's point of view to
and nothing about politics, and in this connection, mean any alinéa), the purchase of a feuilleton
did space allow of it, I could relate some startling means a considerable outlay of capital. Montépin
experiences and observations which I have made made from £2,000 to £:3,000 for the first serial
during the past twenty years in various parts of rights of any of his stories, and gave the best
the territory of the Republic. What the average dinners in Paris. And the other feuilletonists do
Frenchman wants in his daily paper, for what he is just as well.
prepared to alienate his beloved halfpenny, is To be constrained, therefore, to give his readers
fiction, feuilleton, and the editor who gives him three serials a day is a very heavy charge on an
most fenilleton of the quality he likes is the able editor, and if the enormously wealthy pro-
man for his halfpenny and himself. It is therefore prietors of such papers as Le Petit Journal and
## p. 248 (#664) ############################################
248
THE AUTHOR.
Le Petit Parisien can afford to pay such high PERFORMING OR PLAY RIGHTS.
prices for their three serials, this is impossible for
papers of less financial standing.
Yet the three, or as a minimum the two, daily DOR the dramatic author who desires to study
serials have to be provided, or all hope of com- n exhaustively the legal and other difficulties
peting has to be abandoned, and this is, I believe,
that surround the question of performing
the reason why the French editors are purchasing rights there are three main points to consider :-
as make-weights, the translation rights of foreign (1) His rights before publication.
authors, not English alone, but Italian, Spanish, (2) His rights after publication, that is, after
German, and Polish also. I look on these trans- they come under the statutes -
lations mainly as make-weights, because I notice
(a) In the British Empire.
that anything is considered suitable. Thus, at the
(b) In the United States.
present moment, two translations of Dickens are (3) The different method of obtaining his rights
running in two leading Parisian dailies, “Un Drame in both countries, and how to protect himself to
Sous La Révolution” (“A Tale of Two Cities ") cover all rights in both countries.
and “Oliver Twist,” and, though these are very To an English dramatic author the most im-
admirable tales, one would hardly expect to see portant rights are his performing rights throughout
them at this time in their careers in serial form in the Empire, and his performing rights in the
a metropolitan daily.
United States. With these it is proposed to deal.
In one word, I attribute the present demand for The rights of an author under the Berne
foreign fiction, including British fiction, to the Convention, his international performing rights,
necessities of French editors, who cannot afford to are not, for the moment, considered. Nor are the
supply the requisite quantity with home-made performing rights in musical pieces.
goods, at home prices, alone.
Firstly, then, it would appear, as regards the
This brings me to the second point on which British Empire, that prior to public representation,
I have been consulted-as to the price that the the author has, at common law, an absolute per-
British novelist can expect. I am pessimistic, petual performing right in his own work, and he
although, of course, I may be mistaken. I think can restrain other performances.
that the matter is demanded only because it is very If, however, the play or dramatic piece has been
cheap, and that consequently little more than a printed and published, the case is not quite so clear.
nominal price can be obtained. Dickens sold Most probably the author would still have the
“ David Copperfield" to M. Hachette for £20— right of restraining performances. This is the
the Hachettes will show you his receipt for that view adopted by Mr. Scrutton in his “Law of
sum-and I know that not many years ago this Copyright."
was looked on as a maximum price for all French This is the position under the present Acts that
rights.
govern the question in the Empire, but in the
But in those days there was little or no demand United States the case is different, and from this
for English books. To-day, as we have seen, such difference arises all the difficulties and complications
a demand exists, and by its nature is a growing with regard to obtaining the performing rights in
one, and doubtless, or else political economy is all both countries.
poppycock, prices have improved. But I do not In the Empire the first public performance
think that they will ever reach a point where they takes a dramatic piece from the care of the
can be taken into serious consideration as a factor common law and makes it a child of the statute.
of income. In most cases the rights are bought In the United States the securing of copyright
outright for a sum (usually small) by the translator, by the author of a dramatic piece by printing and
who makes the best bargain he can for himself. registering according to the Act carries with it the
Few English books which appear as serials would right of “acting, performing, or representing."
be likely to be bought by a publisher for publica. It may be argued, therefore, that so long as a
tion in book-form. If such an arrangement were dramatic piece is not printed and copyrighted in
proposed to an author, it would be to his interest America, so long does the common law performing
to sell outright. The royalty system, for reasons right remain with the author, even after a public
into which I do not care to go, would likely prove performance has taken place.
highly unsatisfactory. But, when all is said, I do The second question for consideration is the
not think there is much money in it.
rights of an author after his work has come under
Again, I may be mistaken, and for personal as the statute-
well as general reasons I sincerely hope I am.
(a) In the British Empire.
(b) In the United States.
ROBERT H. SHERARD.
The Acts that govern the question of dramatic
## p. 249 (#665) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
249
copyright in the Empire at the present time are the ment is dramatic according to the interpretation
Acts of 3 William IV. c. 15, and 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45. of the Act, and the representation is public, then
Under these Acts the author of a dramatic piece the statutory protection is secured.
or entertainment has as his own property the Turning next to the rights of a dramatic author
liberty of publicly representing the piece at any in the United States. It must first be noticed
place or places of dramatic entertainment for the that United Siates performing rights are obtained
period of forty-two years from the date of such by printing the book of words and registering
representation, or for the life of the author and under the same rules and regulations that refer to
seven years afterwards, whichever is the longer the copyrighting of books. It would seem more
period. And this right of property, most probably, natural to obtain performing rights by a public
exists whether the piece is printed prior to such performance, but the British method has this dis-
representation or not.
advantage, that not only is it not in accord with
There are three important points for the practical the methods of the United States, but it is also at
person to consider.
variance with the methods of other countries.
(1) What is a dramatic piece or entertain This latter case, however, does not bear on
ment?
Anglo-American, but International Copyright. It
(2) What is a public representation ?
is only nientioned in order to point out that a
(3) What is a place of dramatic entertain- divergence even as small as this may raise con-
ment ?
siderable difficulties in the way of international
Question 1 has to a certain extent been dealt legislation.
with by Counsel's opinion in the March number of The Act of the United States that at present
The Author. To this the reader is referred. Mr. deals with perforining rights is the Act of December
Scrutton states in his work already mentioned 1, 1873, amended by the Act of March 3, 1901.
that the dramatic character consists in the “repre. Under this Act the author of a dramatic composi-
sentative" as opposed to the “narrative" element. tion shall, upon complying with the provisions
It is doubtful, however, how far this could be therein contained, have the sole liberty of printing,
taken as an accurate definition. “ It is in each repripting, etc., the same, and in the case of a
case a question of degree and of fact.” Writers dramatic composition, of publicly performing or
of poems, of dialogue, of musical songs should all representing it, or causing it to be performed or
remember that they may hold performing rights, represented by others.
and should guard their property zealously. They And authors or their assigps shall have the
should also remember that the assignment of per- exclusive right to dramatise any of their works for
forming rights gives no right to the assignee to which copyright shall have been obtained. Under
multiply copies by publishing books of words. If the laws of the United States copyright endures
this right, is required it must be paid for, and for twenty-eight years, with a further period of
should be limited by an assignment of the right fourteen years upon the author if he be still living,
of publication to programmes at particular per- or his widow or children--if he is dead—complying
formances, or by words fitted to each particular case. with certain regulations under the Act.
What is a public representation and what is a There are many difficulties that meet the author
place of dramatic entertainment must be taken who desires to obtain copyright-copyright, as has
together.
been pointed out, including performing rights.
Here, again, it is very difficult to give a definition. The book must be printed in the United States
Each case will have to be decided on its own merits. from type set up or blocks manufactured there.
It is the custom at what are commonly known Registration under certain conditions must be
as “statutory performances" to take money at the made at Washington, and is a sine quâ non. A
door, but it does not appear to be absolutely notice must be printed at the same time in the
essential that money should be taken as long as several copies of every edition declaratory of the
the performance is genuinely open to the public. fact that the work is copyright, and the name of
And, again, a representation may be regarded as the party by whom such copyright is taken out.
a public one though the privilege of admission be It is difficult, though not necessarily impossible,
extended to certain persons only. It is easy enough for an author to obtain these rights unaided, for
to point out examples of public performances and he runs the risk of losing what he is trying to
examples of places of dramatic entertainment gain through non-compliance with some of the
about which there would be no dispute. It would details. It is much better, therefore, for an English
militate against a clear declaration of the position author to employ an agent in America—a publisher
either to refer to cases bearing on the point-this in preference—who is well acquainted with all the
article is not a legal treatise—or to attempt a fuller essential particulars, whose frequent practice makes
explanation. If, however, the piece or entertain- bim safe and reliable.
## p. 250 (#666) ############################################
250
THE AUTHOR.
Lastly, it is necessary to consider how the per- invalidate his United States performing rights,
forming rights may be secured in both countries in which are not created by a public performance,
such a way that the rights obtained in the British but by copyright registration. His performing
Empire do not destroy the rights desired in the rights in both countries will be then secured in
United States, and vice versa.
the Empire under the Statutes, and in America
An author must on no account do any of the under the common law. It is safest, then, not to
following acts :-
publish a book of the words either in England or
He must not have a public performance in the the United States.
United States prior to obtaining the copyright, or if it is important to publish a book of the
prior to holding a public performance in England. words, then it must be copyrighted simultaneously
This will lose him his British performing rights, in both countries. For by this process all perform-
as in order to secure the rights under the Imperial ing rights in both countries and all copyrights will
Statute the first public performance is bound to have been created and secured under the statutes
be within the British Empire (Boucicault 1. in force in both countries.
Chatterton).
It has been deemed sufficient to give a plain
He must not, prior to having a statutory per- statement of facts rather than a complicated essay
forinance in England, copyright his work in the setting forth the why and the wherefore, amply
United States, except in his own name. It is not illustrated both with legal cases and the dicta of
an unusual custom to assign the United States the judges. As far as possible the word copyright
copyright in a book or play to the American has been omitted, and the question of copyright
publisher.
property not dealt with. But owing to the pecu-
As stated above, if the copyright in the United liarity of the United States law, the methods of
States is secured, this carries with it performing obtaining copyright had to be considered by the
rights. Therefore the English performing rights side of the method of obtaining performing rights.
might be endangered by the owner of the copy Lastly, the author must be warned never to
right in the United States holding a public per confuse copyright and performing right. The pro-
formance before the statutory performance in perties are absolutely distinct. Confusion brings
England. It may be of interest to quote a curious with it all kinds of danger,
case arising from this difficulty.
To those who think of studying the subject
A well-known English author wrote a novel further it must be pointed out that the term per-
which was produced simultaneously in England forming right is often known as stage right, play
and the United States ; unfortunately, for con- right, or dramatic right. It is a pity that one
venience sake, he sold the United States copyright word has not been universally accepted.
to the English publisher, who registered in his
G. H. T.
own name at Washington. The English author
subsequently dramatised the work, but on attempt-
ing to place the piece in the United States, was
met by the English publisher, who not only claimed
A BOOK ABOUT BOOKS.*
all dramatic rights in the United States, but stated
that he had already sold them.
The author in the agreement for publication of “TTIEROGLYPHICS” is not a particularly
his book had not taken the point into consideration. I attractive title for a book, or one that
An author must not, prior to the statutory per-
is calculated to offer any very irresistible
formance in England, copyright the book simul- temptation to the average library-subscriber. The
taneously in both countries, unless the copyright volume thus oddly named, however, is none the less
be registered in his own name in the States for a thoroughly readable one. It is true that the class
the reason just stated.
it appeals to primarily is sorr.ewhat circumscribed
Neither should he copyright the book in England (being confined almost entirely to those who
alone, as that would invalidate the United States appraise literature above halfpenny journalism),
copyright, which carries with it the United States but as this will accord it an intelligent apprecia-
performing rights; and the play might be pirated tion, the fact that it is not likely to achieve the
in the United States by public performance, and indignity of a popular success should be accounted
thus the British performing rights be destroyed. to its author for merit.
The safest plan of all, therefore, and the plan The general scheme of the book is to reproduce
that the dramatic author should whenever possible certain conversations which the author, Mr. Arthur
adopt, is to have a statutory performance in England
first. This creates a property in his performing
rights under the Imperial Statutes, and does not “Hieroglyphics," by Arthur Machen (Grant Richards).
## p. 251 (#667) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
251
Machen, had with a literary recluse some few years and ready test, and one that is foredoomed to
ago. This individual dwelt apart from his fellows failure on account of the difficulty of applying it.
in the suburban fastnesses of Barnsbury, and from Who is to say in what “ecstasy” consists ? Some
this safe retreat was wont to deliver his judgments people may derive it from the pages of“ Bradshaw,"
on men and books. In Mr. Machen he seems to have while others might read “Paradise Lost” from end
found the ideal listener, for throughout the couple to end, and yet fail to find a vestige thereof. Surely,
of hundred or so pages in which his disquisitions it is a matter of temperament. Even the qualifying
are contained no observation from their receiver concession that one may substitute for this term
is permitted to appear. The most confirmed of that of “rapture, beauty, adoration, wonder,
monomaniacs could not ask for better treatment awe, mystery, sense of the unknown, a desire
than is here accorded this apocryphal hermit. for the unknown,” does not help us to any great
The protagonist of Mr. Machen's entertaining extent. For example, the works of the minor
chapters is more than something of an iconoclast. novelists are more than likely to fill their readers
He has but scant respect for several of the gene- with a sense of wonder, but it cannot be seriously
rally accepted idols of the circulating library, and contended that they are to rank as “fine literature"
does not hesitate to dub even Thackeray “nothing on this account.
but a photographer; a showman with a set of Some of the ex cathedrâ judgments in Mr. Machen's
pictures.” At the most he declines to yield him volume are notable. Here, for instance, is one
à higher niche in the Temple of Fame than that that may comfort the un-read: “ If a great book
due to him as “the chief of those who have pro- is really popular it is sure to owe its popularity
vided interesting reading matter”; nor does the to entirely wrong reasons." Another and less
writer to whom we are indebted for “ Adam Bede" paradoxical opinion of the same authority declares
pass unscathed through the furnace of his criticism, that “ loneliness is merely another synonym for
since he can find it in his heart to call her “poor, that one property which makes the difference
dreary, draggle-tailed George Eliot.” As may be between real literature and reading matter.”
imagined, the really small fry in the province of Whether there be any of this elusive quality
authorship are assessed at a very low valuation about “ Hieroglyphics” is for Mr. Machen's
indeed.
readers to settle among themselves.
Early in the course of his duties as a Barnsbury
H. W.
Boswell, Mr. Machen records a portentous question
on the part of this trenchant critic. The
subject under discussion had been the peculiar
quality in a book that makes for literature. As
the term is one that the poverty of the English
FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF TRADE
language has compelled us to apply to practically
TO ART.
anything in print-from a company prospectus to
the works of Shakespeare-it of course became
necessary to go further into the matter. Accord- TT HERE appeared in The Author for May an
ingly, the hermit puts this problem :-
article entitled, “Financial Obligations of
Art to Trade,” in which, among certain
" What is it that differentiates fine literature from a more nebulous conclusions, the writer calls pub-
number of grammatical, or partly grammatical, sentences
lishers the “merchant princes of the world of
arranged in a more or less logical order? Why is the
Odyssey to come in, why is the “ literature” of our evening books," says that authors are tradesmen, and adds,
paper to be kept out ? And again, to put the question in very kindly, that tradesmen can be gentlemen.
a more subtle form : to which class do the works of Jane Thus, while those of us who happen to write will
Austen helong? Is “ Pride and Prejudice" to stand on
be surprised to find we are tradesmen, yet we
the Odyssey shelf, or to lie in the pamphlet drawer ?
Where is Pope's place? Is he to be set in the class of have the consolation of knowing we may be
Keats? If not, for what reason? What is the rank of gentlemen. Now, by what process of argument
Dickens, of Thackeray, of George Eliot, of Hawthorne; and, the writer of this article arrives at the fact that
in a word, how are we to sort out, as it were, this huge
multitude of names, giving to each one his proper rank
authors are tradesmen I have in vain tried to find
and station ?”
out, and, failing to do so, must suppose that it is
an intuition on his part. It is true that authors
The solution to the weighty question asked in produce things for which they are paid ; but at this
the foregoing is, we are assured, contained in the rate barristers, bishops, schoolmasters, anyone in
word ecstasy. Where this quality be present, fine fact who earns anything is a tradesman. If this is
literature is the result; where it be absent, then the meaning of the writer of this article, he is of
at the most we cannot get more than something course quite at liberty to use the word “trades-
that is merely “very good.” It seems a rough man" in this sense, only it would be wise to
## p. 252 (#668) ############################################
252
THE AUTHOR.
remember that probably no one else in the world the author of this article will recommend me a
does so. Nor do I the least mind being called a publisher who will supply me with ideas. I am
tradesman : he may call me a bootblack if he likes. sadly in need of them.
I am bound to confess that after several readings Indeed, it is difficult to take these statements quite
I cannot understand quite what the article is seriously. One might as well say that the railway
driving at. Towards the end of it, however, there lines of the kingdom are under a great financial
is a certain summary given as follows :-
obligation to “Bradshaw” or the “A.B.C.” The
“The first point is that publishers make their public—the travelling public-are, just as the read-
fortunes by sticking to their trade, not by robbing ing public are, under an obligation to publishers.
impecunious geniuses. ... The second ... that It is in fact just because the authors are not trades-
inost literary ventures to which authors are indebted men that they have to employ publishers, who are
for so much remunerated employment nowadays middlemen and render the authors' works accessible
are originated by the trade.”
to the public. On the other hand, the financial
Now, with regard to the first point, the language obligation of the trade to art is surely an appre-
used is so exaggerated as to render any discussion ciable quantity, for it is the asset of the trade.
on the exact terms futile. The question really is Without bringing into the question the confusing
(a question which the Society of Authors devote and not analogous question of the relation of the
their time to solving), What is the fair distri. journalist to the newspaper proprietor (which is
bution of profits between author and publisher ? an entirely different matter, since journalism for
Let us by all means call the author an impecunious the most part is not literature, and the success of
tradesman, the publisher a merchant-prince. But any paper depends so largely on its advertisements).
it is surely clear that the better bargain the the financial obligation of the trade to art so vastly
merchant-prince makes, the quicker he will make outweighs any other financial obligation there may
bis fortune, while the better bargain the im- be that it is impossible to speak of the two to.
pecunious tradesman makes the sooner will he gether. Or are we seriously to imagine that
become solvent. No doubt if the merchant prince's publishers are altruists of the most wonderful
turnover is big enough (as this writer himself sort, and pursue their merchant-prince calling for
suggests) he will come home by making a penny no thought of gain, but simply in order to diffuse
in the outlay of every sovereign. But clearly in among the millions the masterpieces of art and
this case he must be a prince of considerable wealth literature ? In any case they have to get them in
to start with.
order to diffuse them. And they get them from
Of course, if there is no problem at all of the the authors.
first relations between author and publisher, there It is, of course, perfectly true that many fine
is no more to be said, but if there is, the solution books, such as the “ Dictionary of National Bio-
is not advanced by overstating the question or bygraphy,” owe their inception to the enterprise of
truisms about the advisability of sticking to trade. publishers ; but, invaluable as these are, they all,
On the other hand, it is idle to deny that publishers broadly speaking, come under the head of books
have often made large sums of money by pur- of reference, and it must be seriously questioned
chasing outright the work of an unknown author, whether any real lover of literature would not
which happens to run to many editions. The cheerfully make a holocaust of them all rather than
unknown author, it is true, has consented to the lose a play of Shakespeare or even a novel of
arrangement, and to impute fraud to the publisher Tolstoi. And though it is inspiriting to be told
is clearly out of the question. At the same time that competent authors are very common objects
he probably knows quite well that had the author of the strand, and that there is no difficulty in
been more experienced he would not have parted finding authors competent to write on fresh sub-
with his copyright on such terms, and that he jects, we regretfully confess that such optimism is
himself has taken advantage of the author's ignor- beyond us, unless by the word "author" is meant
ance. It is the business of the Society of Authors merely the industrious compiler of guides to
to save their silly sheep from such bargainings. cathedral towns, and such-like interesting little
The second point referred to above seems to me works. But to assume that books of reference,
on sober reflection to be one of the most remark- even when we consider the “ Dictionary of National
able statements ever made. “Most of the literary Biography” or the “Encyclopædia " under this
ventures to which authors are indebteil for so much head, are more than a bucketful in the sea of
remunerated employment nowadays are originated by literature, seems to us an untenable position. And
the trade ? " I hope my publisher will mark this, for all except books of reference, the public is
and send me as soon as possible half-a-dozen plots indebted entirely to the author, and not to the
for stories. Excellent as he is in all other respects, publisher.
he has hitherto failed in this particular. Or perhaps
E. F. BENSON.
## p. 253 (#669) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
253
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
TTERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :
1. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,"
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor!
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“Cost of Production."
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :-
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are:-
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :-
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con.
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.e.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (b.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
TEVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
A VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
## p. 254 (#670) ############################################
254
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for The Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey's
Gate, S.W., and 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.
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members' agreements and their preservation in a fire.
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
THE READING BRANCH.
M EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of their work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
W E have received a publication from the
Canadian Society of Authors, entitled
“ A Bibliography and General Report."
It contains a list of the members, together with
a list of the works that they have produced.
That the Society is in a healthy condition, and
that the membership includes the names of those
best known in Canadian literature speaks well for
its future activity.
It is pleasant to see three members of the Cana.
dian Society, Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P., Mr. John A.
Cooper, and Mr. J. Castell Hopkins, are also
members of our Society. The Honorary President
of the Society is Professor Goldwin Smith, whose
writings have for so many years marked with
distinction the literature of the Dominion and of
the Empire. The Acting President is the Hon.
G. W. Ross, the Premier of Ontario, whose reputa-
tion has been made in politics rather than litera-
ture. His political position cannot fail to be of
great importance to the Society on the vexed
question of Canadian copyright. On this point
he is, we understand, in full accord with the
Canadian Authors Society and our own Society.
Amongst the names of those well known through-
out the Empire are Dr. Drummond of Montreal,
Dr. Louis Frechette. Mr. Clive Phillipps Wooller.
Sir James Le Moine and Mr. Ernest Thompson
Seton.
NOTICES.
THE 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
ös. 60. subscription for the year.
## p. 255 (#671) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
255
It is hoped that at no distant date the Society, some of the United States publishers paid to
born while the literature of the Dominion is still English authors for the use of their stories what
young, will foster such a spirit amongst the they called a honorarium. But though this was
Canadians, and take such practical steps to protect the usual custom, it appears that a certain
the property of its members by aiding Imperial American firm took some of Mr. Kipling's work
copyright, unhampered by trade restrictions, that and reproduced it without proper acknowledgment.
the School of Canadian Literature will be worthy Sir Walter Besant, Mr. William Black, and Mr.
of the country that produced it, and maintain the Thomas Hardy wrote to the papers defending the
high standard that marks its infancy.
dealings of the American house in the matter of
the publication of their own writings. Mr. Rud-
yard Kipling's method of retort was the ballad
above referred to, in which he called the tbree
In a paragraph from the Sunday Sun, headed
great writers mentioned the “Three Great
“ Authors and Publishers," the following statement
Captains."
is made with reference to the literary agent :-
The poem opens with the following lines :-
“I learn, however, that the latest move of the literary
agent is to arrange with some publishing house to take the
“At the close of a winter day,
first reading of all manuscripts that come in his way, and Their anchors down, by London town, the three great
to receive in return a fee or a salary."
captains lay;
And one was Admiral of the North from Solway Firth
The writer in the Sunday Sun objects, and to Skye,
rightly so, to the course taken by the literary And one was Lord of the Wessex Coast and all the lands
agent in receiving a salary from the publisher,
thereby,
And one was Master of the Thames from Limehouse to
but his objection rests on the grounds that the
Blackwall.
literary agent is thereby less likely to deal effec. And he was Captain of the Fleet-the bravest of them all.”
tually with the author's MSS., firstly by oftentimes
submitting them to the wrong publisher, or
Later on in the same ballad he draws into his
secondly by making a lenient contract with the
verse the names of the three writers in a triple
publisher owing to the fee he receives. If what
pun.
The lines run as follows:-
the writer states is true, there is a much more
serious side to the case, namely, that the literary “We are paid in the coin of the White Man's Trade-,
agent is in a confidential position to the author The bezant is hard, ay, and black."
who employs him, and in such a position is not
Of the three great Captains one only is left.
only legally but morally wrong in accepting com-
Their works will, no doubt, be with us long after
mission from any one but his employer, whether
de ner
the little di
the little dispute has been buried in oblivion. It
the honorarium-as no doubt he would term it-
is almost forgotten now, at any rate at the present
is by direct payment or an unwritten agreement time it
time it has no significance, but this note may
based on the interchange of business. It is not a
be of interest to those who read with delight
question of expediency; it is a question of morals. Mr
. Mr. Kipling's poem yet fail to grapple its exact
It is impossible that any respectable literary
agent would have dealings with a publisher on this
meaning and its exact purport.
basis. Rumours have been floating about bearing
out to a certain extent the statement of the writer
in the Sunday Sun. Has any direct evidence been Mr. Pett Ridge in his usual amusing manner
forthcoming ?
deals with the question of “ Literary Gents and
If the writer in the Sunday Sun has such Literary Agents in the English Illustrated Maga-
evidence to produce, the Secretary of the Society zine. In the course of certain remarks he states
will be glad to hear from him at 39, Old Queen as follows :—“Young women are fond of declaring
Street, Storey's Gate.
that there is a ring in literature. This does not
mean that they expect to find there opportunities
for matrimony, but that in their opinion the work
The deaths of Sir Walter Besant and William is in the hands of the few ; hence they adopt
Black take away two of three actors in a miniature schemes of great ingenuity, as, for instance, the
literary drama which called forth one of Mr. addressing of stories to the wives of bachelor
Rudyard Kipling's virile efforts. All those inte. editors, or enclosing with the script a bunch of
rested in Mr. Kipling's writings have read the violets. Not by this means does the literary agent
ballad of “ The Three Captains,” but few under- place the wares of his clients."
staud its application.
We wonder how far the schemes of the ladies are
In the days before the American Copyright Act successful. Editors are but human.
## p. 256 (#672) ############################################
256
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Pett Ridge does not inform us whether at
DUMAS PÈRE (1802–1870).
any time photographs are also enclosed. Is it
possible that he has had pleasant, or, maybe,
bitter experience ?
T seems likely that the birth centenary of
Alexandre Dumas on the 24th of this month
will receive more notice in England than in
France. Here the air is full of Dumas literature;
It is hardly fair to English readers to mention in Paris the recent Hugo doings have apparently
the Baconian theory. It acts no longer as a red exhausted for the time the possibilities of cele-
rag to a bull, but rather as a soporific. The following bration. But as the two men were born so near
cutting from the Baltimore Neu's, where the subject together, as they were fellow-workers at the begin-
seems to have lost but little of its freshness, may, ning and close friends ever afterwards--"a friend-
on account of the many theories put forward, waken ship which ” (Dumas wrote) “ has survived exile.
a flash of interest. It runs :
and will, I trust, survive death”-it is almost a
pity that they could not have been bracketed
Some of the latest theories promulgated are as follows :-
(a) That Bacon and Shakespeare were one and the same
together for commemoration. Doubtless, to the
man ; (b) that Bacon wrote the Shakespearian plays while pious devotee of the poet such a suggestion would
in prison, serving a sentence of one year for profanely be little short of profanity. In this country, how-
cursing and swearing on the public highway ; (c) that the ever, we are not much given to Hugolatry, either
name Bacon was merely Shakespeare's nom-de-plume,
assumed because the bard was a ham actor ; (d) that
because our admiration for the literary artist is
Shakespeare, being ashamed of his plays, blamed Bacon; tempered by some qualms about the man, or
(e) that Shakespeare invented the Baconian theory in order because we do not take kindly to apotheosis, or
to mislead his creditors ; (f) that the real author of the simply because we prefer to be amused rather than
plays was Bacon's father-in-law, a saloon-keeper, named
George W. Ferguson ; (g) that Shakespeare sold out his
edified. With our good Dumas there are no diffi-
i
play writing business to Bacon after writing half of the culties of this sort. Nobody in France has thought
plays; (h) that Shakespeare and Bacon were partners; of deifying him, or of adding him to the permanent
(i) that they were not : (i) that maybe they were ; (k) that glories of the nation : no one can pretend that he
nobody knows whether they were or not.
preached to the world, and no one can deny that
in his day and generation he amused and thrilled
it very successfully.
All honour, then, to the author of La Reine
The following note has been received from a Margot and Les Trois Mousquetaires, to the writer
correspondent :-
of the best impressions of travel that were ever
“ May I point out," he writes, “ a branch of the penned, and the most charming bric-à-brac about
collecting mania that, whatever its other merits, everything and nothing that ever came in useful
at least promises to add to the revenue of the to fill a printed page. Primarily the most remark-
author. For long enough collectors have bid able thing about Dumas is his encylopædic cha-
against one another for Burns's MSS. and for the racter : dramatist, conteur, novelist, historian--
original drafts of Byron's poems, but the supply of nothing came amiss to him, and the marvel is, not
these is necessarily limited, and there is not that much of his work failed of the highest excel-
enough to go round. Some more modern victim lence, but that so little of it fell below a good
of the collecting habit ? has, therefore, evolved average readable quality. Before all else he was
an appetite for the original script of the more a dramatist, and-in the opinion of M. Sardou,
popular of the current books. The worse the than whom no better authority can be wished-
* copy' from the compositor's view, the better it the best all-round homme de théâtre of the nine-
is from the collector's. Deletions and erasions he teenth century. That faculty was in him innate ;
pays for in extra pounds sterling, and instead of the others, which came afterwards, grew out of it.
demanding type-written matter, he quotes prices It may be said, of course, that the twenty-five
at least 80 per cent. higher for drafts in the volumes of the Théâtre of Dumas represent what
original pencil or ink. For storage purposes, the is now mostly lumber, and that, with the exception
MSS. are bound ; and when placed on shelves, a of the three or four standard comedies included in
copy of the printed work is put beside them as a the répertoire of the Français, his plays are seldom
bandy translation to words which are more than or never performed. This, however, is no measure
usually ill-written. Already there is an upward of dramatic importance — Shakespeare, for that
tendency in the prices asked and given.”
matter, is seldom seen on the stage. The question
is rather of the extent to which subsequent drama
has undergone his influence. Granting that for
mechanism the theatre is more indebted to Scribe,
## p. 257 (#673) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
257
for analysis and philosophy to Balzac, it remains carried them to their full capacity of popular
true that in the whole sphere of emotional effects appreciation : herein lay the quality of his genius.
no one can touch Dumas. The Tour de Nesle, Henri III. was not the first essay in romantic
for example, has been a prototype, in the way of drama, but it was the first that made an impres-
suggestion, for melodramas by the score: it is sion : how effective a basis of fiction inight be
even more certain that Antony and the group of laid by the juxtaposition of the abnormal and
plays allied to Antony have a long and distinct the commonplace had been illustrated by Soulié
progeny in the modern social drama, beginning (Mémoires du Diable) and by Eugène Sue (Atar
with Dumas fils and Emile Augier, and ending- Gull) before Dumas did the same thing more
if haply it has ended—with the “problem” play largely in Monte Cristo. Years before Le Chevalier
of recent memory. Under different forms the d'Harmental and La Reine Margot, French writers,
substance of all these is the assertion of egoism influenced by Scott, had woven history and romance
and the treatment of moral laws—one in particular together. Prosper Mérimée in his Chronique du
-as a question of society instead of the Decalogue. règne de Charles IX., and Victor Hugo in Notre
To say that the elder Dumas originated this—and Dame ; but neither of them, however much they
if not Dumas, then one must step back over the might appeal to artistic or critical taste, hai
French Revolution to Beaumarchais-is not to say the verve or vividness or geniality which are
that he did so consciously. His nature did not necessary for a really popular work, and whiclı
tend to problems, and he felt things rather than characterise the best of Dumas' historical
understood them. But most vividly he did feel romances. .
the young France of 1830, and his dramatic gifts In saying that he is popular, meaning thereby
made him the best interpreter of that “incan- that he has the qualities of popularity, one admits
descent ” age. With the next generation another -as cheerfully as Dumas himself did when he said,
stage was reached in the evolution of the modern “Moi, je suis vulgarisateur.”—whatever superfine
spirit-a development, not a reversal. Much as critics may find to sneer at in his unstylish style,
has been said of the contrasts between père and his exaggeration and lack of reserve, his redun-
fils, the inheritance of the younger Dumas from dancies and repetitions, to say nothing of his
the elder is so patent that it would be better to free plagiarism, and his wholesale collaboration.
discard, as regards them, such labels as Romanticist Against such defects it might be enough to urge.
and Realist.
the advantages of resourcefulness, ease, lucidity,
From the dramatist arose the story-teller, by and so forth. But neither defects nor qualities
which we understand the metteur en scène in book will explain the popularity of Dumas unless we
form of varivus episodes of travel and imagination, take into account also the more than conventional
which reached their climax in the famous Comte de bond between the writer's self and his writings
Monte Cristo. It was in his capacity as a conteur, the feeling that here we have no detached artist
first displayed in the early Impressions de Voyage, contemplating and polishing his work—things
that Parisians recognised Dumas as possessing the which Dumas never did—but a man, or let us say
esprit they esteemed so much. They did not, it a good fellow, who, having himself hugely enjoyed
is true, set equal value on his erudition, when he the creation of his characters and incidents, is
produced a solid book on France in the middle anxious that others should share the enjoyment
ages. But this was only a coup d'essai-a pre- with him. It is a truism to speak of an author
liminary canter before starting on that course of as identified with his works : in the case of Dumas
dramatic-historical fiction in which he came in an it is also a truth.
easy winner. It is necessary to say “dramatic” In the same way with the reproach of impro-
as well as “historical,” for the novels of Dumas risation, of which one has heard a good deal, and
present a series of stageable scenes, divided and which, in this instance, appears to mean partly
spaced out—here the conteur comes in—by descrip- that the production was too hasty, partly that.
tive passages which serve to the story as scenery there was too much of it. The haste, however,
serves to a theatrical piece. Every novel of adven- was not always so great as it seemed. That Dumas
ture lends itself more or less to dramatisation, but was phenomenally rapid in execution is well known,
none so conspicuously as his, because none have but it is forgotten that the conception was often,
been written so palpably with memories of the with him, an affair of weeks, months, and some-
theatre behind and prospects of the theatre in times even years. Once the conception was clearly
front.
arranged, the execution—the mere writing, pause-
For one thing, then, all Dumas' work is dramatic; less, unrevised, unpunctuated—did not count with
for another, it is essentially popular. Alike in plays him as anything. And as to his abundance, or super-
and in novels, happy in the moment of his arrival, abundance, summarised in the axiom that no one
he assimilated the ideas or efforts of others, and has ever read all that Dumas wrote—not even
## p. 258 (#674) ############################################
258
THE AUTHOR.
Dumas himself-that belongs to the dispensations boundary between Virginia and North Carolina in
of Nature : it would be as idle to talk of the 1728, and at his death owned a hundred and
excess, the defect and the mean, as it would be seventy thousand acres of the best land in the
to censure an apple-tree for being overladen with former state. He had been educated in England
fruit. on the supposition that if the apples had and elected to the Royal Society. He kept a
been fewer they might have been of more journal which Professor Moses Coit Tvler has
excellent quality. A vain expectation.
called “one of the most delightful literary legacies
A. D. which that age has handed down to us,” and which
has, indeed, a charm comparable to that of “ Pepys's
Diary" itself. One of Colonel Byrd's daughters
AMERICAN NOTES.
was “ Beautiful Evelyn Byrd," who figures in
Miss Johnston's romance " Audrey," which, by-the-
bye, holds its own against even “ The Hound of
T HERE has been a very large output of novels the Baskervilles” as the best selling book in
this spring, but very little else of any America.
account. On the other hand, what is Another work of no slight historical interest is
known as “library business,” which, of course, Dr. James K. Hosmer's “ History of the Louisiana
covers many works of heavier calibre, is reported Purchase," a subject which has lately been brought
to have kept up remarkably well. On the question before European readers in Mr. J. H. Rose's
of the effect that woight be produced on the sale of excellent “Life of Napoleon.” The work is com-
fietion if the public libraries stopped purchasing mendable both as history and literature. In
we incline to the view recently expressed by “ Reconstruction and the Constitution," Dr. J. W.
Mr. Frank Norris rather than that held by the late Burgess, of Columbia University, completes the
Frank R. Stockton. We believe that the overplus “ American History " series to which he had pre-
of fiction read is an evil; but we do not think that viously made important contributions. “ The New
it would be increased by the suggested remedy (not England Society Orations," collected and edited by
that Mr. Stockton, being a novelist, looked at the Cephas and Eveline Warner Brainerd, may also be
matter in this light). The author of “ The Octo- mentioned in this connection, also another con-
pus” complains bitterly of the predominance of the tribution to the national story, Mr. James Curtis
super-amiable, embodied in the person of the Ballagh's “ History of Slavery in Virginia," which
amiable young girl, in American fiction of to-day, forms the new volume of the “ Johns Hopkins
and maintains with some reason that it is not the University Studies."
normal, but deviation from the normal, that makes Although one may be permitted to question the
for interest in literature. But perhaps he is unduly publisher's claim that Aaron Burr is to-day “by
pessimistic when he goes on to deplore the growing far the most mysterious, interesting, and attractive
imitativeness of the national literature which he character in American history”--there must be
attributes to its preoccupation with well-bred some who do not even know his name—there will
people. Surely the great vitality of present-day certainly be many readers who will be glad to hear
fiction, at least in America, is a sufficient answer about the man who killed Mrs. Atherton's hero
to this foreboding of a decay of originality in the from so well-accredited a biographer as Mr. Charles
nation.
Burr Todd.
Before touching upon the aforesaid fiction we The only other biographical achierement which
will notice a few books in other departments of we feel called upon to record here is the life of a
literature which seem worthy of attention. A book naval celebrity, John Ancrum Winslow, of Alabama
which is likely to continue to be much read is fame.
Mr. Carnegie's “ Empire of Business." It is Coming to publications which are more imme-
hardly, perhaps, necessary to dwell upon its con- diately concerned with the present, we may call
tents here ; but it may be of interest to note the attention in passing to “ Democracy and Social
ingenuity shown by the publishers (Doubleday, Ethics,” by Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House,
Page & Co.) in making to customers an offer by Chicago, as a temperate exposition of the socialistic
which they induce them to take two years' sub- panacea. Of kindred interest are three books deal-
scription to “ The World's Work" in combination ing with the subject of Trusts. Professor John
with monthly payments for the book.
Bates Clark believes that if regulated they may
Another work issued by the same publishers become something less than an evil, and would, to
should be of interest to English readers. This cite his sub-title, “curb the Power of Monopoly
is the reprint by John Spencer Bassett of “ The by a Natural Method.” The author of "Com-
Writings of Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, in mercial Trusts," on the other hand, favours
Virginia, Esq.” This gentleman surveyed the a laissez faire policy in dealing with these
## p. 259 (#675) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
259
combinations. Dr. Le Rossignol, in his introductory pleased at the way in which the drafter of the
sketch, called “Monopolies, Past and Present," Declaration of Independence is treated by this
writes somewhat vaguely about returning to old author.
ideals, and is, perhaps, the least satisfactory of the A book which has received a very hearty wel-
three writers.
come is “ The Thrall of Leif the Lucky," by Miss
Mr. Peters, a Baptist clergyman of New York, Ottilie Liljencrantz. The scene of this story of
has entered the lists with some success against Viking days shifts from Norway to Greenland,
Mark Twain, who had charged the Jews with and from thence to the unknown American coast,
incapacity for patriotism. In “The Jew as a and has the charm of decided freshness. It has
Patriot” a highly creditable record of civic virtue been elaborately illustrated by Mr. and Mrs. Troy
is presented on behalf of the Hebrew race both in Kinney, of Chicago.
America and Europe.
A story of a less remote period which is arousing
In view of the Rhodes bequest, and the close much interest is “Dorothy Vernon of Haddon
connection it seems destined to bring about Hall," in which Mr. Charles Major has struck
between Oxford and people on this side, Mr. out quite a new line. The tale is of Elizabethan
Corbin's impressions of the University (" An days, and Mary Queen of Scots comes in for very
American at Oxford ") will be read with interest. severe treatment at the writer's hands.
M. Paul Bourget, the French novelist, has lately, Emerson Hough's “ Mississippi Bubble” is
it may be remembered, communicated to the world another historical romance which has caught on.
his experiences of the same centre of culture. John Law, the Scottish speculator, is, of course,
Among recent essayists we must reckon Mr. the hero ; and two English ladies have much to
Charles Dudley Warner, who has reprinted various do with his fate. This writer is thought to be
literary and social papers under the title “ Fashions stronger in the delineation of masculine charac-
in Literature”; Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie, whose teristics than in dealing with the subleties of
“ Works and Days” is of ethical and didactic feminine psychology.
import; and Mr. Richard Burton (“Forces in Kate Douglas Wiggin's “ Diary of a Goose
Fiction"), who thinks we make too much nowa Girl" also takes the reader to England. It is in
days of technic, and are too fond of making lighter vein than most of the romances we have
imaginary creations less human beings than spoken of. “ The Misdemeanours of Nancy,” by
“ more or less colourless exponents of a principle, Eleanor Hoyt, is likely to be much discussed.
a class, a theory.”
Miss Anne Douglas Sedgwick has followed up
Miss Clara Morris's stage memories have now her previous successes with a story of heredity
been followed by Mr. Henry Austin Clapp's called “The Rescue," the scene of which is laid
“ Reminiscences of a Dramatic Critic,” which in Paris.
extend over a period of a quarter of a century. Mr. Chatfield Taylor, of Chicago, has written a
Under the heading of Poetry we have as usual novel which is much talked about. It is called
but little to chronicle ; but it may be announced “ The Crimson Wing," and is to be dramatised by
that ping-pong has found its laureate in the Mr. E. E. Rose.
person of Mr. Burges Johnson, whose “ Bugle Miss Marie Van Vorst has had to change the
Song " has some felicitous lines.
title of her new novel to “ Philip Longstreth."
Before plunging into the whirlpool of Fiction, Some one else seems to have used “ The Sacrifice
we may just advert to the fact that among other of Fools.”
books in some demand are Goldwin Smith's “Com- Messrs. Scribner, who have issued so many of
monwealth or Empire,” F. Schuyler Matthews's the recent successes, are bringing out Clara
“ Field Book of American Wild Books," and a Morris's “A Pasteboard Crown.” We shall soon
book by the veteran Charles Warren Stoddard, be able to judge whether she excels as much in
the Loti of America, entitled “In the Footsteps romance as on the stage and the platform.
of the Padre.”
Mr. Stewart E. White's “ The Blazed Trail ” is
“ The Valley of Decision,” by Mrs. Edith a rattling good story, and American enough, we
Wharton, is quite a new departure for her, and should think, to content Mr. Frank Norris. So
to some extent also in American literature. It is again, in another direction, is “ Morchester," a
less of a novel than a study of the conditions of life political novel of the Eastern States, and Mr.
in Italy towards the end of the eighteenth century. William Sage's tale of the Civil War, “ The
Mrs. Gertrude Atherton's "The Conqueror" is Claybournes."
being much talked of, and exciting some criticism. Mrs. Henry Dudeney's “Spindle and Plough " is
It was begun as a biography of Alexander Hamilton, complementary to her “Folly Corner.” It is a
but ended as a romance with the soldier-statesman study of the eternally interesting conflict in women
as its hero. Admirers of Jefferson are not greatly between the instincts of sex and maternity.
## p. 260 (#676) ############################################
260
THE AUTHOR.
M. G. W. Cable has broken new ground with Francis Richard Stockton will also have a niche,
“ Bylow Hill,” his first Northern story, as also it but much lower down, among American writers
might be thought had the author of “ Uncle who will be remembered. “ The Lady of the
Remus," to judge from the title of his latest Tiger ” will suffice to keep his memory green, even
work. “The Making of a Statesman,” however, if “ Rudder Grange ” be forgotton. Nor was his
a novelette, is accompanied by a collection of short last work,“ Kate Bonnet," lacking in that vivacity
stories of Georgia Life of the old kind.
which so eminently characterised the man. We
Some discussion has been going on in the do not think that any of the various stories we
literary journals as to whether such a thing exists have read of Stockton are sufficiently worthy of his
as the « New Humor.” We dare not venture an reputation to warrant quotation here.
opinion on so difficult a question. We may note, Paul Leicester Ford was a successful man of
however, that Mr. E. J. W. Townsend has brought letters, but not to be compared with Stockton,
out a new “Chimmie Fadden" book (“ Chimmie much less with Bret Harte." We have not heard
Fadden and Mr. Paul”), and has been able to defend who is to take his place as editor of “ The
without difficulty the naturalness of his creations. Bibliographer,” to which he had already made
Of established American writers we may mention contributions of some interest. A story from his
that Mark Twain has brought out “ A Double- facile pen will appear in the July “Century.” A
Barrelled Detective Story," and that George Cary more important work had been almost completed
Eggleston has written in “Dorothy South” another when he came to his tragically sudden end.
masterly study of the Southern States. We have Another name which must be added to our
space only to mention the names of a few other obituary is that of Dr. Thomas Dunn English, the
books which are in some considerable demand : writer of the once popular “ Ben Bolt." He died
“Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” Mr. Dixon's in April.
“ The Leopard's Spots,” Miss Glasgow's “ The
Battle Ground,” Robert Shackleton's “Many
Waters : a Story of New York.” A first book of
PARIS NOTES.
some promise is Mrs. Banks's “Oldfield,” another
Kentucky novel.
Paper-bound fiction has, we understand, almost THE close of the season has been particularly
ceased to have any sale. There has long been
brilliant in the French literary world, and
noticeable a falling-off in this market.
some most interesting and valuable works
Bret Harte's swan song had quite the old ring. have been published.
“Openings in the Old Trail” recalls memories of The memoirs, biographies, and letters which
“ The Luck of Roaring Camp,” “Flip,” and have recently appeared are as fascinating as any
those other creations in which he showed himself novels, and are quite as eagerly read.
probably the greatest master of the short story in A most important work has just been edited by
the English language. He was never much at the Comte d'Haussonville, entitled “ Souvenirs
home away from these Western scenes. The story sur Madame de Maintenon. Mémoire et Lettres
of how “The Heathen Chinee " was evolved from de Mlle. d'Aumale.” It opens with an introduc-
an admiration for · Atalanta in Calydon” is, we tion to the last period of the reign of Louis XIV.
suppose, too well known to be repeated here ; but Mlle. d'Aumale was the daughter of a poor
we may perhaps refer to the history of an earlier nobleman, who was a captain in the regiment of
poetic achievement. At the age of eleven, Berry. She entered the school of St. Cyr at the
Francis Bret Harte had printed in the Sunday age of seven, and when twenty-two years old was
Atlas of New York some verses headed “ Autumn chosen by Madame de Maintenon to be one of her
Musings " ; and he used to tell what consternation secretaries. She gives us a full account of her
this produced in his family. It seems that the patroness, and as—thanks to her position-she
conception of a poet which prevailed in the was intimately acquainted with the celebrated
domestic circle was founded entirely upon “ The woman whose influence was so great over the
Distressed Poet” depicted by Hogarth, a book of King, she tells us many incidents which show
whose drawings was in the possession of Mr. Harte, Madame de Maintenon in quite a new light.
senior! Bret Harte was in the best sense of the Renan's letters to his mother, “ Lettres du
word an American, typical of his race, cultured but Séminaire,” is also a most interesting work. The
not exclusive, tender-hearted but not sentimental, letters were written between the years 1838.and
Cosmopolitan yet racy of the soil. He was person- 1846, and commence with the boy's first epistle to
ally a most striking-looking, not to say handsome, his mother in Brittany, on taking up his abode in
man. He ranks with Hawthorne and Poe as the the college for priests in Paris. He is at that
most original of American writers.
time fifteen years of age, extremely conscientious
## p. 261 (#677) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
261
and religious. He describes in detail the life in friend of many of the most influential men of her
the college, and has the highest opinion of his times, including Talleyrand. She was most beau-
professors and spiritual directors. At the age of tiful, witty, and intelligent, and, being imprisoned
twenty, as the day approaches for the preliminary at the same time as André Chenier, her beauty
ordination service, he is troubled by doubts. inspired the poet with those celebrated verses
“ Considerations," he writes, “which I had not entitled “ La Jeune Captive.” M. Lamy's “ Intro-
sufficiently weighed, when examined again between duction," which forms about half of the volume,
God and my conscience, make me dread taking enables us to enter thoroughly into the romantic
a step, the importance of which I thoroughly story of the heroine, and to take a keen interest
realise.”
in the Memoirs penned by her.
Later on he commences the study of Hebrew, “L'Étape,” by Paul Bourget, is a novel written
and is fascinated by it.
with a purpose. It is a kind of allegorical example
Gradually, and by reading between the lines of of the theory maintained by the author. There
these letters to his mother, one realises the change are three extremely dramatic episodes in the book.
that has come over him.
It is the history of a fainily brought up with no
In the last one, written at the age of twenty- religion. The father is an upright, honest man,
three, he says : “I only know one vocation for who believes he is doing his duty in bringing up
a man, and that is, to realise the ideal of his his children rationally. Each of them suffers
nature. ... What honest man would not approve through this education, and in two cases out of
avd respect me for sacrificing to my conscience three a catastrophe is the result.
the greatest happiness of my life?” Renan's M. Bourget's theory is that we cannot break
deep affection for his mother is expressed in nearly away from old beliefs and old traditions and
every phrase of the letters. His first meeting customs without great danger. We must advance
with Berthelot, then a student like himself, and by stages or étapes, and we ought not to burn
destined to become one of the greatest savants of our bridges behind us, as they are needed by those
the age, is described. The two young men struck who come after.
up a friendship like that of David and Jonathan. Madame Henry Greville's death occurred just
The devoted sister Henriette is also spoken of as her latest novel had been commenced as a serial
frequently in this volume, and several names are in one of the French daily papers. Another novel
mentioned which have since become world-famed. had recently been published : “ La Mamselka.” It
The first volume of Madame Juliette Adam's is the story of a Russian Becky Sharp, who in her
memoirs has recently been published, under the anxiety to attain her own ends does not sbrink
title of “Le Roman de mon Enfance et de ma from crime.
Jeunesse." In her family she played the part of M. Schuré has now published the second volume
peacemaker from an early age. Her grandmother of his “Théâtre de l'âme.” The author's dream is a
was an Orleanist, her grandfather an Imperialist, theatre which shall be a great educating and moral
and her father an ardent Republican, who, in force. “Les Enfants de Lucifer," “ La Seur
order to carry out his principles of equality and Gardienne,” and “ Roussalka ” are among the
fraternity, would have liked his daughter to marry pieces in this book.
a working man.
The chief event at the close of the theatrical
The miracle was, that with all these opposing season was the arrival of Madame Yaworskaïa and
influences at work on her, Madame Adam should, her Russian company, and her series of perfor-
at quite an early age, have possessed such sound mances at the Antoine Theatre. Madaine Yawor-
judgment. Her description of the état d'âme skaïa is a daughter of General de Hubbenet, and a
of the bourgeois class, before and during the niece of a former minister of the Empire. Her
Revolution of 1848, is particularly interesting. husband, Prince Bariatinsky, accompanied her,
Another volume of memoirs worth reading is the and it was with one of his plays that the Russian
one just edited by M. Etienne Lamy, “Mémoires theatre in Paris opened.
d'Aimée de Coigny."
Another piece given by this company was by
This book should be of interest to the English, Gorki, but the most interesting performance was
as the descendants of the elder branch of the certainly Madame Yaworskaïa's interpretation of
de Coigny family belong now to the English “ La Dame aux Camélias.” She is an admirable
nobility. Gustave, Duke de Coigny, married, in actress, and throws herself heart and soul into the
1822, the daughter of Sir Henry Hamilton. One part she is playing.
of the daughters of this Duke de Coigny married
ALYS HALLARD.
Lord Stair, and the other one Earl Manvers. Aimée
de Coigny, who was one of the Grandes Amour-
euses of the Revolution days, was an intimate
## p. 262 (#678) ############################################
262
THE AUTHOR.
THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE WOMEN her words, Mrs. Clifford closed, and Miss Ireland
WRITERS.
Blackburn rose to inform the company that about
five hundred invitations had been issued, and one
hundred and eighty or two hundred accepted,
M HE Women Writers held their annual dinner among whom there were six not distinctly con-
1 at the “Criterion” on Monday, June the 9th. nected with literature. A picturesque figure
Mrs. W. K. Clifford was the Chairwoman on among the fashionable, artistic, and un-noticeable
this occasion, and after an excellent dinner she rose gowns was that of Miss Cornelia Sorabjii, in her
to propose the health of their Majesties. One verse native clinging garments; with an absence of all
of the National Anthem was then sung by a lady rustle and " frou-frou” of silken skirts she moved
present, but as it was not joined in by the rest of about, evidently keenly observant of this large
the company, excepting a very small number, it gathering of her Western sisters. Mrs. Humphry
had not a very exhilarating effect. Mrs. Clifford Ward, Mrs. Harrison (" Lucas Malet"), Mrs. Alec
went on to say that as a Coronation favour there Tweedie, and Miss Beatrice Harraden took the
would be no speeches. Now this was distinctly ends of different tables, as well as Mrs. Belloc-
disappointing, because, although it is true that Lowndes, Miss E. Thorneycroft Fowler, Mrs.
women do not, as a rule, speak well or readily on Stannard, and many others. After dinner, little
such occasions, not having, we presume, inherited animated groups were formed, which strayed in-
a facility in making after-dinner speeches from their formally into the adjoining room, and dispersed at
mothers, however much they may have acquired a fairly early hour. Nearly all those present were
aptness in “curtain lectures" from the same “ labelled” with little cards, on which their names
source—yet, at the same time, it is decidedly were neatly written, so that young and ardent
interesting to hear what they wish to say, and to candidates of literature were enabled to worship at
note the point of view they take. Mrs. Clifford, whichever shrine they most affected. We over-
however, made a short speech, or rather an address. heard one exceedingly naïve young person say
She had written it beforehand, and read it from that since her first book had been accepted and
the paper erected in front of her. This reading published, she had travelled about in search of
out alone destroys the spontaneity and the inspiration, but had unhappily received none !
quick turn of wit that springs into existence from It is to be hoped she went home well stocked with
the lips of a ready speaker ; the eyes fastened on ideas after meeting so many of the craft.
the page miss the flash of delighted acquiescenee
ARTHUR HOOD.
or indignant protestation from the observant eyes
around, and the words flow on in their carefully
prepared channel, quiet and even as the waters in
a made canal, without any of the buoyancy and the
THE AUTHORS' CLUB.
rush and sparkle of a natural stream. Then, too,
Mrs. Clifford's words were too weighted with that
rather ponderous seriousness with which women N Monday, June 16th, the Authors' Club gave
workers regard themselves and their doings, right a dinner to the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, K.C.,
and proper enough no doubt, but a trifle out of M.P,
season after a sociable gathering. She spoke of Sir Conan Doyle, the Chairman of the Club,
the high importance of work, and she maintained presided. The primary motive, no doubt, in
that, if the work was good, it was of no consequence asking Mr. Lyttelton to be the guest of the evening
whatever what became of the worker, either in was to give a dinner to a good fellow and a good
this world or the next-a predication that seemed cricketer, and to one who had, as Chairman of the
somewhat to scare some of the milder members. Concessions Commission, distinguished himself
She warmed to enthusiasm over the mysteries of in South Africa.
the craft — the mysteries of the poet, of the Mr. Lyttelton could only in a secondary degree
historian, of the fictionist, and of the journalist, be reckoned an author, as he himself readily
and she dwelt upon the pleasures of the enchanted admitted in his speech.
palaces into which these happy persons could retire After the loyal toasts, Sir Conan Doyle proposed
at will. In our own minds we thought, perhaps the health of the guest of the evening
profanely, that she might have touched also on Sir Conan Doyle has a faculty of dealing with
that other mystery, namely, the acceptance of some everything he touches in a large, healthy, straight-
of the present-day writings, some of the journalism, forward way ; even the simplest action with him
some of the rhymed couplets—for here be mysteries has some connection with the eternal verities,
indeed. With a kindly hope that young aspirants and on these lines he spoke with regard to Mr.
might in the zenith of a future fame remember Lyttelton's carcer, and the part that cricket had
## p. 263 (#679) ############################################
THE AUTHOR.
263
taken in it. He referred to the much criticised Scriptural goat; in the second it is placed among
lines of Kipling's about “the flannelled fools," and the sheep, i.l. passed on by the sub to his chief.
. stated that he entirely agreed with the point of This is all supposition, as I know no editors nor
view that Kipling took, that cricket should be the publishers ; but I would like to add that if hang-
means to the end, and not the end itself. He put ing committees would treat artists as well in
forward as examples the cases of many cricketers carefully studying their work as editors seem to
who bad given their lives for their country in the treat their contributors, artists would not grumble.
late South African War. He further pointed out At the R. A. a minute decides the fate of three
how the career of the guest of the evening bad pictures ; and yet people grumble at an editor
been developed and strengthened along the same keeping a MS. six weeks! Moral, to authors:
lines. He complimented him on the arduous Remember we are all human, even editors.
duties that he had completed in South Africa, and
Yours faithfully,
at the same time complimented Mr. Chamberlain :
B.
on the ability with which lie chose his agents-
always the mark of a great man.
II.
Mr. Lyttelton made a very pleasant and inte-
resting speech in reply. He laughingly referred
SIR,-Permit me to narrate some of my ex-.
to the fact that the chairman had written a large
hat the chairman had written a large periences of the above.
white book which had been read by nearly every- 1. There is a certain magazine which directs
body, while he had written a large Blue-book in its “Notice to Contributors” that MS. must
which had been read by hardly anybody. He also “never be rolled.” In an evil hour I sent a
stated that while out in South Africa he had contribution to this magazine. It was returned
indulged in the game of cricket, which, he hoped, in a few days rolled in such a way as to render it
would become the national game in South Africa, practically useless to me. I ventured to address
as it was in England. He heartily supported à polite letter of remonstrance to the editor. But
Sir Conan Doyle's views with regard to the use of that “ bloated aristocrat” did not deign to notice
cricket and sport generally as aids only towards it. There is, I suppose, one law for editors and
life training and life work.
another for contributors.
The health of the other visitors was proposed,
2. There is another editor who accepted a story
and Lord Harris replied.
of mine two years ago, but has not published it
The gathering was a large one. Among the yet. He keeps putting me off with bland but
members present may be mentioned, beside the delusive promises.
Chairman, Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., Mr. E. 3. Yet another editor has in his possession two
W. Brabrook, C.B., Mr. Percy White, Mr. E. W. MSS. of mine, which he accepted some eighteen
Hornung. Mr. E. H. Lacon Watson. and Mr months ago. He resents as SO many personal
Carlton Dawe.
insults my modest requests that he will publish
theni,
I could multiply instances, but let these typical
CORRESPONDENCE.
cases suffice.
Several other gentlemen have lost the MSS.
which I forwarded for their consideration. I have
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
no remedy, for they took good care not to
acknowledge their receipt.
SIR,_Conscience obliges me to come to the
SCRIPTOR QUIDAM.
rescue of the characters of editors. Never have I
lost a MS., never have I had one torn, and only
once have I discovered pencil comments. My only
III.
grievance is that sometimes the pencilled number SIR,-Many of the correspondents of The Author
has been scribbled with a twopence-a-dozen black have frequently vented their grievances against
lead which will not rub out; but this is a very editors for unreasonable detention of their MSS.
small matter. As to payment, I have received it Of course, writers who are not as yet on the
the following month to publication, the following favoured heights of fame and fortune have
quarter, and after a year. My MSS. have been grumbling propensities. We like to “tune our
kept weeks, months, and years before rejection or distresses and record our woes.” It is a privilege of
acceptance. But I never worry an editor-I send our uncertain profession. At the same time, editors
a MS. and pray for its acceptance ; sometimes it ought not to bear the entire brunt of our
returns at once, sometimes after a long period—I complainings. I have a great respect for these
imagine in the first instance it is treated as the elevated individuals whose decision can either
## p. 264 (#680) ############################################
264
THE AUTHOR.
plunge a literary aspirant into the lowest depths The cost of production, like " the flowers which
of despair or raise him to the dizzy height of bloom in the spring, tra, la," has nothing to do
elation. I almost stand in awe of a person whose with the case. Extravagant sums may have been
pen, "mightier than the sword,” is such an instru- expended on sumptuous bindings, illustrations, or
ment of potential importance. Consider for a paper, and any of these expenses may have been
moment the results to a nation or to mankind incurred several times over, owing to the fasti-
which may turn on a phrase, or on a word! And diousness of the taste of the wealthy American.
yet, with this knowledge of his importance and and these, though increasing the cost, do not add
responsibility, thousands of unsolicited MSS. are to the market value. This test therefore fails.
poured on his desk by heedless writers who The next test is the price the public would pay,
naturally expect them to be accepted and actually if they had the opportunity of purchasing, and
paid for, and who are chagrined and even angry this a book-dealer could estimate ; but if the books
when they are kept for a few months! Have they were of such a character that the public would not
no consideration or thought for an editor's position buy, we have to fall back on their value as old
and momentous, grave duties ? It is not easy to materials only, and I think they should be
discover demerit and faults. One has to be schooled estimated as so many pounds of paper at so much
to the task ; and it is difficult for editors to value a pound, and so much more for 1,000 sheets of
the literary worth of an outsider's MSS. when their board for use in some other form.
critical powers and time may have to be expended Neither literary merit nor the estimation of the
on their own! Let us make allowance for them. proprietor under such circumstances seem to be
And no one can expect the method and pre- material in arriving at what is required—viz..,
n editor's sanctum which are common “ the fair market value.”
to a merchant's office. How can his high in-
W.R.
tellectuality or splendid endowments concern
themselves with the vulgar, trivial details of an
MISLEADING MEMORIAL TABLETS.
orderly arrangement of papers ? The idea is pre-
posterous. If a MS. is mislaid, lost, laid aside,
Sin,Renewed attention has been directed of
forgotten, or unread, one ought to excuse him and
late to the inaccuracies so often displayed in the
not to blame him. His thoughts have a higher
wording of medallions affixed to certain spots in
Wording of medo
range and sweep than these petty methods.
the metropolis associated with illustrious writers
I conclude this paper with an actual letter from and others.
an editor who kindly takes a few months about
It has been pointed out by a diligent researcher
making up his mind :-"I have not used your
how the absence of the all-important word "site"
article — and I am quite unable to say when we
from the tablets renders them worse than valueless
shall do so. The other MSS. are still under con-
as reliable indicators. Four notable cases are
sideration, but I have asked our reader to look at
instanced-namely, the inscriptions purporting to
them immediately."
denote the actual dwelling places of John Dryden,
But I am in no hurry. I can wait. Within in Gerrard Street, Soho ; Hogarth, in Leicester
six months or a year I may know the result. I
Square ; Turner, in Queen Anne Street; also No. 24,
patient and resigned: don't complain. i Holles Street, Cavendish Square, claimed to be the
honour editors too much.
birthplace of Byron. The latter must be regarded
LUNETTE.
as the most conspicuous example of error, for
the walls have been twice razed since the interest-
ing natal event it is desired to chronicle, and
AMERICAN DUTY ON BOOKS.
on both occasions the deceptive statement per-
SIR,—The “intricate question " which came petuated. This is a pity, as the record attached in
before the Society on this subject does not appear
the year 1900 is something quite unique as a com-
to present much difficulty when analysed.
memorative design, with its handsome bronze bust
Books are dutiable articles when sent to America: and elaborate setting of Portland stone.
dutiable articles are to be " appraised at their fair Surely it would be no very difficult task to
market value.”
rectify the several omissions, as well as any others
These books, you state, had no market value, as which may exist ? Thus the mistakes would be
they were for private circulation only, and not for no longer continued to the deception of future
sale ; but the material forming 500 books must generations.
have some market value, if only as waste paper to
Yours faithfully,
pulp up again, and what a stranger would give
CECIL CLARKE,
for them is their fair market value, and is the sum AUTHORS' CLUB, S.W.,
on which duty should be levied.
June 19th, 1902.
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The Author, Vol. 12 Issue 12 (July 1902)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 12 Issue 12 (July 1902)
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The Author
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<em>The Author</em>
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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1890–1914
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1902-10-01
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Che Mutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XITI.—No. 1.
OcroBER 1sT, 1902.
[PRIcE SIXPENCE.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
—_—
As mistakes still occur with regard to the
Address of the Society, it has been thought
expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office
of the Society is situated at—
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY’S GATE, S.W.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
—___—__—_—_e —<>—_e___—_
NOTICES.
—
OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tux Editor begs to inform Members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
—
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE Investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the T'rustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou. XIII.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market.
CON aOlE 25 goer eee ne Lolo 5 6
MigGal LGAs 2 ee 404 10 0
Victorian Government 3 % Con-
solidated Inscribed Stock............ 991 19 11
War loan 201 9 8
otal 3. £1714 4 8
There is, in addition, a balance of £30 to £40
in the Bank to cover current expenses and the
payment of pensions.
The subscriptions and donations from the
beginning of the year are as follows.
Further sums will be acknowledged from month
to month as they come to hand.
DONATIONS.
Jeu. 24, Cherch, Prof. B. Ai H.....-- £2.32 0
Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............ ~ 0 4.6
Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily............... 010 0
Feb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince ......... t 1.0
Feb. 15, Wilkins, W. H. (2nd donation) 11. 0
Bebo 15.8. @. 2... 1 0
Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope.........-.. 50 0 0
Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss H. ............ 010 0
Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. .............-. 0.5 0
April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel...... 100
April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,
BRGS, ...3.....5..... 0 5 0
May 5, A Beginner ..........-...:...+. ti 0
May 20, Nemo <.........6--1.seeeee eee ee 2.700
May 20, Dr. A. Rattray ..........--... 0 5 0
July 17, Capes, Bernard E. ............ 5 0
July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude ... 0 5 0
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ........-:.-.-.... 0 5.0
dan. 20, Nacholls, B.C. 7.770.052... 0 5 0
Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ... 11.0
Feb., Gidley, Miss B.C. ............... 010 6
Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H.C. ...... 0.5 0
Mich. 25, siroud, Eo 010 6
Apr. 9, Kitcat, Mrs. ..........--...-.05++ 11 0
May 1, Heatley, Richard F............. 0 5 0
THE AUTHOR.
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
Tue amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £327 15 0
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly, about
£4. The subscriptions received from-March to
the date of issue are given below :—
Anonymous. : ; ; og
Champneys, Basil
“ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa
Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F.C.
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. :
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
Hurry, A. 3 : : . ‘
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
tioned)
Kinns, The Rey. Samuel, D.D. .
Millais, J.G. . : : ;
Quiller Couch, Miss M.
Sterry, J. Ashby. :
Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.
Underdown, Miss E.
Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
Beale, Miss Mary
Bolam, Rev. C. E.
Egbert, Henry
Eccles, Miss O’Connor
Darwin, Francis ; : :
Campbell-Montgomery, Miss F. F.
Medlecott, Cecil : 3
Saxby, Mrs...
Caine, T. H. Hall
Marris, Miss Murrell
S. B. : ;
Bloomfield, J. H. .
F. O. B. (Coventry) .
Seton-Karr, H. W. .
Heriot, Cheyne :
Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.
“« Esme Stuart ” :
Charlton, Miss Emily
Kroeker, Mrs.
Aflalo, F. G.
Patterson, A. :
Salwey, Reginald E.
Gidley, Miss E. C.
= 8
ma or
me or OT OST HE OT
in pla
oS
put
orc
COFCO He Oo
Tore Or Oro o1cr
COorwse
— ee a
CcCOoOrRNWCSD
eg
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—
T the meeting of the Committee held in July
A 13 members and associates were elected.
This raises the number of elections for the
current year to 113.
Thus the average of past years is well maintained.
In 1901, 113 members exactly were elected up to
July, and in 1900,118. The Society still continues
to show a vigorous growth.
At the same meeting, it was decided to place
one case on behalf of a member into the solicitors’
hands, with a view to taking action if necessary,
and on behalf of two other members of the Society
to take counsel's opinion on a difficult point of law.
Since the last issue of the Author, twenty-seven
cases have been in the hands of the Secretary.
They may be classified as follow :—
Twelve for the payment of money; six dealing
with accounts ; eight for the return of MSS.;
and the remaining one dealing with a general
settlement. Of the money cases, two embraced
considerably more than one member’s claim, one
was against a magazine in bankruptcy, and the
other against the proprietor of a magazine that
had ceased to exist. A dozen members at least
were involved.
It is satisfactory to relate that of the twenty-
seven, nineteen have been closed advantageously
to the authors, and the remainder are now in the
course of settlement.
Action has been commenced by the solicitors of
the Society in four other cases.
Two of these cases have been settled, one by a
County Court trial, the other by payment into
court; in the latter case the sum paid in was
accepted by the plaintiff. The other actions are
still awaiting trial.
At the same meeting of the Committee, it was
decided, at the suggestion of Sir Gilbert Parker,
that representatives of the Society should meet Sir
Wilfrid Laurier in order to give them an oppor-
tunity of laying their views on the copyright
question before the Prime Minister, and if, the meet-
ing could be arranged, that representatives of the
Copyright Association and the Publishers’ Associa-
tion should at the request of the Society be also
asked to attend.
Accordingly, before Sir Wilfrid Laurier left for
the Island of Jersey and the Continent with Sir
Gilbert Parker in August, a private meeting was
held at Sir Gilbert Parker's house. Mr. A. Hope
Hawkins, Mr.G. H.Thring, on behalf of the Society,
Mr. John Murray and Mr. Daldy, on behalf of the
Copyright Association, and Mr. C. J. Longman
and Mr. Frederick Macmillan, on behalf of the
Publishers’ Association, and Sir Gilbert Parker, a
member of the Committee and Council of the
Authors’ Society, composed the deputation. It
would not be right to give a report of what was
said and done on that occasion, but all who are
interested in copyright will be glad to know that
Sir Wilfrid Laurier gave assurances upon the ques-
tion of Imperial Copyright and its bearing upon
the Canadian question which cannot but lead to
THE AUTHOR. 3
satisfactory results. It is more than probable that
the Imperial Copyright Bill will be brought in
next Session of Parliament by the Government.
ene peepee pnenene
Tur death of Mrs. Hector, who wrote under
the name of Mrs. Alexander, occurred shortly
after the publication of the July number of
The Author. The Committee chronicle the event
with deep regret. She had been a member of the
Society since 1892, and had steadily maintained
her position in literature. Her later works show no
appreciable falling off from those which made her
name— The Wooing O’t”’ and “ Barbara.”
et eg ame,
THE publication of the List of Members will
take place during the month. The list is pub-
lished for circulation among members of the
Society only.
The Committee trust that any member desirous
of making an alteration or correction in his name
or address will communicate with the Secretary.
It is exceedingly difficult to edit a long list of
names without a mistake in the first instance, but
every effort has been made to keep the issue correct.
a
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—_—+
UCAS MALET, who has been taking a well-
earned rest for nearly twelve months, has
just commenced a new book, but it will not
be published until this time next year at the earliest.
It is to be brought out in London by Messrs.
Hutchinson & Co., and by Messrs. Dodd, Mead &
Co. in New York.
The scheme of the story has been complete in
the writer’s mind for some months. It is a novel
very much of the present day, and the scene is laid
in London and the suburbs.
Mr. J. A. Hobson’s new work, “ Imperialism :
A Study,” consists of two parts. The first part is
an investigation of the economic origin and value
of the new Imperialism, in which Great Britain has
taken the lead since 1870.
The second part is a study of the mission of
civilisation in its effects upon lower or alien peoples,
and its political reactions upon the Western nations.
Mr. Hobson treats the subject from the standpoint
of political pathology, but the outlines of a con-
structive policy of internationalism are sketched
in the concluding chapters. The American edition
is published by Messrs. Pott, of New York. Messrs.
James Nesbit & Co. are the publishers here.
Mr. Hobson has sailed for America, where, for
the next. nine or ten months, he will lecture and
investigate social conditions. His economic works
are largely used as text-books on the other side, so
he is sure of a welcome from friends and followers.
Sir Martin Conway’s “ Aconcagua and Tierra del
Fuego” is just out (Cassell & Co.). It is a most
interesting book of climbing, travel and exploration,
and has twenty-seven illustrations and a map.
After thirty years of climbing, which have left him
fonder than ever of mountains—of their beauty,
their problems and the activities of mind and body
to which mountains give scope—the author tells us
in his preface :—
“ This book is the record of the last of my own mountain
explorations that I shall write. . . . The world is wide and
contains other things besides mountains, delightful to study.
. It is life, after all, that is the greatest field of
exploration.”
Sir Martin, with his two guides, Maquignaz and
Pellissier, started for the final climb which landed
two of them on the summit of Aconcagua at
3.30 a.m. He says :-—
“Tt is impossible to exaggerate the toil we underwent
upon this slope ; once only did a small patch of snow give
momentary relief. ... The higher we rose the more we
were driven to the left and the looser the stones became.
As they gave way beneath our feet we often fell violently
to the ground and lay panting like wounded men, unable
to rise ; our breathing became louder and louder. It was
a relief now and again to empty the lungs with a groan,
and refill them with a more than ordinary volume of thin
air. Arms had to be kept well away from the sides to leave
the lungs more free for expansion. The left hand was
generally tucked into a waist belt, while the right grasped
the head of the ice-axe and used it as a walking-stick.
The desire to halt frequently was intense, but the ever-
increasing cold as imperatively urged us to movement.”
The entire descent, including all halts for food
and packing, was accomplished in less than six
hours. In that time they came down 10,000 feet.
When, after six hours’ riding from the base
camp they reached the Baths of Inca, Dr. Cotton
was at the door and came forward to greet them in
a sympathetic manner :—
“JT am sorry to see you back so soon,” he said, “ but I
suppose you concluded that the weather was broken?”
“Not at all,’ I replied. ‘We have come back because
we have accomplished the ascent.”
“What!” he said. “Already? It seems incredible.
You have only been away from this house five days and a
half. J congratulate you with all my heart.”
One more extract —it will have a special interest
for our readers :—
“ Near Lake Maravilla a young Englishman has success-
fully started a sheep farm. I was anxious to ride up and
visit him, but time did not allow. The trip would have
inyolved five days’ hard riding. His house looks out upon
a glacier that shoots icebergs into the lake. His nearest
neighbour lives forty miles away. Before Christmas he
had paid a visit to Sandy Point and had carried back in
his saddle-bag a copy of Stevens’ book, ‘With Kitchener
to Khartoum.’ The battle of Omdurman was fought on
the 2nd of September, 1898, and before the 2nd of January,
1899, the full story of the campaign had been written in
THE AUTHOR.
the Soudan, printed, bound, and published in London,
exported to Magellan Strait, and carried up to the
remotest point in Patagonia.”
Mr. Jerome K. Jerome’s novel, ‘ Paul Kelver”
(Hutchinson & Co., 6s.), is autobiographical only
as regards the mental life of the hero. ‘The
incidents and surroundings are drawn from the
author’s knowledge but are not his own personal
experiences. In fact “ Paul Kelver” stands to his
author as “David Copperfield” may have stood
to Dickens—the story is suggested by, but not
founded upon, the author’s own life.
“Paul Kelver” is a long story—there are three
hundred and ninety-eight pages—but it is not a
page too long. Pathos, sentiment, humour are to
be found in those pages. Paul himself is well
worth knowing; there are besides, his parents,
his aunt, the O’Kellys, Miss Rosina Sellars, who
“can’t a-bear a flirty man”; Dan, who indulged
in heavy cookery;. Urban Vane, the morally
crooked, Paul’s tempter; and there is Norah,
strong and sweet.
Mr. R. 8. Crockett, who has been resting, and
holiday-making, and travelling in little-known
parts of Spain, has, however, written a considerable
portion of his serial for next year’s ‘ Windsor
Magazine.” he publishers of his ‘‘The Banner
of Blue” are Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton.
Mr. Crockett’s “« The Scott Country” (Black,
6s.) has been doing very well.
illustrated.
Miss Nora Hopper (Mrs. Chesson) will shortly
publish, through Mr. Grant Richards, a volume of
poems and fantasies to be called “The Woman
with Two Shadows.”
Mrs. Campbell Praed has recently issued through
Mr. Fisher Unwin an illustrated volume of
Australian scenes and impressions called ‘‘ My
Australian Girlhood.” It has also been published
in America and the Colonies, and is about to be
included in a set for continental circulation.
Mrs. Praed is now at work on a short novel
called “The Ghost,” meaning a literary ghost. It
is to be published in shilling form early next year.
This busy authoress is also just completing a story
of modern London life, to be published in 1903,
and is writing short stories for a Syndicate.
Mr. Bernard Capes, whose ‘‘ Love Like a Gipsy”
was published last year by Messrs. Constable & Co.,
‘would have issued a new novel last month through
Messrs. Smith Elder. He has, however, been
obliged to postpone its publication until next
spring owing to the action of a publisher. This
publisher has foisted upon the public, as new, an
old novel of Mr. Capes.
The new story, which we must now wait for, is
to be named “A Castle in Spain,” and it deals,
It is profusely
something more than incidentally, with a supposed
resurrection of Louis XVII. Apropos of which,
the novel was designed and three parts written
when it was found that:the-motive had been fore-
stalled elsewhere, in a book (from America) called
‘“‘ Lazarre.”’ But Mr. Capes feels that it would be
quite unnecessarily heroic to sacrifice the close
labour of months on that score, so ‘‘A Castle in
Spain ” stands.
Helen Mathers (Mrs. Henry Reeves) will publish
a long book—some 100,000 words—through Messrs.
Methuen next spring ; but she may possibly be
represented by a volume of Essays this autumn.
Her recently published novel, “ Honey,” is in a
second edition ; while “ Becky,” in sixpenny form,
has been reprinted. A new edition of “ Bam
Wildfire ” has been called for, and is now ready.
“« A Man of To-Day,” by this writer, is published
at 6d. (John Long), and Messrs. Digby Long are
bringing out a volume of short stories for her this
autumn. Reprints of all Helen Mathers’ earlier
works and noveletites are now available.
Mr. R. O. Prowse, whose “ Voysey ”’ (Heinemann,
1901) was appreciated by those who know and care
fer good work, will not have anything ready to put
into the publisher’s hands for some time to come.
Mr. Prowse has published three novels so far.
His first, ‘ A Fatal Reservation,” was begun when
he was at Oxford. After running as a serial in
“The Cornhill”? for a year, it was published by
Messrs. Smith Elder in 1895. In 1892 Messrs.
Methuen issued his second novel, “‘ The Poison of
Asps.” It is a clever study of a certain aspect of
life in a little Suffolk county town: the author
culls it Tattlebridge.
Three historical tales of Miss Everett-Green’s
will appear this autumn. (1) “A Hero of
the Highlands” (Nelson), dealing with the °45.
(2) “Fallen Fortunes” (Nelson), a story laid in
the reign of Queen Anne. (3) “‘ My Lady Joanna”’
(Nisbet), a tale embodying the early history of
that turbulent daughter of Edward the First, who,
although his fayourite child, gave him more trouble
than all the rest put together.
Messrs. Hutchinson will issue a novel by this
authoress entitled “ Where there’s a Will——.”
It is a story of domestic life, and has done duty
as a serial in the Church Family Newspaper.
Mr. Richard Pryce is at work on a novel which
he hepes to finish some time next year—probably
it will be ready in the autumn. This book is
perhaps more in the manner of “ Jezebel” than of
the author’s earlier novels.
A seventeenth edition (Sweet and Maxwell:
Stevens and Sons) of perhaps the longest-lived of
those technical works which Charles Lamb, with
THE AUTHOR. 5
amusing but, perhaps, not quite merited scorn,
wrote of as “ B(Bdia 4BiBAa,” will shortly be pub-
lished. It is just a hundred years ago that the
late Mr. William Woodfall, of the Middle Temple
—the son of “Memory Woodfall,” the famous
Parliamentary reporter and journalist, and nephew
of tle printer and publisher of J unius—first brought
out his treatise on the law of landlord and tenant,
which he dedicated to that fine old-crusted lawyer,
Lord Eldon, in the first year of his chancellorship.
Mr. Lely’s forthcoming edition of this venerable
work will contain a reprint of Woodfall’s original
preface, a notice of all decided cases up to Michael-
mas Day last—including Mr. Justice Darling’s
decision just before the Long Vacation on the
vexed question of the liability to pay for Corona-
tion Procession Seats—and some dozen editorial
suggestions for further amendment of the law of
the relationship of Landlord and Tenant, “a condi-
tion from which” (wrote Mr. Woodfall in 1802)
“a very small part of the community is exempt.”
Miss Montgomery-Campbell’s book, of which the
scene is laid in the Tyrol, has been delayed owing
to her recent illness in Austria. But two new
children’s story-books by her, entitled respectively
“ A Christmas Surprise Packet,” and ‘Two Lov-
able Troops,” will be issued by Messrs. Jarrold in
the course of this month.
Rita’s new serial, ‘The Jesters,” is at present
running in The Queen. The scene of this story is
laid at King Arthur’s Castle Hotel, Tintagel,
where the authoress was staying last autumn.
“ Alexandre Dumas: His Life and Works,”
such is the title of an important book lately
published through Constable & Co., by Mr. Arthur
F. Davidson, M.A., formerly Scholar of Keble
College, Oxford. In his admirable preface the
author says :—
After a fairly extensive study, during the last fifteen
years, of Dumas and whatever has been written about him,
it seemed to me that there was room for a co-ordination of
facts which might represent, in justly balanced proportion,
and with some pretence of accuracy, both the life of the
man and the work of the author. . . . The various French
works concerning Dumas have all confined themselves to
some particular side of his talent or some particular period
of his life; there does not exist in his own country any
comprehensive and continuous work—biographical and
literary—such as this is intended approximately to be.”
In view of the ground to be covered, Mr.
Davidson has divided the work into large sections
or chapters, with commonplace _ titles, which
roughly indicate the nature of their contents.
The order followed is, as a rule, chronological.
We have room for one quotation only from a book
chock-full of interesting matter :—
“That Dumas was an improvisateur goes without saying,
In this quality he gloried as a rule, and took credit to
himself for the speed at which he could turn off a play or
anovel. But he is careful to point out that the improvisa-
tion is not always so great as it seems.
“ Paper (blue foolscap), pens, ink ; a table neither too
high nor too low. Sit down—reflect for half-an-hour—
write your title—then chapitre premier. Arrange fifty
letters to each line, thirty-five lines to each page; write
two hundred pages if you want a two-volume novel, four
hundred if you want a four-volume ditto, and so on. After
ten, twenty, or forty days, as the case may be—assuming
you write twenty pages, 7.e., seven hundred lines, between
morning and evening—the thing is done. What could be
more simple? Such is my method, say my critics: only
they forget one slight detail. Before any of this apparatus
is put in motion I have often thought for six months, a
year, perhaps even several years, about what I am going to
write. Hence the clearness of my plot, the simplicity of
my methods, the naturalness of my dénodments. Asa rule,
I do not begin a book until it is finished.”
Messrs. Longmans are publishing for M. E.
Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell) in England and
America, this month, another Dorset novel of hers,
“The Manor Farm.” The same firm is serialising
for her in ‘‘Longman’s Magazine” a musical
romance, called “ Christian Thal,” the first chapters
of which will appear in the January number. The
scene is laid for the most part in Vienna, and the
work deals with a certain well-known School of
Music in that city.
“The Country Life Library” of fiction was
recently inaugurated by a volume from the pen of
this popular authoress, entitled “ North, South, and
Over the Sea,” being a collection of peasant stories,
Lancashire, Dorset, and Irish. It is illustrated by
Mr. H. M. Brock.
Mr. H. A. Bryden has completed a “ History of
South Africa,” which Messrs. Sands will shortly
publish. A cheap edition of this author’s romance,
“An Exiled Scot,” has been announced by Messrs.
Chatto and Windus.
Mr. Reynolds-Ball has an instructive and enter-
taining article in the September number of
“ Chambers’s Journal,’ on the Canadian Pacific
Railway, entitled “‘ The Romance of the OPK
It deals at some length with the picturesque
episodes in the history of this colossal undertaking.
Mr. Reynolds-Ball seems to make a speciality
of colonial railway enterprises, as in the August
number of “The New Liberal Review ” appeared
a rather striking article by him on a railway pro-
ject in futuro, under the title ‘London to
Melbourne in Three Weeks.”
Miss Elizabeth Derbishire and Mrs. Jean Carlyle
Graham are at present preparing a documented
and illustrated history of San Gimignano.
Miss Marjory G. J. Kinlock had an interesting
and well-informed article on “Scottish Corona-
tions,” in the April issue of “The Dublin Review.”
A second article by her, on the same subject,
appeared in the July number of that quarterly.
THE AUTHOR.
His Majesty has accepted a copy of Mrs. Aylmer
Gowing’s poem, “The King’s Desire,” which,
appropriately enough, appeared in 7’he Queen.
The first edition of John Bull, the new penny
weekly, edited by Mr. Arthur W. A’Beckett, con-
sisted of 100,000 copies. From the editor’s fore-
words to this special imperial issue of John Bull
we quote the following :—
“He is cosmopolitan and yet patriotic, he has a feeling
of goodwill to foreigners whatever may be their nationality,
but has a particularly tender place in his heart for his kith
and kin all the world over.
“He appreciates the humour of his American cousin and
can trace the Anglo-Norman vivacity in the gaiety of Paris,
the Anglo-Saxon subtlety in the satire of Berlin. He is
incapable of jealousy, as he does not admit a rival.”
The Writer’s Year Book (1s. 6d. nett) is a very
useful commercial! directory for professional writers,
photographers and artists, giving address, time of
payment, and conditions of contributorship of all
magazines, papers, syndicates, and agencies pur-
chasing MSS., photographs, or drawings. It is
published by the Writer’s Year Book Co., Gran-
ville House, Arundel Street, London.
We have received a tiny volume ‘of loyal verse
entitled “The Lily Sceptre,” by Bertha Pasmore.
It is dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess
Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. It is published
and printed by the Exeter Evening Post, Limited.
“Albrecht Diirer,” by Lina E. Eckenstein,
authoress of “Woman under Monasticism,” is a
careful study of the great artist. This little
volume with its thirty-seven illustrations is one of
Messrs. Duckworth & OCo.’s excellent ‘“ Popular
Library of Art” series.
In Mr. Henry Arthur Jones’s new play, “Chance
the Idol,” which was produced at Wyndham’s
Theatre on the evening of September 9th, Miss
Lena Ashwell has made another decided hit, while
Mr. H. V. Esmond, who acts a cynic’s part in the
same piece, has never played better.
Mr. J. M. Barrie’s “Quality Street” was pro-
duced at the Vaudeville Theatre on the evening of
Wednesday, September 17th, and was very well
received indeed. The story of this fantastic
comedy is very simple. Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr.
Seymour Hicks, and Miss Marion Terry delighted
an appreciative audience. Miss Terry received a
special call at the fall of the curtain.
Mr. Hall Caine’s “ Eternal City ” is to be pro-
duced at His Majesty’s Theatre on the evening of
October 2nd, and in America about the same date.
Mr. Caine is to sail for New York on the 11th of
October.
Weunderstand that Mrs. Patrick Campbell began
her second American tour at the Garden Theatre,
New York, on September the 16th, with a marked
success. Mrs. Campbell was enthusiastically
applauded in the new and clever play specially
written for her by Mr. E. F. Benson.
“The Bishop’s Move” is doing exceedingly well
at the Garrick Theatre. Mr. Arthur Bourchier as
the Bishop excels himself; he is at his best. Miss.
Violet Vanbrugh plays up to him admirably ; and
the joint authors, John Oliver Hobbes and Mr.
Carson, are to be warmly congratulated ; they have
given us a charming and wholesome play.
PARIS NOTES.
ogee
HILST waiting for the opening of the
Vy autumn publishing season, we have been
very well supplied with books of travel,
memoirs, and biographies, but there has certainly
been a dearth just recently of interesting and
original novels.
Paul Bourget’s “ L’Etape”’ has been very much
discussed, and long letters have been exchanged
between the author and the Comte d’Haussonville
with regard to the theories contained in this.
novel.
Another book which has given rise to many
newspaper articles is entitled “ Souvenirs du Lieu-
tenant-Général Vicomte de Reiset.” M. de Reiset
joined the army as a volunteer in 1792, at the age-
of seventeen. His memoirs are valuable, as they
give an idea of the life of the soldiers of the First
Empire. The book is not so much a volume of
history as a study of the times and of the habits
and customs of the men with whom the Vicomte-
de Reiset came into contact. The descriptions of
the war with Spain are particularly interesting,
and the pages devoted to the Duc de Berry once
more roused the interest of the public with regard
to the romantic story of the Duc’s English wife.
Another volume of this kind is M. Victor du
Bled’s “ Société francaise du XVI* siécle au XX°
siecle.” M. du Bled is a well-known lecturer on
French society of every epoch, and these lectures,
which are afterwards published in volume form,
are full of anecdotes and witty sayings. “Il y a,”
says M. du Bled, “des mots qui valent mieux que
des diplémes, des compliments et des sourires qui
détruisent ou édifient des traités d’alliance.”
M. Henry Lapauze has published a volume of
“Lettres inédites de Mme. de Genlis,’” which
show this famous woman under quite a new light.
These letters were written to her adopted son,
Casimir Becker (1802—1830), and are certainly
most curious.
“Tia Comtesse Agenor de Gasparin et sa
famille,” by Madame Barbey-Boissier, is a most
welcome book, as the name of the once famous
-a book well worth reading.
-enthusiasm to his readers.
THE AUTHOR. 7
Mme. de Gasparin is almost forgotten by the
present generation, and her works are very little
read nowadays. ‘‘ Les Horizons prochains,” by
Mme. de Gasparin, had great success some fifty
years ago. M.A. Filon has written an eloquent
preface to this biography.
A book to be read by politicians is “ Rome,
Naples et le Directoire,” by M. Joseph du Theil.
There are very few anecdotes in this volume, but
-a fund of information.
Another historical book on the ‘‘ Guerres
d’Espagne sous Napoléon,” by M. Guillon, bears
out much which is said by the Vicomte de Reiset
in his “‘ Souvenirs.”
“Dominique Larrey et les Campagnes de la
Revolution et de l’Empire,” by M. Paul Triaire, is
“Oe Dominique
Larrey,” said Napoleon, “est le plus honnéte
homme que j’aie connu ; si jamais l’armée éleve
une colonne a la reconnaissance, elle doit l’eriger
a Larrey.” No monument has been erected, and
so Dr. Paul Triaire has published this volume in
honour of the brave and loyal army surgeon.
Every publishing season brings us new books of
history or memoirs of the Revolution epoch, and
one of the great difficulties of historians is to
discover the documents they require for their
work.
The City of Paris is having an index compiled
of printed works relating to the Revolution period,
and another index of manuscripts. The compiler
-of the latter, M. Tuetcy, has his index ready for
publication. It is the result of twenty years of
work, and gives the summary of all that exists in
the French archives dating from the Revolution.
«TAme du Voyageur,” the posthumous volume
by Prince Henri d’Orléans, was published by the
Duc de Chartres on the anniversary of the death
ofhisson. It is a well-written book, full of thought
and shrewd observation. In the preface M.
Eugéne Dufeuille gives us a brief account of
the life of the Prince, who was born at Ham
Common in 1867, and who died at Saigon last
“year.
The first chapter, “ L’Ame du Voyageur,” gives
its title to the volume, and is the keynote to the
whole book. Prince Henri was no ordinary, care-
less traveller. He had gone abroad to observe, to
learn, and to discover, and he has the gift of
imparting something of his own interest and
The second part
of the book consists of five chapters describing
the journey, “ De Paris au Tonkin par Terre.”
Then comes a chapter on “Les Missionnaires
francais au Thibet,” and four more chapters on
“Une Excursion en Indo-Chine.” ‘There are
other chapters on ‘ Madagascar, Recherches
_ Philologiques dans le Yunnan, La Province de
Battambang, L’ Assam, L’Abyssinie et le Trans-
vaal,” and on ‘L’Insurrection des Boxers et la
Politique de la France en Chine.”
M. Camille Flammarion has just published a
book which has come at the right moment, “ Les
Eruptions volcaniques et les Tremblements de
terre.”
The popular edition just issued of M. Albert
Charmolu’s book, “ La Justice gratuite et rapide
par l’arbitrage aimable,” will probably not appeal
to a large public in England.
A timely book has been published by M. Moreau
on “Sir Wilfred Laurier.”
“Te Monde invisible” is the title of the new
volume by M. Jules Bois.
Translations from all languages are still very
much in favour in France, and several of the serials
running through daily papers are by English
authors.
M. Harancourt wrote a long article on “ Kim,”
comparing Rudyard Kipling as an “ ironiste”
with Toussenel.
Another translation which has recently appeared
is “In Kedar’s Tents,” by H. Seton Merriman.
George Gissing’s “ New Grub Street” has also
just been published in volume form as “ La Rue
des Meurt-de-faim,” and has been most favourably
received.
The theatres are announcing their new plays for
the winter season. M. Antoine has a long list
in store for us. Among his first ones are “ Les
Demi-solde,” by MM. d’Esparbes et Coulangheon,
and “ Sainte Héléne’”’ by Mme. Séverine. This is
an episode in the life of Napoleon. There are
other pieces by M. Veber, M. Brieux, M. Bergerat,
and M. Trarieux.
Among the new pieces with which Madame
Réjane is to commence her season in Paris on
her return from America are: “La Meilleure
Part,” by Pierre de Coulevain and Pierre
Decourcelle ; “La Troisitme Lune,’ by Mme.
F. Gressac, and a new piece by M. Sardou.
Auys HALLARD.
oo —__———
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
———+
“Mr. Absolute” again.
OME curious’ clauses appearing from time
to time in publishers’ agreements have
been freely criticised in The Author. The
agreements drafted by the Publishers’ Association
contained many examples of such clauses. It is
necessary once again to criticise Mr. Absolute’s
methods, as his agreement has been too much in
8 THE AUTHOR.
evidence during the past year. The clause that
needs special attention runs as follows :—
“‘ This agreement is entered into by the publisher on the
warranty by the author, that the said work does not
infringe any copyright, and that the said work does not
contain anything of a libellous nature. If the said work
does contain anything constituting or alleged to constitute
a breach of such warranty, and proceedings are threatened
or brought for any alleged infringement of copyright, or
for any alleged libel, and it is deemed advisable by the
publisher in his absolute discretion not to contest the
matter but to arrive at a settlement thereof; or, if the
action is successfully contested, then in any and every case
the author shall pay in advance to the publisher a sufficient
sum to cover the estimated costs of the publisher in defend-
ing such action, or settling such action or threatened pro-
ceedings, and shall at the same time give to the publisher
security satisfactory to him to indemnify him against any
damages awarded in such action; and shall, on demand,
repay to the publisher all costs (as between solicitor and
client), damages, and expenses incurred by the publisher
in respect of, or resulting from, or incidental to such action
or threatened proceedings, or the settlement thereof; and
shall also, if the said work is withdrawn from publication,
repay to the publisher all costs and expenses of and inciden-
tal to the publication, advertisement of, and other dealings
with the said work, to the effect that the publisher shall
have a full and complete indemnity from the author in
respect of all out-of-pocket expenses in connection with
the said work.”
In this particular agreement the publisher pur-
chased the copyright from the author. In such a
case there is no reason why the anthor should sign
any guarantee clause or clause of warranty. In these
circumstances the motto, caveat emptor, should
rule the decision.
Yet there is no harm iu the author giving a
guarantee, should he desire to oblige the publisher
or to avoid dispute. It is not likely that any
author would knowingly sell to a publisher a work
which was not copyright or which was libellous.
In cases, however, where the author is only
giving to the publisher a licence to publish, where
the publisher is not acting as principal, but is
acting practically as the author’s agent under
specific agreement, it is only fair the publisher
should be guaranteed that the work he is producing
is not an infringement of copyright, and does not
contain anything of a libellous nature. But as the
publisher is not acting as a mere agent on com-
mission, but is himself reaping a large—sometimes
the larger—share of the profits, there is no reason
why he should be indemnified from all costs and
charges. As it is the author’s property that is in
dispute, he should have the chief voice in regard
to the defence of any action, the commencement of
any action, and the settlement of any action.
Let us turn, however, to the clause quoted above.
Firstly, under the agreement from which this
clause is extracted the publisher purchases the
copyright.
Secondly, he obtains the larger proportion of the
profits,
Thirdly, the wording of this clause under any
conditions is, from the author’s point of view, quite
absurd, and no sensible author should think of
signing an agreement in which it occurs,
The clause should never have been inserted.
If it is inserted merely to obtain power, then it
must as candidly be stated that no man ought
to give to his dearest friend such power or place
himself so unreservedly in his hands.
The author is putting too much trust in the
bona fides of the publisher. It is possible that
some scoundrel (this does not refer to the publisher)
might for his own reasons commence action against
the publisher, even when there was no foundation
for a charge of libel or infringement of copyright.
It would lie in the publisher’s power to settle on
what terms he thought fit, and the author would
be bound to pay the costs of the proceedings, even
if the case from the publisher’s standpoint was
successful.
This deduction seems quite reasonable, for there
is no statement contained in the clause that the
author shall obtain the return of his money ; and
even if the publisher obtained damages in an action,
the author would have to pay any extra costs as
between solicitor and client, yet would not obtain
any portion of the amount received in damages.
But worse is to follow.
It is possible for the publisher to withdraw the
book on terms of settlement with the opposing
party, and the publisher might possibly be inclined
to do so supposing that it would be difficult to
determine exactly whether the book was an infringe-
ment of copyright or not, or where the action was
inclined to be long and involved. Further, the
defendants might offer a sum for the withdrawal
of the book, and the publisher might settle on
terms highly advantageous to himself. Under
these circumstances the author is not only bound
to pay all the costs that have been incurred, but he is
also bound to pay the publisher “all costs and
expenses of and incidental to the publication, adver-
tisement of, and other dealings with the said work,
indemnifying him from all out-of-pocket expenses,”
As already stated, it cannot for a moment be
supposed that any publisher would force the inter-
pretation of the clause to its logical and legitimate
conclusion. Then why insert it? It is not right
that any author should sign an agreement which
should put such chances and such powers in the
hands of the publisher. Nothing should be left
to the generosity of the publisher in a case of
difficulty. It is exactly from a position of this
kind that disputes and bad feeling have arisen
in past years. Only the other day a publisher
objected to make some alterations on the excuse
that there should be ‘“ mutual confidence.”
Unfortunately, in the case of the “ confidence
trick,” the confidence is that given on the side of
the victim. The other party takes good care not
to be in the position of loser.
Those publishers who insist and persist in placing
agreements containing monstrous and impossible
clauses before authors are bound in the end to sap
the confidence of their employers, and lose business.
That this is the case is evident to those who
watch the literary output, and are aware of the
publisher’s agreements.
G.I.
—— 4
Tauchnitz Editions.
I
AN article, signed by “G. H. T.,” appeared
under the above title in the June number of The
Author, but reached my hands too late to enable
me to answer it in the next issue.
Although I abstain in general, out of considera-
tion for the authors represented in the Tauchnitz
edition, from publishing any business details or
figures, I hope that the columns of The Author
will be opened to the following short explanation.
From it will be seen that the calculations of
«G@. H. T.” are deduced from false premises and
based on a misunderstanding, while one grave
error, due no doubt to mere inadvertence, will
also be called attention to.
Your correspondent finds that my average
selling price to the trade is M. 0°95, and _he takes
this figure as a basis for calculations which lead
him to the conclusion that royalties of 3d., 4d.,
and 6d. a volume would be a fair remuneration to
authors for editions of 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000
‘copies respectively of their works.
Permit me to call attention to some of his most
obvious errors.
(1) The average price at which my volumes are
sold to the trade is not M. 0°95 but M. 0°83°225
(this figure is the result of the most careful and
exact calculation). The prices quoted by “G. H. T.”
(M. 1:20, M. 1-05, M. 0°95, M. 0°90, and M. 0°85)
are correct only for a portion of the trade, and do
not apply to another and much larger part for
which quite different and lower terms are allowed.
But even if the above prices had been applicable,
it would yet be entirely incorrect to strike an
average as “G. H. T.” has done, since the sale
of volumes at the higher prices is in no proportion
at all to that of works at M. 0°85. The general
“‘publisher’s expenses” amount to 17 per cent. of
the average sale price of M. 0°83, and not to 10 per
cent.of the profit! This figure is exactly calculated,
and reduces our M. 0°83 to M. 0°70, which must
accordingly be taken as the basis of all calculations
instead of the M. 0°95 of your correspondent.
(2) The sale of volumes of the Tauchnitz
THE AUTHOR. 9
edition is smaller than “G. H. T.” seems to take
for granted. Three thousand copies represent a
very fair sale, which is never reached by a con-
siderable number of the works published ; a sale
of 5,000 copies is only attained in the case ot
works by exceptionally popular authors ; while a
sale of 10,000 can only be recorded in the case of
six books out of the 800 volumes published during
the last ten years.
(3) “G. H. T.” is wrong in taking £20 as
the average honorarium paid for volumes of the
Tauchnitz edition. The actual figure is very
considerably higher, and is always conscientiously
calculated according to the measure of the author’s
popularity on the Continent.
(4) The cost of production, though varying
considerably in point of fact according to circum-
stances, is fairly accurately given by “G. H. T.”
for editions of 8,000 and 5,000 copies, but his
estimate for 10,000 copies is too low. However,
I am quite willing, for the purposes of argument,
to accept the figures he gives. In this connection
I may call attention to a curious mistake your
correspondent makes. In the case of 3,000 and
5,000 copies he correctly finds the publisher’s
profit by deducting from the sum the sale of the
copies brings in, the cost of production of the
edition ; while in the case of a sale of 10,000 copies
he entirely forgets to deduct this very considerable
item of M. 2,800 or £140 (although he expressly
says he has done so), and so arrives at the
astonishing conclusion that the profits of publisher
and author are in the proportion of 8 to 1, and pro-
poses that the latter shonld receive a royalty of
6d. per copy.
If “G. H. T.” will now make his calculations
anew on the corrected basis, and allow royalties of
3d., 4d., and 6d. as he proposes, he will arrive at
the following results :
In the case of an edition of 8,000 copies :—
Profits of sale M. 2,100
Less cost of production 1,400
Total profit. M. 700 or £35 0 0
Less 3d. royalty
(Author’s profit) far 10. 0
Nett loss to publisher £210 0
In the case of an edition of 5,000 copies :—
Profits of sale M. 8,500
Less cost of production 1,800
Total profit. M. 1,700 or £85 0 0
Less 4d. royalty
(Author’s profit) . 88.66 0
Nett profit to publisher
10
In the case of an edition of 10,000 copies :—
M. 7,000
2,800
Profits of sale . :
Less cost of production
Total profit M. 4,200 or £210 0
Less 6d. royalty
(Author’s profit) 250 0 0
£40 0 0
Nett loss to publisher
The above figures speak for themselves, and I
feel sure from the friendly tone of “ G. H. T.’s ”
article that he will be the first to form a more
favourable opinion of the transactions between
myself and British authors.
Faithfully yours,
TAUCHNITZ.
es
Il,
To the Editor of THe AvuTHoR.
Srtr,—I beg to thank. you for allowing me an
early perusal of Baron Tauchnitz’s letter.
I mnst apologise to the Baron for omitting to
deduct the cost of production in calculating the
figures for the sale of 10,000 copies; but even if
this cost is deducted it makes the ratio between
publishers’ and authors’ profits about 54 to 1—a
substantial difference.
In answer to objection two, urged from the
Leipzig house, I can only say that the prices at
which the books are sajd to the booksellers were
collected from Italy, Switzerland, Germany and
France, and did not differ, save in the rate of
exchange, in any of the countries.
In answer to No. 3 I can but repeat that a long
and intimate acquaintance with the current prices
of literature and authors’ rights confirms me in my
opinion that £20 is a fair price to have named.
T am glad that the Baron admits that the cost
of production is reasonable. Where, however, a
publisher prints his own books the cost must be
considerably cheaper than an estimate, such as
mine, obtained in the open market.
Yours truly,
G. H. f.
— 9
Matters of Account.
THE manner in which certain publishers render
accounts is frequently a cause for complaint by the
author. To prevent friction between author and
publisher should be the constant aim of both
parties ; the latter should endeavour to meet the
author wherever he can do so without difficulty to
THE AUTHOR.
himself, especially as he is constantly complain-
ing of the lack of that friendly feeling which is
supposed to have existed in the good old days.
The method of rendering halt-profit accounts is
not under discussion.
Accounts of books published on the half-profit
system are nearly always unsatisfactory to the
author, and need considerable investigation.
Where books are published on the royalty
system the case is different. The simplest method
of rendering accounts with a view of satisfying the
author is that adopted by some of the best houses
in London.
A statement is made of the number of books
printed—the printer’s voucher is enclosed with the
account—and a statement is made of the number
of books on hand. The difference between the
two amounts is fully accounted for, and the
royalty paid. This is satisfactory to the author,
and even to the most unbusinesslike is simple and
plain. He learns the number of the issue, and
feels secure that there has been no double dealing,
as the printer’s voucher is furnished with the
statement.
The following method of rendering accounts is
unsatisfactory. It at once breeds suspicion in the
author’s mind, especially when after a formal
demand the publisher refuses to give the author
further particulars, or refuses to allow an
accountant to check the books. The method
referred to is simply stating “so many copies
sold, so much royalty.”
It would be possible for the author, if
he was a member of the Society, to compel the
publishers to produce their books and vouchers,
This course, however, is one of considerable
expense to the Society, considerable trouble to
the author, and does not as a rule return a benefit
commensurate with the trouble and the expense.
It is possible that the publisher may argue that
the author has a statement, and a correct statement,
of the number of copies sold, and is paid a royalty
on the amount. This argument may to a certain
extent be sound, but experience shows that the
method is a bad one. It arouses suspicion in the
mind of the author, withholds information that
the author is entitled to, and in consequence tends
to friction. It is so easy to render accounts giving
full explanations that the publisher should when
possible avoid causing annoyance, and in no case
more so than where questions of the monetary return
are concerned.
There is another method of rendering accounts
on the royalty system which is even more unsatis-
factory to the author. This applies rather to
American than to English publishers.
Books are sent out on sale or return, but the
fact is not notified in the accounts, and the royalty
if
{LF
SA. hh gee
a eS
=
a
is paid on these books. Some of the books are
returned. ‘The publisher has two courses open.
Both are unsatisfactory. The first is to deduct
the royalty already paid and debit the account (it
is a question whether the publishers could actually
demand the return of the money); the second is to
reduce the sales in the next account rendered by
the amount returned, without notifying the fact in
the account, thus to the author's astonishment
bringing the sales to an extraordinarily low figure.
If either of these courses is adopted, the author
not unnaturally gives vent to some angry eXx-
pressions. All these difficulties could have been
avoided if in the first instance the publisher, when
rendering his accounts, had stated that of the
books sent out a certain number were sent out
on sale or return and either (1) refused to pay
the royalty until the returns were ascertained, or
(2) paid the royalty subject to the books being
returned.
It cannot be too often repeated that the publisher
who renders fullest accounts, who is always
willing without any trouble or unnecessary delay
to meet the author with full particulars, will, firstly,
be much less likely to be troubled by the authors
for whom he is acting in the matter of book investi-
gation (they will feel assured that everything is
open to them should they desire to make enquiry),
and, secondly, will reap considerable benefit owing
to his enhanced reputation.
A. B.
—+—~—+
Publisher and Author.
Mr. Exuior Srock, publisher, 62, Paternoster
Row, brought an action against Mr. Henry Har-
rison, author, to recover the sum Of 91 10s. Id..
being the balance of charges for printing and
publishing a book for him. Mr. Arnholz appeared
for the plaintiff, the defendant conducting
his own case. It seemed that the book was
published in 1898. At the time the plaintiff
advertised the work, and obtained reviews in
various newspapers. The defendant complained
that the plaintiff had been guilty of recklessness
in inserting advertisements in London papers
when the book dealt with Liverpool. The plain-
tiff repudiated the suggestion of carelessness, and
said that all Liverpool people and antiquarians
generally were interested in the subject. It
seemed that the plaintiff’s advertising clerk was on
his holiday, and could not testify to some of the
smaller details. A compromise was suggested ;
and, in the end, judgment was given, by general
approval, for the plaintiff for six guineas, without
costs.
The defendant had, before the date of the trial,
offered the plaintiff 5/, 5s. in full settlement.
THE AUTHOR. 11
Mechanical Reproduction and Musical Rights.
Aw interesting case is being tried in the
United States courts to determine whether the
production of music by means of perforated rolls
used in piano-organs and similar instruments is
an infringement of copyright.
From the judgments given up to the present
time in the United States it would appear that
such reproduction is not an infringement of copy-
right. This point was decided in the English
courts some time ago. But though such produc-
tion is not an infringement of the copyright, it is
undoubtedly an infringement of the performing
right, and could be easily stopped by an injunction
if musical composers took care to protect them-
selves in their agreements in order to preserve
these rights.
The publishers, in the majority of instances,
endeavour to obtain every conceivable right from
the unfortunate musical composer, and seem to be
quite indifferent to this form of infringement. It
would be as well if, in addition to waging war
against the street vendors of music, they took:
steps against those who reproduce music by means
of mechanical process.
The point is one of growing importance now
that pianolas and pianotists are sold in such large
quantities.
In former years Sir Walter Besant on several
occasions endeavoured to get the musical composers
to combine with the authors and band them-
selves together to protect their own property.
Some of the best known composers in England
joined the society, but in spite of this endeavour
they lacked the energy to adopt a virile and
energetic policy.
Is it a hopeless matter to ask them once more
to “set in order their house” and fight for the
maintenance of what is their own? It would be
impossible to secure a better arrangement in the
musical market immediately, but a gradual
improvement would no doubt take place if the
publishers saw that the main body of the musical
composers were really-m earnest.
SEE tiene a a
True Tales.
Unper the heading of “‘ Literary Property,” in
the February, 1901, issue of The Author, some
curious instances were quoted in which publishers,
without a real breach of their agreement, had killed
authors’ books. ‘The instances were all authentic,
and should be carefully studied.
We call the article to mind as a curious case on
somewhat similar lines has come to our knowledge.
A publisher produced a book on an agreement to
pay a royalty which should rise after the sale of a
certain number of copies. When the fixed number
12
of copies was reached he stated that it was impos-
sible to re-issue the book, as he could not afford to
pay the higher price, but he added that he was
willing to cancel the contract. He made one or
two statements with regard to expenses, with a view
to cover his position; these, however, were not
borne out by the facts of the case. The author
was placed in the awkward position of being com-
pelled to bring an action for damages (always
unsatisfactory), or to go to the trouble and annoy-
ance of endeavouring to place the book in the hands
of another publisher, with the additional risk of its
not being accepted. Would the Publishers’ Associa-
tion consider such a case if it was placed before
them, and issue a criticism on its moral aspects ?
If so, we shall be glad to give full details.
The end of the story is, however, satisfactory.
The book was successfully transferred to another
publisher. The author obtained the advanced
royalty from the beginning, in spite of the fact
that the book had again to be set up in type.
Another strange story may point a moral to
authors :—
A certain well-known publishing body wrote to
an author who was just coming into fame, and
asked him to write a book. They made him an
offer of a sum down in payment. The author
refused, as he stated he could always get twice as
much for anything he wrote, but he went to see
the manager of the establishment in order to
explain his position. The manager thereupon
stated that he was astonished at the objection
made, as Mr. (naming an author whose popu-
larity is at the present day undoubted) had written
for them at that price.
This was a statement of fact, but the manager
omitted to add that when Mr. had written
for them at that price he was practically an unknown
and struggling author, and the books had been
written nearly twenty years before.
The end of this story was also satisfactory.
The young author was not deceived, but refused the
contract.
ep
Denmark and the Berne Convention.
Our valuable contemporary Le Droit d’ Auteur
contains the highly interesting intelligence that a
movement in Copenhagen in favour of the Berne
Convention, with which the name of Mr. Bang
is honourably associated, has led to satisfactory
results. On the occasion of a reception of the
deputation of the Association of Danish Authors
by the Minister of Public Instruction, the latter
informed them that he intended laying before the
Parliament during the next session a law that
would prepare the way for the entrance of Denmark
into the International Union.
THE AUTHOR.
Italian Copyright Law.
PRELIMINARY discussions of the reform of the
present Italian law of copyright have been going
on since the beginning of the year. ‘The questions
raised respecting the duration of the copyright
have led to interesting disclosures and resolutions,
Italy stands alone in having a system by which,
after the expiration of the criginal right (twenty-
five years), a second period ensues of another
twenty-five years during which a royalty is paid
to the State. This has been regarded by the
supporters of perpetual copyright as a step in the
right direction, by which the community (not the
publishers alone) benefit by the abiding value of
works that continue to be popular. It appears,
however, that the purely commercial instincts of
the publishers mamage here also to get evil out of
good. It is just those works which pay this
royalty that the publishers prefer mot to reprint.
In consequence, Italy will probably fall back upon
a copyright of life and fifty years. That of life
and forty years, preferred by the recent new law of
Germany, has been happily rejected. It is a
singular thing that the Latin races have distinctly
more advanced and wider views about the duration
of copyright than Englishmen and Germans. But
this last instance of a capacity for breadth of
vision is only one of many evidences of that fact.
Oo
CANADIAN COPYRIGHT—ANOTHER POINT
OF VIEW.
a
Being a paper read before the Canadian Press Association
at its Annual Mecting in February.
Literature and its Handicaps.
HERE is an intimate relationship between
a literature and journalism. In the days
when there was no journalism there was
little literature, and what there was brought but
small return to its producers. In this golden age
of journalism—and it is a golden age—literature
flourishes as the green-bay tree. The writer of
poems, instead of hoarding up his verses until he
has enough to fill a volume, gives them out one by
one to the daily, weekly, or monthly Press, and
receives an immediate hearing and some immediate
return for the finished product of his art. The
writer of short stories wins fame and a competence
by helping to fill’the voracious columns of the
daily or weekly paper. Through journalism he
takes his first steps towards success, makes the
first steps of his ability to supply the public with
interesting material. The writer of novels tests
his material with the editors of magazines and
daily papers; if he cannot win a hearing with
them, it is not likely, though it sometimes occurs,
that he will win the favour of a great book pub-
lisher. Through journalism, the novelist widens
the circle of his devotees and wins a quick mone-
tary return. It is said that Sir Gilbert Parker
received over $5,000 for the serial rights of each
of his last two novels, while Mr. Kipling gets as
high as a shilling a word for his compositions.
It is just this intimate relationship between
journalism and literature which accounts for much
of the backwardness of Canadian literature. Jour-
nalism in Canada has been fighting a stern battle,
and has been able to give literature but little
encouragement. Therefore, literature’s first handi-
cap may be stated to be the weakness of the support
given by journalism. If a Canadian poet could
receive $5 or $10 for each poem sent to a daily
paper, he would be stimulated to a greater produc-
tion and to a higher grade of work. Ifa Canadian
short-story writer could get $50 for each short
story from a daily paper, or from a syndicate of
daily papers, his work would be of a higher quality.
If a Canadian novelist could get $200 to $1,000
for the serial rights of each long story produced,
we would soon have a new school of novelists. If
a dozen literary periodicals were competing for the
work of poets, descriptive writers, and novelists,
the production of material would be increased, and
a higher grade of literature would be the result.
But we have not yet reached that stage.
A bright Canadian writer who recently went to
London to live desired to supply a.weekly letter to
Canadian dailies. I undertook to syndicate the
work for her. I sent a glowing letter to about
thirty of our leading dailies, and offered to give this
weekly letter for exclusive publication in such dis-
trict at $1 to $2 per week. I received only one
acceptance. Let me give another example. I
arranged to syndicate Canadian short stories and
supply them to daily papers on the same conditions
at $1 a week, but could get no support for my
venture.
Another handicap from which Canadian litera-
ture is suffering is the lack of a Copyright Act. If
this market were confined to Canadian publishers,
the books of Canadian authors would be published
by strong firms and well marketed. There will be
little Canadian literature until a Canadian Copy-
right Act prevents this country from being exploited
as a slaughter market for the publications of foreign
printers and publishers.
Still another handicap is the freedom with which
United States periodicals circulate in this country.
Nearly three millions a year of these weeklies and
monthlies find their way into this market, crowding
THE AUTHOR.
13
Canadian publications to the wall. Unprinted
paper is charged 25 per cent.; printed paper, con-
taining the work of United States writers, artists,
engravers, and printers, pays no duty. Not only
is Canadian literature unprotected, but it is dis-
criminated against to the extent of 25 per cent.
The producer of milk cans and agricultural imple-
ments is protected ; the producer of literature is
not only unprotected, but is actually handicapped,
The handicap on a publisher desiring to publish a
10-cent magazine in this country amounts on a
50,000 edition to $7,500 a year. This tax prevents
publishers employing Canadian writers and artists.
In a recent address Principal Grant stated that
the journalists are weaving the organic filaments
of a new and higher social state; that the only
sovereigns in these days are the literary men. lf
this be true, Canada is, in a great measure, allowing
United States journalists and literary men to weave
the organic filaments of this new nation. During
the past few months a New York paper, by the
name of Success, has been organising Success Clubs
in connection with our Church societies. ‘There
are several of these clubs in Toronto. Acqui-
escence in this sort of thing may be excused in an
unthinking public, but it cannot be excused in
journalists and publicists. Upon the journalists
of Canada rests, to some extent, the duty of seeing
that Canadians are fed upon the proper kind of
intellectual food.
The fourth handicap is shared by both journalism
and literature. The Imperial postage rate on
newspapers and periodicals is eight cents a pound,
and an Imperial circulation cannot be secured
with such a handicap. If London publications
sold more freely in Canada, they would require
more of Canada’s literary products.
The fifth handicap is the complacency of the
public. No other country in the world buys
foreign periodicals and books in such quantities
as Canada. Great Britain does not, because she
has as neighbours the French and Germans, whose
languages erect a natural barrier, while the
Atlantic separates her from the United States and
prevents the competition between the two countries
which would exist were they side by side. So the
United States is protected by the Atlantic from
the inroads of British periodicals, and by an astute
Copyright Act from the competition of British
book publishers. Canada is only one concession
removed from the United States, and the language
is the same. Only the loyalty of the Canadian-
reading public could save this market for the
Canadian journalist and Jdttérateur. This loyalty
is evident in the support given to the publication
with which I am connected, in the great sales of
the works of Ralph Connor and Gilbert Parker
and in other ways.
But this loyalty must be
14
assisted and fostered by such legislation as will
cive us bright literature at popular prices, Canadian
literature in popular form. he loyalty of a small
portion of our people must not be taxed by this
unfair competition from another country.
With all these handicaps it is small wonder that
we have little native literature and few native
writers of prominence. ‘The best writers who have
been unfortunate enough to be born in this country
have soon discovered the mistake and hastened to
change their abode. Grant Allen, Robert Barr,
Gilbert Parker, Sara Jeanette Duncan, Bliss
Carman, Charles G. D. Roberts, and a dozen
others have shaken the dust of Canadian soil from
off their feet because it was unholy ground. They
have gone to find fame, appreciation and wealth
in other lands. ‘They have removed to countries
that have a strong journalism, a stern Copyright
Act, a protected home market, favourable postage
rates, and a not indifferent public.
This protest of mine may be a kick against the
pricks. Ido not believe it is. I believe I shall
live to see the day, if I have luck, when Canadian
journalism shall be strong enough to afford sub-
stantial encouragement to Canadian writers, when
Canada shall give her writers the profits of a copy-
righted market, when the evils of foreign com-
petition shall be duly limited, when Canadian
periodicals will circulate throughout the Empire
under the sgis of penny postage, when a loyal
public will give greater encouragement to the man
who is putting the genius of the nation into song
and story. The influencesare at work, the struggle
for bread and butter is nearly past, the struggle
for literary supremacy is at hand. When the new
day arrives, Canadian literature and Canadian
journalism will be found working together to give
this people the food which makes for intellectual
greatness.
Joun A. CooPER,
Editor, Canadian Magazine.
—
BOOKS AND THE PUBLIC.
oo
The Method of Distribution.
ROM time to time The Author has published
interesting articles bearing on the relation-
ship between author and agent and the
various methods of publishing, and I have expected
to see another on “The Method of Distribution.”
To my mind this is by far the most important, for
however ably written, disposed of, and published,
all will be in vain if the buying public are not
induced to buy what the author, agent, and
publisher have produced.
THE AUTHOR.
Now, as to the present method of distributions
Are your readers satisfied with present arrange.
ments ? If so, there is nothing more to be aid or-
done. But if the greater number, leaving out the
successful writers of fiction who can command
sales of many thousands, do not feel satisfied that
their books are well displayed and given a fair
chance, there is ample reason for discussing the
matter.
To those unacquainted with the process it may
be well to state that the usual course appears
to be for the publisher, having previously para-
graphed the work in hand for all he is worth,
to show round a copy, or subscribe as it is called,
to the London trade and libraries ; simultaneously
he shows a copy, by means of his traveller, to the
country bookseller. By “the trade” it must be
understood that we mean not only retailers but
also wholesale buyers, and those who are known as
“exporters,” mostly agents for well-known Colonial
or American booksellers.
We will suppose that we have to deal with an
ordinary book, fiction or otherwise, by a practically
unknown author. The bookseller does indeed look
at the cover, glance through a few pages, consider
the size and weight of the volume with reference to
its price, and then courteously or otherwise inform
the anxiously waiting traveller that he “ will not
subscribe, but wait until he is asked for it and get
it from one Simpkins.” Naturally enough he
can’t stock all books. He knows the names of
a few well-known authors, and he prefers to buy
enough of these to make a big heap, to which he
knows his assistants will run while cuckooing the
usual note, “ Here is the latest by So-and-so. We
are selling hundreds.” But how fares our unlucky
author ? If the wholesale buyers put it into their
stock at all, they must have an additional discount
to induce them to do so ; and rightly, for they do
take some risk if they take but little trouble.
They also will wait ‘till they are asked for it.”
And the chances are that they will be asked for it,
because a vast expenditure must be incurred by
the publisher in advertising, to say nothing of the
copies he sénds for review.
But so far what has the trade done for the
book ? Absolutely nothing. For the most part the
booksellers have not stocked it, therefore they can-
not show it. The book-buyer cannot see it. He
must “ order” it, buying “a pig in a poke,” on the
faith of what a reviewer has said, or caught by the
showy advertisement that the clever pubiisher has
concocted. But the bookseller having taken his
order, and in due course ordered it from Simpkins,
is content to pack up the book, send it to his
customer, get the money when he can, and dis-
contentedly grumble at his profit. He has
done packers’ work and been paid at packers’
wages. As-a salesman he has done nothing, as a
literary helper he has done less, and in all proba-
bility he has never seen the book, having left all
the seeing and distributing to his assistants.
Yet pretty well half the published price of the
book has disappeared in this process. Truly one-
fourth is allowed as discount to the buyer, but
there can be little doubt that the other fourth has
been swallowed up by a very extravagant method of
distribution. Sales there have not been—except
so far as advertisements have produced them. In
other words, the shopkeeper only supplies a demand
created by other means—and he is no book-seller
at all.
Are there remedies? Yes. 1. The post-
office “ cash on delivery ” system would be cheaper.
2. Let publishers refuse to give any trade allow-
ances on single collected copies, but increase the
allowance considerably when books are taken by
men who intend to sell them by personally knowing
something of their contents.
Probably these suggestions will be considered
no remedy, but amongst the many brilliant readers
of The Author surely there is one who will show us
how to get rid of the present inefficient shopkeeper
and set up a well-paid and contented book-seller.
+-—<—_+—_—__
COLONIAL ART COPYRIGHT.
—
Y a decision given in the Supreme Court of
Appeal of Ontario, by four Judges, it has
been held that a British copyright owner has
no protection in the Dominion of Canada in the
matter of artistic copyright. The case arose
over a photogravure published by Messrs. Henry
Graves and Co., Ltd., the copyright of which
was duly registered in Stationers’ Hall. The
photogravure was entitled “ What we _ have
we'll hold,” and represented a bulldog, in defiant
attitude, standing on the Union Jack. This had
been pirated in Canada in divers ways—by copies
made in oil, by reproductions in photogravure, by
process work, by lithography, both plain and in
colours, by being reproduced on envelopes, note-
paper, post-cards, brooches, match-boxes, and in
yarious other ways, and the piracies had even been
exported to England. Messrs. Henry Graves and
Co., Ltd., accordingly took action in Canada,
and, as the matter was a vital one to all who have
a direct or indirect interest in the subject of
artistic copyright, an influential society of artists,
fine art publishers, engravers, &., was formed,
with Sir Edward Poynter, Bart., P.R.A., as Pre-
sident, under the title of the Society for the
Protection of British Fine Art Copyright in the
Colonies, in order to protect the interests of the
THE AUTHOR.
15
various professions, businesses, and industries
affected. A deputation from the Association
waited on Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Canadian
Premier, who was asked to accord to Great
Britain at least as much protection in Canada
as was received by British copyright owners
in various foreign countries, such as France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, or even Hayti. It was
pointed out that the position was most anomalous
whilst these countries received from Great
Britain just the same protection as was accorded
to Canada, Canada gave Great Britain no
protection whatever. Mr. J. F. E. Grundy
(Secretary of the Association), Messrs. Walter
Dowdeswell, J. B. Pratt, J. J. Elliott, and
Adolf Tuck having spoken, a petition on the
matter, headed by Sir Edward Poynter, and signed
by most of the Royal Academicians and others
interested in fine art copyright, was handed to
Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The Canadian Premier, who
gave the deputation a most courteous reception,
whilst carefully guarding himself from any expres-
sion of opinion likely to commit his Ministry,
promised to give this important question his full
and most sympathetic consideration on his return
to Canada. Meanwhile, he promised in the interval
to forward the petition to the responsible Minister
in Canada. The deputation thanked Sir Wilfrid
Laurier for his courtesy.
——_——_——__+—<>—_+—__—-
THE ART OF INDEXING.*
——_-—+—
N interesting monograph on indexes and
A index-makers has been added to the Book-
Lover’s Library, but the compiler addresses
experts and the profession rather than authors.
No one knows better what a good index should be
than Mr. Wheatley ; but he makes so much of his
subject that possibly his book will deter the busy
author from attempting a task well within his
compass, for this treatise is at once too diffuse and
too advanced to be of real service as a guide to
writers who wish to make an index to their own
books, instead of having the work inadequately
performed by costly hired assistants.
It is an admirable exposé of the mind of the
professional index-maker, therefore useful to all
who have to consult indexes. There is much
interesting padding about the growth of indexes ;
the mistakes of indexers, their facetiousness and
even malevolence, but not enough of practical
instruction. ‘The anecdote of Wellington's breeches
and the Bishop of London is not even remotely
Oo
* How to Make an Index,” Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
Elliot Stock, London, 1902.
16
connected with indexing, and its whole point is
that a writer must mind his n’s and u’s. The
omissions are many ; there are points on which
the opinion of an expert would be valuable ;
amongst them—the use of abbreviations, and of
technical contractions in the index; uniformity of
practice as to abid., id., op. cit., etseq., ff., etc. Is or
is ib not permissible in an index to disregard the
special spellings with mixed founts—as of Indian
and Old English words—and accented letters, as
they appear in the text ? How far the typographical
art can aid the consulter of the index in finding a
particular item should have been shown by speci-
men pages of indexes, in which, by differences of
type, the entries are seen to refer respectively to
original statements, quotations, descriptions with
pictorial illustrations, chapter headings, proper
names, and dates. It is true Rule XIII. says that
the titles of all books quoted are to appear in the
index, and the word “ quoted” added in italics ;
but what would be the appearance of such an
index to, say, Sir John Lubbock’s ‘“ Pleasures of
Life” ? Then, if small capitals indicate chapter
headings, why is each first reference under each
letter so printed in indexes? Should not capital
initials be reserved for proper names? What is
the cost of indexing? The book gives no answer.
When a subject runs on from page to page the
reference is to be from the first page to the last.
In this book the indexing of prefixes is dealt with
in pages 141 to 144. There is no entry to prefixes
in the index, but under “ Names ”’ is a sub-heading
referring to “the rules for the arrangement of
foreign and English respectively, 141, 142,” which
surely should be 141-144; the two numbers
when separated by a comma suggesting references
to distinct items, not the continuation of a single
reference.
For making the index Mr. Wheatley recom-
mends foolscap, upon which the entries are made
seriatim. The foolscap sheets are then cut into
slips full width of the paper; these slips must be
arranged in proper alphabetical order, then pasted
down in that order on wider sheets of paper, and
so sent to press. For headings to which there are
likely to be many references, the separate sheets
are kept in a lettered folio. Altogether the method
is old-fashioned and troublesome.
The more expeditious and accurate way is to
use sheets of post-card or small note size. Write
one reference on each, and as soon as done throw
it into a box; if there are many references for one
heading do the same—it is less trouble to write on
a new sheet than to find a particular one in a
lettered folio. A contraction may be used ; “Edward
VII.” by oft repetition becomes “Ed. 7,” and
other abbreviations, being as natural, are never
misunderstood when the time for sorting comes.
THE AUTHOR.
After sorting all references headed, say, “ Ed. 7,”
can be copied on to one card, or two, in proper
order. If later on a reference is found under, say,
Q or W, which would be. preferable under an
earlier heading, the position of the sheet can be
altered at once; or if the sheets are already
numbered seriatim for the printer, there is plenty
of room on any slip for several entries, or if not,
additional sheets can be inserted and numbered 6a,
6b, etc. The sheets all range perfectly, so are easy
to handle, are not likely to be lost, and give com-
paratively little trouble to indexer or compositor ;
and really Mr. Wheatley would find it preferable
to give his sorted slips to a typist to write out,
than to paste down for the printer—a method
almost obsolete save in Government offices.
There is much in the book which makes it one
every author and compiler of books should possess
and study, and if these criticisms are mistaken for
a lack of appreciation, it is because Mr. Wheatley’s
dicta have provoked suggestions, which possibly
may be of greater use than complimentary phrases,
towards further perfecting a guide to the somewhat
obscure art of indexing—an art to which more
belongs than is comprised in Mr. Wheatley’s
scholarly account of its practice.
W. G.
Oa
THIRTEEN AS TWELVE.
—_t-~
e ESSRS. B. to render a royalty statement
\ i half-yearly, viz., June 30th and Decem-
ber 31st ; and it is understood that in
making up such royalty thirteen copies shall be
reckoned as twelve.”
During the past few years one of the unfortunate
results of the agitation created by the Authors’
Society for better terms for its members, is to be
seen in the fact that publishers have by all kinds
of methods struggled to keep their profits up to
the old standard. One instance may be quoted:
the deplorable innovation of thirteen copies
reckoning as twelve. In the old days none of
the best publishing houses paid the royalty on
thirteen as twelve, but on every copy sold; and
on this understanding the calculation of royalties
set out in “The Methods of Publishing” was
based. The argument for paying the royalty
on thirteen copies as twelve is generally that the
publisher has to sell to the booksellers under this
arrangement. ‘This is an excuse which will not
hold good for two reasons. Firstly, as stated, the
royalties in “The Methods of Publishing” have
been reckoned as paid on every copy (in the cost
of production of the work it had already been
calculated that the publisher had sold to the
Bb}
bookseller “thirteen as twelve” ; consequently, if
the royalty is paid thirteen as twelve in addition,
then the calculations in “The Methods of Pub-
lishing” show a false return, and a reduction to
the author). Secondly, the booksellers do not
buy thirteen as twelve, except when purchasing
large quantities.
Tf, however, publishers insist upon inserting in
the agreement that the royalty shall be paid on
this basis, then the following little sum must be
taken into consideration by all authors.
The question is a matter of vital importance, as
touching very nearly the author's income.
By the aid of mathematics, the different results
can be expressed with absolute precision.
Thus, algebraically :—Let a be the price, in
shillings, at which a book is sold, and } the royalty
per cent. which the publisher agrees to pay the
author.
Then, author’s royalty on each copy = a
shillings.
And author's royalty on 100 copies = 4 b
shilling.
Thus, for example : If a book is sold at G6s., and
the author’s royalty is 10 per cent.,
ab
Author's royalty on each copy 0
of a shilling ; or 73d.
Author’s royalty on 100 copies = 4 b = 60
shillings.
In the above cases the author receives his royalty
on every copy. If, however, the publisher inserts
in his agreement a clause that royalties are to be
paid “counting thirteen copies as twelve,” the
author then receives royalties on twelve copies only
out of every thirteen sold ; or, which is the same
thing, loses his royalty on every thirteenth copy ;
or, which is again the same thing, receives only +2
of what he would have received if the royalty had
been paid upon every copy.
Algebraically the result may be expressed thus :
if, as before, a be the price, in shillings, at which
the book is sold, and } the royalty per cent.
(thirteen copies being counted as twelve),
12 a 0
Author’ It h = —
uthor’s royalty on each copy aT
shillings.
Author’s royalty. on 100 copies = _
vo
shillings.
For example, taking again the above case of a
book sold at 6s., and the author’s royalty at 10 per
cent. (thirteen copies counted as twelve),
9,
Author’s royalty on each copy = 7500
= 2, = 55384...of a shilling: a little more
12 x 6 x 10
THE AUTHOR. 17
than 64d. (Author’s exact loss on each copy is
7:2 — 6°64608... =°55392... of a penny, or a little
more than a halfpenny.
°) >
Author’s royalties on 100 copies = ee a2 -
vo
= 220 — 5575040)... shillings ; a little more than
55s. 44d.
The calculations for any price, royalty, or
number of copies can be easily made, so that the
subject need not be here pursued any further; but
it is interesting to compare the actual results of the
two systems, of royalty on every copy, or when
thirteen are counted as twelve. Again, the case is
taken of a book which is sold at 6s., with royalties
of 5, 10, or 15 per cent. The author's royalties on
100 copies are :
5 per cent. 10 per cent. 15 per cent.
Oe fs 0. £8
Has 12st 10; 0 3.0 0 4.10 0
ifen12: 1 7 St 215 44 4 38 = OF
Authors loss. 0 2 32 © 4 7% 0 61144
A problem of some interest now naturally sug-
gests itself. Ifthe publisher insists upon counting
thirteen as twelve, what higher royalty ought the
author to demand so as not to lose by the thirteenth
copy ?
Let a = the price, in shillings, at which the
book is sold.
b = the royalty proposed by the publisher;
with which the author would be
contented, if it were paid upon every
copy.
x = the royalty author must demand, so
that when it is paid upon “ thirteen
counted as twelve” he may receive
as much as if 2 had been paid upon
every copy-
Then, from what has been said above, we have:
1300-100
a7
et
1
130
f— -
12
The author must demand a royalty increased
in the proportion of 13 : 12; or, in other words, he
must demand 1s. 1d. in the place of every 1s, of
the royalty expressed by 0. So he will ask for
13 per cent. in the place of 12 per cent. ; or 64
per cent. in the place of 6 per cent.
In conclusion, when ‘“ thirteen are counted as
twelve,” the author loses 7°69..., or rather more
than 7% per cent.
THE AUTHOR.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
0
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property —:
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, 7/ a proper
price can be obtained, But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(8.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“Cost of Production.”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :— .
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
—_—————-—~<>—4
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
——+—<—+
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(4.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.¢.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case. S
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
— eee
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—_——
1, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
udvancing the best interests of literature in promoting the
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
———__+—___—______
THE READING BRANCH.
——+
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
—_——__+—_-__¢—____—_—
NOTICES.
—_+—<+—_
HE Editor of Zhe 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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR. 19
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
—_—__—_——_+——_-—___—_
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EpIToR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
—+—
N August the 8th the King granted a Royal
Charter incorporating “the British Academy
for the promotion of Historical, Philoso-
phical, and Philological Studies.”
We are printing an article this month on an
Academy of Letters by Mr. Herbert Trench.
The Committee consider that the subject is one
eminently fitted for discussion in the pages of
this periodical, but, whatever may be the opinion
of individual members, desire to disassociate them-
selves as a body from the views put forward.
Another article in this number, the question of
Canadian copyright, is dealt with by a Canadian.
It is a pity he has not studied the universal evolu-
tion of copyright in all countries. He would have
discovered that the wider the market given to the
authors of any country the greater would be the
literature of that country. Under the Imperial
Acts copyright is almost world-wide.
We must congratulate the American Authors
Society in having secured President Roosevelt as
one of its members.
Is it possible that so practical a President, the
author of so strenuous a life, will turn his attention
to the question of copyright ? The committee of
the American Society should use its utmost
influence in that direction.
20
The Master’s Report of and the Decree in the
case of Samuel Eberly Gross, A. M. Palmer, Richard
Mansfield, and Richard Mansfield Co. in the United
States courts has been printed and circulated. In
plain words, this is the decree given by consent of
both parties with regard to M. Rostand’s famous
play “ Cyrano de Bergerac.”
It may be there has been a case of plagiarism,
but the evidence put forward “pace the decree”
would hardly lead us to that conclusion if we put
aside the commonplace resemblances that are bound
to exist in many plots and many characters, heroes
and heroines.
The two main points which take the case out of
the commonplace are the duel scene and the
balcony scene, but in these, however close the
resemblance in the action, the dramatic power and
the production of strong poetic and sympathetic
effect lies wholly with M. Rostand.
Mr. Gross’s duel is a mere hurling of vituperation
by one duellist at the other, a fanciful burlesque,
fit for a farce.
It is the old story of the German duel but with-
out the drinking. M. Rostand’s duel (it is needless
to describe it) has a touch of genius that robs it
of whatever plagiarism it may contain. The same
remark may apply to the balcony scene.
In Mr. Gross’s play one man woos for the other.
Does this not occur in “Twelfth Night” ? In Mr.
‘Gross’s play the shadow is the secretary of the lover,
and has no feeling of passion towards the heroine.
In M. Rostand’s play the shadow is the friend
of the lover, and is himself in love with the heroine.
‘So, too, in ‘Twelfth Night,” only substitute “hero”
for “ heroine.”
M. Rostand has grasped the idea, and turned a
commonplace incident into a dramatic situation.
He has made aplot of passions. He has controlled
force by force. He has brought about that struggle
-of the emotions which alone raises the interest of
the spectators.
Is it plagiarism ? It maybe. Then Shakespeare
was also a plagiarist.
The following episode may serve as a useful hint
to writers of short stories :—
A beginner in newspaper work, who occasion-
ally “sent stuff” to one of the dailies, picked up
last summer what seemed to him a “big story.”
Hurrying to the telegraph office, he “ queried ” the
telegraph editor, “Column story on So-and-so.
‘Shall I send it ?”’ The reply was brief and prompt,
‘but to the enthusiast unsatisfactory. ‘‘Send six
hundred words,” was all it said. ‘Can’t be told
in less than twelve hundred,” he wired back.
Before long the reply came, ‘‘Story of creation of
world told in six hundred. Try it.”
THE AUTHOR.
OF DISTANT AUTHORS.
1
EAR books! and each the living soul,
Our hearts aver, of men unseen,
Whose power to strengthen, charm, control,
Surmounts all earth’s green miles between.
For us at least the artists show
Apart from fret of work-day jars :
We know them but as friends may know,
Or they are known beyond the stars.
Their mirth ; their grief; their soul’s desire,
When twilight murmuring of streams
Or skies high touched by sunset fire
“nchant them to pure worlds of dreams ;
Their love of good ; their rage at wrong ;
Their hours when struggling thought makes way;
Their hours when fancy drifts to song
Lightly and glad as bird-trills may ;
All these are truths. And if as true
More graceless scrutiny that reads,
“These fruits amid strange husking grew ”—
“These lilies blossomed amongst weeds ”—
Here no despoiling doubts shall blow,
No fret of feud, of work-day jars.
We know them but as friends may know,
Or they are known beyond the stars !
New Zealand. Mary CoLuBorNzE-VEEL.
<9 —_____—_
THE AUTHOR OF “FESTUS.”
— 1+
R. PHILIP JAMES BAILEY, whose death
we regret to record, was perhaps the most
striking example of a “one book man”
He wrote
N
that our modern literature affords.
“Festus” when he was little more than a boy, and
he spent the rest of his long life in re-writing and
expanding it. It is a striking poem, though its
immense success was probably due less to its
poetical merits than to what seemed sixty years
ago the daring optimism of its theological specula-
tions. The same reason may explain why its vogue
did not prove to be enduring. Its theme, indeed,
is one of eternal interest, but the progress of
criticism has altered the general attitude towards
the problems which it discusses, and much in it
that seemed startlingly novel when it appeared is
now either rejected altogether or accepted as a
matter of course. As a treatise, therefore, it has
passed out of date, while as a poem it lacked the
rare gualities which make the very best poetry a
possession to be treasured for all time. Its fame,
however, though now no more than a memory, is
one of the most interesting memories in the annals
of early Victorian literature.
A FORM OF SELFISHNESS.
to
\ | ANY old prejudices have been pulled up by
ao the roots and flung away as cumberers of
the ground where modern thought and
conduct desire free room to move. Some of
these discarded prejudices were no doubt old-
fashioned flowers without whose sweetness the
world is by so much the less sweet and beautiful.
Others again were weeds whose noxious influence
killed much that might have been both useful and
fair. Among the weeds of prejudice that survive
at the present day, I would class the curious notion
that it is below the dignity of an author to seek
adequate return or payment for his work.
Laying aside metaphor, let us ask ourselves, Is
this view really as high-minded as it appears to
be? And is it likely to bring about the best
results? Because if so, let us stick to it by all
manner of means. But when the matter is looked
into, it would seem that the reverse is the fact.
It is evident that only those who do not live by
the pen, but enjoy an income apart from literary
work, can write freely that which they honestly
think and desire to write, unaffected by the chances
of future sale and publication. Here at once is
created a narrowing qualification, which would
debar many splendid intellects from entering, as
freedmen, into the profession of literature. Under
the old condition of things a poor man entered as
a slave of the market, held in bondage by a
specially cruel law of supply and demand. Were
these limitations likely to produce the best
results ?
After all the question returns to the same point,
the high ideal fades into air, for it is plain that
to give of his highest and best a writer living by
his pen should have assured rights and the power
(which can only come by combination) of enforcing
those rights, so that he may be in a position to
demand a fair return for his labour, and so become
as far as possible an independent force.
And this is precisely the point which the late
Sir Walter Besant and his colleagues clearly per-
ceived. It was in September, 1883, that the idea
of founding a society for the protection of the
rights of authors was first mooted. Soon after-
wards it became an accomplished fact. But the
commercial side of the matter was by no means
the chief side in the eyes of those clear-sighted
nen who unselfishly desired to help their weaker
fellows. The Society of Authors was not founded
solely to improve the financial position of authors.
Tts aim was far higher. It was founded to improve
the status of literature. And it has succeeded to
a wonderful extent.
For eighteen years the Society has been working
THE AUTHOR.
21
in a sound and practical manner to advance the
condition of literature. All writers have benefited
by these efforts, and it is curious to find that some
few of them do not appear to realise their indebted-
ness, or, at any rate, do not show their appreciation
of what is being done by joining the Society or in
the smallest way helping on the movement.
One has only to look back a score of years and
recall the undignified and legally helpless condition
of authors in those days, and the days which went
before, to come to a full comprehension of the
changes effected by the Society. Save at the
houses of some notable firms there was small
mercy, not to speak of justice, dealt out to the
ordinary run of writers. The traditional taint of
Grub Street yet hung about the name of an author.
He was, besides, more than likely to be by tempera-
ment an extraordinarily unbusinesslike individual,
and he was made to suffer accordingly. We know
gad stories of some of our greatest writers, whose
work was cramped and often spoiled by the condi-
tions which obtained, and the relations which
existed between authors and publishers.
Unless a man had private means he was bound
to produce what his publisher ordered. The scale
of payment was very low, and he was not infre-
quently unfairly treated. He had no one at his
back, and single-handed he was helpless to resist.
It is plain that no man could work with freedom
or give out the best that was in him under such
circumstances, knowing that the bread and coffee
of his breakfast, and perhaps that of his family,
depended upon the whim of another. It is good
for no man to live in a state of perennial depen-
dence—to take his work to a patron instead of
dealing on a legalised basis with an equal.
There was a crying need for such a society as
this, a fighting suciety, to get justice and recogni-
tion for a class supposed from time immemorial
to be peculiarly unfitted to secure any such rights
for themselves. What a need there was can scarcely
be understood to-day. If the old state of affairs
could be rung back into the present, and writers
experience the hardships and rebuffs of the past,
the few individuals of whom I write would rush to
place themselves under the flag of the Society of
‘Authors! The conditions under which the calling
of literature in any of its forms may now be
pursued has been so ameliorated by the exertions
of the Society that the conditions obtaining in
pre-Society days seem grotesque and impossible.
Authors, save a few, a very few, did not in those
days of anonymous contribations and copyright-
purchasing live by their pens, or they lived as
poorly as an agricultural labourer. The full industry
of more than one author whose name has since
passed into ahousehold word hardly kept the manin
house-rent. Those were the days of fine sentiment.
THE AUTHOR.
Writing for money was degradation. Literature, the’
dictum went forth, and was trumpeted abroad by
those who drew advantage fromit, must notbe self-
supporting. ‘The idea has only to be carried to its
logical conclusion to show itself the sham it is.
“There is no need to labour this side of the ques-
tion. But apart from the false sentiment that was
then in the air, or rather as one result of it, the
pursuit of literature was made difficult by the kind
of agreements into: which authors were expected to
enter. Anyone who reads the organ of this Society
will recognise the sort of contract to which I refer.
The light of publicity was carefully excluded from
these hole-and-corner transactions, publishers
accepted the work of British authors, and having
brought it before the public, and made money out
of it, deemed their side of the contract fulfilled. |
The amount of return that fell to the author was |
curiously small. Often it was nl.
the power and all the business knowledge rested in
the hands of the latter.
brought the Society into being. It was met with
a wide-spread opposition which proved beyond
question how necessary was its existence. An
author in doubt or in difficulty at length had
someone to apply to, who could give advice,
guidance and help on all practical points such as
agreements and so forth, matters which take ©
special study. Few literary men have either the
time or the opportunity for working up the com-
mercial and legal sides of their calling, but the
Society being expert in these subjects supplies
the want.
“From the outset the Society have made it their
aim to consolidate and define the rights of all
those who follow the calling of literature; they
have given legal protection in numberless cases
where writers, left to themselves, must have been
helpless. By its action the Society, far from
degrading the calling of literature, has raised
it to a higher level, for the world is not
altogether chivalrous, and the man who knows his
rights and can enforce them is likely to hold an
infinitely better place in public estimation than a
man who may be defrauded with impunity.
and defined and defended the rights, of his clags.
And it seems pretty clear that each man owes it
to himself to pay that debt as well as he can.
Every author should become a member of the
Society, and not only a member but a living
force, working as opportunity offers for the general
good of his fellows, a course which must react in
good to himself. Though one occasionally hears
jan author say, “ But I have excellent relations
;with my publisher, I do not see how they can be
| improved.” Very possibly, but thanks more or
‘less to all that the Society has done in the past.
| One great object in the work of the Society is to
:
x
i promote friendly relations between the author and
his publisher. The more defined the author’s
rights are, the less likelihood is there of any
quarrel interrupting pleasant connections. .
It should be recollected that this Society is the
‘ only one for the protection of literature that
At the best the relative positions of author and i
publisher were far from satisfactory, because all |
These were the facts that —
exists in the Empire. Every British writer shares
in the benefits it has already bestowed, and which
it is daily bestowing, upon the calling to which he
belongs. He cannot escape its good influence,
and to the direct mind, it hardly seems possible
_ that he would wish to escape by mere idleness or
for some other selfish reason from the debt he
could at any rate partially pay by becoming a
“member of the Society himself, and by inducing
_ others to join algo.
__. There are many waverers in the world, ready to be
_blown this way and that by every expressed opinion.
_ It would be well to remind such that by not only
oining, but also by working for an association of
intelligent men and women, whose aims in life are
Yet one sometimes (not often) hears an author \
say, “That is all very well, but the Society of |
Authors has not done anything for me.” Perhaps |
this may be true in so far that he has not directly
received advice or assistance from the Society in ©
any dealings of his own; but it is impossible to
publish a book or to contribute even a couple of
articles to a magazine without sharing in the
many benefits brought about by the efforts of
the Society. Every literary an owes a debt to |
the combination that has bettered the standing, |
_indentical with his own, an author is more likely
to forward his own interests than by a too close
adherence to what he may consider momentarily
conducive to his own immediate benefit.
Heskero Prrowarp, _
ees
AN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.
—1—< +
HE ancient question of a British Academy of
Letters is one which will not be allowed
to sink away into silence, I trust, before
it has received renewed attention.
Never, within the last three centuries, have we
needed such a body more than now.
A recent writer, in dealing with this question,
as usual characterises British literature as a
literature of power, in contrast with the Gallic
literature of intellivence; and, for some reason
unexpressed, fears lest a literature of power should,
in receiving an organisation, lose originality and
variety. He states that between the Gallicliterature
cas 6 Ss Sas See
see
a1,
of “good sense” and the English literature
of free force there is a great gulf fixed. He
thinks that an incorporated society might snuff
out Wordsworths, Coleridges, Blakes, and Shelleys.
Now I venture to draw from the undoubted
force and freedom of the English spivit in litera-
ture the hope of precisely the opposite result. The
French Academy, although it did not produce,
certainly did not snuff out, the “ free force” of
Rabelais, Montaigne, Diderot, Rousseau, Balzac,
Hugo, De Musset, Verlaine. Freedom, originality,
variety, daring, and all the signs of exuberant
life, denote a strength that would be far more
swiftly effective, far more dignified, far more
temperate and clear-seeing than it is, if there co-
existed with British freedom in British letters a
public association of the best and strongest men,
a public recognition of the rank of minds and
imaginations. The truth is that we, having a
literature of power, need an Academy far more
than France, where a tradition of classic ood
sense” (perhaps through the influence of French
classic drama) prevails.
The English, said an acute foreign critic the
other day, have gained more liberty in things
external than any other people ; but in the things
internal—in the freedom of thinking, in liberality
of mental atmosphere—they are far less free than
certain Continental peoples.
But how is it that we have gained liberty in
externals ? By the habit of organisation. And
from organisation what is to be feared? By
organisation I mean the drawing together in the
public sight of those various forceful and excel-
lent masters who are recognised by their common
concurrence to be masters. And what are the
boons that such an organisation could confer
on the people? To realise them requires insight
as to the present state of affairs. That, I imagine,
is nothing less than the merest tumultuous anarchy.
Our ears are deafened, as in some market place,
by hucksters each selling his own wares ; there
are street-cries, chafferings, in uproar andmud. We
have here and there a novelist on his inverted
tub selling fictions by flaring gas-jets, his voice
raucous with shouting. We see the common
people, having no better guide, gaping at every
charlatan for a genius. There is an immense
waste going on; a waste of publishers’ money in
competition for publicity.
The lower forces of literary productiveness are
amply organised. The higher are without repre-
sentation. There is no Council at the head of
literature to control or keep order, or by example to
~discountenance indecencies of advertisement. The
luminaries of to-day flash on us with mechanical
periodicity, like the pink and green articles of diet
the signs of which ennoble Trafalgar Square.
THE AUTHOR.
23
The “millions,” God rest them, are anodyned
and idiotised by instructive publications of the
“penny weekly” type. The “ thousands” have a
similar, but more costly pabulum of magazines.
But all these are written and published, in the
first place, to make money.
Our Society of Authors—admirable body that it
is—exists only to protect literature as an article of
commerce. ‘he last concern of that prominent
Society is with literature as an art, and as more:
than an art.
Thus while men of science and medicine have
their Royal Societies and general councils, men of
the religious professions, learned men, stockbrokers,
artists in the plastic arts, all have their societies,
to influence, to keep order, to recognise rank and
confer honour, pure literature «alone the most
aristocratic calling, the most needing independence,
the only mirror of life as a whole, has no organ im
letters apart from and above pecuniary requirements,
no society whose aim is to sustain the name, and
publicly represent to foreigners and to the com-
munity the power of English intelligence and
imagination. If we believe that there is such a
power and that it is beneticial, how can the organisa-
tion of the power be objected to? It will readily
be admitted that the people, that men in non-
literary professions, that the hundreds of librarians
of the new free public libraries, and above all,
the eager and intelligent young, simply thirst for
guidance in these matters. But there is no public
and independent body to guide them, to indicate
principles of criticism, or to indicate, however
roughly and imperfectly, the values, proportion,
status of living writers. And the conclusion is
easily illustrated by the distress which exists in
the minds of officials when some State occasion
arises, such as the funeral of the late Laureate or
the Royal procession of this summer. Who shall
be asked to represent the higher literature at such
a ceremonial? Nobody knows. The obvious
knights, the most popular novelists, the com-
posers of music-hall ditties, flash upon our
fatigued retina; but an uneasy suspicion remains
that these do not sum that world. Can it be
possible that we have no literature? Nay; it is
merely that we have no organ of discrimination. |
Priests of the true and beautiful, where are ye?
Buried far hence, may be, in some dingy suburb
or quiet shire. But you it is that the men who
know, your equals, could summon, far off, isolated,
reluctant, to your true places of esteem.
Again, to make peers or knights of men of letters
is a mere dull ineptitude. But the republican and
Academic body that I conceive should, in order to
guide the public, confer titles of merit or excellence
(such as the Prix Gobert) at the end of each year op
works of worth. At present such books like Edward
24
Fitzgerald's “Omar Khayyam” frequently sink for
along time out of sight, although a few experts
are well aware of their excellence, simply because
the experts may be too few and too ill-placed to
impress the public. Such books as the Rev.
Hastings Rashdall’s “ Universities in the Middle
Ages,” Sir Henry Johnston’s “ British Equatorial
Africa,” or Mr. F. H. Bradley’s “ Appearance and
Reality,” have suffered in this manner by their own
excellence. Experts are too few, and the reviewers
are necessarily too hasty to judge them properly.
The public is therefore unable, except after the
lapse of many years, to distinguish these books
from specious imitations of their kind. This is
even more the case with poetry and novels. What
qualified person believes that the poetry of Matthew
Arnold—so pure, so salutary for our time—yet
occupies its just place in the minds of the multitude
which still acclaims Tennyson as a demi-god ?
Who shall hall-mark the fine quality of most of the
Garnett translations of Ivan Tourgeniev’s novels
—novels which are, with Tolstoi’s, the chief novels
of our time ?
It is by no means to confer advantage on those
men who would be nominated that I venture to
urge the formation of an Academy of Letters. It
is for the sake of the British people that it is desir-
able. It is in order to give us more national dignity
and self-respect. From what public quarter comes
the recognition of the Beautiful in literature ?
And the need of a Society of the Intellect and
Spirit seems to me tenfold greater, in that every
year sees us sinking into a grosser state of com-
placent animalism. Every year our people, as a
whole, like those of the United States, seem to be
marching steadily, slumberously, into new and
vaster Dark Ages ; Dark Ages not of mere igno-
rance, but of the wildest positive error. The
weltering Anglo-Saxon peoples have no intellectual
standards, no thought-centre, no axis.
One result of the existence of some such Society
of the Spirit would be the attraction to literature of
men of more powerful talent, now absorbed by the
Bar and commerce. Those men would be induced
to speak who now stand aloof and silent, in over-
whelming disgust. Then, and not till then, would
Enelish critics appear, whose work might compare
in volume and quality with that of Sainte Beuve,
Taine, Scherer, and Hennequin.
The public and the daily Press—ready and even
eager to recognise merit—are nevertheless unable
_ to assign to merit its station and degree. Nor
‘can this task be done by the publishers’ monthly
reviews or quarterlies, or by young journalists
who undertake to summarise to the world a year’s
literatnre in newspaper articles at Christmas. Jf,
as advocates of laissez-faire urge, these matters are
best left to time and chance, why ts any critical judg-
THE AUTHOR.
ment felt to be wanted al all? And if it 7s wanted,
why is it wholly left to an anarchy of criticism ¢
In truth, it is a task which requires the mature and
leisured judgment of equals ; and the masters them-
selves are the only critics worth hearing. It is weak
to plead that an Academy would be a prey to wire-
pullers and intriguers. Any dignified human
society that is worth framing must undergo, and
can weather, such dangers. Our problem is simply
to profit by the experience of the French Academy,
and to construct a better one.
Let us conclude with practical proposals.
Let the House of Commons, through its leader,
nominate a small committee of, say, six or eight
men of letters who would indisputably be members
of any Academy. The names, for instance, of
Mr. George Meredith, Mr. Lecky, Mr. John
Morley, Mr. J. G. Frazer, Mr. Bryce, Mr. Edward
Dowden, and Mr. Bury will occur to most people
as a fair committee.
Let these themselves freely nominate the
remainder of the body ; proceeding on the two
principles that the work to be honoured must be
in any case good literature ; that is,
(1) It must be couched in language noble,
admirable, and sincere.
(2) It must be work faithful to the more serious
truths of the imagination, emotions, and intelli-
ence.
Let this Academy of Letters meet periodically
for discussion.
Let them consider it their duty to protect the
honour of the higher forms of British literature,
without any regard to worldly respectability or
success ; to become a Society of the Spirit,
free from the blight of Royal patronage, and
requiring not the smallest outward or social
rank of any kind in its members. A society to
promote and encourage talent, and to hasten
recognition of it ; to confer distinguishing marks
of merit on good work which has been previously
published for at least two years: and to advise
ministers (who are at present without proper
advice) in the award of pensions. The issue of a
brief annual Gazette would be a useful part of their
functions ; and possibly also the occasional publi-
cation of fine books, which could not be published
for profit, by the poorer members.
As regards endowment for this body, I conceive
that, beyond the provision of rooms for meeting,
there had better be little or none. But on that
score certainly there need be no difficulty in this
country.
HERBERT TRENCH.
THE AUTHOR. 25
MUSICAL COPYRIGHT.
—+-—~< + —
An Act TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING ro MusiI-
caL Copyricut (2 Epw. 7, On. 15.)
22nd JuLY, 1902.
E it enacted by the King’s most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assem-
bled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows :
jy. A court of summary jurisdiction, upon the
application of the owner of the copyright in any
musical work, may act as follows : If satisfied by
evidence that there is reasonable ground for
believing that pirated copies of such musical work
are being hawked, carried about, sold, or offered
for sale, may, by order, authorise a constable to
seize such copies without warrant and to bring
them before the court, and the court, on proor
that the copies are pirated, may order them to be
destroyed or to be delivered up to the owner of the
copyright if he makes application for that delivery.
2, If any person shall hawk, carry about, sell, or
offer for sale any pirated copy of any musical work,
every such pirated copy may be seized by any
constable without warrant, on the request in
writing of the apparent owner of the copyright in
such work, or of his agent thereto authorised in
writing, and at the risk of such owner.
On seizure of any such copies, they shall be
conveyed by such constable before a court of
summary jurisdiction, and, on proof that they are
infringements of copyright, shall be forfeited or
destroyed, or otherwise dealt with as the court
may think fit.
3. “Musical copyright” means the exclusive
right of the owner of such copyright under the
Copyright Acts in force for the time being to do
or to authorise another person to do all or any of
the following things in respect of a musical work :
(1) To make copies by writing or otherwise of
such musical work.
(2) To abridge such musical work.
(8). To make any new adaptation, arrangement, or
setting of such musical work, or of the melody
thereof, in any notation or system.
“ Musical work” means any combination of
melody and harmony, or either of them, printed,
reduced to writing, or otherwise graphically pro-
duced or reproduced.
“Pirated musical work” means any musical
work written, printed, or otherwise reproduced,
without the consent lawfully given by the owner
of the copyright in such musical work.
4, This Act may be cited as the Musical (Sum-
mary Proceedings) Copyright Act, 1902, and
shall come into operation on the first day of
October one thousand nine hundred and two, and
shall apply only to the United Kingdom.
The Musical (Summary Proceedings) Copyright
Act is essentially a publishers’ Act. ;
To a certain extent, however, the Act must
benefit all owners of musical copyright, whether
composers or publishers.
A careful perusal of its scope tends to show that
the Act, hurriedly conceived, and as hurriedly pushed
through the House, scarcely covers the most impor-
tant difficulties connected with this musical piracy.
It is unsatisfactory, and only fills a small space In
a wide gap. What are the penalties to be enforced ?
There is no mention of penalty. Are the cheap
piratical printers, the arch offenders, to escape the
court of summary jurisdiction ? It would appear
to be the case.
This omission is inexplicable; the unlicensed
vendor has little to fear if he still retains the
sympathy of the printer. He may even be an
innocent holder, if, as is often the case, the printer
stamps the copies as copyright.
This Act, like all other copyright Acts, seems to
suffer from a common complaint. Lack of interest
gives rise to an inadequate knowledge of the
subject, and inadequate knowledge is supplemented
by poor draftsmanship. For instance, the power
given in Clause 1 appears to be unnecessary, con-
sidering the much wider scope of Clause 2, and
the definitions of ‘‘ musical work ” and “ pirated
musical work,” Clause 3, instead of containing
the same terms, contain a variation that may give
rise to legal difficulties. “ Otherwise graphically
produced or reproduced” and “otherwise repro-
duced’ raises an essential difference. How, again,
will these definitions affect the present Acts, or
bear upon such a case as Lover v. Davidson ? Sec-
tion 3 is very all-embracing. The Act gives food
for thought. It is to be hoped that its interpre-
tation will not make confusion worse confounded.
The musical publishers are, no doubt, jubilant.
Will it work as an unmixed blessing to musical
composers ?
——__—_ > ___
A BOOK ON COPYRIGHT.*
—1.—<—+ —
R. MACGILLIVRAY’S work is an exceed-
M ingly valuable addition to the books
~~ dealing with copyright law, but THE
BOOK on copyright has yet to be written.
* “A Treatise upon the Law of Copyright,” by E. J.
Macgillivray, LL.B. Publisher : John Murray, Albemarle
Street.
26
Mr. Copinger’s important treatise is practically
out of date, the last edition was published in 1893,
and many things have taken place in the copy-
right world since then. The second edition of
Mr. Scrutton’s work was published in 1896, and
another edition is seriously needed. It is possible
that the author is waiting for the passing of that
Copyright Law which for so long has hovered in
its flight but never settled. We trust he will wait
no longer; but neither Mr. Scrutton’s book nor Mr.
Macgillivray’s can be said to be the final book on
the subject.
Mr. Scrutton, with a very clear insight into all
the details of these complicated questions, comes
to his opinions and conclusions, and declares them
so positively that to the casual reader ignorant of
actual texts and actual cases, the many points still
in doubt appear to be finally settled. So far, how-
ever, it is a satisfactory and clear guide for the
general public, but not for the legal world.
Mr. Macgillivray, on the other hand, by an
elaborate statement of all the cases bearing on
special issues, is inclined to emphasise the dis-
crepancies, and to increase the difficulties of the
casual reader by raising up from their grave, points
upon which it is admitted the present position of
the statute and case law is fairly clear. What,
however, Mr. Macgillivray has stated in his Intro-
duction that he has attempted to do, he has done
exceedingly well. He has given an exhaustive
text book of the case law, and on the case law no
satisfactory work had as yet been produced. With
one or two statements, however, we must find fault.
Mr. Macgillivray doubts for reasons he sets
forth whether a foreigner non-resident in England
or the British Dominions is entitled to copyright.
This conclusion is, as it would appear, against
the weight of evidence, and against the established
custom, since the American copyright arrangement
has been in existence. He therefore raises a doubt
as to the validity of the present position of
English authors. Surely this is carrying the
matter a little too far. A discussion of the question
(if indeed it can be discussed) is of very little use
to the general reader.
Again, take the question of performing rights.
Mr. Scrutton distinctly states ‘‘ Dramatic pieces
in manuscript, neither printed nor represented, are
the perpetual property of the author by common
law.” Mr. Macgillivray denies this common law
right, though he owns that the author may have
a certain property ; but that the remedy would be
on breach of implied contract. These are academic
questions.
The method, however, in which he deals with
performing rights is full of confusion. Even fora
careful reader, for one reading the book from the
legal standpoint with a certain amount of technical
THE AUTHOR.
knowledge, it is impossible to find out exactly what
the performing rights of the author are, in case he
should happen to print and publish the book of
his dramatic work before he performs it. Here,
again, he seems to run counter to the opinion of
that eminent lawyer, Mr. Scrutton, and obscures
the issue in a cloud of dust. The chapter dealing
with these questions should have been more clearly
expressed. In its present state it does not merely
obscure the point of law, but it raises confusion as
to whether any law exists at all. The unfortunate
dramatic author is not really in such a bad position.
One of the most interesting chapters in the book
deals with “ What is a piratical copy?” Disputes
often arise as to infringement of copyright, and can
only be settled on general lines, and according to
the facts of each case. It was therefore most
important that these facts should be arrayed so
as to form a basis of comparison for every fresh
case. Mr. Macgillivray has marshalled his in-
formation in a thoroughly reliable and exhaustive
manner.
The other chapters in the book, although inter-
esting and useful to the lawyer and the student,
are not nearly so full as those dealing with literary
copyright. Copyright in drawings, paintings, and
photographs is surely entitled to more space. It is
most complicated and involved, and is far more
difficult of comprehension than the law of literary
copyright.
There is a very interesting chapter on the case
law of the United States. Amongst other things,
the author points out that, contrary to the law as
it exists in England, to obtain copyright in the
States it is necessary that the work must have
some literary value. The decisions, however, on
the subject seem to have been carried rather far.
It is worth while to impress this point on English
authors, for although no question has been tried
that bears strictly upon some of the modern
methods of registration, it is doubtful whether
these methods would always be deemed satisfactory
under the United States Copyright Act.
The criticisms dealing with publishers’ agree-
ments might well have been omitted. If this
subject had been handled by the author, it required
a fuller treatment, and should have been touched
upon from other points of view than those of the
publisher.
The book, the play, the painting, or other
artistic work is the property of the man whose
genius brings it forth. In agreements for the sale
and assignment of that property, the primary
holder ought to meet with the greatest considera-
tion, the originator of the work ought to receive
the fullest protection.
It is to be hoped that when finally the new
copyright law is passed, such a book will be written
THE AUTHOR. 27
on the subject as will meet all the requirements
of the general reader, the student of law, and the
lawyer himself.
Until that time comes the author of the present
work must be thanked for his careful and in-
dustrious labours, and for the information he
has collected on the many difficult questions
involved.
—_—_—_———_\_e— > o—____—_
CIVIL LIST PENSIONS.
—_+~<>+ —
IST of those pensions in connection with
literature granted during the year ending
the 31st March, 1902.
Date of | - Amount of
Grant. | Name. Pension.
1901. | 8s. a.
17 July | Mr. Henry Austin Dobson . che 250.0) 0)
In recognition of his distin-
guished literary attainments,
and of his eminence as a poet.
a The Rev. Dr. John Hunt, D.D. .| 100 0 0
| In consideration of his theo-
logical writings and of his
straitened circumstances.
s | Mrs. Emma Rose Mackenzie. 50 0 0
In consequence of the writings
of her late husband, Mr. |
Alexander Mackenzie, the |
historian of the Highland
Clans, and of her inadequate |
| means of support.
. | Mrs. Elizabeth Reid . : : 50. 0 0
In consideration of the literary
merits of her late husband,
| Captain Mayne Reid, the
| Novelist,and of her straitened
| circumstances.
9 Aug. | Mrs. Mary Crawford Fraser oi 100 02.0
In consideration of her literary
merits and of the public ser-
vices of her late husband,
Mr. Hugh Fraser, as her late
Britannic Majesty's Minister |
| in Japan. |
» . | Mr. William Henry Hudson et i500 0,0
| Inrecognition of the originality |
of his writings on Natural |
History. |
1902. | The Rev. Dr. Augustus Jessopp, |
CNet OD SC 100 «0-20
In recognition of his services to |
\ Archeology and Literature. |
3 | Mrs. Sarab Catherine Jones (i 0 0
|
In recognition of the services |
rendered by her late hus- |
band,Principal John Viriamu
Jones, to the cause of Higher
Education in Wales.
pe,
TOTAL .| £875 0 0
|
CORRESPONDENCE.
ee pg os,
“FOLLOW COPY.”
Sir,—Permit a fellow sufferer to heartily condole
with your correspondent “8.” Over and over again
have I had to submit to similar vexatious treat-
ment at the hands of some sapient (7) corrector
bold enough to pit his own views of. spelling
against the universe.
Who shall indicate the loophole of escape from
such galling experiences ’ Must the hapless
author in future add a printing-press to his stock-
in-trade, or shall he not rather find deliverance in
the realization of that oft suggested proposal that
the Society should add the business of publishers
to its manifold duties for the exceeding comfort of
writers ?
Yours faithfully,
Op Brrp.
Authors’ Club, 8.W.,
19th July, 1902.
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
Srr,—In a note on this subject by “ F. P.” in
The Author (July, 1902, p. 245), there are some
statements that seem to me to be misleading.
Thus: “ Words of Latin origin, which take ¢ble
instead of able; why allow accept, etc., to be an
exception ?”
But surely words of Latin origin take -ab/e and
-uble just as well as -ble. Example: habitable,
from Lat. habitabilis, because the infinitive is
habitare. The derivatives in Lat. -abilis are
extremely numerous. So numerous, indeed, that
-able may be added even to an English root, as
answer-able, know-able, etc. The reason why. we
write acceptable is because such is the French form,
from Late Lat. acceplabilis. The words in -ib/e are
from the third conjugation in Latin, not from the
first, and they are fewer in number. Voluble is
from Lat. volubilis; and soluble from solubilis ;
not volible or solible. I do not agree with the
remarks on words in -ise. The suffix -7ze is both
Greek and phonetic, and much to be preferred if
we are to have uniformity. ‘The suffix -tse is
French. (See the article on -iZe in the “ New
English Dictionary.”’)
The remarks upon full are also quite contrary to
known etymological facts. So far from Jill being
“ of greater importance,” it is a mere derivative of
the older and more important full. We ought to
go by the stress, not the part of speech. ‘Thus in
ful-fill, fill (with two els) receives the stress, whilst
ful does not. In skilful, the -ful is likewise
unstressed. The spelling skilful shows the stress
28
sufficiently ; there is no absolute need to write
skillful, though some do so.
‘As to connexion, inflexion, we adhere to these
spellings because they are etymological and phonetic
at the same time; the forms connection, inflection,
arose from popular (ignorant) association with
affection, direction, and the like, in which the spelling
with cf is correct. That is why the “ New English
Dictionary ” advocates the spellings connexion,
inflexion, which appear both in Latin and French ;
as will be seen if such dictionaries be ‘consulted.
The rule for the division of the words is not
«the rule of the root ” by any means, but the rule
of the sound or pronunciation. It is much best to
ignore the root and to go by the sound. Thus it
is usual to make such divisions as are seen in
impu-dence, solilo-quize, peru-sal, counte-nance,
plea-sure, princi-pal; in perfect contempt of the
root-forms, which are, respectively, pud-, loqu-, Us-,
ten-, pluc-, cap-. We simply regard the utterance,
writing pe-ruse at one moment, and pe-ru-sal at
ancther. Nothing is gained by pretending to
keep the root intact, when the spoken utterance
does nothing of the kind.
I ugree that it is best to consult the “ New
English Dictionary” ; but this seems to be the
very thing which our critic has neglected to do.
W. W.S.
—— 1
THE PLAYGOERS’ CLUB COMPETITION.
Srr,—As it has been publicly stated that Mrs.
Ashton-Jonson’s play, “The Hedonists,” was
proxime accessit in the recent Playgoers’ Club Com-
petition, will you allow me to say (as the paper in
which the statement appeared refuses to do so
in its columns) that I hold a letter from Mr.
Hannaford Bennett (the club’s secretary) inform-
ing’me that my play, “The Woman Pays,’ was
one of the last three “in the running”; and that
I also have “private information,” from a member
of the Reading Committee, that the final choice
lay between Miss Syrett’s play and mine ?
Yours, etc.,
Harry A. SPURR.
Sees
AUTHOR AND EDITOR.
Sm,—Can you or any of your readers kindly
explain this to me? The editor in question, who
has, up to this, been most courteous to me, declines
to answer my query.
I wrote to the editor of the Westminster Gazette
to ask why he had not noticed my last volume of
verse, “ Mirth and Music.”
He replied that he had given the book due
consideration, and that was all I could expect. Now,
what does this mean—a future review or none?
THE AUTHOR.
He will not enlighten me. As this is by far my
best volume of verse (out of thirty-five reviews,
many in London papers, only three or four have
been adverse ones), he could hardly mean that the
volume was nol worth reviewing, especially as a
dozen poems in it were reproduced from his own
columns, and besides, he has noticed all my inferior
books. But if not, what did he mean? I am
puzzled.
Very truly yours,
Kirsfield, Torquay. F. B. Doveton.
MUSICAL COMPOSERS AND MUSICAL PUBLISHERS.
Srr,—As a virtually unknown story-writer I
have had many shocking experiences of the per-
fidy of editors and publishers, but they pale into
insignificance beside the injuries suffered by the
song-writer. A friend of mine who writes charm-
ing songs tells a harrowing tale. She has had
song after song accepted by certain publishers -
(some of whose names are not without honour),
and then returned on her hands after a year or 60,
with some flabby excuse. When I urge that she
has the letters of acceptance, offering terms in
black and white, and can therefore make them
good in the court of law, she replies: ‘To what
purpose? If I forced Mr. So-and-so to publish
my song, he would simply print it, lay the copies
on a shelf and do nothing further. - I should thus
lose my property and get no royalties. I have
been served so before now.”
And this is not her only grievance. Every year
she sends out a number of songs to publishers and
public singers, enclosing stamped envelopes and
polite letters requesting that her MSS. may be
returned. A very large proportion of these never
come back, and no amount of imploring letters
will recover them. As she cannot, like the story-
teller, have copies typed, but has to re-write every
one that goes out, and as her songs are musicianly,
with good accompaniments, one can imagine what
labour this entails. The song-writer who has not
yet “caught on ” seems, indeed, in a parlous way,
and the fact of having had several songs already
taken by well-known publishers and sung by
famous vocalists is, apparently, of no avail.
Stamps are confiscated, MSS. lost or thrown
aside, letters unheeded ; and even when a song
is accepted, it may come back after a year or two,
“returned with thanks.”
Is there no redress? Are not songs in MS.
property, and can they not be recovered by law ?
Moreover, cannot a publisher be made to publish
a song he has accepted—not merely print, but
circulate it ?
Yours, etc.,
M.P.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 01 (October 1902)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 01 (October 1902)
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Che Huthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIII.—No. 2.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
NovEMBER 1sT, 1902.
[Price SIXPENCE.
ROUM e £816 5 6
Wocal Woane: ae 404 10 0
ee Victorian Government 3 % Con-
As mistakes still occur with regard to the solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11
Address of the Society, it has been thought War Loan 3 ee. 201-923
z expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office
of the Society is situated at—
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY’S GATE, 8.W.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
Votel 2 £1714 4 8
There is, in addition, a balance of £30 to £40
in the Bank to cover current expenses and the
payment of pensions.
The subscriptions and donations from the
beginning of the year are as follows.
Further sums will be acknowledged from month
to month as they come to hand.
ae oe DonATIONS.
Jan, 24, Church, Prof. R, A. H....... £2 2°90
ae Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............ 0 4 0
ees Heb, 1, Perks; Miss lily............... 010 0
e OR the opinions expressed in papers that are eb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince ..... Leese 1 10
. K signed or initialled the Authors alone are Feb. 15, Wilkins, W.H. (2nd donation) 1
responsible. None of the papers or para- Feb. 15, 8: G. oe sees eeeees eee ees tes i 10
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope..........-. 50 0 8
of the Committee unless such is especially stated Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss E. ............ @ 10 0
to be the case. Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. ............--. 0 5 0
April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel...... 1 0 0
April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,
Tux Editor begs to inform Members of the WRG 8, 0 5 0
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author May 5, A Beginner ...............-..+++ 1 10
that the cases which are from time to time quoted May 20, Nemo .........s...esee rere 2 0.9
in The Author are cases that have come before the May 20, Rattray, Dr. A. ..............- 0. 5.0
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the July 17, Capes, Bernard E............. 0 5 0
Society, and that those members of the Society July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude ... : 5 0
5 0
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
oe Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ..6:....-+-+.----- 0 5 :
i : Jan. 20, Nicholls, F.C. ........-..--+- 0 3
eee Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ... I i 0
Tur Investments of the Pension Fund at Feb., Gidley, Miss E. C. .............- 010 6
present standing in the names of the Trustees are Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H.C. .....- 0 5. 0
as follows. Moh. 25, Stroud, F..2..........-----+ 010 6
This is a statement of the actual stock; the May 1, Heatley, Richard F............. 0. 0 0
money value can be easily worked out at the current Oct. 21, Thomson, Miss C. L.......... 0 5 0
price of the market :— Oar, 08, Rabie, Bec. 0 5 0
Vou, XIII.
Oct. 23, Evans, Miss May
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
30
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THe amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £327 15 0
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly, about
£4, The subscriptions received from March to
the date of issue are given below :—
Anonymous”. : : : ee
Champneys, Basil. ;
“ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa
Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F.C.
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. :
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.
Hurry, A. . : : : :
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
tioned)
Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. .
Millais, J.G. . : ; :
Quiller Couch, Miss M.
Sterry, J. Ashby ‘
Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.
Underdown, Miss E.
Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
Beale, Miss Mary
Bolam, Rey. C. E.
Egbert, Henry :
Eccles, Miss O’Connor
Darwin, Francis : :
Montgomery-Campbell, Miss
Medlecott, Cecil ;
Saxby, Mrs... ; ; : :
Caine, T: H. Hall . : ; Be
Marris, Miss Murrell :
8. B. : ee
Bloomfield, J. H. .
F. 0. B. (Coventry) .
Seton-Karr, H. W. .
Heriot, Cheyne :
Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.
‘¢ Hsme Stuart ”
Charlton, Miss Emily
Kroeker, Mrs. .
Aflalo, F. G. :
Patterson, A. . :
Salwey, Reginald E.
Gidley, Miss E. C.
Nixon, Prof. J. E.
CHOHRHH
pal
—
SCOCHRHHEH
cococeo
HOOCNOHRROFS
ro
ee ern TUDO DO OL OVS Or
BAOMNonnNore
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NOOR NWO ON
SBeocoec ooo ce oso oso oe sooo onooooescs
COCHNWOCOCOHOHOROCOOCOHOFRF
—_——_—_——_+——_+___——_
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
T consequence of the fact that members are
returning to work after the holidays, the
business at the office of the Society shows a
natural tendency to increase.
At the October. meeting of the Committee forty-
THE AUTHOR.
eight new members and associates were elected,
making the total for the year 161. A strong argu-
ment in support of the sound work of the Society.
A list of the elections is published below.
It is intended, if it is found possible, to publish
the list of members annually or bi-annually, and to
incorporate these monthly returns when the next
revised edition is issued.
The compilation of the list has been carried out
in accordance with the statement contained in the
article in the July number of the Author. The
Committee have decided to print 1,000 copies.
Over six hundred answers were received to the
circular. Of these between thirty and forty desired
that neither their names nor their addresses should
be published. The reasons put forward for this
course differed, but one reason, constantly recurring,
was the fact that the publication of the name and
address might subject the member to a flood of
circulars from advertisers and others.
In the case of those members of the Society
whose addresses can be easily obtained from books
like “Who’s Who,” “The Red Book,” “The
Literary Year Book,” and other Directories, this
objection naturally would not stand.
The price of the list will be 6d., nett, post
free. Only members will be able to purchase
copies. An order form is inserted in this month’s
issue. Members desiring to obtain a copy of the
list are asked to return it (duly signed) with the
6d. to the office.
Members will be pleased to hear that Mr. Austin
Dobson has been unanimously elected a member of
the Committee of Management of the Society, and
Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., C.B., a member of
the Copyright Sub-Committee.
The Addenda to “ The Methods of Publishing,”
since its original issue, has been selling gradually,
and is now nearly out of print. Two hundred and
fifty more copies have been printed by the desire of
the Committee.
At this, the first meeting of the Committee since
the lamented death of Monsieur Zola, it was decided
to send a letter from the Society of Authors to the
Sovicté des Gens de Lettres, of which Monsieur
Zola was President. The French Society has, on
all occasions, extended a helping hand to its sister
society, and has given to the Secretary valuable
information from time to time on such questions
as publishing in France, and legal matters con-
nected with French copyright.
Other questions discussed, referred to disputes
and actions, which it would be indiscreet to make
public for the present. i
Eleven cases between publishers and authors,
arising from the usual divergencies of opinion and
method, have been in the hands of the Secretary
during the past month. Of these, four deal with
THE AUTHOR.
matters of account, three with disputed agreement,
two with money due, and the remaining two with
general matters, which do not come under the usual
headings.
Three of the eleven have been finally settled, two
have been placed in the hands of the solicitors to
carry through by action if necessary, and the
balance are still in the course of negotiation. They
need no special comment.
Of those cases quoted in last month’s Author
there are still four unsettled, but negotiations are
being carried on between the publisher and the
Secretary. One case, however, is hanging fire,
owing to the fact that in spite of repeated letter-
writing the Secretary can obtain no answer from
the member whose work is involved. This position
is a very serious one for the Society, and the
Committee at all times have impressed upon the
members how important it is that those who place
their matters in the Secretary’s hands should carry
them through with vigour.
It has been mentioned that two cases have been
placed in the hands of the solicitors of the Society.
One other matter has been dealt with by them.
A firm of publishers, whose name we do not at
present mention, has called a meeting of its
creditors. Our solicitors represent those of our
members who have claims against the firm. At
present it is impossible to state anything definite
with regard to the issue of the meeting, but it is
hoped that with careful diplomacy the authors’
claims will be paid in full, as a provision has been
proposed under the deed of assignment that the
trustee shall have power, if he thinks fit, to pay all
authors in full.
oe as
Elections, October, 1902.
Elections to the Society, July 14th to October
18th :—
Abrahamson, Rev.-A. E. The Rectory, Skilgate,
Wiveliscombe R.8.0O.,
Somerset.
85, Fitzjohns Avenue,
Besant, Geoff
ao Hampstead, N.W.
Bisiken, Wm. : ;
Bissett-Smith, George
Tullock (George Bizet)
Brunskill, The Rev.
Francis R.
Cayzer, C. W.
Clark, Alfred
Clive, Alfred
12-14, Long Acre, W.C.
55, Carlton Place, Aber-
deen.
19, Raymont . Street,
Thetford, Norfolk.
Dunsdale, Frodsham,
Cheshire.
Forest Department, Cey-
lon.
Heydon Vale, Great
Chishall, Near Roy-
ston, Cambs.
Cockran, Miss Henrietta
Cotton, Capt. Frederick
Crottie, Miss Julia M.
Dallas, Miss H. A.
Dollar, John A. W.
Errington Cyril
Evans, Miss May (A
Welsh Spinster).
Farmer, R. Geoffrey
Fellows, Charles (Cas-
situs).
Gaskell, Lady
Gouldsworthy, Henry C.
Harrison, Miss Rose
Hollander, Bernard,
M.D.
Hunt, Miss Violet
Hurlock, Sydney .
lliffe, Mrs. J. K. M.
Ivrea, The Marquis
Keyworth, Charles W.
(Charles Aver)
Lovell, Arthur (D.C. W.)
MacDonagh, Michael
Mackenzie, W.C. .
Masson, Miss Flora
Masson, Miss Rosaline .
Medley, Miss H. P.
Merritt, Mrs. Lea
Molyneux, The Honble.
Mrs.
Oelsner, Herman .
Petano, D. K.
31
45, Mecklenburg Square,
W.C.
Horsham Court, Mort-
ley, Worcestershire.
Glenbaba House, Near
Peel, Isle of Man.
116, King Henry’s Road,
N.W.
a Bond Street,
91, Lavender Sweep,
Clapham Junction,
S.W.
10, Lansdowne Crescent,
W.
Barriew Street, Welsh-
pool.
Old Bank Chambers,
Wolverhampton.
The Abbey, Much Wen-
lock, Salop.
2, Brompton Square,
S.W.
101, Oakley
Chelsea, 8. W.
62, Queen Anne Street,
Cavendish Square, W.
South Lodge, Campden
Hill, S.W.
College Grove
Wakefield.
13, Warnborough Road,
Oxford.
c/o E. F. Turner & Son,
Leadenhall House,
E.C.
Wesley House, Bisley,
Stroud, Glos.
5, Portman Street, Port-
man Square, W.
149, Abbeville Road,
Clapham Park, 8.W.
‘“* Sutha,” Selborne
Road, Sidcup, Kent.
2, Lockharton Gardens,
Edinburgh.
2, Lockharton Gardens,
Edinburgh.
Marlborough Mansions,
S.W.
Hurstbourne ‘Tarrant,
Near Andover.
Willoughby, Saxe Wei-
mer Road, Southsea.
Savage Club, Adelphi
Terrace, W.C.
23, Walton Well Road,
Oxford.
Street,
Road,
32
96, Warwick Gardens,
Kensington, W.
33, St. Luke’s Road,
Notting Hill, W.
c/o To-Day, 8 & 9, Essex
Street, Strand
Seagate House, Little-
Pickthall, Rudolf .
Reich, Emil .
Rutter, Frank
Smith, William Herbert
hampton.
Smith, Mrs. Michael 35, Ailsbury Road,
Dublin.
Thomson, Miss Clara 11, Talgarth Road, West
Linklater. Kensington; or Tem-
ple House, Temple
Avenue.
Lotus, Dorking.
Spade House, Sandgate,
Kent.
3, Park Terrace, Cross-
hill, Glasgow.
54, Bloomsbury Street,
W.C.
1, Rue Dain, Faubourg
St. Honoré, Paris.
Ward, Wilfrid
Wells, H. G.
Williams, Wynn Llewel-
lyn.
Yorke, Philip C. .
Young, Miss Catherine
M.
Only one member of those elected does not
desire publication.
eS
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—->+—
ISS R. N. Carey’s new 6s. novel, “The
Highway of Fate” (Macmillan), has made
an excellent start, and has at once taken
its place as one of the twelve best selling books of
the month. It was issued early in September,
simultaneously in England and America; and
arrangements have also been made with Baron
Tauchnitz, who will shortly issue the work in his
Continental series.
Mrs. Alec Tweedie’s memoir of her father,
“George Harley, F.R.S., or the Life of a London
Physician,” can now he had in a cheaper edition
(The Scientific Press). It gives many interesting
stories of the Crimea, Napoleon III., and the coup
Wétat. There are also stories of student life in
Paris and Germany, and of the delightful people
he met in London, where he practised as a physician
for forty years.
Mr. A. Ollivant’s new book “ Danny,” which
has been running for some time in the Monthly
Magazine here, and in Everybody's Magazine
in America, will shortly be complete. It will
then be published by Mr. John Murray on this
side, and by Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co. in
America.
Mr. Ollivant’s previous book, called here “ Owd
Bob of Kenmure,” and in America “ Bob, Son of
THE AUTHOR.
Battle,” met with marked success, the sales in the
United States even exceeding those in England.
“here is every probability of “ Danny” being
equally successful. The author’s power and origin-
ality are both quite as strongly exhibited in
“Danny” as in his earlier work; and Mr.
Ollivant exhibits an advance in the dexterity with
which he treats the technique and subsidiary
elements of romantic fiction.
Miss Rosaline Masson has a new novel in the
press. It is called “ Leslie Farquhar,” and Mr.
John Murray will publish it. Miss Masson. is
favourably known as_ the authoress of “The
Pransgressors”” and “ In Our Town,” both novels
descriptive of the Edinburgh of to-day (Hodder &
Stoughton).
Miss Masson, besides publishing a couple of ‘Ag
volumes of short stories, wrote the “Lives of
Pollock and Aytoun” inthe Famous Scots’ Series.
Aytoun, author of the popular “Lays of the
Cavaliers,” was the predecessor of Miss Masson’s
father in the chair of English Literature in .
Edinburgh University.
Mr. Herbert Compton has been very busy.
Messrs. A. Treherne & Co. are bringing out for him
a series of sketches strung together under the title
of “ Facts and Phantasies of a Folio Grub,” while
Messrs. Everett & Co. will issue his “‘ A Scourge
of the Sea,” a story of South Sea adventure.
Mr. J. Bloundelle-Burton’s new story, « The
Intriguers,” commences in this month’s Leisure
Hour. It deals with a Jacobite plot to assassinate
George I. before he could reach England from
Germany, at the time of his accession in the year
1714. “The Intriguers” will be a stirring story.
Allen Raine is engaged upon a new novel which
will be entitled “On the Wings of the Wind.” It
will be ready for publication in the spring.
Mrs. B. M. Croker is busy on a long novel
dealing with life in India. She is going out to
India to finish it, and will spend the winter there.
This popular authoress means to see the Durbar
at Delhi.
« Johanna,” Mrs. Croker’s story of Trish peasant
life now running in Crampton’s Magazine, is to
be published in the spring by Messrs. Methuen
& Co.
Mr. Reginald E. Salwey’s new novel, “A Son of —
Mischief,” is a strong sensational story. ‘There is
firm character drawing in it, dramatic situations,
and a capital plot. The Rossiter family is one
worth knowing.
Mr. G. 8. Streets’ recently published “ Book of
Essays ” (Constable & Co.), demonstrates that the
true art of essay-writing is not dead. His style is
bright and pleasant. He gives food for thought
THE AUTHOR. 33
without overtaxing the labour-weary brain; and
he takes you into his confidence in a way that
makes the reader feel at home at once. He writes
as to an old friend and rouses a reciprocity of
friendship.
A most interesting book entitled “Greek Votive
Offerings” is just out. (University Press, Cam-
bridge; E. J. Clay & Sons, London, 15s. net.)
It is an essay on the history of Greek religion, by
W. H. Denham Rouse, F.R.G.S., Sc., Headmaster of
the Perse School. There are two plates and many
illustrations in the text.
The main purpose of this scholarly book is to
coilect and classify those offerings which are not
immediately perishable; and by examining the
oceasion of their dedication and the statements
made about it, to trace, if possible, the motives of
the dedicator and the meaning which the act had
for him.
“The Problem of Fiorenzo of Perugia,” a work
on Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, the reputed master of
Perngino, is at present in the press, and will
shortly be published. The authoress is Mrs. Jean
Carlyle Graham, a Scottish lady, whose previous
literary essays have been chiefly in verse. She has
been resident in Perugia for some time, and com-
pleted the letterpress of this critical study of an
old master in 1901. It is the first serious publica-
tion on the subject, in any language.
: Under Mr. M.H.Spielmann’s able and complete
control The Magazine of Art has started into new
and vigorous life. Its price is reduced to 1s. net,
while the number of its pages is increased ; a new
cover will be used ; new paper is specially manu-
factured for its pages, and a new fount of type has
been obtained. A most important point is that
many artists of eminence have undertaken, by
means of articles, to address themselves to the
public direct in the magazine.
But the most novel feature will be the experi-
ment of presenting, at least twice a year, a fine
picture by a leading artist. The picture can be
won by a subscriber to the magazine by means of
a simple competition within the capacity of every-
one. We heartily wish Mr. Spielmann, who is a
prominent and active member of our Society, all
the success he desires for his new series of 7he
Magazine of Art.
Miss Clementina Black’s “Frederick Walker”
(Duckworth’s Popular Library of Art), is a well-
written, sympathetic, and discriminating lifelet of
this artist, who died all too young. We must make
room for a quotation or two :—
“To see in Walker nothing but the domestic idealist, is
as if one should see in Tennyson only the author of the
‘May Queen’ ...I£ a mushroom could have a soul,
Walker might be said to have painted its soul... The
background of care, sedulously concealed behind an appear-
ance of ease, seems to have been typical of Walker’s work
on even the slightest of productions, and was, perhaps, a
a matter not so much of deliberate intention, as of inborn
character.”
“He had in a marked degree that clear perception of the
actual world around him without which the creative artist,
either in words or in pictures, seldom succeeds in striking
any widely and deeply human note ... To have lived
intimately with Walker’s work is to dwell thenceforward
in a universe, whose common sights of daily life are touched
with a new light, and informed with a new beauty—a
universe in which humanity seems to call for a deeper
tenderness, a more tolerant smile, a gentler recognition.”
A yaluable and interesting volume is Mr.
Lawrence Binyon’s ‘“ Catalogue of Drawings by
British artists, and artists of foreign origin work-
ing in Great Britain, preserved in the British
Museum.” (Henry Frowde, Amen Corner, E.C.,
10s. net.)
Here is a specimen of one of Mr. Binyon’s
miniature biographies :—
KEENE, CHARLES SAMUEL (b. 1823, d. 1871).
Draughtsman, etcher and caricaturist ; born in London ;
apprenticed as a wood engraver; worked in London for
periodicals, and about 1851 began to be employed on
Punch, for which the chief part of his life work was done,
illustrating the daily life of the people for the latter half
of the century with a long series of drawings, unsurpassed
for character and humour; illustrated books by Charles
Reade and others ; one of the greatest of English draughts-
men, and a consummate master of black-and-white.
Mr. Owen Seaman’s “ Borrowed Plumes” (Con-
stable & Co.) is just out. It is dedicated “To the
Authors, many of them my friends, whose methods
I have here attempted to imitate ; and in particular
to Pearl Mary Teresa Cragie.”
Among the authors imitated are, Mrs. Humphry
Ward, Mr. Henry James, Mr. Maurice Hewlett,
Miss E. F. Fowler, Mr. Hall Caine and Mr. G.
Bernard Shaw. ‘These imitations are more than
amusing: they convey acute but kindly criticism
in every page. We master the temptation to
quote, and advise our readers to buy and taste for
themselves.
“Rabbi Shalem on the Shores of the Black
Sea,” by Jaakoff Prelooker, just published by
Simpkin Marshall (4s. net), is a romantic narrative
dealing with the life of Russian Jews and Christian
Dissenters, amongst whom the author laboured for
a number of years with the object of bringing
about their reconciliation, and possible union.
Miss Olive Katharine Parr has written a Dart-
moor story book for children. It is illustrated
by Mr. E. Wheeler, and is to be published by
Messrs. Routledge. .
The title of this children’s story is “The Voice
of the River.” The river is the beautiful Dart,
and the scene is laid at Bray farm. The story 1s
quite finished and is in the publisher's hands, but
it will not be published for some time.
34 THE AUTHOR.
“Pilgrims of Love” by Miss Bessie Hatton, isa over and over again in his book ; to will and to act
book of original fairy tales following up her “The are what young men must be taught.
Village of Youth,” a new and cheap edition of which M. Hanotaux thinks that at the age of fifteen,
is promised by Messrs. Treherne. ‘Pilgrims of boys who are to take up commercial or agricultural
Love” has a unique cover in Japanese vellum, careers, should put aside their books and commence
daintily decorated by the authoress’ brother-in- work in earnest.
law, Mr. W. H. Margeston. The seventh volume of “ Empire libéral,” by M.
Miss Hatton is the younger of Mr. Joseph Emile Ollivier, is just published. The chief sub-
seett ” ‘Mr. Hatton’s first number jects contained in this volume are the Dismember-
Huatton’s two daughters. Mr. Hatton s nis’ T ‘nent of Denmark, the Syllabus, Mexico, Bismark’s
of his projected reprints of s ecial pages from his . : : ie meena
as Caweie Papers” is pabiehed thismonth abed, “Ue with Napoleon Hit. at Biarritz." One of
«Cigarette Paper the Boyioad of Sie Henry SPAN are OF rey A livre aooant
. 7 or 9 . .
devimg ; ith some notes fo) 3 Pipers of Napoleon III. throws much light on European
Tn “Songs of Peace and War” by A. H. Rowland affairs during the years 1864 and 1865.
there is a sonnet to Mr. Joseph Chamberlain ; one “ Aux pays d’Homére » ig the title of a new
to Cecil John Rhodes (In Memoriam) and one to book by Baron de Mandat-Grancey, who has
the Colonial Premiers. There are verses headed written some interesting works on “the United
respectively, “ Magersfontein,” “ Bobs,” “Paar- States, England, and Africa.
deberg,” ‘“Eland’s River,” etc. etc., as well as “Une Demi-Carriére ” by the Comte de Com-
verses “To the Cuckoo,” “Lucerne,” “The minges, is a military novel which is particularly
Rural Exodus ” and others. interesting at the present moment. The plot
reminds us of the case of the Lieutenant who has
recently been tried by court-martial for refusing
to eject the nuns from their convent.
“Treg veridique histoire d’une petite fille” by
Hannah Lynch, is another translation from English.
This story appeared as a serial in the Revue de
Paris, and is now published in volume form.
“Un séjour i ’ambassade de Constantinople,” by
boats and gear destroyed. The loss among coasting Mme. la baronne Durand de Fontmagne, Is a most
vessels was terrible. interesting account of life in Turkey, when there
Mr. Hall Caine’s stage version of his novel “ The Wet? still some Turks, as the authoress says. She
ternal City,” which ss roduced at His Majesty’s went outto Constantinople with Madame Thouvenel,
TI a ; : eee: Lace wife of the French Ambassador, and the descriptions
jeatre on the evening of October 3rd, is attracting . : ee
large audiences. It is splendidly staged. Miss and episedes given are mos) Wea) eS
Constance Collier lays Roma item tional “La Demoiselle de Puygarrou,” is the pis =
piey 2 otional the novel Madame Henry Gréville had just finished
“Buchan’s Birs” is an interesting narrative
poem of forgotten heroism by Donal O’Ioci.
The tale as it stands was written in Australia over
ten years ago. It is a true story of an event
which occurred towards the end of the devastating
storm of November, 1857, which caused ‘such
terrible destruction on the North-east Coast of
Scotland. Forty-two fishermen perished, and their
force, spontaneity and charm. haters her death
In Baron Bonelli Mr. Tree has an effective part, M. André Theuriet’s new novel, “ Sceur de lait,”
and he makes the most of it. Mr. Robert Taber is also on the theme 80 much in vogue just now.
takes the part of Rossi, and Mr. Lionel Brough ‘The story turns on the conflict between the past,
plays Bruno Rocco. Mr. Telbin and Mr. Harker with its traditions, and the present, with its modern
the artists have never done -better work; the ideas.
mounting is quite remarkable. M. Arthur Bucheron, better known by his
Mr. RB. C. Carton will not produce any play pseudonym of Saint-Genest, has just died at the
until next year. age of sixty-seven. Of late years very little has
been heard of him, but formerly his articles in the
ee Figaro were most popular, particularly the one
addressed to the Marshal Mac-Mahon, which caused
PARIS NOTES. the Government to suspend the Figaro for a
fortnight.
M. Edmond Haraucourt has just published a
HE new book by M. Gabriel Hanotaux, ‘‘ Le volume of stories entitled ‘ Les Nanfragés.”
Qhoix d’une Carriere,” comes ata very oppor- M. Haraucourt is better known as a poet and
tune moment. The question of education dramatic author than asanovelist. His best known —
is being discussed both in France and England. plays are “ Don Juan de Manara,” “Jean Bart,” —
To know is not everything, the author: repeats and ‘La Passion.” The stories published in this —
THE AUTHOR. 35
new volume are all dramatic and powerful, but the
subjects are, on the whole, gruesome. :
“Amériques et Américains,” by M. Victor-
Thomas, is interesting, and all the more so as it
is not a lengthy volume. The author gives us
his notes and impressions as briefly as possible.
“La Comédie Francaise et la Revolution,” by
A. Pougin, gives an interesting account of the
history of the theatre during the Revolution. The
author tells the whole story of the arrest of the
actors, the tragic death of Mlle. Desgarcins and
of Grammont, who died on the scaffold in
1794. ;
“La Cité Future—Essai d’une Utopie Scien-
tifique,” by Ernest Tarbouriech, is an attempt to
trace the programme of the constitution of
Collectivism.
In a volume by Henri Brémond, “Ames
Religieuses,’” we have, among other subjects, a
sketch of John Keble, and another of Edouard
Thring.
An English book, entitled ‘Luke Delmege,” by
P. A. Sheehan, has probably had a longer review
in France than in England. Ten or eleven pages
of the “ Revue des Deux Mondes”’ were taken up
with the résumé of this Irish story.
The play by M. Henry Bauer, ‘‘ Sa Maitresse,”’ at
the Vaudeville, was awaited with great curiosity
from the fact that the author has hitherto been a
rather severe dramatic critic.
In the first scenes there were such lengthy
harangues, and so little action, that there seemed
very little chance of success for the piece, but
fortunately all this was redeemed before the end,
and the play is certainly a very strong one.
M. Deval has opened his season at the Athénée
with “ Madame Flirt” by MM. Gavault and Berr.
This play was the great success of last season, and
had a run of about 260 performances. It was
bought for America a few months ago.
The chief réles in “ Paillasses,” by Léoncavallo,
have been entrusted to MM. Jean de Reszké
and Delmas, and Madame Aino Ackté.
M. Bernstein has arranged with Mr. Frohman
for the English rights of his play “ Détour.”
Madame de Nuovina has had great success at
Berlin with Massenet’s “Navarraise.” She was
recalled time after time, and she appears to have
had as great a triumph as Calvé, in the same role
in Paris.
Madame Réjane has returned from her long
tour, and is now preparing her ré/e in the new
play to be given at the Vaudeville.
M. Bour, whose creations at the Theatre Antoine
were so remarkable, has just scored a great success
in the réle of Safi in “Triomphe,” M. Robert
Bracco’s play.
Auys HAuarp.
EMILE ZOLA.
poe
HE tragic death of Zola has cast a gloom over
the commencement of the winter season in
Paris.
Ever since the famous letter “J’ accuse,” many
of Zola’s literary friends had held aloof from him,
but at present political quarrels and differences of
opinion are buried, and his literary work is being
discussed and criticized from every point of view.
Emile Zola was born in Paris in 1840. His
father, who had been an officer in the army, was,
at the time of his son’s birth, a civil engineer, and
was engaged in making the canal at Aix.
Emile finished his education at the Saint Louis
College, and on leaving took a situation at the
docks at asalary of about ten shillings a week.
He soon left this, and his life for many years was
a very hard one. He had an attic in the Latin
Quarter, and was often without fire in the winter
and almost without bread.
He consoled himself by writing poetry and many
of his “ Contes 4 Ninon.”
In 1861, thanks to Dr. Boudet, he obtained a
situation at Hachette’s publishing house, at a salary
of about a pound a week, where at first he had the
parcels to make, but as time went on he was sent
into the office, and after writing his first comedy,
“’Amoureuse,” M. Hachette engaged him as his
secretary. In 1864 his “Contes a Ninon” were
published, and in 1865 his ‘Confession de Claude.”
He wrote at this time for several newspapers,
and gave up his situation at M. Hachette’s for the
post: offered him by M. Villemessant on the Avene-
ment. His first article, which was a criticism of
the Salon, made a great sensation. He had taken
up the cudgels for the painter Manet, and he did
not spare the jury.
After his famous “ Thérése Raquin” in 1867,
and “‘ Madeleine Férat ” in 1868, Zola’s work was
seriously discussed. His theory was naturalism,
and his views on literary matters were considered
“revolutionary.” His most important work is the
“ Rougon-Macquart ” series of nineteen volumes,
containing the “histoire naturelle et sociale d’une
famille sous le second Empire.” The author
endeavours to show how a family would act in
the midst of a given society. Individuals ap-
pear at first absolutely dissimilar, but after
analysis it is seen how closely they are in reality
connected with each other, and by reading the
stories of these different lives we have an idea of
the atmosphere of the second Empire.
This famous series was finished in 1893, and
since then Zola has given us a study of other
families in the volumes “ Lourdes,” “ Rome,” and
“Paris,” and in the series, ‘‘ Quatre Evangiles :
Fécondité, Travail,” and “ Vérité.” The last volume
36
which he had planned for this work, “ Justice,”
was not even commenced at the time of his death.
M. Huysmans tells us the origin of the volume,
“ Soirées de Medan.”
Before Zola wrote “ VAssommoir” he lived in a
small house in the Rue Saint George. He had
just published “ La Curée,” and M. Céard, who
admired this work immensely, went to call on the
author. Zola received him very cordially, and M.
Huysmans accompanied M. Céard on his next
visit. M. Hennique also went—and Zola already
knew Guy de Maupassant and M. Alexis.
This little group of literary men agreed to meet
and to spend the evening, once a week, at Zola’s
house. ‘They decided to publish a volume of
stories together, and as by that time Zola had
bought his country house at Médan, and the six
friends used to go there on Sundays, the volume
was entitled “Soirées de Médan,” and was pub-
lished in 1880. Only three of the authors survive,
Huysmans, Hennique, and Céard.
Zola gave “lAttaque du Moulin,” a story he
had written in three days for the Revue de
Petersbourg ; Maupassant’s story was “‘ Boule-de-
Suif” ; Huysmans gave “Sac au dos” ; Hennique,
“PAssaut du Grand Six” ; Céard, “ La Saignée”’ ;
and Paul Alexis, “ Aprés la Bataille.” They were
all episodes of the war of ’70, and 10,000 copies
of the volume were published.
They were all men of such totally different
temperaments that Zola often used to say “ It will be
curious to see later on the way we each take in life.”
In the Journal des Débats, M. Henry Bidou
sums up in a few words the chief characteristics of
Zola’s work. “Zola had that first, great quality—
strength. He organized an immense work, and
there is scarcely anything finer than the end of
‘Germinal.’ There is, however, @ misunderstand-
ing in his genius. He was the chief of realists,
and the poorest of romantiques. He wished to be
a savant, and was an imaginatif, and not a thorough
critic by any means. His terrible mistake was
that, trusting to a science which he had acquired
too hastily, he misunderstood humanity, and we
are unfortunately compelled to believe that his
convictions were the outcome of his disposition of
mind. He sees nothing which is higher than a
certain level, and would thus give the lie to Ovid’s
lines on man.”
M. Anatole France, who spoke at Zola’s grave
in the name of his friends, had a difficult task to
perform. Since the Dreyfus affair M. Anatole
France has been a great admirer of Zola’s courage
at that time, and his speech was most eulogistic.
Years ago when criticising Zola’s works, M
Anatole France said: “ His work is bad, and he
is one of those unhappy beings about whom we
can only say it would have been better if he had
THE AUTHOR.
never been born. Certainly I do not deny his
detestable fame. . . . Never has any man so com-
pletely failed to comprehend the ideal of mankind,
‘La Terre,’ for instance, is nob so much the work
of an exact realist as of a perverted idealist. To
see in peasants nothing but sensual beasts, is
childish, false, and sickly. Peasants are not like this,
in the first place, because they have not the time.
Zola gives us peasants who get up at dawn, work
like horses, and in spite of this, are given up to
perpetual fornication. 'This is not so, and if the
author invents he should invent something better.”
The opinion of M. Barré is that Zola’s work is
“a powerful monument which will remain,” but at
_ same time he confesses that it does not interest
im.
M. Rosny considers that Zola’s role in the school
of naturalism was only of the second order. He
was not a creator, but just the man who made use
of the elements of art with which Balzac, Flaubert,
and Goncourt had furnished him.
Léon Daudet, who from his earliest childhood
had been accustomed to seeing Zola, and hearing
him discuss literary questions with Edmond de
Goncourt and Alphonse Daudet, tells us that the
Zola of that time had scarcely changed at all. He
had the same nervous, affable voice, the same
peculiar intonation, and the same wide forehead
wrinkled with thought and anxiety.
“ He was in those days,” says Léon Daudet, **a
pessimist as regards the present, all his optimism
was in a vague future, in a social Utopia, and this
stood to him in the place of all dreams, and of the
hope in a life beyond. He often declared that work
was a sacred thing in itself, and that it was the only
means of forgetting life. He was a slave to each
one of his books, setting himself each day his task
of pages to write, and refusing to be influenced by
fatigue, monotony, or disinclination. ‘This terrible
persistency permitted. him to fill the number of
pages he had determined to write, but effectually
banished from his work all joy and serenity.
Even when he speaks of the near dawn, and of
to-morrow’s sunshine, he is painting black hori
zons, and depicting such utter anguish of soul as
admits of no hope whatever. The great faults of
Zola are his want of selection, and his exaggeration
and abuse of the grosser things he describes.”
* Anys HALLARD.
ee
A CAPE LETTER.
eee
OREMOST among recent local publications
K stand two historical works, both from the
ens of well-known authorities—“ The
Beginning of South African History,” by Dr. Geo.
M‘Call Theal, Colonial Historiographer (simul-
THE AUTHOR. 37
s
taneously published by Mr. Unwin in ‘London, and
by Mr. T. M. Miller in Cape Town), and a new
volume of “ Précis of the Archives of the Cape of
Good Hope,” translated by the Rev. H. C. V.
Leibbrandt, Keeper of the Archives. The preface
to the first-named work describes its somewhat
complicated evolution from an earlier but much
smaller book, entitled “The Portuguese in South
Africa,” which was designed to fill the deficiency in
the author’s original “ History of South Africa”
with regard to the “ beginning” of South African
history, South Africa having since the issue of
that work expanded so as to take in (Northern)
territory whose history began at an earlier date.
Dr. Theal states that, following on the publication
of “ The Portuguese in South Africa,” he was com-
missioned by the Cape Government to make deeper
research on the subject, with the result that he has
spent the greater part of the last five years in
Europe, translating Portuguese MSS., etc. Most of
these translations have already been published under
the title of “ Recordsof South-east Africa,” the ninth
volume being in preparation ; and the present book
is an epitome of their contents. It forms a new
Vol. I. to Dr. Theal’s great serial History, whose
other volumes are gradually being issued in second
editions. There is an introductory chapter on the
earliest inhabitants of the country, and the book
closes with a couple of added chapters relating to
events in Portuguese South-east Africa in the
nineteenth century. It contains several interesting
old maps and drawings.
Mr. Leibbrandt’s new volume of ‘Précis,” a
smaller book, covers the years 1671—4 and 1676,
and consists of a free translation of the official
journals kept under the early Dutch governors of
the Cape, with the omission of certain uninterest-
ing details. There is no preface, nor are there
any other addenda. The simple line “1675
missing” tells the story of the neglect which has
allowed several of these valuable old documents to
get lost. Like the rest of the series, the volume
just issued is of great historical interest, being full
of information as to the customs and daily happen-
ings of the period. It is often amusing,
consciously or unconsciously ; as when one of a
marauding party of lions is said to have come “ too
near the gun, and was so hit in the brain-pan that
he died immediately on the spot,” or in the naive
entry, ‘Nothing particular happened!” The
matter of a Sunday sermon, the horrible details of
a brutal punishment, or a description in unre-
strained language of some delinquent’s character,
all come within the scope of the record.
Under instructions from the Government, Mr.
Leibbrandt has edited all the papers connected
with “The Rebellion of 1815, generally known
as Slachters Nek.” These form a considerable
volume, which is in course of publication (Cape
Town, J. C. Juta & Co.; London, P. S. King
& Co.), a Dutch edition of which will follow
immediately. Mr. Leibbrandt has been fortunate
in discovering a most complete record of the historic
trial. To this he has added many other important
documents bearing on the subject. The book (of
which the present writer has been privileged to see
an advance copy) is provided with a large map of
the eastern portion of Cape Colony, showing all
places mentioned.
In addition to the work already described, Dr.
Theal has contributed to the “ Nineteenth Century
Series,” published in Toronto, a volume on “ The
Progress of South Africa in the Century.”
Messrs. J. C. Juta & Co. have republished a
number of educational works, the stocks of
which were destroyed by fire last year. Among
minor publications of the last few months are
a large quarter-volume of “Transactions of the
South African Philosophical Society” (completing
Vol. XI.) ; a Pocket Gazetteer of Cape Colony, and
a large number of sectional maps of the Cape and
other South African Colonies, issued for the Field
Intelligence Department ; “ The City of Grahams-
town” (illustrated), by A. Macmillan (J. Slater,
Grahamstown) ; a second edition of an elementary
phrase-book, etc., of the Secwana language, by A.J.
Wookey (Townshend & Son, Vryburg) ; three or
four volumes of Law Reports ; numerous leaflets
on farming subjects, reprinted from the Agricul-
tural Journal; and several Coronation poems in
pamphlet form.
Mr. T. M. Miller has taken over from Messts.
Juta the publication of the Rev. A. Vine Hall’s
charming illustrated poem on “Table Mountain,”
of which he is shortly bringing out a new and
improved edition. The whole stock of this booklet
was also destroyed in the fire mentioned above.
Two literary items are contained in the Estimates
laid before Parliament this Session—viz., payments
of £250 to Mr. T. R. Sim for a work on “ Forest
Flora,” and of £200 to Mr. A. R. EH. Burton,
F.R.G.8., for a handbook of the Colony. The
latter volume, which replaces the late Mr. John
Noble’s Handbook of 1898, will be published in
the near future, but the date of appearance of
Mr. Sim’s book is at present indefinite. Mr.
Burton, who has for some time past been editor of
the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Journal, has
accepted a similar appointment under the Transvaal
Government. His place on the local journal is
taken by Mr. F. D. McDermott.
The “ History of the War ” threatened by General
Botha and his two comrades-in-arms should prove
interesting if it contains many statements as start-
ling as that of the Commander-in-Chief of the
late Transvaal forces, to the effect that the British
36
for this work, “ Justice,”
d at the time of his death.
igin of the volume,
which he had planned
was not even commence
M. Huysmans tells us the or
« Soirées de Médan.”
Before Zola wrote “ Y’Assommoir” he lived in a
small house in the Rue Saint George. He had
just published “ La Curée,” and M. Céard, who
admired this work immensely, went to call on the
Zola received him very cordially, and M.
author. :
Huysmans accompanied M. Céard on his next
visit. M. Hennique also went—and Zola already
knew Guy de Maupassant and M. Alexis.
This little group of literary men agreed to meet
and to spend the evening, once a week, at Zola’s
house. ‘They decided to publish a volume of
stories together, and as by that time Zola had
bought his country house at Médan, and the six
friends used to go there on Sundays, the volume
was entitled “Soirées de Médan,” and was pub-
lished in 1880. Only three of the authors survive,
Huysmans, Hennique, and Céard.
Zola gave “‘l Attaque du Moulin,” a story he
had written in three days for the Revue de
Potersbourg ; Maupassant’s story was ‘“ Boule-de-
Suif” ; Huysmans gave “ Sac au dos” ; Hennique,
“PAssaut du Grand Six” ; Céard, “ La Saignée” ;
and Paul Alexis, “ Aprés la Bataille.” They were
all episodes of the war of 70, and 10,000 copies
of the volume were published.
They were all men of such totally different
temperaments that Zola often used to say “ It will be
curious to see later on the way we each take in life.”
In the Journal des Debats, M. Henry Bidou
sums up in a few words the chief characteristics of
Zola’s work. “Zola had that first, great quality—
strength. He organized an immense work, and
there is scarcely anything finer than the end of
‘Germinal.’ There is, however, @ misunderstand-
ing in his genius. He was the chief of realists,
and the poorest of romantiques. He wished to be
a savant, and was an imaginatif, and. not a thorough
critic by any means. His terrible mistake was
that, trusting to a science which he had acquired
too hastily, he misunderstood humanity, and we
are unfortunately compelled to believe that his
convictions were the outcome of his disposition of
mind. He sees nothing which is higher than a
certain level, and would thus give the lie to Ovid’s
lines on man.”
M. Anatole France, who spoke at Zola’s grave
in the name of his friends, had a difficult task to
perform. Since the Dreyfus affair M. Anatole
France has been a great admirer of Zola’s courage
at that time, and his speech was most eulogistic.
Years ago when criticising Zola’s works, M
Anatole France said: “ His work is bad, and he
is one of those unhappy beings about whom we
can only say it would have been better if he had
THE AUTHOR.
never been born. Certainly I do not deny his
detestable fame. . . . Never has any man so com-
pletely failed to comprehend the ideal of mankind.
‘La Terre,’ for instance, is nob so much the work
of an exact realist as of a perverted idealist. To
see in peasants nothing but sensual beasts, is
childish, false, and sickly. Peasants are not like this,
in the first place, because they have not the time.
Zola gives us peasants who get up at dawn, work
like horses, and in spite of this, are given up to
perpetual fornication. 'This is not so, and if the
author invents he should invent something better.”
The opinion of M. Barré is that Zola’s work is
“a powerful monument which will remain,” but at
Le same time he confesses that it does not interest
im.
M. Rosny considers that Zola’s role in the school
of naturalism was only of the second order. He
was not a creator, but just the man who made use
of the elements of art with which Balzac, Flaubert,
and Goncourt had furnished him.
Léon Daudet, who from his earliest childhood
had been accustomed to seeing Zola, and hearing
him discuss literary questions with Edmond de
Goncourt and Alphonse Daudet, tells us that the
Zola of that time had scarcely changed at all. He
had the same nervous, affable voice, the same
peculiar intonation, and the same wide forehead
wrinkled with thought and anxiety.
« He was in those days,” says Léon Daudet, “a
pessimist as regards the present, all his optimism
was in a vague future, in a social Utopia, and this
stood to him in the place of all dreams, and of the
hope in a life beyond. He often declared that work
was a sacred thing in itself, and that it was the only
means of forgetting life. He was a slave to each
one of his books, setting himself each day his task
of pages to write, and. refusing to be influenced by
fatigue, monotony, or disinclination. This terrible
persistency permitted him to fill the number of
pages he had determined to write, but effectually
banished from his work all joy and serenity.
Even when he speaks of the near dawn, and of
to-morrow’s sunshine, he is painting black hori
zons, and depicting such utter anguish of soul as
admits of no hope whatever. The great faults of
Zola ave his want of selection, and his exaggeration
and abuse of the grosser things he describes.”
* ~~ Atys HALLARD.
a
A CAPE LETTER.
a
OREMOST among recent local publications
| { stand two historical works, both from the
ens of well-known authorities—“ The
Beginning of South African History,” by Dr. Geo.
M‘Call Theal, Colonial Historiographer (simul-
ao
THE AUTHOR. 37
taneously published by Mr. Unwin in ‘London, and
by Mr. T. M. Miller in Cape Town), and a new
volume of “ Précis of the Archives of the Cape of
Good Hope,” translated by the Rev. H. C. V.
Leibbrandt, Keeper of the Archives. The preface
to the first-named work describes its somewhat
complicated evolution from an earlier but much
smaller book, entitled ‘The Portuguese in South
Africa,” which was designed to fill the deficiency in
the author’s original ‘ History of South Africa ”
with regard to the “ beginning” of South African
history, South Africa having since the issue of
that work expanded so as to take in (Northern)
territory whose history began at an earlier date.
Dr. Theal states that, following on the publication
of “ The Portuguese in South Africa,” he was com-
missioned by the Cape Government to make deeper
research on the subject, with the result that he has
spent the greater part of the last five years in
Europe, translating Portuguese MSS., etc. Most of
these translations have already been published under
the title of “ Recordsof South-east Africa,” the ninth
volume being in preparation ; and the present book
is an epitome of their contents. It forms a new
Vol. I. to Dr. Theal’s great serial History, whose
other volumes are gradually being issued in second
editions. There is an introductory chapter on the
earliest inhabitants of the country, and the book
closes with a couple of added chapters relating to
events in Portuguese South-east Africa in the
nineteenth century. It contains several interesting
old maps and drawings.
Mr. Leibbrandt’s new volume of “ Précis,” a
smaller book, covers the years 1671—4 and 1676,
and consists of a free translation of the official
journals kept under the early Dutch governors of
the Cape, with the omission of certain uninterest-
ing details. There is no preface, nor are there
any other addenda. The simple line “1675
missing” tells the story of the neglect which has
allowed several of these valuable old documents to
get lost. Like the rest of the series, the volume
just issued is of great historical interest, being full
of information as to the customs and daily happen-
ings of the period. It is often amusing,
consciously or unconsciously ; as when one of a
marauding party of lions is said to have come “ too
near the gun, and was so hit in the brain-pan that
he died immediately on the spot,” or in the naive
entry, “Nothing particular happened!” The
matter of a Sunday sermon, the horrible details of
a brutal punishment, or a description in unre-
strained language of some delinquent’s character,
all come within the scope of the record.
Under instructions from the Government, Mr.
Leibbrandt has edited all the papers connected
with “The Rebellion of 1815, generally known
as Slachters Nek.” These form a considerable
volume, which is in course of publication (Cape
Town, J. C. Juta & Co.; London, P. 8. King
& Co.), a Dutch edition of which will follow
immediately. Mr. Leibbrandt has been fortunate
in discovering a most complete record of the historic
trial. To this he has added many other important
documents bearing on the subject. The book (of
which the present writer has been privileged to see
an advance copy) is provided with a large map of
the eastern portion of Cape Colony, showing all
places mentioned.
In addition to the work already described, Dr.
Theal has contributed to the “ Nineteenth Century
Series,” published in Toronto, a volume on “The
Progress of South Africa in the Century.”
Messrs. J. ©. Juta & Co. have republished a
number of educational works, the stocks of
which were destroyed by fire last year. Among
minor publications of the last few months are
a large quarter-volume of “Transactions of the
South African Philosophical Society” (completing
Vol. XI.) ; a Pocket Gazetteer of Cape Colony, and
a large number of sectional maps of the Cape and
other South African Colonies, issued for the Field
Intelligence Department ; “ The City of Grahams-
town” (illustrated), by A. Macmillan (J. Slater,
Grahamstown) ; a second edition of an elementary
phrase-book, etc., of the Secwana language, by A. J.
Wookey (Townshend & Son, Vryburg) ; three or
four volumes of Law Reports ; numerous leaflets
on farming subjects, reprinted from the Agrwui-
tural Journal; and several Coronation poems in
pamphlet form.
Mr. T. M. Miller has taken over from Messrs.
Juta the publication of the Rev. A. Vine Hall’s
charming illustrated poem on “ Table Mountain,”
of which he is shortly bringing out a new and
improved edition. ‘The whole stock of this booklet
was also destroyed in the fire mentioned above.
Two literary items are contained in the Estimates
laid before Parliament this Session—viz., payments
of £250 to Mr. T. R. Sim for a work on “ Forest
Flora,’ and of £200 to Mr. A. R. E. Burton,
F.R.G.S., for a handbook of the Colony. The
latter volume, which replaces the late Mr. John
Noble’s Handbook of 18938, will be published in
the near future, but the date of appearance of
Mr. Sim’s book is at present indefinite. Mr.
Burton, who has for some time past been editor of
the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Journal, has
accepted a similar appointment under the Transvaal
Government. His place on the local journal is
taken by Mr. F. D. McDermott.
The “ History of the War ” threatened by General
Botha and his two comrades-in-arms should prove
interesting if it contains many statements as start-
ling as that of the Commander-in-Chief of the
late Transvaal forces, to the effect that the British
38
blockhouses never gave him any trouble to pass !
Ex-President Kruger’s promised “ defence-work ”
is also looked forward to.
Among other effects of the war, is the death of
the “South African Illustrated Magazine,” a bright
and old-established little monthly which we can
ill afford to lose. On the other hand, “The
Veld,” a high-class monthly illustrated paper,
whose special object is the reproduction of Cape
scenery, has resumed publication. Two other
new magazines are ‘“ The Examiner,” fortnightly
(Beaufort West Printing and Publishing Co.) ;
and “ Mademoiselle,” a monthly journal for ladies ;
whilst ‘The Boys of Africa,” weekly, is due to
make its first appearance this month. All the
newspapers which thought it prudent to suspend
ublication during the more rigorous application
of martial law are again being issued.
Very long extracts from Mr. William Morris’s
Coronation Ode appeared in the Cape Times, with
the usual note to the effect that copyright restrained
the paper from printing the whole. This style of
cheap morality is over-common in the quarter
named.
Mr. Wilson Barrett’s visit has marked an epoch
in our theatrical world. The Cape Town season
—which was postponed for a week on account of
Mr. Barrett’s very serious illness—included the
author-actor’s own “Sign of the Cross ” and
“Manxman” (after Hall Caine), the other plays
rendered being “The Silver King,” “ Virginius,”
“ Othello,” and “ Hamlet.” The last-named pro-
duction occupied the boards on the last night of
the season only, when each member of the audience
was presented with a copy of Mr. Barrett’s essay
on “Hamlet” (reprinted from “ Lippincott’s
Magazine” of April, 1890). After the perform-
ance the distinguished actor and author delivered
a personalspeech. Owing to the bad blood existing
between rival theatrical managers here, the Cape
Town performances had to be given in a very
inferior building ; a circumstance which is much
deplored. Mr. Barrett's cable to the Zimes sug-
gesting the renaming of South Africa raised a
regrettable controversy in the local Press, the
originator taking a vigorous part, but apparently
failing to convert many South Africans to his way
of thinking.
A private letter from Rolf Boldrewood, the
Australian author, dated Raby, Toorak, April 23rd,
1902, and containing the political creed of a
“representative Australian,” appeared in the Cape
Times a short while ago.
Sypngy YorK Forp.
Cape Town,
September 10th, 1902.
ee
THE AUTHOR.
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
1
HE celebrated Festus of the late Mr. P. J.
Bailey was published in 1839, just three years
before the passing of the Copyright Act, 1842.
Had it been published after the passing of that Act
the copyright would automatically have lasted for
seven years after the death of the author—that is,
until 1909. That Act, however, made a special
provision in favour of the owners of copyright
acquired before its passing, and still subsisting ab
the time of its passing. The 4th section enacted
that in such cases the copyright should be extended
and endure for the full term provided by the then
new Act (ie. for seven years after the author’s
death or forty-two years, whichever should be the
longer period), “provided that in all cases in
which such copyright shall belong to a publisher
or other person who shall have acquired it for
other consideration than that of love and affection,
such copyright shall not be extended by this Act,
but shall endure for the term which shall subsist
therein at the time of the passing of this Act, and
no longer, unless the author of such book if he
shall be living, or the personal representatives if he
be dead, and the proprietor of such copyright shall,
before the expiration of such term, consent and
agree to accept the benefits of this Act in respect
of such book.” The further provision was added
that a minute of such consent, in a form scheduled
to the Act, had to be registered at Stationers’ Hall.
In cases where an author had sold his copyright
and not entered into this agreement with the
purchaser, the copyright endured only for the term
fixed in 1814 by 54 Geo. 3. c. 56—i.e., for twenty-
eight years certain after the date of publication and
the residue of the life of the author ; so that all
copyrights acquired before 1842 have probably
expired, unless such agreement was made and
registered.—Law Times.
—— +
Old Books for New.
Durina the summer holidays several letters
have appeared in the papers giving details
respecting the republication by Mr. John Long
of a book of Mr. Bernard Capes. ‘The cause
of complaint from the author and sundry editors
is the fact that although the story had appeared.
several years ago in book form, no notification was
given to the public. The papers have dealt with
the matter from the point of view of the public,
and have demonstrated with considerable vigour
that such publication is likely to cause serious
annoyance to the general reader.
THE AUTHOR.
; .
From time to time cases of a similar character
have been brought to the offices of the Society.
Mr. Capes himself consulted the Society with a
yiew to taking action if possible. The opinion
of the legal advisers of the Society on this and
former occasions has unfortunately been against
the authors. Otherwise the committee would
gladly no doubt have taken a case in hand, and
supported the author in an action in the High
Court. Sach a method of publication is not only
unfair to the author, but it is also unfair to the
public. The publisher is the only person who can
hope in these circumstances to reap any benefit
from placing the book on the market. It is possible,
however, that he may lose in prestige what he gains
in hard cash.
The facts of the cases that have been investi-
gated are generally as follows :—
The author in the early days of his career
produces a book, and—as a young writer—sells
the copyright for a sum down, without knowing
exactly the danger of the transaction, or the
meaning of the contract that he signs. The book
not infrequently has no extended sale, and after a
short time ceases to interest the author, the pub-
lisher, or the public. A subsequent production
brings fame. Then the publisher suddenly re-
members that he owns the copyright of an early
work. He proceeds to market it again, and
generally does so at a time most inconvenient to
the author—when, for example, he is producing
his latest work with one of the larger publishing
houses. On one or two occasions the publisher
has run very close to the wind, but has never
actually rendered himself legally liable.
The only method of dealing with these cases is
the method employed by Mr. Bernard Capes—a
method the Society has always advocated where
the publisher persists in producing the work in
spite of the author’s remonstrances. A plain
statement of fact published in the newspapers
will clear himself and help to protect the
public.
The nearest approach to committal was a case in
which the publisher headed his advertisement
“Mr. ’s new novels,” the blank containing
the publisher’s name. The work in question cer-
tainly was a new novel as far as the publishing
house was concerned, but not a fresh novel from
the author’s pen. Even in this case the legal
advisers of the Society came to the conclusion that
it would be impossible to obtain a judgment in the
author’s fayour.
The real moral of the case is that the author
should know what he is selling when he makes his
original contract, or should ask advice of some
person who is well aware of the intricacies and
technicalities involved in a literary agreement.
Methods of Distribution.
I.
THE most important point to an author after
the creation of his work is surely how to get his
book into the hands of the public. In last
month’s Author an article appeared on ‘‘ Methods
of Distribution,” with some suggestions.
A publisher writing on the subject puts forward
some of the reasons why he thinks people do not
buy books. He says that the two commonest
excuses are that books take up too much room,
and are so expensive. People prefer to. borrow
from the library, and the libraries in their turn
take care to manage with as few books as possible.
Instead of trying to push their wares like the
bookseller they make no effort to oblige, but
merely state that the book is out. and suggest
another as an alternative.
The publisher also thinks that nett books are
regarded by many folk as another put-up dodge
on the part of the trade, but as a matter of fact it
would be impossible for any man to make a living
out of books sold subject to the usual 25 per cent.
He ends up by stating that the death of the three-
volume novel was the worst day’s work ever done
from the point of view of the young and good
novelist.
These opinions, coming from the source they do,
are of importance, and carry a great deal of weight.
They should be carefully considered. It is to be
hoped that the bookselling trade is not really at
such a low ebb. At any rate, it is stated in a daily
paper that the American Booklover’s Library
has taken London premises. The American
Booklover’s Library is run somewhat on the same
lines as Messrs. Mudies’. For a fixed subscription
it delivers parcels of books at the subscriber's
house, and collects them when done with.
This American business may perhaps stir up the
sleepy traders in books and at the same time do
something to break down the enormous critical
powers of Messrs. Mudie and Messrs. Smith, which
enable them to determine the literary pabulum to
be presented to their readers. Although these two
houses, by giving books an enormous distribution
which could not be achieved by a series of small
booksellers scattered all over the kingdom, are no
doubt from some points of view highly beneficial to
authors and publishers, yet competition is good in
all business, but competition must not be allowed to
become so acute as to necessitate the creation of a
trust. It is to be hoped, however, that the advent
of the American Booklover’s Library will not cause
the trade to gravitate in this direction. A trust of
the distributing agencies of Great Britain might be
a worse evil than the present stagnation.
a
>
40
Il.
Srr,—In the October number of The Author,
the writer of the above-named article has hit the
mark. We are not all geniuses—‘ talent does
what it can”—and gets little help. The ordinary
author of to-day, if I may so name the greater
proportion of writers who write for profit and the
benefit of the community, meets with a brick wall
“between publication and purchase. Say his book
is published on the royalty system, and well re-
viewed. So far good; the publisher is hopeful,
the author expectant. In many cases the hopes
of both are speedily dashed. There is a limited
demand, met by the big libraries, a spasmodic
sale, and then—the brick wall. Every year a
hundred books are in the same plight. Where
reststhe blame ? Not with the publishers, not with
the librarians, who cannot be expected to speculate,
and in nine cases out of ten not with the book.
The method of distribution is at fault. The book
is blocked from the general public. There is no
buyer because there is no seller. Now, the usual
bookseller (?) cum-stationer, cum-newsagent, cum-
printer, cum-purveyor of fancy goods, must not be
asked to know something personally of the con-
tents of the season’s hundred books written by the
ordinary author. It is asking too much of a
man whose interests are split up, who only rubs
shoulders with literature en passant. In every
town we want, what the writer of the article justly
underlines—the book-seller ; a man who has time
to think, who can distinguish, who will take works
on commission from the publisher—fiction, bio-
graphy, travel, religious, scholastic—classify his
own printed list, and distribute such, monthly
or quarterly, in his own vicinity, and to likely
customers. Then the ordinary author will get his
chance. The man who wants a book to read will
not have to frequent the railway station. He has
it, so to speak, under his nose ; and, under shelter
and out of draughts, can turn over the pages of
clean copies, digest unmutilated reviews, and
make up his mind.
I refer to the book of ordinary merit—a whole-
some attempt to satisfy the cravings of the
ordinary reader. The book of genius makes its
way over every obstacle; this is ri ght, and inevit-
able; but we cannot all eat peaches—we are
content to munch many a pear, provided it is
not woolly. So with readers and books.
No, sir, the author is not content to see the
children of his brain die premature deaths for
want of a system; but he is deeply indebted to
the writer of “The Methods of Distribution” for
bringing this vexed question to the front. Let
others speak.
Your obedient servant,
‘Tus Orpinary AUTHOR.
THE AUTHOR.
Nett Books.
Srvce the nett book system has been intro-
duced, the attention of Authors has been drawn
to some of the dangers which may possibly arise.
Tt is as well to repeat these warnings, as the evils
are constantly recurring, and the possible sufferers
do not as yet appear to realise the changes taking
place in the book trade.
When Authors sign agreements they should be
very careful to see that it is clearly stated whether
their books are to be published subject to the usual
discounts or at a nett price.
If the published price is merely a nominal price,
the Royalty as set out in the tables put forward im
The Author, and in Sir Walter Besant’s work, “The
Pen and the Book,” will as a rule hold good, but
even then the “thirteen as twelve” must be taken
into consideration. The reader is referred to the
last number of The Author.
But if the book is published as a nett book, them
the Author must reconsider his position and must
revise his royalty. It should be pointed out in
addition, that the Royalty paid on nett books is
usually paid on every copy sold, and not on “thirteen
as twelve.”
The price of a book published at 6s., subject to
the usual discounts, is equivalent to 4s. 6d. nett.
Ts it fair that the Author should sign an agree-
ment on the tacit understanding that the book
should be published under the ordinary methods |
with the usual deductions, and then suddenly find |
when the book is placed on the market that it is
marked as a nett book? He receives thereby a
smaller share of the profits, and the publisher
receives a larger share.
The case, however, is still worse when a publisher
suddenly produces an edition of a book at a nett
price which has already been selling for some years
in accordance with the older system, #.¢., subject to
the 25 per cent. discount to retail buyers. For
example, he sells at 6s. nett instead of 6s, with:
discount. The Author gets, say, 6d. a copy, and
has been receiving that amount since the first
publication of the book. But the publisher, who
got, say, 10d. a copy on the discount book, will
receive at least 1s. 10d. on the nett book.
Secure in the terms of his agreement, he boldly
repudiates any liability to the Author. The sales.
of the book will no doubt be reduced by the rise
in price, but they would have to be reduced more:
than 50 per cent. to affect the publisher. The
Author is the only one who suffers.
Put aside the legal aspect. Is this fair trading?
What would the Publishers’ Association think
of this transaction ?
The older and more responsible firms would
surely indignantly repudiate these methods. Have
they any power to make their opinions felt? It
|
}
}
Baa i ae
THE AUTHOR.
would be interesting to state a formal case for
their consideration. It is faults like these that the
Association would do well to correct.
—_—_—_———_—_+—>—_+__—_—
PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT.
+
OW that the editors of illustrated papers
and magazines raise so great a demand
for the photographic reproduction of men
and women, famous and infamous, illustrious and
notorious, it may be useful to say a few words on
the question of copyright in photographs, and the
law bearing on the subject.
Statutory copyright was given to paintings,
drawings, and photographs by 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68,
the first section of which, the most important, runs
as follows :—
« The author, being a British subject or resident within
the dominions of the Crown, of every original painting,
‘drawing, and photograph which shall be or shall have been
made either in the British Dominions, or elsewhere, and
which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the
commencement of this Act, and his assigns, shall have the
sole and exclusive right of copying, engraving, reproducing,
and multiplying such painting or drawing, and the design
thereof, or such photograph and the negative thereof, by
any means and of any size, for the term of the natural life of
such author, and seven years after his death ; provided that
when any painting or drawing, or the negative of any
photograph, shall for the first time after the passing of this
‘Act be sold or disposed of, or shall be made or executed for
‘or on behalf of any other person for a good ora valuable
‘consideration, the person so selling or disposing of or
making or executing the same shall not retain the copyright
thereof, unless it be expressly reserved to him by agreement
in writing, signed at or before the time of such sale or
disposition, by the vendee or assignee of such painting or
-drawing, or of such negative of a photograph, or by the
person for or on whose behalf the same shall be so made or
executed, but the copyright shall belong to the vendee or
assignee of such painting or drawing, or of such negative
-of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf
the same shall have been made or executed ; nor shall the
vendee or assignee thereof be entitled to any such copy-
tight, unless, at or before the time of such sale or disposition,
an agreement in writing, signed by the person so selling or
-disposing of the same, or by his agent duly authorised,
shall have been made to that effect.”
The Act, unlike the Literary Copyright Act,
does not indulge in definitions.
From some points of view this is an advantage ;
from others, a disadvantage.
A book is carefully defined in the Literary Copy-
right Act. The lack of definition in the Artistic
Copyright Act leaves the difficult proposition to be
solved by the intelligence of the judge, with not
infrequently a more satisfactory result than if it
was left to the intelligence of the draughtsman.
Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photo-
graphs, it will be seen from the section, starts from
the making of the work, and lasts for the life of the
41
author and seven years after his death. In the
case of paintings and drawings the determination
of the date gives rise to many difficulties, but
with regard to photographs need not be further
discussed.
It is certainly a pity that the alternative of a
fixed number of years has not been given, as is
the case with books under the Literary Copyright
Act, and that the term should run from the making
instead of from the publication. The treatment
of the subject, however, is in accordance with the
treatment of all questions of copyright. Wherever
it has been possible for the Legislature to confuse
the copyright-holders it has succeeded in doing so,
and diverse methods have been employed where
the nature of the property demanded the closest
analogy.
The duration of copyright having been deter-
mined, it will be evident that the two most
important points are: (1) Who is the author of
the work ? (2) Who is the employer? Upon the
first depends the commencement of the copyright
term, and upon the second in many cases depends
the solution of who is the rightful owner of the
property.
With regard to No. 1— Who is the author ?”—
one or two actions have been brought and the
point has been raised ; but the judges, dealing in
each special case with “ who was not the author,”
by a negative process have shirked giving a positive
definition. It may be as well, however, to quote
the words of the Master of the Rolls in the case of
Nottage v. Jackson, as it is the best dictum so far
on the point :—
“ The author of a painting is the man who paints it, the
author of a drawing is the man who draws it, of a photo-
graph the author is the person who effectively is as near as
he can be the cause of the picture which is produced, that
is, the person who has superintended the arrangement, who
has actually formed the picture by putting the people into
position, and arranging the place in which the people are
to be—the man who is the effective cause of that. Although
he may only have done it by standing in the room and
giving orders about it, still it is his mind and act, as far as
anybody’s mind and act are concerned, which is the effective
cause of the picture such as it is when it is produced.”
If this is correct the person who actually snaps
the photograph or uncovers the camera need not in
any sense be the author of the photograph. A
point of this kind, however, does not interest: the
subject so much as it would interest the photo-
grapher. The latter, no doubt, takes good care to
protect himself by agreement with his assistant or
by some other method.
Next comes the question, “ Who is the em-
ployer ?”
When a person goes to have his photograph taken
and pays the ordinary fee asked by the photographer,
the position is clear and indisputable. He is the
40
I.
Smr,—In the October number of 7’he Author,
the writer of the above-named article has hit the
mark. We are not all geniuses—“ talent does
what it can”—and gets little help. The ordinary
author of to-day, if I may so name the greater
proportion of writers who write for profit and the
benefit of the community, meets with a brick wall
“between publication and purchase. Say his book
is published on the royalty system, and well re-
viewed. So far good; the publisher is hopeful,
the author expectant. In many cases the hopes
of both are speedily dashed. There is a limited
demand, met by the big libraries, a spasmodic
sale, and then—the brick wall. Every year a
hundred books are in the same plight. Where
rests the blame ? Not with the publishers, not with
the librarians, who cannot be expected to speculate,
and in nine cases out of ten not with the book.
The method of distribution is at fault. The book
is blocked from the general public. There is no
buyer because there is no seller. Now, the usual
bookseller (?) cum-stationer, cum-newsagent, cum-
printer, cum-purveyor of fancy goods, must not be
asked to know something personally of the con-
tents of the season’s hundred hooks written by the
ordinary author. It is asking too much of a
man whose interests are split up, who only rubs
shoulders with literature en passant. In every
town we want, what the writer of the article justly
underlines—the book-seller ; a man who has time
to think, who can distinguish, who will take works
on commission from the publisher—fiction, bio-
graphy, travel, religious, scholastic—classify his
own printed list, and distribute such, monthly
or quarterly, in his own vicinity, and to likely
customers. Then the ordinary author will get his
chance. The man who wants a book to read will
not have to frequent the railway station. He has
it, so to speak, under his nose ; and, under shelter
and out of draughts, can turn over the pages of
clean copies, digest unmutilated reviews, and
make up his mind.
I refer to the book of ordinary merit—a whole-
some attempt to satisfy the cravings of the
ordinary reader. The book of genius makes its
way over every obstacle; this is right, and inevit-
able; but we cannot all eat peaches—we are
content to munch many a pear, provided it is
not woolly. So with readers and books.
No, sir, the author is not content to see the
children of his brain die premature deaths for
want of a system; but he is deeply indebted to
the writer of ‘“‘ The Methods of Distribution” for
bringing this vexed question to the front. Let
others speak.
Your obedient servant,
THE ORDINARY AUTHOR.
THE AUTHOR.
Nett Books.
Since the nett book system has been intro-
duced, the attention of Authors has been drawn
to some of the dangers which may possibly arise.
It is as well to repeat these warnings, as the evils
are constantly recurring, and the possible sufferers
do not as yet appear to realise the changes taking
place in the book trade.
When Authors sign agreements they should be
very careful to see that it is clearly stated whether
their books are to be published subject to the usual
discounts or at a nett price.
If the published price is merely a nominal price,
the Royalty as set out in the tables put forward in
The Author, and in Sir Walter Besant’s work, “The
Pen and the Book,” will as a rule hold good, but
even then the “thirteen as twelve”? must be taken
into consideration. The reader is referred to the
last number of The Author.
But if the book is published as a nett book, then
the Author must reconsider his position and must
revise his royalty. It should be pointed out in
addition, that the Royalty paid on nett books is
usually paid on every copy sold, and not on “thirteen
as twelve.”
The price of a book published at 6s., subject to
the usual discounts, is equivalent to 4s. 6d. nett.
Is it fair that the Author should sign an agree-
ment on the tacit understanding that the book |
should be published under the ordinary methods |
with the usual deductions, and then suddenly find ;
when the book is placed on the market that it is
marked as a nett book? He receives thereby a
smaller share of the profits, and the publisher
receives a larger share.
The case, however, is still worse when a publisher
suddenly produces an edition of a book at a nett:
price which has already been selling for some years.
in accordance with the older system, ¢.e., subject to
the 25 per cent. discount to retail buyers. For
example, he sells at 6s. nett instead of 6s. with
discount. The Author gets, say, 6d. a copy, and
has been receiving that amount since the first
publication of the book. But the publisher, who
got, say, 10d. a copy on the discount book, will
receive at least 1s. 10d. on the nett book.
Secure in the terms of his agreement, he boldly:
repudiates any liability to the Author. The sales
of the book will no doubt be reduced by the rise
in price, but they would have to be reduced more-
than 50 per cent. to affect the publisher. The
Author is the only one who suffers.
Put aside the legal aspect. Is this fair trading >
What would the Publishers’ Association think
of this transaction ?
The older and more responsible firms would
surely indignantly repudiate these methods. Have
they any power to make their opinions felt? It
THE AUTHOR.
would be interesting to state a formal case for
their consideration. It is faults like these that the
Association would do well to correct.
Oe
PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT.
——>+—
OW that the editors of illustrated papers
and magazines raise so great a demand
for the photographic reproduction of men
and women, famous and infamous, illustrious and
notorious, it may be useful to say a few words on
the question of copyright in photographs, and the
law bearing on the subject.
Statutory copyright was given to paintings,
drawings, and photographs by 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68,
the first section of which, the most important, runs
as follows :—
«“ The author, being a British subject or resident within
the dominions of the Crown, of every original painting,
drawing, and photograph which shall be or shall have been
' - made either in the British Dominions, or elsewhere, and
which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the
commencement of this Act, and his assigns, shall have the
sole and exclusive right of copying, engraving, reproducing,
and multiplying such painting or drawing, and the design
thereof, or such photograph and the negative thereof, by
any means and of any size, for the term of the natural life of
such author, and seven years after his death ; provided that
when any painting or drawing, or the negative of any
photograph, shall for the first time after the passing of this
Act be sold or disposed of, or shall be made or executed for
or on behalf of any other person for a good or a valuable
‘consideration, the person so selling or disposing of or
making or executing the same shall not retain the copyright
thereof, unless it be expressly reserved to him by agreement
in writing, signed at or before the time of such sale or
‘disposition, by the vendee or assignee of such painting or
-drawing, or of such negative of a photograph, or by the
person for or on whose behalf the same shall be so made or
executed, but the copyright shall belong to the vendee or
assignee of such painting or drawing, or of such negative
-of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf
the same shall have been made or executed ; nor shall the
vendee or assignee thereof be entitled to any such copy-
right, unless, at or before the time of such saleor disposition,
an agreement in writing, signed by the person so selling or
disposing of the same, or by his agent duly authorised,
shall have been made to that effect.”
The Act, unlike the Literary Copyright Act,
does not indulge in definitions.
From some points of view this is an advantage ;
from others, a disadvantage.
A book is carefully defined in the Literary Copy-
right Act. The lack of definition in the Artistic
Copyright Act leaves the difficult proposition to be
solved by the intelligence of the judge, with not
infrequently a more satisfactory result than if it
was left to the intelligence of the draughtsman.
Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photo-
graphs, it will be seen from the section, starts from
the making of the work, and lasts for the life of the
41
author and seven years after his death. In the
case of paintings and drawings the determination
of the date gives rise to many difficulties, but
with regard to photographs need not be further
discussed.
It is certainly a pity that the alternative of a
fixed number of years has not been given, as is
the case with books under the Literary Copyright
Act, and that the term should run from the making
instead of from the publication. The treatment
of the subject, however, is in accordance with the
treatment of all questions of copyright. Wherever
it has been possible for the Legislature to confuse
the copyright-holders it has succeeded in doing so,
and diverse methods have been employed where
the nature of the property demanded the closest
analogy.
The duration of copyright having been deter-
mined, it will be evident that the two most
important points are: (1) Who is the author of
the work ? (2) Who is the employer? Upon the
first depends the commencement of the copyright
term, and upon the second in many cases depends
the solution of who is the rightful owner of the
property.
With regard to No. 1—‘ Who is the author ?”—
one or two actions have been brought and the
point has been raised ; but the judges, dealing in
each special case with “who was not the author,”
by a negative process have shirked giving a positive
definition. It may be as well, however, to quote
the words of the Master of the Rolls in the case of
Nottage v. Jackson, as it is the best dictum so far
on the point :—
“The author of a painting is the man who paints it, the
author of a drawing is the man who draws it, of a photo-
graph the author is the person who effectively is as near as
he can be the cause of the picture which is produced, that
is, the person who has superintended the arrangement, who
has actually formed the picture by putting the people into
position, and arranging the place in which the people are
to be—the man who is the effective cause of that. Although
he may only have done it by standing in the room and
giving orders about it, still it is his mind and act, as far as
anybody’s mind and act are concerned, which is the effective
cause of the picture such as it is when it is produced.”
If this is correct the person who actually snaps
the photograph or uncovers the camera need not in
any sense be the author of the photograph. A
point of this kind, however, does not interest the
subject so much as it would interest the photo-
grapher. The latter, no doubt, takes good care to
protect himself by agreement with his assistant or
by some other method.
Next comes the question, “ Who is the em-
ployer ?”
When a person goes to have his photograph taken
and pays the ordinary fee asked by the photographer,
the position is clear and indisputable. He is the
42
employer, and obtains copyright for the life of the
author and seven years afterwards. In most cases,
however, unless there is some special contract, the
actual negative is the property of the photographer.
Nowadays, such is the craze for notoriety, that it
has become the custom of the photographer to ask
subjects to give him a sitting. (Ja Mr. Macgilli-
vray’s book on “The Law of Copyright,” just
published, by Mr. John Murray, he states, in an
ingenuous way, that the sitter in these cases is
probably an actress or an athlete, so little does he
appear to have realised the vanity of human beings.)
The point then arises, “ What valuable con-
sideration, if any, has been given 2” As a general
rule, none to the photographer, who, on the con-
trary, as often as not presents a few copies of the
photograph to the sitter. If the sitter pays for
these photographs the matter is more difficult, and
it must be considered whether the amount the
sitter pays would be merely for the reproductions
he has obtained, or would raise the presumption of
employment within the meaning of the Act. This
must depend in each case upon the special facts.
The valuable consideration that the photographer
receives need not necessarily be a money one. It
may be a licence to publish and sell subject to
terms. Here, again, the final decision must depend
upon the special facts.
There are two further points of importance
dealing with the same subject. One is the ques-
tion of transfer, and the other the question of
registration.
On reference to the section of the Act quoted
above, it will be seen that, unless the copyright
is either specially reserved by the author when
making an assignment or specially transferred to
the vendee in writing, neither party will obtain it,
but it will become public property ; such is the
absurd arrangement, statute made, for the transfer
of artistic property.
This difficulty does not of course arise if there is
direct employment for valuable consideration,
With regard to the second point, registration is
an essential. Here, again, stands out another
divergence between the Literary and Artistic Acts.
In the Literary Copyright Act registration is only
necessary before action is taken, and such registra-
tion refers back to the date of publication. In
artistic copyright, however, it is impossible to
bring an action for infringement of rights before
registration. In consequence registration is an
essential, and an important essential. Registration
takes place at Stationers’ Hall. t is not necessary
to discuss in detail the particulars required when
filling up the forms. Full explanation of these
will be given at the office.
It should be noted that a photographer who
has taken a photograph on the ordinary terms of
THE AUTHOR.
employment, and publishes that photograph without
leave, can be sued by the employer for infringement
of contract, even though the photograph was not
registered.
International copyright of photographs under
the Berne Convention must be left over for another
time. Photographs are included in the list of
things protected by the International Copyright
Act. What photographs are copyright and what
are not copyright, the duration of copyright, and
other details in foreign countries is a very large
and difficult subject.
TONNAGE OF BRITISH BOOK EXPORTS
AND IMPORTS.
— >
[From the Publishers’ Circular, and reprinted by the kind.
permission of Scott, Greenwood & Co.] .
FFICIAL statistics of exports and imports of
books for last year compared with four pre-
vious years,from which some extracts are
given, compel serious consideration.
The particulars of exports of British-made goods
show that there has been a steady increase since
1897 in the total value of books exported.
Turning to the various markets, there has been
a steady increase in the value of books exported
to Japan, Atlantic ports of the United States, and
to Denmark. .
The imports show a slight increase in 1901 com-
pared with 1900, but a decrease when comparing
the former year with 1897 and 1898.
The exports to America amount to more than
half the total amount exported to foreign countries.
Curiously enough, the imports of books from Hol-
land almost equal in quantity and value those from
the United States. his may be accounted for
by the large numbers of English books printed in
Holland, but it should not be forgotten that
imports from that country often include goods
from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc., shipped
to Great Britain via the Hook of Holland or
Flushing.
In July, 1902 the value of exports from Great
Britain shows an increase of £9,000 compared.
with July, 1901, and £29,000 compared with 1900.
The weight of these books was 22,806 cwts. in
July, 1902, and 22,261 in July, 1901. This
increase in the exports is an important sign. It
would have been of further interest to know of
what volumes these 505 cwts. were composed that.
made an increase of £9,000 in value.
THE AUTHOR. 43
Exports to ForEIGN COUNTRIES.
Quantities. Value.
Ee , | See ae oe
1897 | 1898 1899 1900 1901 | 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901
jt ae
| Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. | Cwts. a £ £ £ £
| 67,655 | 66,864 | 70,665 | 81,258 | 75,107 499,723 506,262 | 537,486 578,779 587,219
| |
Exports to British POSSESSIONS.
| | | |
| 139,697 | 144,911 | 157,015 | 157,522 | 172,591 831,270 | 830,287 | 906,949 890,037 965,558
Z oye el ee a
|
Total | 207,352 | 211,775 | 227,680 | 238,780 | 247,698 | 1,330,993 | 1,336,549 | 1,444,435 1,468,816 | 1,552,772
. Iuvorts FRomM ForREIGN COUNTRIES.
45,054 | 40,969 | 41,688 | 40,139 | 44,834 | 269,522 245,424 224,073 228,799 244,278
Imports FROM BririsH POSSESSIONS.
| | | ' | | 1 | |
| 1,430 | 1,879 | 1,810 | 765 1,143 || 7,872 | 9,251} 10,097 | 4,930 | 6,889
ee ee oes _| LE |
Total | 46,484 | 45,977 | 277,394 254,675 045,170 | 233,709 | 251,167
} | |
ae 43,448 | 40,904 |
THE COMPLETE AUTHOR.*
—-——
ay practical guide to authorship has yet to
be written. Mr. Lacon Watson’s “ Hints
to Young Authors ” is an attempt to remove
this reproach, and, so far as it goes, it is a well
carried out one. Unfortunately, it does not go
far enough: nor is it remarkably practical. In-
deed, the “ young author’”’—and the old one, too,
for that matter—may rise from its perusal with his
knowledge on the subject but very little increased
thereby. The work of genius, however, is not to
be made by instructional manuals, and great circu- :
y : S * province of authorship proper. They deal instead
lations will ever be achieved without resort to these
adventitious aids. Mr. Lacon Watson’s name is
familiar on the title-pages of several agreeable
novels, while he has also been responsible for some
excellent journalism in the better known among
the evening papers. He is, accordingly, fully
qualified to treat of the important subject of
* “Vints to Young Authors,” by E. H. Lacon Watson.
(London: Grant Richards.)
authorship. The professional writer will probably
be of opinion that he takes a rather more opti-
mistic view of the craft than hard facts will
warrant. He observes, for instance, that while a
certain novelist of his acquaintance has no par-
ticular difficulty in making from six to eight
thousand pounds a year out of pen, paper, and
brains, “the few at the apex of the pyramid do
even better than this.” Such as these latter are
remarkably few, and in all probability they are
either dramatists, or, in addition to being novelists,
they devote their superfluous energy to other forms
of making money. A large proportion of the
“hints” in this volume are rather outside the
with such bye-ways of the calling as reviewing,
cultivating editors, paragraph writing, and free-.
lance journalism generally. A whole chapter, too,
is devoted to describing a literary club, and the
manner in which certain more or less distinguished
members of the world of letters unbend when in
its precincts. It is all entertainingly and interest-
ingly done, however, even if it fails to show the
seeker after big circulations how he may best attain
his object.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
1
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property —:
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a pad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
_duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘‘ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
-doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
-connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
-* Cost of Production.”
IV. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
-above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
-the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
‘from the outset are :-—
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
-withheld.
——_—__—_- +
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
>
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2, {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
THE AUTHOR.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on. the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the: play should be
performed.
(c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (.2.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time, This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights ina
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘they should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he rums a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that fora novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
<_< ___—
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
————
1. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
8
a
it
n |
2
4
a
THE AUTHOR.
2, Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the
experience of ordinarysolicitors. Therefore, do not scruple
to use the Society.
3..Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination,
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
This
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements.
The
must be done within fourteen days of first execution.
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members,
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
2 —_ ay ao
THE READING BRANCH.
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
——-_+—~_ 6
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
45
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
¢—<>— as
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EpITOoR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
SREY aca eae
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
—+
HE Musical Summary Proceedings Copyright
Act has now been running for a month,
Three points appear to be noticeable. Firstly,
the agents who have acted on behalf of the Musical
Copyright Association have taken the vendor of
pirated copies before the magistrate, and then failed
to produce evidence of title. In these circumstances
the question has had to beadjourned. The magis-
trates in some instances have made remarks about
the time of the Court being wasted by such
adjournment. In future the agents will no doubt
be fully prepared. The second point is one due to
the faultiness of the Act, and attention was drawn
to it in the last number of Zhe Author. It is
impossible to ascertain who are the printers of
these pirated copies, as the vendors in every case
refuse to give up the names. They know well
that if they stick by the printers they will be able
to obtain another supply when necessary. The
third case is that of a vendor who kept his stock
in a sack, or at the nearest publichouse. He held
a few copies in his hand ; these the agent secured
as they were exposed for sale, the stock was beyond
his reach. ‘This, to the lay mind, may seem a
curious interpretation of the Act, and may lead
to further difficulties and complications,
The following interesting story in the history of
authorship is taken from the American Author.
Can anyone quote an analogous tale, in which an
46
author has had a difficulty in establishing his own
identity ?
“The autumn announcements of Messrs. Lee and
Shepard begin with the autograph edition of Mrs. Elizabeth
‘Akers’s “Sunset Song, and Other V erses,” a volume of
poems hitherto unpublished, with a single exception, * Rock
Me to Sleep, Mother,” which is printed at the end of the
volume with a spirited note from the publisher, giving its
history. The Saturday Evening Post originally printed
the poem, paying the author five dollars. A firm of music
publishers issued it with a setting by Ernest Leslie and
paid nothing, but munificently offered the author five
dollars apiece for any more songs as good as the first. As
their profits during the first six months amounted to many
thousands, they could then afford this extravagance, but
when Mrs. Akers actually sent them a song they refused it,
on the ground that they “could do nothing with it.” A
few years after the first appearance of the song Mr.
‘Alexander T. W. Ball, of New Jersey, declared that it was
his. Certain newspapers espoused his cause, and had he
not published_ what Mr. Rossiter Johnson calls the most
absurd pamphlet ever written the real author might have
been deprived even of the credit of originating her
pseudonym of “Florence Percy.” The pamphlet aroused
some able defenders for her, and at last the late William
Douglas O’Connor, writing in the New York Times,
utterly crushed Mr. Ball’s pretensions to be “ Florence
Percy,” or anything but an imitator. In her new volume
Mrs. Akers includes a grateful eulogy of her defender.”
The editor of a certain literary paper in the
United States is in the habit of endeavouring to
answer some of the literary conundrums of his
readers.
‘A correspondent wrote to him on one occasion
stating that after a lengthy debate about a well-
known novel by a modern writer it was decided to
take the editor’s opinion upon the moral tone of
the book.
The editor was fearful of a trap. His response
was given with the wisdom of a Solomon: “ With
regard to the book in question, if you will tell us
the things you think about it, I will then tell you
whether the things 1 think about it are the same
as those things which you think about it.”
We trust the contributor was satisfied.
The Dumas Centenary has just gone by. To
those who are interested in these anniversaries the
following list may afford some useful information :—
Bulwer Lytton (1903), Beaconsfield (1904), Haw-
thorne (1904), Whittier (1907), Longfellow (1907),
Tennyson (1909), Holmes (1909), Poe (J 909),
Gautier (1911), Thackeray (1911), Dickens (1912),
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1912), Henry Ward
Beecher (1918).
A correspondent sends us the enclosed :
« Certain officials of the income tax department,
the police court, not to mention census takers, and
THE AUTHOR.
the registrars of limited companies, demand a
description of one’s trade or profession. For
myself, I make a humble living from the making
of novels, and have persistently written myself
down ‘ novelist. This is almost invariably
ignored, and for it is substituted ‘ gent.,’ which is
vague, ‘ esq.," which is inaccurate, or ‘journalist,’
which J am not.
“Can anyone suggest a better term? ‘ Littérateur’
I object to for patriotic reasons. “ Man of letters’
is clumsy and misleading—indeed, it is more
suggestive of a compositor or a window-ticket
stenciller. ‘Writer’ might be all very well in
England, but amongst Scots it would lead to
misapprehension.
« | should be very much obliged for a suggestion,
as I have bought a motor car recently, and am just
now being officially asked for a description of my-
self with much frequency.”
YACHTSMAN.
——__—__——_+ <>
KN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.
———-—+—
1
O judge by the autumn announcements of
certain publishing houses, masterpieces—
in one department of literature at least—
are being just now showered upon us, thick as the
falling leaves. This is inspiriting news ; or would
be so, had one the happiness to belong to that con-
siderable section of the British public which has
kept its first innocence in regard to advertisement,
still believing that things printed and things true
are necessarily one and the same. Not belonging
to that enviable section, one is constrained to
admit a doubt of the entire reliability of these
announcements, while the simile of the falling
leaves takes on @ slightly sinister significance.
For to one whose memory carries him back some
twenty, thirty, or possibly more years, it too often
appears that though the annual output of books
has trebled, may be quadrupled, masterpieces have
by no means multiplied in proportion during that
period. And this is liable to make him reflective,
since he is one of a generation which—without
vanity—had, in its youth, more than a bowing
acquaintance with masterpieces. He grows sad,
for, as he reflects, it even occurs to him that
English literature, in its higher and more dis-
tinguished expression, is sick, almost sick unto
death. Then he looks round anxiously, asking
whether from any quarter may come some effective
remedy, some wise physician capable of giving new
life to this moribund creature. Hence it is that
some of us hail the idea of an English Academy of
Letters, regarding it as a possible remedial agency
SO ASD rregt RD Sees
)
SELF
THE AUTHOR. AT
which, allowed time and patience, may eventually
restore to our over-prolific and under-vitalised
literature a measure of its earlier dignity, beauty,
and strength.
After all an Academy of Letters, that is a central
authority having practical jurisdiction in technical
literary questions, is no such innovation in the
history of our literature as its opponents would
have us believe. Until recently it has always
existed, if not explicitly, yet implicitly ; and its
judgments have been obeyed or defied—in either
case to the wholesome stimulation of literary
effort. Ard that such central authority, whether
vested in a single individual—as Dr. Johnson—or
a group of persons—such as Pope, Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu, and the wits surrounding them
whose quarrels and reconciliations make such
diverting reading—to mention but two examples
among many—that this central authority did on
the whole make for literary righteousness, main-
tained a high standard of style and of taste,
encouraged intelligence, damned not only dull-
ness but vulgarity and folly, supported the dignity
of letters, securing to them a solid standing
and value in our national life, is, surely, incon-
trovertible. That this central authority was
in the past, and will most probably be in the
future, subject to a few of the unamiable weak-
nesses common to mankind, that it may have its
moments of envy and jealousy, that it did not in the
past, and may not in the future, always acclaim the
advent of budding genius with unlimited enthu-
siasm, is beside the mark. Genius, especially
English genius, which is wont to be of a very
sufficiently robust and self-confident sort, may
safely be left to take care of itself. Should an
Academy of Letters unwisely try to extinguish
some twentieth-century Byron, it will fail just
as absolutely as the “Scotch Reviewers” failed
to extinguish those “English Bards” whom the
nineteenth-century Byron so wittily defended.
It may seriously be questioned whether genius,
worth the name, has ever suffered permanent
injury yet from the pressure of adverse criticism
brought to bear upon it in its youth. Genius
which has not the courage of its convictions, is not
really genius at all.
It is not, therefore, mainly in the interests of
genius—which sooner or later is bound, by right
divine, to conquer and control the intellectual
and artistic life of its day—but in the interests
of the rank and file of writers, who produce
the great bulk of contemporary poetry, fiction,
drama, criticism, elles lettres, that an English
Academy is just now so urgently needed. For the
majority of these, indeed, “wander ”—as_ the
Psalmist has it—‘‘in the wilderness in a solitary
way, and have no city to dwell in.” The right of
private judgment has run mad, thanks to a graft-
ing of so-called modern ideas upon the old
Protestant stock. The result, as Mr. Herbert
Trench has admirably pointed out, is anarchy ;
and anarchy always has been, and always must be
disastrous to art. One cannot but believe that a
central authority, composed of the ripest and most
gifted minds of our day, would in time evolve
order out of thischaos; and, imposing its influence
upon the conscience and imagination of the rank and
file of writers, convince each literary aspirant that
merely to do right in the sight of his own eyes,
merely to follow his own immature and unstable
opinions, is to court an oblivion even more speedy
than is his natural inheritance.
As Maxime du Camp has well said—* Les lettres
consolent de tout, & la condition que lon y reste,
que Von se donne « elles sans esprit de retour
et que Von les respecte absolument.” And it is
this, the dignity, the consoling efficacy, the high,
national, as well as personal, worth of letters, that
it is so eminently desirable a central authority
should bring home to the writers of the younger
generation. For unquestionably one of the main
causes of the present poverty—in quality not
alas! in quantity—of literary work in England,
is the refusal of the younger writers to give them-
selves loyally. Their tendency is to regard letters
as a means, not as an end. They will have letters
lead on, by way of notoriety or hard cash, to quite
other forms of activity—to society, to politics, to
philanthropy—of the more public sort. Letters
have become a form of self-advertisement. Not
the book, but he or she who writes it, is too often
the main object to him or her self. It may be
argued that thisis very human—pathetically, engag-
ingly so. Granted. Only let it be remembered
literature is a jealous mistress. No art—just as
no god—endures a divided allegiance for long.
These writers may leave letters for something they
reckon more worthy of their attention; but not,
in the majority of cases, before letters have rather
conspicuously left them.
It is easy for the poor to gird at riches. Yet
one cannot but fancy that before the millionaire—
Trans-Atlantic, Semitic, Colonial—invaded English
society and materialised our ambitions and ideals,
matters were different in this particular. We
know, on the highest authority, it is not easy for
a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;
and one ventures to suspect it is equally difficult
for him to enter into the Kingdom of Art—except
as a purchaser. We can hardly blame him if,
confused by the evident power of wealth, he fails
to understand that to own a work of art is not
necessarily to possess it, and that to pay for a
work of art is by no means the same as to
produce it. Under this head he suffers strong
AG
author has had a difficulty in establishing his own
identity ?
“The autumn announcements of Messrs. Lee and
Shepard begin with the autograph edition of Mrs. Elizabeth
Akers’s “Sunset Song, and Other Verses,’ @ volume of
poems hitherto unpublished, with a single exception, “ Rock
Me to Sleep, Mother,” which is printed at the end of the
volume with a spirited note from the publisher, giving its
history. The Saturday Evening Post originally printed
the poem, paying the author five dollars. A firm of music
publishers issued it with a setting by Ernest Leslie and
paid nothing, but munificently offered the author five
dollars apiece for any more songs as good as the first. AS
their profits during the first six months amounted to many
thousands, they could then afford this extravagance, but
when Mrs. Akers actually sent them a song they refused it,
on the ground that they “ could do nothing with it.” A
few years after the first appearance of the song Mr.
‘Alexander T. W. Ball, of New Jersey, declared that it was
his. Certain newspapers espoused his cause, and had he
not published what Mr. Rossiter Johnson calls the most
absurd pamphlet ever written the real author might have
been deprived even of the credit of originating her
pseudonym of ‘“ Florence Percy.” The pamphlet aroused
some able defenders for her, and at last the late William
Douglas O’Connor, writing in the New York Times,
utterly crushed Mr. Ball’s pretensions to be “ Florence
Perey,” or anything but an imitator. In her new volume
Mrs. Akers includes a grateful eulogy of her defender.”
The editor of a certain literary paper in the
United States is in the habit of endeavouring to
answer some of the literary conundrums of his
readers.
‘A correspondent wrote to him on one occasion
stating that after a lengthy debate about a well-
known novel by a modern writer it was decided to
take the editor’s opinion upon the moral tone of
the book.
The editor was fearful of a trap. His response
was given with the wisdom of a Solomon: “ With
regard to the book in question, if you will tell us
the things you think about it, J will then tell you
whether the things I think about it are the same
as those things which you think about it.”
We trust the contributor was satisfied.
The Dumas Centenary has just gone by. To
those who are interested in these anniversaries the
following list may afford some useful information :—
Bulwer Lytton (1903), Beaconsfield (1904), Haw-
thorne (1904), Whittier (1907), Longfellow (1907),
Tennyson (1909), Holmes (1909), Poe (1909),
Gautier (1911), Thackeray (1911), Dickens (1912),
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1912), Henry Ward
Beecher (1918).
A correspondent sends us the enclosed :
“ Gertain officials of the income tax department,
the police court, not to mention census takers, and
THE AUTHOR.
the registrars of limited companies, demand a
description of one’s trade or profession. For
myself, I make a humble living from the making
of novels, and have persistently written myself
down ‘ novelist. This is almost invariably
ignored, and for it is substituted ‘ gent.,’ which is
vague, ‘esq.,’ which is inaccurate, or ‘journalist,’
which I am not.
“(an anyone suggest a better term? ‘ Littérateur’
I object to for patriotic reasons. ‘ Man of letters ’
is clumsy and misleading—indeed, it is more
suggestive of a compositor or a window-ticket
stenciller. ‘Writer’ might be all very well in
England, but amongst Scots it would lead to
misapprehension.
«J should be very much obliged for a suggestion,
as I have bought a motor car recently, and am just
now being officially asked for a description of my-
self with much frequency.”
YACHTSMAN.
—_—_———__1+—>—_ >
AN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.
——-— +
iT
O judge by the autumn announcements of
certain publishing houses, masterpleces—
in one department of literature at least—
are being just now showered upon us, thick as the
falling leaves. This is inspiriting news ; or would
be so, had one the happiness to belong to that con-
siderable section of the British public which has
kept its first innocence in regard to advertisement,
still believing that things printed and things true
are necessarily one and the same. Not belonging
to that enviable section, one is constrained to
admit a doubt of the entire reliability of these
announcements, while the simile of the falling
leaves takes on a slightly sinister significance.
For to one whose memory carries him back some
twenty, thirty, or possibly more years, it too often
appears that though the annual output of books
has trebled, may be quadrupled, masterpieces have
by no means multiplied in proportion during that
period. And this is liable to make him reflective,
since he is one of a generation which —without
vanity—had, in its youth, more than a bowing
acquaintance with masterpieces. He grows sad,
for, as he reflects, it even occurs to him that
English literature, in its higher and more dis-
tinguished expression, is sick, almost sick unto
death. Then he looks round anxiously, asking
whether from any quarter may come some effective
remedy, some wise physician capable of giving new
life to this moribund creature. Hence it is that
some of us hail the idea of an English Academy of
Letters, regarding it as a possible remedial agency
THE AUTHOR. AT
which, allowed time and patience, may eventually
restore to our over-prolific and under-vitalised
literature a measure of its earlier dignity, beauty,
and strength.
After all an Academy of Letters, that is a central
authority having practical jurisdiction in technical
literary questions, is no such innovation in the
history of our literature as its opponents would
have us believe. Until recently it has always
existed, if not explicitly, yet implicitly ; and its
judgments have been obeyed or defied—in either
case to the wholesome stimulation of literary
effort. And that such central authority, whether
vested in a single individual—as ))r. Johnson—or
a group of persons—such as Pope, Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu, and the wits surrounding them
whose quarrels and reconciliations make such
diverting reading—to mention but two examples
among many—that this central authority did on
the whole make for literary righteousness, main-
tained a high standard of style and of taste,
encouraged intelligence, damned not only daull-
ness but vulgarity and folly, supported the dignity
of letters, securing to them a solid standing
and value in our national life, is, surely, incon-
trovertible. That this central authority was
in the past, and will most probably be in the
future, subject to a few of the unamiable weak-
nesses common to mankind, that it may have its
moments of envy and jealousy, that it did not in the
past, and may not in the future, always acclaim the
advent of budding genius with unlimited enthu-
siasm, is beside the mark. Genius, especially
English genius, which is wont to be of a very
sufficiently robust and self-confident sort, may
safely be left to take care of itself. Should an
Academy of Letters unwisely try to extinguish
some twentieth-century Byron, it will fail just
as absolutely as the ‘Scotch Reviewers” failed
to extinguish those “English Bards” whom the
nineteenth-century Byron so wittily defended.
It may seriously be questioned whether genius,
worth the name, has ever suffered permanent
injury yet from the pressure of adverse criticism
brought to bear upon it in its youth. Genius
which has not the courage of its convictions, is not
really genius at all.
It is not, therefore, mainly in the interests of
genius—which sooner or later is bound, by right
divine, to conquer and control the intellectual
and artistic life of its day—but in the interests
of the rank and file of writers, who produce
the great bulk of contemporary poetry, fiction,
drama, criticism, belles /ettres, that an English
Academy is just now so urgently needed. For the
majority of these, indeed, “ wander ”—as_ the
Psalmist has it—‘in the wilderness in a solitary
way, and have no city to dwell in.” The right of
private judgment has run mad, thanks to a graft-
ing of so-called modern ideas upon the old
Protestant stock. The result, as Mr. Herbert
Trench has admirably pointed out, is anarchy ;
and anarchy always has been, and always must be
disastrous to art. One cannot but believe that a
central authority, composed of the ripest and most
gifted minds of our day, would in time evolve
order out of this chaos ; and, imposing its influence
upon the conscience and imagination of the rank and
file of writers, convince each literary aspirant that
merely to do right in the sight of his own eyes,
merely to follow his own immature and unstable
opinions, is to court an oblivion even more speedy
than is his natural inheritance.
As Maxime du Camp has well said—* Les lettres
consolent de tout, & la condition que Pon y reste,
que Von se donne a elles sans esprit de retour
et que Von les respecte absolument.” And it is
this, the dignity, the consoling efficacy, the high,
national, as well as personal, worth of letters, that
it is so eminently desirable a central authority
should bring home to the writers of the younger
generation. For unquestionably one of the main
causes of the present poverty—in quality not
alas! in quantity—of literary work in England,
is the refusal of the younger writers to give them-
selves loyally. Their tendency is to regard letters
as a means, not as an end. They will have letters
lead on, by way of notoriety or hard cash, to quite
other forms of activity—to society, to politics, to
philanthropy—of the more public sort. Letters
have become a form of self-advertisement. Not
the book, but he or she who writes it, is too often
the main object to him or her self. It may be
argued that thisis very haman—pathetically, engag-
ingly so. Granted. Only let it be remembered
literature is a jealous mistress. No art—just as
no god—endures a divided allegiance for long.
These writers may leave letters for something they
reckon more worthy of their attention; but not,
in the majority of cases, before letters have rather
conspicuously left them.
It is easy for the poor to gird at riches. Yet
one cannot but fancy that before the millionaire—
Trans-Atlantic, Semitic, Colonial—invaded English
society and materialised our ambitions and ideals,
matters were different in this particular. We
know, on the highest authority, it is not easy for
a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;
and one ventures to suspect it is equally difficult
for him to enter into the Kingdom of Art—except
as a purchaser. We can hardly blame him if,
confused by the evident power of wealth, he fails
to understand that to own a work of art is not
necessarily to possess it, and that to pay for a
work of art is by no means the same as to
produce it. Under this head he suffers strong
48
delusion, and, the worst of it is, a rich man’s
delusions are rather violently infectious. Thanks
mainly to him, money has become the measure of
suecess in literature—the having made money
enough to be practically free of literature, able to
go away and play at something else—almost any-
thing will serve—is the most triumphant success
of all. And to make money in any consider-
able quantity the modern author must conciliate
the “popular shilling.” He must write down. to
the understanding of the vast semi-educated
public, English and American, which has next to
no power of discrimination or sense of values—
how should it have them ?—which demands that
which is at once superficial and extravagant, that
which at once flatters and emboldens its own
cheap opinions and tastes. Thus, from above and
from below alike, the best literature, in every
department, is in risk of being strangled.
Individually the inordinately rich—from the social
atmosphere they create—collectively the compara-
tively poor—from the necessity the writer is under
to secure their suffrages—are alike its enemies.
Time was when one feared to meet a renowned
author lest his personality should prove less
interesting than his books. Now it is all the other
way. One fears to read the books lest they should
fall short of the charm and ability of their author.
To invert a famous saying, these gentlemen talk
like angels while, too often, they write like poor
Poll. For it seems incredible that such very well-
equipped persons could not give us worthier books
if they really tried. Then one begins to entertain
an unpleasant suspicion that they are a little
ungenerous, that they are saving themselves, only
putting so much strength into their work as will
just make it pay, while carefully husbanding the
rest for something quite other than letters.
Ts it too much to hope that a recognised central
authority—to which the elect among themselves
may presently belong—an association of the most
distinguished and enlightened minds of our day,
might provoke in the rank and file a finer ambition
and higher conception of the dignity of their calling,
a sounder scholarship, a greater humanity and love
of beauty, a greater self-forgetfulness in work ?
Only to do this, our Academy must itself be
broadly based, be fearless and impartial, liberal in
sympathy and in thought. It must have—if one
dare say so—no conscience save the literary one.
For the last thing we want just now is a multi-
plied censorship, a Vigilance Committee, or Church
Congress, or Conference of Head-Masters, or Prim-
rose League, least of all a Social Bureau under
another name. In England pedants too often
render learning odious, and purists render art
ridiculous, and little schools with their little
shibboleths are a weariness to humour and to
‘speak—of all this.
THE AUTHOR.
common sense. We want no legalising—so to
Our Academy is designed to
combat prejudice, not to stereotype it. If it is
to be truly efficacious it must not narrow, but
widen the literary outlook. It must exist not for
itself, but for others; not for the glorification of
the past even, but for the redemption of the
present and inspiration of the future. Its func-
tion, to put it briefly, is not the laudation either of
itself or of dead lions; but—far humbler one—
the salvation of live dogs.
Upon the practical organisation of an English
Academy of Letters, the present writer is not
qualified to speak. Still he would venture to add
two names to those already suggested by Mr.
Herbert Trench as members of a possible -central.
committee— namely, that of Algernon Charles
Swinburne, our greatest living poet, and that of
Thomas Hardy, one of our two greatest living
novelists.
Lucas Maer.
———
II.
I have no sympathy whatever for the proposal
to form any such body as a British Academy
of Letters, although I have every sympathy for
the spirit in which Mr. Herbert Trench pro-
poses it. And, as Mr. Trench argues in general
principles, it may be permitted to condemn his
scheme upon them. Viewed through the colour
of his bright spirit no doubt the Academy
shines like a temple on Olympus: without
his glasses it would show in a generation as a
clique in St. James’s. An academy is nothing if
not academic : its republicanism degenerates into
oligarchy : its principles become rigid: it ends in
unimposing senility. However its members are
chosen there must inevitably be a tail of medio-
crities, and this tail by the mere efflux of time
will wag the dog. The newer members will be
choked by the fetid atmosphere which their elders
breathe with placid enjoyment ; the whole body
will be a corporation without a soul and nothing to
kick. _No academy or academic body has ever
encouraged originality ; and by the very nature of
academies none ever will. But they have often
crushed it, often swallowed it. Mr. Trench’s
notions of criticism are in themselves conserva-
tive: indeed, the very notion of a formal judg-
ment is conservative, and the spirit of conservatism
is the one thing which it is desirable to avoid in
literature. For conservatism can always take
care of itself: the traditions in a.writer’s mind,
without any external reinforcement, are, as most
men can recognise on analysis of their moods, the
great enemy of their progress and originality.
What makes Mr. Trench imagine that the
THE AUTHOR. 49
endorsement of Matthew Arnold by Messrs.
Lecky and Bryce would help other spirits than
those now in touch with that poet? At the best
they might make him fashionable; at the worst
they would make themselves ridiculous. It is
‘sufficient that Arnold and Tourgueniev should be
on the way to immortality by the slow decay of
their more futile rivals. An academy, inevitably
destined by its nature to worship form, is more
likely to renew Tennyson’s hold upon the bourgeois
than to attach him to any greater poet.
Mr. Trench is a poet : his notion of an academy is
poetical: it is a dream. To translate such a
vision into a body of men is as futile a task as to
stage the Keltic imagination. The appeal of pure
literature is by its very nature personal, and an
academy is a crowd, a lower organism, a thing of
averages, make-shifts, mutual concessions, mass
prejudices. We are better without it.
a Morey ROBERTS.
—_+—+—
III.
I don’t think an Academy of Letters can possibly
‘be invented to do what those who advocate the estab-
lishment of one desire. It would be admirable
if we could have a body to “hall-mark,” as Mr.
Trench puts it, what is really of fine quality so soon
as it appears, but the nearest approach we can ever
get to such a body is a large well-educated reading
public, keenly interested in criticism; and even
then there will be winds and currents of favour.
The chief objection to Mr. Trench that occurs
to me is the fact that a man may bea quite splendid
figure in contemporary literature, and yet spend
remarkably little time in the research after con-
temporary merit, much less contemporary promise.
Consider three names Mr. Trench has given.
What good would Mr. George Meredith be in the
capacity of a hall-marker if—as I have heard
asserted—he confines his reading to the literature
of France, or Mr. John Morley (who is engrossed —
in politics), or Mr. Frazer, whose rich work in
anthropology is no guarantee that he has the
slightest qualification for what would be one of
the most difficult and unavoidable tasks of this
hall-marking Academy, the sifting of contemporary
fiction? There are men to whom no one would
deny the crowns and glories of literature, but it is
another matter to ask them to control its des-
tinies. Mr. Trench, like most Academy projectors,
overlooks the fact that a new addition to literature
is almost invariably a breach of the established
boundaries, a variation of style, matter, treatment,
a revelation of new aspects and new thoughts. I
do not see that it is reasonable to expect the Old
Men, resting gloriously amidst their accomplished
work, to bother about the New Men, or to assimi-
late the new views. They are far more likely to
fill their gaps with the Scholarly Gentleman, the
Able Imitator—quite apart from wire-pulling and
intrigue and the natural desire of those who have
arrived and are accepted to lead a pleasant life. Far
more efficient to the end Mr. Trench desires would
be an Academy of lively and contemporary critics
—Messrs. Gosse, Edward Garnett, Waugh, Bennett,
William Archer, Street, Chesterton, for example—
but even then. . . . Probably they would never be
sufficiently agreed to elect anybody. And before ever
you come to the question of replacement you have
to consider that you will never get a really literary
Academy as things are at present. You will get a
few indisputable literary figures, the conscience
members one might call them, and the rest will be
men who are really only well-bred, influential
amateurs, men no one would dream of putting into
an Academy if they had done just exactly what
they have done now from the starting point of a
lower class home. There are Mr. Balfour, for
example, and Lord Rosebery. You will never be
able to float an Academy without this element
unless you have that educated public we need—
and then your Academy, I submit, will be totally
unnecessary. The Good Outsider, that Intrusive
Bounder, who is the living soul of literature, will
be left outside anything Mr. Trench and his fellow
workers can possibly invent, and the Uninspired
Respectability will be in—from the very beginning.
It is inherent in the nature of Academies and
unavoidable. You don’t get “hall-marked”’ till
you are dead and a little obsolete. This is sad for
the innumerable authors now palpitatingly con-
scious of superlative merit, but it is one of the
things you have to make your peace with in the
literary life.
H. G. WELLs.
See gs
IV.
In The Author of October, p. 23, I read that
a recent writer thinks “that an incorporated
society might snuff out Wordsworths, Coleridges,
Blakes, and Shelleys.”
It seems worth while to note that Coleridge
was not “snuffed out,” though he was one of the
earliest members of the Royal Society of Litera-
ture, to which a charter was granted by King
George the Fourth, seventy-six years ago, accord-
ing to Haydn’s Book of Dates.
Lirr. 1.
ee
Vv.
The Editor has received a letter from Mr.
William Romaine Patterson (“Benjamin Swift”),
in which he regrets that he is unable, through
50
pressure of business, to write an article for the
columns of the Author, but states that he is in
sympathy with Mr. Herbert Trench’s views. ' “ It
seems to me,” so runs the letter, ‘high time that
those for whom English literature is a great
inheritance should unite against the vulgar mob
of writers and readers who are at the present
moment degrading its traditions.
———— —
VI.
Dear Srr,—The evils which Mr. Trench justly
deplores are due, not to the absence of an Academy
of Letters, but to the absence of men, and to the
vulgarity of the epoch.
It is a pity that this question was not agitated
in the mid-Victorian era, when a galaxy of genius
almost as bright as the Elizabethan would have
given dignity to the first Academy. Now we are
in the trough of reaction, and must wait till there
exists a body of men sufficiently weighty to overbear
all cavil.
Yours faithfully,
J. ZANGWILL.
—_—_——_1—>—_+—___—_—__
THE DICKENS FELLOWSHIP.
Sdn ane
HE Dickens Fellowship had a splendid send-
off at its first meeting at Anderton’s Hotel
last Monday evening. The hall was crowded,
and the meeting of the most enthusiastic kind.
Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, an old friend of Charles
Dickens, was in the chair, and among those present
were Mr. and Mrs. Hall Caine, Mr. F. G. Kitton,
Mr. Francesco Berger, Mr. Arthur Waugh, and
Mr. Harry Furniss. Sympathetic messages were
read from the veteran actor, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr.
M. H. Spielmann, and others. A very charming
telegram was received from Sir Henry Irving just
as the meeting commenced. It was as follows :—
“Love and greetings to all. I wish I could be
with you to-night. Hope I may at some future
time.”
Mr. Fitzgerald, in opening the proceedings,
thanked the meeting for having invited him to
occupy the chair, as it was always a delight to him
to take a part in anything that was done to honour
the memory of Charles Dickens. He was one of
the few left who had known Dickens personally.
He had walked with him, talked with him, and
had travelled with him. He thought that outside
Dickens’s own family there were only two men left
who had been in close intimacy with him, and
those were Mr. Marcus Stone and himself.
They might congratulate themselves sincerely
THE AUTHOR.
upon the numerous attendance at the meeting, and!
also upon the way in which the idea of the Fellow-
ship had been taken up. Already there had been
no less than 600 applications for membership, and
there were proposals for the affiliation of the clubs
in different parts of the country with the society.
Then, again, only the other day two American
ladies called upon the Secretary and said that it
would give them great pleasure to act as mission-
aries on behalf of the society in their own country.
Then there was the telegram from Sir Henry Irving.
Having spoken of the gentlemen whom it was pro-
posed to elect as vice-presidents, a list of whom is
given later on, Mr. Fitzgerald proceeded to say
that it was proposed to have monthly meetings in
connection with the society, on which occasions
there would be papers read on some subjects
connected with Dickens. .
In this connection he would deprecate panegyric,
and hoped that they would devote themselves more
to a critical study of Dickens and what scholars
called the exegesis of his works. A great deal of
amusement was to be derived from the study of any
author’s writings, because most authors were very
fond of putting their own experiences into their
books. It was well known that a great deal of
Dickens’s biography was to be found in his writings,
which were so sympathetic and so emotional. Mr.
Fitzgerald proceeded, by reference to the “ Pickwick
Papers” and to other writings of Dickens, to give
instances of the author’s incorporation of his own
experiences in his books. Speaking of “Pickwick,”
he said it was a most marvellous book. It was
written by a young man of twenty-three or twenty-
four, and yet it contained the observations and
experience which would guide a man through life.
It was usually supposed that ‘‘ David Copperfield ”
contained the real autobiography of Dickens, but
he was almost inclined to think that “ Pickwick,”
especially the earlier portion, contained a great
deal more of his early history, and he would go
so far as to say that it was entirely made up
of reminiscences and recollections of what had
occurred to himself. Mr. Fitzgerald proceeded to
speak of the association of Dickens with Rochester,
and how this locality figured in his books. His
first book was about Rochester, and his last, when
the pen fell from his hand, was about the same
lace.
: It was very commonly thought that Dickens
was a town man, but the fact was that his writings
showed an extraordinary knowledge of country life,
and nothing was better than his descriptions of
that life. Dickens enjoyed country walks, and
from personal experience he (Mr. Fitzgerald) could
say that he was a splendid walker. He thought
nothing of a twenty miles’ daily walk. Mr. Fitz-
gerald proceeded to explain how a number of
THE AUTHOR.
localities which had been sketched in Dickens’s
different works had been identified, and spoke in
particular of how he had secured the material for
the Eatanswill election from an electoral contest at
Ipswich which he had reported for the Morning
Chronicle.
Mr. Hall Caine, who next addressed the meeting,
said he was delighted to take his part in the
establishment of the Fellowship. He had con-
tributed in some degree to history, dictionaries,
and biographies, and he had even written reviews
of novels. None of these had exhausted all his
faculties, but he could. honestly say that in the
creation of the novel the author had to exert all
his strength. He rejoiced in assisting in the
establishment of a Dickens Fellowship, because he
realised that Dickens was a leader of his craft. In
his opinion Dickens was the greatest novelist of
the Victorian or of any era, and he might ven-
ture the further opinion that he was the greatest
novelist of England or any other country. His
influence was even now wider than that of any
other. He rejoiced, too, because Dickens was in
everything a man of principles. He loved truth,
and he loved justice, and he was the exponent of
the whole science of humanity. In an eminent
‘degree he was a friend of the poor, and he was
ever ready to say the strong word on behalf of the
down-trodden.
Then Dickens stood for the love of morality.
He never hesitated to present things in their
nakedness, but the virtue in him was that vice
was always given its true picture. Dickens loved
humanity, and that was the reason that humanity
loved Dickens. Then Dickens stood for the love
of God. Therefore, by establishing a Dickens
Fellowship, they were encouraging truth, justice,
morality, and the love of humanity, and thus they
would be breaking down the barriers between man
and man, and between nation and nation. For
these reasons he wished the Dickens Fellowship
every possible success.
Mr. Arthur Waugh said that it had been
suggested to him by a very able critic and editor
that there was no particular “use” for such a
Fellowship as this. Well, if it came to that, in
the words of that stern moralist, Mr. Albert
‘Chevalier, ‘‘ What’s the use of anythink? Why,
nothink !” But if anything that appealed to the
cause of intellectual progress was of “use” in the
world, then there would be abundant use and
value in this commemoration of the greatest
novelist of his time, who taught men so much
sympathy and humanity, and who was.as much
alive now as ever when he was writing, and would
continne to live long after his critics and detractors
were forgotten.
Mr. Harry Furniss, in a very humorous speech,
51
which provoked much laughter, spoke particularly
of the illustrators of Dickens, and expressed the
opinion that he had never yet been properly
illustrated. His fat women were made thin, and
some like fault could be found in many of the
illustrations of his characters. The difficulty was
that Dickens was so great an artist himself, that
one could see the characters standing out in his
pages better than any artist could drawthem. He
was so fond of Dickens that he employed his spare
time in illustrating him, but whether his work
would ever see the light he did not know. He
added that he had been brought up on Dickens
since he was a small boy, and he was bringing up
his children on Dickens too.
Mr. Kitton and Mr. Francesco Berger briefly
addressed the meeting.
The election of officers then took place, Mr.
Percy Fitzgerald being unanimously elected as
President for the year, then Mr. Hall Caine, Mr.
F. G. Kitton, Mr. Harry Furniss, Mr. Francesco
Berger, Mr. W. Moy Thomas, Mr. M. H. Spiel-
mann, Mr. Arthur Waugh, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr.
Hammond Hall, and Sir Henry Irving were
elected as Vice-Presidents, and Mr. B. W. Matz as
Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.
“Household Words,” founded by Charles Dickens
over 50 years ago, was declared the official organ
of the Dickens Fellowship.
At the conclusion of the meeting a very hearty
vote of thanks to Mr. Percy Fitzgerald was moved
by Mr. Harry Furniss, seconded by Mr. Hall
Caine, and carried unanimously.
—_—_——_1—<>—__+___—_—_-
“THE EDINBURGH REVIEW.”
October, 1802—October, 1902.
HE centenary of The Edinburgh Review is an
co historical event which cannot be passed
over by any literary paper, and it is fitting
that we should offer a special word of congratula-
tion upon it to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co.,
who are in 1902, as they were in 1802, the
publishers of what is still a leading enterprise in
periodical literature.
It is a very easy matter to criticise adversely
the early numbers of the Review, and to express
some tolerant surprise at the amazing popular
success it immediately achieved ; but to do this is
to miss part, if not indeed the major part, of its
original purpose. That it was not primarily in-
tended to deal with literary matters is evident
from the fact that the words “and Critical
Journal” form only its sub-title. Jeffrey himself
wrote as follows to a friend who raised the point :—
52
“The Review has but two legs to stand on—
Literature is one of them, but the right leg is
Politics.” It would be more fair, therefore, for
those who would seek to deprecate the worth of
the Review, as originally issued, to devote their
energies to riddling its political front instead of
focussing their attention upon its critical articles.
Yet, so far as we are aware, this has not been
seriously attempted.
Omitting, as outside our province, any discussion
of the many political questions dealt with as they
arose by the Edinburgh Reviewers, and of the
treatment they received at their hands, it is yet
proper to observe that the function of a great
review is to anticipate the trend of thought upon
subjects of the most diverse interest, to concen-
trate the general attention within practicable
Vimits, and to divert public opinion into that
channel which it believes will lead to the happy
issue. This 7he Edinburgh Review most certainly
did. It stood for Whiggery first of all, and how-
ever it may have blundered in its critical articles,
it became a political force. Its politics may have
been damnable, but its policy was soundly laid
and has endured for a century. :
It is possible that the explanation of its resisting
power may be found in its consistency. Jeffrey’s
instructions to Macvey Napier as to the responsi-
bilities incidental to the editorial management of
anonymous journalism have been preserved, and
they have always ruled the conduct of the
Review :—
“There are three legitimate considerations,” he
says, “by which you should be guided in your
conduct as Editor generally ; and particularly as
to the admission or rejection of articles of a political
sort :—1. The effect of your decision on the other
contributors upon whom you mainly rely ; 2. Its
effect on the sale and circulation, and on the just
authority of the work with the great body of its
readers ; and 3. Your own deliberate opinion as to
the safety or danger of the doctrines maintained
in the article under consideration, and its tendency
either to promote or retard the practical adoption
of those liberal principles to which, and ¢heir prac-
tical advancement, you must always consider the
journal as devoted.” .. .
The Edinburgh Review has at any rate been con-
scientious and consistent, and it preserves vitality
at the expiration of a hundred years. People who
are interested in tracing the practical operation of
principles in the trivial affairs of life may find
some food for reflection in the fact.
Sydney Smith and his friends not only correctly
estimated the proper functions of their Review,
but they seized the proper moment for its estab-
lishment. By the mere fact of doing the right
thing at the right time they justified their pre-
THE AUTHOR.
tensions to occupy the pulpit, and on the whole
acquitted themselves remarkably well. Journalistic
conditions are so different now from what they were
then that it is impossible to realise the effect the
Review had upon the intelligent community. The
French Revolution had lately upset the mental
equilibrium of the world, and thinking men were
eager to keep abreast of the wave of intellectual
activity that was sweeping over Europe. The
founders of The Edinburgh Review perceived this.
and leaped forward. They had enthusiasm. They
were on the side of the angels, and were at pains
to let everybody know it. If they sometimes used
exaggerated language, they did so with the utmost
purity of motive. They thought it better to cry
“Havoc” when they scented battle, than to cry
“Peace”? when there was no peace. And,
humanly speaking, they were right. That the
Review should be shorn of much of its political
power in these later days is no reproach to it.
History is made so rapidly that men cannot wait
for quarterlies to shape their opinions on affairs.
But The Edinburgh Review stands for Whiggery
to-day as it stood a hundred years ago, and still
enjoys the closest personal relations with the
leaders of that great historical party.
To make any adequate comment on its services.
as a critica] journal in the space at our disposal is
manifestly impossible. It established a precedent
for criticism in the grand manner in periodical
literature, and if it sometimes blundered, this was.
the exception, not the rule. To look over the
volumes of the Review is to peep into a vast mine
of erudition, and its articles summarising the
known facts of any given subject dealt with in
books, or groups of books, remain models of what
such literary essays should be. The art brought
to such polished perfection by Macaulay, and first
displayed to a delighted world through the medium
of The Edinburgh Review, still has many able
exponents. That the daily, or even the weekly,
newspapers can cope with a tithe of the books
poured upon the market is out of the question ;
they must either ignore them or spare them space
for a wholly inadequate “notice.” As the writer
of the historical survey in the centenary number
of The Edinburgh Review remarks: ‘ Books that.
have taken able and learned men years to write
deserve to be pondered, not merely to be read,
by those who would give a really adequate account
of them, and would criticise them in the old and
true sense of the word. It is one advantage of the
quarterlies that even in these days of electricity
they have time to think.”
It is probable, therefore, that it is as a critical
journal rather than as a political review that The
Edinburgh will continue its long and honourable
career, and, as such, the twentieth century will
THE AUTHOR. 53
have use for it. That it will maintain its old
tradition of anonymity is devoutly to be wished,
for so long as it preserves its characteristics, only
advantage can be derived from its articles carrying
the full weight of the journal’s prestige, instead of
the mere weight given them by the qualifications
of the individual writers. These characteristics are
erudition without dulness, scholarship without
pedantry, and dignity with restraint. We need
them sorely in this age of flamboyant politics,
hysterical journalism, and superficial cleverness,
and we are confident that we shall continue to
find them in The Edinburgh Review. So shall the
judge not be condemned, even though the guilty
sometimes go scot free.
—____—___e——__.
AN AUTUMN SALE.
+
soap first crisp breath of autumn in the air
felt pleasant after the heat and closeness of
an unusually dry summer. I paused for a
moment outside an A.B.C. shop, undecided
whether to have a cup of tea there, or wait till I
got home ; as I did so a bill fastened to the swing
doors of the adjacent building attracted my
attention. It was worded as follows :—
Sate. THs Day.
END OF SEASON.
In order to make room for an entirely
new stock of Sea-side novel plots, and
Summer Number novelties, the following
Lots of valuable material for the manu-
facture of Christmas Stories will be sold
by auction.
Sale at 2.45 for 3 to the minute.
Then followed a lengthy catalogue, which at first
T could not understand. It being then a quarter
past three, and having rather a weakness for
attending sales, I opened the swing doors, and
walked inside.
A crowd of persons of both sexes filled the
reom, the faces of some seeming to bear striking
resemblance to portraits [ had seen in the illus-
trated magazines. The auctioneer was at his
desk, hammer in hand ; but I saw no signs of the
property which was to be sold. The assistant,
who on these occasions exhibits the lots by
holding them up, or handing them round, sat, in
his shirt-sleeves, at a side table, having before him
a list, and a pile of envelopes, each of which was
numbered.
“Two shillings I’m bid,” the auctioneer was
chanting. ‘Two shillings, two and three, two
and six. Two and six for the haunted room, with
wood fire, and four-post bed; two and six ; why
the room itself is worth the money, nothing ever
seen, but people die of fright, and are found with
petrified look of horror on their faces in the
morning. No advance on two and six? Come,
we must get on. Going at two and siz—at two
and six!” Rap.
I did not see who had secured the bargain, but
the price seemed ridiculously small for a haunted
room, four-post bed, and wood fire ; and I expressed
this opinion to a seedy, elderly-looking man who
stood by my side.
“Small! Pooh—nonsense,” he replied. “ Quite
out of date now. I know that bed; slept in it
myself a dozen times—at least my characters have.
You wouldn’t get ten shillings a thousand for it
now.”
“Not ten shillings for a thousand bedsteads ?”’
I repeated, astonished.
“No, words,’ he snapped. “ Don’t you under-
stand this is an end-of-the-season clearance sale
of material for Christmas stories.”
“ But it still wants three months to Christmas.”
‘© Of course, but the Christmas stories have all
been written long ago; most of them finished
before Midsummer Day. Buyers are acquiring
stuff now with an eye to publication in fifteen
months’ time.”
“Less talking, please,” cried the auctioneer.
“We've got to the end of the Haunted Houses,
and now we come to Lot 15. A ship’s captain and
a plum-pudding. By the way, Sam, isn’t there a
storm at sea goes with this lot ?”
“It’s put along of the other storms,” answered
Sam, referring to his list. “There y’are : Lot 43,
a storm at sea; two snowstorms; and some wind,
rain, and hinky darkness.”
“It ought by rights to have gone with this lot,”
said the Knight of the Hammer. “Still, we'd
better keep to the catalogue. What shall we say
for the sea captain and his plum-pudding?”
Will someone start the bidding ?”
“Old as the hills,’ grumbled my companion.
“Done to death, both in letterpress and
illustration.”
An elderly lady with spectacles eventually
bought the captain and pudding, though at a price
which the auctioneer declared was “ giving the
things away.”
«Tot 16” was the next announcement. “ 7'wo
starving children; one drunken father ; and an
angel, slightly damaged. What's the matter with
the angel, Sam?”
“ Hold age, I suppose,” mumbled Sam. “The
feathers is a-coming out of its wings.”
’
%
bd THE AUTHOR.
“ Perhaps it’s moulting, sir,” suggested a wag
in the crowd.
“Jn that case we may hope the feathers will
come again ; at all events there’s no doubt about
the children and drunken father. Now, what shall
we say for Lot 16?”
The spectacled lady was again a bidder, but
this time she was not going to have it all her own
way, for the lot seemed to have taken the fancy of
a rotund, benevolent-looking gentleman, dressed
in clerical clothes. Neither, however, seemed.
inclined to pay a long price, and the hammer fell
on the lady’s bid. :
«“ That’s Miss Selina Simmonds,” muttered my
companion. “ She’s prepared to buy up any
amount of cheap stuff. Writes Children’s Columns
and that sort of thing.” °
“4 mad engine-driver; an armed commercial
traveller ; a night express ; and a@ broken viaduct,”
read out the auctioneer.
“ That lot’s withdrawn,” remarked Sam.
“ How’s that ?”
“J dunno; it ain’t here. Better take the
next.”
“ Lot 18,” went on the auctioneer, brightening
up. ‘“ Here’s something quite novel and up to
date. Society lady, with smirched reputation ; and
a double suicide. Just the thing for a Christmas
number. Wait a moment; we'll take Lot 19 with
it, and try them together. Lof 19, @ phial con-
taining a narcotic drug.”
To my surprise the bidding for this property
was quite brisk, the best-dressed portion of the
audience seeming to vie with each other for its
possession. At length a fashionably-attired lady
secured it with evident satisfaction.
“Next we come to Lot 20,” proceeded the
auctioneer. “An Assortment of Suggestive Titles.
Read ’em out, Sam.”
“ The Crack of Doom; Christmas with a Corpse ;
By Midnight Mail; The Grave-Digger’s Story ; A
Ghastly Secret,’ intoned the assistant.
Once more the flagging interest of the assembly
seemed quickened, and there was no lack of
offers.
“ Now, we’ve got a number of miscellaneous lots
to deal with. Lot 21, five nine-gallon casks of
blood. What am I offered for Lot 21?”
There was no response.
“Tt’s all ’uman blood,” prompted Sam from
his table.
“Come,” cried the salesman, “won’t anyone
make a start? Nothing like plenty of blood in a
Christmas story.”
“Five casks is rather a large quantity for a
single buyer,” suggested a gentleman.
“Well, let’s divide the lot,” replied the
auctioneer, making a pencil memo, on his
catalogue. ‘ Lot 21a, three casks of blood; and
Lot 210, the remaining two casks.”
Under the new conditions the lot was soon
disposed of ; everyone present seemed to have a
use for blood, and bids were fired at the auctioneer
from all quarters.
The man by my side made an impatient
movement. “I thought I’d wait and see how that
went,” he remarked, pointing to a cross against
one of the numbers on his catalogue. “ It’s sure
to come in useful; but no, I shan’t stop any
longer.”
Lot 42, four unspeakable horrors. This was
the line he indicated. We left the room, and
passed through the swing doors together.
“Christmas story writing must be rather a
morbid and depressing sort of business,” I ventured
to suggest.
“Well, yes,” he answered, “if you keep abreast.
of the times, and go in for good prices. Tt used
not to be so,” he added, a trifle sadly, speaking as
one who realises that his own day is past. «y
remember the time when we used to go in for holly
and good-cheer, warm firesides, and happy endings ;
but bless you, that’s all altered now.”
With a parting wave of his hand he turned
abruptly, and went his way. The autumn chill,
had strengthened in the air; I almost wished I had
worn an overcoat.
ee
THE “YOUNG IDEA’S” VIEWS ON
POETRY.
— >
[Reprinted by kind permission of the Editor from:
the American Critic. ]
A TEACHER in a public school in one of our
larger cities thought to teach the Young
Idea something about the beauty and meaning of
poetry. Her class consisted of boys and girls
from fourteen to eighteen years of age and of fair
average intelligence. She read them Browning’s
“ Meeting at Night,” and asked them to write out
their opinions of the subject and its treatment..
This they did with the unhesitating confidence of
youth. Here is the poem:
1,
The grey sea and the long plack land ;
And the yellow half-moon large and low ;
‘And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i the slushy sand.
wes
Ie
THE AUTHOR. 55.
Il.
Then a mile of sea-scented beach ;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears ;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, through joys and fears,
Then two hearts beating each to each !
Some of the more candid criticisms are here
ae 7 as they were wrote,” spelling, punctuation,
and all :—
“J think it presents a fine moonlight picture.
it tell how far he has to travel and the greeting
when he arrives, at the farm house, I think it is a
sailor coming home from a voyage. ‘I'he peace is
wrote in Irvings style being compact and expresses
a clear idea in a very few lines.”
“ T do not like it because it is not closely enough
connected. The description of the sea or land is
not very good. It isa very hurried description.”
“J think it is too dark because It would take
longer that the time it took in the poetry and it
show how scared a woman gets because when she
heard him she could hardly talk between fear.”
«This short piece of poetry in my opinion is a
nice opening for a story because Brown illustrates
it so finely as the moonlight on the lake.”
“J think this little poetry is nice because it
tells the nice route of the lover and would be much
more beautiful if it was longer and contained many
more interesting facts.”
“Poor. Because it starts to quickly and because
it tells nothing of where he was or how he came to
be in the book and he skipped from the ocean to
the moon & then back to the water.”
“1 think It is a nice poem it explains about a
man walking up the sea shore in dark he is just
going home from work and as he reaches the house
he tapps at the window to let his wife or friend
know that it is no stranger or no body that will
hurt her.”
“TI think it is pretty good because it is taken
from life and that when a man goes home he always
kisses his wife.”
“T don’t like it because it is not natural and I
don’t think it is a piece of poetry.”
“It is very pretty for the reason that is shows
affection and because of the beautiful description
of the road which the gentleman takes at sunset.”
“The man came down the lake in a boat and
was much excited and hurried to the land. The
tide was coming in and he was obliged to walk
along the beach and long distance and hurried
across the fields and came to the farm house and
rapped on the window and his lover lit a match
and appeared at the window.”
“Tts good. Because he has a good choice of
words and has a good ending and describes the
anxiety of the husband.”
“Tt is no good. Because I think it is foolish.”
“JT think it is good because it tells the hard
time a man has in coming home sometimes.”
“Tt is fairly good but I can see but little sence.
It is well worded and the words are well connected.”
“Good, because as a short passage it gives a
good description from being to end of a Lovers
course to his most Beloved.”
“T think it is the description of a lover going to
sce his sweetheart. But I believe it would be better
if the sweetheart had had the light burning pre-
vious to his arrival. The description of the waves
as they beat against the boat is very good.”
“TJ think it has very good descriptions, but I
don’t fancy sentimental things, and that closes in
that way.”
“T think it is no good for a description of a
lonely walk for there is not enough description of
the walk to give you an idea of the beauty of the
scenery. It isnot as good as the description of
the moonlight on the snow in Snow Bound. The
poem does not give enough time to the subject.”
56
«J think this is a very beautiful piece of poetry.
For one reason I think it must have tickled the
young girl to see her lover coming to see her and
how happy she must have felt to be in his com-
pany for the remainder of the evening. As I am
not interested in love and no but very little about
it I can give no further explanation in regard
to it.”
“Pretty Bum because its to wishy-washy and
because 1 don’t think it likely also because I dont
like rhythm.”
—
CORRESPONDENCE.
Se
“AUTHOR AND EDITOR.”
Srr,—I think your correspondent is rather hard
on the editor of the Westminster Gazette. These
are bookmaking days, and it is quite impossible
for editors to find space to review anything like
every book published. Hence there must always
be a good many minor works which only have the
good fortune to be reviewed in papers of secondary
importance.
New volumes of verse, even by the most cele-
brated writers, are not much read by the British
public nowadays, and the editor is bound to use his
valuable space for popular novels and standard
works. But even so, books of real merit often
get passed over. It is the custom, I believe, for
the editor to hand the books sent to him for
criticism to his reviewer. The latter makes a
selection of the books he intends to notice, and
puts the remainder aside. Thus an excellent work
by an unknown author might only be rewarded by
having its title-page read! How much chance, for
instance, would “Paradise Lost” have of being
widely reviewed, were Mr. John Milton an obscure
poet of to-day ?
Yours faithfully,
F. J. WINBOLT.
October 6th, 1902.
1 —
STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.
Srr,—If any improvement is to be effected in
our spelling rules and customs, it must be by
means of free discussion in the first place. So I
gladly welcome the criticism of “W. W.S.” on my
note, and equally gladly defer to him on any point
which he can fairly establish against me.
But let
THE AUTHOR.
me explain further about words in -able, full in
composition, and the spelling of such words as
connection and inflection.
1. The object of my note was to gain a hearing
for the simplification of our recognised spelling
rules, and to make them less difficult by minimising
the useless exceptions. My critic would apparently
keep a number of these trying exceptions, because
of the manner in which the words have come inte
our language. For instance, he would keep -iae
because it is Greek and phonetic. The obvious
reply is that -ise is equally phonetic. Ours has two
sounds, and it is no use pretending that we cannot
make z sounds with it—try “nose,” ‘‘eyes,” “flies,”
etc.; or again, he would keep the # in “ connection ”
and “inflection,” because it is etymological and
phonetic. But to spell these words with a c¢ equally
preserves the etymology and the sound, and so
there is no need for the .
2. I considered myself under the necessity of
brevity, as I do now; and it was under this dis-
advantage that I only partially and awkwardly
explained myself about Latin words in -<b/e. My
idea was to make as many words as possible take
the ending -able, and only to accept -2ble and -wble
when absolutely necessary, on account of long use
through direct derivation from Latin words in
-ibilis. Possibly “W. W. 8.” and I together could
draw up an acceptable list of such words.
3. For the sake of making some definite rule
which will hold in all cases, I still consider my
suggestion regarding the spelling of fu/? in com-
position worthy of consideration. It is impractic-
able to spell by stress, for pronunciation throughout
England is largely a matter of taste, locality, and
education. For a fixed standard there must be a
fixed rule.
4. I shall be glad of criticisms on the other
points, e.g., the adding of -ed, ~ing, -er, and other
syllables; the spelling of “ attendance ” and
“dependant,” etc. ; the use of a and an before the
letter A.
FUR:
——
TYPEWRITING.
To the Editor of THR AUTHOR.
Srr,—Should any of your readers know of an
intelligent type-writing lady, will they be so kind
as to communicate to me her name and address.
-GHORGE CECIL.
Pall Mall Club,
12, St. James’s Square, 8.W.
September 1st, 1902.
Che Hutbhor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
FOUNDED BY SIR
Monthly.)
WALTER BESANT.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 02 (November 1902)
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VOL, SITT_ No. 3.
DECEMBER Ist, 1902.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
a
As mistakes still occur with regard to the
Address of the Society, it has been thought
expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office
of the Society is situated at—
39, OLD QUEEN STREET,
STOREY’S GATE, S.W.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
. lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
—_—_____ —~>—_
NOTICES.
+
OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform Members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
. that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
+
List of Members.
TuE list of members of the Society of Authors
can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
You, XIII.
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THe Investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
ORCS Fo ie £816 5 6
Wocal Woans 20.2.3... 404 10 0
Victorian Government 3 % Con-
solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11
War dan 252 3 201 9 3
Moual 4. ae. Si7i4 4 8
There is, in addition, a balance of about £20
in the Bank to cover current expenses and the
payment of pensions. This does not include the
amount received from the special appeal sent out
in November.
The subscriptions and donations from June 24th
are as follows.
Further sums will be acknowledged from month
to month as they come to hand.
DONATIONS.
July 17, Capes, Bernard E. ............ 50 bo: 9
Oct. 28, Evans, Miss May ............ 0.5 0
Noy. 11, Bisiker, Wo 0... 0 5 0
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude...... 20 8 8
Oct. 21, Thomson, Miss ©. L.......... 0 5 0
Oct. 23, Butter, . 1.7... QO 5. 0
e
SpeciAL APPEAL.
Tue Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been, so far, very successful.
Up to and including the 22nd of November, the
list of subscriptions and donations promised and
58
given is set forth below. Further subscriptions
and donations will be acknowledged in the January
number.
Subscriptions.
Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. i : : .£1 0 0
» Cox, Miss Roalfe 0 5.0
» Loynbee, William . 010 6
, Anonymous . ’ : 1 0 0
» odd, Miss Margaret, M.D. 1 1 oO
», Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0
» Seaman, Owen . ; i 0
» Abbot, Rev. Edwin A. D.D.. 1 0 9
» Witherby, Rev. C. . : 0 5 0
» _ salwey, Reginald E. 010 0
» Vacher, Francis 11.0
Noy. 15, Parr, Mrs. - : Taleo
» Davy, Mrs. E. M. . : 010 6
» Allingham, William, F.R.C.S. 1 1 O
» Armstrong, Miss Frances O b&b 0
» Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-
tional) 1 A 0
» Rattray, Alex. : : 0 5 0
, Brodrick, The Honble. Mrs. . 1 1 0
Nov. 17, Nesbit, Hume ; 010 0
» Keene, H.G.,C081. . 520 07-0
» Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall) 1 1 0
» Forbes, E. . : 2 2 0
: Spiers, Victor. : ; 0 5 0
» Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath 0 5 0
» Burrowes, Miss Elsa 1 1 0
» Cooke-Taylor, R. W. 1 0. 0
Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles 10 0
» Jones, W. Braunston 0220. 0
» Anonymous . : 0 5 0
», Salmond, Mrs. Walter 0 5 0
,» Anonymous ; 1.0 0
,, Clough, Miss B. A. 010 6
5 Stanton, Miss H. M. 0 5 0
» “Lucas Malet” 2.2 0
Nov. 20, E.G. . : : 010 0
» Jenkins, Miss Hadow O50
» Morrah, H. A. ‘ 010 6
» Hatton-Ellis, Mrs. . 11.0
. Bertouch, The Baroness de 0 5 0
Anonymous 0 2 6
Nov. 21, Parr, Miss Olive 0. 5 0
Nov. 22, Forbes, Lady Helen 1200
», Twycross, Miss M. 0 5 0
Donatwns.
Noy. 13, Bullen, F. T.. : : so 0 0
» Roberts, Morley (an annual
subscriber) . ; 010 0
Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . -- 4 0 0
Marshall, Capt. Robert . 5 5 0
», Hoyer, Miss . ‘ 1.0 0
oc of MS, D0 0
» Lefroy, Mrs. . a)
THE AUTHOR.
Nov. 14, Sinclair, Miss May (an annual
subscriber) . ; : £
, McBride, Capt. E. E.
5, Garnier, Russell .
Noy. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.
5 “Spero” : :
» Cecil Medlicott” .
ss Harker, Mrs. Allen
a Banks, Mrs. M. M.
a Spielmann, M.H. .
» Garnier, Col. J. .
5 Benecke, Miss Ida .
, Atton, Henry :
Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. B..
» Keene, H. G., C.8.I.
a
wore
ay
Soo or eococeoNecr aS
Hee =
SB DOW MO OH AUMAAHOSWONS
oooeo ee
», Spielmann, Mrs. M. 4H. . 1
» Begbie, Harold 73
4, Stevenson, J.J. . : 10
, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. 0
Noy. 18, From sale of autograph . 1
» Wintle, H. R. : : 0
». Brickdale-Corbett, H.M. . 0
». Defries, Miss Violet , 0
Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M. 1
» Warren, Major-General Sir
Charles, K.C.M.G. 1 0
». “Lucas Malet”. : 5 5
Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth 5b
Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. We. 5 8
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount’
they are subscribing should be printed.
The total amount of cash actually received is.
£147 18s.
Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of
our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for
five years, if nine other members of the Society
will promise the same contribution before 31st
March, 1903.
We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
the Society will be found to come forward and
meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
before the time expires we may be able to print in
the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten
subscribers of the required amount.
Subscriptions.
Hawkins, A. Hope . : : .£10 0 0
Barrie, J. M. . . : : 10 0 8
Drummond, Hamilton : . . 10 0 0
THE AUTHOR.
Tue Pension Funpd COMMITTEE.
In order to give members of the Society, should
they desire to appoint a fresh member to the
Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has
been thought advisable to place in 7he Author a
full statement of the method of election under the
Scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.
Under that Scheme the Committee is composed of
three members elected by the Committee of the
Society, three members elected by the Society at
the General Meeting, and the Chairman of the
Society for the time being, ex officio. The three
members elected at the General Meeting when the
Fund was started, were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.
M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. Last
year, Mrs. Alec Tweedie resigned in due course,
and submitting her name for re-election was
unanimously re-elected. This year, Mr. Morley
Roberts in turn, under the Rules of the Scheme,
tenders his resignation and submits his name for
re-election. The members have power to put for-
ward other names under Clause 9 which runs as
follows :—
“* Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-
mittee by the members of the Society (mot being a retiring
member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing
to the Secretary, at least three weeks prior to the General
Meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and the
nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by,
at least, three members of the Society. A list of the names
of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members
of the Society with the annual report of the Managing
Committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes
at the General Meeting shall be elected to serve on the
Pension Fund Committee.”
Tn case any member should desire to refer to the
List of Members, a copy complete, with the excep-
tion of those members referred to in the note at
the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s
-otfice.
Tt would be as well, therefore, should any of the
members desire to put forward candidates, to take
the matter within their immediate consideration.
‘The General Meeting of the Society has usually
been held towards the end of February or the
beginning of March. This notice will be repeated
in the January number of Vhe Author. It is
essential that all nominations should be in the
hands of the Secretary before the 31st of January,
1903.
+
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is.:....... £327 15 0
There are a few promised subscriptions stil
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
59
about £4. The subscriptions received from March
to the date of issue are given below :—
Anonymous. : : : - £17670
Champneys, Basil . : I)
“ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa 1. 0
Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F. C. Tet 6
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. : 010 0
Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N. I.0 0
Hurry, A. ; : : : : 010 6
Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-
tioned)
Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. .
Millais; J.G. : :
Quiller Couch, Miss M.
Sterry, J. Ashby 3 :
Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.
Underdown, Miss E.
Lockyer, Sir T. Norman
Beale, Miss Mary
Bolam, Rey. ©. E.
Egbert, Henry :
Eccles, Miss O’Connor
Darwin, Francis ; :
Montgomery-Campbell, Miss
Medlicott, Cecil
Saxby, Miss.
Caine, T. H. Hall
Marris, Miss Murrell
S. B. : :
Bloomfield, J. H. .
F. O. B. (Coventry) .
Seton-Karr, H. W.
Heriot, Cheyne :
Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.
“« Hsme Stuart ” ;
Charlton, Miss Emily
Kroeker, Mrs.
Aflalo, F. G.
Patterson, A. . ;
Salwey, Reginald EH.
Gidley, Miss E. C.
Nixon, Prof. J. E.
a
—_
SCH OR COOH OHHH OO ONMWOHRFROHS
—
NOOR NW OOOH OO O19 OOS BS BY OF OTD OD OL HY OL OF
—ROCCOePecocooeceacooqoorcoocoo Coco oCcoaoaocoooooo Oo
SocrFNwocoH
KH
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So
— + os
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
oe
T the Committee Meeting held on Monday,
November 10th, the Chairman reported
he had heard from Mr. Frampton, R.A.,
that the Sir Walter Besant Memorial Tablet was
almost complete. Mr. A. Hope Hawkins and
Mr. Austin Dobson were appointed as a Sub-
committee to settle the inscription.
There were one or two cases discussed; but it
would be prejudicial to their settlement to report
upon them.
60
The Secretary has dealt with seven cases only
during the past month, two referring to accounts,
two for the return of MSS., and three for payment
of money. ‘They have all been satisfactorily
settled with the exception of one claim for the
payment of money, which is in the course of
settlement.
The matters that were open from the former
month have all been settled with the exception of
two small cases, in which the negotiations are
rather complicated. They are, however, proceeding
satisfactorily. It has not been necessary to place
any further disputes in the hands of the Society’s
solicitors for settlement in the courts. Neither
have any of the cases already in their hands been
concluded since the last issue of 7’he Author.
—1—>+
November Elections.
Bannon, Mrs. : . $87, Alexandra Court,
Queen’s Gate, S.W.
Brown, Alan Roderick Lancing College, Shore-
Haig (&. A.). ham, Sussex.
Cecil, George 16, Panton Street, Hay-
market, S.W.
Tournafulla, Newcastle
West, Co. Limerick.
Holly House, Gateshead-
on-Tyne.
6, Lawn Crescent, Kew
Gardens, 8. W.
Macquoid, Mrs. Kathe- The Edge, Lucien Rd.,
rine 8. Tooting Common.
Shorrock, Mrs. S. Hope 39, Kiangse Rd., Shan-
: ghai, China.
The Manse, Hambledon,
Henley-on-Thames.
Leez Priory, Hartford
-End, Chelmsford.
Williams, Dawson 2, Wyndham Place, W.
Only one member of those elected does not
desire publication of his name and address.
Since the beginning of the year 173 members
and associates have been elected.
Lane, T. O’Neill .
Lister, Walter H. .
Mackay, Wallis
Thomas, Rev. G. P.
Turner-Turner, J.
tee
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—1—>— +
M* and Mrs, Sidney Webb are engaged on
a long investigation into English Local
Government, with a view to describing its
structure and function during the whole of the
nineteenth century. The first part of their work,
extending down to 1835, and dealing with ‘The
End of the Old Order,” may be expected to appear
next spring.
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Max Pemberton is writing a story of the
last days of Venice for the Graphic, and is spend-
ing the winter at Brighton, and afterwards at
Venice to do it. He is also finishing an Old
English comedy which he wrote last summer 3.
he is now re-casting it.
Mr. William Toynbee has been engaged on a.
satire, dealing with certain aspects, political and
social, of the present day. This satire, which is.
in dramatic form, will be published almost imme-
diately by Mr. Glaisher, of Wigmore Street, under
the title of “‘ When the Devil Drives.”
In addition to the series of papers, ‘ Mankind
in the Making,” now appearing in the Fortnightly
Review, and destined to make a companion volume
to “ Anticipations,” Mr. H.G. Wells has two other
books in preparation. One is the story ofa draper’s
assistant who rises in the world. It was com-
menced in 1898, when “ Love and Mr. Lewisham”
was finished, and is not likely to be ready for
publication before 1904.
The other was begun last year ; itis the story of
the most momentous discovery in the world, and
it will probably be ready for serialization by 1904.
Mr. William Le Queux is very busy. For nearly
a year he has been at work on a new novel which
is to appear as a serial in England and America
next spring. It will run over here in Chambers’
Journal. Some of the action takes place in
Galloway; and as this popular author is extremely
particular about the accuracy of his local colour, he
has been visiting Mr. Crockett’s country recently.
Other scenes are laid at Crowland Abbey and in
London.
The title of Mr. Leonard Williams’ new work.
on Spain which will shortly be published by
Messrs. Cassell & Co., Limited, has been changed
from “Madrid: Her Records and Romances” to-
“Toledo and Madrid: ‘Their Records and
Romances.” The scope of the text has been
enlarged ; the plates will be fifty instead of the
thirty that were originally projected ; and the-
price in consequence has been raised from 10s.
net to 12s. 6d. net.
His many readers will be sorry to learn that
there is no immediate prospect of any new poetical
work from the pen of Sir Lewis Morris. The
thirteenth edition of his ‘‘ Works” is, however, just
published, and contains his last book, ‘ Harvest-
tide.” It comprises everything he has written
except the Coronation and Installation Odes of
this year.
Miss Nethersole has still the refusal of his.
«“Gycia,” while his other play, “ The Life and
Death of the Emperor Leo the Armenian,” is-
under offer to Sir Henry Irving.
ie
a
peek td pk PD
THE AUTHOR. 61
Professor Victor Spiers, of King’s College,
London, has published this year with Messrs.
Simpkins, Marshall & Co. two books, one for our
children, the other for older students. The ‘“‘Second
French Book” is adapted for the upper forms of
preparatory schools, and for the junior forms of
public schools, z.e., for boys and girls of twelve to
fifteen years of age.
It follows upon the lines of the “ First French
Book,” embodying the best features of the newer
aud successful methods in vogue on the Continent,
and adapting these to British standpoints and
ideals. It contains charming illustrations, anec-
dotes, puns and songs of eminently French stamp,
glimpses into French history and present French
life, as well as a visit to Paris. The practical utility
of learning how to write a letter in French is recog-
nised, and free composition is practised in its three
forms. Outlines of conversations and proverbs are
given in each of the forty lessons. At the same
time all the essentials of French grammar are given
in French at the end of the book.
The second book is the ‘‘ Senior French Reciter.”’
Professor Spiers believes in phonetic transcript, and
has transcribed some of the finest pages of the authors
of the Golden Age of French literature. The author,
in his Preface, emphasises the fact that in every piece
learned by heart from an ordinary text-book, the
best pupils get into their heads a few mispronun-
ciations hard to eradicate. With the phonetic
transcript, he asserts from his experience, these
mispronunciations are reduced to a minimum. It
is a sequel to his “Junior French Reciter,” and
the phonetic alphabet adopted is that of the M. P.
(Maitre Phonétique), viz., of the International
Phonetic Association.
Sir Herbert Maxwell has in the press a History
of British Fresh-Water Fish. It is a volume of
Messrs. Hutchinson’s Woburn Library Series. It
is illustrated from photographs.
This indefatigable author will issue through
Mr. John Murray a most interesting work, “The
Creevey Papers,” compiled from the MSS. of
Thomas Creevey, M.P. 1802-30—the counterpart,
from the Whig and Radical Opposition, to the
Croker papers ex parte the Tory Government.
Mr. Creevey was in correspondence with all the
leading men of the Whig and Radical parties;
Was an intimate friend of the Prince Regent ; and
was at Brussels in 1815, where he became intimate
with the Duke of Wellington. His papers, which
have been very carefully preserved, contain original
letters from Sir John Moore, Lord Grey, S. Whit-
breafl, Brougham, Sheridan, Romilly, Tierney, etc.,
and throw a vivid light upon the political, social
and literary events of his day.
Commander the Hon. Henry N. Shore, R.N.
author of “ Smuggling Days and Smuggling Ways,”
has commenced a series of articles in the Kentish
Express dealing with the South Coast Gang, which
operated between Rye and Walmer. There is, too,
an authentic account of the celebrated Aldincton
Gang. :
Mr. Charles Gleig’s new short novel, entitled,
‘The Misfit Mantle ” (Treherne & Co.), is a light
farcical story dealing with the curious experiences
of an English peer in a fourth-rate boarding-house
at the seaside, in which he had to hide himself.
A long novel, which has occupied most of the
author’s spare time (he writes short tales for the
magazines and contributes to the naval and military
weeklies) during the past eighteen months, is just
completed. The hero is a naval officer, a physical
coward. The book may be described as a plea for
greater consideration for physical cowardice, on
the ground that cowardice is, in effect, a disease.
Mr. Gleig shows that it may be combined with
considerable moral courage.
Mr. Arthur Paterson has just published through
Mr. Heinemann here and Messrs. Appleton in
America an historical novel called “The King’s
Agent.” The main incident of the story round
which the plot is centred is strictly historical, and
is known as “The Flower-pot Conspiracy.” In
William IIT.’s reign Marlborough was accused of
high treason, and thrown into the Tower, and was
in danger of attainder and the block. He is the
hero, the most prominent figure.
The book is dedicated to Lord Wolseley (our
latest biographer of Marlborough) from whom
Mr. Paterson has received invaluable information
concerning the details of the conspiracy and the
persons engaged in it.
A little volume called “ Letters from Ireland,”
by “H. B.,” recently published by Seely, Bryers, and
Walker of Dublin, is exciting much interest in the
sister country. In it a patriotic Catholic Irish-
man, returned from America, describes te a friend
his impressions of his native land as seen after
forty years of absence, by a man of education and
experience who has travelled a great deal and can
compare one country with another. ‘The sincerity
of the writer is manifest, as is his profound love
for Ireland, which bids him in some cases risk
unpopularity in the hopes of removing obstacles to
her betterment.
Though “H. B.” writes with the utmost impar-
tiality, his sympathies are evidently with the new
Gallic movement for the revival of the Irish
language and industries. He advocates a much
needed system of higher education for the priests,
and of industrial education for the people.
62
Mr. E. B. Kennedy’s “The Black Police in
Queensland,” published by Mr. John Murray, is a
most interesting account of things that happened
while the author was an officer of the Native
Mounted Police in the early days of the colony.
Incidentally the book deals with other matters
which are of enduring interest, not only to those
who know Queensland, but also to all those who
have at heart the interests of the Empire.
In this regard special attention may be directed
to what is said as to the capability possessed by
black trackers for scouting services. This, how-
ever, is but one point, briefly treated, in a volume
which, although it deals strictly with matters of
fact, is every whit as exciting and good reading as
Mr. Kennedy’s previous book, “ Blacks and Bush-
rangers,” a work of fiction. The book is capitally
illustrated.
Mr. Harry A. Spurr’s “Life and Writings of
Alexandre Dumas” (J. M. Dent and Co.), is a
readable volume full of anecdotes and quotations
to the point. Mr. Spurr, who writes com amore,
visited Paris last July and attended the centenary
fétes at Villers-Cotteréts, and Dieppe, making the
acquaintance of the Dumas family and receiving
much valuable assistance from them and other
authorities on the subject.
In The Shrine of November there is an interesting
narrative-article by Miss E. Baker. It is called
“The True Story of Lady Anne Neville and
Richard, Duke of Gloucester.” Miss Baker in the
telling of it adheres strictly to contemporary
authorities ; even in the imaginary conversations
between Anne and Richard she keeps to the spirit
of ascertained facts. Her chief point is that
Richard was not that monster, that devil in body
and soul, he has been represented by tradition and
Shakespeare.
“The House Building, and other Poems” is a
volume of thoughtful verse by Marshall Bruce
Williams, author of “The Strategy of Nature.”
The poem which gives the volume its title is
mainly a dialogue between a poet and a scientist,
in which the poet has the last word. There are
a number of sonnets, also some poems of which
“The Other Side of the Shield—Olympus” is
particularly good. Mr. R. Brimley Johnson is
the publisher.
“Bookeeping for Laundries,” by Mr. W. H.
Smith (Simpkin Marshall, 2s. 6d. net), sets forth
a safe and easy system of laundry account-keeping,
dispensing with troublesome ledgers. It has been
revised by Mr. H. Furnival Jones, A.S.A.A.,
Incorporated Accountant. It is a capital book,
concise, lucid, and exhaustive.
Mr. Arthur H. Holmes has just published a new
novel through Mr. Thomas Burleigh, entitled, “The
Voice of the World.”
THE AUTHOR.
We understand that Mr. H. VY. Esmond’s new
comedy, “ Imprudence,” produced last month at
the Empire Theatre, New York, has scored a decided
success, and has been highly praised by the critics:
into the bargain. Miss Fay Davis and Mr. William
Faversham, who filled the leading réles, were en-
thusiastically received. Though Miss Davis is an
American, she has never before played in New York.
Mr. Hall Caine’s “ The Eternal City ” was given
at the Victoria Theatre on the same night, and was
well received by a Jarge audience. In response to
repeated calls, Mr. Hall Caine appeared before the
curtain and made a short speech.
ee ae
PARIS NOTES.
meee
ITH the inauguration of Falguiére’s fine
statue of Balzac all kinds of anecdotes
have been told and retold about the
author of the “ Comédie Humaine.”. It scarcely
seems possible to us now, that a man with such
talent should have been compelled to do all in his
power to boom his own books. We are told tha
this was the case with “Peau de Chagrin” and
one or two others.
A yery typical story is told of Balzac when
asked by a publisher to write an article on th
Rue Richelieu. The terms which the author fixe
were so high that the publisher was amazed.
“Tf I am to describe the Rue Richelieu in
way worthy of the street and of myself, I mus
know it thoroughly, and must not upon an
account fail to investigate all that specially charac
terizes it. I shall have to commence by lunchin
at the Café Cardinal, then I must buy a gun and
cravat pin at the two shops next door to eac
other. After that I must go to the tailor’s at th
corner of the Rue St. Mare :
“Oh, don’t go any farther than that,” inter
rupted the publisher in alarm. “ You would com
to the Indian shop next, and things there are
fabulous price.”
M. Gaston Deschamps wrote quite a long articl
recently on French literary women, who of lat
years have certainly come very much to the from
‘As a rule they adopt masculine pseudonyms, bu
their secret 1s very soon an open one.
Marcelle Tinayre’s novel ‘La Maison du Péché
is one of the most remarkable ones of this seaso:
It is a strong, realistic novel, the story of whic.
reminds one vaguely of the “Ordeal of Richa
Feverel.” Augustin de Chanteprie is educated
most carefully, a tutor who is a rigid Catholi
comes from Syria for six or seven years, and th
boy grows up with no idea of a world outside th
narrow circle of his ancestral home. His widowe
THE AUTHOR. 63
mother spends most of her time in religious
devotions and charitable works. When Augustin
reaches the age of manhood he is almost as austere
and fervent in his religious devotions as his
mother. Unfortunately for his peace of mind a
young widow comes to live in the neighbourhood.
She is an artist, and the daughter of an artist, and
from the date of her arrival commences a new
phase in the existence of Augustin de Chanteprie.
As a study in psychology, this book is a valuable
addition to French literature, but it will not be
appreciated by readers who are unacquainted with
the subtle power and authority of the Roman
Catholic Church. It is a book in which all the
characters live, and each one is drawn with scrupu-
lous accuracy.
Guy Chantepleure’s new book, “Ames Fémi-
nines,” will probably be appreciated by English
readers. It is what the French describe as a
roman honnéte, and is a careful study of some
types of the new French woman.
‘Petites Epouses,”’ by Myriam Harry, is the
story of a French Government official, who, while
in exile, married a Japanese wife. The authoress
handles the subject with great skill and delicacy,
so that, as a French critic says, the book is
Quelque chose comme un Loti qui serait femme.
“T/Aimant,” by Jacques Morian, is another
variation on the usual theme of the modern French
novel. The French author is greatly handicapped
in his choice of a subject by the system of educa-
tion of girls in France. He is obliged to com-
mence where the English novelist leaves off for the
simple reason that the Frenchwoman’s romance so
frequently begins when she is married. ‘ L’Ai-
mant”’ is rather an exception to this rule, as the
most interesting character in the story is a girl
who has her romance before her marriage.
Brada’s new book tells us by its title what to
expect. “Comme les autres ”’—it certainly is as
far as the subject is concerned. Once more the
eternal theme, but treated in a way which makes
the book fascinating from the first page to the last.
“ Deux Vies,” by Paul and Victor Margueritte,
is a novel written to show up the injustice of
certain laws. The Margueritte brothers have a
mission, they have recently submitted to the
Chamber a project for the facilitation of divorce,
and this book of theirs is an eloquent appeal in
favour of their project.
The heroine of the novel has made a most un- ,
fortunate marriage, and after years of misery she
jeaves her home, and with her little girl takes
refuge with her mother, determined to apply for a
divorce. The mother, who is a staunch Catholic,
opposes her daughter’s idea. She, too, had suffered
a martyrdom, but as her religion does not counte-
nance divorce, she endeavours to persuade her
daughter that the only happiness left for her is in
resignation to her lot. Francine is not of this
way of thinking, and she at once takes steps to
obtain her divorce. Then follows an account of
all the obstacles she encounters, of all the diffi-
culties and the misery she endures until the day
when the court refuses to grant her divorce, and
she is compelled to return to her husband’s house.
The dénouement is dramatic, for when she is
crushed, humiliated, and desperate, Francine is
persuaded to set aside the laws of Church and
society, and, taking her child with her, to seek for
happiness in another country.
“* L’ Associée,” by Lucien Muhlfeld, is a book likely
to please English readers. The “Associ¢e” is a
woman whose one idea in life is to be her hus-
band’s right hand. She helps him in every way
possible, but so quietly, so discreetly, that he
never realises how much he owes to her. He is a
doctor, and he becomes a celebrity ; but the whole
interest of the book centres in the struggles and
disappointment of the wife and the perfect egotism
of the man.
For M. Bataille’s drama, taken from Tolstoi’s
“ Resurrection,” the documents necessary for the
scenery have been sent by Tolstoi’s friends and by
the French consul in Moscow.
Among other things in this drama are some
Russian popular songs, Siberian chorals, and a
song by Tchaikovsky. The play is an immense
success, and arrangements have been made for its
translation into several languages.
M. Guitry’s venture with the Renaissance Theatre
appears to be a success. He was fortunate in open-
ing with “La Chatelaine,” by M. Capus, and in
securing Jane Hading for the chief role.
M. Deval is one of the happy actor-managers
gifted with the “flair” in selecting his plays. “ Le
Cadre,” by Pierre Wolff, was very well received, and
the chief 7éles are admirably suited to M. Deval
and Madame Valdey.
M. Larroumet’s advice to dramatic authors when
criticizing this and other plays was, that they
should cease writing for stars, and not trouble in
the least, when writing the piece, about the distri-
bution of the ré/es. :
M. Bour is persevering in his attempt to establish
the International Theatre here. The plays are all
given in French. Italian, Portuguese, and German
pieces already figure in his repertoire.
Sarah Bernhardt had a hearty welcome on her
return to Paris after her tour abroad.
A series of delightful afternoon lectures and
readings have been given during the last month,
with Mounet Sully to interpret the various authors.
These lectures are very much in vogue in Paris,
and one-act plays. are frequently given by way of
variation. At alecture of this kind the other day
64
“Qharles V. et du Guesclin” was put on, and
afterwards ‘ Bourrasque,” by M. Foley, the author
of “ Heard at the Telephone.”
Auys HALLARD,
—_—_———+——_+_—_—_——_-
THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF
PUBLISHERS.
——1—~<— + ——
Report from the Permanent Officer at Berne.
[Printed by kind permission from The Publishers’ Circular. ]
PYVHE meeting of the Executive Committee of
[ the International Congress of Publishers
was held at Berne on October 9th and 10th.
The President, M. A. Brockhaus, and Messrs. R.
Fouret, E. Bruylant, and H. Morel were present.
Messrs. F. Brunetiére and J. Murray, regretting
their inability to be present, sent letters of
apology.
After presentation of the first Annual Report of
the Bureau, and examination of the Statement of
Accounts, which was found correct, the Committee
decided to add the balance in hand to the guarantee
fund organised by Mr. Fairholme, in London. The
Statement of Accounts for the year begins July 1st,
ending June 30th.
The National Associations contributing to the
expenses of the Permanent Office belong to the
following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary,
Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the
United States of North America.
After settling different questions relating to the
administration of the Bureau, the Committee have
taken into consideration the resolutions passed at
the four sessions of the Congress.
The carrying out of the resolutions concerning
the authors’ rights has been approved of. These
resolutions relate to: (1) the adhesion of Austria,
Hungary, Russia, and the Netherlands to the
Berne Convention ; (2) the improvement of the
international protection in the United States ;
(3) the communication to the different Govern-
ments of the resolutions passed by the Congress at
its several sessions, in view of the improvement of
the national and international protection of the
authors’ and publishers’ rights.
The Committee have also approved the proceed-
ings of the Bureau with reference to the preparation
and execution of other resolutions (duty on books,
postal service, maintenance of the published price,
new forms, music trade, relations to the press,
metric system, overs in printing, substitution of
parcels, solid packing, on the use of the word
“edition ”’).
Other resolutions passed at the different sessions
THE AUTHOR.
have also been discussed by the Committee (national
bibliographies, catalogues of books, professional
schools and classes, interchange of documents be-
tween the different publishers’ associations, tech-
nical libraries, interchange and loan of catalogues,
etc.).
The Committee, having approved the Statement
of Accounts and Report, have proposed a vote of
thanks to the Permanent (Office, which was carried.
The Committee have considered the fifth session
of the Congress, which is to take place at Milan.
Mr. Toto Ricordi, President of the ‘‘ Associazione
Tipograficolibraria Italiana,” has been good enough
to be present at the session of October 10th, in order
to converse on the subject with the Executive Com-
mittee. It has been decided that the Committee
would meet at the end of May or beginning of
June, 1903, in order to organise the fifth session.
Oe
COPYRIGHT IN PHOTOGRAPHS.
——
N the November number of The Author an article
| appeared dealing with the question of photo-
graphic copyright.
This question is of great and growing impor-
tance to all those members of the Society who
contribute illustrated articles to illustrated maga-
zines. In consequence several remarks have come
to hand from different members. It is evident
that many difficult and complicated issues may
arise. One member has set out his difficulties
in the following series of questions. As it is
possible that others may have similar doubts, we
will endeavour to answer them for the benefit
of all. :
1. The word “copyright” is stamped across or
printed upon some photographs. Is the absence of
such indication to be regarded as evidence that the
photograph has not been registered ?
2. Isthere any means of determining whether the
copyright in a photograph has expired, and has
the assignment of the copyright to be registered ?
3. Can we take it that all photographs taken
before a certain date are public property. If so,
what is the date ?
4. A man sits to a photographer, at the photo-
grapher’s request, for a “series of celebrities,”
and is presented with a certain number of copies.
The word “copyright” does not appear in the
correspondence. ‘The portrait is used without the
sitter’s consent in a newspaper. Has the photo-
grapher aright to make a charge. Supposing the
photograph to be used without previous application
to the photographer, can he claim damages, or can
he merely send in a bill for half a guinea? Can
the photographer in such a case authorise the
THE AUTHOR. 65
reproduction of a portrait in a paper in which, for
whatever reasons, the sitter does not wish to
appear ?
5. Supposing a firm, instead of an individual, to
acquire copyright by taking a photograph, can the
copyright expire while the firm continues to exist ?
6. It would also be useful to state in the
article :—
(a) What are the countries unprotected in
England, because they stand outside the Berne
Convention.
(b) At what date did the different countries
acquire protection by adhering to the Berne
Convention.
(¢) Have foreign photographs to be registered
to acquire copyright? Is there any means of
ascertaining in England whether any given foreign
photograph has been registered or not, and whether
the copyright in any given photograph has expired
or not ?
(d) Supposing that I buy a foreign photograph
at Spooner’s and use it without referring to the
photographer, what is liable to happen? Does it
make any difference to one’s legal position if one
acknowledges the source of a photograph? This is
important as photographs are generally wanted in
a hurry, and Spooner always says that he has no
authority to treat. Is there no international Union
of Photographers which has anticipated these
difficulties and provided for them by undertaking
always to accede to certain terms ?
It is evident that these points are of considerable
importance.
The answers to them, as far as it is possible to
answer them at the present time without further
investigation, will be as follows :—
(1) According to English law, it is not essential
to stamp or print the word “copyright” on a
photograph in order to obtain statutory protection.
The absence of such note, therefore, cannot be
taken as evidence either way.
.(2) It is exceedingly difficult to determine
whether the copyright in a photograph has expired
or not. Registration at Stationers’ Hall demands
merely, in the first instance, the name and place of
abode of the author, (2) the name and place of
abode of the proprietor, (3) their description, with
nature and subject of the work, and if desired
(4) sketch outline or photograph of the work.
As the former article fully explained, the copy-
right lasts from the date of the making of the
work by the author, for the life of the author and
seven years afterwards. If the photograph is not
registered the writer, who is desirous to illustrate
his article, need have no hesitation in using it, so
far as the law is concerned. No damages can be
obtained for any infringement that occurs prior to
registration. If, however, the work is registered,
then the would-be reproducer must find out whether
the gentleman described as author is still alive ;
and here lies the difficulty.
S The latter part of the question is more complex.
That an assignee must register before commencing
action is Clear, bat whether such registration will
cover cases of infringement before registration of
the assignment is doubtful. The safest course in
any event is to register the assignment at once.
(3) The Act of 25 & 26 Vict. Ch. 68 came into
force on 29th July, 1862. Any photograph made
before that date, it would seem, carried with it no
copyright. The copyright in photographs made
since that date must depend upon the life of the
author.
(4) The sanction of the man, who sits at the
request of the photographer, is not essential to the
right of reproduction. The photographer (the
author of the likeness) has a right to make a
charge, and has a right to claim damage for
infringement, supposing that the work is repro-
duced without his sanction. If he commenced
action it would be for damages for infringement
of copyright. If he had already sent in a bill he
would most probably be bound by the amount
stated in that bill, as the limit of damages he could
claim. If however the amount was exorbitant it
would lie with the Judge or Jury to assess the
amount. The sitter would not be entitled to stop
the republication of his likeness unless the circum-
stances were exceptional. The readers of Zhe Author
are referred to an amusing story in the May number,
in which the dangers of the sitter’s position are fully
set forth. It will be as well to impress upon those
desirous of having their photographs printed in
public papers, that they should in all cases retain
the copyright in the photograph, or limit the photo-
grapher to reproduction in papers authorised by
themselves.
The answer to question (5) is clear from the state-
ment of the former article which has already been
referred to. It is impossible for a firm to be the
original makers of the photograph, in the sense
conceived in the Act, and the date of the copyright
would run from the life of the maker of the photo-
graph. ‘The principal countries unprotected in
England because they stand outside the Berne
Convention are Sweden, Holland, Russia, the
United States of America, Austria-Hungary,
Turkey, Egypt, 8. American Republics, China.
With the United States England has a Oopy-
right Arrangement, and with Austria-Hungary a
Copyright Treaty, very much on the lines of the
Berne Convention.
The names of the principal countries belonging
to the Convention, and the dates of their joining
are as follows :— ae
Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Switzer-
66
land and Tunis. These signed the original Con-
vention of 1886, and the additional Act of Paris,
1896.
Norway joined on the 15th of April, 1896,
signing the Convention of 1886, and Japan joined
in July, 1899, signing both the Convention of 1886
and the subsequent Convention of 1896.
The answer to the two subsequent paragraphs
(c and d) requires deep study and a profound know-
ledge not only of International law, but of the laws
of each country. It would appear in most coun-
tries that registration is necessary, and it may also
be stated that in most countries, copyright in
photographs is of very limited duration, and does
not last anything like the length of time that
it lasts in England and France. Mere acknowledg-
ment of the reproduction of a photograph would
make no difference to the legal position. It might
however be evidence of the fact that there was no
wilful intent to defraud.
—_—____+——+ —___——__
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
— to
Royalty Agreement: A Warning.
OT so long ago a publisher, in submitting his
agreement to authors, stated that it had been
approved by the Society, and thereby, no doubt,
induced writers to sign a document which, under
other circumstances, they might have hesitated to
do. The Secretary of the Society remonstrated
when this fact came to his notice. The publisher
replied, that the transaction referred to had never
taken place. Unfortunately, he had so far forgotten
himself on one occasion as to commit himself in
writing on this point, and the letter was in the
Secretary’s hands. Accordingly, he was bound to
apologise, and promised that it would not occur
again.
There is another method of inducing an author
to sign, which is very commonly adopted in another
publishing house. ‘The man of business affirms that
the agreement submitted to the author, is similar
in every respect to that signed by his other authors.
Tf this statement was correct, there would be nothing
to say on the subject, except that the other authors
must have been extraordinarily lax in their methods
of disposing of their property ; but unfortunately,
the Secretary of the Society happens to know full
well, that although no doubt the agreement, as
drafted, is offered for signature to other authors,
on occasions too numerous to specify, the authors
have refused to sign without considerable alteration.
The agreement is, in substance, with a few minor
THE AUTHOR.
alterations, the royalty agreement drafted on behalf
of the Publishers’ Association, about which so
much has been written from time to time in Zhe
Author.
Owing to the frequent recurrence of the circum-
stances stated above it would, perhaps, be no dis-
advantage to quote the form of agreement with
some comments, in order to put authors on their
guard. Some of the objections are vital, others
are of minor importance, but should be insisted
upon if the position of the author is strong enough
to carry them.
MEMoRANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this
day of between
(hereinafter termed the author) of the one part,
and
(hereinafter termed the publisher) of the other
part, whereby it is mutually agreed between the
parties hereto for themselves and their respective
executors, administrators, and assigns (or succes-
sors, as the case may be), as follows :—
1. The publisher shall at his own risk and
expense, and with due diligence, produce and
publish the work at present intituled
by
and use his best endeavours to sell the same.
2. The author guarantees to the publisher that
the said work is in no way whatever a violation
of any existing copyright, and that it contains
nothing of a libellous or scandalous character, and
that he will indemnify the publisher from all suits,
claims and proceedings, damages, and costs which
may be made, taken, or incurred by or against him
on the ground that the work is an infringement
of copyright, or contains anything libellous or
scandalous.
3. The Publisher shall during the legal term
of copyright have the exclusive right of producing
and publishing the work in England, the Colonies,
and United States of America. The Publisher
shall have the entire control of the publication
and sale and terms of sale of the book, and the
Author shall not during the continuance of this
agreement (without the consent of the Publisher)
publish any abridgment, translation, or dramatised
version of the work.
4. The Publisher agrees to pay the Author the
following royalties, that is to say :—
(a) The first copies shall be free of royalty,
hae Nese
pant
phi hee
1%)
2
Ca
ie
if
as
i
(Ook ee
THE AUTHOR. 67
aroyalty of ten per cent. uponthe next — thousand
copies sold, and fifteen per cent. upon the next
thousand copies, and twenty per cent. upon all sub-
sequent copies, thirteen being reckoned as twelve
throughout.
(0) Upon the American edition the first
copies shall be free of royalty, ten per cent. upon
the next thousand copies sold, fifteen per cent.
upon the next thousand copies, and all sub-
sequent copies sold.
(c) In the event of the Publisher disposing of
copies or editions at a reduced rate for sale in the
Colonies or elsewhere, or as remainders, a royalty
of ten per cent. of the amount received by such
sale.
(d) In the event of the Publisher realising profits
from the sale, with the consent of the author, of
serial or Continental rights, or from claims for
infringement of copyright, a royalty of fifty per
cent. of the net amount of such profits remaining
after deducting all expenses relating thereto.
(e) No royalties shall be paid on any copies
given away for review or other purposes.
(f) The Author shall be entitled to six gratuitous
copies, and any further copies required at trade
price.
5. The Author agrees to revise the first, and,
if necessary, to edit and revise every subsequent
edition of the work, and from time to time to
supply any new matter that may be needful to
keep the work up to date.
6. The Author agrees that all costs of corrections
and alterations in the proof sheets exceeding twenty
per cent. of the cost of composition, shall be deducted
from the royalties payable to him.
7. In the event of the Author neglecting to
revise an edition after due notice shall have been
given to him, or in the event of the Author being
unable to do so by reason of death or otherwise,
the expense of revising and preparing each such
future edition for press shall be borne by the
Author, and shall be deducted from the royalties
payable to him.
8. During the continuance of this agreement,
the copyright of the work shall be vested in the
Author, who may be registered as the proprietor
thereof accordingly.
9. The Publisher shall make up the account
annually to
and deliver the same to the Author within
months thereafter, and pay the balance due to the
Author on same date.
10. If the Publisher shall at the end of three
years from the date of publication, or at any time
thereafter, give notice to the Author that in his
opinion the demand for the work has ceased, or if
the Publisher shall for six months after the work
is out of print decline or, after due notice, neglect
to publish a new edition, then and in either of
such cases this Agreement shall terminate, and, on
the determination of this Agreement in the above
or any other manner, the right to print and pub--
lish the work shall revert to the Author, and the
Author, if not then registered, shall be entitled to
be registered as the proprietor thereof, and to pur-
chase from the Publisher forthwith the plates or
moulds and engravings (if any) produced specially
for the work, at half cost of production, and what-
ever copies the Publisher may have on hand at
cost of production, and if the Author does not
within three months purchase and pay for the said
plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, the Pub-
lisher may at any time thereafter dispose of such
plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, or melt
the plates, paying to the Author in lieu of royal-
ties ten per cent. of the net proceeds of such sale,
unless the Publisher can prove from his books that
the publication has resulted in loss to him, in
which case he shall be liable for no such payment.
11. If any difference shall arise between the
Author and the Publisher touching the meaning
of this Agreement, or the rights or liabilities of
the parties thereunder, the same shall be referred
to the arbitration of two persons (one to be named
_by each party) or their umpire, in accordance with
the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1889.
12. The term “ Publisher” throughout this
Agreement shall be deemed to include the person
or persons or company for the time being carrying
on the business of the said
under as well its present as any future style, and
the benefit of this Agreement shall be transmissible
accordingly.
As witness the hands of the parties.
COMMENTS ON THE AGREEMENT.
Firstly, then, the parties to the agreement. “It
is agreed for themselves, their respective adminis-
trators, executors, and assigns, or successors, as
the case may be.”
It is the greatest mistake for an author to con-
tract with the executors, administrators, and
assigns or successors of a publisher. The contract
is between principal and agent, and is a personal
contract, and should be maintained as a personal
contract. Supposing an author were dealing with
one of the best publishing houses in England, and
the partners of that publishing house, for some
reason or other, desired to retire from the busi-
ness ; to clear up matters they might put up the
contracts for sale by auction or otherwise. Under
those circumstances an author might find the right
to publish his work purchased by some enterpris-
ing tradesman, who would bring it out in a manner
and form which would be utterly repulsive to the
author, and he would have no means of stopping
68
him ; and the same thing might occur should a
firm go bankrupt. Tt is, therefore, a most dan-
gerous thing to allow the agent who is dealing
with the property to have a right to assign his
agency.
In Clause 1 the publisher undertakes to produce
the work with due diligence. These words, as far
as they go, are satisfactory, but the clause is not
nearly comprehensive enough. The following points
are suggested for consideration : that a date ought
to be fixed on or before which the book should be
produced ; that the form in which the edition is to
appear should also be stated, and the price at which
it is to be sold to the public; and further, it is best
to limit the publisher to the production of a certain
number of copies or editions, with the option of
renewal, or to assign the right to publish, subject
to proper safeguards, for a limited number of years.
Several authors adopt this course.
Clause 2 may, on the whole, be passed, with the
single exception of the words “incurred by.” It
is fair as between the parties that the publisher
should be protected from all suits against him, but
there is no reason why the author should indemnify
him from all expenses incurred by him, as he might
incur unnecessary expenses without the sanction of
the author. There ought, therefore, to be some
words of limitation by which the author has a
voice in any action taken by the publisher. This
Clause is a distinct improvement on the Clause
put forward by Mr. Absolute, and quoted in the
October number.
Clause 3.—It is difficult to deal with Clause 3
without, in fact, re-drafting the whole of the
agreement, but it should be pointed ont that the
rights which the author is expected to transfer by
this agreement include the rights of production in
the United States. Such rights are generally left
in the hands of an agent, and much better so than
in the hands of publishers, for this reason—that a
publisher does not, as a general rule, undertake the
work of the literary agent ; that his office is not
to place literary work in other hands, but to
produce literary work for the author ; that work
of this kind left in the hands of publishers is not
likely to receive anything like the same attention
as it isif left in the hands of a literary agent ; that
the publisher is the only person who gains by
having control of this work, and that the author
loses by leaving it in his hands. It should be
further pointed out that the publisher does not
anywhere in the agreement undertake to secure
the United States copyright for the author, nor
even to do his best to obtain it. It may pay an
English publisher better to sell sheets or stereos
and pay the author a royalty, as per Clause 4, but
the result is hardly satisfactory to the author.
It should be added that for this agency work,
THE AUTHOR.
while the literary agent charges 10 per cent., the
publishers actually make 50 per cent. (see sect. (d)
of clause. 4). Out of a large series of agreements
from all sorts and conditions of publishers the
lowest charge for this literary agency business has
been 25 per cent., and this only in one case.
The last part of the clause is extraordinary. It
seems astounding that the author should not be
allowed to deal with the translation.and dramati-
sation of his own work without the consent of the
publisher. An author must be of a curious Jrame of
mind to part with his dramatic rights, perhaps more
important than all the rest put together. With
regard to the question of abridgment even, it is
not fair that the author should be bound not to
abridge the work unless the publisher is recipro-
cally bound not to obtain an abridgment or to run
any other work which is likely to conflict with the
author’s. So far, this clause has been considered
from the general point of view, but from the point
of view of the writer of technical works, educa-
tional, medical, theological, &c., &c., the clause is
still more disastrous.
Under no circumstances should a writer of
technical books hand over to his publisher so large
a right of publication. It should be limited
especially as to the number of the edition, giving,
if the author thinks fit, an equitable right to
produce further editions.
A technical writer must keep the command of
his work, must be able if necessary, to alter,
amend, amplify. He cannot do this with a free
hand if he does not keep undivided control,
The publishers’ answer will be: ‘“ But this is
provided for by Clauses 5 and 7.”
But it is submitted that it is one thing for the
author to have unfettered judgment, and another
thing to be forced to revise at request of his
publisher or see his work arbitrarily revised by
another. Whilst considering this question, it
should be mentioned that one of the peculiarities
of publishers’ contracts is, that in the case of
technical works a clause is nearly always intro-
duced conveying the copyright to the publisher.
An agreement containing such a clause should
never be signed by an author.
Clause 4.—In Section (a) the royalty is to be
paid thirteen copies as twelve. Royalties should
never be calculated on this basis. All the royalty
accounts put forward by the Authors’ Society have
been (wrongly) reckoned on the basis that the
royalty is paid on every copy sold, as it had been
previously taken into account in the Cost of Pro-
duction that the publisher had to sell thirteen for
twelve to the booksellers. This they do not really
do, except they sell in quantities, and a great many
booksellers are unable to afford to buy in quan
tities ; therefore, in taking the royalty to be paid
THE AUTHOR. 69.
as in Section (a), the publisher is not only
profiting by the liberal estimates of the Society
with regard to royalties, but is also endeavouring
to take in an extra 8 per cent., and the extra
amount on those copies, of which there are many,
sold in less numbers than twelve. The reader is
referred to the October Awthor, where there is an
article entitled ‘‘ Thirteen as Twelve.”
The clause is also drafted that a certain number
of copies should be free of royalty. This seems to
imply that no book can afford to have a royalty
paid on it from the beginning. Of course this is
not the case, but when such an arrangement is
placed before an author as an equitable agreement,
these points of equity should be clearly explained.
If the royalty is to be paid after the sale of a
certain number (in this case such a number whose
sale will amply cover the cost of production), then
the author must take care (1) that a number
beyond the number specified is printed ; (2) that
he gets a proportionately higher royalty for fore-
going it so long—e.g., he must then get 50 per
cent. of the trade price, or over 25 per cent. of the
published price.
If a royalty agreement cannot bear a high
royalty from the beginning, then a royalty
increasing with the sale is certainly a fair
arrangement as between author and publisher.
The same remarks about the royalty refer to
Section (2) and the American sales. It should be
clearly understood whether or not the publisher
intends to obtain United States copyright. He
ought not to be allowed to have the option, as it is
frequently the fact that it pays a publisher better
to sell sheets or plates to the United States than
to go to the trouble to negotiate for the copyright.
If the publisher secures the copyright, it must be
fully understood that it is secured in the name of
the author.
Section (c).—It is a common thing for a pub-
lisher to pay a royalty on the net amount received
from the sale of a remainder, but under no circum-
stances should the author allow such a loose clause
as the one put forward. If the publisher sells at a
reduced rate to the Colonies, 10 per cent. is an
exceedingly small amount to pay to the author.
On the ordinary 6s. book sold to the Colonies in
sheets, the author will get between 2d. and 4d. a
copy; 10 per cent. is only a fraction over a penny.
The words “ at a reduced rate” and “ or elsewhere ”
are fatal. Who is to decide what is a reduced
rate? There are many methods of selling books
to the trade. Thus, one and all may be called
“books at a reduced rate.’ Would it be fair,
therefore, to pay the author merely a share of the
amount realised? The royalty should always be
paid on the published price, except in the case of
remainders. The section, therefore, should be
drafted so that a fixed price is paid on the sales to
the Colonies, and a royalty on the net amount
realised from Joné fide remainder sales. The rest
should be deleted. The case of remainder sales
should be distinguished with great care from the
sale of books at a reduced price. The clause, as
worded, cannot but tend to confuse the two issues.
Section (d) is amusing. It is best to take these
rights out of the hands of the publisher, and place
them in the hands of the agent, if for no other
reason than the fact that the agent would charge
10 per cent. where the publisher charges, as in this
case, 50 per cent. It is absurd to think that the
publisher, as stated above, should assert that all
his authors signed this agency clause. Anyone
acquainted with the marketing of literary property
would confidently deny such a statement, or come
to the conclusion that the publisher had nothing
but veritable tyros to deal with. This is not the
case with the publisher whose agreement is printed
above. If the author is willing to allow the pub-
lisher to have the marketing of these rights, he
should pay him the usual 10 per cent. commission,
and he might also be entitled to 10 per cent. com-
mission if he was mainly instrumental in recover-
ing money for infringement of copyright.
Section (f) of Clause 4 is a little vague. Of
course, no royalty ought to be paid to the author
on copies given away or sent for review, but the
words “other purposes’? might cover a good deal
more than this, and are insufficiently precise.
Clause 5.—The wording of the fifth clause is not
very satisfactory. In the case of technical works,
to which a clause like this specially refers, the
publishers should in the first instance be only
given a right to publish a limited number of
copies, and the author might give him the
option of producing further editions, subject to
certain limitations. Under those circumstances
the right to revise would lie within the author’s
hands, as it should do with the creator of any
work, who alone ought to have power to add or
subtract from what he has already put before the
world. This has all been explained when com-
menting on Clause 8, but the principle is of such
importance that it is worth while to repeat it. In
the case of the publication of ordinary works of
fiction or travel, etc., this clause should be deleted.
It does not apply, and it is bad draftsmanship to
retain it.
Clause 6.—The author is not safeguarded here.
Could it not be provided that periodically (say |
weekly) during the printing the author be in-
formed of the cost of corrections? He must in
any case be informed what is the cost of composi-
tion, and what is the connection between corrections
and shillings.
Clause 7 might, under certain circumstances—
70
that is if the publisher has purchased the copy-
right—be inserted in an agreement, but in the
present form of royalty agreement it should be
struck out. There is no need for it. Its imprac-
ticability with regard to technical writers during
their lifetime, and its inapplicability to ordinary
fiction at any time has been mentioned. It should
be either altered or deleted.
Clause 8.—There is no need either for the inser-
tion of Clause 8. The copyright is the author’s,
and must remain so. The clause is inserted evi-
dently with the idea of the copyright being vested
in the name of the publisher. This would be a
mistake.
Clause 9, the account clause, is so beautifully
vague that it is hardly worth while to comment
upon it, except to point out that it is a mistake to
have accounts made up annually, and delivered
and paid three months after they are made up, as
it makes it possible for the publisher to retain the
author’s money for nearly fifteen months. This is
a common account clause among publishers, and
no doubt they find it exceedingly useful to have
the control of the author’s money for so long a
period. But the inconvenience to the author, not
to mention the danger of bankruptcy or similar
contingencies to the firm, is very considerable.
Clause 10.—The first part of Clause 10 is cer-
tainly necessary for the protection of the author,
as it would be very awkward supposing the pub-
lisher refused to produce the book when the author
had a certain market for it. If, however, as in
the case of some educational works, the publisher
desired still to maintain the control of the market,
so as not to allow the author to republish a book
in competition with one which the publisher had
already before the public, it would be easy to evade
the clause by having afew copies ready on hand.
The latter part of the clause, however, could not
possibly be equitable as between author and pub-
lisher. It is quite possible that the moulds and
engravings might be so worn that they would not
be worth half the cost of production, and the
copies of the book that the publisher had on hand
might not be worth the whole cost of production,
_ as it is quite possible that they might have been
damaged or otherwise defaced. If, therefore, the
author refused to purchase the books at the cost of
production on account of some damage that they
had received, it would be possible for the author in
reproducing the work with some other publisher to
be undersold. The author should have the option
of taking over the stock and plates at a valuation.
The danger, however, is not a very large one, as if
the book was in such a condition that the author
desired to bring out a new edition and the pub-
lisher did not, it would most probably argue that
the book had very nearly reached the end of its sale,
THE AUTHOR.
in which case there would most probably be only a
few copies on hand. The danger, however, is one
that should be guarded against.
Clause 11 ought to be struck out, as, until a
dispute arises, it is impossible to say whether it is
a fit subject for arbitration ; besidés, arbitration
is more expensive than an action at law, and a
publisher thereby avoids that publicity which is
essential for the interests of authors and the puri-
fication of the trade, which no doubt all publishers
desire.
Clause 12 should on no account stand. It is
most important, as explained when discussing the
parties to this agreement, that the contract should
be a personal contract, and this point should always
be before authors when signing agreements. They
should under no circumstances allow such a clause
to pass.
This is a fair comment on the royalty agreement
as it stands. Many suggestions might be made as
to the insertion of various clauses, and the protec-
tion of the author on other points. But these are
faults of omission, and the agreement has only
been dealt with as regards the drafted clauses. It
might be well to mention that some definite time
should be fixed on, before which a publisher should
not be allowed to make remainder sales.
Finally, it must be repeated, do not be taken in
by the apparently plausible statement that all a
publisher’s authors sign the agreement submitted.
As a rule, where such a suggestion is made, it may
be taken that the statement is not strictly in
accordance with fact.
ee
American. Copyright.—A Copyright Decision,
Cuicaao, Ill., October 31.—An important copy-
right decision was given to-day in the United
States Court of Appeals, which established the
principle that the owner of a copyrighted manu-
script cannot be deprived of his exclusive rights
of publication by the error of one who prints the
article with his consent, but who carelessly omits
the notice to the public provided for by law.
“And After,” a story written by Julia Truitt
Bishop, was in contention. It had been copy-
righted by the Daily Story Publishing Company.
One of the patrons of that firm is the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, which published “And After”
without the copyright notice. The American
Press Association appropriated the article and
distributed it among its subscribers.
The owners of the copyright threatened to sue
the patrons of the Press Association for damages.
The Press Association applied for a bill to restrain
such suits. It was denied by Judge Kohlsaat, and
his ruling was affirmed by Judges Jenkins and
Baker.
a
THE AUTHOR. 71
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
— +
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property —:
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction. should be
managed by a conipetent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement). :
In this case the following rules should be attended to :
C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights. :
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in The Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
** Cost of Production.”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :-—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld,
ge
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
me
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gruss receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.é.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (b.) apply
also in this case.
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
- be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words,
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
——
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
— > —
1. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. If the
adyice 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.
72
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
THE READING BRANCH.
—-—~——9 —
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
ee
NOTICES.
—
VHE 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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, §.W., and 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.
te
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered létter only.
AUTHORITIES.
—1+—~>—+ —
N this number we publish a report of the doings
of the International Congress of Publishers.
Such a combination may do useful work not
only to their own trade, but for the better securing
of the author’s property.
There is also a possibility that such a combina-
tion may at some future date be a very serious
menace to author’s rights, backed as it is by large
capital, Money, at all times, is a great power to
enforce an opinion or to pass a law. Would it not
be possible for those societies which represent
the trade side of literature from the author’s point
of view, to form an international combination, in
order to counteract any ill effect which may be
produced by the combination of the trade ?
We must congratulate Mr. John Murray that
his historic house in Albemarle Street has escaped
the ravages of the Tube disease, which he has
aptly termed Tube-Yerke-ulosis.
The Nobel Prize Committee of the Society of
Authors, of which Lord Avebury is the ‘chairman,
met on the afternoon of November 19th, at
39, Old Queen Street.
Inthe unavoidable absence of Lord Avebury, the
chair was taken by Mr. Edmund Gosse. Mr. G.
Herbert Thring acted as secretary. A letter was
read addressed by the Director of the Swedish
THE AUTHOR. 73
Academy, the poet, ©. D. af Wirsen, to Lord
Avebury as Chairman of the Committee, expressing
the hope that the English Nobel Committee would
not be discouraged if the prize of £8,250 should
this year be awarded to a foreign poet or poets, since
any imaginative writer, strongly supported by the
authors of England, “‘has every prospect of gaining
the Nobel Prize for Literature at some future time.”
Dr. Garnett suggested that unanimity and persist-
ence were of the greatest importance, and that
the Committee should not be impatient if the prize
were not immediately given to the English candi-
date. At the suggestion of Mr. Austin Dobson, it
was agreed that the Committee should take the
same steps as were taken last year to collect the
votes of the qualified British voters.
We are glad to see that the literary activity of
the Canadian is constantly on the increase.
A Tennyson Club has just been started at
Toronto, under the auspices of the Victoria
University and the Canadian Society of Authors.
The Honorary President is Professor William
Clark, and the Active President, Professor Pelham
Edgar.
We hope to have further particulars, and to be
able to follow the course of the club’s labour and
work.
The editor of La Revue has obtained the opinions
of some leading French authors on the following
subject: “ Would you regret to die? Why?”
The French are proverbially a light-hearted
nation, and it is no wonder therefore that the
majority of the answers obtained show that the
French author would have a decided objection to
death, and would leave this world with consider-
able regret. The reasons put forward are varied,
some serious, some satirical, some amusing.
The author who writes under the well-known
pseudonym of “ Gyp” merely replies, “ Oh, pas du
tout.”
It would be interesting to know what opinions
British authors would express in answer to the
same question.
One author living this side of the Channel
has given his answer: That his only object in
living was that he might contrast the pleasure of
death. He did not therefore regret to die. It
might be as well to remark that this author was
not an Irishman.
At a jovial gathering of members and guests of
a certain club frequented by followers of the
literary profession, an argument arose between
two Oxford men as to whether, given a previous
choice, the majority of men, knowing the life
they would have to go throngh, would consent to
be born into this world. The younger contestant
argued strongly, that no one would have been
born into the world under these circumstances.
As the point obtained some show of interest
among the company, it was finally decided to
take the opinion of a dozen of those present.
Each was allowed to choose his victims. The
party was composed of men of mixed views, but
among the number were one or two decadents,
and others whose lives had not been what, on
the whole, could be called cheerful. With careful
choice the younger member thought that his vic-
tory was assured, but what was his disappointment
when he found that, after having chosen the most
unfortunate men in the room, there was no one to
support him. The question, though not similar to
that put forward by the French editor, carries with
it some analogy.
The performing rights of a song have been again
before the public. A case has just been tried in
the High Courts where this point was in dispute. *
We have from time to time impressed upon
those composers who are members of the Society
the importance of reserving to themselves the
performing rights. Publishers generally answer,
if a composer in his temerity makes the demand,
that performing rights have no money in them in
England. The composer’s answer to this is quite
clear : “Then, there is no reason why they should
be transferred to the publisher.”
It is possible that under the present system
there is no money in performing rights, but the
case tried in the High Court tends to show the
contrary.
Even if there is no money, it is vastly important
that the composer himself should have, if it seems
good to him, the right of veto, so that a song, on
which he may set great store, should not be pro-
duced and sung in public at times and in places
which might appear to him unfit.
The publisher’s statement is by no means true.
In the performing rights of certain kinds of songs
produced in comic operas, at music halls and under
other circumstances, there is a considerable amount
of money. ‘These songs are often not written as
part of the opera, but pitchforked into the opera,
in order to make it more attractive, so that an
individual song may obtain a great vogue. Of
course, the composer obtains some kind of com-
pensation from the advertisement, but there is
something far beyond this.
The French composer has already proved this.
It is time that his English confrére should also
stand firm.
74
An Epigram.
Publisher : Th’ agreement’s signed; the profits
we divide—
A half to each; applaud a just
decision.
Author: Peace and good will to all at
Christmastide—
Clearly, *twixt you and me there’s
no division.
———__1—>_+—___——_
A LITERARY ACADEMY.
ee
TI. A Quotation from Zola on Academies.
HILE the subject of an Académy of Letters
is once again, for a brief moment, before
us in England, I should like to draw
attention to the views of Zola—the earlier Zola—
on Academies in general: partly because of their
intrinsic interest, and partly because it is just now
well worth while to point out to English readers
that, before the unliterary moralist who wrote
« Trayail ” and “ Fécondité ” made himself known,
there existed a really powerful man of letters,
author of the “ Conquéte de Plassans,” of “'Thérese
Raquin,” and of more than one volume of vigorous
criticism.
In his “L’Argent dans la Littérature” (‘Le
Roman Expérimental,” 1880), Zola traces the
Academy of the present to the literary salons of
the past, and shows what an article de luxe these,
in their time, had made of literature. Speaking
of what one may call the Augustan age of French
writing, he says :—
“Tt is now ” (say 1700) ‘ the salons which are at
work upon the literary spirit and which determine
its course. Books are dear and rare; the mob does
not read, the bourgeoisie hardly reads ; we are far
from that great current of literature which to-day
sweeps along with it the whole of society, It is the
exception to meet a passionate reader, who devours
all that the publishers set before him. Thus the
great public—what we call ‘ opinion,’ universal
suffrage, so to speak, does not exist in literary
matters : and the salons, a few groups of chosen
people, have alone to pronounce a decisive judg-
ment. These salons really reigned over literature.
It was they who decided on language, the choice of
subjects, and the manner of treating them. They
sorted out words, adopting some, condemning
others ; they established rules, set fashions, made
their great men. Thence came the character of
literature, as I have tried to indicate it above: a
fleur desprit, an amiable pastime, a_high-class
amusement for well-bred people. Picture to
yourself one of these salons which laid down the
laws of letters. A woman gathered round her a
THE AUTHOR.
set of writers whose sole care was to please her ;
manuscripts were read in a select committee, there
was much conversation, carried on with all the
delicacy and all the conventions in the world.
Genius, as we understand it nowadays, with its
irregular power, would have found itself very ill
at ease there; but mere talent flourished in the
pleasant atmosphere of a hothouse. Even in the
earliest days of French culture, when the salons
had scarcely begun and great seigneurs contented
themselves with keeping in their pay a poet as
they kept a cook, the state of domestic servitude
in which letters found themselves put them at the
mercy of a privileged class, which they flattered
and whose taste they had to consult. This gave
them all kinds of pleasant qualities—tact, measure,
a balanced pomp, an artificial construction and
language; and, again, all the charms which are to
be found in a society of well-bred women, subtleties
and refinements of brain and of the heart, delicate
conversations on delicate subjects, touching lightly
on all without bearing heavily on anything—those
fireside chats which are like musical airs, and which
are confined to the melodies, gay or sad, 6f the
human being. This was the literary spirit of the
last two centuries.
“Naturally, the salons led to academies ; and it
was there that the literary spirit blossomed forth in
a fine flourish of rhetoric. Disengaged from the
society element, having no longer women to con-
sider, it became above all things grammatical and
rhetorical, buried in questions of tradition, of rules
and recipes. You should hear Sainte Beuve, with
his free spirit, still speaking of the Academy with
all the importance and indignation of an industrious
clerk who has gone to his office and has been
shocked by the conduct and the work of his
colleagues. Many men of letters loved these
sittings devoted to disputes about words, these —
gatherings at which one squabbled in the name of
the oracles of antiquity. ‘There they hurled Greek
and Latin at your head, they revelled in a com-
munity of pedantry, in the midst of an extra-
ordinary complication of hates and jealousies, of
petty battles and petty triumphs. There is no
porter’s lodge in which more blows have been
exchanged than in the Academy. For two cen-
turies, statesmen fallen from power, bilious poets
boiling over with conceit, bookmen with their
heads stuffed with folios, have gone there for relief,
to enjoy the illusion that they were famous, bitterly
discussing their own merits, without ever carrying
the public with them.”
In these words, and many more of the same kind, ©
Zola sets forth his opinions on the nature, and the —
effect upon literature, of the Academy, to which at
that time—presumably—he did not wish to belong.
EpWARD Rose.
THE AUTHOR.
iT.
I am strongly in favour of the establishment
of an Academy of Letters, because I believe
that there is at the present time a practical
piece of work that very much requires to be done
in the domain of letters, and that nothing but an
Academy can do it.
I do not regard the project, as some regard it,
as the establishment of a species of Order of
Literary merit, because I should feel that the
tendency now-a-days is rather to overdo the
recognition of public services than the reverse.
But I believe that literature in England just at
present is rather in an unsatisfactory condition.
There is a great demand for literature of a certain
kind, and there is a strong tendency among writers
to regard monetary rewards as the test of success.
I imagine that there are a far larger number of
people who make a living by writing than there
were fifty years ago, and | suppose that the incomes
made by successful writers reach a far higher
average than ever before. Thisisa state of things
which has its dangers ; for there is not, among the
consumers of literature, at all a high instinctive
standard of literary merit, or at all a cultivated
appreciation of literary form.
It is not for the sake of the Academicians them-
selves that I should like to see an Academy estab-
lished ; but there should be, I believe, a strong
central body of eminent writers, whose duty it
should be to be on the look-out for work of high
jiterary merit, and to commend such work with all
the authority which such a body would naturally
command.
There are, I suppose, a few writers of high in-
stinctive vocation in each generation who would
work independently of reward of any kind. But the
tendency at present in belles lettres is for writers
to write with the hope of a large circulation
before their eyes, and gradually to desert those
paths in literature which do not lead either to
honour or to money.
At present the only people who can afford
to write with the sincere aim of producing litera-
ture of a high order are the fortunate people who,
either by the inheritance of wealth, or by the fact
that they hold a professional position which makes
them independent, and provides them with a cer-
tain amount of leisure, are able to disregard the
ultimate tangible results of their work.
Such people receive a certain amount of recog-
nition from reviews in journals of high standing ;
but the number of literary journals is not very
great, and the tendency of such writers is to grow
discouraged, and to feel that after all they are not
wanted, and that no one very much cares whether
they speak or hold their peace.
It is certainly a remarkable fact that the purely
15
literary element in magazines and journals has
lately decidedly decreased. A pessimist would say
that this was owing to the fact that the number of
writers whose works were worth literary considera-
tion had decreased; but if this is so, it is, I believe,
because literary activity is turned into other chan-
nels, not because our literary energy is in any way
diminished.
_An Academy would then perform the office of
authoritative literary criticism. They would ap-
“point, I imagine, a small literary committee, whose
duty would be to examine current literature, and re-
commend acertain number of books for commenda-
tion. It would be impossible for the Academicians
themselves to desert the work of composition which
had placed them in the forefront of letters, in
favour of the exhausting task of reading the litera-
ture of the day and adjudicating on its merits, but
they could nominate a small committee of critics,
not necessarily Academicians, men of wide cultiva-
tion and catholic taste, who would make it their
aim to discern what was likely to be of permanent
value, and to recommend the work of rising writers
to the commendation of the central body.
I believe that this would be of the highest prac-
tical utility. here are authors who would gladly
forego the tangible monetary rewards of writing,
if they could be dignified by the honourable
recognition of the best writers of the time.
I believe that the literary energy existing in
England now-is very great, and that the one thing
that is required to turn this in the right direction
is the creation of a high standard of literary value.
Authors would be encouraged to write deliberately
rather than hurriedly, to study form and construc-
tion rather than superficial attractiveness ; and it
might possibly create a school of literary artists of
a kind which England just now, considering its
literary output, conspicuously lacks.
It is idle to point to bygone centuries and to
say that works of high literary merit were then
produced without the assistance of any central
literary body. What formerly existed in England,
and what has ceased to exist, was a high degree of
respect, felt and expressed by notable persons, for
great literary performance. That has nowadays
been completely over-ridden by the popular verdict,
and by the fact that so far more people consider
themselves competent to express opinions on litera-
ture. I should look upon an Academy rather as
a fort established to try and uphold the higher
standard of respect for literature that formerly
existed, than a new departure, a morbid attempt
to confer a dignity on literature which it had not
earned, and which it did not deserve.
Artuur OC. BENSON.
1
76
IIL.
Srr,—The help offered by the Society of Authors
is practical and possible ; what is looked for from
an Academy of Letters is neither. Does anyone
seriously believe that the rise, say of Scott, Dickens,
or Macaulay, in public estimation, would have been
in the smallest degree either hastened or enhanced
by such an institution ; or that under its influence
Keats would have been encouraged to live, or
Robert Montgomery sooner and more effectually
dethroned? Sir Walter Besant in “ The Fourth
Generation” made one of the characters say, that
through the sins of the father a descendant might,
for instance, be prevented by poverty from taking
the place in literature his talents fitted him for.
What would or could an Academy do for such a
case? It is the natural and inevitable tendency
of all such bodies to settle down into coteries and
to turn the republic of letters into an oligarchy.
Mr. Herbert Trench says an English Academy
would have to be made better than the one here.
But how? Is England so especially the abode of
academic rectitude ? An Academy of Letters would
have condemned Shakespeare’s works on account
of their irregularities. The surpassing merits of
the greatest genius of our literature would have
been ignored because of academical defects.
Imagine “Hamlet” or “Macbeth” depending
for success on the decision of the French Academy!
If still publicly unknown, they would be even more
contemptuously spurned by it to-day than in the
days of Mazarin, its founder. When a master-
spirit appears with new means to break new
ground, it is an instinct of self-preservation in
an Academy to frown upon him. It is only when
he has been adopted by the multitude, and a new
school has arisen, that the close corporation of
Olympians condescends to recognize him. In
Shakespeare’s time men ventured boldly in the
new world of letters because there was no Academy
to chill their ardour. The work that succeeds with
an Academy is one that, while deferentially con-
ciliating the predilections of one or two of its more
active members, offends the susceptibilities of none
of them—which means, something tamely correct.
Lucas Malet says that “genius is sooner or later
bound by right divine to conquer.” That is very
pretty, but, alas, it is not true. There is abso-
lutely no room for all the genius in the world to
get a hearing. Like everything else in Nature,
there is much more of it than mankind has need
of. A new writer’s most legitimate, though not
perhaps his commercially best, chance of succeed-
ing with the public is in strong originality—by
which, of course, I do not mean eccentricity, but
originality governed by strong common-sense and
by modest observance of universally accepted
models.
But strong originality is the very thing,
THE AUTHOR.
I submit, to which an Academy would, even from
the nature of its constitution, be least likely to be
favourable. Appoint six men as a beginning, with
power to add, say, thirty-four to their number.
They choose as far as possible only men of their
own way of thinking. And being constituted, the
forty affix the hall-mark of their approval only
when neither the public needs it for guidance nor
the author for encouragement. The Academies of
Painting and Music cannot be cited as analogous
cases. With regard to the first, it is practically a
necessity for painters to have their works viewed
in a public exhibition of repute, for which it is
equally necessary that there should be some sort of
selection by some sort of committee. Writers are
not subject to these necessities. Again, Painting
and Music must both be very exactly taught, and
Academies of these arts are or, like universities,
ought to be not merely examining but also teaching
bodies. Now, I boldly assert that the writer’s art
cannot be taught. It can be learnt, and must be,
but chiefly by much reading and practice on the
part of the learner. If the young author has “ got
it in him,” he will know how to educate himself ;
if he has not, uo education in the world will bring
out what isn’t there. As to the alleged need of a
standard of criticism founded on the judgment
of experts, a book may show indisputable signs
of care and exceptional knowledge, but if its
author does not possess the gift of infusing the
fire of interest into his work, it is not an Academy
of Letters or the applause of a few specialists that
can make the public read it or even buy it. Still,
it is insisted that an Academy’s guidance is really
required. But is it gravely assumed that an
official approval now and then of a new book would
have any appreciable effect in a young author’s
self-education or on publictaste? The assumption
seems to me out of all proportion. The reading
public in France, as a mass, pays not the slightest
heed to the occasional “crowning” of a book by
the Academy. I do not believe with Mr. Herbert
Trench that there is a thirst among teachers for
guidance in matters of general literature. As to
school and college books, they just use those
which give pupils the best chance of passing this
or that examination, not forgetting the examiner’s
own productions, where such exist. Ce n’est pas
plus malin que ca. As to charlatans, with capital
to foist rubbish on the public, there are humbugs
who block the way in every line of life ; it is not
an Academy that would suppress them. But, it
may be urged, even if an Academy did no good, it
could not after all really do much harm. Well,
that is not a very strong reason for calling it into
existence.
A. HEFFER.
Paris.
S
bot
Ati
*
KI
:
if
ig
eet
Pun
THE AUTHOR.
IV.
Dear Srir,—A strange wind blew. Beneath it
a mighty sea rose and raged, this way and that,
in a most ‘‘ anarchic” fashion. On the beach was
descried dimly the figure of a man_ groping.
“ What,” Heaven asked him, in its own name,
“are you doing?” “Looking for forty fossils”
was his answer. ‘ And what,” Heaven asked him,
in its own name, “are you going to do with them
when you have found them?” ‘Calm the sea
with them ”’ was his answer.
The wind (need I add ?) is popular education.
The sea is the book-reading public. The groping
figure is that of Mr. Herbert ‘Trench. The forty
fossils . . . but I, like Mr. Trench himself, prefer
to devolve the task of naming ‘hem.
Yours obediently,
Max BEERBOHM.
$< __—_
A HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE. *
— >
T is, perhaps, a platitude to assert that the
chief snare in the path of the literary historian
is the difficulty of properly subordinating
detail to general development. In his admirable
history of the great literature that extends from
Ulfilas and the earliest Nibelungen sagas to Suder-
mann and Nietzche, Mr. Robertson has avoided
this pitfall with complete success. His work is
one that should meet with nothing but praise, both
for his complete comprehension of the growth and
decline of all the various movements of Germanic
thought and his lucid exposition of the elements
common to all of them, and also for his admirable
criticism in a space necessarily limited of the
intellectual giants of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. While he is careful to trace the influence
and to estimate the importance of Kant, Fichte, and
Hegel in a literature which has always been and
always will be connected with philosophy by the
firmest of bords, he is not forgetful of the form
which, after all, is the eternal element in all art,
and his lyrical selections are most happy. A
literary historian who can sum up the “ Kritik der
reinen Vernunft”’ and the “ Kritik der praktischen
Vernunft” in two pages, and praise with enthusiasm
Heine’s
“Thalatta ! Thalatta !
Sei mir gegriisst, du ewiges Meer !”
is indeed one in whom we may rejoice.
The first period of German literature, as Mr.
Robertson points out in his Introduction, falls
* “A History of German Literature,” by John G.
Robertson (Blackwood : MCMII.).
77
approximately between the period of Anglo-Saxon
poetry in which Beowulf reached its final form,
and the tiny golden age of the prose of Alfred
and Ailfric. It was a monastic age, and Germany
was slower than other nations in breaking loose
from the ascetic trammels that have always proved
so inimical to literature, if not to learning. The
age of the Migrations (875—500, ca.) naturally
failed to produce a written literature, although the
struggles of Ostrogoth, Vandal, and Hun, and the
characters of Ermanrich, Odoaker, and Dietrich,
afforded material for the national epics which
developed later. The second sound-shifting was
fatal to alliterative verse, and Otfrid’s theological
poems (ca. 830—850) followed the early Church
hymns in the use of rhyme. The Middle High
Germany poetry was late in setting in, but by the
twelfth century the bonds of monasticism relaxed,
and the secular themes of the wandering singers
became popular. French influence began to appear ;
the old sagas were remodelled, and the lyric fol-
lowed the form set by the Provencal troubadours..
The courtly Middle High German poetry, however,
declined with knighthood ; as the middle classes
rose to power, literary art subsided. Not until
Luther’s genius had placed his nation in the van of
European progress, and Luther’s Bible had fixed
the standard of modern German, did this period of
decadence end, as all periods of decadence do, in
regeneration.
terman culture in the sixteenth century was
entirely due to the Reformation, and was at first
completely out of reach of the Latin renaissance.
When, however, it might have benefited by the
latter, the horror of the Thirty Years’ War over-
whelmed it absolutely. Germany was the intel-
lectual outcast of Europe until the end of the
seventeenth century, until the appearance of the
genius of Leibnitz. The first period of German
literature in the eighteenth century was character-
ised by imitation of English and French models,
the second was a period of national originality.
Klopstock, Wieland, Lessing, respectively laid the
foundations of the modern German lyric, novel,
and drama, so that by the middle of the century
Germany had passed far beyond the former dark-
ness, and at the beginning of the nineteenth
century German classical literature had reached
its zenith. ‘The Romantic movement, and the.
“young German epoch” that followed, were’
really periods of decadence which produced a few
men of genius and a vast number of fanatical
mediocrities.
Such is the scheme of development to which Mr.
Robertson adheres. Through all its ramifications
we may trace the element which is the dominant
note of the Teutonic character—mysticism. It is
apparent in the Old High German poetry of Otfrid
78
and the idea of retribution in the Nibelungen
Lied ; ‘if it disappears in the “ Beast Epics and
the didactic works which are characteristic of the
decline of chivalry, in ‘Reinke de Vos” and
Brant’s “Narren Schyff,” it is handed on by
Luther and reappears widely in the seventeenth cen-
tury ; if it is blotted out by the Thirty Years’ War,
it is apparent in the great work of Leibnitz, and
has been paramount in almost every branch of
German literature since his day. The Teutonic
temperament has always been romantic, 1n the true
sense of the word ; the literature which enshrines
its power is the literature of subjectivity and
individualism.
In surveying the growth of any branch of art,
we cannot fail to notice how many works have
survived on account of their historical value,
although they are wxsthetically worthless. It is
greatly to Mr. Robertson’s credit that he has never
confused art and archeology, and that, on the
other hand, he has recognised the real beauty of
archaic “first beginnings, so dim and dewy,” as
Browning rather unhappily called them. Modern
criticism is far too apt to regard anything written
in an obsolete dialect as the lawful prey of the
philologist.
Sr. Joun Lucas.
—_—_—_—__-__
MR. G. A. HENTY.
— ts
HE death of Mr. G. A. Henty, war corre-
spondent and author, has come rather
suddenly. There is no doubt that he
supplied a certain type of literature which may
entirely disappear with his death. He combined
adventure with instruction, and wrote on lines
that no modern author seems to touch.
He was a most prolific writer, and certainly
found amongst the boys to whom he appealed a
class as eager for his productions as he was prolific
in his writings.
All his books were healthy, strong, and vigorous,
full of life and full of “ go,” and all his writings
advocated the strenuous life which he himself lived.
It is with much regret we chronicle the sad
event.
_
A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA.*
oe
‘bee Tranis (of whom the Persians and Medes
were the leading tribes) and their language
and literature afford us an example unique
in the annals of nations. The language used by
* “A Literary History of Persia” (Prof. E. G. Browne).
T, Fisher Unwin.
THE AUTHOR.
the Achzemanian kings in the sixth century B.o,
would be easily understood by an educated Persian
of to-day, and yet there have been breaches in
their history and literature so wide as would have
drained the life-blood of most other races.
The Achemanian (Hakhamanish), or Old Persian —
period, extended from about 560 B.C. to the over- |
throw of the Iranian Empire by Alexander of
Macedon in 330 3.c. The only remains of that
literature are the royal acts and proclamations
engraven on stone, and they possess the sonorous
dignity and simplicity to which we are accustomed
in edicts, by members of the same dynasty, re-
corded in the Bible. The national cult and
literature was practically suspended for the five
centuries extending to about 200 .c., only linger-
ing in Magian temples or inaccessible fastnesses
of some reputed descendant of Hakhaman. The
national awakening gave rise to what is known as
the Sassanian period, or Pahlevi literature, which
cannot be disconnected from what some scholars
have defined, artificially, as the Avestic literature.
The Avesta, or sacred books of Zoroastrianism, of
which only about one-fourth are known, have come
down to us in the forms imparted to them between
200 and 350 a.c., but must necessarily include the
oral traditions of the most ancient period, and,
indeed, contains vestiges of practices and super-
stitions from ante-Aryan times, common to all
races. The Avestic literature is only interesting
to him who quarries for the evolution of ideas in
the childhood of the human race. The Pahlevi as
applied to the national resurrection under the
Sassanide dynasty, flourished from about 200—
650 A.c. ; the remains of this literature, although
principally religious (Zoroastrian), contain some
40,000 words of historical romance, which with
other remains, now only extant in Arabic transla-
tions, supplied the subject-matter of that stupen-
dous National Legend moulded by the genius of
Firdusi during the Second Renaissance in about
1000 A.C. d
The Sassanide dynasty fell in 650 a.c., when the
Empire was overwhelmed by the Arabs, and Persia
became an Arabian province for 300 years, when
Arabic became the language of literature, and
Persian men of genius devoted their talents and
knowledge to the enrichment of Arabic literature
and the glories of Islam.
The Second Awakening dawned in about
850 A.c., but did not begin to shine until about
950, and then only in distant provinces of the
Caliphate and, chiefly, under the patronage of
Turkish adventurers, who nurtured the Persian
cult and made themselves more Persian than the
Persians for the purpose of strengthening them-
selves against their suzerains, the Caliphs of Bag-
dad. I must refer the reader to Prof. Browne’s
ood
book for the many other causes which assisted the
40098 Second Birth. This period, which is undoubtedly
» aff the Golden Age of Persian literature, flourished
me and expanded until the Tartar flood burst and
» 79 overwhelmed Asiatic civilisation at the beginning
to of the fourteenth century. Prof. Browne, in the
oy volume before me, stops at 1000 4.c. and promises
-7 us another one on the “Golden Age,” which will
a) include such well-known names as Nizami, Sadi,
O Omar Khaydm, etc. He has already dealt with
4) the translation of Tabari’s great commentary into
{ Persian; Assadi, the teacher of Firdusi, and in-
»y ventor of the “ Romance of the Joust”; Rudaki,
* “piquant in expression and fluent in verse,” so
f fluent that he is credited with the composition of one
' + millionthreehundredthousand verses! The greatest
+8 figure is, of course, Firdusi, with his monumental
»/@ Shah name (“Book of the Kings”); this stupendous
4 National Legend, comprising some 60,000 couplets,
'@ embraces the traditional primeval legends, the
** Romance of Iamshid”’ (a sort of combination of
* Solomon and King Arthur), the historical chronicles
of the Sassanide dynasty and all that is romantic
and tuneful down to his own day, coloured, of
course, with Moslem pigment and showing the
grain of Chaldean imagery which the older Pahlevi
writers had assimilated.
The third Great Trance extended from the
Mongol conquest to about the beginning of the
last century ; but this Third Renaissance has, so far,
concerned itself with recovering the treasures of
the past, translations of foreign books, and—poetry.
Their poetical forms, the couplet and quatrain,
are borrowed from the Arabic, and from the ninth
to the present century are dirge-like.
The philosopher is naturally sad, but the senti-
mental Persian wails in his loves, his hates, and his
adorations. When he can spare time from sobbing
a divine hymn to some petty kingling and patron,
he weeps a melancholy dirge about wine, music,
and woman. His eyes are so dimmed with tears
that his Trinity must be brilliantly coloured and
sensuous ; the “ruby wine,” the “heart-exploding
erash of music,” “the ruby lips,’ and so forth.
When a kingling (generally of Turkish extraction)
rhymes, he sighs for “ red-hot blood” and “ nostril
attacking incarmined cuirass.”
It may be noted en passant that poets made
money in A.C. 1000, for we are told that Rudaki
possessed 200 slaves (some, let us hope, with
‘ruby lips” and other strongly-coloured physical
attractions) and 100 camel-loads of luggage.
Prof. Browne holds a brief for Persia and devotes
two-thirds of his book to Arabian literature, which
he attempts to prove to be Persian, because many
Persians, half-Persians, fractional-Persians and
Arabs of “reputed” Persian descent wrote in
Arabic. It would be just as easy to class the
THE AUTHOR.
79
numerous works published in Latin throughou
Europe during the last two centuries as “ Roman”
literature. No! Arabian literature and Islam
are no more Persian than the northern Sagas are
the vapourings of a Baboo who has “failed B.A.
Calcutta.”
I shall look forward to Prof. Browne’s next
volume dealing with the great Poet-Philosophers
of the Golden Age, and should feel grateful if he
would veil his profound erudition by massing his
references in an appendix.
M. M.
ae
CORRESPONDENCE.
—— ———e— —
“RUTHOR AND EDITOR.”
Sir,—Mr. F. J. Winbolt is not complimentary !
First he calls me “ An unknown author,” when my
nameis very well known. Every London editor of any
note knows it, I should say, and I have been called
by an eminent living critic “one of the sweetest
singers in Devon now alive”; besides being one of
Mr. H. D. Traill’s “ Poets in the (late) Nineteenth
Century.” Then he implies that 1am “ an obscure
poet,” which again is wide of the mark, as not
only have I had hundreds of reviews in London
and provincial papers, but my poems have been
extensively copied into the Indian, African, San
Franciscan, and Canadian papers. Besides, he will
find my name in “ Who’s Who.”
Mr. Winbolt misses the point—i.c., that several
(10) of the poems were from the Westminster Gazette,
and that the editor had reviewed all my inferior
books! Besides, other London papers noticed it—
Pall Mall Gazette, The Queen, Field, Pictorial
World, and others.
Yours truly,
F. B. Dovueton.
Kirsfield, Torquay.
P.S.—Again! What did the editor mean by
saying “He had given my Vol. due considera-
tion ’—a future review or none ?
F. B.D.
So ee
INCOMPETENT REVIEWERS OF BOOKS—A
PROTEST.
Srr,—There are two abuses which no author—
not even a young one—is obliged to tolerate. — he
first is having his English cavilled at by a reviewer
who has no grammar; and the second is the
misquoting or mutilating of his printed work with
a view to holding hit up to ridicule.
Case number one. Discussing “The Land of
the Dons,” my recent work on Spain, the Daily
78
and the idea of retribution in the Nibelungen
Lied ; ‘if it disappears in the “ Beast pies and
the didactic works which are characteristic of the
decline of chivalry, in “ Reinke de Vos” and
Brant’s “Narren Schyff,” it is handed on by
Luther and reappears widely in the seventeenth cen-
tury ; if it is blotted out by the Thirty Years War,
it is apparent in the great work of Leibnitz, and
has been paramount in almost every branch of
German literature since his day. The Teutonic
temperament has always been romantic, 10 the true
gense of the word ; the literature which enshrines
its power is the literature of subjectivity and
individualism,
In surveying the growth of any branch of art,
we cannot fail to notice how many works have
survived on account of their historical value,
although they are esthetically worthless. It is
greatly to Mr. Robertson’s credit that he has never
confused art and archeology, and that, on the
other hand, he has recognised the real beauty of
archaic “ first beginnings, so dim and dewy,” as
Browning rather unhappily called them. Modern
criticism is far too apt to regard anything written
in an obsolete dialect as the lawful prey of the
philologist.
Sr. Joun Lucas.
i
MR. G. A. HENTY.
a od
HE death of Mr. G. A. Henty, war corre-
spondent and author, has come rather
suddenly. ‘There is no doubt that he
supplied a certain type of literature which may
entirely disappear with his death. He combined
adventure with instruction, and wrote on lines
that no modern author seems to touch.
He was a most prolific writer, and certainly
found amongst the boys to whom he appealed a
class as eager for his productions as he was prolific
in his writings.
All his books were healthy, strong, and vigorous,
full of life and full of “ go,” and all his writings
advocated the strenuous life which he himself lived.
It is with much regret we chronicle the sad
event.
————_+-—<>—_e —___—__
A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA.*
aes
| Tranis (of whom the Persians and Medes
were the leading tribes) and their language
and literature afford us an example unique
in the annals of nations. The language used by
* “A Literary History of Persia” (Prof. E. G. Browne).
T. Fisher Unwin.
THE AUTHOR.
the Achzmanian kings in the sixth century B.c.
would be easily understood by an educated Persian
of to-day, and yet there have been breaches in
their history and literature so wide as would have
drained the life-blood of most other races.
The Achemanian (Hakhamanish), or Old Persian
period, extended from about 560 B.c. to the over-
throw of the Iranian Empire by Alexander of
Macedon in 330 3.c. The only remains of that
literature are the royal acts aud proclamations
engraven on stone, and they possess the sonorous
dignity and simplicity to which we are accustomed
in edicts, by members of the same dynasty, re-
corded in the Bible. The national cult and
literature was practically suspended for the five
centuries extending to about 200 a.c., only linger-
ing in Magian temples or inaccessible fastnesses
of some reputed descendant of Hakhaman. The
national awakening gave rise to what is known as
the Sassanian period, or Pahlevi literature, which
cannot be disconnected from what some scholars
have defined, artificially, as the Avestic literature.
The Avesta, or sacred books of Zoroastrianism, of
which only about one-fourth are known, have come
down to us in the forms imparted to them between
200 and 350 A.c., but must necessarily include the
oral traditions of the most ancient period, and,
indeed, contains vestiges of practices and super-
stitions from ante-Aryan times, common to all
races. The Avestic literature is only interesting
to him who quarries for the evolution of ideas in
the childhood of the human race. The Pahlevi as
applied to the national resurrection under the
Sassanide dynasty, flourished from about 200—
650 A.c. ; the remains of this literature, although
principally religious (Zoroastrian), contain some
40,000 words of historical romance, which with
other remains, now only extant in Arabic transla-
tions, supplied the subject-matter of that stupen-
dous National Legend moulded by the genius of
Firdusi during the Second Renaissance in about
1000 A.C.
The Sassanide dynasty fell in 650 A.c., when the ex:
Empire was overwhelmed by the Arabs, and Persia 7 az
became an Arabian province for 300 years, when
Arabic became the language of literature, and
Persian men of genius devoted their talents and
knowledge to the enrichment of Arabic literature
and the glories of Islam.
The Second Awakening dawned in about
850 A.c., but did not begin to shine until about
950, and then only in distant provinces of the §
Caliphate and, chiefly, under the patronage of §
Turkish adventurers, who nurtured the Persian 3
cult and made themselves more Persian than the
Persians for the purpose of strengthening them-
selves against their suzerains, the Caliphs of Bag-
dad. I must refer the reader to Prof. Browne’s
ee
&
ios
ig.
Cowes S
THE AUTHOR.
book for the many other causes which assisted the
v0 ? Second Birth. This period, which is undoubtedly
the Golden Age of Persian literature, flourished
and expanded until the Tartar flood burst and
overwhelmed Asiatic civilisation at the beginning
of the fourteenth century. Prof. Browne, in the
volume before me, stops at 1000 4.c. and promises
us another one on the “ Golden Age,” which will
include such well-known names as Nizami, Sadi,
Omar Khaydm, etc. He has already dealt with
the translation of Tabari’s great commentary into
Persian ; Assadi, the teacher of Firdusi, and in-
ventor of the “ Romance of the Joust” ; Rudaki,
“piquant in expression and fluent in verse,” so
fluent that he is credited with the composition of one
million three hundred thousand verses! The greatest
figure is, of course, Firdusi, with his monumental
Shah name (“Book of the Kings”); this stupendous
National Legend, comprising some 60,000 couplets,
embraces the traditional primeval legends, the
“ Romance of Iamshid”’ (a sort of combination of
Solomon and King Arthur), the historical chronicles
of the Sassanide dynasty and all that is romantic
and tuneful down to his own day, coloured, of
course, with Moslem pigment and showing the
grain of Chaldean imagery which the older Pahlevi
writers had assimilated.
The third Great Trance extended from the
Mongol conquest to about the beginning of the
last century ; but this Third Renaissance has, so far,
concerned itself with recovering the treasures of
the past, translations of foreign books, and—poetry.
Their poetical forms, the couplet and quatrain,
are borrowed from the Arabic, and from the ninth
to the present century are dirge-like.
The philosopher is naturally sad, but the senti-
mental Persian wails in his loves, his hates, and his
adorations. When he can spare time from sobbing
a divine hymn to some petty kingling and patron,
he weeps a melancholy dirge about wine, music,
and woman. His eyes are so dimmed with tears
that his Trinity must be brilliantly coloured and
sensuous ; the “ruby wine,” the “heart-exploding
erash of music,” “the ruby lips,” and so forth.
When a kingling (generally of Turkish extraction)
rhymes, he sighs for “ red-hot blood ” and “ nostril
attacking incarmined cuirass.”
It may be noted en passant that poets made
money in A.c. 1000, for we are told that Rudaki
possessed 200 slaves (some, let us hope, with
‘ruby lips” and other strongly-coloured physical
attractions) and 100 camel-loads of luggage.
Prof. Browne holds a brief for Persia and devotes
two-thirds of his book to Arabian literature, which
he attempts to prove to be Persian, because many
Persians, half-Persians, fractional-Persians and
Arabs of “reputed” Persian descent wrote in
Arabic. It would be just as easy to class the
79
numerous works published in Latin throughou
Europe during the last two centuries as ‘‘ Roman”
literature. No! Arabian literature and Islam
are no more Persian than the northern Sagas are
the vapourings of a Baboo who has “failed B.A.
Calcutta.”
I shall look forward to Prof. Browne’s next
volume dealing with the great Poet-Philosophers
of the Golden Age, and should feel grateful if he
would veil his profound erudition by massing his
references in an appendix.
M. M.
————
CORRESPONDENCE.
—
“AUTHOR AND EDITOR.”
Srr,—Mr. F. J. Winbolt is not complimentary !
First he calls me ‘An unknown author,” when my
nameis very wellknown. Every London editor of any
note knows it, I should say, and I have been called
by an eminent living critic “one of the sweetest
singers in Devon now alive ” ; besides being one of
Mr. H. D. Traill’s “ Poets in the (late) Nineteenth
Century.” Then he implies that lam “an obscure
poet,” which again is wide of the mark, as not
only have I had hundreds of reviews in London
and provincial papers, but my poems have been
extensively copied into the Indian, African, San
Franciscan, and Canadian papers. Besides, he will
find my name in “ Who’s Who.”
Mr. Winbolt misses the point—i.c., that several
(10) of the poems were from the estminster Gazette,
and that the editor had reviewed all my inferior
books! Besides, other London papers noticed it—
Pall Mall Gazette, The Queen, Field, Pictorial
World, and others.
Yours truly,
F. B. Doveton.
Kirsfield, Torquay.
P.S.—Again! What did the editor mean by
saying “He had given my Vol. due considera-
tion ”’—a future review or none?
EF. B.D.
Sg
INCOMPETENT REVIEWERS OF BOOKS—A
PROTEST.
Srr,—There are two abuses which no author—
not even a young one—is obliged to tolerate. The
first is having his English cavilled at by a reviewer
who has no grammar; and the second is the
misquoting or mutilating of his printed work with
a view to holding him up to ridicule. 7
Case number one. Discussing “The Land of
the Dons,” my recent work on Spain, the Daily
80
Chronicle’s reviewer says, “It would not be fair to.
make’ these strictures without giving specimens.”
He then takes a sentence of sixteen words from
my book, strikes out two commas, puts in a dash
of his own, and, after completely changing the
emphasis and the sense, prints his own travesty as
my production. :
‘Case number two. Says Zruth’s reviewer,
“<Tmperative to,’ suggests that Mr. Williams’
profuse and profound knowledge of Spanish has a
little impaired his English.” Yet, a moment later,
Truth’s reviewer produces a grammatical tit-bit of
his own. He asks, “ What voice in literature has
(sic) had the dim millions which in all ages and
countries have lain out of sight like bees in the
darkness of a hive from which we extract the
honey ?” :
Truth’s ingenious reviewer, therefore, while
straining at the gnats of other people, seems to
digest his own camels with singular complacency.
Possibly, however, I am myself in error. It isa
fact, as Truth is good enough to remind me, that
I have long been absent from England ; but when
I was there, a plural noun, unless my memory 1s
very much at fault, was considered to demand a
plural in its verb. \
I am quite aware that by far the greater number
of our reviewers of books are intelligent and
kindly ; but from time to time an exception crops
up and cries aloud for the pillory. The reviewer
who repunctuates my writings in order to cast
derision on them, imposes upon his readers and
calumniates me. And the “reviewer,” such as
Truth’s, who commits a grammatical blunder for
which a schoolboy of ten would be soundly
whipped, is incompetent to pass judgment on any
book, whether written by me or by anyone else.
LEONARD WILLIAMS.
Madrid.
—1~>—+ —
THE RUSKIN MEMORIAL SCHEME.
Dear Sir,—I should be grateful if you will
allow me on behalf of the Ruskin memorial com-
mittee to place before your readers a brief state-
ment respecting the scheme.
The Ruskin Society of Birmingham has existed
for some seven years to do honour to the great
teacher whose name it bears. It has endeavoured
Lo promote the study of his works and make them
a real power in the land, and it has sought to draw
together men of all parties and creeds, the bond of
union being the common desire to share the
spiritual impetus arising from the study of the
works of one, who preached a true philosophy, and
the recognition that his profound genius was
wholly used for the benefit of mankind.
THE AUTHOR.
But since the death of Mr. Ruskin the Society :
decided to be no longer content to exist as an —
academic body only ; and they thought that the
best memorial they could raise in Mr. Ruskin’s
honour was to carry out a practical scheme on the
lines and in the spirit of his teaching.
It was not difficult to choose such a scheme,
The master’s love for country life is known to his
most casual reader, as also are his magnificent
experiments to foster it ; and the advice which in
his later years he gave to those who sought his
guidance as to practical work was to found a
village institute to promote the higher life of the
community around it.
The Society resolved to act on this advice, and
they believed that in the district of Bournville, if
they could secure the necessary facilities, they had
a most suitable place for their experiment, for here
some of those social reforms, notably the housin
one, about which (to quote Mr. Frederic Haram
Mr. Ruskin had written long years before the
statutes, conferences and royal commissions of our
own generation, had been carried out. They there-
fore ventured to approach the trustees of the
Bournville Village Trust and sought their co-opera-
tion. With a generosity only comparable to that
shown on many occasions by Mr. Ruskin himself,
the trustees offered to present, for the purposes of
the memorial, a site of upwards of two and a half
acres. Here we are building the memorial, of
which Lord Avebury laid the foundation stone of
the first portion on the 21st inst. That portion
will embrace a library, museum and lecture room,
and rooms for classes in arts and crafts.
The site is a central one, not only for residents
here, but for a group of thickly populated villages ~
around. We seek to make the memorial building
a centre of effort for the betterment of the con- —
ditions of village life, and to bring to bear upon
that life some of those influences which have now
to be sought for in our large cities.
We raise this memorial to Mr. Ruskin remember- —
ing that he taught us that “There is no wealth
but life—life including all its powers of love, of
joy, and of admiration,” and that “That country
is the richest which nourishes the greatest number
of noble and happy human beings.” :
For the completion of our present scheme we
require a further sum of upwards of £3,000, and
we most earnestly appeal to your readers for their
assistance. We shall welcome all letters of enquiry,
and shall be pleased to give any further informa-
tion.
Yours faithfully,
J. H. WHITEHOUSE.
Honorary Secretary.
Bournville, Birmingham.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 03 (December 1902)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 03 (December 1902)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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The Huthor.
{ Tg
i 6
of
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
FOUNDED BY SIR
Monthly.)
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIIT.—No. 4.
JANUARY Ist, 1903.
THE TELEPHONE.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
eg
NOTICES.
pe ee
OR the opinions expressed in papers that are
K signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author
_ that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
++ —
List of Members.
Tur List of Members of the Society of Authors
can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
—+->-+—_
The Pension Fund of the Society.
Tur investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the ‘Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIII,
[Prick SIXPENCE.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
ee £816 5 6
Wocal Goans =) a 404 10 0
Victorian Government 8 % Con-
solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11
WearciGal 2. QOL 9.23
Total 33.5. £1,714 4 8
SPECIAL APPEAL.
Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been very successful.
Up to and including the 19th of December, the
list of subscriptions and donations promised and
given is set forch below. Further subscriptions
and donations will be acknowledged as they
come in.
Subscriptions.
Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. F. ' ; .£1 0 0
S Cox, Miss Roalfe 0 5 0
, Loynbee, William . 010 6
, Anonymous . : : L070
» odd, Miss Margaret, M.D. tt 0
» Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0
5 Seaman, Owen : ; - tt 8
, Abbot, Rey. Edwin A, D.D.. 1 0 0
. . Witherby, Rey. C. . 0 5.0
» Salwey, Reginald E. 0 10 0
Vacher, Francis 110
Nov. 15, Parr, Mrs... ; 1 fr 0
4 Davy, Man EO. : . 010 6
. Allingham, Wiliam, FRCS. 1 1 9
,» Armstrong, Miss Frances 0 5 0
Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-
tional) ; : :
Rattray, Alex. : ‘ :
,, Brodrick, ‘The Honble. Mrs. .
Noy. 17, Nisbet, Hume : ; :
Keene, H. G., C.5.1. : :
Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall)
3 Forbes, E. . : : .
ss Spiers, Victor.
”
a?
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82
Noy. 17, Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath
» Burrowes, Miss Elsa
» Cooke-Taylor, R. W.
Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles
, vones, W. Braunston
» Anonymous .
5 Salmond, Mrs. Walter
» Amonymous .
» Clough, Miss B. AL
» Stanton, Miss H. M.
» “Lucas Malet”
Nov. 20, E. G.
ao enkins, Miss Hadow
Morrah, H. A. A
Hatton-Ellis, Mrs. .
Bertouch, The Baroness de
,» Anonymous
Nov. 21, Parr, Miss Olive
Nov. 22, Forbes, Lady Helen
» Twycross, Miss M.
Nov. 24, Smythe, Alfred
» Haggard, Mrs. John
,, Anonymous ‘
», Dale, Miss Nellie .
oe Tresham Quaines” .
Noy. 25, Young, W. Wellington .
Nov. 26, Young, Capt. Charles
Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. .
Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia
Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. :
5» Hamilton, Mrs. G. W.
Brinton, Selwyn
Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie
Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the
Duchess of
Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .
”
”
Donations.
Noy. 13, Bullen, EF. A
is Roberts, Morley (an annual
subscriber). :
Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . :
es Marshall, Capt. Robert .
»» Hoyer, Miss ‘ :
. EM 8B.
“ Lefroy, Mrs. .
» Sinclair, Miss May (an annual
subscriber) . : ‘
» McBride, Capt. E. E.
» Garnier, Russell .
Noy. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.
» Spero” :
5 “ Cecil Medlicott v
», Harker, Mrs. Allen
» Banks, Mrs. M. M.
», Spielmann, M. H.
» Garnier, Col. J. .
», Benecke, Miss Ida .
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THE AUTHOR.
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Nov. 15, Atton, Henry ; 05 0
Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. R.. 0 5 0
» Keene, H.G,CSi . 0 5 0
», Spielmann, Mrs. M. H. . 1 i4@
» Begbie, Harold ; . 8 3 0
», Stevenson, J.J. . -10 0 0
, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. 0 5 0
Noy. 18, From sale of autograph . 124
» Wintle, H. R. 010 0
» Brickdale-Corbett, H. M. 010 0
» Defries, Miss Violet : 010 6
Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M. 1 0 ¥
» Warren, Major-General Sir
Charles, K.C.M.G. 1 0.98
» “lucas Malet”. 5 5 0
Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth 5 &
Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. W.. 5 0 0
Nov. 25, Jacobs, W.W. ; : 1 194
; Young, W. Wellington . 0 5 0
» Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite . 010 0
Nov. 26, Cook, C. H. . 1.1 ¢@
Noy. 27, Gleig, Charles 010 0
» Harraden, Miss Beatrice 1 1@
. Frankland, F. W. 1 0 0
,» d Auvergne, Mrs. 0 5 0
Nov. 28, Sutcliffe, Halliwell 1 2 8
Nov. 29, Weyman, Stanley J. 5 0 0
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0
Dec. 2, Trevor- Batty e, Aubyn 1 14
» Marks, Mrs. . ; 010 0
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0
Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0
« Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 0
Dee. ‘12, Croft, Miss Lily 0 5 0
a Panting, J. Harwood 010 0
. Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0
Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir — Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, Cc. B.
‘There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
The total amount of cash actually received is
£190 3s. 6d.
SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of
our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for
five years, if nine other members of the Society
will promise the same contribution before 31st
March, 1903.
We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
THE AUTHOR.
- ef the Society will be found to come forward and
ose meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
. dee ‘before the time expires we may be able to print in
», of the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten
» dae subscribers of the required amount.
Subscriptions.
ive Hawkins, A. Hope . : _£10° 0 0
erisa@ Barrie, J. M. . : : ‘ ~ 10-0 0
jaca Drummond, Hamilton : ; 10-02-60
veg Wynne, Charles Whitworth . 2 19 0-9
es
Tue Pension FunD COMMITTEE.
a In order to give members of the Society, should
ed: they desire to appoint a fresh member to the
,-a89 Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has
-98e been thought advisable to place in Zhe Author a
_ (I full statement of the method of election under the
foe Scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.
>a Under that Scheme the Committee is composed of
ad three members elected by the Committee of the
~- 908 Society, three members elected by the Society at
si the General Meeting, and the Chairman of the
908 Society for the time being, ex officio. The three
‘9m members elected at the General Meeting when the
os Fund was started, were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.
' Wf M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. Last
98) year, Mrs. Alec Tweedie resigned in due course,
Sf and submitting her name for re-election was
l/:Gh unanimously re-elected. This year, Mr. Morley
1 99 Roberts in turn, under the Rules of the Scheme,
09) tenders his resignation and submits his name for
\/-@ re-election. The members have power to put for-
‘ey ward other names under Clause 9 which runs as
wolle follows :—
ae! * Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-
if mittee by the members of the Society (not being a retiring
s@ member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing
© to the Secretary, at least three weeks prior to the General
~ Meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and the
‘6 nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by,
4; at least, three members of the Society. A list of the names
+ of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members
? of the Society with the annual report of the Managing
_ Committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes
+ at the General Meeting shall be elected to serve on the
*) Pension Fund Committee.”
Tn case any member should desire to refer to the
“| List of Members, a copy complete, with the excep-
tion of those members referred to in the note at
| the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s
| Office.
It would be as well, therefore, should any of the
members desire to put forward candidates, to take
the matter within their immediate consideration.
The General Meeting of the Society has usually
been held towards the end of February or the
83
beginning of March. It is essential that all
nominations should be in the hands of the
Secretary before the 31st of January.
—_——1—_—-
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £330 8 6
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
about £4, The subscriptions received from July 1st
to the date of issue are given below :—
Patterson, A. . : ‘ : fl 1 0
Salwey, Reginald E. : : : 010 0
Gidley, Miss E. C. : : 010 0
Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0% 6
Dill, Miss Bessie 0. 5.0
Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 6
———————_1——______
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
tt
HE Committee held the last meeting in 1902
on Monday, the 1st of December. They
proceeded to the election of members. The
list of those elected is set forth below. The post-
age of magazines was one of the questions discussed.
The Chamber of Commerce is dealing with the
matter and the Committee are supporting its action.
Two disputes were up for discussion. In the one
negotiations are being carried forward, and in the
other it was decided, if it was possible to obtain
the support of the member concerned, to take the
matter into Court. As the point under discussion
is one of principle, and concerns a very common
clause in authors’ agreements, it is hoped that the
matter may be tried in Court in order that a test
case may be put forward.
During the past month one case has been tried
in the County Court. The debt and costs were
paid. The Secretary has forwarded four claims
against American magazines for money due to
the Society’s American agent. The Committee
hope that they will terminate satisfactorily. With
the sanction of the Chairman asmall County Court
case was taken in hand. It was placed with the
solicitors of the Society, but before the summons
was issued the debt was paid.
The Secretary during the past month has dealt
with ten cases. Five refer to the rendering of
accounts, three to claims for money due, and two
deal with the return of MSS. Five of the cases
have been satisfactorily concluded, two for money
84
due and three for accounts. The County Court case
referred to must be reckoned as one of the five.
There is every hope that the balance will terminate
to the advantage of the authors without calling in
the aid of the law.
pee
Election, December, 1902.
The following members and associates were
elected on December Ist, 1902.
Burke, Arthur M. . 2, Carlyle Gardens,
Cheyne Row, S.W.
Carlile, Rey. John C.
Davidson, Miss Lillias Graemsdyke, Cranes-
Campbell water Park, Southsea.
Foster, Arnold R. 38, Yew Tree Road,
Withington, Lancs.
Hextable, Swanley,
Kent.
Calle de Buenos Aires,
Las Palmas, Canary
Islands.
Stanhope, The Hon. and Byford Rectory, Here-
Rey. Berkeley ford.
Nye, George .
Meyer, Charles
a
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
——$+—<—¢—
IR ROBERT BALL is at present engaged on
a treatise on “Spherical Astronomy.” His
latest work, ‘‘ The Earth’s Beginning,” was
practically an account of a recent course of lectures
given by him at the Royal Institution. It has
been published here by Messrs. Cassell. There is
also an American edition ; and quite recently Sir
Robert Ball received a copy of a Dutch translation,
with the title “ Het Onstaan der Aarde,” trans-
lated by Dr. B. C. Goudsmit.
Edna Lyall’s new book, “The Burgess Letters,”
just published by Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co.
at 2s. 6d., is a record of child-life in the sixties.
It is not fiction, but is a genuine record of this
popular authoress’s own childhood. This interest-
ing record has a coloured frontispiece, and eight
full-page illustrations by Walter S. Stacey.
Edna Lyall is just beginning to write a novel,
the scene of which is laid partly in Italy and partly
in England. It will be remembered that in the
spring of 1902 this writer published through
Messrs. Longmans a short story called “The
Hinderers,” which upholds the Quaker view as to
the unlawfulness of war.
We must not expect anything from Miss Annabel
Gray at present, as she is recovering from a most
dangerous illness.
THE AUTHOR.
Lord Avebury’s “The Use of Life” has bee
translated into Gujerathi and Urdu, and, like “The
Pleasures of Life,” into Mahratti. The translation
into Mahratti has an interesting preface by the
translator, who states that his principal object was.
to show that Englishmen had a cheerful view of
life, while his countrymen’s view of life was just
the reverse.
Mr. Mackenzie Bell’s religious lyric, “ Lord
Teach us to Pray,” which is set to music as am
anthem by Herr Georg Liebling, has been trans-
lated into German verse by the Rev. Professor Carl
Glebe, of Westphalia, for use throughout Germany.
The second edition of the anthem, just published
in London by Dr. Charles Vincent, has both the
English and the German words.
Mr. Harold Begbie’s latest book, “ Bundy in the
Greenwood” (Isbister, 5s.), is illustrated by
Gordon Browne. It is Mr. Begbie’s first venture
into the nursery, and it was only published after
he had amended the MS. according to the criticism
of his eldest daughter, rising six.
This writer has just begun a series of ‘‘ Master
Workers” in the Pall Mall Magazine. The first
article dealt with the Bishop of London; the
second with Sir William Crookes ; and the next
two will deal with psychic research and the mys-
tery of the subliminal consciousness. The object
of the series is to convince the ordinary man that
there is a vast amount of work proceeding in the
modern world of which he knows very little.
Austin Clare’s new north-country novel, “The
Tideway,” will be published immediately by
Messrs. Chatto and Windus.
‘“‘The Cardinal’s Dawn,” the serial finishing in
the January issue of Macmillan’s Magazine, is by &
new writer, H. L. Montgomery. The novel is
placed in Italy in the imquecento, and is based on
the intrigues for and against Bianca Capelli.
Mr. Austin Dobson has undertaken to write @
life of ‘‘ Fanny Burney ” for Messrs. Macmillan’s
“English Men of Letters,” and Mr. Edmund Gosse
is at work on a life of “Jeremy Taylor” for the
same series.
Mr. Dobson’s “Side-walk Studies,” recently
issued by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, is an enter-
taining book. ‘There is an informing chapter on
“Mrs. Woffington”; another on “The Vicar of
Wakefield and its Illustrators ” ; there is “‘ A Walk
from Fulham to Chiswick” ; and perhaps the most
fascinating of all, “Dr. Johnson’s Haunts and ~
Habitations.”
From Mr. Dobson’s “Samuel Richardson’
(Macmillan’s “English Men of Letters” Series) we
should like to quote at length, but space permits
only an extract or two. Referring to the recently-
THE AUTHOR.
«ie raised question of Richardson’s indebtedness to
self Marivaux’s “ Vie de Marianne,” he says :—
Es “That there are superficial affinities between Richardson
_ (@ and Marivanx may at once be conceded. Both hit upon
s4) the novel of analysis, and in this connection, no doubt,
-js;1f Marivaux precedes Richardson. Their manners of writing
+o» -were also similar in some respects ; and when Crébillon the
voy younger, describing Marivaux, affirms that his characters
jon not only say everything that they have done, and every-
ogid) thing that they have thought, but everything that they
».uo® would have liked to think but did not—he almost seems
| 91 to be describing Richardson as well. .. .
ie “There is not, as far as we are aware, a particle of evidence
«/) that Richardson ever saw the earlier volumes of this version
jo) (of ‘Vie de Marianne’). In fact, the only discoverable
455 aeference he makes to Marivaux is contained in the post-
(8. script to ‘ Clarissa,’ and that occurs in a quotation from a
«4 French critic (translated) taken from the Gentleman's
voll Magazine for August, 1749. That he knew no French is
-. “ef demonstrable, and he could not therefore have studied
sl Marivaux in the original, Moreover, he was not in any
sass sense a novel reader ; and in‘ Pamela.’ the idea of which
bad had been in his mind twenty years before he wrote it, he
vif aimed at a moral work rather than a story.
“ Richardson has given so circumstantial and reasonable
ean account of the independent origin and development of
04 ed) the book, that it seems superfluous to go outside it in order
6) to establish his obligation to a French author, however
fis gifted, of whom, when he first sat down to write the
ias% * Familiar Letters’ to which ‘ Pamela’ owed its birth, he
«; bee had probably never even heard the name.”
1 In the last chapter, entitled ‘Last Years and
oo) General Estimate,” there is an admirable bit of
summing-up :—
* His popularity is certain with the few—with those who,
| like Horace Walpole, either read what nobody else does, or,
| like Edward Fitzgerald and Dr. Jowett, read only what
} takes theirfancy. He must always find readers, too, with
‘the students of literature. He was the pioneer of a new
‘movement ; the first certificated practitioner of sentiment ;
4 the English Columbus of the analytical novel of ordinary
i life. Before him, no one had essayed in this field to
describe the birth and growth of a new impression, to show
the ebb and flow of emotion in a mind distraught, to follow
the progress of a passion, to dive so deeply into the human
ieee heart, as to leave—in Scott’s expressive words—‘ neither
: noe head, bay, nor inlet behind him until he had traced its
‘92 soundings, and laid it downin his chart, with all its minute
00a sinuosities, its depths and shallows.’ ”
“ The Splendid Idle Forties,” by Gertrude Ather-
ton (Macmillan & Co.), is a revised and enlarged
© edition of her former book, “ Before the Gringos
#2 Came.” The tales give a vivid and striking
| picture of old Californian life before and during
| the American conquest, of the beauty, grace, and
passion of the Spanish women, and their fierce
resentment against their country’s invaders.
Mr. Stephen Gwynne has an interesting article
‘on “Celtic Sagas” in the December number of
Macmillan’s Magazine. He seeks to illustrate, by
the method of resemblance and difference, the
ancient poetry of Ireland, as represented by Lady
Charlotte Guest’s famous version of ‘The
Mabinogion.”
Miss Henriette Corkran’s “‘ Celebrities aud I,”
published a short while ago by Messrs. Hutchinson
85
& Co., is a handsome volume brim full of enter-
taining gossip and amusing anecdotes. Miss
Corkran, who is a painter by profession, gives us
her crisply-written impressions of the many
celebrities she has known and met.
Of Thackeray, kind friend of her childhood, we
hear a good deal. ‘Then there are interesting
anecdotes about the Brownings, Tennyson, W. G.
Wills, the dramatist, Sir Frederick Leighton, etc.,
etc. ; and last and latest, we are given an impres-
sionist sketch of Mr. Richard Whiteing, the famous
author of “ No. 5, John Street.”’ “ Celebrities and
I” has been widely reviewed, and it ought to do
very well.
Mr. Andrew Lang’s “ The Disentanglers” is a
series of stories, of more or less fantastic adven-
ture, under one cover. (Longmans, 6s.) The
interest which holds them together is supplied by
the connection of some of the characters with an
agency for the disentangling of matrimonial diffi-
culties. We have, among others, “ Adventure of
the Rich Uncle,” “Adventure of the Office Screen,”
“ Adventure of the Exemplary Earl,” and “ Adven-
ture of the Miserly Marquis.” It is an amusing
book.
Mr. Anthony Hope delivered a_ lecture last
month in Edinburgh, before the Philosophical
Society.
He said (we quote from the Daily Chronicle) ‘‘the average
man viewed his own sphere of life as normal ; he viewed
as real what he saw existing among his neighbours, and
regarded as real what was before him in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred. The ninety-nine he called real, and the
one case in the hundred he viewed as unreal.
“The average man had little adventure; his time was
marked down for him, and he saw little hope of becoming
other than what he was. The lot of the labouring classes
was the most common, but the man who wrote about this
class was marked down by the wealthy classes as a cynic.
In a true and deep picture the novelist could not leave out
the physical side of a man, for often his physical pleasure
was his only pleasure, and in his pleasurable excesses often
lay the man’s deepest temptation.
“The notions of the man in the street were generally
cousin once removed to truth. He had small sympathies
with the parent who wrote to the newspapers that he liked
to feel safe in handing a book to his girl to read. It did
not do to have the truth told in all circumstances, but
there was generally in a book a message for someone. The
words romance and realism were too often the catchwords
of criticism. Realism widened their views and broadened
their sympathies.”
We have received a dainty paper-covered booklet
of selections from the works of John Greenleaf
Whittier, entitled “ A Whittier Treasury.” The
selections have been made by the Countess of
Portsmouth.
Mr. Percy White’s latest novel, “The New
Christians,” has gone into a second edition. So
has Mr. Morley Roberts’ “Immortal Youth.”
Both these novels well deserve their undoubted
SUCCESS.
?
86
Mrs. Edward Kennard’s “ The Motor Maniac”
is a capital story somewhat on the lines of her
successful ‘ The Golf Lunatic.”
Lieut.-Colonel E. Gunter (late East Lanes. Regi-
ment) has published, through Messrs. Wm. Clowes
& Sons, Ltd., 23, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross,
a sixth edition of his well-known “ Officer’s Field
Note and Sketch Book and Reconnaissance Aide-
Mémoire.”
“Harvest Home”? is the title of the latter-day
poems of Mr. Thomas Winter Wood (Vanguard),
of Plymouth. “ Harvest Home” contains poems
which must appeal to many minds, and we refer
our readers to the volume that they may taste for
themselves. Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall are the
publishers; the price is 3s. 6d. net.
A volume of poems has been published by
Ernest Western through Thomas Burleigh, 376,
Strand. It is called ‘“ Creeds, Crosses, and Cre-
denda,” and may be commended to those who care
for pleasant verse.
Messrs. Kegan Paul have published a new poem
by Mr. Ernest A. Tietkens, author of ‘The
Heavenly Link,” entitled “The Loves of the
Flowers: a Spiritual Dream.” It is 2s. 6d. net.
Mrs. Harcourt Roe, who has paid a six months’
visit to New Brunswick, purposes writing some
articles on New Brunswick and the very primitive
condition of parts of the country there.
Copies of those excellent and quite indispensable
publications, ““Who’s Who” and ‘“ The English-
woman’s Year Book for 1903” have been received
at our office.
a re
PARIS NOTES.
—+—
FTER the Balzac statue comes the Balzac
Orphanage. It seems that Madame Barbier,
in whose house Balzac lived for some years,
has founded a home for twenty orphan girls in
memory of the great novelist.
She is now seventy-five years of age, and she
still owns the house in the Rue Raynouard ‘in
which Balzac wrote so many of his books from
1840 to 1847, the year of his marriage. Until
last year Madame Barbier lived in this house.
She and her daughter have given up their entire
fortune in order to found this orphanage, and in
spite of all the sacrifices they have made they will
be short of two thousand francs to make up this
year the thirty-two thousand of their expenses.
M. de Braisne, an influential member of the Société
des Gens de Lettres, has written a most touching
account of Madame Barbier’s efforts and sacrifices,
hoping that any admirers of the author of the
THE AUTHOR.
“ Comédie Humaine” may come forward and offe
their contributions to the Balzac Orphanage.
The new novel by Anatole France, “ Histoir
Comique,” commences with a tragedy. It is now
appearing in serial form in the Revue de Paris, an
will afterwards be published with illustrations ag
an édition de luxe. It is a decidedly up-to-dai
novel, and the story opens in the dressing-room 0
an actress.
“La Statue ensevelie,”’ by Ivan Strannik, i
well worth reading. It is a novel with remarkabl
little plot, and the whole interest of the sti
centres in the état d’dme of the heroine. She is”
one of the unfortunate women with an artisti
temperament, and an obtuse, egotistical husband
She naturally, under these circumstances, finds
marriage a failure, and so takes refuge in art an
in the friendship of a devoted cousin. There is
nothing particularly original in the story itself,
but the heroine is Russian, and the intense prid
sullenness, and passion of the Russian temperament
make the novel an interesting psychological study.
“Sur la Branche” is the title of the new novel
by Pierre de Coulevain, the author of “ Eye
Victorieuse.” In the latter book we had a study
of the American society woman at home and
abroad, her faults and her qualities being compared
with those of the French woman in the same rank
of life. In this new novel the author gives us his
candid opinion about England and the English.
The general verdict of the English critics after
reading “Eve Victorieuse” was that Pierre deCoule-
vain thoroughly understood Americans. It will be
interesting to read the opinion of the same critics
after the publication of “Sur la Branche.” The
last chapters of this novel are not yet written, but
it is probable that the volume will be published
early in the year.
“TL Argent del’Autre,” by M. Charles de Rouvre,
is an excellent novel. It is the story of a man
who has no fortune of his own, and who falls
desperately in love with a wealthy young widow,
whom he eventually marries. His torment begins
soon after this event. The idea of owing every
thing to his wife humiliates him, particularly as
the wealth she now owns comes to her from he
first husband. The story is cleverly worked out,
so that the reader enters thoroughly into th
sufferings of the husband, and realizes all th
humiliation of his position in the home.
M. Waldeck Rousseau has just published a book
entitled “ L’Action républicaine et sociale,” treat-
ing of all the reforms that have been accomplished
from 1899 to 1902.
The French Society of Dramatic Authors he
been fortunate in discovering a most capable ma
as successor to M. Roger, whose death occurred
some two or three months ago. M. Robe
te: Gangnat, who has been elected Agent-Général_ of
2 of the Society, is an advocate by profession. He
2 -s% was secretary to M. Pichon, the present French
iil/ Minister in Tunis, and attaché under M. Bourgeois,
sail! Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign
tit ® Affairs.
al In 1898, M. Gangnat joined the staff of the
Wl Matin as dramatic critic, and from 1891 to 1894
sy of he was President of the dramatic society known
es, as “Les Escholiers,” a society which stages the
«toy works of unknown but talented authors. M.
ae} Gangnat is therefore well known in the theatrical
» 109 world, whilst his legal knowledge and experience
. {lis will be invaluable to the Society he now represents.
ae Things theatrical seem to be of the greatest
ja importance, judging from the amount of literature
duc published this season on subjects concerning the
_ ed: theatre in France and in other countries.
*__ A volume by M. Jules Claretie entitled “ Profils
of de Théatre’’ is interesting from the first line to
' 94 the last. M. Claretie, as director of the Théatre
_voa9 Francais, has exceptional opportunities for writing
ot aa book of this kind. He has the good fortune,
* 90, too, to possess an excellent memory, so that the
“fo volume, with its anecdotes of artistes living and
ssi dead, is like an album of photographs. M. Claretie
» (fs tells us of Dejazet refusing to act in “‘ La Dame
“ui aux Camélias ” and of Frédéric Lemaitre’s pride in
1 sit his “ Robert Macaire.” He tells us, too, interesting
ine! details about Got, Reichenberg and Monnet Sully.
‘As a kind of postscript to this book of M.
sf Claretie’s comes a volume by M. Adrien Bern-
igt heim, entitled “Trente Ans de Théatre.” The
19g) author gives us details about the working and the
sigh statistics of the four state theatres of France.
ve 9) He also, like M. Claretie, gives us the benefit of
ei his souvenirs, and finishes the volume with an
©59; account of the Society called the “'Trente Ans de
, $901 Théatre,” in which he is so deeply interested, and
iy which was originally started as a kind of relief
tie fund for artistes.
-°4 Notcontent with giving us so much information
«od, about the French stage, M. Georges Bourdon has
$e been studying in England all things connected
i dig with the English theatre, and as a result he has
q published a volume entitled “Les Théatres
Anglais.” M. Jusserand, too, has taken up the
subject, and has just published a most interesting
article on “The London Theatres in the time of
Shakespeare.” It appears that the first permanent
theatre was built in Paris in 1548, and that the
first one in London dated from 1576.
ay The two great successes of this season, so far,
. 84 are undoubtedly the “ Resurrection” at the Odéon,
and “La Chatelaine” at the Renaissance.
“Le Joug,”’ which Madame Réjane has been
playing since her return to Paris, has not been
‘enthusiastically received. It is no doubt a clever
THE AUTHOR.
87
piece, and the dialogue is bright and witty, but
the French public is getting tired of this kind
of play.
“Le Cadre” is another play of the same stamp.
It was well received as it was admirably put on,
but the public soon tired of this, too.
Byron’s “ Manfred” was M. Lugne Poe’s latest
venture, but it must be confessed that most people
were disappointed with this play on the stage.
At the Opéra Comique, “La Carmélite,” by
M. Catulle Mendés, has been the great event of
the season in the musical world. The theme of
this opera has given rise to much discussion, as
the more devoted Catholics strongly objected to
the taking of the veil being employed as a stage
effect.
M. Paul Hervieu is the fortunate dramatic
author who has produced a new play for Madame
Sarah Bernhardt. M. Hervieu has had this piece
on hand for about a year.
The International Theatre is making great
headway here. “Infedele,” by Roberto Bracco,
and “Di Notte,” by Sabatino Lopez, are the two
pieces now being given, and M. Bour has scored
an immense success with both of them. The
latter is a most curious play, and shows up the
striking difference between the Italian and French
theatres. The piece is full of surprises, unexpected
incidents seem to be tacked on to the drama, and
in one or two instances the tragedy borders on
comedy. M. Bauer is excellent in his réle, and
M. Bour’s acting is. as finished as in his famous
“Alleluia.”
“ Infedele”’ is a comedy in three acts, and is
admirably put on. M. Bour, Mlle. Mylo d’Arcylle,
and M. Bourny have the three chief parts. The
play is an Italian variation on the “eternal
theme,” so dear to French dramatic authors.
The dialogue is witty, but most daring, and the
piece demands extremely clever and finished
acting.
Attys HALLARD.
———__1——_e—___—_—_-
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
oe eS ie
Kipling +, Putnam.
UDYARD KIPLING’S suit for $25,000
damages against George Haven Putnam
and Irving Putnam, constituting the pub-
lishing firm of G. P. Putnam’s Sons, for infringe-
ment of copyright and trademark, came up again
for argument before the United States Circuit
Court of Appeals on Kipling’s appeal from Judge
Lacombe’s decision against him,
88
John L. Hill, in arguing for Mr. Kipling,
said that at the time the critical sickness of
the author in New York and the death of his
little girl were exciting intense interest in him
and his works, the defendants decided “ to shake
the tree and get all the apples they could,” and
that the Brushwood edition followed. He believed
the intention was to forestall the sale of the
“Outward Bound” edition, the authorized
edition. ;
Stephen H. Olin, for the Putnams, said the
publishers had attempted no deceit whatever, and
that only fifteen sets had borne the elephant’s
head and autograph, which the plaintiff says were
used to give the edition the colour of an authorised
edition.
The Court reserved decision.
— +
Literary Property and Copyright in the United
States.
Ix 1890 an American publisher entered into a
contract with an English author, having in pre-
paration a novel to be published serially in an
English magazine, by which he agreed to pay
£20 “in return for the sole and exclusive use of
advance sheets of said novel in the United States
and Dominion of Canada”; the price to be paid
“on publication of the novel in America.” The
author agreed to deliver to the publisher a complete
copy of the work, either in advance sheets or
manuscript, at least two months prior to the com-
pletion of its serial publication in England. Prior
to the publication of the work in America, in
October, 1891, the greater portion of it had been
published serially in England. Until July Ist,
1891, there was no statute in the United States
under which a copyright could be secured on a
work by a foreign author. Held that, construing
the contract in the light of such facts, it conferred
no rights of proprietorship in the manuscript of
the work which entitled the American publisher
to copyright the same in the United States, but
only the right to the exclusive use of the advance
sheets to enable him to publish the work in
America coincidently with or in advance of its
publication in England.
The bill charges that Mr. Barrie, the author of
“The Little Minister,” a novel to be issued serially
in the year 1891 in the magazine Good Words,
published in London, on May 8th, 1890, entered
into a contract with John W. Lovell as follows :
“This contract entered into and made this
eighth day of May, 1890, between J. M. Barrie, of
London, and John W. Lovell, of New York,
witnesseth: (1) In consideration of the premises,
the said J. M. Barrie hereby grants and assigns to
THER AUTHOR.
the said John W. Lovell the sule and exclusive
right to publish from advance sheets in the United —
States and Dominion of Canada,.a novel by him to
be issued serially in a magazine, known as Good —
Words, during the year 1891. And. the said —
J. M. Barrie agrees to deliver to the said John W.
Lovell a complete copy of such work, either in the
form of advance sheets or MS., at least two
calendar months prior to the serial completion of
such work in England ; and in the event of his —
failure to do so, this contract, at the option of the
said John W. Lovell, shall become inoperative and —
void. (2) The said John W. Lovell agrees in
return for the sole and exclusive use of advance
sheets of the said novel in the United States and
the Dominion of Canada to pay the said J. M,.
Barrie £20 on publication of the novel in America,”
Lovell assigned this contract to the United States
Book Company, which company, on June 19th, ~
1891, deposited with the Librarian of Congress at. —
Washington a printed copy of the title of the book,
and on October 14th, 1891, deposited two copies of
the book in that office. The publication of the
novel was begun in the January, 1891, number of
the monthly periodical Good Words, in London.
and continued throughout that year. Thirty-eight.
chapters had been thus published prior to the
publication of the completed book by the United
States Book Company in America, and prior to the
deposit of the copies with the librarian; the
remaining seven chapters of the book being —
published in the London magazine subsequently,
The book, as. published in the United States by
the United States Book Company, contained the
notice in form required by the law of copyright,
and the bill charges full compliance: with the
requirements of law with respect to copyrights,
whereby, as it is claimed, the United States Book
Company became the sole owner of the copyrigh
of the book in the United States of America, On
May 29th, 1900, the complainant became the
owner of the rights of the United States Book
Company under the contract between Barrie and
Lovell, and of the copyright, if any, secured’ by
that company. It is further charged that Mr,
Barrie, in 1897, without the consent of Lovell o
any of his successors in interest, dramatised the
novel “The Little Minister,” and secured it
production and performance upon the stage within
the United States under contract with th
defendant Frohman ; that such dramatisation is in
four acts, of which acts 3 and 4 are founded in
plot, incident and characters upon, and much 0
its language is contained in chapters 39 to 4
inclusive, of the novel, and such acts are importan:
parts of the dramatisation ; that the defendants
Yack and Hards are managers or actors in the
theatrical company associated with Frohman, an
wen BD
3 op ox. 9
od Shs Fa! ES ca GR ee ee
THE AUTHOR. 89
were about to produce the play and perform therein
at certain places stated in the bill, within the
jurisdiction of the court. The bill sought an
Injunction restraining the performance of the
drama. Yack and Hards demurred to the bill
upon the grounds (1) that at the date of the
contract the laws of the United States did not
authorise a copyright in favour of the works of a
foreign author; (2) that the story was first to be
published in the English magazine, before any
right of publication in the United States ; (3) that
the right granted by the contract was merely a
licence granting the exclusive right to publish the
novel from advance sheets after publication thereof
by the author ; (4) that the United States Book
Company never became the proprietor of the book,
and had no authority to procure a copyright ; (5)
laches by the complainant in the assertion of his
alleged right. On May Ist, 1901, the court
sustained the demurrer and dismissed the amended
bill for want of equity (105 Fed., 787), and on
October 29th, 1901, an appeal was allowed to this
‘court.
Millard R. Powers for appellant; George A.
Dupuy for appellees.
JENKINS, Circuit Judge (after stating the facts
as above).—The office of all construction and
interpretation of contracts is to ascertain the inten-
tion of the parties, and the meaning of the words
they have used—their real design as disclosed by
the whole contract. For that purpose we may
resort to surrounding circumstances and the condi-
tion of the parties at the time, not to ascertain
what they may have secretly intended, but to
resolve doubtful expressions and to ascertain the
true meaning of the agreement, And this is to be
judged, not from any separate provision or dis-
connected expression in the writing, but taking it
in its entirety.
It is insisted for the appellant that the right
acquired by Lovell to the manuscript of “The
Little Minister,” so far at least as concerns the
United States of America and Canada, was that of
proprietor, and that, therefore, he had under the
Jaw the right of copyright. At the date of this
contract, May 8th, 1890, copyright was not
authorised in this country in favour of foreign
authors (Rey. St., sect. 4952); nor, as it would
‘seem, could a foreign author assign or transfer to
a citizen his manuscript or common law right of
property therein, so that the latter could have
copyright protection within the United States
(Yuengling v. Schile, C. C., 12 Fed. Rep., 97, 102-
107). The international copyright law granting
copyright to foreign authors was passed March 3rd,
1891, and went into effect July 1st, 1891 (26 stat.,
1106-1110, chap. 565). It thus appears that the
contract in question was entered into nearly ten
months prior to the passage of this law. At its
date Mr. Barrie had no right to acquire copyright
within the United States, and could grant no such
right. Nor could an assignee of his manuscript
and common law right therein acquire such copy-
right. It is, therefore, manifest that it was not,
and could not have been, within the contemplation
of the contracting parties to grant or to acquire a
right to that which did not exist and was not the
subject of a grant. Unless, therefore, by the
agreement in question Lovell became the owner
and the proprietor of the manuscript, to the
exclusion of Mr, Barrie’s right therein, and could
avail himself, with respect to that work, of the
privilege conferred by subsequent legislation, he
has no right to copyright of the work. The parties
at the execution of the contract were thus circum-
stanced: Mr. Barrie was engaged in writing a
novel for serial publication in an English
magazine, to be therein published monthly, com-
mencing with the January number, 1891. By the
agreement, Mr. Barrie granted and assigned to
Mr. Lovell “the sole and exclusive right to
publish from advance sheets, in the United
States and Dominion of Canada,” the work to be
published serially in the English magazine during
the year 1891, and agreed to deliver to Lovell a
complete copy of the work, either in the form of
advance sheets or MS., at least two calendar
months prior to the serial completion of such
work in England.’ In consideration thereof,
Lovell agreed to pay “for the sole and exclusive
use of advance sheets of the said novel in the
United States and the Dominion of Canada” £20
upon its publication in America. It may be
doubted whether the contract contemplated the
serial publication of the work in America, as it
provides for the delivery of the advance sheets or
manuscript at least two calendar months prior to
the serial completion of the work in England; and
we are not informed by the bill concerning the fact
of serial publication here, so that we can judge of
the practical construction placed upon the contract
by the parties. If Mr. Barrie was not bound to
furnish any advance sheets or any portion of the
manuscript until two months prior to the com-
pletion of the serial publication in England then it
is clear that as to the parts published ia England
before the filing of copies of the book with the
Librarian of Congress, namely, the first thirty-
eight chapters, there was no possible right of
copyright under the international copyright law
(Holmes v. Hurst, 174 U.S., 82, 19 Sup. Ct. 606,
43 L. Ed., 904 ; Same v. Donohue, C. C., 77 Fed.,
179). The story contained forty-five chapters,
and was completed in England in the December
number of the magazine, and all but seven chapters
were published in England prior to the deposit of
90
the book in the office of the Librarian of Congress.
At the most, therefore, copyright could only com-
prehend the last seven chapters of the work.
Bearing in mind that upon publication in England
of the work or parts of the work, there could be no
copyright in the United States under the inter-
national copyright law of the parts thus published,
and that at the time of the contract there was no
international copyright law, the meaning of the
contract would seem tobe clear. Mr. Barrie could
only secure any sum for publication of the work
in America by granting the use of his manuscript
in advance of its publication in England, for any
American publisher could after such publication
issue it here without liability to Mr. Barrie or to
Mr. Lovell. It could be reproduced with impunity.
An American publisher could only be first upon
the market here by publishing it simultaneously
with or in advance of its publication in England,
and that could only be accomplished by obtaining
advance sheets of the manuscript before the
appearance of the story or any of its parts in the
English magazine. It is clear to us that the
purpose of the contract was to accomplish this
simultaneous publication. Mr. Barrie did not
sell his manuscript, or dispose of his common law
right thereto. He merely agreed to furnish
advance sheets, and gave to Lovell the exclusive
right to publish them either simultaneously with,
or within a short time before, the completion of
the serial publication in England. Lovell agreed
to pay £20, not for the work, not to become pro-
prietor of the work, but “for the sole and exclusive
use of the advance sheets” of the novel in the
United States. ‘This is a mere licence to Lovell,
giving him the advantage of the use of advance
sheets. That use, it is true, was to be exclusive ;
that is to say, Mr. Barrie agreed on his part that
he would not furnish advance sheets to another.
Lovell only acquired a qualified interest. He did
not become the absolute owner. One of the
qualities of absolute ownership in a work is that
the author has the right to withhold it from
publication if he so desire. Lovell could not do
that. Under this contract he was bound to
publish it, for the consideration expressed in the
contract was not payable until publication. This
construction of the instrument is fortified also by
the amount of the consideration. As the author
had no right of copyright, and as upon publication
in England any one had right to publish it in
America, the author could receive nothing for the
work published here, except such as he might be
able to obtain by allowing its publication here
simultaneously with or in advance of its publica-
tion in England. That accounts for the trifling
consideration in the contract, and speaks the
intent of the parties. It is inconceivable that a
THE AUTHOR.
distinguished author would have disposed of pro-
prietorship in his manuscript for so inconsiderable.
asum. We are of opinion that the contract con-
ferred no rights of proprietorship in the manuscript
but only the right of publication coincidently with
or in advance of the publication of the work in
England.
The decree is affirmed.
[Reprinted by kind permission of The Times.]
Moul v. Boosey.
THIS was an action for alleged libel. The defen-
dant relied on the defence of fair comment on a
matter of public interest.
Mr. Lush, K.C., and Mr. 8. O. Henn Collins
were for the plaintiff; Mr. Avory, K.C., and Mr,
P. Rose-Innes for the defendant.
It appeared that the plaintiff, Mr. Alfred Moul,
was the chairman of the Alhambra, and had been
a composer of musical works, and was the agent
for the British Empire of the Société des Auteurs,
Compositeurs, et Editeurs de Musique de France.
The defendant, Mr. William Boosey, was now
managing director of Chappell & Co. (Limited),
music publishers. The plaintiff alleged that before
the Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act, 1888,
one Harry Wall had taken an active part in the
institution of proceedings for penalties for the
unauthorized performance of musical compositions,
and that he had acted dishonourably and oppres-
sively in the institution of these proceedings. The
defendant, on March 18, 1902, had written a letter
to the Daily Mail, saying that “ Mr. Alfred Moul,
who protests in your columns against justice being
done to English composers, publishers, and music-
sellers, is the same gentleman who has for years
been unsuccessfully attempting to persuade English
music publishers to follow the example of French
music publishers, and to demand from the public
a performing fee for all the minor works in their
catalogues. The piecemeal copyright legislation
that Mr. Moul complains of is, no doubt, the Copy-
right Act of 1882, which was a short Act passed
as a matter of urgency by Parliament to assist the
public in their dealings with a gentleman who was
in Mr. Moul’s own line of business.”” The Act of
1882 required the proprietor of the copyright, if
he desired to retain the right of performance, to
notify the same on each copy. The plaintiff alleged
that the defendant meant the Act of 1888, that it
was passed in consequence of actions for penalties
brought by Wall, and that these words meant that
the plaintiff conducted his business as agent of
the above-mentioned society oppressively and dis-
THE AUTHOR. 91
honourably. The defendant also wrote to the
Referee a letter, which appeared on March 21,
1902, asking that paper to strain every nerve in
their protest against a system of legalized highway
robbery. This letter went on to say of the plain-
tiff:—‘ He is neither composer, publisher, nor
music-seller. He is not even a street pirate. He
is merely the English representative of a society of
French composers and publishers, who levy a tax
upon the British public for the performance of
waltzes, songs, and other small works in their
catalogues. It is in the interest of these clients
that Mr. Moul complains of our piecemeal legisla-
tion—the said piecemeal legislation consisting of
the Copyright Acts of 1882 and 1888, which, while
admittedly very imperfect, at all events served
their purpose to a certain extent.” The plaintiff
alleged that this letter meant that he was dis-
honestly representing himself to be acting in the
interests of English composers, and that he carried
on his business in a discreditable manner.
The plaintiff stated that he had never brought
an action for penalties, as distinguished from fees,
for performance, and these fees his society divided
with the publishers ; but the theory of many pub-
lishers was that it would be better to do away with
the right to fees for performance, as they thought
they would sell more copies under such a
system.
Mr. W. M. Tilson stated that it was general
knowledge that the Act of 1888 (which gave the
Judge a discretion as to the amount of penalties
for the performance of musical copyright works,
instead of 40s. per performance, as under 3 & 4
Wm. IV., c. 15), was passed in consequence of
Wall’s suing for penalties in a great many
cases.
Mr. John Hollingshead said that he took the
last words in the letter to the Daily Mail to refer
to Wall, who did not carry on an honourable busi-
ness. Mr. Moul’s business was the perfectly
honourable one of collecting fees for his French
clients ; but Wall sued for penalties for the benefit
of his own pocket after performances had been
given by people who did not know that they were
making themselves liable to penalties.
Corrohorative evidence having been given for
the plaintiff, letters were read for the defence
wbiols had been written to the papers by Mr. Moul,
calling the music publishers pirates, and complaining
of the copyright legislation as being piecemeal and
in the interests of the music publishers, and it
was said that the alleged libels were fair comment
on a matter of public interest, as giving reasons
why the plaintiff was not a proper person to inter-
fere in the discussion, as he was really doing
in a modified form what Wall had been doing
before.
The defendant, Mr. William Boosey, a music
publisher, of New Bond Street, said that when he
wrote the letters complained of he knew that Wall
had used his rights in an oppressive manner, and
that the Acts of 1882 and 1888 had been passed
to limit those rights. By “line of business” he
meant the collection of fees in respect of minor
pieces of music ; and his objection was that, as
Mr. Moul could not publish a list, the public had
either to subscribe to his society or to run the risk
of being sued, There was no ground for suggest-
ing that he was hostile to the plaintiff. He did
not intend to suggest that the plaintiff carried on
a dishonourable business.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for
£150.
Judgment accordingly.
Photographic Copyright.
A CASE of some interest has been tried during
the last month before Mr. Justice Ridley and a
common jury, entitled Boucas v. Cooke and
Others.
The defendant Cooke is known, we believe, as
“The Boy Preacher.” He went to the plaintiff
and asked him to execute the photograph for the
purpose of advertising his meetings, and, it appears,
promised to purchase the negative if he was satis-
tied with the photograph. When the photograph
was made, defendant took it to one of the other
defendants who was a party to the action, and the
second defendant had a number of copies printed
off, which were distributed at the meetings. The
plaintiff registered the copyright of the photograph
and then claimed the right of reproduction. The
second defendant registered the copyright of his
print from the original photograph, and sub-
sequent to the date of the plaintiff’s registration
sold several thousand copies. The question was
whether the employment of the photographer was
such an employment as to come under the first
section of the Copyright Act, 1862, the words of
which run as follows :—
“ Provided that when the negative of any photograph
shall be made or executed for or on behalf of any other
person for a good or valuable consideration,” &c.
If the photograph had been made on these terms
the right of reproduction would have belonged to
the defendant.
The judge, in summing up, came to the con-
clusion that the copyright in the negative was the
property of the plaintiff, and the jury assessed the
damages at £20.
a
92
PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS ON NETT BOOKS.
ee
HE question of the nett book has been
a6 agitating the minds of the publishers and
booksellers for some time.
In the United States the system was begun
tentatively, and has taken firm hold. At first
applied only to certain kinds of books, at certain
prices, its success was so assured that it is probable
the nett book will become universal, or nearly so.
Mr. Charles Scribner, the president of the Pub-
lishers’ Association of the United States, explained
the whole case in Zhe Author of April.
A similar evolution is gradually taking place in
the English book trade. Here also it seems not
unlikely that the nett book system, as its advan-
tages become evident, will by slow degrees cover
the whole market. What is the reason of this?
What are its charms ? Why was it started ?
Originally books were sold at full price. Then
some enterprising bookseller discovered that he
could still make sufficient profit for himself and
undersell his rival by giving his customers a
discount. This process of underselling continued
till the public received five-and-twenty per cent.
discount, but the small bookseller was no longer
able to make a living profit. Then his voice was
raised in the land, and the reaction set in. Butas
there are always either those who, owing to the
power given into their hands by a large capital, or
those who, having no capital, are unscrupulous on
the point of extravagant trading, it became
necessary that some combination of the trade
should be formed sufficiently powerful to enforce
an equitable plan upon all, the willing and the
unwilling. Such a combination was at hand in
the Publishers’ Association.
It is not for the author to look upon these
universal trading laws with indifference, nor to
cover himself with the warm cloak of his artistic
temperament, imagining that the temperature is
mild and the sun is shining when the bitter cold
of competition is over all the land. For other-
wise he may be overcome with that sleep which
will surely assist in bringing his career to a
close.
In plain words, it is most important for the
author that he should carefully watch the methods
of distribution of his wares ; that he should study
with interest trade currents and trade evolution,
and should give his help where and when he is
able, to assist the trade for his own preferment.
He should, at the same time, keep a watchful eye
that the trade does not assist itself at his
expense.
Many will say that all this careful watching is
mean and sordid. But this view of the case should
-
THE AUTHOR.
still be kept in mind by the writer, that in his
profession all this meanness and sordidness—if
such it is—may be an incident, but is not the
ultimate object, the ideal; whereas in trade it
is ‘the be-all and the end-all.” Further, it is
the highest interest not of the author alone but
also of literature that the circumstances under
which the general public can buy should be
thoroughly understood. But enough. There need
be no question of meanness or sordidness on either
side.
The Publishers’ Association set itself the task of
enforcing certain terms on the bookselling trade,
with the full consent of all the most responsible
booksellers. ‘To the publishers, as to the authors, —
it was just as important that the great distributing
medium should not be wiped out. It may be
candidly stated that, except so far as the improve-
ment of the bookseller was an advantage to the
publisher, there was not a sign that the great
middleman at that time had any other aim before
him. Was this, however, the case ?
It is the object of this article to show that not
only did the booksellers benefit, but the publishers
also—the former certainly to a greater extent than
the latter. The author and the printer gained no
advantage, and the public—the ultimate arbiter in
all cases of trade—had to pay for the advancement.
So long as the public is prepared to pay, the
other parties must fight the fight between them-
selves.
The author, then, has this matter for considera-
tion. He was quite willing to acquiesce in the
nett system in order to benefit the distributing
agent, the man who really ought, if he traded
successfully, to be the only person on whom he
need rely for a public appreciation of his efforts.
But is he willing to give a further profit to the
publisher? Ought he not to demand some share
of the increase obtained from the consumer ?
Certainly he ought.
The publisher has always been affirming that the
nett book is for the benefit of the bookseller
only.
The following example will demonstrate that this
is not the case, and will show the difference in the
returns of the publisher and the bookseller in
which the author ought to share. The 6s. book
does not, at present, fall within the nett system,
For convenience sake a book costing 12s. 6d. has
been taken. Judging by the book lists it is a
common price for books above 6s. Perhaps owing
to the fact that it is exactly 150d.
The figures and prices following are taken from
an existing case—a sound and average example—
and can be relied upon as correct. It would not
be necessary to state this, if the figures in The
Author had not so constantly been contradicted.
THE AUTHOR.
It is not essential to go into the details for this
article, but the figures may be verified by any
member.
Let it be supposed that an edition of 1,050
copies with binding and advertising costs £170,
and that the author receives 10 per cent. on the
published price.
This is a low percentage, but so long as the
figure is constant in both examples it will not
interfere with the deduction — namely, the
difference between the publisher’s and _book-
seller’s profit.
In the first instance the book is sold at 12s. 6d.
nett.
The whole 1,050 copies will in no case be
sold.
Under the Copyright Act six copies go to the
public libraries, the author usually receives some
presentation copies, and a considerable number
are sent to the Press for review.
If 100 copies are reckoned for these purposes
the allowance will be liberal, for it must be
remembered that the book is 12s. 6d. nett—an
expensive book.
The basis of calculation, therefore, must be the
sale of 1,050 — 100 copies = 950 copies. As these
copies alone bring in a return, the cost of pro-
duction must be divided amongst them.
The amount paid for a single copy of the book
by the purchaser is the sum of four different
amounts. 1. The amount per copy of the cost
of production. 2. The royalty per copy paid to
the author. 3. The amount of the publisher's
profit on each copy. 4. The amount of the book-
seller’s profit per copy.
Let W = cost of production.
X = the author’s royalty.
Y = the publisher’s profit.
Z = the bookseller’s profit.
In each case on a single copy.
Thus W +X%+Y+2Z = 12s. 6d.
= 150d.
Going back to the sale of 950 copies, the cost of
production of a single copy must be ascertained.
Thus— ‘
£170 _ 40,800d.
ee ae
= 42°94d,
950
We can now write
42°94 ++ X + Y¥ + Z = 150
X+Y+2Z = 107°06.
That is to say, that the sum to be divided
between the author, the publisher, and the book-
seller is—
107:06d. = 8s. 11:06d.
93
Next the author’s royalty per copy must be
ascertained. On a nett book the author usually
receives his royalty on every copy sold. He is not
compelled to count thirteen as twelve, a pernicious
custom that has crept in for the publisher’s
benefit, sanctioned, we regret to say, by authors’
agents,
The royalty is always paid on the published
price.
10 per cent upon 12s. 6d. or 150d. = 15d.
The author receives ls. 3d. per copy. Then
substituting 15d.—
X + Y + Z = 107-06.
165+Y+2Z2=10706. Y+2Z = 92°06.
It is necessary now to solve the question of
Y + Z, the publisher’s and_ the bookseller’s
profit.
Here the problem is complicated, owing to the
fact that the publishers sell the book to different
booksellers at different prices.
It is interesting to note the following point not
in relation to the present subject, but in order to
show the faultiness of publishers’ methods. In
those agreements where the author’s remuneration
depends wholly or in part on the nett amounts
received from the trade by the publishers, the
words, ‘‘the usual trade terms,” are taken to
express the sale to the trade, and in the accounts
the price is generally rendered as uniform, and
that—it is perhaps unnecessary to remark—not
the highest price received. This is a trade
method. “—
The paragraph is an obiter dictum.
What are these prices? What is the truth ?
1. The bookseller who takes a single copy has
it at 2d. in the shilling less than the nett price.
If the book is expensive, a large number of sales.
are made at this figure.
2. If the bookseller takes thirteen copies, he has.
them at the price of twelve.
3. Certain houses and all export houses demand
a further discount of 10 per cent.
4, One house pays only two-thirds of the nett.
price, minus 10 per cent.
If an average of these four prices is taken the
result is as follows :—
1. The single copy . 10s. 5d. -
2. 13 as 12, per copy 9s. 7°38d.
3. Export, per copy . 8s. 785d.
4. Lowestterms, percopy 7s. 6d.
36s. 2°23d.
8, 2°23d. :
Average = we i. = 9s. 0°557d,
Thus the average exceeds 9s. 04d. by a small
fraction, and is based on the assumption that the
94
publisher sells at_least one-quarter of the copies at
the lowest price. By assuming the price to be 9s. 1d.,
a small advantage would be given to the publisher.
But the publisher is always in dread lest, his profits
should be over-stated, so to calm his mind, and in
order to leave no door of escape open, 98. shall be
the figure he receives from the trade. It follows,
then, that the bookseller buying at 9s. and selling
at 12s. 6d., makes 3s. 6d. on each copy.
Repeating the formula :—
W+x+Y+2Z=150
42°94 +15 + Y + 42 = 150
, Y = 50°06
All the four quantities are now ascertained.
42°94 +15 + 50:06 + 42 = 150
The proportions of profit will be made more
clear by stating them in percentages.
Thus—
28°63 + 10 + 33°37 + 28 = 100
The same process of reasoning must now be
applied to the discount book.
In this case the work is sold to the public at a
discount of 25 per cent., or 3d. in the shilling.
The purchaser pays 9s. 44d. or 112°5d.
The cost of production is constant, and the
number of copies available for sale is constant.
Therefore again—
Wi X35 Y 4751125,
42°94 4% +7947 = 1125,
X+Y+2Z= 69°56.
That is to say, the sum to be divided between
the author, the publisher, and the bookseller is
5s. 9°56d. A trifle more than 5s. 94d.
The author’s royalties are nominally the same,
that is 10 per cent., but in the case of the discount
book the author has to allow thirteen copies to
reckon as twelve. This never used to be the case
in old days, but the author’s agent weakened in
the bargains of important authors who could
demand the full amount, and the smaller fry
had in consequence to yield also.
The royalty per copy is therefore—
12 180
—— 5 — ——.
13% 15d. = 13
The equation now stands—
X+Y+2Z= 69°56.
13°84 + Y + Z= 69°56.
. Y + Z = 55°72.
It only remains to discover how the publisher
and booksellers divide the remainder.
As with the Nett book, so with the Discount
=13°84,
“Sy,
THE AUTHOR.
book: the publishers sell to the bookseller at
various prices.
The following is a statement of the prices for a
pook published at 12s. 6d. and sold subject to
discoant :—
For a subscribed book one-third less than the
published price—
13 as 12 at 8s. 4d. and 5
count = 7s. 4d.
Single copies at 8s. 4d. and 5 per cent. dis-
count = 7s. 11d.
After subscription—
13 as 12 at 9s. and 5 per cent. discount = 7s. 10d.
Single copies at 9s. and 5 per cent. dis-
count = 8s. 7d.
If, then, the average is taken of these four prices
—presuming by this that the publisher sells half
the edition on subscription—
per cent. dis-
—— = 7s, 11d. = 95d.
Then the bookseller buys at an average price of
7s. 11d., and sells at 9s. 4$d., therefore—
'.L=1s. 54d. = 175d.
Then
Y + 175 = 55°72d.
Y = 38:22a,
All the four quantities are now ascertained—
42°94 + 13°84 + 38°22 + 17°5 = 1125.
If expressed in percentages—
38°17 + 12°3 + 33°97 + 15°56 = 100.
If these figures are correct, and on this point we
are clear—although the fact is sure to be denied by
the other side—this very instructive result is clear,
that the publishers’ and booksellers’ profits stand
out as follows—
Publisher. Bookseller.
Nett Book ...... 4s. 2°06d.......88. 6d.
Discount Book... .3s. 2°22d....... 1s. 54d.
The bookseller benefits to the extent of 2s. 04d.,
and the publisher to the extent of 11°84d., or
almost a shilling. Speaking roughly, a ratio of
two to one.
The profit to the bookseller, we are told, must be
left with him in order to enable him to live, but
the publisher can already live and flourish.
It might be rightly claimed, then, that the extra
shilling should belong entirely to the author. At
any rate, he ought to gain something.
‘Again, according to the publisher's statement the
following ought to be the figures :—
Publisher. Bookseller,
Discount Book....3s. 2°22d....... ls, 54d.
Nett Book ...... $5. O°22d.. 75... 4s. 8°84d.
Either way the profit is not unreasonable, but it
_ i is less in comparison for the publisher, who, in
bbe addition to office and other expenses, places his
ye9 eapital out with the printers and binders.
The bookseller risks nothing.
,/_ A close study of the figures and percentages has
bel led to an interesting result. In another paper it
o 1) is hoped to put forward some further matters for
a9 consideration.
4
A MUSICAL AGREEMENT.
—
HE samples of perfect Agreements issued by
the Publishers Association and approved,
: so we must take it, by all those time honoured
oe houses which the public have been accustomed to
‘0! look upon as the kindly protectors of the.profession,
»7e— gave the members of the Society a powerful insight
ia into the equitable mind of the trade.
‘Nothing could have been said if it had been
*¢- openly avowed that they represented the extreme
‘ei¥ view of the publishers, but this was not the case.
af As readers of The Author may remember, they
fy were put forward as equitable between party and
Ts. party.
by We refrain from argument.
They bring their own condemnation.
Again, the worn-out formulas put forward to per-
su. suade some authors to give their signature, firstly,
sq that the agreement is reliable, ‘it has been approved
? v by King’s Counsel,” or, secondly, that “it isa form
fl ib all my authors sign,” may deceive the one-book
* man and secure to his publisher a temporary
advantage, but can hardly affect those who care-
fully peruse these pages.
oe Yet in spite of all warning for barefaced com-
® 98 mercial impudence the following—a common form
209 among the still unrepentant musical publishers—
will take the first prize against all comers, It has
come before the Society from three different
houses.
In ordinary business the seller usually submits
terms and gains the advantage, if any, but in
publishing, the process is reversed.
IN CONSIDERATION of a royalty of pence per
copy, seven copies to count as six, the first two hundred to
be free of said royalty—paid to me, the undersigned author,
by the music publishers, the receipt whereof I do hereby
acknowledge, I do hereby sell and assign absolutely to
the said publishers all my copyright and interest of
whatever kind for Great Britain, Ireland, the Colonies,
“amd every other country, of and in the music and
_ words of *
And also the sole and exclusive right and liberty of
representing or performing the same, and causing or per-
mitting the same to be represented or performed, and also
the copyright and theright of representation or performing,
a
THE AUTHOR.
95)
or causing or permitting the same to be represented or
performed, in every foreign state in which such copyright
or other rights aforesaid, or any of them, now exist or may
hereafter be obtained. And I do hereby agree that the
said publishers shall be entitled to arrange, use, and publish
the said work, musie and words or any portion thereof, in
any other separate form free from any other consideration
in respect of such use and publication.
And I, the undersigned, warrant and declare to the said
publishers, that I am solely and absolutely entitled to the
premises expressed to be hereby assigned and that free from
incumbrances. Further, only half the above royalty pay-
able on copies sold in the United States of America, :
Witness my hand, this day of , in the
year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred Z
Tt is not intended to put forward a useful
Author’s Agreement, but merely to comment on
the extraordinary form in which this document is
drafted, and to explain some of the more extrava-
gant points.
On the same principle that it takes two to make
a quarrel, it has always been looked upon as
necessary to have two parties to an agreement.
But the Musical Publisher is above such con-
siderations. He is a law unto himself, and appa-
rently to the composer also.
It is pitiful to consider that for years uncounted,
ever since music was a property, composers,
without a murmur, without a sigh, have been
willing to resign their rights with such a childlike
trust.
Even now there are leading members of the
profession who do not think that there is any need
for an organisation to withstand this wholesale
abandonment of valuable property.
After consideration of the parties, or rather
party—for, as we have pointed out, there is only
one party who signs this estimable agreement—it
is necessary to consider what the composer is
conveying.
He conveys all his copyright and interest in the
piece for all the world, and the sole and exclusive
right and liberty of performing the same. He is
paid, it will be noticed, a certain sum on the sale
of every copy—it is needless to say that the sum is
inadequate in comparison with the cost of produc-
tion, that the copies are reckoned seven as six, and
two hundred given away free for advertising
purposes—but on the performing rights he is
paid nothing. :
The publisher may say that on performing
rights in England no money is paid. ‘This is not
absolutely true. Take for example, musical operas,
songs sung in music halls, and the many other
forms of musical composition the performing rights
of which are valuable. At no distant date a com-
bination may be formed which will enable the
composer to demand a certain sum for every public
performance. This right in France is very valuable,
simply because French composers and those who
96
publish French compositions have banded them-
selves together in order to obtain a fall reward for
the property they create. To assign these per-
forming rights, therefore, is altogether inadvisable.
Quite apart from the monetary side of the question
it may be justly argued that the composer, under
certain circumstances, would object to perform-
ances at certain times or in certain places. He
could not, however, stop them under the present
arrangement. In addition, as the publisher holds
the right of performance in foreign countries, the
work might be performed in France, where these
rights are exceedingly valuable. In that case
the publisher would obtain a substantial return,
in which the composer would have no share
whatever.
So far it
agreement.
But worse is to follow.
The publisher not only has all copyright and
performing right, put he also receives the right to
arrange, use, and publish the said work in any other
separate form free from any other consideration 1n
respect of such publication. So that if, as not
infrequently happens, a song runs pleasantly in
waltz time, it would be possible for the publisher
to adapt the air to a waltz with a new setting,
publish it, and sell thousands of copies.
seems impossible to imagine a worse
There
are many other methods of re-arranging an air.
With these the publisher has every right to deal
according to his agreement, and on the sale of
this new arrangement nothing will return to the
composer.
Take one further instance. How many quad-
rilles, polkas, and other dance music are there that
are merely variants of the popular airs of the
day ?
The composer receives half royalty on copies
sold to America. There might be some slight
reason for a small reduction, but why a reduction
of fifty per cent.? We should be glad if the
publishers would furnish figures.
Lastly, a few remarks must be made before the
question is closed, concerning the remuneration
that composers receive for their labours.
It is the custom to pay exceedingly small
royalties on a song or other musical composition.
The royalty in all cases must be finally determined
by the amount of capital invested by the publisher,
and the return the publisher obtains over and
above the sum invested. Compare for one instant
the cost of production of a book beside that of a
song.
Any book from the pen of a popular author,
which is sold at 2s. nett will bear a royalty of 2d.
in the 1s.; but the cost of production of a book
excluding advertising is more than twice as large
as the cost of production of a song excluding
THE AUTHOR.
advertising. It will cost perhaps 15/. to produce —
2,000 copies of a song which will sell at 2s. nett,
the advertising, of course, coming outside this
amount.
Say 307. are spent on advertising, and 500 copies —
of the song given away for all purposes, this leaves
1,500 copies to be sold at, say, 1s. 2d. per copy. The
return is therefore 87/. 10s. If from this the cost.
of production is deducted, 42/. 10s. is left to be
divided between author and publisher.
Fourpence per copy royalty will, therefore, give
the publisher a handsome profit, and the author a
reasonable return. If the sales exceed 1,500, then
the reproduction is in every way cheaper and the
return to the author larger.
It should be remarked also that the cost of pro-
duction and advertisement, and number of free
copies is reckoned on a very liberal scale. In
many cases 30/. is an outside price for the advertise-
ment of one song and less than 500 copies are usedi
as gratis copies.
Musical composers
position.
should reconsider their
THE R. D. BLACKMORE MEMORIAL.
—-—— + —
MEETING of the Blackmore Memorial
Committee was held at Stationers’ Hall on ~
Wednesday, November 26th, Mr. James —
Baker in the chair. Mr. R. B. Marston, the hon. ©
treasurer, announced that the subscriptions received
amounted to over £200, the total promised to date —
being £223 1és. Designs from the sculptor, Mr. —
Harry Hems, were submitted showing a medallion
portrait on marble slab. Various suggestions were
made, and it was decided to close the subscription om
December 9th, and at the next committee meeting —
to make final arrangements for putting the work
in hand. Amongst those present were Professor
Raphael Meldola, Mr. Mackenzie Bell, Mr. Herbert
A. Morrah, Mr. James Baker, Miss Pinto Leite,
and Mr. G. E. N. Ryan.
On December 10th a further meeting of the —
committee was held. Mr. Hems, the sculptor,
produced a fresh design, which was unanimously
approved. Mr. Hems stated that the work would —
be completed and ready for erection early in April
next.
THE AUTHOR. 97
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
Ae
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property —:
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duciion forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
** Cost of Production.”
IVY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
eg ge ee
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
a
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager,
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(@.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(2.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(e.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.¢.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in anyevent. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be excced-
ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY,
eg
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—
i VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
98
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
+-—<>—__ + —_____—-
THE READING BRANCH.
—_1-——+—_
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
_AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
+>
NOTICES.
Sa
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to:
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
—_+——_o__—_——_-
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EpITorR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
——
Tur SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
rVNVHE case of Aflalo & Cook v. Lawrence & Bullen,
which has been supported by the Society
throughout, was heard on Appeal before
Lord Justice Vaughan Williams, Lord Justice
Romer, and Lord Justice Stirling, on Thursday,
the 18th of December.
Readers of Zhe Author may remember that
judgment in the first instance was given in the
favour of the plaintiffs, with costs. Against this.
judgment the defendants appealed. The Appeal
has been dismissed with costs. Lord Justice
Romer and Lord Justice Stirling decided against
the appellants, Lord Justice Vaughan Williams
dissenting.
The case is one of considerable importance, as it.
deals with the interpretation of the 18th section of
the Copyright Act. It has already been pointed out
in the pages of The Author that this section is
perhaps one of the worst sections that has ever been
drafted in an Act of Parliament, and is difficult of
interpretation and complicated.
Every case, therefore, that tends to make it
more explicit must be of importance to those:
interested in literary property. It is hoped that in
the next number of 7'he Author it will be possible
to give a full statement of the judgment.
We understand that King Oscar, one of the few
royal authors, has been contributing an article to
the magazine of the Swedish Authors’ Union.
THE AUTHOR. 99
Though it is the privilege of every crowned head
to be egotistical—the subject of the paper was his
own writings in fiction and poetry—yet he dealt
some very frank criticism on his work. He used, he
said, to be very proud of his lyrical productions,
but doesn’t consider them now to be first class.
The poem he considers his best is ‘The Baltic.”
He trusts that his readers’ opinions will coincide
with his own.
No sooner has King Oscar finished criticising
his own works than another royal personage
comes before the public as an author. “La
Carriére d’un Navigateur” is the title of a work
by Albert I., Prince of Monaco, and, like King
Oscar, in his own line he proves himself an author
of no mean capacity. The book is full of the love
of the sea. It is imaginative and, in places, poetical.
The work is published in Paris.
Under “ Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Pro-
perty,” we have, with the kind permission of the
Editor of The Times, reprinted the case of Jfoul
vy. Boosey, dealing with the performing rights of
musical pieces.
We desire again to bring this point before those
composers who are members of the Society, and
again to call their attention to the fact that owing
to a strong combination of French composers the
property in performing rights has become exceed-
ingly valuable. In Germany and France, we believe
that a royalty agreement on the sale of a song or
musical composition is almost unknown, and the
composers make their money from their performing
rights. In England the reverse holds good. There
is no reason, however, why both rights should
not become a valuable property, and bring in a
considerable income.
The fact that a certain Mr. Wall in former
years took advantage of the unsatisfactory state
of the law to levy contributions from illegal per-
formances, is no reason why the performing rights
should therefore be allowed to run to waste.
We trust that musical composers will give the
matter their serious consideration.
Various friends of the late Mr. J. T. Nettleship,
the well-known animal painter, are desirous of
placing a tablet to his memory in the fine old
church of Kettering, his native town, to be
supplemented, if practicable, by some small
memorial in London. Besides being noteworthy
as an artist, Mr. Nettleship was an accomplished
writer, his ingenious essays, on the poetry of
Robert Browning, first published as far back as
the “sixties,” having done much to promote: a
more general appreciation of the poet’s work.
Mr. Alfred East, A.R.A., Mr. Alfred Parsons, A.R.A.,
Mr. T. C. Gotch and Mr. William Toynbee have
undertaken to organise a fund in London, and
subscriptions may be sent to Mr. Toynbee, Hon,
Treasurer, at 4N, Portman Mansions, W.
John Kendrick Bangs—so states the American
Author—agrees with Jules Verne that the novel is
passing, and that in a hundred years from now
there will be no such form of literature, or, at
least, not as we knew it. “If wireless telegraphy,
why not bookless romances, typeless novels, page-
less poems? We already have jokeless comic
papers. These things are surely coming, and I
foresee the day when without novels, poetry or
drama the public will be surfeited with romances
and tales of the most stirring character, poems of
stately measure and uplifting concept; psycho-
logical studies of the deepest dye; and dramas
that will take the soul of man and twist it until it
fairly shrieks for mercy—and all of these things.
men and women will get while they sleep.
a
A LITERARY ACADEMY.
—1+~<
L.
AM so little instructed in the theory of literary
I academies that it is only after reading the
clever letters published on the subject in The
Author by such authorities as Messrs. Herbert
Trench, H. G. Wells and Morley Roberts, and
Lucas Malet, that I feel emboldened to form a
hasty opinion, entirely on the reading of the
aforesaid letters.
My blood boils, as does that of us all, including
Mr. Herbert Trench, at the prevalence amongst us
of what I will call the “ tub-novelist.” But would
the establishment of an Academy of Letters in this
country exercise any control over this variety of
literary caterer? Would he not adapt his chair to
the same purpose as he did his tub, and wave his
academic crown to the tune of so much per
thow’ as before ? Mr. Zangwill’s blunt, or
rather pointed, allusion to the ‘“ vulgarity of the
epoch’ seems to sum up the case for me, only I
would substitute for vulgarity the adjective ‘“non-
critical.” Weare, as a nation, non-critical—thank
goodness we are, as a nation, creative. The
French are both, the latter perhaps in a lesser
degree. But in France, though there is a
100
tremendous fertility in rubbish, as with us, Litera-
ture proper completely ignores the out-put. The
books one reads to soothe the toothache, or to
ameliorate a railway journey, are not the books one
criticises. :
The three unmentionable “ Claudines” that
have had such a vogue over there were read with
‘more or less amusement and cast aside—never
considered seriously for one moment. But the
English counterparts to ‘laudine—Heaven forbid
that I should name them !—are on every decent
table, and are gloated over by discreet K.C.’s and
M.P.’s and discussed seriously in would-be literary
salons. We do not distinguish.
In France, the garcon de café, the demoiselle
de comptoir read their Anatole France, their
Huysmans, and are able to criticise and discuss
him. ‘The French literary man varies from his
‘English prototype just as much as his audience
does. The labour of a French author has an
absurdly unnecessary concomitant. He takes pains
__jmmense pains. He does not, as a rule, have
the tendency which Lucas Malet deplores in some
-of his English confréres. He does not regard
letters as a means, but as an end. He does not
-aspire to rise from author to “ minister,” and he
never hopes to have time for society. M. Pierre
D’Alheim, the author of “La Passion de Maitre
Fran¢éis Villon,” spent fifteen years over the pro-
duction of this masterly study of the Middle Ages.
And it is one of a trilogy, of which the other two
are still to be written! M. Huysmans lives the
‘life of a hermit—a genial one, par example ; he
does not hate his fellow creatures, he simply has
not time for them.
It is my humble opinion that until we have a
few more authors of this stamp in England, it is of
no use arranging an Academy for them. The few
truly earnest labourers in the literary field that
we do possess would be obliged to double their
parts and crown themselves. There are so few of
them. And even then the enlightened critical
public who should haste to acclaim the judgment
‘would be wanting !
VioteT Hunt.
—
II.
On the subject of a Literary Academy Mrs.
‘Clifford writes as follows :—
«J would gladly contribute to the discussion on
an Academy of Letters, but I am too busy, too tired
to think out even what I feel on the subject—
though I feel a good deal.” She continues :
““My views so far are in entire agreement with
those expressed by Mr. Herbert Trench. I think
the only criticism I have to make upon his article
touches the constitution of the committee, which
-seems to me to be hardly far-reaching enough.” She
THE AUTHOR.
gives the names of a few gentlemen whom she
would recommend as members, other than those
mentioned by Mr. Trench.
Under any circumstances; the selection of a
committee of this kind would be difficult, and
might lead to a considerable amount of heart-
burning on the part of some and disgust on the
part of others; but Mrs. Clifford proceeds: “A
committee of this sort should be composed of the
lovers of all kinds of literature, but above all, it
should be composed of those who love it for its
own sake, of those to whom it would be impossible
to think of reward or advertisement, of pushing
forward or holding back for personal reasons. In
short, of men who have no axes to grind, except
the one for which the Academy was instituted,
that of immortalising good literature.”
Surely it is not possible that any one can quarrel
with Mrs. Clifford’s definition of the real
Academician.
oS
II.
I entirely agree with all that Mr. Arthur C.
Benson says in his admirable article in favour of
an Academy of Letters.
Is it not the education of the masses which is in
some way responsible for the down-hill road litera-
ture is taking, and do not writers of the present day
instinctively lower their standard of composition
to a level which can be appreciated by the larger
public ?
If an Academy could influence this great _com-
munity, and could inspire it with the desire to
read only what is best, by holding before it high
examples, its work would indeed gain a glorious
crown, and we might hope before long to see the
death of such debasing fiction as appears in our
halfpenny newspapers.
With things remaining as they are at present,
with no powerful, saving hand held out to check
this downward tendency in letters, the future state
of affairs is not a happy one to contemplate. But
we ought to strive to make it a happy one, and an
Academy might be just the new force in the world
of literature capable of doing it.
To educate a great crowd of human beings is
one thing ; this assists it in its active walk of life,
but if we allow its leisure moments to be degraded
by the perusal of the vitiating, worthless reading
which pours forth from the press of cheap journals
and elsewhere, the whole ideal of education is
shattered. Let an Academy of Letters come to
the rescue, and let it inspire both our authors and
our public with the aim of crushing out of exist-
ence all that is of bad quality in literature. | Then
the author will produce the best that is in him, and
the public will read it.
F, I. W1nzott.
i= we ele Eee
iy
THE AUTHOR.
IV.
[With kind permission of the Editor of the Morning
Leader. |
One ought to have an opinion on the often-
mooted proposal for establishing a British Academy
of Literature; and by the time I have finished
this article it is possible that an opinion may
have taken root in my mind. Bat as yet I
am unable to work up any conviction either for
or against the proposal. Mr. Herbert Trench
and the distinguished novelist who chooses to
be known as “Lucas Malet” have written to
The Author—the trade paper of the literary class
—strongly recommending an Academy as a pos-
sible, and even probable, remedy for the miserable
decline into which English literature has fallen.
“The present state of affairs,” says Mr. Trench,
“jis nothing less than the merest tumultuous
anarchy. . . . Every year our people, as a whole,
like those of the United States, seem to be
marching steadily, slumberously, into new and
vaster Dark Ages; Dark Ages, not of mere
ignorance, but of the wildest positive error. The
weltering Anglo-Saxon peoples have no intel-
lectual standards, no thought centre, no axis.”
The flippant might be tempted to reply that the
academician - saviours heralded by Mr. Trench
would have too many axes—to grind. But flip-
pancy is out of place in this grave debate. I
repent the untimely levity, and pass on. ‘‘ Lucas
Malet’s” view of the situation is not much more
cheerful than Mr. Trench’s. ‘“ English literature,”
she writes, ‘in its higher and more distinguished
expression, is sick, almost sick unto death.” “ It is,”
she continues, “over-prolific and under-vitalised.
The right of private judgment has run mad,
thanks to a grafting of so-called modern ideas
upon the old Protestant stock.” Wherefore “‘some
of us,” she says, “hail the idea of an English
Academy of Letters, regarding it as a possible
remedial agency.”
Now, before we can hail the remedy with any
ardour of conviction, it behoves us to be certain
that we have rightly diagnosed the disease. Is
English literature in such a desperate case as
Mr. Trench and “Lucas Malet” would have us
think ? I have touched on the question before in
this column, and have pointed out how Macaulay,
writing in the very heyday of that Victorian period
to which we now look back as to an age of giants,
adopted exactly the same tone of despondency.
Still more aptly did Mr. Gosse remind us, in his
speech at the “ Encyclopeedia Britannica” dinner,
that Montaigne in France, and Ben Jonson in
England, each believed himself to be living in an
age of hopeless literary decadence. I admit, how-
ever, that there isa great difference between assert-
ing the probability, and proving the fact, of illusion.
101
A great deal may be said, no doubt, in favour of
Mr. Trench’s view of the present situation. While
every age has had its loudly-applauded and extra-
vagantly advertised charlatans—its Robert Mont-
gomerys and Martin Tuppers—it must be owned
that the present age is particularly prolific of these
gentlefolks, and that they are “boomed” with a
hitherto unexampled impudence of puffery. But
does not the very word I have employed suggest
the explanation of the phenomenon ? The modern
literary “boom” is more deafening than the similar
manias of bygone generations because the half-
educated reading public is now so much larger..
But in that there is no great harm ; the mischief
would be if we found the manias of the half-
educated public infecting the judgment of the
educated public. Of this I confess I see no
indication. When Thackeray was asked by an
American, “ What do you, in England, think of:
Tupper?” his reply was, “ We don’t think of
Tupper.” With the same promptitude and con-
viction all educated Englishmen of to-day might
reply to a similar question, ‘We don’t think of
What’s-his-name or Thingumbob.” There may be
certain writers on the borderlands of literature
whom some educated people discuss too seriously ;.
but these are precisely the men who, one fears,.
would worm themselves into an Academy. As for
the tendency of mediocrity—as distinguished from.
sheer blatant incompetence—to swamp command-
ing talent, does not that arise from the fact that
our mediocrity is really entitled to rank much.
higher than the mediocrity of fifty years ago? If
we have fewer writers of the very first rank (and.
even that may be an illusion), have we not a great
many more writers—not only absolutely, but in
proportion—whose work attains a more than
respectable standard of intellectual merit ? And
if this be the case, can it be said that literature is
altogether going to the dogs ?
Let us assume, however, that our pessimists are:
right in their diagnosis of the disease, and inquire
a little into the further question, whether the:
remedy they prescribe is likely to “ touch the spot ””
—if so unacademic an expression may be forgiven..
On this point ‘‘ Lucas Malet ” writes :—
“ Ts it too much to hope that a recognised central autho-
rity—-to which the elect among themselves may presently
belong—an association of the most distinguished and
enlightened minds of our day, might provoke in the rank
and file a finer ambition and higher conception of the
dignity of their calling, a sounder scholarship, a greater
humanity and love of beauty, a greater self-forgetfulness in.
work ?”’
‘
Mr. Trench takes a somewhat less ideal view.
He would have us look upon the Academy as a.
sort of accredited advertising agency, which should,
‘in order to guide the public, confer titles of merit.
102.
or excellence at the end of each year on works of
worth.” In this way, he thinks, an Academy
would have brought Fitzgerald’s “ Omar Khayyam”
into its due prominence at once, instead of leaving
+t to be “discovered” after the lapse of a genera-
tion. ‘ What qualified person,” he asks, “believes
that the poetry of Matthew Arnold—so pure, so
salutary for our time—yet occupies its just place
in the minds of the multitude, who still acclaim
Tennyson as a demi-god ?” The example does not
seem to be very happily chosen, for it is scarcely
conceivable that any academic laurels could have
made Matthew Arnold popular with “ the multi-
tude.” Arnold seems to me to have been entirely
successful in seeking out his elective affinities. An
Academy could at best have hastened the process
a little. I would rather say that perhaps such a
poet as Coventry Patmore, or, in our days, Mr..
Robert Bridges or Mr. Francis Thompson, might
be enabled, by academic recognition, to reach a
larger public. Again, Mr. Trench thinks that the
existence of “some such Society of the Spirit”
would attract to literature “men of powerful talent,
now absorbed by the Bar and commerce. Those
men would be induced to speak who now stand
aloof and silent, in overwhelming disgust.” This
argument, I confess, appeals to me but little. I
do not believe in the existence of the man who,
having anything to say, and any power of saying
it, is deterred by his despair of finding an audience
worthy of his genius. I don’t doubt fora moment
‘that there are men who, in their own esteem,
-oceupy this pinnacle of intellectual superiority ; but
I think the chances are that the pinnacle would
prove as barren after as before the establishment of
an Academy.
Let us remember, however, that a case may be
a very good one, though the arguments brought
forward in support of it are individually insufficient.
‘The worst of our national habits, to my thinking,
is that of seizing on any plausible objection to a
proposed reform and making it an excuse for
sitting still and doing nothing. Mr. Trench very
justly insists that “it is weak to plead that an
Academy would be a prey to wire-pullers and
intriguers. Any dignified human society that is
worth framing must undergo, and can weather,
such dangers.” Mr. H. G. Wells fears that the
Academy will be swamped by “ well-bred influential
amateurs ” such as Lord Rosebery and Mr. Balfour.
This possibility has no terrors for me. I think a
British Academy which excluded such a man as
Lord Rosebery would be ridiculous. In sum, I am
.-so far with the supporters of the proposal that I
think its opponents have wholly failed to show
that it could do any harm ; and since many people
think it would do good, why not try it ?
Winiuram ARCHER.
THE AUTHOR.
Vv.
A few words more are asked for on the
subject of an Academy of Letters. It must
be difficult for any distinguished. man of
letters to advance and say, “ Come let us form
a society to save literature from the public dis-
esteem into which it has fallen.” Yet I believe
that were Tennyson, Browning, and Arnold living,
they would have been willing to come forward.
The natural inertia and shamefacedness of the
Englishman would not have overcome them. The
might well have made, and we should all have
responded to, such an appeal.
Tt seems to me that a public institution is required
which shall image, symbolize, and stand for excel-
lence in literature. For this reason I am gratefal
to famous novelists like Lucas Malet, and to such
admirable writers as Mr. Arthur Christopher Benson,
Mrs. W. K. Clifford, Mr. Benjamin Swift, and Mr.
William Archer, who have in these pages openly
expressed sympathy not only with the aims in
view, but with the means proposed.
It is idle to say that such a society would wield
no influence. Well could it safeguard its own
dignity. ‘True; writers like Mr. Meredith would
probably find no leisure for criticism, but, as Mr,
Benson has suggested, the society could devolve its
judgments and awards to a carefully-chosen critical
committee. Andin what respect could an Academy
do harm? The recurrent elections of its members,
the merits of their work, might conceivably indeed
elbow from the topics of the dinner tables some
turf scandal or fashionable divorce. Intellectual
and beautiful achievement would in fact stand
some chance of their proportionate share of public
attention. Directly or indirectly the Academy
would become the main organ of English criticism,
an elucidator of our chaos, a simplifier, an orderer,
a guide to judgment.
Why is this neglected field so important? Be-
cause, surely, art, and in chief the art of literature,
live by the sympathy, and increase the sympathetic
intelligence, of all classes. Art tends to unify
society and makes for solidarity. The novel, play,
poem, are the village greens of the nation. In
art the out-wearied master-printer, with brain
exhausted by the technicalities and intense com-
petitions of his trade, who now at his day’s end
relapses faute de mieux on the mushroom romances
of the boudoir, may learn to share interests with
his foreman (chief reader of the. future), who,
attending all day to the intricate, steady spinning
of some comprehensive machine, returns home at
night less fatigued than his master, and soon will
be less easily satisfied. Art in letters is the reve-
lation of themselves to the young, the invisible
trysting-place of the sexes, the common ground of
THE AUTHOR. 103.
the specialists, who, with theramifying of knowledge,
tend to become ever remoter and mutually more
unintelligible. Art is the only speech preserved in
our Tower of Babel. It behoves greatly, therefore,
that we guard this sympathetic art of literature ;
see that it falls not into emptiness and dishonour,
and that for the State’s own sake some honest
endeavour is made to distinguish and reward those
who practise this art with signal excellence.
But let us take account of objectors. An
“ Academy” must be “academic,” says Mr.
Morley Roberts, foisting on us, with a smile, a
play upon words. “The appeal of literature is
individual, is personal. A bedy of men is a lower
organism,” says Mr. Roberts. But it is from the
rabble, from the chance of crowds, and the tender
mercies of journalistic judgment, that I would save
writers above the average. Let us give them a
revising body, an enduring Court of Appeal, less
tardy than that of Time, a court where the deciduous
sentences of the daily papers are replaced by words
of steadier attention. Nothing in Nature is more
sure than that works of genius die and perish utterly
unknown. Genius bears no sovereign amulet
against mischance, and the majestic stupidity of
numbers. Common sense alone can by organiza-
tion set human barriers and safeguards for our great
men against ill destiny and oblivion. ‘ Conven-
tion,” “monotony,” “aridity,” “conservatism,”
- sighs Mr. Morley Roberts apprehensively. ‘Masters
of literature, if once publicly recognized, become
fossils,” gently implies Mr. Max Beerbohm. But,
“Tam compelled to ask, “Is there anything more
conventional than the range of ideas in the Old
Kent Road?” Intellectual civilization is free. It
is the savage societies, and the clichés forced now
on us in the guise of novels, that are, above all,
arid and monotonous.
We have no men, says (I think) Mr. Zangwill.
What! We have still Mr. Swinburne, Mr. John
Morley, Mr. Robert Bridges, Mr. Meredith, Mr.
Pinero, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Yeats, Mr. Joseph Conrad,
Mr. Shorthouse, Mr. Bury, Mr. Bryce, Mr. A.
E. Housman. Are not these a brave beginning ?
The truth is that, as Lucas Malet forcibly puts
it, a central standard of taste is increasingly
required in the double combat to be waged against
the taste of the mob, and the influence of the
millionaire (whom we have always with us). We
must not look for help from the “ upper classes.”
The French courtiers of the seventeenth century
salons, the eighteenth century groups of English
country gentlemen round Pope and Addison, round
Johnson and Burke, were recruited from educated
aristocracies. It was these gentlemen who formed
noble libraries, and paid for splendid editions.
They had gone on the “grand tour” to France, Italy,
and Greece, to the older and wiser civilizations, and
so had improved a naturally good eye for the taste-
ful and the humane. But the modern grand tour
is to the United States for a rich wife. Or our
young aristocrat, if more wholesomely disposed,
returns with the imperfect tastes of frontier
peoples. Our young barbarian becomes accom-
plished in Rhodesia or the Klondyke. He returns,
perhaps, no worse a man than were the sons of
Halifax, Temple, Fox, Walpole or Chesterfield.
But as a judge of letters he is probably less complete.
In our quandary no help is to be expected of him.
No help, either, from our mob-deity the millionaire,
who may found libraries till every Sheffield has its
British Museum, yet cannot provide a living for
literature. No! The writers of England, if they
are to restore the dignity of their craft, must do it
themselves. Their task, owing to the vast augmen-
tation of the reading populace, and the all-perva-
siveness of vulgar wealth, is harder far than it was
for any French king or English aristocracy. But,
on the other hand, is not that task tenfold better
worth the doing? Its result may be the gradual
ennoblement, not of clique in a capital, but of an
entire nation.
No idea of his function can be pitched too high
for the weal of the artist. Priest of the mind and
heart, he is the chief truth-teller left to humanity.
“Treasure words,” said Gogol; “they are the
noblest gift of God.” And the object I have in
writing these lines is boldly to ask those who have
the honour of English letters at heart to form
themselves into a “ Guild of Literature,” as did the
craftsmen painters of Flanders and Italy—a guild
open to any fairly-accredited writer to join. From
this guild should be elected, chiefly (1 think) by
writers themselves, a number of leaders—Masters
of the Craft—to protect it, to represent it, and do
it honour.
Such a public association of the distinguished
and enlightened would act, as Lucas Malet says,
as an immense encouragement to the rank and file
of writers, especially those of the younger genera-
tion. It would stimulate to steady work—concen-
trate attention on noble ambition and pure reward.
It would help year-long labour like “ that slow and
scientific ” labour of Titian. It would secure for
living writers praise and recognition far earlier than
now is possible. Why, when we light upona splendid
short tale by a living master, like the newly-pub-
lished “Youth” of Mr. Joseph Conrad, should
the knowledge of its beauty and perfection be
confined to the chances of a few Press notices in
London? Why should Mr. Conrad not improbably
have to wait till he is old before he can enjoy the
success he deserves? Why must Mr. George
Meredith wait thirty-eight years after the publica-
tion of “Richard Feverel” before his existence is
acknowledged in the Quarterly Review 2 It must
104
be because England is all lawn or marsh. There
is no broad culture among our people. There is
no fit organ of letters to honour living artists and.
maintain the magnificent tradition of the dead.
‘The English take all things seriously—religion,
love-making, family, politics, and commerce—all
things, that. is to say, except art and literature.
‘Her young writers, not regarding their craft as all-
important, do not give it their best and yet
we propose to reform national education—to
multiply training colleges! It is in vain. You
-cannot multiply wise teachers and simultaneously
despise living literature. It is a kind of stupid
‘hypocrisy. Recruited from the intellectual refuse
.of Europe, the Churches, nominal custodians of
-education, are soulless and decaying. The brains
are out, the man must die. From them we may
-get chicane in Houses of Lords, but we shall not
-get light in the minds of the people. We must
look to Art and Science to bear on the Torches
‘relinquished by Religion. Let us therefore found
this new Society of the Spirit—this new Guild of
‘Literature—to spur and inspirit workers, and to
‘strengthen them by fellowship. But the chief
-yalue of such a Guild would be not so much its
-substantive as its symbolic value.
HERBERT TRENCH.
Oi
AMERICAN NOTES.
—-—~>+ —
LTHOUGH at the time we write our infor-
mation is not so complete as to enable us
to give definite figures, everything points
to the conclusion that the output of books during
‘the fall of 1902 has been almost unprecedented.
“The bulk of this was, of course, made up of new
‘fiction ; but other departments of literature, with
the exception of verse, were not inadequately
‘represented.
Greater attention than ever has been paid to the
«make-up and illustration of new works. Whether
‘there has been a corresponding advance in the
-quality of the contents may be more open to
- question.
One thing is noticeable as a sign of the times.
It is this: that the success of a book by a popular
author no longer helps the sale of his previously
‘stocked works to anything like the extent which
it used to do. The American public will have
everything brand-new nowadays.
As the book of the day, Winston Churchill’s
“Crisis” has been displaced by Owen Wister’s
“The Virginian.” This breezy romance of the
“West, which holds its own against all newcomers,
THE AUTHOR.
is especially remarkable for its description of the
lynching of the cattle-thieves. The book would
undoubtedly have won its way to popularity on its
own merits; but the dedication to President
Roosevelt, and the curiosity excited by the
allusion to the page which his delicate humanity
caused to be rewritten, probably helped it not a
little.
One of the most notable productions of the early
autumn was “ New France and New England,” the
last of the late John Fiske’s historical writings.
Unfortunately the author only lived to give final
form to the first two chapters, which deal with the
early history of what is now Canada; the rest
consists of his unrevised lectures worked up by
another hand. The motif of the whole is to show
the effect on the development of New England of
the French conquests and losses on the North
American continent.
Mr. J. N. Larned, of the Buffalo Public
Library, has, in his “Literature of American
History,” made some attempt at the bibliography
of an enormous subject. Although his biblio-
graphical guide gives an annotated list of four
thousand titles, and is brought down to the year
1900, one is not surprised to discover that it is by
no means exhaustive.
Meanwhile President Woodrow Wilson, of
Princeton, has just finished for Harper and
Brothers his “ History of the American People,”
which is contained in five volumes, and comes
down to the accession of Mr. Roosevelt. It is
being offered on the monthly instalment system,
the total sum to be paid amounting to twenty-five
dollars. It is a great achievement.
A work of still greater magnitude is “ The New
International Encyclopedia,” published by Messrs.
Dodd, Mead & Co., and edited by Dr. Daniel Coit
Gilman, Dr. Harry Thurston Peck, and Dr. Frank
Moore Colby. An especial feature is the substitution
for the signed article of most European encyclo-
pedias of contributions supplied originally by
experts, but modified by the criticism of others,
and finally issued by the editors in a form which is
judged to combine the virtues of original individual
research and those of co-operative criticism. This
is a highly-interesting departure, and can hardly
fail to work well in its application to scientific
matters, whatever may be its weak points when
employed in departments where the personal
equation has a more legitimate field of action. A
great effort has also been made to get rid of the
traditional encyclopedic style, and thus to present
in the attractive manner of Larousse matter which
has been prepared on lines suggested by a study of
the best German methods.
The same publishers have issued a kind of
poetical epitome of the world’s history under the
3
THE AUTHOR.
title of ‘Every Day in the Year.” This compilation,
the work of James L. Ford and Mary K. Ford,
contains some eight hundred English poems com-
memorative of great historical events.
Anyone who is desirous of studying the making
of the American army officer should read Mr. Hu.
Irving Hancock’s ‘“ Life at West Point,” which is
the work of a thoroughly competent observer.
Those whose interests lie in the direction of the
religious world will find much that is worthy of
notice in Dr. Cuyler’s “ Recollections of a Long
Life.’ While far from strong on the literary side,
the book contains records of the writer’s acquaint-
ance, not ouly with preachers and divines such as
Spurgeon, Dean Stanley, and Henry Ward Beecher,
but also with poets of the rank of Wordsworth and
Whittier, and statesmen like Lincoln.
Another biographical work which should not be
passed by is the “ Men and Memories ” of the late
John Russell Young, editor of the New York
Tribune, which his widow has seen through the
press. In the course of a public life of nearly half
a century, Young came into contact with such
diverse celebrities as President Lincoln, Horace
Greeley, Henry George, Charles Dickens, and Walt
Whitman, so that his recollections can hardly fail
to be worth glancing at.
Mr. Charles E. Benton, in the personal experiences
of the Civil War, which Messrs. Putnam have
published under the title, “As Seen from the
Ranks,” contests Stephen C rane’s views as to the
state of mind produced by warfare on the mind of
the combatants. He himself was a member of a
regimental band, but was often under fire when
called upon, in the usual course, to do hospital
duty.
The numerous lives of Edgar Allan Poe have now
been followed by an elaborate edition in seventeen
volumes of his complete works, edited by Professor
James A. Harrison. Besides the inevitable fresh
life, there are some new letters. First editions of
the most imaginative of American wrilers have
realised fabulous prices of late years.
An unpublished essay of Thoreau has been
unearthed by Mr. F. B. Sanborn and printed by
Goodspeed, of Boston. It is entitled, “The Service.”
An ardently enthusiastic biographical study, “ The
Hermit of Walden,” has come from the pen of
Annie Russell Marble. :
Among recent biographies of other American
classical writers there is Professor Woodberry’s
“Hawthorne,” showing the author of “The Scarlet
Letter” “ shaking the dust of his native place from
his feet, and frankly taking upon himself the
character of the unappreciated genius”; and Colonel
Higginson’s “ Longfellow,” yielding some new light
upon the poet’s early married life and his career
as Harvard professor.
105:
Before giving our readers a few jottings upon
the latest luminaries In the sky of fiction, we would
mention in passing one little volume that stands out
from among the not too interesting mass of Christ-
mas publications. It is “The Book of Joyous
Children,” by James Whitcomb Riley. The veteran:
verse writer 1s, we may add, well supported by his.
illustrator, J. W. Vawter. There is plenty of fun
and even a little poetry in the somewhat fancifully-
named gift-book. ;
Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrich has brought out an
appendix to his complete works in the form of a.
volume of short stories entitled, “‘ A Sea Turn and
Other Matters.”
The latest work of that popular favourite,.
Augusta Evans Wilson, “ ‘The Speckled Bird,”’
has been productive of a somewhat sensational
literary incident. Nettled at some not over-
kind, but so far as we can judge perfectly
bond fide, criticism in The Bookman, the novelist
sent the editor of the offending paper a reply in)
the form of a fable. This the editor decided to
print in parallel columns with the reprinted.
review ; and we think that the impartial reader
will decide that he was not ill-advised in doing s0,.
for the errors of taste into which the injured
vanity of the author has betrayed her far exceed
any surplus captiousness with which the critic—
she, too, a fair one—may be justly charged. The
curious may be referred to the November number-
of the periodical above-mentioned.
Mr. Richard Harding Davis has probably
added to his reputation by his new novel, “Cap--
tain Macklin”: and the same may be said of Sir
Gilbert Parker’s “ Donovan Pasha.” George Barr
McCutcheon’s second venture, “ Castle Craney-
croft,” is thought by his admirers to be as full of”
exciting incident as was “ Graustark,” his first-
born. One of them has christened it “ Around the
World in Eighty Chapters” ; but the castle itself
was, we learn, situated in Luxembourg.
One of the great hits of the season has been
Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith’s “ Fortunes of Oliver:
Horn,” a romance of the south and of artistic life
in the New York of the fifties.
George Horton’s “ The Long Straight Road ” is
of the realistic school, a story of every day family
life in Chicago. It is distinctly to be commended, .
if only on account of its treatment of the child
element. The short stories of Will Payne range
round the same region ; but “On Fortune’s Road”
is nothing if not humorous.
The author of “ Uncle Remus” has written a.
very readable complete story, which compares very
favourably with the latest efforts of certain other:
veterans. ‘Gabriel Tolliver” is the name of his
southern reconstruction tale. Mr. Marion Crawford
has added another item to his long list. The scene:
106.
of his “ Cecilia” is modern Rome, and the treat-
ment is such as we are accustomed to expect from
this novelist. ' :
Perhaps the best piece of fiction produced in
America during the present season is Newton Booth
Tarkington’s “The Two Vanrevels.” It is a tale of
Indiana in the days of President Polk ; love and
politics are the main themes. To say that the
characterisation shows a distinct advance upon that
of “Monsieur Beaucaire ” would be awarding it but
faint praise in comparison with its merits. Mr.
Tarkington has been much quizzed in some
quarters for the modesty of his proposal that
the Indiana Legislature should endeavour to pro-
mote literature by an annual offer of 500 dollars in
prizes. :
In conclusion, we must not omit to mention the
swansongs of Paul Leicester Ford (‘ Wanted, a
Chaperon”) and Bret Harte. “The Condensed
Novels ” of the latter master of parody are worthy
to rank with Thackeray’s “Novels by Eminent
Hands,” and will doubtless afford much enjoyment
to their subjects.
The chief names in our obituary list are those of
Edward Eggleston and Frank Norris. The former
will be remembered not less by his successful
exertions in the cause of international copyright
than by his Hoosier Stories and historical works.
The latter was looked upon by many good judges
as likely to become the best American novelist of
his generation. His first work, “ M’Teague,” was
striking, but unpleasant. For ‘‘ The Octopus,” no
one had anything but high praise. It was the
first of a projected trilogy of wheat, the second
part of which will appear early next year as “ The
Pit.” The concluding portion had not got beyond
its title, “The Wolf,” when the young author died
at San Francisco at the early age of thirty-two, a
victim to appendicitis. Before “ commencing
novelist” he had been to South Africa and China
as special correspondent.
To the names of Eggleston and Norris we have
to add those of Major J. W. Powell, sometime
president of the Washington Anthropological
Society and of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and at his death Director
of the Bureau of American Ethnology and editor
of more than one scientific journal; and of William
Allen Butler, author of “Nothing to Wear” and
“Flora McFlimsey of Madison Square,” poems
that once had as much vogue as Bailey’s “ Festus,”
and whose names are even now by no means
forgotten.
THE AUTHOR.
THE NOBEL PRIZES.
Oe
CCORDING to a telegram from Stockholm,
this year’s Nobel prizes have been awarded
as follows.
Literature, Professor Theodor Mommsen, of
Berlin.
Peace, Professor Friedrich Martens, Pro-
fessor of International Law in St. Petersburg.
Medicine, Major Ronald Ross, of the School of
Tropical Medicine, Liverpool.
Chemistry, Professor Emil Fischer, of Berlin.
Physics, divided between Professors Lorenz and
Zeemann, of Holland.
All the gentleman named are authors.
They have all written books dealing with the
subjects to which they have devoted their lives.
In fact it is almost impossible nowadays that any
man could spend his life on a matter of research
for the benetit of all humanity without at one time
or another committing himself to a book.
Of all the awards, that to Professor Theodor
Mommeen will interest members of the Society
most. Many will remember his Roman History
as the bugbear of their school and college days,
and perhaps from the standpoint of the schoolboy
or the undergraduate will be ready to join issue
with the Swedish Academy on their award.
Several candidates were mentioned as probable
recipients of the prize. It is evident in the
selection of Professor Mommsen that the members
of the Academy are giving a wide and generous
interpretation to the letter of the document that
limits their choice.
Professor Mommsen was born on the 30th of
November, 1817. He is now, therefore, eighty-five
years of age. He was educated in the Gymnasium
at Altona, and graduated at the University of Kiel.
It is curious that a man who has spent his life in
the dry research incidental to the writing of
history should have commenced authorship by
publishing a book of poetry. This, however, is the
case ; the work was issued under the authorship of
himself and his brother, Tycho Mommsen, in 1839.
In 1848 he obtained a grant from the Government
of Denmark, which enabled him to make a journey
into Italy, and this, no doubt, was the turning
point in his career. From that moment he began
his wonderful study of the History of Rome, and
the many subjects connected with such a labour.
It is on his work as a Roman Historian that his
world-wide reputation is based.
Between 1854 and 1856 he published three
volumes of his history, and at once became famous.
It was not so much the great learning and exhaus-
tive study shown in the volumes which forced
the attention of everyone to his work as the
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- characters of those mighty men of old.
THE AUTHOR.
insight into the life and character of the nation
about whom he wrote and his new reading of the
All
applauded his methods, though they did not neces-
sarily approve his deductions.
One remembers his panegyric
Augustus.
Again, Cicero, whom it is customary to look
upon as one of the most important men of letters
and the greatest advocate of his times, Mommsen
wrote down as a mere journalist, and Pompey he
despised as little more than a recruiting sergeant.
After the production of the three volumes, he
for many years spent his time in studying the old
Roman inscriptions, and produced in 1861 the first
issue of the “Corpus Inscriptionum,” which was
afterwards followed by sixteen other volumes. No
man living has ever had such an insight into
Roman life, Roman learning, and Roman law.
There is no one who can rival his knowledge on
any of these subjects. Though he never actually
completed his History (it brought him to
the fall of the Republic), he has written so many
papers and collected so much knowledge that he
has provided others with the requisite material.
Everyone who has made careful study of his work
will agree that he is a worthy recipient of the
honour that has been conferred upon him.
of Cesar
THE REY. JOSEPH PARKER, D.D.
Y the death of Dr. Parker London has lost
a great personality and a powerful orator.
The Society has lost a member who
since 1890 has been a constant supporter of its
aims and objects.
He was born on the 9th of April, 1830, at
Hexham-on-Tyne, and privately educated at
University College, London. He began his
career as a Minister at Banbury, Oxford, in
1869. Over thirty years ago he came to the
City Temple, London.
He was not a great author, or an author of
many works; but from those he wrote and
ublished it was clear that he was a man of
large mind and generous spirit. His work, the
“Pulpit Bible,” has been of great use to all
Christian preachers of whatever denomination,
but it is not as an author that Dr. Parker will
be remembered. It is as preacher and as auto-
erat of the City Temple.
——_———_———__+——— —____——_-
107
CORRESPONDENCE.
——
BOOK DISTRIBUTION.
Srr,— Would it not be possible to extend more
generally the privilege accorded to the large buyers
of books, of inspection before purchase? There
must be a large public who would increase their
purchases if their opportunities of selection were
enlarged.
For example :—Acting upon the only evidence
obtainable—the title, the name of author and
publisher, the reviews that happen to come my
way—l order a certain book. On its arrival I see
at the first glance it is not what I expected, or
what I want. I would willingly, there and then,
accept a small fraction of the price of the book, to
be rid of it. It isnot only the wasted money, but
the space on the shelves filled by these undesirables,
that makes book buying so unpopular.
Again, if I want to inspect the recent books
upon a given subject, or to choose the most
attractive edition of a certain classic, I must
conduct the search myself in the British Museum.
Surely it would pay the book purveyor to assist
the possible buyer, to help him to keep out of his
house the undesired books, and to discover for him
the desired books ; to encourage him in the forma-
tion of a library of works selected and approved
by himself. One of the chief factors in the success
of the circulating library is the opening of a large
book area to inspection ; only a few of the books
received are selected for reading ; and there is no
accumulation of printed matter in the house.
It should be the aim of the publisher to convert
the reader from a borrower to a purchaser, by
giving him opportunities for inspection with a
view to purchase. All recent books, and all older
designated books, might be collected in a shop, a
fee being charged for examination. Books might
also be brought to the reader’s door, or sent him
by post, either for an inspection fee, or for a fixed
proportion of the price of each book returned.
It is the present surprise-packet system, with
its inevitable disappointments to the purchaser,
that stops business.
Norwoop Youne.
— 11 —_
MODERN LITERATURE,
Sir,—It cannot be denied that the opponents
of Sir E. Clarke’s theory regarding the degeneracy
of modern English literature have certain case
to argue. It is true that in the beginning of the
Victorian era, there was an inequality of workman-
ship which would not have been possible at its
close; and a somewhat indiscriminating public
108
judgment passed this by with too much indulgence.
This will account for the success of Sam Warren
and Harrison Ainsworth, for the temporary popu-
larity of Tupper and the too high estimate of
Edgar Allan Poe. On the other hand, these
opponents may point to such writers as Hardy and
Blackmore, Swinburne, Meredith, and Kipling, as
instances of good taste on the part of the more
recent public which has duly appreciated these
writers. But it will be noticed that their work is
more or less of the kind technically known as
“light.” Their works are not so likely to endure
as classics as those of the earlier writers who
undertook to convey to mankind intimations of
greater moment. Amongst those will be remem-
bered not only the names of Carlyle, and Newman,
and Ruskin, but also of Emerson and Lowell; these
latter, though Americans, “‘ spoke their American
with a strong British accent,” and have been fully
welcomed as English writers. Such literary work
is perhaps hardly to be expected in the present
conditions of our race. Decadent Latin nations
are undeveloped ; peoples in the more Eastern
regions may produce great craftsmen in arts and
letters; but the eutonic races are otherwise
engaged. ‘Their invention is shown in adminis-
trative problems or in labour-saving machinery ;
their eloquence is reserved for diplomatic dis-
patches and political harangues. ‘To races so
occupied the Muses are compelled to descend from
Parnassus and content themselves with the
humbler office as instruments for man’s occasional
recreation.
H. G. KEENE.
THE CRITIC.
Srr,—In glancing through the columns of the
Morning Post the other day (8th December, 1902,
p. 6) I came across a brief notice of a new number
of the Pilot, a periodical which I understand has
recently died and come to life again, and the fol-
lowing passages in the review in question attracted
my attention. ‘Lovers of good English and
sound sense will welcome the reappearance of the
Pilot. ... In glancing through the pages, how-
ever, we have found the word ‘ relation’ standing
in one case at least, and, so far as we can see, in
the second also, for ‘relative.’ There is no reason
why we should meet with this mode of speech in a
journal like the Pilot.”
Now, I should have thought (I have no privilege
to weight my humble opinions with an editorial
“we ”) that there was no reason why the critic of
the Morning Post should not have been a little
more explicit in his fault-finding, so as to mete out
instruction to the ignorant in general as well as
THE AUTHOR.
blame in particular to the illiterate contributor to
the Pilot. The question which the casual reader
of such a criticism as this has to ask himself is,
“In what possible meaning, out of many which it-
is entitled to bear, can ‘relation’ be made to stand,
improperly, for ‘ relative’?”’ To read through the
Pilot is a possible course open to me which would
perhaps supply the information, but it is one to
which, perhaps owing to inherent laziness, I decline-
to resort. ‘I'o some extent, however, I object to
doing so, on principle, as I contend that the critic
who apparently makes a charge against another
writer of using bad English should do so clearly,
so that those who read may understand the precise
accusation brought. The obvious common mean-
ing of “relation” and “relative” is that of
“kinsman.” Does the writer in the Jorning
Post refer to this? I am an old-fashioned person
myself, so that Dr. Johnson, and the authorities.
which he cites, together with what I believe to be
universal usage, are good enough for me. There
may possibly be some new fad as to the usage of
“relation” and “relative” as synonyms for “ kins-
man,” which everybody who knows anything ought
to know, but with which I am unfortunately not.
acquainted. Does the editor of the Morning Post,
as the word “we” would suggest, endorse the
views of his critic; and, if so, does he forbid “ rela-
tion” as a synonym for “relative” in all the columns
under his august control? Of course, I may be
making an altogether absurd suggestion in even
hinting that this could be the meaning of the
criticism of the Pilot’s English. In that case I
can only repeat what I have said before, that the
charge of using bad English should have been
made in terms to be understood by the ordinary
reader of the daily newspaper in question or else
not made at all. An accused person and the jury
who are to try him have the right to know exactly
what the charge is that is brought against him.
EL A. AC
AN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
Dear Srr,—I beg to warn music critics against
contributing to the Concert Goer, New York.
That estimable organ, after duly appointing me its
London correspondent, published articles written by
a person whose opinions and methods of expressing’
himself are not the same as mine, signing them.
with my name.
A London correspondent is, I understand, again,
required by the Concert Goer, of New York.
GEORGE CECIL.
November 18th.
BREINER
Se
uk.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 04 (January 1903)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che Hutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIII.—No. 5d.
FEBRUARY
{Price SIXPENCE.
THE TELEPHONE.
—+—»—+
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
—____¢—_<@—__e—
NOTICES.
eg ee geee
T,\OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tur Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
++ —
List of Members.
Tu List of Members of the Society of Authors
can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
1+
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THe investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIII.
Ist, 1903.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Se £816 5 6
ocaloans 6 104 10 0
Victorian Government 3 % Con-
solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11
OWeayi LOAN eh ee 201. 9 3
Motel ese. £1,714> 4.8
SpeciaAL APPEAL.
Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been very successful.
The list of subscriptions and donations promised
and given is set forth below. Further subscrip-
tions and donations will be acknowledged as they
come in.
Subscriptions.
Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. F. £1.00
» Cox, Miss Roalfe 0.5 0
» Loynbee, William . 010 6
,, Anonymous . ‘ : t.07.0
,, Todd, Miss Margaret, M.D. Le 0
x Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0
» Seaman, Owen : ; sel 10
,. Abbot, Rev. Hdwin A., D.D.. 1 0 98
» . Witherby, Rev. C. . : 0 9 0
» Salwey, Reginald E. 010. 0
», Vacher, Francis 1 tO
Nov. 15, Parr, Mrs... : Tt 10
» Davy, Mra. EE. : - 010556
, Allingham, William, F.R.CS. 1 1 0
, Armstrong, Miss Frances i. 5 0
Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-
tional) ; :
Rattray, Alex. : ; :
,, Brodrick, The Honble. Mrs. .
Nov. 17, Nisbet, Hume : : :
Keene, H. G., C.S.I. : 0
Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall) 1
5 Forbes, E. ; : :
» Spiers, Victor. : . 7 0
Hon
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110
Nov. 17, Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath
Burrowes, Miss Elsa
» Cooke-Taylor, R. W.
Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles
: Jones, W. Braunston
Anonymous .
Salmond, Mrs. Walter
. Anonymous .
Clough, Miss B. .
- Stanton, Miss H. M.
s “ Tucas Malet ”
Noy. 20, E.G. .
Jenkins, Miss "Hadow
Morrah, H. A. :
Hatton-Ellis, Mrs. .
Bertouch, The Baroness de
Anonymous
Nov. 21, Parr, Miss Olive
Nov. 22, Forbes, Lady Helen
a Twycross, Miss M.
Nov. 24, Smythe, Alfred .
Haggard, Mrs. John
”
”
oe)
”
2.
9
> Anonymous
5, Dale, Miss Nellie .
5 “ Tresham Quaines” ‘
Nov. 25, Young; W. Wellington .
Nov. 26, Young, Capt. Charles
Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. .
Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia
Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. .
5 Hamilton, Mrs. G. W.
», Brinton, Selwyn
Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie
Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the
Duchess of :
Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .
Dec. 22, Anonymous
Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. Ww.
5 Pike Clement, E.
1903.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke
» Deane, Rey. A.C. .
Jan. 4, Anonymous
» Heath, Miss Ida
» Russell, G. H. :
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline
,, Bedford, Miss Jessie
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.
Donations.
Noy. 13, Bullen, F. T.. : : <
. Roberts, Morley (an annual
subscriber).
Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . :
» Marshall, Capt. Robert .
» Hoyer, Miss . :
3 EHO 8.
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THE AUTHOR.
Nov. 14, Lefroy, Mrs.
» Sinclair, Miss May (an annual
subscriber) . :
» McBride, Capt. E. E.
Garnier, Russell
Nov. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.
» ESpero 2 ;
3 Ceol Medlicott ”
» Harker, Mrs. Allen.
,, Banks, Mrs. M. M.
,. Spielmann, M. H. .
5 Garnier, Col. J.
», Benecke, Miss Ida .
,» Atton, Henry :
Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. R..
» Keene, H. G., C.8.1. .
», Spielmann, Mrs. M. H. .
es Begbie, Harold
» Stevenson, J.J. .
, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.
Nov. 18, From sale of autograph .
» Wintle, H. R. ;
5, Brickdale-Corbett, H. M.
» Defries, Miss Violet :
Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M.
Warren, Major-General
Charles, K.0.M.G.
» ‘Lucas Malet” .
Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth
Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. W. .
Nov. 25, Jacobs, W. W. : :
: Young, W. Wellington .
Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite .
Nov. "26, Cook, OC. H. . .
Noy. 27, Gleig, Charles
» Harraden, Miss Beatrice
Frankland, F. W.
, @Auvergne, Mrs.
Nov. 28, Sutcliffe, Halliwell
Nov. 29, Weyman, Stanley J.
2?
Sir
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon
Dec. 2, Trevor- -Battye, Aubyn
» Marks, Mrs. .
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles
Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count
, “Leicester Romayne ”
Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily
. Panting, J. Harwood
Tattersall, Miss Louisa .
Dec. ‘19, Egbert, Henry
Dec. 28, Muirhead, James F.
Dec. 28, A. 8. ;
» Bateman Stringer . :
Dec. 31, Cholmondely, Miss Mary
1903.
Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. :
» Middlemass, MissJean .
Jan. 6, Avebury, Lord
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THE AUTHOR. 11
Jan. 6, Gribble, Francis. : 010 O FROM THE COMMITTEE.
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6 (eee
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston lot 0
» Miller, Miss BE. T. . Oo 5 40 a first committee meeting of the year was
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 0-10 6 held at the offices of the Society on January
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rey. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of
our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for
five years, if nine other members of the Society
will promise the same contribution before 31st
March, 1903.
We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
the Society will be found to come forward and
meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
before the time expires we may be able to print in
the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten
subscribers of the required amount.
Subscriptions.
Hawkins, A. Hope. : : -£10 0 0
Barrie, J. M.. : : : - 102:0:.0
Drummond, Hamilton ; : ~ 10. 0.0
Wynne, Charles Whitworth : = 10.0 0
Gilbert, W.S. . ‘ : : - £02 0 0
—_+—+—
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £330 38 6
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
about £4. Thesubscriptions received from July 1st
to the date of issue are given below :—
Patterson, A. . : : : Sl 1 20
Salwey, Reginald E. ; : j 010 0
Gidley, Miss E. C. 010 0
Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0 7 6
Dill, Miss Bessie 0 5.0
Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0
Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
Clarke, Miss B. 0 5 0
12th. The Committee had the pleasure of
electing thirty-one members. They consider this
a very satisfactory and encouraging sign of the
continuance of the Society’s prosperity. The names
are set out on another page, except in cases where
a member expresses any special reason to the
contrary.
Mr. Edward Rose and Mr. A. W. A Beckett
have been re-elected to the Committee, and Sir
Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., C.B., has been elected
to fill the place made vacant by the resignation of
Mr. Henry Norman. Mr. Norman resigned from
the Committee owing to pressure of work, and
his inability to give his constant attention to the
weighty affairs of the Society. He has, however,
consented to give whatever aid he can in his
position as a member of Parliament, and still
retains his position on the Council. If the Copy-
right Law should again come before the House of
Commons, the Committee will be glad to avail
themselves of his valuable assistance.
Sir Henry Bergne, as all members of the Society
know, was the representative of England at the
Berne Convention, and again at the Paris Con-
vention of 1896. He is one of the chief authorities
on copyright in England. It is impossible to
over-estimate the help he will be able to render to
the Committee.
It was decided, at the suggestion of Mr. Frampton
and the architects of St. Paul’s Cathedral, that the
Besant medallion should be set up in bronze, and
not in marble as at first suggested.
Three cases were under discussion at the
meeting.
After going carefully through the papers and
with the advice of the solicitors of the Society, it
was decided to take up one, on behalf of the
member, should the matter come to an issue.
The Committee regretted that they could not
give their support to the other two.
—_1+—<— —_
Elections, January 12th, 1903.
The following members and associates were
elected on January 12th, 1903.
Bedford, Miss Jessie Red House, South-
bourne, Hants.
Silkstone Vicarage,
Barnsley.
Maynard Lodge, Upper-
ton Road, Hast-
bourne.
Bellamy, Rev. R. L.
Blunt, Norman
112
Browne, Tom.
Bulkeley-Johnson,
(*« Adoc ’’)
“ Carlton Carlisle”? .
Chartres, Anita Vivanti .
Cobbett, Miss Alice M.
Dealtry, Mrs.B. (‘‘ Clarice
Danvers ””)
Dewhurst,
R.B.A.
Fleet, J. Faithful .
Gaye, Wilfrid.
Geere, H. Valentine
Hailett, Col. W. Hughes
(«W. H. H.”)
Howatson, Miss Nettie .
Hutchins, Miss L.
Jesse, W.
Kingsley, Miss
Lucas, St. John W. L.
Mackenzie, H.
Milecete, Helen (Mrs.)
Montgomery, K. L.
Perrin, A.
Roe, Mrs.
(“ George Wemyss ”)
Sherrington, Charles 8.
“ Stephen Langton ”’
Tonier, Theodore
White, Caroline (Mrs.) .
Miss
Wynford,
Richard
THE AUTHOR.
“ Wollatton,’ Hardy
Road, Blackheath,
S.E.
1, St. George’s Ter-
race, Brighton.
c/o T. Cook and Sons,
Ludgate Circus.
Hansler House, Lewes,
Sussex.
56, Bedford Court
Mansions, W.
Chelmscott, Leighton
Buzzard.
79, Eaton Rise, EHal-
ing, W.
122, Hill Lane, South-
ampton.
2, St. Leonards Road,
Ealing, W.
The Cottage, Fala,
Carnwath, Lanark-
shire.
48, Holland Street,
Kensington, W.
La Martiniére College,
Lucknow, India.
Keys, Eversley, Winch-
field.
25, Langham Mansions,
Earls Court Square,
S.W.
1, Henrietta Place,
Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
5, Hereford Square,
S.W.
Crane House, Twicken-
ham.
16, Grove Park, Liver-
pool.
65, May Square, Kew,
Victoria, Melbourne,
Australia.
Bedford Lodge, Whyte-
leafe, Surrey.
One member alone does not desire publication.
$$ —_—_
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
——
R. OSCAR BROWNING has written im-
pressions of the visit he paid to Lord
Curzon in India, in the form of “ Letters
from India,” which are now appearing in King
and Country. Mr. Browning is also engaged on
a history of the youth of Napoleon I., from his
birth to the siege of Toulon, a very interesting
and little known period of his life.
Mr. Arthur W. Marchmont’s next book, “ By
Snare of Love,” is to be serialised in the Hnglish
Tilustrated Magazine, and is to start in the April
number. Arrangements are in course for its serial
appearance in the United States simultaneously.
It will be published in volume form on this side by
Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. when the serial has run
its course, and in America by a firm who have
issued several of Mr. Marchmont’s previous works
there. “ By Snare of Love” is a novel of adventure,
the scene being laid in Turkey.
Mr. Thomas Cobb’s new 6s. novel, “The Intri-
guer,” is to be published this month by Mr.
Eveleigh Nash. Another novel of his, “The
Composite Lady,” will be issued sometime in July
by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Besides placing
eight or ten short stories with various magazines,
Mr. Cobb has just finished a story for Methuen’s
Children’s Series. It is called “The Lost Ball.”
Messrs. Methuen have brought out a fresh
Indian story by Mrs. F. Penny, called “ A Mixed
Marriage.” It deals with the love affairs of a
Mohammedan noble and an English lady ; showing
that tragedies as well as comedies take place behind
the jealously guarded purdah of the harém, and
that the course of true love does not run any
smoother in the East than in the West.
“The Little Colonel,” by Mina Doyle (Mrs. C.
W. Young), authoress of “ On Parole,” etc., is just
out. The characters in “The Little Colonel” are
interesting, and most of them are lovable. For
many readers the chief interest of the story will
probably centre in the picture of Rottingdean—
called Cliffdean in the book.
Messrs. Macmillan have recently issued a trans-
lation from the French of M. Ostrogorski’s work,
“Democracy and the Organisation of Political
Parties.” ‘To the translation by Mr. Frederick
Clarke a preface is prefixed by the Right Hon.
James Bryce, which emphasises the importance
and unique character of this study of the modern
party system—the organisation of political forces
which exists apart from recognised political
institutions.
Mr. John Davidson’s new comedy, “ The Knight
of the Maypole,” consists of four acts in prose and
THE AUTHOR. 113
in verse. Ina prefatory note Mr. Davidson says :
“This play was written in 1900, and after various
adventures is now published—twenty-five years
having come and gone since in ‘An Unhistorical
Pastoral’ I first wrote of the Maypole.”
We quote the following verses from Mr. Rowland
Hill’s “Songs in Solitude and Photographs in
Verse,” recently issued by Messrs. Simpkin
Marshall :—
THE LIBRARIAN.
“The volumes ranged about his room
Retain the mighty thoughts of man
Compressed as in a little tomb :
He clasps a life-work in his span.
“One wall holds many nations’ brains :
The poets grouped fill up a shelf :
A folio Shakespeare’s soul contains :
The Bible takes an inch itself.
‘He gropes among illustrious minds
On great deeds brooding of the dead :
Then lonely lifts aside the blinds,
And views the vast stars overhead.”
In the Hampstead Annual just published (2s. 6d.
nett), there is a delightful, personal, and critical
paper by Mr. Sidney Colvin on “ Robert Louis
Stevenson at Hampstead.” In June, 1874, Steven-
son and Mr. Colvin occupied jointly for awhile a
set of lodgings in Abernethy House at the corner
of Mount Vernon and Holly Place. “Stevenson,”
Mr. Colvin tells us, ‘was then in his twenty-fourth
year, in the full glow—a glow that mounted some-
times near fever heat—of his brilliant and unquiet
youth.” It was at this time R. L. S. was elected
to the Savile Club.
Mr. Colvin’s time and strength are almost
wholly taken up with official work ; but we are
glad to know, that sooner or later, he means to
give us the book on Stevenson—critical and
personal-—-which he has had in his mind, and
partly on the stocks, for a long time. Certainly it
will be an illuminating book.
We learn that it is proposed to publish further
translations of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche
as soon as possible. An edition in eleven
volumes—exclusive of the posthumous works—
was projected in 1895 by Messrs. Henry in England
in connection with the Macmillan Company in
America, and arrangements were made for the
translation of the volumes under the editorship of
A. Tille, Ph.D. Only three volumes were issued
however, and the MSS. of five unpublished
volumes—now very carefully revised—are in the
translator’s hands.
Of Nietzsche’s works still to be published
(Fisher Unwin), Miss Helen Zimmern is the
able translator of two, viz.:; “ Beyond Good and
Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future ;’
and “Human all too Human: A Book for Free
Spirits,” Vol. I. Those who order copies before-
hand will receive them when published at two-
thirds of the nett price, which is 8s. 6d. for the
larger volumes and 7s. for the smaller ones.
Such previous orders should be sent to (1) Miss
Helen Zimmern, Palazzo Acciajuoli, Lung Arno,
Florence; or to (2) William A. Haussmann,
Ph.D., 3,712, Sydenham Street, Philadelphia; or
to (3) Thomas Common, 112, George Street,
Edinburgh.
There was a painfully interesting article in the
Daily Chronicle of January 17th trom the expert
pen of Mr. Arthur Morrison, entitled “ Winter
and Want: East London in the North-East Wind.”
It was at the office of the Rev. Peter Thompson
(242a, Cable Street, E.), who is administering the
Hast-End Relief Fund, that Mr. Morrison began
his walk, through regions intimately known
to him of old: regions he has so convincingly
described in his “ Tales of Mean Streets ” :—
“ Those dull little rows of decent houses, every window
making its best show to the world, with its mended curtain,
its poor little wool mat, its barren flower-pot in faded pink
paper. I have watched the tragedy—the slow tragedy, the
tragedy of no stirring action—played out, and now playing
out, behind many of those quiet little windows—played
sometimes to an end too bitter for printed words... . A
general impression is best of multitudes of desperate little
homes, bared of their moveables, and cold in the grate ; each
with a thin-clad father and mother—or perhaps only one
of them—striving to the last to fend away the hour
when nothing shall be left for the mouths of sick and
hungry children; and meanwhile to keep themselves
‘independent.’ ”
Mr. E. A. Reynolds-Ball, F.R.G.S., has recently
published a capital little book (E. Marlborough &
Co.), called “ Practical Hints for Travellers in the
Near East.” This companion to the Guide Books
contains just the sort of information the average
traveller needs to know. The Medical Hints
section has been read and approved by a London
medical man of high standing. Mr. Ball’s, “ Cairo
of To-day,” is in a third edition. This, and his
“ Jerusalem,” are issued by A. and C. Black, at
2s. 6d.
The annual annotated edition of the “Statutes
of Practical Utility,” which is brought out by Mr.
J. M. Lely in continuation of “ Chitty’s Statutes ”
(Sweet and Maxwell, Limited ; Stevens & Sons,
Limited), will appear this year early this month,
containing, amongst other important statutes, the
Education Act, the Licensing Act, and the Cre-
mation Act. There is an “ Additional Note” on
the Education Act, and that Act and the Licens-
ing Act are followed by Board of Education and
Home Office Circulars and Forms respectively.
112
Browne, Tom.
Bulkeley-Johnson,
(*« Adoc ’’)
“ Carlton Carlisle”.
Chartres, Anita Vivanti .
Cobbett, Miss Alice M.
Dealtry, Mrs.B. (‘ Clarice
Danvers ’’)
Dewhurst,
R.B.A.
Fleet, J. Faithful .
Gaye, Wilfrid .
Geere, H. Valentine
Hallett, Col. W. Hughes
(°W. 1. BH.)
Howatson, Miss Nettie
Hutchins, Miss L. .
Jesse, W.
Kingsley, Miss
Lucas, St. John W. L.
Mackenzie, H.
Milecete, Helen (Mrs.)
Montgomery, K. L.
Perrin, A.
Roe, Mrs.
(“ George Wemyss ”)
Sherrington, Charles 8.
“ Stephen Langton ”’
Tonier, Theodore
White, Caroline (Mrs.) .
Miss
Wynford,
Richard
THE AUTHOR.
“ Wollatton,” Hardy
Road, Blackheath,
S.E.
1, St. George’s Ter-
race, Brighton.
c/o T. Cook and Sons,
Ludgate Circus.
Hansler House, Lewes,
Sussex.
56, Bedford
Mansions, W.
Chelmscott, Leighton
Buzzard.
79, Eaton Rise, EHal-
ing, W.
Court
122, Hill Lane, South-
ampton.
2, St. Leonards Road,
Ealing, W.
The Cottage, Fala,
Carnwath, Lanark-
shire.
48, Holland Street,
Kensington, W.
La Martiniére College,
Lucknow, India.
Keys, Eversley, Winch-
field.
25, Langham Mansions,
Earls Court Square,
S.W.
1, Henrietta Place,
Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
5, Hereford Square,
S.W.
Crane House, Twicken-
ham.
16, Grove Park, Liver-
pool.
65, May Square, Kew,
Victoria, Melbourne,
Australia.
Bedford Lodge, Whyte-
leafe, Surrey.
One member alone does not desire publication.
——— eS
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—1—<>—+
R. OSCAR BROWNING has written im-
pressions of the visit he paid to Lord
Curzon in India, in the form of “ Letters
from India,” which are now appearing in King
and Country. Mr. Browning is also engaged on
a history of the youth of Napoleon I., from his —
birth to the siege of Toulon, a very interesting
and little known period of his life.
Mr. Arthur W. Marchmont’s next book, “By —
Snare of Love,” is to be serialised in the Hnglish
Illustrated Magazine, and is to start in the April
number. Arrangements are in course for its serial
appearance in the United States simultaneously.
It will be published in volume form on this side by
Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. when the serial has run
its course, and in America by a firm who have
issued several of Mr. Marchmont’s previous works
there. ‘“ By Snare of Love” is a novel of adventure,
the scene being laid in Turkey.
Mr. Thomas Cobb’s new 6s. novel, “The Intri-
guer,” is to be published this month by Mr.
Eveleigh Nash. Another novel of his, “The
Composite Lady,” will be issued sometime in July
by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Besides placing
eight or ten short stories with various magazines, —
Mr. Cobb has just finished a story for Methuen’s
Children’s Series. It is called ‘The Lost Ball.”
Messrs. Methuen have brought out a fresh
Indian story by Mrs. F. Penny, called “ A Mixed
Marriage.” It deals with the love affairs of a
Mohammedan noble and an English lady ; showing
that tragedies as well as comedies take place behind
the jealously guarded purdah of the harém, and
that the course of true love does not run any
smoother in the East than in the West.
“The Little Colonel,’ by Mina Doyle (Mrs. C.
W. Young), authoress of “ On Parole,” etc., is just
out. The characters in “The Little Colonel” are
interesting, and most of them are lovable. For
many readers the chief interest of the story will
probably centre in the picture of Rottingdean— —
called Cliffdean in the book.
Messrs. Macmillan have recently issued a trans-
lation from the French of M. Ostrogorski’s work,
“Democracy and the Organisation of Political
Parties.” To the translation by Mr. Frederick
Clarke a preface is prefixed by the Right Hon.
James Bryce, which emphasises the importance
and unique character of this study of the modern
party system—the organisation of political forees
which exists apart from recognised political
institutions.
Mr. John Davidson’s new comedy, ‘‘ The Knight —
of the Maypole,” consists of four acts in prose and
THE AUTHOR. 113
in verse. In a prefatory note Mr. Davidson says :
“This play was written in 1900, and after various
adventures is now published—twenty-five years
having come and gone since in ‘An Unhistorical
Pastoral ’ I first wrote of the Maypole.”
We quote the following verses from Mr. Rowland
Hill’s “Songs in Solitude and Photographs in
Verse,” recently issued by Messrs. Simpkin
Marshall :—
THE LIBRARIAN.
“The volumes ranged about his room
Retain the mighty thoughts of man
Compressed as in a little tomb :
He clasps a life-work in his span.
“ One wall holds many nations’ brains :
The poets grouped fill up a shelf :
A folio Shakespeare’s soul contains :
The Bible takes an inch itself.
“He gropes among illustrious minds
On great deeds brooding of the dead :
Then lonely lifts aside the blinds,
And views the vast stars overhead.”
In the Hampstead Annual just published (2s. 6d.
nett), there is a delightful, personal, and critical
paper by Mr. Sidney Colvin on “ Robert Louis
Stevenson at Hampstead.” In June, 1874, Steven-
son and Mr. Colvin occupied jointly for awhile a
set of lodgings in Abernethy House at the corner
of Mount Vernon and Holly Place. ‘“ Stevenson,”
Mr. Colvin tells us, *‘ was then in his twenty-fourth
year, in the full glow—a glow that mounted some-
times near fever heat—of his brilliant and unquiet
youth.” It was at this time R. L. 8. was elected
to the Savile Club.
Mr. Colvin’s time and strength are almost
wholly taken up with official work ; but we are
glad to know, that sooner or later, he means to
give us the book on Stevenson—critical and
personal—_which he has had in his mind, and
partly on the stocks, for a long time. Certainly it
will be an illuminating book.
We learn that it is proposed to publish further
translations of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche
as soon as possible. An edition in eleven
volumes—exclusive of the posthumous works—
was projected in 1895 by Messrs. Henry in England
in connection with the Macmillan Company in
America, and arrangements were made for the
translation of the volumes under the editorship of
A. Tille, Ph.D. Only three volumes were issued
however, and the MSS. of five unpublished
volumes—now very carefully revised—are in the
translator’s hands.
Of Nietzsche’s works still to be published
(Fisher Unwin), Miss Helen Zimmern is the
able translator of two, viz.: “ Beyond Good and
Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future ;’
and “Human all too Human: A Book for Free
Spirits,” Vol. I. Those who order copies before-
hand will receive them when published at two-
thirds of the nett price, which is 8s. 6d. for the
larger volumes and 7s. for the smaller ones.
Such previous orders should be sent to (1) Miss
Helen Zimmern, Palazzo Acciajuoli, Lung Arno,
Florence; or to (2) William A. Haussmann,
Ph.D., 3,712, Sydenham Street, Philadelphia; or
to (3) Thomas Common, 112, George Street,
Edinburgh.
There was a painfully interesting article in the
Daily Chronicle of January 17th trom the expert
pen of Mr. Arthur Morrison, entitled “ Winter
and Want: Hast London in the North-East Wind.”
It was at the office of the Rev. Peter Thompson
(242a, Cable Street, E.), who is administering the
East-End Relief Fund, that Mr. Morrison began
his walk, through regions intimately known
to him of old: regions he has so convincingly
described in his “ Tales of Mean Streets ” :—
“Those dull little rows of decent houses, every window
making its best show to the world, with its mended curtain,
its poor little wool mat, its barren flower-pot in faded pink
paper. I have watched the tragedy—the slow tragedy, the
tragedy of no stirring action—played out, and now playing
out, behind many of those quiet little windows—played
sometimes to an end too bitter for printed words... .. A
general impression is best of multitudes of desperate little
homes, bared of their moveables, and cold in the grate ; each
with a thin-clad father and mother—or perhaps only one
of them—striving to the last to fend away the hour
when nothing shall be left for the mouths of sick and
hungry children; and meanwhile to keep themselves
‘independent.’ ”
Mr. E. A. Reynolds-Ball, F.R.G.S., has recently
published a capital little book (E. Marlborough &
Co.), called “ Practical Hints for Travellers in the
Near East.” This companion to the Guide Books
contains just the sort of information the average
traveller needs to know. The Medical Hints
section has been read and approved by a London
medical man of high standing. Mr. Ball’s, “ Cairo
of To-day,” is in a third edition. This, and his
“ Jerusalem,” are issued by A. and C. Black, at
2s. 6d.
The annual annotated edition of the “ Statutes
of Practical Utility,’ which is brought out by Mr.
J. M. Lely in continuation of “ Chitty’s Statutes ”
(Sweet and Maxwell, Limited ; Stevens & Sons,
Limited), will appear this year early this month,
containing, amongst other important statutes, the
Education Act, the Licensing Act, and the Cre-
mation Act. There is an “ Additional Note” on
the Education Act, and that Act and the Licens-
ing Act are followed by Board of Education and
Home Office Circulars and Forms respectively.
114
Mr. Cecil Clarke, author of “An Artist’s Fate,”
“Tove’s Loyalty,” etc. etc, has commenced
another novel on somewhat romantic lines, but in
consequence of other claims upon his time, it
cannot be finished yet awhile. Mr. Clarke is a
regular contributor to The Philanthropist, and
reprints of his contributions are frequently
ordered.
“ Alsatian Tales,” by Madame Jean Delaire,
illustrated by Alfred Touchemolin (Sands & Co.),
is a volume of short stories or sketches. There
are four of them: “Mademoiselle Beaux Yeux,”
a schoolroom tragedy; “The Deserter,” a
frontier incident; “ Pro Patria,” an episode ;
and “Vive la France,” a reminiscence. They
are strongly French in sympathy, breathing a
fervid patriotism.
“A Romance of the Nursery,” by Mrs. L.
Allen Harker, is a charming story about children.
here are some good illustrations by Katherine
M. Roberts. It is published by Mr. John Lane.
Though, unfortunately, rather late in the day,
we are glad to acknowledge a South African
Christmas Annual called “Silver Leaves” (1s.),
edited by Mr. W. H. Stokes, a member of this
Society. The illustrations are very good indeed,
the complete panorama of Cape Town being
especially interesting. “Silver Leaves” is a small
volume of South African views well worth buying.
We wish Mr. Stokes’ Annual a long and hardy
life.
John Oliver Hobbes’ “School for Saints” has
just been issued in a cheap sixpenny edition by
Mr. T. Fisher Unwin.
We understand that Sir Charles Wyndham
hopes to open his new theatre in St. Martin’s
Laneaboutthe middle of this month. “ Rosemary”
is the play chosen for the first performance, and
the receipts are to be devoted to charity.
A new operatic and dramatic society, to be
called “The Londoners,” is being formed. It
is to produce comic operas and musical comedies
from time to time at some London theatre for
quite short periods. The proceeds will go to
charities,
It seems that “Iris” has been doing very well
financially in America.
If Mrs. Patrick Campbell can secure a New
York theatre she will probably produce a series
of Shakespearian and Sardou plays under her own
management.
THE AUTHOR.
PARIS NOTES.
— 1
2 1 Profonde” is the title of M. Paul
Bourget’s new novel. In the first chapter
the author explains his title, and with his
usual analytic method proceeds to discuss the
meaning of the proverb “Still waters run deep,”
as rendered by the English, the French and the
Italians, and, strangely enough, it is the English
version which the French author adopts for the
title of his book.
“ Chez les Anglais,” we are told, “l’esprit réaliste
saccompagne de la plus solitaire, de la plus
méditative réverie—l’Anglo-Saxon est durement
brutal quand il est brutal, étrangement songeur
quand il est songeur.”
After this introduction one might expect some
further reference to the English in the novel, but
nothing could be more absolutely un-English than
the whole story from beginning toend. The eternal
theme once more, of which even Parisians are at
last getting weary! There is nothing very original
even in the plot itself, with its inevitable accom-
paniments in the way of clandestine rendezvous,
anonymous letters, and the discovery by one of the
principal characters of the fact that he is not the
son of the man he has been taught to call father.
In all this there is nothing very new, so that the
charm of the book is due simply to the skill of the
analyst.
“a Princesse Errante,” by Léon de Tinseau, is
a very readable novel. The subject as it happens
is quite apropos, for it is the romantic history of a
Crown Prince and the tribulations of his daughter,
the wandering princess. The book is full of incident,
and the description of life in the various countries
mentioned is most curious and interesting.
The second volume of Barbey d’Aurevilly’s
literary criticisms, ‘‘ Le Roman Contemporain,” has
just been published, and will no doubt be read by
all who appreciate the great novelist’s own works
of fiction.
As a critic Barbey d’Aurevilly was by no means
merciful. His ideals were high, and the modern
realistic and materialistic schools did not appeal
to him.
His judgment of Zola’s work is scathing.
“ Zola,” he says, “n’a point d’idéal dans la téte
et, comme son siécle, il aime les choses basses eb ne
peut s’empécher d’aller a elles. Tout ce qui répugne
le fascine. . . .
“ Quand de pareilles choses se lisent et ont du
succes, il n’y a plus de critique a faire. Il y a une
page de moeurs et d’histoire a écrire sur la société
qui les lit.” Later on he says: “Ily a toujours
dans tout grand artiste une hauteur originelle et
une pureté de génie qui dédaigne de toucher a ces
=
THE AUTHOR. 115
choses honteuses dans lesquelles l’auteur de ]’Assom-
moir ne craint pas de plonger sa main. . . . Ces
réalistes qui s’accroupissent ou se trainent sur le
ventre pour ramasser les moindres poussiéres, trou-
vent Dieu et lime des réalités trop menues pour
daigner les voir et s’en occuper ; et ils ne se doutent
pas que l’absence de Dieu et de l'ime dans une
ceuvre humaine fait un vide par lequel, quand on
en aurait, s’en va le génie,— et méme le talent!”
Among the other authors whose works are criti-
cised in this volume are Octave Feuillet, Flaubert,
Daudet, Fabre, Richepin, Catulle Mendés, Huys-
mans and the de Goncourts.
Very far-seeing was d’Aurevilly, for after criti-
cising Huysmans’ “ A Rebours,” he says that he is
tempted to say to the author, as he did to Baudelaire:
« Aprés ce livre il ne vous reste plus, logiquement,
que la bouche du pistolet ou les pieds de la croix.”
Both Baudelaire and Huysmans chose the latter.
Then, too, d’Aurevilly saw more clearly than the
author of “ Renée Mauperin” that this novel, which
the de Goncourts intended to be strictly realistic,
was “un livre d’imagination exquis.” Renée herself
says d’Aurevilly was ‘‘an absolutely imaginary
creation,” although in the preface the author says
he has endeavoured to “peindre la jeune fille
moderne avec le moins d’imagination possible.”
The first part of Paul Friedmann’s book, “ Anne
Boleyn,” bas just been translated into French, and
most interesting it is, not only as a character study
of Henry VIII., Catherine of Aragon and Anne
Boleyn, but also on account of the picture which
the historian gives us of London in the first half
of the sixteenth century. The population of the
capital of Great Britain at that time was 90,000,
whilst Paris had 400,000 inhabitants. The houses
in London were no higher than two storeys, and
were surrounded with gardens. The commerce was
almost entirely monopolised by foreigners.
The King’s revenue was a sixth of that of the
King of France, and a tenth of the Sultan’s. The
hypocrisy and the untruths of Henry VIII. in his
dealings with the Pope and the clergy are specially
dwelt on by the historian, who declares that
Macchiavelli himself would have been disgusted with
such a liar and impostor. He speaks, too, of the
courage of the nation in refusing to acknowledge
Anne Boleyn as Queen, and we are told that when
in Church prayers were offered up for her as the
new sovereign, the congregation left the building in
a tumult.
The ‘‘ Journal du Dr. Prosper Meniére” should
be read by all authors, for never has there been a
more enthusiastic and sincere admirer of literary
men and their work than this doctor of the Second
Empire.
Prosper Meniére was born in 1799, and during
the year of the famous July Revolution he must
have alleviated the sufferings of hundreds of his
wounded countrymen.
Later on he was appointed medical attendant to
the Duchess of Berry, when she was in the fortress
of Blaye under the guard of General Bugeaud.
He knew personally a great many of the celebri-
ties of his times, and he tells us in his memoirs
of the Chancelier Pasquier, who had seen eleven
changes of government. He was born during the
reign of Louis XV., and had then seen Louis XVI.,
the Convention, the Directoire, Napoleon L.,
Louis XVIII., Charles X., Louis Philippe, the
Republic of *48, the Presidence, and then the
Empire. Nine out of the eleven changes of govern-
ment had been brought about by a revolution.
Dr. Meniére might have told us many interesting
details about the political celebrities he knew, but
with a few rare exceptions, he preferred jotting
down notes about his acquaintances in the literary
world. Jules Janin, Lamartine, Gautier, Jules
Sandeau, Scribe, de Girardin, M. 'Thiers, and a host
of others he mentions, and in many cases tells us
some anecdote or speech of theirs which had
interested him. Very amusing is his account of
Alexandre Dumas describing the Battle of Waterloo
before certain generals who happened to have been
on the field themselves, and who ventured to correct
some of the statements the novelist was making.
“What you say is quite new to us,” they declared,
“and we were present at Waterloo.” ‘Oh, you
could not have seen this, then,” said Dumas, con-
tinuing his description so graphically, that at the
end the generals began to think he must be right
after all.
For all who delight in legends, “Le Folk Lore
de la Beauce et du Perche,” by M. Félix Chapiteau,
will be found most captivating.
Among recent illustrated editions are two series
of books which are marvels of art. The one is
entitled ‘ Les Grands Artistes,” and is published
under the direction of M. Roger Marx, Inspecteur
au Ministere des Beaux Arts. Hach number con-
tains 128 pages and 24 engravings. The volumes
already published are Raphaél, Albert Diirer, Wat-
teau, and Léonard di Vinci. ‘The other series is
entitled “ Les Villes d’Art Célébres,” and of these
Venise, Paris, Bruges et Ypres, Gand et Tournai,
have appeared.
There are 100 to 140 engravings in each volume.
The text is by men who are considered authorities
on the subject they undertake, and the idea of the
latter series is ‘to connect the present life of
each city with its historic past, and give us the
opportunity of knowing its artistic riches.”
A very fine édition de luxe of “La Dame de
Monsoreau,” by Alexandre Dumas, has just been
brought out.
There are 250 wood-cuts by J. Huyot and
116
Maurice Leloir. The price of the two volumes is
£2, and with a special binding, £3.
Comte Robert de Montesquiou has arrived in
America, and was entertained almost immediately
by Miss Elisabeth Marbury, who has done so much
for French literature in the United States. It is
as a missionary of literature that M. de Montes-
quiou has undertaken this voyage, and he is to
give some eight or ten lectures during his tour.
Among the authors of whom he will speak are
Marceline Desbordes Valmore, Barbey d’Aurevilly,
Leconte de Lisle, Verlaine, and Ernest Hello.
The Académie founded by the Goncourt brothers
has held its first assembly. Its members are MM.
Huysmans, Mirbeau, Rosny, Hennique, Paul Mar-
gueritte, G. Geoffroy, all of whom were chosen by
M; de Goncourt. The members elected since his
death are MM. Léon Daudet, Elemir Bourges, and
Lueien Descaves.
The journal Gil Blas has made a fresh start
with M. Périvier (formerly of the Figaro), and
M. Ollendorff, the well-known publisher, as directors.
The quantity of new pieces this winter is alarm-
ing, and the critics have been occupied with first
nights.
“Théroigne de Méricourt” is certainly a success.
The mise en scéne is excellent, as every detail is
exact. The first act takes place in Vienna in 1791.
Théroigne has been arrested for revolutionary
proceedings, and is released by the emperor.
The second act is at the Tuileries, and Louis XVI.
appears. It is only a few hours before he leaves
the palace with his family.
The next two acts are also at the Tuileries. The
king is a prisoner, and Théroigne incites the crowd
to the murder of Francois Suleau. The Swiss
guards are massacred and the palace invaded, when
Captain Bonaparte appears.
In the last act, Théroigne is imprisoned in a
cage at the Salpétriere. Sieyés comes with two of
the court ladies to visit the establishment, and
Théroigne is brought out of her cage. In an
eloquent monologue she evokes the grand days of
the Revolution. She is supposed to have lost her
reason, but she is quite lucid in her bitter re-
proaches as she points to the spectres of the victims
who have perished for their ideas. So gruesome
is the scene that the Abbé Sieyes rushes away in
terror as the curtain falls,
Sarah Bernhardt is very fine in this ré/e, which
suits her,admirably. The play itself is a fine piece
of literature, but, as in most historical subjects, a
certain liberty has been taken with facts.
M. Pierre Decourcelle is one of the most prolific
of writers. A long serial of his has not long ago
finished in one of the daily papers, and another,
‘* Les Deux Frangines,” has just commenced. His
play, “Le Chien du Régiment,” is now having
THE AUTHOR.
great success at the Gaité. “La Meilleure Part,’
in which he collaborated with Pierre de Coulevain,
is soon to be put on at the Vaudeville by Madame
Réjane, and now he is writing “ Werther” for
Madame Sarah Bernhardt.
“ Le Secret de Polichinelle”’ has taken very well
at the Gymnase, but “ La Chatelaine,” by M.Capus,
is certainly the piece that seems likely to have the
longest run this winter.
Auys HaLLARD.
a
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
ee
I,
Publishers and Copyright.
CORRESPONDENCE took place recently in
the literary supplement of the 7imes, which
illustrated well the attitude of unscrupulous
publishers and proprietors of periodicals towards
their occasional contributors, while it called
attention to a particular variety of their methods.
The method in question was thus described in
the original letter, signed “ Author.”
“Qn the backs of cheques certain publishers
print a receipt form which the author is requested
to sign, whereby he acknowledges the receipt of so
much money in respect of ‘copyright’ sold to the
publisher. On the face of the cheque is usually
the announcement that the cheque will not be
cashed unless the receipt at the back is signed.”
On a subsequent date Mr. Herman Cohen, a
barrister, discussed the purely legal questions
involved, being of opinion that the document
described not being an unconditional order to pay
is not a cheque and need not be honoured by the
banker, while he further considered that a
cheque not being legal tender need not in any case
be accepted as payment by the author. The
secretary of the Society of Authors followed with
some suggestions as to the practical aspects of the
case, and pointed out that the way of dealing de-
scribed is resorted to in the publication of books
where an agreement has only been made for their
production in consideration of a royalty, as well as
in the more frequently occurring instances where a
short story or article has been accepted by the
editor of a newspaper or magazine.
The law of the case in so far as it relates to
the authors and their customers has been dealt with
by Mr. Cohen. It is technical, not easy for laymen
to follow, and not entirely free from doubt to
lawyers. There can be no doubt, however, that
the law will not compel an author to accept a pay-
ment given conditionally on his entering into a
Ae. Se et
OW Sw Se DO. Ge re Bln
oe ee Sy a ce OO OS ee
|
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a
THE AUTHOR.
fresh contract, differing from one which he has
already made, and in respect of which money is
already due to him. He would act unwisely, as
Mr. Cohen points out, in deleting the obnoxious
receipt, and trying to cash the cheque without it,
but it is to his advantage that a cheque in some
form should have been sent tohim. It is evidence
that a sum is due to him, although not perhaps
evidence that the sum on the cheque is owing,
because the publisher will say (in a case where no
sum has been agreed upon) “I made the cheque
out according to my usuai rate when I buy the
copyright,” and if he sends another cheque for the
serial rights only, will send a smaller one.
It is submitted, therefore, that the author, dis-
satisfied with a cheque in the form described, can
do little else than send it back with a request for
another not so added to, saying courteously, but
clearly, that he has not agreed to sell, and does not
desire to sell, the copyright of his article. Inany
correspondence which may follow he will be able to
take up a strong position and to point out that ata
hearing of the case, should legal proceedings arise,
he will call for the production of the returned
cheque as evidence. This will, however, probably
mean a quarrel with that particular publisher or
magazine proprietor, and the future exclusion of
the author’s work by him; in other words, the
narrowing of the author’s market.
In this the strength of the buyer of the author’s
wares lies. The supply is large enough for his
purpose ; he, the buyer, has the money, and the
author usually wants to sell.
Mr. Thring, in the letter referred to, urged that
the publisher or editor should, in making an offer,
state whether he desires to purchase the copyright
or not. No doubt he should, and this whether the
subject has been mentioned already or not. But,
on the other hand, it may be suggested that the
author makes the first move as a rule by sub-
mitting his work unsolicited, and that the person
opening the negotiations is the party on whom it
is incumbent to state what it is he desires. It is
for authors and editors of experience to say
whether the insertion of a printed slip or letter-
heading with every manuscript sent in the manner
indicated would be useful in obtaining a clear
understanding, or would be liable to diminish the
likelihood of acceptance. Such a heading might
run as follows: “The article herewith is offered
for publication in the magazine only, with-
out transfer of copyright.” As a rule minor
authors make no attempt such as this to protect
themselves. In his ordinary dealings the author,
not being one of established position, forwards to
the editor of a magazine or newspaper, a manu-
script of a short article or story with a covering
letter which does not define the right that he
117
offers. The editor often accepts only by having the
contribution printed, sometimes, but not always,
forwarding a proof before publishing it.
When payment is sent, if it is sent at all without
being asked for, the condition of sale of copyright
appears for the first time. It is submitted that in
such a deal the transaction only amounts in fact
to the offer and acceptance of the article for publi-
cation in the ordinary way in the periodical to
which it has been sent. In the case of more
Important works a different course of dealing is
followed, and the negotiations ought to raise the
question of the disposal of copyright at an early
stage, and usually doso. It is in the smaller trans-
actions that the point discussed in the literary
supplement of the Times arises, and they are often
transactions so small that they hardly seem, at the
time at all events, worth fighting over. In these
the attitude of the author must depend on his
inclination and power to fight for his rights. The
publisher and editor are not likely to mend their
ways for the asking, and the banker may with
Justice say, that as far as he is concerned at all, his
interests coincide with those of the man whose
doubtless substantial account is entrusted to him.
Cases of the kind indicated involve, to a large
extent, questions of fact rather than of law, but
perhaps some day a good typical instance involving
the practices alluded to above may be taken up and
fought by the Society of Authors. Such a case
might help to define the law on the subject, and
also to indicate the kind of view likely to be
adopted by juries as to the questions of fact. The
conclusions arrived at, both as to law and fact,
could hardly fail to be useful to authors.
HE. A. A.
ee
IL.
American Publishers and the Nett System.
[From Zhe American Author. ]
a
E give below a complete list of the members
of the American Publishers’ Association.
This list includes all publishers whose
names are generally known to the book trade
and to the reading public.
It is now more than two years since the American
Publishers’ Association was organised. During that
time it has practically reorganised the general
trade of publishing and selling books. Under the
nett-price system new copyrighted books are no
longer used to advertise bargain counters for dry
goods stores. It was found by experience that the
great majority of new copyrighted books were
118
being killed by this means before they were fairly
on the market, and before they had an opportunity
to test public favour. In this manner the property
of both authors and publishers was being de-
stroyed in order to build up the business of dry
goods stores. All authors have ample reason for
congratulation that this beneficent measure has
been put into operation and is being rigidly
enforced.
The essential principles upon which the reform
of the American book trade is established are
practically the same as those adopted in Germany
in 1887, which have restored the German book
trade to a basis satisfactory to all concerned. The
same principles have been adopted by the book
trade in Austria, Belgium, England, France and
Switzerland with excellent results.
What has been described as the major premise upon
which the reform of the American book trade is
founded, isan agreement upon the part of all of the
leading booksellers of the country, not to buy, not to
put in stock, nor to offer for sale, the books of any
publisher who declines to co-operate in the reform
movement by joining the American Publishers’
Association; and, on the other hand, the publishers
agree not to sell their books to any dealer who fails
to maintain the established nett prices.
It is understood that since October 1st all mem-
bers of the American Booksellers’ Association, com-
prising all of the leading booksellers of the country,
have discontinued handling the books of all pub-
lishers still remaining outside of the American
Publishers’ Association. This fact should not be
lost sight of by authors seeking to arrange for the
publication of their manuscripts, if they desire to
give their books any possibility of success.
List or MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN PUBLISHERS’
ASSOCIATION.
Henry AltemusCo., Philadelphia, Pa. ; American
Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. ;
American News Co., New York, N. Y. ; D. Apple-
ton and Co., New York, N. Y.; A. C. Armstrong,
New York, N. Y.; Arnold and Co., Philadelphia,
Pa.; Baker and Taylor Co., New York, N.Y.;
A. S. Barnes and Co., New York, N. Y.; Drexel
Biddle, Philadelphia, Pa. ; The Bowen-Merrill Co.,
Indianapolis, Ind. ; Albert Brandt, Trenton, N. J.;
Brentano’s, New York, N. Y.; John S. Brooks and
Co., Boston, Mass.; The A. L. Burt Co., New
York, N. Y. ; The Century Co., New York, N. Y.;
C. M. Clark Publishing Co., Boston, Mass. ; The
Robert Clarke Co., Cincinnati, O.; H. T. Coates
and Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Thomas Y. Crowell
and Co., New York, N. Y.; G. W. Dillingham
Co., New York, N. Y.; Dodd, Mead and Oo., New
York, N. Y.; Doubleday, Page and Co., New York,
N. Y.; E. P. Dutton and Co., New York, N. Y. ;
THE AUTHOR.
Dana Estes and Co., Boston, Mass. ; The Federal
Book Co. New York, N. Y.; Funk and Wagnalls
Co., New York, N. Y.; Charles E. Goodspeed,
Boston, Mass. ; Harper and Brothers, New York,
N. Y.; Herbert Publishing Co., Washington,
D.C. ; A. J. Holman and Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ;
Henry Holt and Co., New York, N. Y.; Home
Publishing Co., New York, N. Y.; Houghton,
Mifflin and Co., Boston, Mass. ; Geo. W. Jacobs
and Oo., Philadelphia, Pa.; Jamieson-Higgins
Co., Chicago, Ill. ; John Lane, New York, N. Y.;
Lee and Shepard, Boston, Mass. ; J. B. Lippincott
Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Little, Brown and Co.,
Boston, Mass.; Longmans, Green and Co., New
York, N. Y.; The Lothrop Publishing Co., Boston,
Mass.; McClure, Phillips and Co., New York,
N. Y.; A. CO. McClurg, Chicago, Ill.; The Mac-
millan Co., New York, N. Y. ; National Publishing
Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Thos. Nelson and Son,
New York, N. Y.; New Amsterdam Book Co.,
New York, N. Y.; Open Court Publishing Co.,
Chicago, Ill.; Outlook Co., New York, N. ¥.;
Oxford University Press, New York, N. Y.;
L. C. Page and Co., Boston, Mass. ; Penn Publish-
ing Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; James Pott and Co.,
New York, N.Y.; Presbyterian Board of Publica-
tion and Sabbath School Work, Philadelphia, Pa. ;
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, N. Y.; Fleming
H. Revell Co., Chicago, New York and Toronto ;
R. H. Russell, New York, N. Y.; Charles Scrib-
ner’s Sons, New York, N. Y.; Small, Maynard and
Co., Boston, Mass. ; Frederick A. Stokes Co., New
York, N. Y.; H. 8. Stone and Co., Chicago, Il. ;
J. F. Taylor and Co., New York, N. Y.: HOB:
Turner and Co., Boston, Mass. ; United Brethren,
Publishing House, Dayton, 0. ; D. Van Nostrand
Co., New York, N. Y. ; Vir Publishing Co., Phila-
delphia, Pa. ; Frederick Warne and Oo., New
York, N. Y.; A. Wessels Co., New York, N. Y.;
Thomas Whittaker, New York. N. Y.; W. A. Wilde
Co., Boston, Mass.; John Wiley and Sons, New
York, N. Y. ; John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia,
Pa.; E. and J. B. Young and Co., New York,
N. Y.; Clinton S. Zimmerman, New York, N. Y.
—_—_—_—_——_+—>—_+___—_
RESUME OF BOOKS PUBLISHED IN
THE PAST YEAR.
t+ —
(Reprinted from Zhe Publishers’ Circular, by kind
permission of the Editor.)
PY HE total number of books recorded in 1902
T is slightly above that of 1900, nearly two
hundred below 1899 and 1898, more than
five hundred below 1897, just eight hundred above
1896, and a thousand above 1901 ; but about five
THE AUTHOR.
hundred of that one thousand were “ Miscellaneous”
—chiefly pamphlets at a few pence each—and about
two hundred and fifty were sixpenny fiction. If
up in number, the books of 1902 are down in
value compared with those of 1901. The number
under “ Miscellaneous” is almost the same as in
1898. In Fiction the number is almost the same
as in 1898, slightly above 1900 and 1896, but
below 1897 and 1899. In six other subjects the
increase is not large ; in the case of Theology it is
partly due to the issue of pious pamphlets and
of sermons, and in that of Politics and Trade to
publication of political skits and economical tracts.
In History and Biography the numbers were almost
119
the same in 1901 and 1902—five hundred and
thirty-one, five hundred and thirty-seven ; in
Medicine precisely the same, two hundred and
thirty-seven, which is lower than in 1900. Law
books and Educational publications in 1902 show
a falling off, the number being lower than in either
of the previous six years. In Travel it is almost
the same as in 1896, 1897, 1899, 1901, forty-four
lower than in 1900. Belles-Lettres show almost
the same number as in 1897, much less than in
1900 and 1901. The number of Year Books is
almost the same as in 1897 and 1900. In the
Drama and Poetry the number is higher than in
1901, lower than in the five previous years.
| | |
| | | loge 8 a
: B po iS So-a°
Subjects. BS e 5 | 43 | a x 2 = lees.
3 2 ee : 3 Ze g | 3 5 & |238.38
Se eee Ee Pe ee Ee ees
ee
se (| a 44 Psp 39 | ve 59 28 26 31 30 | ee 19 68 | 567
1. Theology, Sermons, Biblical ... a7 9 6 q Bo 7 | 1 10 10 Si
| 648
2, Educational. Classical, and \| @ 56 OB e471 33 lo 38 |< 304) 82) 41 29 | 50 | 50 | 6b | 504
Philological... ... -- J) 211 7 8 1 6 5 31. 4 7 > 6 5 | 68
| 572
8, Juvenile Works and Tales, )| q 52 | 105 | 96 | 134 | 142 | 65} 58 | 126 | 132 | 807 | 301 | 225 1743
ies) Tales, and other j HG} G0 | be | 6b | 84 | bf] by | bl | 41 | 91 | 91 | 46 | 72%
iction ie. oe ive 2470
a 6 12 9 17 9 3 3 5 4 2 9 88
4. Law, Jurisprudence, Xc. $ { b 3 3 8 5 4 4 2 3 ge 1 6 71 46
— 134
Sei and Social Econoiny,) 2 26) 42) 88) 44} 65) 28 | 95) 30) 88 30 | 44} 49 | £63
a 8 | | | ye,
— 5
6. Arts, Science, and Illustrated )| 4% 31 22| 36| 43| 45 | 38] 25} 28| 27/ 33 | 40| 52 | 420
Works ee ac vey ee 2 2 3 a 3 2 4 3 8 1 T | 44
464
7, Voyages, Travels, and Geo- )| @ 8) 11; 10 8} 27] 13) 22 14 9 7 | 13} 20 162
graphical Research ... oo 2 1 3 3 3 t 9 3 3 2 1 8s 200
: : a 30 41 41 35 56 38 29 17 31 33 55 74 | 480
8. History, Biography, &c. i i bd: 3 q 9 3 7 3 6 2 1 4 4 8 | 57
537
(| @ 25 14 24 22 16 17 15 16 14 39 28 42 | 272
9. Poetry and the Drama “116 6 6 Sie 1s 7 4 5 5 5 i 9 6 | 76
—— 348
10, Year-Books and Serials in }| ¢ 66 | 21 7 7 B18, 2) 20) 2h) 53 | 96 | 75) wee
Vv ae Cee el me oe lee | ee ee
olumes ) 408
. Joe 7) og] 22) 2] Tee} 1 | 6) 14} 20 | 168
11. Medicine, Surgery, &c. oe 1b 5 q Q| 13 8 A: 4 3} 10 9 8 | 1) 84
—— 237
12, Belles-Lettres, Essays, Mono- || @ 19 7} 19 81) M ? Bite Bhs ee _ oe
gape he ca ae de? 2 4 4 2 : ae I 2 ‘ O71
13. Miscellaneous, includin 426) 301 28 | 24) 81 24) 30] 27 32 35 | 389 31 352
Pamphlets, not Sermons = } bi) 14) 26) 10) Ba | 4) MY AB arp dy 18 | Ae
poses — - 499
492 | 516 | 543 | 606 | 702 | 445 | 439 | 467 | 491 | 876 | 910 | 894 an
a New Books; b New Editions.
THE AUTHOR.
The Analytical Table is divided into 13 Classes; also New Books and New Editions.
Divisions.
Theology, Sermons, Biblical, &c.
Educational, Classical, and Philological
Novels, Tales, and Juvenile Works
Law, Jurisprudence, &c. Se — eae <n
Political and Social Economy, Trade and Commerce
Arts, Sciences, and Illustrated Works ‘
Voyages, Travels, and Geographical Research
History, Biography, &c. 3 a
Poetry and the Drama ... ru, ee
Year-Books and Serials in Volumes ...
Medicine, Surgery, &e. ... ers ne
Belles-Lettres, Essays, Monographs, &c. Bae noe
Miscellaneous, including Pamphlets, not Sermons ...
1901. | 1902.
New Books. New Editions. New Books. New Editions,
ee eee |
441 78 | 567 81
541 qT. 504 68
1,513 479 1,743 127
109 37 88 46
351 104 463 130
310 28 420 44
174 | 30 162 38
438 98 480 57
202 60 | 272 76
844 408 _
169 68 153 84
293 32 227 : 44
70 8 352 147
4,955 1,089 5,839 1,542
4,955 5,839
6,044 | 7,381
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
ee
HE question of the Distribution of Books
1 is one that deserves much more attention
than is usually given to it. It is compara-
tively easy for a publisher to produce a book ; it is
very much more difficult to secure its distribution.
For the former a certain amount of taste and
experience of printing, paper, and boarding is
necessary ; for the latter much more is needed.
Sir Walter Besant frequently insisted that a book
is not really published till it finds its way to the
bookseller’s counter, and this truth cannot be too
often repeated. ‘The problem that faces every
publisher is how to get his books brought before
the direct notice of the public.
The usual method adopted by publishers for
giving publicity to their books is the following :—
An edition of a given quantity of copies is printed.
This may vary from a few hundreds in the case of
an edition de luxe, or expensive art or technical
book, or an historical work, to many thousands in
the case of a popular novel. Of this first edition
a certain number of copies are boarded. In the
case of a popular novel the whole edition may be
boarded at once; in the case of a work on history,
of which say one thousand copies are printed,
perhaps 400 copies may be boarded to begin with.
When the book is boarded copies are sent to news-
papers for review ; and the book is “ subscribed,”
2.e., it is shown to all the booksellers in London
who buy such quantities as they think they can use.
In the “ provinces,” 7.¢., in all places outside
London, books can rarely be shown to the book-
sellers on the day of publication, as the commercial
travellers who take them round visit the various
towns only twice a year as a rule. Sometimes,
especially in the case of popular novels, books are
ordered in advance of publication. The public
and the booksellers in the “ provinces” have to
trust for their information about new books to the
publisher’s advertisements. Where and how much
to advertise is the problem of publication. In
many cases many hundreds of pounds are spent in
advertising an individual book, and it is impossible
to tell how far this expense is profitable.
Such is the method adopted almost universally
for bringing books before the notice of the public.
Reviews and advertisements, and, in some cases,
circulars, are all that the public can depend on for
information as to books. The booksellers buy or
do not buy according as they think there is likely to
be or not to be a demand for the books shown to
them by the publishers, and the publishers in
almost all cases rest satisfied that with advertise-
ments and copies sent for review their responsibility
to the public ceases.
In the case of novels by popular writers they are
probably quiteright. Thepublicwanttoread these,
and they are content to order them without seeing
them. But it is quite different with books which can-
not have more than a limited sale. The bookseller
often cannot risk the purchase of these. The public
will not buy them withoutseeing them. Ifthe books
do not therefore reach the booksellers’ counters they
do not get a fair chance. It is with regard to these
books that a modified form of “sale or return”
might, I think, be adopted with great advantage,
alike to publisher, bookseller, and the public.
The plan of sending out books “on sale or return”
has so far not been popular in this country with
either publishers or booksellers. But times and
conditions are changing. Before the introduction
of the “ nett ” system the bookseller made little or
no profit off those books which had only a limited
sale, as he was expected to give off them the same
discount as he gave off popular novels which he
bought in quantities on much better terms. The
adoption of the system of “sale or return,” so
frequently advocated in The Author, had therefore
THE AUTHOR.
no attraction for him. But the introduction and
rapid development of the “nett” system has placed
‘sale or return” on quite a different footing. On
“nett ’’ books the bookseller can make a profit on in-
dividual copies, and it may in many cases be of great
value to him to have books sent “ on sale or return.”
Before going further it is necessary to point out
that it would be impracticable to make this plan
compulsory on either publisher or bookseller.
The reasons for such restriction are obvious.
On the side of the publisher if he were to be
compelled to send books “on sale or return”
to any bookseller who asked for them, he might
be forced to print and board far more copies of
a book than was advisable; while if the book-
seller were to be compelled to receive “on sale or
return” all the books that the publisher wished
to send him, his shelves would very soon overflow.
But with the reservation that publishers and book-
sellers would, therefore, both have to be allowed to
refuse to send or to accept books “onsale or return,”
the system might, I think, well be allowed a fair trial.
Let us now look at its advantages and disadvan-
tages from the points of view of (1) the publisher,
(2) the bookseller, (3) the public.
(1) The disadvantages to the publisher are three-
fold: (a) He does not know at once what number
of copies he sells outright ; (b) the system would
involve a slightly more elaborate bookkeeping ;
(c) he might receive back some copies with the
boards soiled. But the advantages would greatly
outweigh the disadvantages. The publisher would
be entitled to charge a slightly higher price for books
sent “on sale or return” than for those a bookseller
bought outright, and this would probably recoup
him for the cost of his extra bookkeeping. The
risk of copies coming back damaged need not be
considered seriously. For if a publisher boarded,
say, 400 copies of a book, and sold 200 outright
—and this is no uncommon experience—it is a
matter of little moment whether the other 200 are
damaged or not if they have eventually to go into
his stores. On the other hand, if these 200 copies
are shown on booksellers’ counters, the chances are
that a considerable proportion of them will be sold.
All booksellers know how often the sale of a book
is lost because it is not at hand or cannot be seen.
Moreover, the publisher would be saved much
expense in advertising. He advertises and inserts
extracts from reviews in his advertisements to let
the public know of the books and their contents.
Much of this advertising would be unnecessary if
the public knew that in every large town one book-
seller at least would be sure to have in stock, or
could get on sight, all really good books. The
judicious use of “sale or return,” by which book-
sellers would become agents for the publishers,
should be to the publishers of very great value.
121
(2) That this system would be of great advan-
tage to the bookseller is obvious. He would be
saved much bad stock—which is as bad for the
publisher as for the bookseller—as the latter is
cautious with the books of those publishers whose
books become bad stock, and he would frequently
be able to oblige his customers by letting them see
books in which they are interested.
(8) Lastly, the system would be of great value
to the public. At present the public may fairly
complain that in many cases they cannot see a
book before purchasing it. The booksellers cannot
be blamed for this. It is unreasonable to ask them
to buy a particular book on the chance of an
individual customer wishing, after seeing it, to
purchase. But surely it would be wise for the
publisher in such cases to be willing to submit
his publication for inspection through the book-
sellers. The bookseller or his customer would
pay the carriage, and in the event of the book
not being kept, it would be returned free of cost.
Of course, the publisher might have to refuse if
his stock of copies of the book in question were
small, but if he had plenty of copies he would
be consulting his own interest in meeting the
convenience of the public.
The “nett” system has done much to improve
the conditions of bookselling. I believe the adop-
tion of the system of “sale or return” in some
such way as I have indicated would improve those
conditions still more. It would be no small thing
for the spread of literature if in every town there
was a bookseller’s shop where practically all good
books might be seen. The cry of the “decay of
bookselling” would cease to be heard in the land.
Rosert MacLeHoss.
—_———__1+—}—
A DICKENS’ FELLOWSHIP DINNER.
[Printed with the kind permission of The Sunday Times. |
Se
T is probable that when he wrote “The
| Christmas Carol” Dickens did not dream of
the practical spirit in which his precepts
would be carried out by the Fellowship which has
identified itself with his name. Indeed, when the
novelist penned the moving story of the miserly
spirit turned philanthropist, the idea of a Fellow-
ship had not yet taken shape in any man’s mind.
It was only last October that the Fellowship came
into concrete existence, and to-day it has members
wherever the English language is spoken and
English literature is read. This is a proof, if proof
there need be, that the humanitarian spirit which
moved one of the greatest masters of fiction of
recent times still animates his fellow-countrymen
in whatever part of the globe they may find
122
themselves. The day of the Dinner was a red-letter
one in the history of the Fellowship. It was
a day of merry-making, of feasting, and of song,
upon which the spirit of Dickens’ work cast a
benign and happy influence. For in the practical
spirit of the world-famous Carol, the Dickens’
Fellowship entertained a thousand of London's
poor children to dinner and an entertainment
at the Alexandra Trust, City Road. Funds had
come in from members of the Fellowship and
their friends sufficient in amount to entertain
3,000 little ones ; and as it was impossible, owing
to the exigenciesof building space, to entertain them
all at the same time in the same place, the other
2,000 will take their turn later. The invitations
to the feast were distributed with a catholicity of
spirit as broad as that which pervades Dickens’
every volume. It was enough that the little guest
was a child of poor parents, no matter what their
party or creed, to enable it to be bidden to a
festive board laden with Christmas fare and distri-
buted by an army of willing workers without stint.
In their anxiety to seat themselves at the tables the
little ones fell over each other in climbing the
stairs, in some instances sadly disarranging the
best attire. But they quickly picked themselves
up and passed in a continuous stream into the
rooms on the first and second floors marshalled by
many willing helpers. When all had found seats, a
ménu was served, in which the principal items
were roast beef and roast mutton, with two
vegetables, and plum pudding ; and then, when
the small guests had eaten to satiety, they were
handed each a bag of sweets and an orange, and
finally a bon-bon, the gift of Mr. Hall Caine.
Then came the second half of the entertainment,
for which the first half had prepared them. The
children screamed with laughter, and were moved
to tears by many of the readings, recitations, and
songs contributed by a number of ladies and
gentlemen, who gave their services gratuitously.
The I.D.K. Minstrels presented a programme with
more than a dozen good things in it, and as the
shadows gathered, and evening grew into night,
the little guests were dismissed to their homes in
the neighbourhood, smiling and happy, to experi-
ence anew in their childish dreams the incidents of
a day which they will not soon forget.
———_ ++
CORRESPONDENCE,
<1 —
NETT OR NET?
To the Editor of THE AUTHOR.
S1r,—It is pleasant to note how The Author con-
sistently upholds in its columns the first-named
mode of spelling this word. Why are publishers,
THE AUTHOR.
for the most part, equally persistent in their
adherence to the latter method ? I have had more
than one friendly bout with them upon the subject,
and still travel along sanguine lines in the hope of
a conversion to my way of thinking. For it cer-
tainly does seem to me, as it may to other writers,
that uniformity is very desirable over so important
an indicator. I plump, as does this organ of ours,
for the employment of “nett” as opposed to the
less distinctive “net,” and am inclined to believe
that the adoption would meet with fuller accept-
ance from the literary world in general. There is
much value in a ‘‘t,” say I,
Oup Birp.
Authors’ Club, 8.W.
—<>—+ —
To the Editor of THe AUTHOR.
Sin,—Publishers complain of the absence of
first-class authors, and they admit, as far as my
acquaintance with them goes, that a large amount
of the books published have no permanent value.
But is not some of all this dearth caused by the
publishers themselves ?
I know a gentleman, a good writer, but not
very well known, who devoted ten years to writing
a really clever book, and well spoken of. The
publisher he came in contact with (a London
publisher) would publish the book on commission—
cost about £90; but mark, the profit to author
would be £17.
Is such an agreement and profit likely to induce
people of ability to write? I think not.
Publisher said there would be some extra profit
for advance proof copies sold in America.
Yours,
“ SENEX.””
oe
To the Editor of THe AUTHOR.
Srr,—I lately published a volume of poems
which called forth some twenty notices, from which
I give some extracts :—
“The title of this volume
indicates accurately
enough ” —Scotsman.
“Thought predominates
over fancy.”—Sceotsman.
“Has the power of clearly
expressing his views.”—
Yorkshire Herald,
“ Well worth reading,” re-
ferring to the book as a
whole.—ZJrish Times.
“The title gives no clue to
the contents.”—Church
of England Pulpit.
“The author is the servant
of hisrhymes and metres.”
—Sheffield Telegraph.
“Never succeeds in pro-
ducing clear impressions.”
—Daily News.
“ Regretfully we lay aside”
the volume with dis-
appointment.— Birming-
ham Post.
“ Every white will have its black,
And every sweet its sour.”
But of what use are the critics to the public
or to
Yours faithfully, ,
LANK ?
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
—_ -—~<—+ —
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
q agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
: I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
i Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
198 agreement).
[ In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
5 duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
a ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”
it unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
ol rights.
) (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
A As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
sob doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
| proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
101 for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
sf} thetruth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“ Cost of Production.”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
<) (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,
wh
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
ig above mentioned.
: Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
: Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
i! the Secretary of the Society.
ey Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
i Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
7 The main points which the Society has always demanded
“from the outset are :—
ya C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
s ‘means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld,
—~<++
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
2 ge
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
THE AUTHOR.
123
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gvoss receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (%.¢.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning. pS
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTIIORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
<<
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
— + —
Li VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member,
124
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) Io enforce payments due according to
agreements,
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
————__ ~~ +
THE READING BRANCH.
t+
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
1
NOTICES.
—
\HE Editor of Zhe 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
5s, 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, 8.W., and 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,
eh 9
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
>
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
—
()* the 29th November, 1902, the Danish
Lower House passed, by a unanimous vote
of the sixty members present (fifty members
were absent), the new law for the codification of
the Danish Law of Copyright, as a preliminary
step towards the entrance of Denmark into the
Berne Union. This action of the Danish Parlia-
ment is highly significative. In 1894 a contrary
decision was carried by a vote of forty-seven against
forty ; and in 1897 a majority of seven votes (forty-
eight against forty-one) resolved upon a course of
restrictive measures certain to render entrance
into the Berne Convention impossible.
et
A Hungarian author has done us the honour
of calling at the office.
Amongst other questions that came under dis-
cussion he pointed out that a great many of the
Hungarian newspapers and magazines pirate the
works of English authors in translated form ;
and he promised, on his return to his native land,
to forward a list of stories with the names of the
authors and the papers that were pirating them.
He asked the secretary if it would be possible to
do anything to stop these cases of infringement,
and frankly confessed that he did not desire this
so much for the benefit that might accrue to the
English author, as for the benefit to the young
Hungarian. Any action taken would give to
native authors a chance of some adequate reward
it
il
HW
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cdl > peng? poten,
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+
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)
THE AUTHOR.
in return for their labour, and to Hungarian
literature a chance of expansion.
Not many months ago a deputation of Hungarians
waited on the authorities and urged on the Govern-
ment the necessity of joining the Berne Convention.
One important reason was put forward. Thepiracy
of French and English authors fostered in the
Hungarian youth the sentiments and feelings of
foreigners and failed to inspire them with a
patriotic feeling and a love of their country.
The whole of this movement points to the fact
often reiterated in these pages, that the wider
the protection given to authors of any individual
country for their works throughout the world,
under the Berne Convention or separate treaty,
the wider and fuller will be the literature of that
country. It may be as well to remark once
more that any deviation on the part of an English
colony from this standpoint, in order to obtain
some supposed benefit to its own authors, or to
foster its own literature, must meet with failure.
The mere fact that publication throughout the
British Empire carries with it, not only copyright
throughout the British Empire, but copyright
under the Berne Convention in all the civilised
countries of Europe, and, with certain limitations,
in the United States of America also, is a sure
guarantee that the best assistance that it is possible
to grant to authors is being given to the colony
that adheres to the Imperial copyright Acts.
We quote the following from the S/. James’
Gazette :—
“The next is to be a Habitual Writers Act. It is de-
signed for the prevention of bad and hurried books. Any
author against whom three publications can be proved in
one year will be placed on the black list, and for a period
of three years publishers will be forbidden to serve him.
Any author who attempts to write a novel while in charge
of babies or young children will, on conviction, be made
todo so. So we are incredibly informed.”
Ink Drunkards! According to some—we print
a short essay on the subject—this is already a
reality. It may be, therefore, that one day the
jester of the St. James’ will find his prophecy
realised.
One question, however, may arise under the
Licensing Act affecting copyright. We under-
stand that the police intend to send a series of
photographs of habitual drunkards to the owners
of public-houses and others. The danger of giving
away the copyright in a photograph is constantly
recurring, and has been alluded to in the pages of
The Author.
It is not impossible that the following events
might happen :—
A man writes a book entitled “The Confessions
125
ofa Habitual Drunkard.” The book has a successful
sale. Immediately one or two of the editors of
reviews are seized with a desire to publish the
photograph of the author, yet owing to the modesty
of the writer fail to obtain one. All they have got
to do is to enter the nearest public-house. Here no
doubt they could procure a copy for nothing.
To whom would the copyright in the likeness
taken for the purpose of the Act belong? Would
it belong to the police authorities, or would it be
public property ? If to the police authorities,
could they restrain publication ? Is it possible
that the author could claim damages ?
The probability of such a complicated question
arising seems to be remote. The point is academic.
_ The following brief extract from a long parody
in the “Outlook,” puts forward in no indistinct.
manner the opinion of some modern critic.
He writeth best who writeth least
Of trumped-up loathsomeness ;
Who trusteth man is more than beast,
And doth this faith confess.
He writeth best who writeth most
Of high and wholesome things,
Not making man’s clay feet a boast,
But his soaring, heavenly wings.
It is the custom of many authors to carry note-
books with them, in which to jot down their own
ideas and,—rumour reports,—the ideas of other
people. We trust that no member of the society
has ever met with the following experience :—
“+A lady went into a stationer’s shop and inquired
of the obsequious assistant for a notebook. ‘ 1 want
something I can carry in my pocket to jot down
ideas.’ The assistant, with extraordinary lack of
judgment, replied, ‘Oh! you want something very
small.” Unfortunately he did not explain whether
his remark applied to the size of the lady’s pocket
or of her brain.”
—__—_—__—_—_+——_e__.
A LITERARY ACADEMY.
—+ +
I.
OBSERVE that the project of Mr. Herbert
Trench which began “Academy,” with all
the implications of that title, is now changing
its nature to a “Guild.” This is more hopeful.
It is to be a self-constituted guild, electing the
academy—which is really quite a new thing in
academies altogether. I sympathise deeply with
all the noble prelusions of Mr. Herbert Trench ; I
feel, perhaps even more deeply than he does, the:
126
need of a common chamber of literature in which
men of all professions may meet ; but I think it
will only be by toil and extraordinary good fortune
that this guild of his can be made any better
than the abandoned idea of an Academy by Royal
Charter. Suppose, in order to get to something
definite, we take his assertions about the con-
temporary prospects of letters as true, and ask
him to go on from his “ brave beginning ” of Messrs.
Shorthouse, Bury, Housman, and so forth, to give
us a really definite scheme for his guild. There
are some enormous difficulties. How will he pre-
vent the impostor swamping his guild from the
outset if he leaves the door wide open? If he
does not, what will it be but a clique—Mr. Trench
and party? I submit it is these practical diffi-
culties that trouble me. The enormous good the
guild might do if only it could be invented I do
not for one moment dispute. But Mr. Trench
has not by any means invented it yet. His
waving rhetoric, his generous bunting, must not
hide from us that elementary defect.
If I might offer a suggestion, it would be that
Mr. Trench should give us a list, or conspire with
a few others to give us a list, of his possible guild.
He might write to this authoritative person or
that for the suggestion of a name or so. Suppose
he were to begin with two hundred or three hun-
dred names, appending by way of justification the
name of at least one diploma work to each name
(for example, I will confess I did not know what
Professor Bury had written until I consulted a
work of reference). That list could be printed
close in small type in a page or so of The Author.
Then we could criticise omissions and inclusions,
mote the excessive representation of any type or
school, and get a clearer conception—and help
Mr. Trench perhaps to a clearer conception—of
his desirable, but I fear quite impracticable, project.
H. G. WELLS.
—
Il.
Ir an Academy of Letters did no more than
‘publish an official magazine, uninfluenced by ad-
vertisement, in which only books of a certain
-standard were reviewed, it would justify its exist-
ence. I suppose Londoners can have no conception.
of the darkness in which provincial lovers of
literature dwell. We never see a good book either
in our public libraries or bookshops, and we have no
guide in which to place confidence. In my country
town there are three or four libraries, and from
these into my home every week come at least six or
seven novels of a general badness unspeakable.
Half of them go back unread even by the devourer
of light fiction, for whom they are brought. I
don’t believe any one on earth could read them.
THE AUTHOR.
But there is little else to be had ; and although [
hear the continual plaint, “I can’t get anything fit _
to read” from all sorts and conditions of men, yet
the stream flows on, giving no satisfaction to any-
body. Iam convinced that if a stamp were put
upon works of merit, the average man and woman
of no great literary taste, but of sterling common
sense, would be thankful for such a chance of
deliverance from the time-wasting toils of the
twaddlemonger. As things are, they have to
swallow the mess that is put before them and
make the best of it. :
The shocking muddle we are now in—our
libraries choked with rubbish, our publisherg’
shelves groaning with books that no bookseller
will show—calls for a radical change. Of the
thousands of books printed, only a comparative
few ever sell, and it is a wonder any publisher can
be induced to issue one by an unknown author, in
face of the fact that no bookseller will stock it,
How can he? No shop is large enough to ho
even a tenth of the spring and autumn output in
novels alone. Poor bookseller! He is bewildered
with advertisements and reviews. Poor publisher !
He never knows what the public will ery after or
reject. Poor author! There is one chance in @
thousand that his book will reach the public at all.
Something must be done. Can an Academy of
Letters do it ?
We nurse a fainting belief that the best will
survive, and that if we try strenuously to produce
works of art, our aspirations and our efforts wil
be recognised sooner or later. At present recog
nition certainly seems to come by accident rathe
than by any inevitable law, but this is because 0
the muddle we are in. An Academy of Letters
might sift the grain from the chaff; and if i
could not make artistic merit popular, which is
perhaps, too much to expect, it could keep aliv
the flame that is fed by sympathy and apprecia
tion, for the lack of which many a soul-starved
genius has been driven to desperate deeds 0
mediocrity. To lose the faith is to let ideals sink
and how shall a man continue to believe in art
when all his world flouts it ?
Mary L. PENDERED.
—-— 4 ——
Til.
WHEN so many celebrities are writing in you
pages on the subject of a proposed Academ,
Letters, perhaps it may amuse your readers to hear
what an absolute nonentity has to say about it.
My impression, on reading the various letters
from the great and published, appearing from time
to time in Zhe Author, has been, and is, that it.
all, to quote a type of author, “ very beautiful.
og
? d
ig
oh
od
Se
otf
de
a9
Ue
p
ak
HOLE
dg
But its beauty on a close inspection strikes one as
a trifle disingenuous in some cases.
With all the talk, and there is much, about
benefiting us honest strivers, hardly a word of
honours to be conferred, of knighthoods—perchance
peerages—for presidents, of social advantages to
be reaped by every member. It is almost too
beautiful to be true,
Mr. Trench indeed recognises the possibility of
such blessings, for he writes : “It behoves greatly,
therefore, that for the State’s own sake, some
honest endeavour is made to distinguish and reward
those who practise this art (literature) with signal
excellence.”
Now, when, in the name of goodness, was
distinction and reward from the highly-placed,
aught but tortoise dropped on the head of genius ?
Hardy talent may withstand the blow, but delicate
genius is inevitably cracked thereby.
In the same way competition, which an organ-
ised system of rewards and distinctions would
inevitably beget, is death to genius, though it is
the breath of life to mediocrity.
By the way, what is genius? Thus much |
know of it: that there is nothing more individual
under the sun; nothing that so objects to
restrictions of any kind. Now, who is going to
assure us that this, perhaps, forthcoming Academy
will not set up a standard of its own? Genius
would assuredly shy at any hard and fast desider-
atum of style, say, anything at all resembling a
chalked blackboard ; and, unless I misunderstand
Mr. Trench, it is principally for genius that his
Academy is designed.
Think of the Newdigate and Seatonian prize
compositions, and wonder whether productions as
ungainly may not some day be crowned by an
English Academy of Letters. In order that the
rarest order of genius may have a chance of
_ growth, I believe that the Bohemian character of
our brotherhood should be preserved, rather than
abandoned for an organisation, however august,
however much patronised and decorated by
Royalty.
And are women to be taken into glory if they
deserve it? Mr. Trench has not, that | can find,
committed himself on this point, perchance for fear
of alienating so large a section of our society.
But he has hazarded a statement calculated to
rouse another, and, I think, a large section. His
suggestion of a “ Guild of Literature” is nice and
soothing after that awe-inspiring vision of a Royal
Academy full of immortals, like an omnibus on a
rainy day, until we get to the end. And then—
i and then: “ Recruited from the intellectual refuse
of Europe”! How polite to the numerous clerical
members of the Society of Authors. What exquisite
good taste! But better follows.
THE AUTHOR.
127
Of the churches, he says: ‘‘The brains are out,
the man must die.” A haunting metaphor, and
an ominous. A man whose brains are out is very
near dead. Poor churches !
And “this new Society of the Spirit—this new
Guild of Literature” is, he as good as tells us,
going to supersede all the churches that ever were.
He declares his hostility to Christianity, an unwise
step at the very outset, if he really wishes to found
a representative Academy of Letters in a Christian
land. “We must look to art and science (!) to
bear on the torches relinquished by religion.”
Truly Mr. Trench is laying about him with a
vengeance, smoky torch in hand, And all this
about an unformed Academy, which we nonenti-
ties, being far removed from the chance of entering
it and reaping any of the benefits there to be con-
ferred, should regard as a very doubtful blessing
indeed—possibly a nuisance. That, in place of
Religion (the capital is Mr. Trench’s). What a
comfort for us sinners on our deathbeds!
MARMADUKE PICKTHALL.
—_——_+—_<>__—___—_-_
THE NEW BRITISH ACADEMY.
——1—<—+ ——-
HE British Academy for the Promotion of
Historical, Philosophical, and Philological
Studies has at length come into being.
The story of its evolution, and the practical
reason for its existence may be stated shortly as
follows.
At a meeting of the chief European and
American Academies held at Wiesbaden in October,
1899, a scheme was drawn up for the organisation
of an International Association of the principal
scientific and literary academies in the world.
This association was to be divided into two sec-
tions:—Natural Science, and Literary Science,
the term “literary”? being used to indicate
sciences of language, history, philosophy, and
antiquities, and other subjects, the study of which
was based on scientific principles.
The Royal Society was, of course, a fitting repre-
sentative of Natural science ; but certain of those
who were present considering that no existing
institution was competent to stand for the section
dealing with historical,philosophical, and philological
studies, deemed it a matter of vital importance that
the United Kingdom should be effectively and
honourably represented at any future International
Congress. This view the delegates of other nations
strongly supported. ‘The United Kingdom they
said should take immediate steps to secure corporate
representation. Accordingly, measures were adopted
to procure a charter of incorporation for a British
ie
Academy to promote the study of the subjects set
out above.
The draft charter which was submitted to His
Majesty states succinctly the purposes for which the
Academy has been called into existence, and the
powersthattheydemand. The Academy isto consist
of a President, Council, and Fellows ; the President
and Council being elected by the Fellows from
among their own number. The government of
the Academy is to rest in the Council and in the
Fellows assembled in general meeting, the Academy
having power to elect honorary members should it
deem fit to do so, and to hold land in perpetual
succession, not exceeding in the whole the annual
value of £2,000. As there was noserious opposition,
His Majesty granted the charter.
The list will be of interest to members, as they
will see among the names a great many of those
who belong to the Society.
This, then, is the beginning of the Academy.
Its future lies in the womb of time. Will it bea
practical Academy, aiding and stimulating study
by honouring those who adorn the ranks of his-
torians and philosophers, by encouraging those who
are at the beginning of their career, or will it be
merely ornamental, crowning a life of hard and
strenuous work with anempty honour? It remains
to be seen whether, to use a terribly trite phrase,
it “fills a want.” At present, we understand, the
executive are engaged in settling bye-laws and
other details.
A few days ago the French Academy of Political
and Modern Sciences gave formal welcome to this
the youngest member of the academic family.
Lord Reay, as president, responded in an appropriate
speech.
President—The Right Hon. The Lord Reay.
Council.
Sir W. R. Anson, Bart. Sir R. C. Jebb.
The Right Hon. James The Rev. Prof. Mayor.
Bryce. Dr. J. A. H. Murray,
Prof. I. Bywater. Prof. H. F. Pelham.
Prof. T. W. Rhys The Rev. Prof. W. W.
Davids. Skeat.
The Rev. Prof. 8S. R. Sir E. Maunde Thomp-
Driver. son.
The Rev. Principal Dr. A. W. Ward.
Fairbairn. Prof. James Ward.
Sir C. P. Ibert.
List of Fellows.
Sir W. R. Anson, Bart. The Right Hon. James
M.P. Bryce, M.P.
The Right. Hon. A. J. Prof. J. B. Bury.
Balfour, M.P. Prof. S. H. Butcher.
THE AUTHOR.
Prof. Ingram Bywater.
Dr. Edward Caird.
Prof. E. B. Cowell.
The Rev. William Cun-
ningham, D.D.
Prof. T.W. Rhys Davids.
Prof. A. V. Dicey, K.C.
The Right Hon. Vis-
count Dillon.
The Rev. Prof. S. R.
Driver, D.D.
Prof. Robinson Ellis.
Dr. A. J. Evans.
The Rev. Principal A. M.
Fairbairn, D.D.
The Rev. Prof. Robert
Flint, D.D.
Dr. J. G. Frazer.
Mr. Israel Gollancz.
Dr. Thomas Hodgkin.
Mr. 8. H. Hodgson.
Prof.T.E. Holland, K.C.
Sir C. P. Ibert, K.C.S.1.
Sir R. C. Jebb, M.P.
The Right. Hon. W.
BE. H. Lecky, M.P.
Prof. F. W. Maitland.
Prof. Alfred Marshall.
Sir H. C. Maxwell-Lyte,
K.C.B.
The Rev. Prof. J. E. B.
Mayor.
Dr. D. B. Monro.
Secretary—Mr. Israel Gollancz.
——_——___—_-
OF BOOKBINDING.
San Aine ane
a recent disturbance in the bookbinding
trade has, among other things, aroused
some mild discussion as to the importance
The Right Hon. John
Morley, M.P. 2
Dr. J. A. H. Murray.
Prof. H. F. Pelham.
Sir Frederick Pollock,
Bart.
Prof. W. M. Ramsay.
The Right Hon. The
Lord Reay, G.C.S.1.,
G.C.L.E.
Prof. John Rhys.
The Right Hon. The
Earl of Rosebery,
K.G., K.T.
The Rev. Prof. George
Salmon, D.D.
The Rev. Prof. William
Sanday, D.D.
The Rey. Prof. W. W.
Skeat.
Sir Leslie Stephen,
K.C.B.
Dr. Whitbey Stokes,
C.S.1., C.1.E.
The Rev. Prof. H. B.
Swete, D.D.
Sir E. Maunde Thomp-
son, K.C.B.
The Rey. H. F. Tozer.
Prof. R. ¥. Tyrrell.
Dr. A. W. Ward.
Prof. James Ward.
of the cover in the scheme of things that go to the
making of abook. At one time it seemed possible
that the autumn of 1902 might be memorable as
the one in which books appeared wrapped in sere
and yellow leaves; and the possibility of a pheno-
menon go rare in this country could not fail to
provoke debate as to its effect upon the trade.
It should be premised that these notes are
directed to case-work—to the binding of ordinary
editions, and not to extra or library binding, which
involves different and more elaborate treatment,
and which may be brought into the domain of art
by the caprice of individual taste, and the resources
of a deep purse. It was only the ordinary editions
ant
THE AUTHOR. 129
of which publication was lately jeopardised, and it
is with the outside eovering of such books only
that these random remarks are concerned.
For my own part, I am willing to admit that to
me the outside of a book is a matter of relatively
small concern. Binding is to a book what dress is
to a man, and I agree with Lord Chesterfield in
thinking that dress is one of the various ingredients
that contribute to the art of pleasing, and, there-
fore, an object of some attention; for we cannot
help forming some opinion of a man’s sense and
character from his dress. I would, consequently,
clothe my books as I would clothe my children,
sensibly, but artistically withal ; but were I a
millionaire, I would do no more. Their garments
should be sufficiently distinctive to contribute
something to the formation of that first impression
upon which so much depends. They should be
accurately clean for their own sakes; they should
be of good workmanship, and able to withstand
ordinary use at the hands of a man who loves his
books and recognises his obligation to them ; and
generally they should be unobtrusive, and an
unnoticeable part of the book’s own entity.
I have never been able to accustom myself to
regard the cover in which a book leaves the pub-
lisher as a merely temporary vestment. From this
it follows that the yellow paper wrapper of the
ordinary French book is an abomination in my
eyes, although its frankly ephemeral nature is,
perhaps, more honest than the ill-adjusted boards
of many of our home products. The few French
books which I possess cannot stand erect upon
their shelves, but droop against the sides of the
bookcase as if conscious that their moral character
could not bear investigation, although they are in
reality as innocent of evil as the sturdy Hcclesi-
astical Polity which presents broad shoulders from
the shelf above. They accumulate dirt, get dog-
eared, split down the back, and fall to pieces at the
first reading. If they hold together sufficiently
long to reach the binder round the corner, it is
well. The cheapest boards are preferable to the
paper wrapper, and I almost think I would rather
possess no books than paper-covered ones.
Still, the French publisher makes no protesta-
tions. My grievance with English publishers i;
that, while professing to regard case- work as
merely temporary, and consequently tolerating bad
work from the binders whom they employ, they
are, in fact, aware that the profession they make is
not quite ingenuous. The public look for decent
workmanship in the binding of the average novel,
and, in England, they do not get it. It would be
invidious to give specific instances, but the general
assertion put forward by Mr. Putnam, for one, in
his suggestive manual of suggestions, ‘‘ Authors
and Publishers,” is well founded. ‘That assertion
is that in America “it is the intention to produce
case-work so strongly and effectively put together
that the books may open well, and at the same
time be so firmly bound as to stand all proper
usage, and to remain as permanent coverings to
the volumes ; whereas, abroad, it has never been
considered necessary to treat edition work as any-
thing more than a temporary covering for the
book. Hence, abroad, the cloth-bound books are
lacking in substantial sewing and in general
strength of structure.” As regards that indict-
ment, I think a true bill must be found ; and if
the verdict be adverse, it is surely a matter for
self-reproach.
If a book is worth producing at all, it is worth
producing well; and there must be something
wrong somewhere for the difference in merit to be so
marked as it is in this matter of binding between
English and American books. A novel of my own
was lately issued in both countries at approxi-
mately the same published price. In England I
was permitted to have a voice in the selection of
the cover, and chose an ordinary cloth, plainly
lettered, which, I thought, would be serviceable
and unostentatious, and in every way appropriate.
In America the matter was left entirely to the
publisher’s discretion. I duly received presenta-
tion copies from both houses, both, be it remarked,
well-known and old-established firms of repute.
The English volume would fall to pieces at the
sniff of the first reviewer. The book is badly
sewn, the sheets gape, the edges are unevenly
trimmed, and all the mechanical details have been
carried out in a slovenly fashion. The American
volume opens freely, is perfectly folded and cased
in, the cover is embellished with a peculiarly
appropriate design of minute proportions, the
lettering is plain and unmistakeable, and the
volume will last longer than I shall. I can find
no good reason for this difference between the two
editions of a book, which I have singled out as an
instance only because it happens to be my own.
There seems to be a curious uncertainty of
opinion among publishers as to the effect of the
binding of a book upon its sales. I have known
fifteen guineas to be paid for the design for the
cover of a novel, published at three shillings and
sixpence, and the design comprised nothing but
some lettering, not particularly original in form.
The novel was really literary, and its sale was
counted by tens. I know another novel, not
literary at all, of which the sale, counted by
thousands, is attributed by the publishers entirely
to the picture on the cover, the design for which
cost a guinea. I am at a loss to understand the
motive which prompted the publisher to spend
fifteen guineas in the one case and one guinea In
the other, and I am at a loss to understand why he
130
attributes the sale in the one case to the binding,
and does not attribute the failure to sell in the
other case to the same cause. :
In this matter of florid decoration our English
novels are also inferior to the American, and the
fact can only be due to an idea that picture
designs excite curiosity and promote sales. There
is certainly no other justification for many of them.
And yet such ornamentation may have a contrary
effect ; one case has certainly occurred lately
where the bookstall sale of a book was prohibited
because the proprietors objected to the design upon
its cover as meretricious, or in some way “im-
proper,” and refused to stock the work ; yet this
particular design was good art. —
From these considerations arises a question of
some importance to authors. Ifa publisher insists
for commercial reasons upon having a picture cover,
should not the author have some defined right to
yeto any design to which he may take exception as
being, say, in bad taste, or as conveying a false
impression of the tone and scope of the book? It
is not enough to suggest that this is a matter which
may be left to mutual amicable arrangement, nor
to reply that anything may be made a condition of
the contract. A very usual and proper clause in
agreements provides that all details of production
and publication of a work shall be left to the
publisher’s sole discretion, and even when the
agreement is a royalty one it is possible that the
author might have a legitimate grievance against
the publisher in this connection. In the case ofa
sale of copyright, whether for a term of years or
absolutely, the author would, of course, have even
less locus standi, the publisher being entitled to do
what he pleases to sell his own property, even to
the extent of printing it in white letters on purple
paper, if he thinks such a line would appeal to a
large public. Ifa modest and refined gentlewoman
sold the copyright of her novel entitled, say, “ My
Uncle,” would she, or would she not have cause
for complaint if the publisher issued it with a cover
emblazoned with the golden Balls of Lombardy.
And the question opens up the still wider one
of illustrations generally. ‘To say that the author
shall have a legal right to dictate to the artist
would be to drive the already worried publisher to
distraction ; but on the other hand it would be
manifestly hard upon a sensitive delicate-minded
woman if her novels were issued by a comimercial-
minded publisher adorned with pictures intended
to appeal to the coarse imagination of peuple of
the baser sort. Is it necessary to provide against
such a contingency in all agreements, and, if so,
how is to be done ? That the difficulty may arise,
and even become acute, I do from my own
experience know.
V. E. M.
THE AUTHOR.
LONDON IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.*
te
HERE is a passage in Montaigne’s “ Essays ”
fe which comes almost instinctively to mind
as one opens this handsome, and alas !
posthumous, quarto. “ Nous sommes nayz pour
ayir,” says he in the Nineteenth Chapter of his
First Book. “Je veux qu’on agisse, et quon
alonge les offices de la vie, tant qu'on peult; et
que la mort me treuve plantant mes choulx, mais
nonchalant Welle, et encores plus de mon tardin
imparfaict.” No one had learned that lofty lesson
of doing more thoroughly than the author of
“London in the Eighteenth Century.” It was
more than thirty years ago that he first began to
make notes for a vast “Survey,” which was to
accomplish for the metropolis in the nineteenth
century what John Stow had accomplished for it in
the sixteenth, and tell its story from period to period.
The task would have been a life work for an idle
man ; it was a labour of Hercules for one whose
sleepless energy and warm human sympathies,
dissipated in many ways, left him barely breathing
space; and it is no wonder, perhaps, that the
“garden ” remains “ imperfect.” But, fortunately,
there are different forms of imperfection. ‘There
is the imperfection which is frankly truncated or
fragmentary; and there is the imperfection which
consists merely in the absence of other parts of
the plan, each part being complete in itself. This
is the case with the book which Sir Walter Besant
has left behind him. It is an isolated portion of
his contemplated ‘‘ Survey,” but inasmuch as it.
comprises and includes a full and detailed account.
of “ London in the Eighteenth Century,” it can
afford to stand alone. “It represents,’ says
Lady Besant in her Preface, “the continuous
labour of over five years, and the active research of
half a life-time. He [Sir Walter] was wont to:
refer to it as his magnum opus, and it was the
work by which he himself most desired to be
remembered by posterity.”
That his desire will be realised, there can be:
little doubt. Other histories of London in the
Eighteenth Century there may be, but it is not
probable that any other historian is likely to
approach the task with the same combination of
qualities, the same faculty for extracting local
colouring from obscure sources, the same feeling
for the picturesque and graphic, the same passion
for minute investigation, and the same enthusiasm:
for the Past. To give an adequate idea of such
a book would be difficult ; to turn its pages is to-
tread the Eighteenth Century once more. In one
picture you shall see the mouth of the old Fleet
river; in another, Covent Garden, with its piazzas ;
* By Sir Walter Besant (Adam and Charles Black, 1902).
THE AUTHOR.
ai in another, the Foundling Hospital, with its wide
so) forecourt; in another, St. Bartholomew’s. With
the aid of Gay’s “ Trivia,”, one of the chapters
makes the tour of the ill-paved, cobbled streets ;
another is devoted to that curious and rare
pamphlet on “ Low Life” which suggested Sala’s
“Twice Round the Clock.” There is an excel-
lent dissertation on Dissenters ; there is another
as good upon Superstitions, not omitting the Cock
Lane Ghost. But those portions over which the
» reader will probably linger longest are the sections
headed “Manners and Customs,” and ‘‘ Society
and Amusements,” the importance of which is
admitted by Lady Besant when she says, in her
Preface, that the “book may be regarded as a
social picture of London in the Highteenth
Century, rather than as a detailed history.”
Certainly, it is these sections that most markedly
exhibit the curious recondite reading which
has gone to fill the full-packed pages. Shops
and Coffee-houses, Costume and Diet, Wigs and
Barbers, Clubs and Night-cellars, Gazebos and
Country-boxes (among which we are delighted to
find that typical one from the ‘ Connoisseur ”’)
Crafts, Weddings, Funerals, Servants, have all
their due chronicle and illustration, while a
specially careful chapter is given to the “ Position
of Women.” The section on “ Society and Amuse-
ments” is not less interesting. Drums and
Assemblies, the Parks, the Wells, the Spas,
Ranelagh and Vauxhall, Drury Lane and Covent
Garden, the Cock Pit, the Prize-ring, the Gambling-
hells, and the Fairs have each full and adequate
treatment. But, to make an end of mere enumera-
tion, we shall take leave to transcribe, as a specimen
of the more vivid passages, the following, which
almost reads like an expansion of Hogarth’s clever
little print, copied at page 524, of “ A Country-Inn
Yard” :
“Upon one who considers the tavern of the time there
presently falls a reminiscence of the past when we were all
living in the eighteenth century. We are standing in a
courtyard of a tavern in Leadenhall ; our carriage—for we
drove into town this morning from the country—is drawn
up in the open court, where are also the waggons, now un-
loaded, which rumbled in from Edinburgh this morning.
Three girls, come up from service all the way from York,
which is ten days’ journey, are waiting for their new
masters to call for them ; an old lady, whose smile is meant
to be benevolent, is whispering to one of the girls—the
prettiest one—that she can offer her a place of much
higher wages and much less work ; there is a great yoho-
ing and whistling from the stable which one can see—and
smell—through the gate on the other side of the court ;
messengers and porters are bringing parcels for another
waggon now receiving its load ; at intervals the housemaids
running about the galleries above lean over the rails and
exchange a little light satire with the grooms below ;
gentlemen graye of aspect walk into the tavern and call
for a bottle and a privateroom. You can see them through
the open window ; they exchange papers, they talk in low
tones, they make notes, they drink but without merri-
131
ment. There are twenty or thirty of these rooms; they
are all occupied by merchants who are more private here
than on ’Change. At four o’clock;a company of gentlemen,
headed by a rosy-cheeked divine, all of them sleek and
some of them even obese, enter the inn with a kind of pro-
cession. They are met by the landlord, who bows obse-
quiously. * Gentlemen,” he says, ‘“‘ youare welcome. John,
show his Reverence and the Vestry to the Anchor. Gentle-
men, you shall be served immediately.” Itisa parish feast.
People from the country arrive, some in postchaises, some
by stage-coach. There is a bride with her bridegroom and
her bridesmaid, blushing sweetly. Shesees London for the
first time : it will be the last time, yet it will remain the
dream of her life. Outside there is the bawling of the
street-criers, the grinding and the rumbling of the carts.
Here, in the tavern yard, there is the atmosphere of comfort
and of rest. One perceives, after a hundred years, the
fragrance of the kitchen ; one hears the drawing of corks ;
one listens to the gobbling of the select vestry ; one hears
the laughter of the country visitors. The servants run about;
the landlord gives his orders; when the night falls, the
passengers for the eight o’clock stage arrive, and the great
coach, piled high with luggage, rumbles out through the
archway into the street.”
It would require a paragraph of equal length
to indicate the sources from which this little
picture has been so patiently built up, and there
are many others as effective in their happy ming-
ling of erudition and imagination. It should be
added that the book is excellently illustrated by
facsimiles of old views, old prints, and old carica-
tures. Hogarth is naturally very prominent in
Sir Walter’s pages, but many of the plates are
drawn from sources which are rarer and less
familiar. It may be safely affirmed—and here
we close our brief and _ all-too-perfunctory
notice—that there is no existing English book on
the Eighteenth Century, social and topographical,
which can in any way compete with Sir Walter
Besant’s “ magnum opus.”
Austin Dosson.
———————EE
INK DRUNKARDS.
R. F. MARION CRAWFORD, in his
novel, ‘“ The Three Fates,” deals graphic-
ally with those unfortunate individuals
“who have looked upon the ink when it was
black and cannot be warned from it, and whose
nostrils have smelled the printer’s sacrifice.”
Just as there are men and women shattered
bodily and mentally by an eternal craving for
alcohol and the ceaseless effort to appease it ; just
as there are self-immolating victims to narcotics,
such as opium, chloral or morphine ; 80 there are
beings who are rendered objects of pity to their
friends and of despair to themselves by an in-
satiable desire to write.
“For one man who succeeds in literature,”
132
affirms Mr. Crawford, “a thousand fail.” He is
one of the fortunate competitors who has been suc-
cessful. Nevertheless, his knowledge of the ter-
rible difficulties obstructing the path of a literary
beginner appears to be deep and well-founded.
Publishers do not greedily accept the work of un-
known writers; being business men and not
philanthropists, their desire is to deal with
authors already established favourites with the
reading public, whose books are consequently sure
to be well received. Speculative risk attends
upon the productions of a tyro without regard to
their merit. It is not astonishing, therefore, that
writers who have not made a name for themselves
are accorded but a cold welcome by the trade.
There isa rumour that Thackeray’s Vanity Fair
was rejected by no fewer than thirty-eight publish-
ers! Charlotte Bronté and her less famous
sisters, Robert Louis Stevenson, and a host of very
important witnesses, have testified, again and
again, to the conservative predilections of Pater-
noster Row. A renowned American author,
whose writings had always been eagerly accepted,
once made the experiment of offering a manu-
script, anonymously, to several leading publishers.
Each of them declined it with thanks !
Yet in spite of disappointment after disappoint-
ment, in the face of perpetual rebuffs, there are
men and women powerless to resist the intoxica-
tion imparted by ink-soaking.
Write, write write! Until eyes are heavy, the
brain is weary, and the head swims; until worn-
out nature strikes by refusing to endure the strain
imposed upon it—such is the curse of ink-
drunkards.
Though there is little or no pecuniary profit in
their slavery, these luckless creatures will still pur-
sue it. Though health is lost, and hope almost
abandoned, ink-drunkards will yet, like Sisyphus,
attempt the impossible.
“We all hear of the miserable end of the poor
wretch who has subsisted for years upon stimu-
lants or narcotics, and whose death is held up as a
warning to youth ; but who ever knows or speaks
of the countless deaths due solely to the over-use
of pen, ink and paper?” Mr. Crawford is right in
asking this question.
Why do we pretend ignorance of a disease
which is, as he says, more fatal than dipsomania ?
That such a disease exists can be readily proved
by an investigation into some of the ‘secluded
haunts of Fleet Street.
“Who counts the suicides brought about by
failure, the cases of men starving because they
would rather write bad English than do good
work of any other sort ?” asks Mr. Crawford.
Further than this, there are men who have been
University scholars unable to earn their bread by
THE AUTHOR.
their pens. It will be remembered that in hi
early days Dr. Johnson, on occasion, walked the
streets of London all night because he could nof
afford a bed. Coleridge, even at a time when he
had attained celebrity as a scholar, a poet, and an
essayist, was in the saddest state of destitution
For all the recognition his brilliant genius re
ceived during his brief lifetime, Keats might well
have deemed his name “ writ in water.”
Literature, like marriage, is something of g
lottery, and its prizes do not always fall to those
most worthy to wear them ; but for such ag are
intellectually unfitted to participate in the draw
ing, it isan Inferno. When we hear of successfy
authors who have reached positions of comfort
and even of affluence, we are apt to forget the
thousands of hack writers whose lives are one
continued struggle for the bare means of subsist
ence.
Sir Walter Besant, the zealous founder of the
Society of Authors, has earned a measure of
gratitude from all who claim brotherhood with
efforts to protect and encourage the profession of
Letters can be described as universal
predominant. The blind, the maimed, and the
halt, who, figuratively speaking, encumber the out-
skirts of the literary country, could hardly be re-
lieved bythe exertions of a benevolent Hercules.
Mr. Crawford has done a service, therefore, by
calling attention to a class which he realistically
dubs “ink-drunkards.”
Poverty, despair, heartsickness, and a spirit of
restlessness ever present with the poor victim, are
such rewards as fall to the lot of a large proportion
of these possessed toilers..
“‘ Let a writer work until his brain reels and his
fingers can no longer hold the pen, he will never-
theless find it impossible to rest without
imagining he is being idle. He cannot escape
from the devil that drives him, because he is him-
self the driver and the driven, the fiend and his
victim, the torturer and the tortured.”
Authors who have passed through what is
called “the mill” can corroborate Mr. Crawford’s
remarks, even though determination, strength of
constitution, and perhaps good fortune, may
eventually have combined to pull them safely
through the Slough of Despond, and to have in
some degree toned down the remembrance of it;
but it is to the less robust, physically and mentally,
that Mr. Crawford more particularly addresses him-
self, to the weaker ones whose qualifications may be
summed up in three letters—nil !
Like opium to an opium-eater, drink to a
drunkard, gold to a miser, is the pen to an ink
drunkard ; yet there is nothing tangible in th
fascination to which he falls an abject slave!
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 05 (February 1903)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che Muthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
FOUNDED BY SIR
Monthly.)
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XITI.—No. 6.
Marcu 1st, 1903.
[PRrIcE SIXPENCE.
THE TELEPHONE.
t
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lei lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
Se
NOTICES.
— 1+
c OR the opinions expressed in papers that are
4 signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
epgraphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
tof the Committee unless such is especially stated
' 0 to be the case.
THE Editor begs to inform members of the
u# Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author
‘that the cases which are from time to time quoted
fin The Author are cases that have come before the
‘oi notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
‘902 Society, and that those members of the Society
djwho desire to have the names of the publishers
19: concerned can obtain them on application.
a
List of Members.
Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors
‘can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
~ at the price of 6d. net.
_ It will be sold to the members of the Society
ing py
—_+-—~<— +
The Pension Fund of the Society.
_ THE investments of the Pension Fund at
eee present standing in the names of the Trustees are
2 as follows.
_ This is a statement of the actual stock ;
¢ Vou, XIII.
the
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
MES BD ois beni iecrtnees an ctaes £816 5 6
docs: sodns:... 404 10 0
Victorian Government 3 % Con-
solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11
War loan 3. ee. 201. 9 3
otal ee. £1,714 4 §
SPECIAL APPEAL.
Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been very successful.
The total amount of subscriptions and donations
up to Dec. 1st is:—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;
donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to
either list are set out below.
Subscriplions.
Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . 50 0. 0
Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia 010 0
Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . 010 6
re Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 0 6
» Brinton, Selwyn OF a) 0
Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie : 7 0 5 0
Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the
Duchess of : 2.2 0
Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace . 0 5 0
Dec. 22, Anonymous 010 0
Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W. 0 5:0
a Pike Clement, E. 0 5 0
1903.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6
» Deane, Rev. A.C. . 010 0
Jan. 4, Anonymous 0 5 0
» Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0
» Russell, G. H. : 1 ft 6
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0 5b 0
,, Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 0
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5 0
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice : 0 5 0
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M. 10 0
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : . 010 0
134
Feb. 8, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 720 5 0
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . : ; +0. 5 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 0
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 0 5 0
Donations.
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0
», Smith, G. C. Moore 1.0 0
Dec. 2, ‘'revor-Battye, Aubyn Lt 0
» Marks, Mrs. . : 010 0
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0
Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0
» “Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 0
» Hellier, H. George. 11.0
Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 05 0
», Panting, J. Harwood. 010 O
» Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0
Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0
Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. - 010 0
Dec. 28, A.S. . : : 751 12 0
» Bateman Stringer . : - 010 O
Dec. 31, Cholmondely, Miss Mary -10 0 0
1903.
Jan. 38, Wheelright, Miss EH. :
» Middlemass, Miss Jean . :
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord . ; : :
» Gribble, Francis. :
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston .
» Miller, Miss E. T. .
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . :
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. .
|; Ord, Hubert H. .
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor
» Carlile, Rev. J. C..
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of
our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for
THE AUTHOR.
qaocoorcooocorcon oo
or
SOceaco Sa Coon oOo S So on
five years, if nine other members of the Society
will promise the same contribution before 31gt —
March, 1903.
We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
the Society will be found to come forward and
meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
before the time expires we may be able to print in
the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten
subscribers of the required amount.
ecooeceo
Subscriptions.
Hawkins, A. Hope £10 0
Barrie, J. M. . : ; : - 10 0
Drummond, Hamilton : : ; 10 0
Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 90
Gilbert, W.8. . . : : - 10-0
Sturges, Julian . ; : ; « 10 90
ee
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit -
of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6
There are a few promised subscriptions still —
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st —
to the date of issue are given below :—
Patterson, A. . i . ‘ . £1 19
Salwey, Reginald EH. 010 0
Gidley, Miss E. C. 010 0
Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0 7.6
Dill, Miss Bessie 0. 5 @
Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0
Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
Clarke, Miss B. 0 5 0
—_—_——— 2 —_____—
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
——~>— 2+
HE second Committee Meeting of the year was
held on Monday, the 2nd day of February,
at 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate.
Mr. Douglas Freshfield was unanimously elected
Chairman for 1903. ‘There is no need to recall to.
the members of the Society Mr. Freshfield’s literary —
attainments.
He was elected a member of the Committee and
a member of the Council of the Society in January,
1897. He has been a constant attendant at the
meetings from the date of his election, and has —
been a strong supporter of the Pension Fund and
other objects of the Society. At the present time
he acts as one of the Pension Fund Trustees.
A warm vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman
THE AUTHOR.
- ey — was proposed by Mr. Sydney Grundy and seconded
yi by Mr. Lely. Mr. Grundy, in a few words, thanked
i) Mr. Hawkins for his constant and untiring labours
on behalf of the Society, and for the zeal and patience
which he had shown in conducting the many difficult
cases and negotiations. The vote was passed with
enthusiasm and unanimity. The members of the
Society, we are sure, will cordially endorse the
oe action of the Committee.
The General Meeting of the Society was fixed
oe! for Thursday the 5th of March. Members of the
o0@ Society will already have received the formal
vom notice.
He Eleven members were elected, making the elections
for the current year 42.
There were three cases before the Committee in
«ty which members’ interests were involved.
On the first case—a dispute with regard to a
dj theatrical agreement—the Committee decided to
si take counsel’s opinion on behalf of the member.
The second case was one in which the publisher
sd had refused to carry out his contract. With the
09 consent of the member it was decided to commence
98 action in the matter.
‘ The third case the Committee adjourned to a
sisl later meeting, in order that they might have fuller
1178 evidence before them.
if There was also a dispute between two members
io of the Society. The Committee hope that the
)19 Chairman, acting as an unofficial arbitrator, may
‘sod be able to arrange the matter amicably.
— +
Record of Cases.
lg Stnce the beginning of the year the Secretary
ced has dealt with twenty-five cases. Of these sixteen
# have come to a termination.
: Six of the latter were for the return of MSS. In
i five cases the MSS. were duly returned to the
us authors concerned. In the sixth the author had
@ no evidence that the MS. had ever reached the
‘0 office, and the editor, although willing to give
every assistance in his power, could find no
2%) trace of its arrival.
_ Two cases were for the settlement and arrange-
_ ment of difficulties under contracts. These were
negotiated successfully. There were four cases of
_ accounts, and on demand they were promptly
rendered. One involved a rather complicated issue,
as the author had been in the habit of supplying
“copy” to a paper, and the amount of copy
supplied was in dispute. In this case also the
matter was satisfactorily settled. The remaining
four cases were money demands. In three of
these cheques have been sent, and the fourth is
in the hands of the Society’s solicitors.
There are nine cases as yet unsettled. In twoof
135
these for money due cash has been promised. If
it is not paid no doubt a summons will have to be
issued to enforce the members’ just rights, or the
name of the paper will have to be exposed. It is
hoped that the other matters will be satisfactorily
closed before the next issue of 7’he Author.
———+—__
Elections, February, 1908.
Addison, A. C. 13, Skirbeck Road, Bos-
ton, Lincs.
Blyth, James
Gidley, A. J. C. (Jean
Courtenay)
Davies, Nathaniel Owen
1, St. Mark’s Hill, Sur-
biton, Surrey.
73, Alford Street, Roath,
Cardiff.
13, Dennington Park
Road, Hampstead,
N.W.
Fletcher, Miss Ciceley .
Hudson, Herbert.
Kennedy, Mrs. William
E. (Aubrey Lee)
Sharam Rectory, Manor
Cunningham, R.8.0.,
co. Donegal.
12, Embankment Gar-
dens, Chelsea, S.W.
Goring-on-Thames.
Westfield Old Hall,
East Dereham.
Maud, Miss C. E..
Pitt, PW. . :
Savory, Miss Isabe
Vaughan, The Right Archbishop’s House,
Rey. Monsignor John Westminster, 8.W.
S
> —___—_
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
—— + —
Obituary Notices.
HOSE who engage in journalistic work know
that every newspaper office has a series of
obituary notices ready to hand, written
sometimes many years before the deaths of the
illustrious individuals to whom they refer. When
at last death comes, no matter how suddenly, the
editor is prepared. The notices are brought up
to date and published.
From the author’s or journalist’s point of view
one interesting fact should be noted.
The editors of one or two papers—those by no
means the least in the land—have endeavoured to
establish a system of not paying for these biographies
until the person about whom they are written pays
the debt due to Nature. Should it chance to occur,
therefore, that a journalist has undertaken to write
the life of a person plagued with the curse of
longevity, it may not infrequently happen that
the writer dies before his study, and his personal
136
representatives, if they chance to be aware of the
matter, are the only ones to benefit by his labour.
It is evident that such a position is untenable
from a strictly business point of view, unless
packed by a contract in black and white, made
and signed by the author prior to writing the
article. In such circumstances the author is
not an° object for pity, but for derision ; but the
written contract on most occasions is wanting.
Then, as often happens when the terms of a contract
are wanting or indefinite, the editor endeavours to
interpret the arrangement from his own point of
view, and not from the point of view of equity
or of the author. On one or two occasions authors
have appealed to the Society to enforce their evident
rights. The result has been in every way satis-
factory. On one or two occasions authors them-
selves, by taking a firm stand, have succeeded in
obtaining the just reward for their labours when the
work has been done ; but there are still many who
lie quiet under this form of injustice, and prefer to
bear the burden of their misery rather than to make
an outcry. Sometimes because they are regularly
employed by the editor of the paper, and do
not wish to run the risk of losing their salary
in order to obtain a few more pounds ; sometimes
because the obituary notice may be unexpected
work from a big paper, and they do not want to
lose even the prospect of further work. Or, again,
because they do not care whether they obtain the
money or not. Whatever may be the reason that
prompts the action, the editor’s point of view is,
at any rate, impossible.
Legally, the work must be paid for on delivery,
if it is up to standard and satisfactory to the
editor; unless an arrangement has been made with
the author before he commences the work, that he
is not to receive payment until the death of the
subject.
If any authors or journalists—it is common
knowledge that there are such—have not been
able to obtain their money under the above
circumstances, and yet desire to do so, their
best plan will be to put the matter before the
Committee of the Society of Authors.
— oe
A Question of Title.
Suit or “Le THeATRE,’ OF Paris, AGAINST
“Tur THEATRE,’ oF New York, LOST BY
Foreign PuBLIcATION.
The Paris tribunal has just rendered judgment
in the suit brought by the publishers of the French
magazine Le Theatre against The Theatre, of New
York. The result is a victory for the American
publication, its French contemporary having failed
THE AUTHOR.
to obtain satisfaction in any single one of the
charges contained in the complaint.
The suit was brought some time ago by the
Paris firm of Manzi, Joyant & Co., publishers of
the French periodical known as Le Thédtre. It
was charged by the complainants, among other
things, that Zhe Theatre was a wilful imitation
of the French periodical, and that its publication
injured the sale of the French periodical, since
many persons purchased Zhe T'heatre, mistaking it
for the French magazine. Messrs. Meyer Brothers
& Co., in their answer, denied that The Theatre
had ever been misrepresented by them as being an
American edition of Le Thédtre.
They pointed out that The Theatre is printed in
the English language, and deals almost exclusively
with the American stage, whereas Le Thédire is
printed in the French language, and deals almost
exclusively with the French stage.
——»——_
The Retail Price of Books.
Justice LEVENTRITT has declined to grant the
application made to him on behalf of the plaintiff
in the suit of Straus against the American Pub-
lishers’ Association, for a temporary injunction
restraining the defendant from interfering with
the book-selling business of Macy & Co.
The American Publishers’ Association is an
organisation of publishers who have banded
themselves together to maintain for one year the
retail prices of copyright books, and within certain
limits to govern the maximum discount to be
allowed on certain other books.’ The association’s
members bind themselves not to sell to any book
dealer known to cut prices, or to any wholesaler
who will sell to such a cut-price dealer.
Plaintiff alleges that this agreement of the
publishers is a combination in restraint of trade,
and as such is in violation of the statutes of the
State and of the Federal laws, and he asks for
$100,000 damages, as well as for a permanent
injunction forbidding the defendants from pur-
suing the terms of their agreement against Macy
& Co. The temporary injunction just denied was
asked for in connection with this suit, which now
take its place for trial in the regular order.
The American Booksellers’ Association, an
organisation of retailers reaching throughout the
country in connection with the American Pub-
lishers’ Association, is made a co-defendant in the
suit.
The plaintiff sets forth that bookselling is a part
of the regular business of Macy & Co., who have
developed it profitably by selling at a small per-
centage of profit for cash only and not at all on
credit, and alleges that publishers have habitually
THE AUTHOR.
fixed a list price for books which as a matter of
fact only the uninitiated purchasers have been com-
pelled to pay; and the statement is made that the
defendant associations have interfered with the
plaintiff’s business by discriminating against the
plaintiff and forcing plaintiff to resort to secret
and cumbrous methods to procure the books whose
prices it is desired to protect.
The defendants deny that their organisation is
in restraint of trade or is in any sense in control
of the fixing of prices. On the contrary they
assert that there is the keenest competition
among the various publishers in the association;
that each publisher fixes for himself the retail
price at which his copyright books shall be sold;
that the association does not even attempt to fix
the price which may be made at wholesale ; and
that the association is merely the expression of the
joint effort of the publishers to assist each other in
establishing the retail prices at which their own
books shall be sold.
This right of protection has been upheld in the
Appellate Division in a suit brought by a drug
firm against the Wholesale Druggists’ Associa-
tion, and Justice Leventritt, in denying the appli-
cation for a temporary injunction, says that his
own views of the legality of the defendants’ acts,
as they find support in the very persuasive opinion
of the Supreme Court of Georgia in the case of
Brown against the Jacobs Pharmacy Company,
must yield to the controlling law of this Depart-
ment as expressed in the suit of J. D. Park &
Sons against the National Wholesale Druggists’
Association. He adds that there is no substantial
distinction in principle between that case and
dé this.
The contest between the Publishers’ Association,
which extends throughout the United States in its
: operations, and Macy & Co. has gone on during the
two years of the Association’s existence, and now
: awaits the determination of the present suit. It
is said on behalf of the Association that the pub-
lishers are convinced that the Messrs. Straus are
contending for a principle ; the rejoinder is made
that so are the publishers.
—+—~—+ ——
A Hard Case.
Atjthe February Sessions at the Old Bailey an
author and journalist was put upon his trial upon
the charge of having robbed his agents, or rather,
a firm who seem to have described themselves as
“The Clarke and Hyde Press Agency,” by obtain-
ing from them certain payments under false
pretences. We hasten to say that the gentleman
In question was acquitted without his counsel,
Mr. H. C. Biron, being called upon to address the
137
jury, and that there was no evidence that he had
Gas otherwise than as a perfectly honourable
The facts of the case exhibit a phase of
literary agency that will be new to many of
our readers, and will serve as a warning to them as
to the dangers that may follow if they embark upon
financial engagements without caution. The de-
fendant is a contributor to magazines and popular
publications upon general and popular subjects.
He entered into an agreement with the prosecutors
Charles John Lavington Clarke and Bernard John
Hyde, under which he placed his own work, while
it was agreed that whenever he had an article of his
authorship accepted he should be paid by Clarke and
Hyde at once the price that he had agreed to receive
for the article upon its appearance in print, less a
commission of 20 percent. He also agreed to hand
over the full price upon receiving it from the editor
or publisher, while he bound himself to take all
possible steps to recover it, and further agreed to
allow sums not recovered and paid over to Clarke
and Hyde to be deducted from future payments
due from them to him. In these circumstances it
might have been thought that the firm of “agents”
were sufficiently protected in their dealings, for
the author bound himself to adhere to this agree-
ment for all his work. It so happened, however,
that after the agreement had been carried out
without any hitch for some time the anthor drew
payment from them in respect of literary matter
which, though accepted in advance, had not been
yet written, and in respect of an article with regard
to which some misunderstanding apparently took
place between the editor and himself—a misunder-
standing easily explained. With regard to an
article agreed for beforehand, there was some delay
owing to a collaborator being ill, and with regard
to other matters some difficulty or delay arose in
the obtaining of photographs for illustrative pur-
poses. In these circumstances the firm with whom
he had agreed for advances of his payments, and
who had made him advances on the strength of his
statements that the articles were accepted, appear
to have conceived the idea that he had robbed
them and obtained the money under false’ pre-
tences. Some statement by an editor or a pub-
lisher may have been misunderstood by them ; we
are not in a position to criticise their conduct fully.
They did, however, in fact, instead of resorting to
their obvious civil remedy or repaying themselves
under their agreement, adopt criminal proceedings.
The author was prosecuted criminally, he was
actually indicted and tried at the Old Bailey, and
was acquitted, as we have stated, without any
blame for his conduct resting upon him.
It is a strange story, a terribly sad one to
those who appreciate the shock, the anxiety, the
138
sorrow and the loss, to the gentleman who through
no fault of his own was involved in it, and to all
personally connected with him. Those who read
of it will see that at the bottom of the whole matter
lies the practice of editors or proprietors of perio-
dical literature to accept articles, to keep them
for indefinite periods of time, and to pay for them
only upon publication. The author may be a poor
man wholly dependent upon his pen. If he be, he
may be lured into entering upon such an agreement
as we have described with persons who will treat
him as the prosecutors treated the defendant.
Their agreement was one sufficiently profitable
to themselves for them to have lost nothing by
forbearance, if in fact they considered themselves
in any way wronged. Many articles accepted are
published and paid for within three months, and
the author in this instance agreed to abide by the
prescribed terms for all his work. T'wenty per cent.
in such cases of payment within three months would
show a profit at the rate of not less than eighty
per cent. per annum. In the same way articles
paid for within six months would mean forty per
cent. ; and even when work was only paid for
after a delay of four years, the money-lenders (for
a transaction such as this, in fact, is one of money
lending) would realise five per cent. per annum
interest, which most people are glad to be able to
obtain with moderate security.
It is the old story of the weak and the strong,
the weak being the author in need of money, and
without enough fame to constitute strength, and
the strong the persons able to meet his pecuniary
requirements. It will be seen that the weak for-
feited twenty per cent. of his income as the penalty
of his weakness. It must not be supposed that
we condemn in all cases the withholding of money
from contributors until the article has been sub-
mitted to the public. To pay altogether unknown
contributors in advance might open the door to
frauds upon editors more widely than it is open
already, for editors cannot be omniscient, and may
-at any time be offered matter already published
by some idle thief who has stolen it from an old
magazine or newspaper. ‘The article, however,
should be submitted to the public within a reason-
able time from the date of acceptance, and not
retained for one, two, or three yeurs, as is not
unfrequently the case. With authors known to
the editor there is no reason why the transaction
should not be completed at once by payment.
In existing circumstances, it is, ay a rule, advis-
able that an author should make a definite contract
that the money should be paid by a fixed date or
on publication, whichever event may first occur.
Many editors do their business on these lines
already.
be eg een og: See
THE AUTHOR.
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—1—>—+—_
N the important and very widely read interview
with our President, Mr. George Meredith,
published in a recent issue of the Manchester
Guardian, he made a most interesting personal
statement. ‘I suppose,’ he said, “I should
regard myself as getting old—I am seventy-four.
But I do not feel to be growing old either in heart
or mind. [I still look on life with a young man’s
eye. I have always hoped I should not grow old
as some do—with a palsied intellect, living back-
wards, regarding other people as anachronisms
because they themselves have lived on into othe
times and left their sympathies behind them with
their years.”
With regard to Imperial politics, Mr. Meredith
asks, “ Do our people know what Imperial prin
ciples are?” He considers that we have yet to be
instructed in them. He goes on to say :—
“We call ourselves Imperial, and we believe that we are
allied to the Australians and Canadians, but apparently
there is no parliamentary notion, or even any publi
recognition of what forces and principles animate an
move these colonial democracies. They are moying ahead
of us in certain directions, and can we, if we are to main
tain a close relation with them, remain as we are? I
Australia, for instance, they have given the suffrage to
women. Are we going to do the same here? I cannot see
how we are to keep united in a great Imperial system
unless there is a very close agreement between our separat
political systems.”
Mr. H. Rider Haggard’s “Rural England
Being an account of Agricultural and Socia.
Researches carried out in the Years 1901 and ~
1902,” has been very widely reviewed. It i
certainly a book to buy for one’s library. A
writer in the Contemporary Review truly says 0
jt: “ As a faithful and, within its limits, complet
picture of rural England at the close of the nine
teenth century, I think it will live for man
generations to come.” Rural England is in two”
volumes (36s. nett), and contains twenty-three
agricultural maps and seventy-five illustrations —
from photographs.
Professor Edward Dowden is the able editor o
the “ Cymbeline” in Messrs. Methuen’s edition o
the “ Arden” Shakespeare, which is being issued —
under the general editorship of Mr. W. J. Craig.
“ Cymbeline” is nearly ready for publication.
Lieut.-Colonel Newnham Davis has in hand
book to be called “The Gourmet’s Guide to-
Europe.” Mr. Algernon Bastard is collaborating —
with him in this. It is to be published next
month by Mr. Grant Richards, and it deals wit
the cuisine of all the countries of Europe and th
chief restaurants of the capitals, sea-ports, an
“ show ” towns, where there is anything interestin
from a gourmet’s point of view to be found.
f _ This unique book is to be free from any suspicion
xt te of the trail of the advertiser, as no advertisement
uote of any kind will be allowed in it. There will be
sods about 260 pages in the volume, and its price will
2 8@ be either 3s. 6d. or 5s.
ve —sMrrs. Hinkson (‘ Katharine Tynan”) has just
‘oyee} issued through Mr. Eveleigh Nash a novel entitled
1 A* “ A Red Red Rose.” In the autumn of this year
evel! Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. will publish another
feyon novel of hers, “The Honourable Nollys.” Besides
eyed: these Mrs. Hinkson has just completed another
soyo8 novel, and is now busy finishing a book for girls.
~~ Messrs. Blackie are publishing volume by
~\lo9 volume the ‘‘Cabinet of Irish Literature,” the new
ibe edition of which Mrs. Hinkson edited for them.
ei She has been finishing the proofs of the fourth
uploy volume.
_ Mrs. Marie Connor-Leighton is at present writing
* ow) two long serial stories which are appearing con-
“ide currently in Answers. She is also writing a serial
‘a0 for the London Magazine, which started in last
08 month’s number, and is called “ Was She Worth
iit?” and there will appear very shortly (Grant
ci91 Richards) a story entitled, “In God’s Good
‘afi Time,” by this prolific authoress.
wf _ All work announced as by the author or authors
»* Tof “Convict 99” and “Michael Dred” is now
“di wholly Mrs. Connor-Leighton’s own. Indeed, all
sd that she has written during the past five years,
“mf amounting on an average to close upon nine
“me hundred thousand words a year, is entirely her
we Own.
‘| ‘Mrs. Fred Reynolds’ latest novel, “The Man
i with the Wooden Face,” will be published very
9 soon by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. The scene is
18 laid in North Wales. The interest centres round
* ai the figure of a music teacher, who passes her
' “#8 first holiday, after many years’ drudgery, amongst
» ie other paying guests, in a romantic country house
in the beautiful valley of Llanartro. About
iy si one of the guests, “The man with the wooden
face,” there is a certain amount of mystery ; and,
@) as is usually the case in idle holidays spent amongst
~ mountains, woods, and babbling streams, the little
% god Cupid plays a busy part.
| Mrs. Albanesi’s novel, “ Love and Louisa,” is
F running well through a second edition. It has
! 8 been published by Lippincott & Co., in America,
‘{ \m@ and is selling very well over there.
_ Rita’s new novel, “ Souls,” will be published
“shortly by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. It is a
408 stinging satire on certain follies and vices of one
’ 4% of the many sets of present-day society.
We have been asked to mention the fact that
he article entitled “Ink Drunkards,” in our last
THE AUTHOR.
139
issue, was written by Mr. L. Harlingford North.
We have much pleasure in doing so, as the article
has created some stir. There was a full leader
devoted to it in the Morning Post.
Mr. Richard Marsh’s new long novel, “The
Magnetic Girl,” is to be issued immediately by
Mr. John Long. The novel is an amusing one,
and very readable.
Mr. Bloundelle-Burton’s new story of to-day,
“ \ Branded Name,” has finished its serial course,
and will be published in volume form by Methuen
& Co. on the 19th inst. -The mystery of the novel,
although told in the form of fiction, has a solid
foundation in fact, and will, to many persons in
London society, recall some incidents in the lives
of two well-known beautiful women which were
much discussed some few years ago without
becoming matter of public gossip.
Miss Evelyn Sharp is to produce a series of
readers for children. Of these there are to be
three. The first, now ready, has no words longer
than two syllables, and the stories and verses about
children are all very short. In the second the
words and the stories grow a little longer, and so
in the third. Most of the stories are illustrated by
pictures taken from photographs of real children.
Messrs. Macmillan publish the series.
“Little Entertainments,” by Barry Pain (1s.,
Fisher Unwin), contains 134 pages of amusing
reading. ‘The Collector” makes a special appeal
to us. We quote the opening, and refer our readers
to the little volume for the rest of it :—
“The critics speak
“Tt may be so,’ said the stranger.
sut he is
very highly of his Academy pictures this year.
not an artist. The point is beyond doubt.”
“Why ?”
“ Because I know for a fact that he understands—really
understands—rates and taxes.”
We are sorry to say we have room for only one
quotation from “John Bull’s Year Book” for
1908 (1s., John Bull Press, 5, Henrietta Street,
W.C.) :-—
“Toe ART OF WRITING BOOKS.
“ One could not advise the aspiring author to do what a
certain publisher is reported to have done, namely, to
secure a coyer and write a book to fit it. But it would
certainly save trouble if one secured a really good title first
and then wrote a book around it.
“Two more observations in conclusion, which will not
be believed by the worshipper before the shrine of the
implacable Geddess of Letters, but which must be made
nevertheless. The verses of unknown poets are never
accepted for book publication, And there is such a limited
market for books of short stories that the publisher will not
issue them unless they are the products of genius. Young
writers, therefore, should never commence with poems or
short stories in approaching the book publisher. The
better, nobler, and more satisfactory way is to refrain from
writing altogether.”
140
Dr. Emil Reich’s “New Students’ Atlas of
English History” is designed to aid the student
in comprehending the leading historical facts and
movements. It is specially intended as comple-
mentary to Green’s “ History of the English People.”
In each map only strictly relevant details are
admitted. When the maps illustrate the progress
of events, or campaigns, a brief chronological
summary is given on the page facing the map.
There are fifty-five maps in all. The first shows,
by arrow-headed lines, the migrations of the German
and Celtic peoples into and in Great Britain and
Ireland ; while the last show British Africa (three
maps), the British Empire as it is to-day ; and
finally, by a geographical arrangement of statistics,
the distribution of British genius for the various
counties in the three kingdoms.
The Rev. Charles Voysey has just issued through
Messrs. Longmans a book called “ Religion for all
Mankind: Based on Facts which are Never in
Dispute.” The author tells us in his short preface
that “ ‘The following pages are written for the help
and comfort of all my fellow-men, and chiefly for
those who have doubted and discarded the Christian
religion, and in consequence have become Agnostics
and Pessimists.” Mr. Voysey offers his book at a
price (2s. 6d. nett) which will barely cover the
expense of production, that it may be within reach
of all, and at the same time give proof that the
work has not been done with mercenary aims.
Among the illustrated editions which Messrs.
Macmillan are including in their Prize Library is
Sir Walter Besant’s “ Life of Captain Cook.”
We have received a little book entitled “ Arriére
Pensées,” by Mr. W. P. Peters (Clark & Co., Paris).
It is full of epigrammatic sayings and mottoes,
some of which have a touch of humour in addition
to the sting. We quote one or two examples :—
“Many gather nuts, but few crack them.”
“ Every dog has his day, and every cat her night.”
“We may take the world as we find it, but we never
leave it so.”
Geraldine Kemp, the author of “ Ingram,” and
an industrious writer of short stories, has contri-
buted to a recent number of the “ British Realm”
a lever de rideau which she calls “A Comedietta.”
It is a bright, crisp piece of writing.
Graham Hope’s new novel, “The Triumph of
Count Ostermann,” is to be published by Messrs.
Smith, Elder & Co. on the 9thinst. Peter the Great
is one of the chief characters of the story, which
begins in 1724.
Among recently published novels written by
members of the Society “The Little White Bird,”
by Mr. J. M. Barrie; “Paul Kelver,” by Mr.
Jerome K. Jerome; “The Four Feathers,” by
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. A. E. W. Mason ; and ‘‘ Fuel of Fire,” by Mi
E. T. Fowler, are doing remarkably well, Mr
Edward Kennard’s ‘‘ The Motor Maniac ” is sellin
well also.
Mr. George Cecil has just accepted the editor
ship of the Piano Journal, a monthly paper
which has been known to the musical public fo
many years. It is an excellent little periodica
chiefly intended for makers and dealers, and
published by William Rider & Son, 164, Aldersga
Street, H.C.
Mr. W. 8. Walker (“Coo-ee”?) has published
through Mr. John Long two interesting stories,
They are entitled “ Zealandia’s Guerdon”’ and “ In
the Blood.” The latter has sixteen illustrations
by John Williamson. Both tales are very read-
able; ‘Coo-ee” so evidently writes from &
thorough personal knowledge of Australian char-
acter and Bush life ; he shows, too, in ‘ Zealandia’s
Guerdon” that New Zealand is familiar to him,
Mr. W. Somerset Maugham’s new play “ A Man
of Honour” is issued as a literary supplement to
the March number of the Fortnightly Review. It
was one of the two plays produced by the Stage
Society at the opening of its fourth season.
Sir A. Conan Doyle, Mr. W. Gillette, and Mr,
Charles Frohman have now had the interim ~
injunction made perpetual against Mr. H. S|
Dacre restraining him from using the title
“Sherlock Holmes” without printing after tha
title “ Not the Lyceum Version.”
We understand that Mr, Henry Arthur Jones —
new three-act comedy of modern life will b
produced at the Garrick on March 2nd. Mr.
‘Arthur Bourchier, Miss Violet Vanbrugh, Mr, Sau
Sothern, and Miss E. Arthur Jones will be amon
those appearing in the caste.
Mrs. Hodgson Burnett’s play ‘“ The Littl
Princess” has made quite a hit at its matinee
performances in New York.
“Resurrection,” a dramatised version of Tolstoy
great novel, by Henry Bataille and Michael Mortol
was produced at His Majesty’s Theatre on the
evening of February 13th. The play is admirably
staged. There are some fifty dramatis person.
The plot of the drama does not, of covrse, kee
close in every detail to that of the nov.!. Mr.
Tree takes the part of Prince Dimitry Ne aludoff,,
and Miss Lena Ashwell is a charming and at th
game time life-like Katusha. She hada deservedly
enthusiastic reception. Mr. Oscar Ashe was
able Simonson. Mr. Lionel Brough played admu
ably the part of the merciful merchant in #l
jury scene.
THE AUTHOR.
r= “The Marriage of Kitty” reached its 200th
seq performance on the evening of February 16th.
- «90 Our readers will remember that this popular play
esy was produced at the Duke of York’s Theatre on
joo8 August 19th, 1902, and was transferred some
» sa" weeks later to Wyndham’s Theatre to make room
/ for Mr. J. M. Barrie’s “ The Admirable Crichton.”
of We understand that Miss Hilda Spong is to play
«9d the réle of the Duchess of Quinton in “The Bishop’s
9volf Move ” when it is produced in New York.
r The Feuilleton of the Narodni Listz, one of the
joie chief journals of Prague in the Czech language,
eey was lately devoted to the work of Mr. James Baker,
‘ ody who has made the Bohemian folk, their land and
| ei) its history essentially, his own subject amongst
‘og English writers. The article that is by A. L,
salel Jelen is headed “ Our English Friend.” It gives
‘la 8 a sketch of the books and articles Mr. Baker has
‘ivy written dealing with Bohemia and Bohemian life
' bas and history. His two historical novels, ‘The
ibis Cardinal’s Page” and “The Gleaming Dawn,”
oe adj the scenes of which alternate between England and
s.fo@ Bohemia in the fifteenth century, and “ Mark
Jif Tillotson,” a modern novel, are about to appear
“3 gi in the Bohemian tongue.”
+>
PARIS NOTES.
—+-—<>— +
NE of the great events of the month of
February in the French literary world was
the publication of Zola’s posthumous novel
“ Verité.”
“f -'This book is the third volume of the series
» entitled “ Quatre Evangiles.” The first two were
> “Fécondité” and “Travail,” and the last volume
~ of the series, “ Justice,” was not even commenced
at the time of the author’s death.
It requires a certain amount of courage to com-
© mence this book, which is nearly seven hundred
- and fifty pages long and very closely written. Had
) the author been spared, he would undoubtedly have
- eut it down considerably, as the descriptions are
6! long, there is a certain amount of repetition, and
i the story itself is greatly hampered by the excess
© of detail.
Of course it is evident from the first chapter
#) that the author in planning this book was thinking
+ of the Dreyfus case. The plot is quite different,
© bnt the victim, the man who is wrongfully accused,
is a Jew. When the sentence is pronounced, we
have the description of the state of mind of the
friend who has taken up the cause of the unfortu-
nate man. It seems as though Zola must have
noted down his own impressions during the Dreyfus
trial and his desire for the truth.
141
He touches on the attitude of members of various
classes of society. We have the bourgeois, the
working-man, the wealthy Jewish banker, and the
ruined aristocrat who has married the banker’s
daughter, There are also priests, bigoted women,
Government officials, and, indeed, representatives
of most of the prominent types of modern French
society.
The chief idea of the book seems to be to prove
how difficult it is for truth to come out victorious,
fettered as it is by the ignorance and prejudices
found in every rank of life. Zola attempts to
prove that it is only by the education of the
masses that any true progress can be made.
At the close of the book we have the key-note.
“Non! le bonheur n’avait jamais été dans l’ignor-
ance il était dans la connaissance, qui allait
changer l’affreux champ de la misére matérielle
et morale en une vaste terre féconde, dont la
culture, d’année en année, décuplerait les richesses.
. . . Et, apres la Famille enfantée, aprés la Cité
fondée, la Nation se trouvait constituce, du jour
ou, par instruction intégrale de tous les citoyens,
elle était devenue capable de vérité et de justice.”
A most interesting book by Henri D’Alméras,
entitled ‘Avant la Gloire,’ was published quite
recently.
It is the story of the literary career of many of
the French modern writers in the days before they
were known to the public, and the perusal of the
two volumes might be encouraging to many literary
aspirants. Among the authors mentioned are:
Dumas fils, Goncourt, Daudet, Maupassant,
Verlaine, Coppée, Sardou, Halévy, Anatole France,
Bourget, Loti, Ohnet, Jules Verne, Margueritte,
Charles Foley, and Brulat.
Among historical works lately published is the
fifth volume of M. Albert Sorel’s ‘‘ L’Europe et la
Révolution.” ‘This volume is entitled ‘‘ Bonaparte
et le Directoire.”
Another historical work is by M. le Comte
Fleury, “Les Fantémes et Silhouettes.”
In this volume we have studies of the two
Princesses de Condé, Lauzun and Madame de
Stainville, du Barry, Marie Antoinette, Despreaux,
the husband of La Guimard and Madame de
Custine.
“Le Paradis de Homme,” by Mare Andiol, is a
most curious book. It is supposed to be a romance
of the future, and the opening chapter is dated
2003 and written from the New-Eden. Several
books have already been published anticipating
the time when the progress of science and socialism
shall have worked wonders for mankind. M. Andiol,
however, proves that even in this New-Eden the
inhabitants do not find perfect happiness. And a
wise old peasant woman declares: “It’s no use
expecting from this earth what it does not give.”
142
As regards magazines and reviews, there have
been several fresh ventures recently here in the
way of Anglo-French publications.
it is now about a year ago since Miss Nina
Estabrook started an illustrated paper called Paris-
World. It is a monthly review containing short
articles and sketches on Parisian topics. The
early numbers would appeal, perhaps, more to
‘Americans than to an English public on account of
the illustrated interviews and the “ writing up”
of people whose fame is merely social. The last
numbers of this paper are greatly improved, some
of the illustrations are excellent, and if only
certain pages could be replaced by a few literary
articles the little magazine would do great credit
to its editor. It has hitherto been chiefly cir-
culated in Paris and America, but the idea now is
to make it an organ of Parisian news for London
and for the American and English colonies in all
the European capitals.
Another periodical which has appeared here
within the last few weeks is The Weekly Critical
Review, a sixpenny journal devoted to literature,
music, and the fine arts. It is edited by M. Arthur
Bles, and among its long list of contributors are
names such as MM. Jules Claretie, Francois
Coppée, Gustave Larroumet, Paul Bourget, Auguste
Rodin, Jules Verne, Coquelin cadet, Huysmans, etc.
It contains articles in English and French, and,
judging by the way in which it is being taken up,
it appears to have supplied a need. There are
numbers of people who read French and English
with equal facility, and for them it is most
interesting to find a paper publishing the thoughts
and ideas of literary men, artists and musicians
either in English or French, as the case may be.
There is no vulgarity whatever about this new
review, and in these days this certainly is refreshing.
There is a portrait of some celebrity given away
with each number, but there are no other illus-
trations.
Still another periodical has commenced here in
two languages, English and French, but in this
case the articles are all translated and given in
both languages.
The International Theatre is the title of this new
venture, and the only wonder is that dramatic
authors and theatrical people generally should
have existed so long without such a magazine. It
is published monthly, and contains an account of
theatrical events in all parts of the world. A
monthly report in French and English is given of
the plays produced in Paris, Vienna, London, Berlin,
Rome, St. Petersburg, New York, etc. Through the
medium of this paper authors can follow the career
of their plays round the world.
There seems no doubt whatever but that this
review will have immense success, There are
THE AUTHOR.
excellent photos of artistes and dramatic authors
of every country, and some most interesting articles
written specially for the paper by celebrities in the
theatrical world.
The February number contains an interview with
M. Sardou on the subject of the play ‘ Dante,”
which he has written with M. Moreau for Sir
Henry Irving. There is also an article on the
“Dickens Theatre,” by John Hollingshead.
The editor of the International Theatre is M.
Gaston Mayer, son of the well-known impressario
who has, for the last thirty years, managed the
French plays in London. M. de Beer acts as
manager of the new magazine, which is published
in Paris.
There seems to be great enterprise this year
with regard to English publications in Paris. The
new edition of English books brought out by Mr.
Fisher Unwin for Continental circulation is a great
boon to the English-speaking colony in European
countries. Hitherto we have had to put up with
the Tauchnitz edition, which is so badly bound in
its paper cover that it comes to pieces in the hand.
If only other English publishers would supply @
similar edition to the “Unwin Library,” the
Tauchnitz firm would have to improve their
edition or retire. Mr. Calmann Levy supplies
the “ Unwin Library” in Paris.
There is to be a great treat for art-lovers at the
beginning of April.
The two hundred and forty-five original draw-
ings by Maurice Leloir, for Alexandre Dumas’
“ Dame de Monsoreau,” are to be sold, and there
is to be a private exhibition of them in the Galerie
des Artistes Modernes on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
of April.
There is an illustrated catalogue of the draw-
ings, some of which are most quaint.
‘At the theatres one of the excitements has been
Madame Sarah Bernhardt’s new interpretation of
Hermione in Racine’s “‘ Andromaque.” M. Saint-
Saens wrote some music for it to give foree to the
most exciting passages.
The International Theatre has just given us a
German play, “ Jeunesse,” by Max Halbe, trans-
lated into French by Myriam Harry.
M. Bour was excellent as the German student,
and M. Bauer very fine as the idiot. There are
two priests in the play, and this is probably why
there was so much excitement about it when it
was played in Germany. The fine acting carried
it through well in Paris.
« Bloradora” has been adapted from the English,
and is now being played at the Bouffes Parisiens.
Auys HALLARD.
—_—_——_+-—>—+>—__—_
THE AUTHOR.
PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS AND AUTHORS’
RETURNS.
—+—> +
A Comparison.
N the January Author certain facts and figures,
intimately connected with nett books and
publisher's profits, were put forward for con-
sideration.
It is more than probable that an endeavour will
be made to deny the figures, and to prove the
deductions arrived at to be false. Mathematics
have never been an exact science in the opinion of
an adversary, and a syllogism never anything but
a useless figure of speech.
Another evident criticism of the article would
state that the prices were based on the whole of the
edition selling, and that only one book in thirty
pays its way, or, as a music publisher asserts, 2 per
cent. of the published songs succeed. But there is
no need why the author should suffer in order that
the publisher may be allowed to gamble. Or in
other words, each book should stand by itself, and
from the author’s point of view must always do so.
To those who do not remember the figures set
forth it is as well to repeat them.
The cost of production of 1,050 copies of a book
of 640 pages, with a fair amount included for
advertising, costs £170.
The book sells at 12s. 6d. nett.
W = the amount per copy of the cost of pro-
duction.
X = the royalty per copy paid to the author.
Y = theamountof the publisher’s profit percopy,
Z the amount of bookseller’s profit per copy.
W+X+Y+2Z= 12s. 6d. = 150d.
In the former article, which contained the
detailed particulars of figures and calculations, the
equation worked out as follows—
42°94 + 15 + 50°06 + 42 = 150.
Or 3s. 6°94d. + 1s. 8d. + 4s. 2-06d. + 3. 6d. =
12s. 6d.
Take these figures! Consider them! Turn
them about! Look at them under changing
lights! They will afford food for thought.
The publisher takes the lion’s share. It must
be remembered that throughout the calculations
care has been taken to state his profits at a low
figure, the only advantage that has been given
him—let us be quite fair—that the full edition of
950 copies (not 1,050) has sold.
The bookseller, who does little beyond purchasing
the book at one price and selling it at another,
Teceives not +’; of a penny less than the printer, the
binder, etc. {who have done all the mechanical work,
The author, whose expenditure of time, to say
nothing of anything else, hag been the greatest,
comes in nowhere.
143
The proportion of profits may be made more
clear by stating them in percentages. Thug :—
28°63 + 10 + 33°37 + 28 = 100.
So that if 950 copies are sold, and the author
Tecelves 10 per cent. royalty, the publisher obtains :
1. The return of the amount he invested. 2.
Sufficient to pay the author’s royalty. 3. Almost
a cent. per cent. profit. If the sales take place
within one year the result is eminently satisfactory.
If within two years, he has made about 50 per
cent. If within four years, 25 per cent.
The publisher, anxious to join in the debate, at
once leaps to his feet, and with much waving of
arms, bursts into reply
Firstly, that the figures of the cost of production
are wrong.
Secondly, that the whole edition has sold out—
a fact almost unparalleled in the annals of
publishing.
Thirdly, that the author’s royalty is absurdly
understated, as it is well known that authors now-
a-days, etc., ete.
In answer to the first joinder of issue, let the
publisher produce his own figures. If he can show
them to be reasonable market prices for printing,
paper, and binding, there is nothing to fear.
In answer to the second, let us consider the
figures alittle further. How many copies must the
publisher sell at 9s. to be able to pay for the cost of
production and to leave 30d. profit on each copy,
so that he may have an equal profit with the
author, that is 15d. for himself and 15d. for the
author—15d. being 10 per cent. on the published
price of the book. 12s. 6d. = 150d.
The sum is a very simple one :—
30d. = 5 sixpences.
9s. = 18 sixpences,
£170 = 6,800 sixpences.
Let X = the number of copies that must be sold.
18 X = 68004+5 X.
13 X = 6800.
X= 523°07.
The publisher, therefore, who sells 524 copies—
surely not an unreasonable sale—receives a fraction
over the amount received by the author.
But it is of the utmost importance to remember
that 10 per cent. on the published price has nothing
to do with the percentage on the capital invested.
The capital invested is £170.
The sum which the publisher receives on each
copy is 9s. From this he deducts 1s. 3d. for the
author’s royalty, and 3s. 6°94d. represents the
capital which he has invested. :
The sum, therefore, which he receives for 524
copies is, after deduction of the author’s royalty—
524 x 7s. 9d. = 4,061s. = £208 1s. ; :
or, after deducting £170, the cost of production,
£33 1s.; and this is the publisher’s profit.
144
In order to express the amount as a percentage,
the following statement must be considered :
33°05
170 : 100 2: 33°05: Se 1941.
é
The publisher’s profit, therefore, exceeds 19 per
cent. of his invested capital when only 524 copies
are sold in twelve months.
Sometimes as many as 524 copies would sell on
subscription — that is, when the book is being
placed before the trade at the date of, or just prior
to, publication. Then with, say, six months’ credit,
the publisher would make 38 per cent. Take the
darker side: 524 copies only sell in two years,
even then the publisher makes 93 per cent.—a not
unreasonable investment for his money.
If the whole edition—that is, 950 copies—are
sold within the twelve months, by a similar process
of reasoning—it is unnecessary to work out the
figures—the publisher gains £198 2s. 6d.
That is, the publisher’s profit on his investment
of £170, to express the same in the form of a
percentage :
170 : 100 +; 198125 ; 100 x TAS 729 — 316-55;
or the publisher makes more than 1164 per cent.
per annum on the capital he invests, supposing he
sells the edition within the year. If the edition
sells in two years, he makes 58% per cent. ; if in
three years, over 38 per cent.
Tn answer to the last statement, the author’s
royalties are what a process of bargaining will
make them ; for the well-known writers of fiction
10 per cent. is absurdly low. The book is pub-
lished at 6s., and all the figures have been placed
before Members on many occasions.
But when a book is published at 12s. 6d., it is
not infrequently a volume of memoirs, a bio-
graphy, or a book of travel, and is the property of
the too confiding one-book man. He knows not
the price of literary wares. He is ignorant of
publishers’ methods ; or, perhaps, as the book is
written in leisure moments, he is only too glad to
get anything for it, and proceeds all unwittingly to
undersell his brethren of the pen.
The one-book man is the natural prey of the
publisher, who reaps a golden harvest at the rate
of 10 per cent. on all copies sold, or at even lower
figures, such as 10 per cent. after the sale of 100,
200, or even as high as 500 free of royalty.
However, let us give the publisher the benefit
of his third and last objection.
The sum to be considered is that divided between
the author and publisher :
15 + 50°06= 65°06.
The publisher receives for the book a sum of
money which enables him to pay (1) the cost of
THE AUTHOR.
production, (2) the author’s royalty, (3) a profit to
himself as a percentage on his capital.
Now the following table will show that even if
the publisher’s objection is sustained, and the
whole edition sells within a year at the rate of
30 per cent. to the author on the published price,
he reaps 46°71 per cent. on his capital.
Publisher’s inte-
Author’s Author Publisher rest on capital in-
royalty receives receives vested per cent.
per cent. per copy. per copy. per annum,
74d. 4s. 9°81d. 134°39
10 1s, 3d. 4s. 2°06d. ... 116°55
12 1s. 6d. ... Ss. 11:U6d. 1.) 10571
15 1s. 10$d.... 38. 6°81d. 99°69
20 25. 6d. ..,, 28. 11060... 81°64
25 38: lad. ... 28. 3°81d. 64°76
30 3s. 9d. ... 18. 8°06d. 46°71
35 4s. 4¢d. ... 1s. 081d. 29°80
40 5s. Od. Os. 506d. 11°78
It is possible that a further objection may be
raised. ‘Che publisher will say, “ You have taken
the sale of limited numbers of the edition when
the author receives 10 per cent.; and, again, you
have taken various royalties to the author when
the whole edition is sold. But what of the pub-
lisher’s profit when the author’s royalty is high and
the whole edition does not sell ?”
Supposing, then, the author’s royalty is 15 per
cent., 20 per cent., 25 per cent., how many copies
must the publisher sell to make his profit on each
copy equal to that of the author, and what interest
per cent. does this in each case represent upon his
investment of £170, if the copies are sold within
the twelve months ?
The problem is how many copies must the pub-
lisher sell at 9s. to be able to get back his capital,
£170, expended on the cost of production, and to
have for himself a sum equal to that which he pays
the author.
The cost of production is always £170 = 3,400s.
= 40,800d.
The sum which the publisher receives for each
copy is always 9s. = 108d.
Let X in each case represent the number of
copies which must be sold.
Then, in the first case, the author receives &
royalty of 15 per cent. =x a. = 22°6d.
The publisher must have, to divide equally
between himself and author 2 x 225d. = 45d.
upon each copy sold.
108 X = 40,800 +45 X.
63 X = 40,800.
T= 6176
The publisher must sell 648 copies. To find his
THE AUTHOR.
profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 =
40,800d., we must write,
100 x 22°5 x 648
. 28 ODA . es
As 40,800 : 100 3: 22°5 x 648: oh
22:5 x 648
408
Secondly, when the author’s royalty is 20 per
cent., z.e. 30d.
The publisher must have, to divide equally
between himself and the author, 60d. = 5s. on each
copy sold. And the calculation can be made in
shillings.
9 X = 3,400 + 5X.
4X = 3,400.
X= 650.
The publisher must sell 850 copies. To find his
profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 =
3,400s., he must write,
As 3,400: 100 ::2°5 x 850:
34
It is deserving of remark that the publisher’s
gain per cent. creases (in consequence of the
larger sale and the larger consequent profit on each
copy), although he is giving a larger royalty to the
author. But a point exists at which he is no
longer able to share equally.
Thus: in the third case, when the author’s
royalty is 25 per cent., 7.e. 37°5d. per copy.
The publisher must have to divide equally
between himself and the author 75d. on each copy
sold.
108 X = 40,800 + 75 X.
33 X = 40,800.
X= 1,236°6.
The publisher must sell 1,237 copies. This he
cannot do, having only 950 copies for sale. That
is to say he cannot give the author a royalty of
25 per cent., and himself reap an equal profit per
copy. And this appears also in the table given
above, where it is shown that at a royalty of
25 per cent. the publisher’s profit per copy becomes
less than the author’s, even if the whole edition is
sold, but yet his profit on his capital when paying
the author 25 per cent. is substantial. It is 64°76.
All possible objections have now been met. It
is clear that with a limited sale, and with royalty
that to some may appear large, the publisher’s
profit is still substantial. If it does not quite
= 85°7.
100 x 2°5 x 850 _
3,400
equal that of the author in some cases, it is no
small percentage on the capital invested.
Workers in other lines of business would be
pleased if they could reckon on such a profit.
145
If publishers grumble about their losses it can
only be accounted for by the fact that that vice
which is gradually pervading and destroying all
legitimate trade has caught them also. They are
eng with books, as others with stocks and
shares,
_
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
+4
The Bookseller.
HE question of “The Distribution of Books”
having been taken up by 7he Author, it is
to be hoped that the whole subject may be
thoroughly threshed out. Mr. MacLehose has, at
the beginning of his interesting article, modestly
pleaded that the question deserves more attention
than is usually given it. That is putting the
point temperately. Any one who contended that
the distribution of books is at the present moment
the most important of all accessory literary
problems would be probably ‘not far from the
truth. The facts require to be dragged into day-
light, and the whole situation to be made plain. And
that any one who can assist in any way to. this
end will be doing good service must be the present
writer’s excuse for a few remarks upon one aspect
of the subject from one who can make no pretence
to be either fully acquainted with all its bearings
or by any. means so well informed as Mr. Mac-
Lehose» The general obscurity and uncertainty
at présent existing respecting the methods and
complications of the distribution of books exactly
resemble those which obtained concerning the
cost of production before Sir Walter Besant, in the
early years of the Society of Authors, brought
the previously carefully concealed facts to light.
The cost of production has long ceased to be a
secret. And there is no reason why the methods
by which books are distributed should remain one,
if the interested parties (and they are many)
choose to have the facts made plain. If the Society
of Authors can assist to this desirable end, a
service will be rendered, not to authors only, but
also to the reading public, and to the publishers.
That sales should increase is as much to be
desired by these last as by any one else.
That the distributing machinery is unsatisfactory
and out of gear is undeniable. Wherever we find
simultaneously existing a producer who cannot sell
the commodity which he produces and a purchaser
desirous of obtaining the same commodity unable
to procure it, the method by which the commodity
is distributed is evidently faulty.
This is at present the case in the book trade.
Authors cannot command really popular sales;
146
publishers cannot secure remunerative ones. And
at the same time the larger part of the reading
public—a public which would be larger than it is
if its tastes were not systematically thwarted—
cannot procure the books it desires.
The outcry of the impossibility of getting books
is universal. Every one has heard it in all forms,
ranging from the complaint of the subscriber of
the circulating library who reads only for amuse-
ment (the most laudable, excellent, and improving
of all amusements), andsdeclares “ One can never
get what one wants,” to the protest of the scholar
who knows how small are the number of shops at
which he has any chance of procuring the works
necessary for his studies—if he can procure them
at all. In the suburbs and in the country the
people who will have books send to town for them,
in some cases take railway journeys to procure
them ; the scholar makes laborious extracts at
the public libraries of the matter which he requires,
because to get the actual works is impossible. But
the ordinary reader or purchaser will not, of
course, take all this trouble. He simply goes
without what is difficult to procure, declines to
purchase what he cannot see, and deserts a market
.at which his custom is discouraged.
-~ On the other side the cry is that the unproduc-
tive stock of books, whether new or old, remains
on the hands of the publisher and bookseller. To
dispose of it is impossible. Yet there is probably
not a book in the world which some one would
not purchase on the spot if it were placed before
him.
Mr. MacLehose appears to assign the larger part
of the responsibility for this unsatisfactory state of
things to the publisher. The present writer has
no wish to dispute the conclusions of a man better
informed than himself; but he believes that it is
nearly impossible to exaggerate the lethargy and
incapacity of the ordinary retail bookseller. ‘These
retail booksellers are the final link between the
author and the public. They are the distributing
agents on whose capacity the publishers’ profits
largely depend. They are the salesmen whose
place it is to encourage the larger outlay of money
upon books by the general public.
There are, no doubt, booksellers and booksellers.
There are booksellers (how few ! ) who if, reversing
the discount system, they were to add twenty-five
per cent. to the price of the books which they sell,
might justly claim that their wares were cheap at
the enhanced price. The scholar who has to take
up some difficult subject, and is in doubt from
which works the new knowledge which he requires
can be most rapidly and most surely obtained, if
he has a bookseller capable of affording him the
information which he wants, able to mention up-
to-date books not to be found in encyclopedias and
THE AUTHOR.
bibliographies, able to state which work stands
highest in the estimation of experts, and prompt
to furnish information respecting the appearance
of new works on a special subject, would gladly
pay 25s. instead of 20s. for the advantage of being
immediately provided with the very works he
wanted. ‘The man whose time is money, in need
of some uncommon work, would find it an economy
to pay the enhanced price to have a work, of which
he stood in immediate need, instantly handed to
him across the counter. But the booksellers able
to render such services are extremely rare ; and
they do not put twenty-five per cent, on to the
price of their books.
But the vast majority can be called booksellers
only on the principle of dwcus a non lucendo. If
asked why they do not stock books, they simply
reply that they cannot sell them. And in many
cases the reason why they cannot sell them is
simply that they do not know how to do so.
In a recent number of 7he Author figures were
given which showed that in the case of the nett
book the bookseller’s profit is less only by an insig-
nificant fraction than the whole sum paid for pro-
duction, the earnings of the paper-maker, com-
positor, printer, and binder—in fact, the price of
the whole of the mechanical labour. And all that
the bookseller does is to procure the book, perhaps
paying a trifle for carriage, and to hand it across
the counter. Yet he cannot make these severe
labours remunerative |
That appears at first sight strange. But it is
not so very strange if the capacities of the ordinary
bookseller are taken into account.
As an instance of what these can be, may the
writer mention a recent experience ? Happening
to require a cheap copy of the poems of Milton for
marking, and not being in a hurry for it, he ordered
a “Chandos Classics’? Milton from a suburban
bookseller. It was never delivered. But at the
end of a fortnight the bookseller found energy
enough to send a messenger to say that the book
could not be procured. When asked for the same
afternoon at the shop of one of the cash booksellers
in the Strand, it was of course produced at once
Whether idleness, ignorance, mere forgetfulness, &
disinclination to supply the book, or 4 combination —
of all these, led the suburban bookseller to say that
the work could not be procured, the Powers above —
know. He asserts that bookselling does not pay —
—in his case, naturally.
Curiosity prompted a different experiment upon
the tobacconist who has a shop nearly opposite the
able bibliopole, and, like many of his trade, at the
same time plies the business of a newsvendor. This
time the work was a learned one on Egyptology.
“If I give you the title and the publisher's address
can you procure it?” ‘JI can procure it at once if
you will give me only the title,” was the immediate
reply. And the book arrived the same evening,
That a bookseller could, if he chose, procure a
book as easily as a tobacconist could is evident.
If booksellers of this kind are losing their
custom, so much the better. The country would
be benefited by the bankruptcy of the whole
lot and the transference of their trade to more
competent hands.
All over the country the case is more or less the
same as in the suburbs—rather more than less.
In the provinces it is generally known that only
the address of an enterprising London cash book-
seller is necessary to make the purchase of the
books sent by post from town easier, cheaper, more
expeditious, and much more likely to result in
what is wanted arriving than any dealings with the
local bookseller. Often the local bookseller will
give only 2d. in the shilling discount, whilst the
London house gives 3d. The London house
io charges the carriage. But if the book is of any
5 considerable price the difference of the discount
more than covers carriage. So the local trader
arranges that the purchaser shall not be left with-
out a single reason for sending to London.
* __ Afterwards he discovers that bookselling does not
*{ +=pay—naturally.
So far, however, we are dealing with a small
part only of the whole question, the supply of
books ordered for cash. Here everything that has
to be done is so simple that the purchaser can do
it for himself as well as or even better than the local
bookseller—when the purchaser knows anything
about books, what he wants, and how to write
for them. But these people are not really
numerous.
Unfortunately, the local bookseller is, generally
speaking, equally useless to all the rest.
First of all, tothe considerable number of people
who know little about books, but who will read if
they can get what they enjoy reading, but go
without books because of the hindrances put in the
way of buying them. These people require, in
the case of the most ordinary books, the same kind
of assistance that a student requires in the pur-
chase of technical works. Very frequently they
are simply in search of something to read, without
having any particular work in view. But they
want to see what they are going to purchase.
But outside these remain a still larger number
who have no intention of purchasing, but will
purchase if something that attracts them is placed
before them.
To all these the ordinary bookseller has nothing
to show, because he does not stock. He asserts
that it does not pay him to stock,
But would it ever pay any one to stock, who
knew nothing about what he was stocking, and
THE AUTHOR.
147
nothing about the tastes of his customers to whom
the stock was to be sold ?
The ordinary local bookseller’s acquaintance
with the tastes of his customers is aptly illustrated
by a characteristic declaration from the lips of a
watering-place belle, speaking for herself and her
sisters: “Oh, we never read now. They have
changed the girls that used to serve at — s
library. The girls they had there béfore spent all
their Sundays in reading the novels. In con-
sequence they could always tell us what we should
like. The new girls don’t read novels ; and
Mr. — knows nothing about the books, So
we found that we never got anything that amused
us, and have dropped our subscriptions.” This
was clementary ; still, evidence that to have an
idea of the tastes of the customer is worth
something,
This, on the other hand, is what a country
bookseller has actually said on the subject of
stocking, no doubt under the impression that he
was being witty: “He only stocks books by
established authors. He cannot be expected to see
genius in the cover of a book.” Then why does he
not look inside? Is he equally unable “to see
genius” there also? He has not the time? But
it is well known that any habitual reader can turn
over a pile of twenty books in ten minutes, and be
sure of detecting by a few hasty glances the two
that will afford him the greatest assistance or
entertainment. In the case of fiction he may
examine fifty in the same time. Why cannot the
bookseller equally easily detect the books which he
can sell ?
And the publishers’ travellers assert that it is by
the cover that the country bookseller selects his
stock.
Evidently stocking cannot pay so long as the
salesman is incompetent to choose his stock.
Equally evidently his custom will not increase so
long as he does all in his power to drive away his
customers. Imagine the hosier whose reply to
any demand for gloves was, “We do not stock
them. But if you will give us the size, quality,
and maker’s name, we can get them for you—in
about ten days.” On those terms hosiery would
not pay. The nett book is a novelty distinctly
advantageous to the retailer; and other steps—
those for example mentioned in Mr. MacLehose’s
article—may be taken to ameliorate his position.
But everything will be in vain unless the retail
_bookseller chooses to help himself, and to do
something to woo back the custom which he has
lost, and is still discouraging. If he is incompetent
to do that, the sooner the function of book
distributing is transferred to more competent
agents the better.
The most serious aspect of the present situation
148
is, not that the publisher can command no widely
distributed competent sellers—though this is
serious for the publisher; nor that the author
cannot get at the public—which is serious for the
author ; but that simultaneously with a wide, if
not particularly intelligent, promotion of education,
the reading habit is being all over the country
discouraged by the inefficiency of the vast majority
of booksellers.
——\_o——_+—____—-
THE SHORTHAND SUBSTITUTE.
>
HAVE no pen in my hand ; there is no short-
hand writer in the room worrying me to
repeat what I said, and asking the way to
spell this or that word ; there is no typewriter in
front of me with its odious click, click; and yet
this article is being evolved rapidly and without
effort. Now and again I press a key, but that is
all. When I have dictated to the extent of 800
words, I push aside a little lever, place a wax
cylinder in a box, label it No. 1, and have no
more care or trouble about the matter until the
afternoon, when my amanuensis brings me a
neatly-typed article for revision. Thanks
to an excellent voice recording and reproducing
machine, I have done most of my literary work
and correspondence after this fashion for some
years. The only serious fault I have to find
with the system is that in course of time the
phonograph comes to be regarded as almost indis-
pensable, and that when away from home without
my mechanical assistant, literary work of any kind
becomes a grievous toil. Undoubtedly there are
writers who could not use the phonograph with
advantage. Some cannot dictate. In other cases
the voice possesses a somewhat muffled quality,
which makes the record of it too indistinct for the
amanuensis to understand when phonographically
reproduced, and [ may say here that women make
by far the clearest record. There are, again,
authors who are incapable of understanding
and managing the most simple piece of machinery,
though they somehow seem to learn to use a pen,
which is an infinitely more difficult instrument to
manage than a phonograph, and takes much longer
in the learning. But there are large numbers of
authors and journalists by whom the phonograph
would be found as useful as I have found it, and
for whose advantage I venture to offer some
account of my experiences. I have only heard of
two authors who use the phonograph—Mr. Guy
Boothby and Mr. Houghton Townley—and the
output of these is considerable. A few business
men use them in their offices instead of shorthand
THE AUTHOR.
clerks. One whom I know—Mr. Upcott Gill
publisher—has used a phonograph for many years
for his correspondence.
The first question which an author will naturally
ask himself is, “Can I do as good work if I dictate
as if I write?” This is very largely a personal
matter, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the
individual. The author who thinks and writes
slowly, and whose literary output rarely exceeds
500 words in a day, should, I think, confine himself
to the pen, but those who compose about 2,000
words a day or more are likely to keep up a
better average quality of work if they dictate
than if they write. The reason I express this
opinion is that after about 1,000 words have
been written with the pen there is acertain amount
of bodily fatigue which affects the mind to a
certain extent, and towards the end of the day’s
work, the quality of the literary matter is inclined
to suffer in consequence of the writer’s bodily
weariness. As a general rule the literary man
should, during and just before his hours of work,
avoid anything which tends either to distract or
weary him. The phonograph itself is undoubtedly
when first possessed something in the nature of a
distraction ; but this feeling passes off, and very
soon one’s hand does the slight manipulation which ~
is required without conscious reference to the
mind, just as the hands of the piano player work
mechanically while the eyes and mind of the player
are fixed on the page of music. :
This question was one which I considered very
anxiously in connection with my own work, and
the conclusion I came to was that dictated work
was, on the whole, as good as work with pen and
ink. I was able in this connection, to compare
two novels. The first, “Lady Val’s_ Elope-
ment,” was written by me in pencil, and as the
revised draft was almost illegible, I dictated it
to a shorthand writer, making further alterations
as I went. After the shorthand notes had been
transcribed, I revised the story for the third time
and sent it to press. With this I can compare
“ Her Wild Oats,” a novel which was dictated in
a very few weeks, though the arrangement and
scheme of it required many months of work. I can
get no indication of which was the better book
from the reviews; but it appears to me (if an
author is able to judge his own work) that the
wholly-dictated book was the better, and from the
publisher’s point of view it was by far the most
successful. It is shorter and generally less verbose
than the written novel, and the dialogue is more
crisp. The bocks are long out of print, so I do
not hesitate to mention them by name, in order that
others may decide whether my judgment is correct
or not on this point which is one of considerable
importance.
THE AUTHOR, 149
It is a good many years now since the first
phonographs were introduced. A serious mistake
was then made by the owners of the patent. It
was supposed that pretty well everyone would
require a phonograph, and that the invention would
come into general use for correspondence, business
purposes, etc. Instead of manufacturing the
machines at a moderate price and selling them,
the company merely hired them out on rather high
terms, making an arrangement for the lessees to
be visited by an inspector from time to time, who
would look over their instruments and keep them in
order. This system was an absolute failure. The
phonographs were little used, but within the last
few years they have come into popular favour in
the shape of what I may term musical toys.
Talking and music reproducing machines ‘of
various kinds are now sold at a low price by
quite a number of makers, and at the present
day the practical and useful side of the phono-
graph seems in danger of being lost sight of.
The entertainment phonograph is not suitable for
literary work, and an unguided author is likely
to get a machine which for his particular purpose
is of little use.
It is well, perhaps, to explain that the phono-
graph consists first of a kind of lathe. On the
mandrel is placed a wax cylinder. Set your lathe
in motion and the cylinder revolves, A turner
would cut any circular design he wanted on the
wax while in motion by holding a tool of some
kind against it. In the phonograph what has to
be cut is a fine thread like that on a screw. The
tool which cuts this is a fine sapphire point held
in position by an arm which travels slowly down
the cylinder during its revolutions. In the enter-
tainment phonograph a hundred threads are cut
on every inch of cylinder. In the machine used
for business purposes and by literary men—where
it is important to get as many words on a cylinder
as possible—the arm travels at half the speed, the
sapphire point is finer, and two hundred threads
are cut to every inch. The result is a slight loss
of sound, but the recording instrument has been so
much improved recently that this loss is more than
regained, and an ordinary and fairly clear voice is
admirably reproduced.
The next question is what connection is there
between the reproduction of sound and the threads
cut in the wax cylinder ? It will suffice now if I
say that the sapphire point which cuts the threads
is attached to the centre of a round piece of very
thin glass. The trumpet into which one speaks
conveys the sound waves to this piece of glass,
which vibrates according to the sounds striking it.
The vibration is necessarily communicated to the
sapphire point, which as it cuts the grooves digs
into the wax more or less deeply, and at varying
intervals according to the nature of the sound
thus making what is termed the “ record,”
To reproduce the sounds the sharp point is
replaced by a round smooth point. This, as the
cylinder revolves, goes over the grooves which have
been cut by the sharp point, and the indentations in
the grooves or threads cause the smooth point to
shake, giving exactly the same vibration to the
glass plate above it as the plate attached to the
sharp point received when the speaking into the
trumpet took place. The yibrations or sound
Waves now come out of the trumpet instead of into
it, and the recorded sounds are reproduced.
I do not give this as a scientific description of
the phonograph, but it is a description which
I think will assist the proposing owner of one of
these marvellous instruments, J] particularly wish
to emphasize the point that for an author’s use the
phonograph should cut two hundred threads to the
inch. Each thread, roughly speaking, represents
a word. ‘The cylinder is four inches long,* so that
if we get two hundred threads to the inch, we can
dictate two hundred words to the inch, or eight
hundred words on the four-inch cylinder. If on
the other hand the author has one of the ordinary
machines in common use, with one hundred words
to the inch, he is only able to get four hundred
words on to a cylinder, and as cylinders have to be
shaved after use, this involves double the amount
of shaving, and many more cylinders have to be used,
which is another consideration, though a very small
one. I only know of one firm which makes these
two hundred thread machines—the Edison-Bell
Phonograph Company, of Charing Cross Road. I
bought one of their ordinary standard machines,
costing five guineas, and by altering the gear-
ing of the lathe, had it turned into a two hundred
thread machine without difficulty and without
extra charge. This machine I keep for my type-
writer’s use for reproducing the records which I
make on a much more expensive machine, It will
however, make a very excellent record of its own,
and would be quite suitable for all purposes if
fitted with a better arrangement for lifting the
sapphire point off the wax when dictation ceases for
a moment or two, and if it could shave cylinders
more satisfactorily. The motive power of the
little lathe is a spring, which after being wound
up, will run for about two cylinders, but in the
course of years the spring naturally gets weak,
and will not do its work satisfactorily for more
than one cylinder. This can of course be remedied
by having a new spring.
* The Columbia Phonograph Company, of Oxford Street,
make a machine for business and literary men, with a
six-inch cylinder. They have also shaving machines which
are somewhat costly. I have not experimented with these
instruments.—J, B.
150
For my own use—for making the records and
shaving them—I had to purchase a machine which
now costs £15. It has powerful springs which
will run four or five cylinders without atten-
tion. On this machine there are two little
keys ; one marked “ Off? the other “ On.” If I
press down the “Off” key, the point is lifted off
the wax; on pressing the “On” key the point
drops on to the wax again in its former position.
In the cheaper machine there is a little difficulty in
getting the sapphire point into exactly the same place
after lifting it, but this could be easily remedied,
andit is possible the company would make the altera-
tion for any person requiring a machine of that
class. It is of course necessary for the typewriter
to stop the sound of the voice at the end of each
sentence or two. This is not done by stopping
the revolution of the cylinder but by lifting the
sapphire point off it. It is obviously important
that the point should be lowered into the groove
from which it was raised, otherwise time is wasted.
For some reasons, an electric motor is very
much better than a spring motor forthe phonograph,
and I should recommend it where electricity is
available without much trouble. In houses fitted
with electric light, it is of course available, the 100
volt system being the best. The 200 volt system
is too powerful, and the apparatus involved lends
to much waste of electricity.
A question which will perplex the purchaser is:
whether to have a combined recorder and repro-
ducer, or two separate instruments.t I do not find
that the combined recorder and reproducer possesses
any particular advantage. It is not often during the
day that the author wishes to reproduce what he
has said, and when this does occur, to change the
recorder for the reproducer is a matter of a few
seconds only. Before buying a phonograph I made
arrangements with the company to have from them
various types of phonograph with the option of pur-
chase, and it was after a somewhat prolonged trial
I found the machines I have mentioned to be the
best. The larger one is the most highly finished
production of the Edison-Bell Phonograph Com-
pany, but as I have already said, the cheaper one
would answer every purpose if fitted with an
arrangement for lifting the sapphire from the wax
and for shaving records satisfactorily.
The running expenses of these machines after
purchase are comparatively slight, for each cylinder
can be shaved at least twenty times (the company say
fifty times in their price list), As a cylinder costs
a shilling, and contains about 800 words, at least
+ The recorder consists of a round metal frame about
18 in. in diameter, which holds the glass diaphragm and
sharp sapphire point. The reproducer is similar but bears
the smooth reproducing point. The two can be combined
in one instrument.
THE AUTHOR.
16,000 words can be dictated at a cost of one
shilling for material. When the cylinders get thin
a musical or other interesting or amusing record
can be made on them.
The shaving of cylinders was at the commence-
ment, my greatest difficulty. It is a matter of
considerable delicacy with any of the cheaper
machines—and requires an extremely well-made
machine to do it satisfactorily. I may explain
that the shaving is done by what is called a knife,
but is in reality a flat piece of sapphire with a
sharp, slightly convex edge which can be placed in
contact with the cylinder, and travels along it
while the machine is put at its highest speed. On
the cheaper spring motors, such as that in the five
guinea machine, I found that one could not get
the necessary speed, and the arm holding the knife
did not travel with sufficient accuracy to put a
smooth surface on the cylinder. On my large
machine I could shave the cylinders very well by
using the spring motor, but it was a somewhat
tedious operation, and of course shortened the life of
thespring. Finally I solved the difficulty by having
a handwheel (7% in. diameter) apparatus made by
a bicycle maker for my large machine. It is
placed on the machine in a couple of minutes by
means of two thumbscrews. A piece of round solid
rubber, with a hook and eye at the end of it to join
it, is placed round the shaft of the lathe and over
the wheel, and on the wheel being turned, the
lathe works at such a high speed that I can now
shave a cylinder in less than forty-five seconds and
get a perfect surface. People who use phonographs
for music and amusement more often buy records
ready made than make them, and even after making
a record they rarely want to shave the cylinder.
When they do they can send the cylinder to the
company and get it shaved for them at the cost ofa
few pence. But an author who is using four, five
and even more cylinders aday could notconveniently
send them to the company. The cost of carriage,
loss by breakage, and the trouble involved would
be too great. For authors and for business pur-
poses there is certainly very great need for the five
guinea machines and others of moderate price, to be
so constructed that they will shave properly, or for
a special shaving apparatus to be sold at a
reasonable cost. I should add that when the best
quality machines are driven by electricity they can
be run at such a speed as to render no handwheels
necessary, but I would as soon use a handwheel
when shaving on a £15 machine as on one
electrically driven.
It will be seen that as matters at present stand,
one is obliged to buy a very expensive machine, or
else send the cylinders to the company to be
shaved. It may be that the profit on shaving
cylinders is so considerable that the Edison-Bell
1
a
|
THE AUTHOR.
and other companies are not disposed to encourage
shaving by their customers, but I am sure the
policy is a bad one, for many an author would give
five guineas for a machine which would record,
reproduce, and shave a cylinder well, who would
not be disposed or perhaps be able to give fifteen
guineas or so for a machine which was not
materially better except that it would shave
cylinders. I find it a good plan to have a number
of cylinders in use and to shave not less than half-
a-dozen at a time, a matter of ten minutes or so.
As the five guinea machine weighs 17lb., while
the £15 machine weighs 541b., the former is by far
the more convenient, particularly when travelling,
for the phonograph must never be given up to a
railway porter.
I find that phonographs have several advantages
beyond those which are obvious. In the first place
the author and his amanuensis can both be
working at the same time, which doubles the time
the amanuensis can give to transcription. Secondly
the author can work at any time it pleases him.
Shorthand writers who have to come up to the
.study at eleven o’clock at night will not often be
found in a very amiable frame of mind. The
author who has a phonograph into which he can
dictate at night, can please himself as to his
hours. Thirdly, the machine is, I need hardly say,
an endless source of amusement to one’s friends,
for even those made specially for literary and
business purposes will reproduce music, songs, etc.,
with more or less accuracy, and the friend who is
not interested in literary matters is sometimes very
much interested in the phonograph. And lastly,
where members of an author’s family are anxious
to assist him in his labours, they can always do so
by shaving the cylinders and by writing out for
him anything he may dictate into the phonograph,
for obviously no knowledge of shorthand is
necessary. One of my delights in my leisure
moments is to place my phonograph at the back of
the piano, ramble about over the keys, and imagine
I am composing. The phonograph makes a record
of the resulting sounds and enables me to study
them and hear what poor stuff Ihave evolved. The
instrument may be therefore recommended as a
moderator of vanity.
The most pleasant way to hear music, or indeed
any sounds, reproduced by the phonograph is
through thin, hardrubber tubes, the ends of which are
connected with the ears like the modern stethoscope.
These fine tubes have the curious property of soften-
ing away the grating or hissing noise, which is
really the reproduction of the noise of the sapphire
cutting into the wax, while at the same time
increasing and rendering more faithfully than the
trumpet the sounds one desires to hear. When a
trumpet is~used objectionable sounds are em-
151
phasised, and there is a good deal of metallic
vibration as well. I should explain I am referring
to the literary phonograph and not those specially
constructed for concert use. When dictating it is
best to speak into the metal trumpet provided with
the machine.
It is perhaps interesting to mention that the
foregoing remarks are recorded on exactly three
cylinders and a half, and therefore in all probability
consist of about 3,600 words.
JoHN BICKERDYKE.
i)
CHARLES DICKENS.
eS
2 is with much pleasure that we have to record
another celebration in honour of Dickens.
In last month’s Author we narrated how the
Dickens Fellowship took its first practical step by
giving a dinner to the poor children of the East
End of London, and now the great writer’s memory
is being preserved in the City of Bath by the
unveiling of a tablet affixed to the house, at
35, St. James’ Square, where Dickens lived during
his residence in that city.
Some ten years ago it was the fashion to say
that Dickens was not read and in another ten
years would be forgotten, but with the progress.
of time this great artist’s works have sunk more
and more into the hearts of readers, and in the last
few years we have seen a great Dickens revival,
which, no doubt, will continue.
————__+—_>—_+____—-
REFLECTIONS OF A REJECTED
MANUSCRIPT.
1
MS. in the publisher’s hand is worth two in
the author’s.
An editor is known by the MSS. he keeps.
—and the stamps.
Desperate authors require desperate remedies.
A poet and his poem are soon parted.
In submitting a MS. he who hesitates is a
wonder.
All is not gold that glitters . . . on book covers.
Faint purse never won fair publisher.
A true friend is one who laughs at our jokes.
It is a wise author who knows his own MS.
after . . . it has been blue pencilled.
An author’s royalties are often far from royal.
No satirist is hero to his own epigram.
“Many Happy Returns of the Day ” applies to.
the unsuccessful writer all the year round.
Water PULITZER.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
——1—+—
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if @ proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
IJ. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duetion forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Lhe Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
4‘ Cost of Production.”
IV. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
‘The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
tothe author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
—___+—<—_e+____—_——_
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
———+—
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
THE AUTHOR.
8. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gress receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (4¢.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and ©
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform, The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9, Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of this contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic cou-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.
—_+——_—__—_
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—
2. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
THE AUTHOR.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the
experience of ordinarysolicitors. Therefore, do not scruple
to use the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
This
The
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements.
must be done within fourteen days of first execution.
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
o>
THE READING BRANCH.
—1—>— + —
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. ‘The term
MSS. includes NoT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
6 ae ge
NOTICES.
a
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
58. 6d. subscription for the year.
153
Communications for The Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
i)
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOoR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever, Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
1+
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
HE New Danish Copyright Law has now
passed the Upper House, and was signed by
the King on the 19th of December, 1902.
It will come into operation on the Ist of July,
1903, after which there will be no further difficulty
in Danes entering the Berne Convention.
We have to express our regret that the name of
Lieut.-Colonel G. F. R. Henderson, C.B., was by
an error included in the Report among the list of
members who had died in the past year.
We have watched with great interest the forma-
tion of the Artistic Copyright Society for the
protection of all original workers in the Arts.
If parts of the Literary Copyright Act are
unintelligible the Artistic Copyright Acts are abso-
lutely chaotic. In many cases the artistic and
literary copyright is very closely connected
where books are illustrated. For many years
now the holders of literary copyright have been
striving to obtain a reasonable law. ‘Two years
ago consideration of the question was promised
in the King’s Speech, but there is, so far, no
fulfilment of this promise. Any combination
which may aid in bringing about the desired result,
and force the woes of the unprotected authors and
artists prominently before the Government and
the country is of advantage to those who own
copyright property.
The names of those interested in the new
Copyright Association are sufficient guarantee that
154
the matter will be pushed forward with vigour
and influence. :
We cut the following paragraph, bearing on the
Musical Copyright Act, from the issue of The
Author, of October, 1902 :—
The Musical (Summary Proceedings) Copyright Act is
essentially a publishers’ Act.
To a certain extent, however, the Act must benefit all
owners of musical copyright, whether composers or
publishers.
A careful perusal of its scope tends to show that the Act,
hurriedly conceived, and as hurriedly pushed through the
House, scarcely covers the most important difficulties con-
nected with this musical piracy. It is unsatisfactory, and
only fills a small space in a wide gap. What are the
penalties to be enforced? There is no mention of penalty.
Are the cheap piratical printers, the arch offenders, to
escape the court of summary jurisdiction? It would appear
to be the case.
The various proceedings that have come before
the magistrates from time to time since the Act
came into force, seem clearly to demonstrate that
our prophecy has been fulfilled.
The Act, drafted for the benefit of the music
publishers, and carried hurriedly through, does
not deal with the difficulties of the question in an
adequate manner. Instead of forcing this piece-
meal legislation, it would have been much better
if the subject had been viewed from a larger
standpoint, and the whole question of musical
copyright, as well as that of other branches of
literary property, exhaustively dealt with.
We desire once more to call the attention of the
members to the “Conditional Subscriptions ”
towards the Pension Fund of the Society, set forth
on page 134 of this number.
As every day passes the time for fulfilling the
conditions grows shorter. Six subscriptions of
£10 a year for five years, in accordance with the
list set down, have been promised. Another four
are wanted. It is earnestly hoped that some of
the wealthier members of the Society will come
forward to complete the list.
The editor of the American Bookman, who is
suffering from the over persistence of a contributor,
writes as follows :—“ The correspondent who wrote
some time ago, asking for our opinion of ‘ Tess of
the d’Urbervilles’ from a moral point of view, has
now sent us a personal letter about this matter.
He says that he ‘ insists’ upon receiving an opinion
from us. He encloses an envelope stamped and
addressed, and also a blank sheet of paper, so that
we shall have no excuse of declining on the ground
of expense. This is a very persistent gentleman,
THE AUTHOR.
but we are pretty persistent ourselves. We said in
a former number of this magazine that if he tells
us what he thinks about Tess, we will tell him
whether we think that what he thinks is correct.
This is the best we can do, and’ we stand by it.
Meanwhile we have used his postage stamp and
sheet of paper for other purposes.”
—>—_ ¢ —_—
THE NOBEL PRIZE COMPETITION.
—1.— + —_
N Wednesday, the 14th day of January, the
Nobel Prize Committee met, under the
chairmanship of Lord Avebury, in order
to make arrangements for the despatch of the
voting papers which had been duly collected.
Mr. G. Herbert Thring, the secretary, was in-
structed to forward them to the Nobel Prize
Committee of the Swedish Academy, Stockholm.
The letter was duly posted on January 26th, and
notification has been received that the votes have
arrived safely. It has been deemed advisable to
strengthen and enlarge the Committee, and the
following gentlemen, on the suggestion of the
chairman, have been asked and have consented to
jom—Sir William Anson, Mr. Anthony Hope
Hawkins, Mr. George Meredith, Sir Leslie Stephen,
and Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace.
—————_t—<
FROM AN EDITOR’S STANDPOINT.
oe
IKE the late lamented Archbishop of Canter-
bury, I ama beast. Unlike him, I am an
unjust beast. I treat my correspondents
with a gross and a studied discourtesy. I have a
morbid craving for postage stamps, which, dis-
honestly retained, form the greater part of my
income. If ever I return an MS, before sending
it back I crumple it up and play football with it
for a week or two. This, or something like it, is
the portrait of myself which I discern on holding
up before me, as a mirror, the correspondence
columns of your entertaining journal. For, alas 1
have reached the lowest depth of moral degradation.
Would that I had been content with the criminal
notoriety of a burglar in a large way of business,
a murderer, or even a War Office official! Beneath
the level even of the last I have sunk—I have
become an editor ; and uniting a brazen shame-
lessness to my other vices, I have the hardihood
to defend myself, and to hint that perfect courtesy
and reasonableness are not found invariably even
in a would-be contributor to the periodical Press.
Well, I will invite the casual contributor behind
THE AUTHOR.
the scenes. Here is the morning’s post-bag, con-
taining, at the least, forty or fifty letters and
manuscripts. Three of the latter, I see, are in-
sufficiently stamped, and surplus postage has had
to be paid on them. MHalf-a-dozen are bursting
from their covers, having been done up in the
flimsiest of envelopes; the result is they are
crumpled and soiled, for which J shall get the
credit when those MSS. are returned to their
senders. Quite a dozen have come in the form of
little cylinders ; it will take me ten minutes to
undo these without tearing the pages, and to read
them is almost impossible—you release your grip
of the page for a moment, and in a flash the thing
springs back again into a tight roll. But before
dealing with the MSS., I study the letters which
accompany them, and others which have come
separately. Here are a few samples from this
morning’s post-bag.
From one of four closely-written pages—
* DEAR SiR,—In my opinion, there is no magazine worth
comparing for a moment with your brilliant and admirable
periodical, while, of all its various features, by far the
— is the magnificent editorial article which you your-
se sractae
At this point I make a rule of skipping promptly
to the last paragraph. Ah, here it is—as usual—
«|, . no blemish at all, beyond this remarkable lack of
a series of, articles on ‘ Antarctic Crustaceans’; and such
a series I myself am willing to supply. The price (payable
in advance) which I would ask is,” ete., ete. ‘* I shall con-
fidently await your prompt and favourable reply.”
Well, my friend, you are likely to await it for
some time. If you wish to offer a series of articles
I shall not be the more disposed to accept it
because you introduce your proposal with three
pages of rancid compliment.
Here is another letter—
‘* Str,—In the last instalment of the serial story (by that
popular, but grossly over-rated novelist, X. Y.), now
appearing in your magazine, my attention was caught by
the statement (p. 345) that the heroine ‘ skimmed the grass
like a swallow. Such a sentence could have been penned
only by one ludicrously ignorant of the actual velocity of the
hirundo's flight. Such blunders are inexcusable in a
journal of your standing. Unknown to fame as I am, I
have written a romance which, at least, is free from such
glaring absurdities, I cannot too strongly advise you
to drop your present serial, and to substitute my tale,
the MS. of which I will forward to-day. To help you
out of your difficulty, I shall be content to accept whatever
rate of payment you are allowing your present serialist.”
Comment, as the older novelists used to say, is
needless.
Next come two letters in one handwriting—
“ StR,—No less than four days ago I sent you a powerful
Biblical romance of 15,000 words, entitled ‘The Jilting of
Jezebel,’ It is inexcusable of you to keep me waiting so
long for a reply. Kindly notify acceptance by return, and
oblige,”
155
et SIR,—Since writing to you this morning, I have
received back the MS. of ‘ The Jilting of Jezebel,’ I only
sent it to you four days ago, and it is ridiculous to pretend
that you can have given it really careful consideration in
so brief a period. I am, therefore, posting it again to you
to-night. P.S.—In order that you may have ample choice
I send also ‘The Isolation of Isaac’ and ‘ Rebekah’s
Repentance.’ ”
The next letter seems familiar. In fact, every
day of the week I get one or more closely resem-
bling it—
“ StR,—The literary merit of the enclosed tale may not
be very great, although a dear friend of mine—who is a
minor canon, and an extremely good judge—considers it a
beautiful story. But I wish to inform you that the walls
of our lovely parish church are in a pitiable state. My
husband, who is rector here, frequently catches cold owing
to the piercing draughts which enter through the cracks.
For £5,000, we are told, the building could be put in
thorough repair; and it is to this purpose that I shall
devote the cheque which, I feel swre,:you will send me for
my little effort.”
The next correspondent is quite indignant—
“*Srr,-~I should be glad if you would explain your
invincible prejudice against my writings. In rejecting my
former MSS, you told me that ‘they were not in keeping
with the character of the magazine.’ Determined that you
should have this excuse no longer, I looked at your January
number. In this I noticed a paper on ‘The Delhi Durbar.
Accordingly, having taken the trouble to ascertain that
this subject was congenial to you, I posted, on February
14th, a far better article on ‘The Durbar at Delhi.’ And
then you have the effrontery—I can use no other term—to.
reject it |”
Yet another sample—
“ Str,—-The bundle of verse enclosed is not intended for
use in your magazine. None of these poems, I know, is in
the least suitable for your pages. But I should be grateful
if you would send me a full criticism of them, substituting
other lines for any which may strike you as faulty.
Perhaps also you would not mind giving me a letter of
introduction to the editor of another periodical, of rather
better class than yours, where they would be likely to gain
acceptance.”
Has the reader had enough? Would he like to
see the letters urging the acceptance of impossible
MSS. on the plea that the author has an elderly
aunt to support, or that she has contributed to.
Chippy Chirps, The Weekly Piffler, and the Christmas
Number of Giggles? Or—of these I have had
several—on the ground that the writer is “A
Member of the Incorporated Society of Authors ” ?
Or for the singular reason that she was invited
once to a garden-party at Buckingham Palace ?
Does he wish to realise to the full the vanity, the
imbecility, the petty spitefulness of which literary
human nature is capable? If so, the editorial
post-bag will gratify his morbid taste.
“ Yes,” the reader may remonstrate, “ but then
these letters you have pretended to quote are not
genuine—they are mere burlesques of your real
correspondence.” Would that they were, my
friend! Fictitious, in one sense, these extracts.
156
are ; even an editor may have some slight remnant
of decency about him, and be loth to transcribe
private letters for the public eye. But I can
put my hand on my heart and declare that letters
no less inane, foolish, and unreasonable than
the imaginary ones here cited are dropped into
letter-box day by day.
Authors have their grievances too, I know ; and
for some of them there is a very sufficient basis.
Not ignorant of ill I speak ; I, who myself for
many years was a casual contributor. ‘There are
editors who treat their correspondents with dis-
courtesy, there are editors who disfigure MSS.,
there are editors who are unconscionably slow in
acceptance or rejection. To this last failing I can
give no pardon. Personally, I think I have never
kept an MS. for more than a week unless it was
accepted, though I receive sometimes forty or
fifty MSS. in a day. Hardly ever does it happen
that a rejected MS. is not despatched upon its
return journey within two or three days of its
receipt. I make no boast of this ; I do it partly
out of justice to my correspondents, but partly in
my own interests. If I fell into arrears with my
work I should be overwhelmed utterly by MSS.
Yet if this rule is possible for me, who have many
other things to do besides editing a magazine, I
maintain that it is more than possible for most of
my confreres, who can give the greater part of their
working hours to their editorial duties. Occa-
sionally one wants to keep a contribution in hand
for a while, on the chance of being able to make
use of it. In this case a note to the writer, ex-
plaining the wish, and offering, should he prefer
it, to return the MS. at once, seems not more than
what, in common courtesy, is his due. However,
to find fault with editors in your columns would
be indeed a work of supererogation! The truth
which I ask your readers to believe is that they are
a sorely-tried race ; that the habits of hundreds of
their correspondents are enough to induce a bitter
cynicism, and that their grievances are quite as
real as those of the contributors who abuse them—
though, as a rule, unlike the contributors, they
prefer to suffer in grim silence.
But, despite the “thorns in the cushion,” the
editor has his rewards, which outweigh the troubles
and annoyances of the work. One is able some-
times to give encouragement, to help a beginner
along the right path, to make unseen friends
in all parts of the wrld. Letters of kindliness
and gratitude come as well as the others—letters,
to receive one of which makes the abuse and the
spite seem less than nothing. And thus the editor,
despite the correspondence columns of The Author,
can dream at times that he has laboured not quite
in vain.
ANTHONY DEANE.
THE AUTHOR.
THE ACADEMIE GONCOURT.
—
URING the past three or four months there
has been considerable discussion one way
or another about Academies. -
The British Academy has come into existence.
The pages of The Author have been full of letters
with regard to the Literary Academy, and lastly
the Académie Goncourt has become legalised in
France.
Owing to the kindness of Mr. Edmund Gosse,
we are able to cull some interesting facts from an
article of his that appeared in the Daily Chronicle.
As it is possible that many members of the
Society have not seen the article, and are interested
in the subject, the following statement may prove
instructive.
Monsieur Goncourt left a considerable fortune
for the formation of an Academy limited and
confined by the strict boundaries set forth in the
will.
The Council of State has decided that this pro-
posed Literary Society is of public utility, and may
accept the important legacy of M. Goncourt. Thus,
after six years’ struggle, during the course of which
no doubt a good deal of the academic capital has
been squandered, it comes into active life. Mr. Gosse
tells us that M. Goncourt was no lover of the French
Academy, so his academy is forbidden to engage
in the discussion of grammar, to make any sort of
dictionary, to lay down laws of public taste, or to
give prizes for the encouragement of virtue.
He did not enjoy poetry, and he hated criticism
—accordingly there were to be no poets and no
critics in the academy. This appears to be the
negative side. The positive side is as follows.
It is to be composed of ten men—all novelists—
each to receive an annual income of 4250, and they
were all to combine in offering a prize of £200
every year on a book which shall be a work of real
literary merit.
Goncourt’s Academy would have been a most
distinguished little body if it could have been carried
out on the lines which he originally sketched. But
Flaubert, the obvious first president, died early, and
was followed by Maupassant, while Alphonse Daudet
scarcely outlived the founder. Zola apostatised,
and went cap in hand to the other academy ;
him Edmond de Goncourt angrily struck off the
list. He grew discouraged at last, and failed to
fill up lacwne ; so that when the academicians held
their first solemn meeting (on April 7th, 1900),
only seven of them were left. These were MM.
Gustave Geoffrey, Leon Hennique, J. K. Huys-
mans, Paul Margueritte, Octave Mirbeau, and
the brothers Justin Boex and Joseph Henri Boex
(who called themselves Rosny). M.. Huysmans,
THE AUTHOR.
ertainly the best known among these names, was
elected president, and M. Paul Margueritte secre-
tary. They completed their number by the election
of M. Elémir Bourges, M. Lucien Descaves and
M. Leon Daudet ; then they were swallowed up
again by that litigation from which they are now
happily and finally released.
With the exception of M. Leon Daudet, these
gentlemen are not very young. Few of them will
see fifty again, although none have yet seen sixty.
We thank Mr. Gosse for his interesting facts.
It remains to be seen, as in the case of the British
Academy, what vitality there is in this formation.
It has been created for no practical purpose,
and seems to have no large ideal. It will be
interesting to watch its future. Perhaps the fact
that it stands without an ideal may be its safe-
guard. Academies with large ideals, in that they
are human, have in many cases fallen far below the
standard they set for themselves. An academy,
however, started on the Goncourt basis may rise
to a standard far beyond its own imagination.
One point is quite clear, and that is the £250 per
annum.
(a eee
A GUIDE TO GRUB STREET.
—_— st
s HE Literary Year Book ’’* improves by slow
degrees, and the volume for 1903 (which,
by the way, is the seventh that has been
issued) is an advance upon its predecessors. It is
still, however, capable of being altered in many
respects before it can be regarded as a really
necessary addition to the numerous works of refer-
ence catering to the requirements of the author or
journalist. Much of the information, for example,
contained within its pages is to be found in the
Postal Directory ; and as to the remainder, much
of it is ont of place in a volume that should be
practical and nothing else. Included in this latter
category are the articles on ‘‘'The Crown and the
Author,” “Some Questions of Criticism,” and
“Authors and their Societies.” These, although
interesting, are polemical. As an instance of the
distinctly controversial nature of the compiler’s
remarks, the following extract from his account of
the Royal Society of Literature is instructive :—
“The Royal Society of Literature, as has been
pointed out before in this place and elsewhere, is
past praying for. Itis an institution which literally
blocks the way of the proper representation and
encouragement of literature in this country.”
* “The Literary Year Book,” edited by Henry Gilbert.
London: George Allen, 1903.
157
Very likely it is, but this is not where the question
ought to be discussed.
As in the last volume, a feature is again made
of the Directory of Authors. No doubt this is a
difficult section to edit, for it is the one that calls
most loudly for improvement. It wants purging
of a good deal of the tag-rag and bobtail who
therein dub themselves “authors.” The wisdom
of setting out at length the various third-rate
periodicals in which their effusions have appeared
is also open to question. No one, for example
(excepting possibly Miss Snooks herself), cares two-
pence—much less four shillings and sixpence, the
price of this volume—to learn that Miss Snooks
has contributed to Cackle and Silly Bits, or that
Mr. Somebody Else edited Coronation Chuckles.
To be of use, the hospitality of the list should
be confined strictly to writers of distinction, and
mention should only be made of the books they
have published during the year.
The practical portion of the volume includes
lists of periodicals and their editors (with some
explanatory remarks thereon), tables of royalties,
and the names and addresses of the best known
agents and publishers. With respect to the first
of these features, several errors are to be noted.
As, however, the life of a magazine is so precarious
in these days of fierce competition, this is only to
be expected. Among the slips are the mentioning
of several defunct journals as though they were
alive, and the giving of wrong addresses. Thus,
the Candid Friend, Imperial and Colonial, Naval
and Military, and Universal magazines are no more,
although they are described as being still in exist-
ence, while the offices of two or three others are
described erroneously. The “ Contributors’ Guide,”
describing the policy of the different papers alluded
to in the second list, is of distinct value when (as
so often happens) the names of the periodicals
themselves offer no clue to this. It should at any
rate induce budding geniuses in the country to
refrain from bombarding the Pilot with articles on
shipping.
The tables of royalties scarcely seem so helpful
as they might, and should, be. Even the most
rapacious of publishers would scarcely offer (except
by telephone) a royalty of 24 per cent. on a sixteen-
shilling volume. Yet the editor of the “ Literary
Year Book” apparently thinks that he would, for
the necessary calculations on this basis are given
here. Then, again, the highest royalty which he
takes into account is one of 20 per cent., when it
ought to be one of 834 per cent. These, however,
are matters which are being dealt with at length
in another issue of this journal.
H. W.
a
EDNA LYALL,
1— 1 —
E record with deep regret the death of Miss
Ada Ellen Bayly, which took place at
the house of her sister, Mrs. Jameson, at East-
bourne, on Sunday, February 8th. Well known to a
large section of the reading public as Edna Lyall,
an anagram composed of some of the letters of her
real name, Miss Bayly had been a member of the
Incorporated Society of Authors since 1887, so that
she was one of its oldest members. She did not,
however, join it until she had had experience of
literary work and to a large extent had made her
mark. In her childhood Miss Bayly evinced a
taste for writing, and had composed stories before
she left the schoolroom, as, indeed, many girls do
who afterwards make no attempt to win fame as
authors. Beginning early to write with the serious
intention of seeing her work published, Miss Bayly
had for a time to endure those disappointments
which many have to face who begin the literary
life better equipped than she. She was, however,
persevering as well as industrious. It has been
told of her that once she entered St. Paul’s
Cathedral dispirited by a fruitless journey to the
land of editors and publishers, and took courage at
the sight of the monument of one of her kinsmen
who had been killed in battle. She resolved to
fight on even if she died fighting as he died, but
ghe lived to win success and the affectionate esteem
of a large circle of readers. These felt themselves
personally attached to an author who seemed in
‘a marked manner to infuse her own personality
and feelings into her works. ‘‘ Won by Waiting,”
her first book, written for girls and published in
1879, had at the time no particular measure of
‘success, financial or otherwise, and if we cannot
without giving up confidential information relating
to a member of the Society name the precise figure,
we are revealing no secret if we state that the
copyright in “Donovan,” her second book, pub-
lished in 1882, was acquired by a publisher for a
um which represented but a small fraction of its
ultimate pecuniary value.
The success which Donovan enjoyed did not
come at first, but rather after “We Two” had
attracted many readers among those who like to
study religious questions in the form of fiction,
and had gained the attention of a wider public
still. Miss Bayly’s work was deeply imbued with
religious feeling ; but her books, written as they
were from a Christian standpoint, were filled with
a thoughtful magnanimity not always found in
those of men and women as earnestly religious
as herself. “We Two” was no doubt inspired
by a feeling of sympathy with the difficulties
encountered by the late Mr. Bradlaugh, or at all
THE AUTHOR.
events the struggles in which his views upon
religious matters involved the late Member for
Northampton suggested possibilities which were
embodied in the story.
“We Two” was followed by “In the Golden
Days,” (1885), a romance of a different type, and
the author’s position became well established, so
that many who had not read her former works
when they were first published did so now. Toa
high literary or philosophic standard Edna Lyall
did not perhaps attain, but her warmest admirers
were among those not keenly critical in such matters.
She won sympathy for her characters, and had the
power to a very considerable degree of rousing
interest in them and in the intellectual and physical
difficulties and dangers that beset them. Of her
minor works, “The Autobiography of a Slander,”
published in 1887, had many readers. Her recent
production, “ The Hinderers,” 1902, took a side
that was too unpopular at the time to allow its
advocates a sympathetic hearing.
Miss Bayly was the daughter of the late Mr.
Robert Bayly, a barrister of the Inner Temple, and
a granddaughter of Mr. Robert Bayly, formerly a
bencher, and at one time treasurer of Gray's Inn.
Her principal writings include, besides those
already named, ‘‘Their Happiest Christmas,” 1886 ;
“Knight Errant,” 1887 ; ‘A Hardy Norseman,”
1889 ; Derrick Vaughan, Novelist,” 1889; “ To
Right the Wrong,” 1892 ; “ Doreen, The Story of a
Singer,” 1894; ‘‘How the Children Raised the
Wind,” 1895; “The Autobiograghy of a Truth,”
1896; “ Wayfaring Men,” 1897; “ Hope the
Hermit,” 1898 ; “In Spite of All,” 1901.
—_————\_1——_
SIR. GAVAN DUFFY.
+
ITH the death of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy
a fine type of fighting Irishman has
passed away. His political career—
revolutionary and startling—has been fully set
forth in the papers. There is no need to repeat
facts known to everybody.
He was a member of the Society from 1890 till
1899, when he retired owing to increasing age.
His literary works were not numerous, but one of
his most interesting was, perhaps, his work entitled
“Young Ireland.” He assigned the right of
publication of this to a Dublin publisher for a
given period of years, and to his amazement, some
years after the date mentioned in the agreement,
found the book was still selling on the market.
As he thought it improbable that ‘these copies
had been printed in accordance with the terms
of the agreement, his suspicions and at the same
THE AUTHOR.
time his fighting spirit were roused. He deter-
mined to test the matter in the courts. We have
before us a copy of the agreed judgment in the
action in which he was plaintiff; as the judgment
was in his favour his suspicions proved amply
justified : a considerable edition had been printed
and published after the agreement had expired.
In all his political actions in Ireland, in England,
and the Colonies, he stood forth a sound example
of the Irishman of a past generation, whose high
Irish spirit and Irish vigour carried him to an
honoured old age.
ee ee ee
THE AGE OF REASON.*
1
F self-satisfaction, and a placid acquiescence in
the order of the universe, and a somewhat
lofty contempt for all previous ages, may
be considered to constitute happiness, the mid-
eighteenth century, as it is rather curiously termed,
will be regarded as a period not unworthy of the
return of Astrea. That “their lot had been cast
in an era of unparalleled enlightenment, that
theirs was the last word in the progressive series
of human thought and knowledge,” was the fine
and futile belief of the Encyclopeedists, the Econo-
mists, and of Voltaire himself. For Voltaire, as
Mr. Millar has shown us, was not a pessimist. A
pessimist is a man who knows no better ; he is an
unsuccessful thinker. If Voltaire showed pessi-
mism in his attitude towards the theories of others,
with regard to his own point of view his optimism
was steadfast. He did not dance on his rose-coloured
spectacles. Like all true cynics, he reserved them
for the contemplation of everything that was the
antithesis of what he attacked.
Johnson, and the novelists, both French and
English, approved of their period for a tamer
reason, simply because it was inevitable. Le Sage
and Fielding acquiesced in the order of things,
not through devotion, not through complacent
content, but because their sense of humour, their
wide, sane view of life, forbade useless lamentation
or rhapsody.
But the general “song of pure concent” was
not wholly undisturbed. There are always certain
thin-lipped persons who console themselves for
their own stupidity, or ugliness, or bad manners,
by sneering at the wise, the beautiful, and the
gracious. These silly people are, as a rule, of even
Jess importance in literature than in life ; their
denunciations of luxury, which they call effeminacy,
* “Periods of European Literature: IX, The Mid-
Eighteenth Century,” by J. H. Millar (Blackwood, 1902),
159
and their attitude to art, which reminds one irre-
sistibly of a policeman in a museum, are rarely
worth notice. Still, on occasions, they acquire,
like many quite intolerable things, the merit of
usefulness. They are usually indiscriminate in
their invectives against the existing order of things
—they would attack the age of Pericles, if they
lived in it, as cheerfully as they would attack that
of Charles I., and so it is just a chance whether
their influence is beneficial or not. In a great
period they are a nuisance ; in a petty period they
are an unpleasant but useful cathartic. They are
always with us.
They existed in the mid-cighteenth century, but
no one took them seriously, until from their ranks
arose, portentous, insidious, the form of Jean
Jacques Rousseau. He was an Ovid disguised in
the mantle of a Bernardin St. Pierre; he was the
corrupt champion of a not ignoble revolt. No
revolt is ignoble. It is Nature’s protest against
inactivity, and dull oppression, and _ intellectual
death. But most people who revolt are quite
revolting.
The craving for realism, which was one of the
chief characteristics of the period, found its satis-
faction in one form of literature, the novel. It
affected the drama, too, but only slightly ; poetry
continued its serene, sluggish course of “ classi-
cism,” to be lost at last—the weariest river !—in
the bright waves of the Romantic revival. A
point that Mr. Millar seemed to omit to notice
was that Realism actually formed a step from
hide-bound, mincing “classicism” to Romanticism.
Between the study of man as a piece of intellectual
clockwork and the study of the lurid depth and
grey mystery of his passions must lie the con-
templation of man as a real being, ovre kaxirros ov're
mpatos tows, dudAdds d€ tis. . . But probably Mr.
Millar was fearful of encroaching on the outskirts
of the claim belonging to his neighbour, Professor
Vaughan.
Mr. Millar’s book has escaped most of the dis-
advantages that beset a treatise whose aim is
primarily educational. It is well written, with
pleasant flashes of humour, and some of the criti-
cisms are really very illuminating. But his defence
of the period at the end of the volume is an appeal
based on the glass-house theory, and I feel certain
that after he had written it he rushed from his
desk and read Theocritus, or Catullus, or Theo-
phile Gautier, or someone else remarkable for grace
and delicacy. He has avoided the old, obvious
clichés in dealing with the great men; he has given
a succinct account of the philosophy of the period
which all people who have not read any philosophy
could appreciate, and which even a philosopher
might sometimes understand. His information is
derived from first-hand knowledge. As one thinks
160
of “ Butler’s Analogy,” one experiences all the
sweet sensations of sympathy. But at all events,
it has not hurt Mr. Millav’s prose style.
Mr. Millar regards the drama as extinct. It
ended, he says, with “The Critic.” ‘‘ Tragedies
have been produced by poets great and small, but
they are unplayable, and ought to have remained
unplayed.” Did Mr. Millar, I wonder, see
“Herod” ? ‘ Melodramas and comedies have run
for thousands of nights, yet in print prove obsti-
nately unreadable.”’ Has Mr. Millar ever attempted
to read any of Oscar Wilde’s plays ? They are not
so obstinate. Mr. Millar’s book is too readable,
his quotations from Vauvenargues too typical of
the man who loves a good phrase, to make me believe
that he could fail to understand the ‘‘ Importance
of Being Earnest.” He will, perhaps, some day
delete with tears the last page of his chapter on
the drama.
St. Joun Lucas.
ee
CORRESPONDENCE.
St
To the Editor of Ton AUTHOR.
Srr,—I should much like to know whether or
not some folk have any good ground for saying
whether or no? Most of us say ‘‘ whether or not,”
and surely correctly. I had almost persuaded a
certain friend to give up his “no,” when trium-
phantly he produced the Authorized Version,
John ix., 25! But surely even there “ not”
would be grammar, since it means whether he be
a sinner or (whether he be) not (a sinner). In
fact it is the German nicht and nein. Can The
Author settle the point ?
Kine’s ENGLIsa.
P.S.—I note that the Revisers have discreetly
dropped the contested point! Still I keep saying,
“‘ Whether it be usage, or not” ; my friend declaring
“‘ Whether you think it wrong, or no.” Will The
Author arbitrate ? doing so by showing reason,
else my friend will never be convinced !
—— 1 —
REYIEWS AND REYIEWERS.
To the Editor of Tun AUTHOR.
Dear Srr,—With reference to the playful ways
of reviewers, the enclosed specimen may amuse the
author and publisher, who are kind enough to send
copies of their works to provincial newspapers.
No one really attends to the remarks of the
THE AUTHOR.
reviewer ; they have long ceased to pretend to any
value, other than the price of a few lines of print ;
but the question now arises, Is it better to have a
string of ignorant or impertinent observations, or
a review of a quarter of a column (of which half is
quotation from a work other than that under notice)
which barely mentions the book at all ?
Personally, I prefer the last, judging by the
specimen I enclose. I had never seen the verses
quoted ; so that I’ve learnt something.
T am, etc.,
L. Corr CORNFORD.
Mr. L. Cope Cornford—whose interesting monograph on
Stevenson was so successful in catching the very trick of
that author’s style—announces a new novel under the
romantic title of “The Last Buccaneer.” ‘The title, of
course, is not quite original—few titles are, and luckily
there is no copyright in them. It was used before by a
poet whose work we should like to quote, for it is very
little known, although the author’s name is a household
word among us. Perhaps those who are in need of a mild
amusement might offer their friends a dozen guesses at the
author’s name—to be discovered from internal evidence.
This is the poem :
“The winds were yelling, the waves were swelling,
The sky was black and drear,
When the crew, with eyes of flame, brought the ship
without a name
Alongside the last Buccaneer.
“¢ Whence flies your sloop full sail, before so fierce a
gale,
When all others drive bare on the seas ?
Say, come ye from the shore of the holy Salvador,
Or the gulf of the rich Carribees ?’
“¢From a shore no search hath found, from a gulf no
line can sound,
Without rudder or needle we steer ;
Above, below our bark, dies the sea fowl and the shark,
As we fly by the last Buccaneer.
‘“««To-night there shall be heard on the rocks of Cape de
Verde
A loud crash, and a louder roar ;
And to-morrow shall the deep, with a heavy moaning,
sweep
The corpses and wreck to the shore,’
“The stately ship of Clyde securely now may ride
In the breath of the citron shades ;
And Severn’s towering mast securely now flies fast
Through the sea of the balmy Trades.
“From St. Jago’s wealthy port, from Havana’s royal
fort
The seaman goes forth, without fear ;
For since that stormy night not a mortal hath had
sight
Of the flag of the last Buccaneer.”
The modern reader will trace in this poem something of
the style of Poe and something of that of Mr. Kipling,
though its date makes it highly probable that its author
was influenced by neither of these high authorities on
buccaneers.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 06 (March 1903)
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Che Buthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR
WALTER BESANT.
VoL: XTIT == No. 7.
APRIL Ist, 1903.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
THE TELEPHONE.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
3874 VICTORIA.
+» +
NOTICES.
——-
: 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
1
List of Members.
Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors
can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
a
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIII.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Be viele rts: £1000 0 0
Ber POON 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 + Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ...............
WAAR ie ieee
Eocgisse 1,993 9 2
291 19 11
201° 9 3
Total
SPECIAL APPEAL.
Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been very successful.
The total amount of subscriptions and donations
up to Dec. 1st is:—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;
donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to
either list are set out below.
Subscriptions.
Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . 50. 5 0
Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia 010 0
Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . : 010 6
» Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 1 020
», Brinton, Selwyn 0 5 0
Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie . ; ~ 0 50
Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the
Duchess of 3 s » 272 6
Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace . 0 5 0
Dec. 22, Anonymous ; 010 0
Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W. 0 5 0
‘ Pike Clement, E. 0 5 0
1908.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6
» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 0
Jan, 4, Anonymous O 50
» Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0
» Russell, G. H. ; 1 12.0
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0 5 0
», Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 0
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5. 0
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 7 0b 0
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred = 0.10.0
162
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred Oo 0
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. ; 0 5 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 0
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John 0 5 0
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. 8t. C. . 1 0 0
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6
Donations.
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0
» Smith, G. C. Moore 1 0 0
Dec. 2, Trevor-Battye, Aubyn 1 1:0
» Marks, Mrs. . : 010 0O
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 05 0
Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 20 0
», “Leicester Romayne” 0 5 0
;, Hellier, H. George. 1 10
Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 6 5 0
» Panting, J. Harwood 010 0
» “attersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0
Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0
Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 010 0
Dec. 28, A. 5: . : : : Lo 0
, Bateman, Stringer . : - 010 0
Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary 10 0 0
1903.
Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. 0 10
», Middlemass, MissJean . 0 10
Jan. 6, Avebury, Hon.
The Lord . :
» Gribble, Francis. :
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston
» Miller, Miss E. T. .
Jan. 19, Kemp; Miss Geraldine
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. : é
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W.
;, Ord, Hubert H.
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor
» Carlile, Rev. J. C..
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs...
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella
Mar. 16, Hallward, N. L.
The Right
EPoeecocoeoorecoocoooroce
Ho
Ocoeceooeoseoqooooaconoo oom
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice 0-5
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry _10 20
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rey. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
THE AUTHOR.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of
our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for
five years, if nine other members of the Society
will promise the same contribution.
We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
the Society will be found to come forward and
meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
before the time expires we may be able to print in
the columns of Ze Author the full list of ten
subscribers of the required amount.
Subscriptions.
Hawkins, A. Hope £10 0 0
Barrie, J. M. . ; 5 : - 10 0 6
Drummond, Hamilton ; . - 10 0 86
Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 0 8
Gilbert, W. 8S. . ‘ : : . 10 0 6
Sturgis, Julian . j : : - 10 0 6
Sea
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st
to the date of issue are given below :—
Patterson, A. . : : : coe
Salwey, Reginald E. :
Gidley, Miss E. C.
Nixon, Prof. J. E.
Dill, Miss Bessie
Moore, Henry Charles
Kemp, Miss Geraldine
Clarke, Miss B.
a
taal
AaonaIntoor
oOo o OS Oo
Om GS oo SO
See
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—
MEETING of the Managing Committee of
the Society was held on Monday, March
2nd, when twenty members and associates
were elected, making the total number of elections
for 1903 up to sixty-two.
Mr. A. Hope Hawkins has been elected a
member of the Pension Fund Committee, to fill
the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir
Michael Foster. Mr. Hawkins is the nominee of
the Committee. ;
Mr.
nominee of the Society at the General Meeting.
We are sorry to state that Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, while expressing his sympathy with the
work of the Society, has been forced, owing to
pressure of business, to retire from the Committee
Morley Roberts was re-elected as the
of Management. The Committee accepted his
resignation with regret.
Three cases came before the
consideration.
On the first case the Committee had already
taken counsel’s opinion, but after perusal of it,
regretted that they were unable to take the matter
further on behalf of the member concerned.
In one of the other two cases it was decided to
commence action, as it was understood that the
publisher had refused to produce vouchers of his
accounts. The Committee have always held that
the right to have accounts properly vouched is one
of the foremost principles for which the Society
contends.
The second, a case of alleged infringement, the
Committee for
THE AUTHOR.
163
Sandlands, The Rev. J.P. Brigstock
Thrapston.
36, Waterloo Bridge
Road, 8. E.
52, Lower Sloane Street,
S.W.
The Grotto, Hanworth
Road, Hampton-on-
Thames.
Vicarage,
Stephenson, Cecil
Stone, Miss J. M.
Tayler, J. Lionel
a
The Annual Dinner,
THE Annual Dinner of the Society has been
fixed for April 30th. It will be held at the Hotel
Cecil at 7 for 7.30. Mr. D. W. Freshfield will take
the Chair.
The Committee have decided that on this and
future occasions the Chairman of the Managing
Committee for the current year shall be Chairman
of the Dinner.
The following members have consented to act
as Stewards :—
Committee were unable to take further.
ee
March Elections.
Blew, The Rev. John
Brereton, Capt. Frederick
Ss
i Chellineton, Rupert ”
Dougall, Miss Lily .
Dutton, Mrs. Carrie
(“ Tattler ”’)
Edge, Miss Kathleen M.
Hole, W. G.
Kinder, Mrs. Harold
(‘‘ Frances Aylward ”)
King, W. J. Harding
Knocker, Mrs.
Mathieson, W. L.
Pells, S. F.
Peters, William Theodore
Rainsford, W. H. . ;
meeves, Mra. (“C. J.
Hargreaves ”’)
cL. &. ; ‘
Rowsell, Miss Mary O.
Scatter Rectory, Lin-
coln.
3, Queen’s Road, South-
port.
Melbourne, Derby-
shire.
Springhall, Sawbridge-
worth.
Waverley Court, Cam-
berley, Surrey.
The Castle House,
Shrewsbury.
Taunton, Coulsdon,
Caterham, Surrey.
Wallescote Hall, Stour-
bridge.
Millslade, — Brendon,
Lynton, N. Devon.
Clifton Lodge, Wardie,
Edinburgh.
185, Church Road,
Hove,
55, Cité des Fleurs,
Paris.
Patton, Bedfordshire.
20, Brook Lane, Orms-
kirk, Lanes.
67, Buxton Road,
Thornton Heath.
Abbot, The Rev. Edwin
A, D.D.
Aflalo, F. G.
Allingham,
F.R.C.S.
Archer, William.
Arnold, Sir Edwin,
K.C.I.E., C.8.1.
Avebury, The Right
Hon, The — luord,
P.C., etc.
Bateman, Robert.
Beddard, F. E., F.RB.S.
Bell, Mackenzie.
Benson, A. CO.
Benson, E. F.
Bergne, Sir Henry,
K.C.M.G., C.B.
Bonney, The Rev. T. G.,
F.R.S.
Browning, Oscar.
Bryden, H. A.
Bullen, F. T.
Campbell, Lady Colin.
Capes, Bernard.
Carey, Miss R. N.
Chambers, 8. Haddon.
Cholmondeley, Miss
Mary.
Church, Prof. A. H.,
F.R.S.
Clodd, Edward.
Collier, The Hon. John.
Cookson, Col. Fife.
Courtney, W. L.
William,
Croker, Mrs.
Davidson, John.
Dobson, Austin.
Doudney, Miss Sarah.
Dougall, Miss Lily.
Douglas, Sir George,
Bart.
Dowden, Prof. Edward.
Doyle, Sir Arthur
Conan.
Foster, Sir Michael,
K.C.B.
Garnett, Richard, C.B.
Gissing, George.
Gollancz, Israel.
Grand, Madame Sarah.
Graves, Alfred P.
Gribble, Francis.
Haggard, H. Rider.
Harraden, Miss Beatrice.
Hart, Major-General Sir
Reginald, V.C., &c.
Hocking, The Rey.
Silas K.
Hornung, E. W.
Humphreys, Mrs.
C* Rita),
Hunt, Miss Violet.
Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe.
Jacobs, W. W.
Jex-Blake, Dr. Sophia.
Keary, ©. F.
Keltie, J. Scott, LL.D.
Kennard, Mrs. Edward.
Lang, Andrew.
162 THE AUTHOR.
Feb. 8, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5 0 There are in addition other subscribers who do
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . : 0 5 O- not desire that either their names or the amount
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert. 0 5 O they are subscribing should be printed.
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 O
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 0 5 O SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1:9 9 Mr. Hamilton Drummond i
aS : 5 : : , who is a member
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6 a See offered a subscription of £10 a
: ve years, if nine other members of the Soci
Donations. will promise the same contribution. ies
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0 We sincerely hope that sufficient members of
Smith, G. C. Moore 1 0 0. the Society will be found to come forward and
Dec. 2, Trevor-Battye, Aubyn 1 1 0 meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that
» Marks, Mrs. . : 0 10 0 before the time expires we may be able to print in
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0. the columns of The Author the full list of ten
Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0 subscribers of the required amount.
», “Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 O
» Hellier, H. Gores 1 1.0 Subscriptions.
Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 0 5 O #awkins, A.
5, Panting, J. Harwood 010-0 pasie 7 ee : ‘ ‘ a ;
» Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0 Drummond, Mactan : ; 35 a
Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0 Wynne, Charles Whitworth . . 10 0 0
Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 010 0 Gilbert, W. S. : : 10 6 @
Dee 28,4.5 . .. . . 1 1 0 Sturgis, Julian . 3 3 : - 10 0 6
» Bateman, Stringer . ; . 010 0
Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary 10 0 0 a
1903. : :
Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. 010 6 Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
» Middlemass, Miss Jean . -,0 10 0 THE amount standing to the credit
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon. of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6
The Lord . bb 0 : a :
» Gribble, Francis. : 610 06 There are a few promised subscriptions still
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6 Outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 1 1 © about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st
, Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5 0 to the date of issue are given below :—
Jan. 19, Kemp; Miss Geraldine 010 6 ;
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French 0 5 0 fclvey, opined o “ u .
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt 010 0 Gidley, Mick C0 pie 8
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. : 040 6 Nison Prof 7. 076
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 110 “pat ‘Migs Beasts ’ Ob a
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. 010 6 Moore, Henry Charles 0 8 a
» Ord, Hubert H. 010 9 Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor 010 0 (Qlarke, Miss B O05 8
» Carlile, Rev. J. O.. 010 0 : :
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. D0 0 ee
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs... 010 0
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 010 0 FROM THE COMMITTEE.
Mar. 16, Hallward, N. Ll. . 1 20 aes
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : ee) ; ;
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry . -10 0 6 MEETING of the Managing Committee of
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rey. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
the Society was held on Monday, March
2nd, when twenty members and associates
were elected, making the total number of elections
for 1903 up to sixty-two.
Mr. A. Hope Hawkins has been elected a
member of the Pension Fund Committee, to fill
the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir
Michael Foster. Mr. Hawkins is the nominee of
the Committee.
Ete Swat
o ety yi
ehh.
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Morley Roberts was re-elected as the
nominee of the Society at the General Meeting.
We are sorry to state that Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, while expressing his sympathy with the
work of the Society, has been forced, owing to
pressure of business, to retire from the Committee
of Management. The Committee accepted his
resignation with regret.
Three cases came before the Committee for
consideration.
On the first case the Committee had already
taken counsel’s opinion, but after perusal of it,
regretted that they were unable to take the matter
further on behalf of the member concerned.
In one of the other two cases it was decided to
commence action, as it was understood that the
publisher had refused to produce vouchers of his
accounts. The Committee have always held that
the right to have accounts properly vouched is one
of the foremost principles for which the Society
contends.
The second, a case of alleged infringement, the
Committee were unable to take further.
——_1—~<— +
March Elections.
Blew, The Rev. John Scatter Rectory, Lin-
coln.
Brereton, Capt. Frederick 3, Queen’s Road, South-
S. port.
**Chellington, Rupert ”
Dougall, Miss Lily . Melbourne, Derby-
shire.
Dutton, Mrs. Carrie Springhall, Sawbridge-
(“ Tattler ’’) worth.
Edge, Miss Kathieen M. Waverley Court, Cam-
berley, Surrey.
Hole, W.G. . : . The Castle House,
Shrewsbury.
Kinder, Mrs. Harold Taunton, Coulsdon,
(‘‘ Frances Aylward”)
King, W. J. Harding
Caterham, Surrey.
Wallescote Hall, Stour-
bridge.
Millslade, | Brendon,
Lynton, N. Devon.
Clifton Lodge, Wardie,
Knocker, Mrs.
Mathieson, W. L.
Edinburgh.
Fells, S.F. . : -. 185, Church Road,
Hove.
Peters, William Theodore 55, Cité des Fleurs,
Paris.
Rainsford, W. H. . . Patton, Bedfordshire.
Reeves, Mrs. (“C. J. 20, Brook Lane, Orms-
Hargreaves ”’) kirk, Lancs.
0. L. RB.
Rowsell, Miss Mary C.. 67, Buxton Road,
Thornton Heath.
Sandlands, The Rev. J. P. Brigstock
Stephenson, Cecil
Stone, Miss J. M. .
Tayler, J. Lionel
163
Vicarage,
Thrapston.
36, Waterloo Bridge
Road, S.E.
52, Lower Sloane Street,
S.W.
The Grotto, Hanworth
Road, Hampton-on-
Thames.
—
The Annual Dinner.
THe Annual Dinner of the Society has been
fixed for April 30th.
Cecil at 7 for 7.30.
the Chair.
It will be held at the Hotel
Mr. D. W. Freshfield will take
The Committee have decided that on this and
future occasions the Chairman of the Managing
Committee for the current year shall be Chairman
of the Dinner.
The following members have consented to act
as Stewards :—
Abbot, The Rey. Edwin
A., D.D.
Aflalo, F. G.
Allingham,
F.R.C.S.
Archer, William.
Arnold, Sir Edwin,
K.C.I.E., 0.8.1.
Avebury, The
Hon. ‘The
P.C., etc.
Bateman, Robert.
Beddard, F. E., F.R.S.
Bell, Mackenzie.
Benson, A. C.
Benson, E. F.
Bergne, Sir Henry,
K.C.M.G., C.B.
Bonney, The Rev. T. G.,
F.R.S.
Browning, Oscar.
Bryden, H. A.
Bullen, F. T.
Campbell, Lady Colin.
Capes, Bernard.
Carey, Miss R. N.
Chambers, S. Haddon.
Cholmondeley, Miss
Mary.
Church, Prof. A. H.,
F.R.S.
Clodd, Edward.
Collier, The Hon. John.
Cookson, Col. Fife.
Courtney, W. L.
William,
tight
Lord,
Croker, Mrs.
Davidson, John.
Dobson, Austin.
Doudney, Miss Sarah.
Dougall, Miss Lily.
Douglas, Sir George,
Bart.
Dowden, Prof. Edward.
Doyle, Sir Arthur
Conan.
Foster, Sir Michael,
K.C.B.
Garnett, Richard, C.B.
Gissing, George.
Gollancz, Israel.
Grand, Madame Sarah.
Graves, Alfred P.
Gribble, Francis.
Haggard, H. Rider.
Harraden, Miss Beatrice.
Hart, Major-General Sir
Reginald, V.C., &e.
Hocking, The Rev.
Silas K.
Hornung, E. W.
Humphreys, Mrs.
(* Rita’)
Hunt, Miss Violet.
Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe.
Jacobs, W. W.
Jex-Blake, Dr. Sophia.
Keary, C. F.
Keltie, J. Scott, LL.D.
Kennard, Mrs. Edward.
Lang, Andrew.
164
Lankester, Prof. E. Ray.
Lecky, The Right Hon.
W. E.H., P.C.
Leighton, Mrs. Connor.
Lely, J. M.
Lennox, Lady William.
Lockyer, Sir Norman,
K.C.B., F.RB.S.
“‘Maarten Maartens.”
Marsh, Richard.
Mason, A. E. W.
Maxwell, The Right
Hon. Sir Herbert,
Bart.
Middlemas, Miss Jean.
Morrison, Arthur.
Norman, Henry, M.P.
Parker, Sir Gilbert,
M.P.
Parker, Louis N.
Pemberton, Max.
Pinero, A. W.
Plunkett, The Right
Hon. Count, F.R.S.
Pollock, Sir Frederick,
Bart, LL.D.
Praed, Mrs. Campbell.
THE AUTHOR.
Pryce, Richard.
Reich, Prof. Emil.
Roberts, Morley.
Russell, Sir W. H.,
LL.D.
Senior, William.
Shaw, G. Bernard.
Sidewick, Alfred.
Spencer, Herbert.
Spielmann, M. H.
Sprigge, S. Squire.
Stanford, Sir Charles
Villiers, Mus. Doc.
Steel, Mrs.
Street, G. 8.
Thompson, Sir Henry,
Bart., F.R.C.S.
Tweedie, Mrs. Alec.
Upward, Allen.
Wain, Louis.
Ward, Mrs. Humphry.
Watts-Dunton, T.
Wells, H. G.
White, Percy.
Whiteing, Richard.
Wilkins, W. H.
Zangwill, Israel.
—_——————_+——_+__—_—_
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
ee
“Fiction for the Million.”
J
COLUMN article under the above heading
A appeared in the Daily Chronicle on the
26th February last, in which certain state-
ments were put forward, apparently with authority,
by its author, for he described himself as reader or
“taster” for one of the most successful fiction
publishing firms in the world. The true inwardness
of the article was revealed by its sub-title, “ How
to Make an Income by Novel Writing,” and this
income would appear to be anything but exiguous.
Indeed, a positive declaration is made that by the
production of serials there are “ many writers .
who without much effort” earn from £2,000 to
£3,500 a year regularly. ‘1 speak at first hand,
and from personal knowledge,” adds the writer.
In examining this astounding statement the
question arises, What is meant here by serials ?
The article referred to supplies the answer; they
are such stories as are written by authors “ who
have in many cases had no story at all or very few
stories reproduced in volume form.” As a matter
fact, every one knows exactly what these serials
are ; they are described, and not inaccurately, as
“rotters.” It is equally well known that there is
a market for these serials—in the popular penny
weeklies, in the halfpenny dailies, in the halfpenny
evening papers, etc. According to the writer in
the Daily Chronicle, this market is so large and so
abundant in opportunity of money-making, that
there are many who draw from it regular annual
incomes of from £2,000 to £3,500. Now, it is no
difficult matter to get at the prices paid in this
market A very top price is £2 2s. per thousand
words, and there have been cases when £3 35. has
been paid, but between the top price, commanded
by not more than six writers at the most, and the
bottom price, at which a large proportion of serial
work is turned out, there is a great gulf. This
bottom price ranges from 2s. 6d. to 5s. per thousand
words. The editor of a morning halfpenny daily
told the present writer that he considered half a
guinea a thousand a fair price for a serial, but that
a guinea might be paid for “exceptionally strong
work”; he scouted the notion that any serial
could be worth more than a guinea a thousand,/
But suppose, for the sake of argument, a pound a
thousand be taken as an average rate for serials,
how many thousand words must the earners of
from £2,000 to £3,500 a year turn out annually ?
It is a simple sum in arithmetic. For £2,000 the
serial writer must produce two million words ; for
£3,500 three and a-half million words !!! Suppose
the serial writer is able to work 300 days in the
year—and this is a tremendous supposition—how
many words per diem must he turn out to produce
2,000,000 words a year ? Answer—6,666 words.
To produce 3,500,000 words ? Answer—11,000
words and over. Even the serial-writer who gets
£2 2s, per thousand (and it may be repeated that
at most there are not more than six of him or,
rather, of her) must write a million words, or
thereabouts, annually to earn £2,000 a year. These
“cold” calculations are enough in themselves to
show that the writer in the Daily Chronicle, though
he affirms he speaks “‘at first hand and from personal
knowledge,” is talking very wildly, to put the
matter pleasantly.
But there is another element or factor to be
taken into account. It is possible to imagine that
a serial-writer might for some time, some longer
or shorter time, turn out 6,000 or even 11,000 words
per diem; no doubt cases have occurred, so to
speak, where something of the kind has been done.
But it is a great mistake to suppose that facility
and rapidity of production means always or even
often a proportionately greater earning capacity.
It may be the very contrary. Here is an in-
stance, The editor of a paper “running ” serials
offered £600 a year to a serial writer for writing
all. the serials
he wanted during the year.
THE AUTHOR.
On inquiry, the serial writer found that to
earn his £600 a year (an annual income a long
way removed from £2,000, to say nothing of
£3,500) he would have to produce 5,000 words (two
separate serials in instalments of 2,500 words each)
each day for six days a week, and this without any
provision for sickness or holidays. Worked out,
the rate per thousand came to 8s. When the serial
writer protested this princely remuneration was
insufficient, he was assured that the work was “as
easy as pie,” and if he didn’t care to undertake it
another would. And this appears to be the case,
for a serial writer has been found to go in for the
job. The experiment will be watched with interest.
The end can hardly be other than that when,
through overstrain, the serial writer in question
begins to flag, ‘.e., when he shows signs of being
worked out, he will be promptly and remorselessly
“ chucked.”
With such facts as these before us, it is impossible
to escape the conclusion that the writer in the
Daily Chronicle is guilty of gross exaggeration.
What he might have said he does not say, and
this is that there are some serial writers who employ
“ vhosts,” and by their aid add materially to their
incomes. But even with the assistance of these
gentry, it is still quite absurd to maintain there are
many who earn from £2,000 to £3,500, without
much effort, a year.
A SeRIAL WRITER.
—1—— +
II.
?
Tue “literary taster” who has lately stated
in an article in the Daily Chronicle that writers
of serial fiction for the million can easily earn
incomes of two thousand a year and upwards
seems to have exaggerated a little, in the first
shock of discovering that in these degenerate days
of the novel there 1s actually a good and dependable
living to be made out of the writing of serials for
popular penny weekly journals.
It is perfectly true that large incomes are occa-
sionally made by serial writing; incomes large
enough in some cases to make the two or three
hundred pounds a year which is often all that can
be earned by the ordinary novelist who sees his or
her name on title-pages appear a mere pittance.
And it is equally true that with the mass of the
reading public great literary names are growing to
have less and less value, the demand being more
and more for good and strong work by whomsoever
written. ‘There are many proprietors and editors
of weekly journals for the people who simply would
not accept and publish, much less pay for, the work
of the men and women who are the brightest stars
in the literary firmament of to-day. They have
165
learned by experience that the circulation of their
journals is largely affected by—if not wholly
dependent upon—serial stories, and they are wil ling
to pay good prices only to those who have proved
themselves to be masters of the difficult art of
composing serial fiction that shall stir and grip
the public for whom it is provided. 2
The whole matter, therefore, resolves itself into
this simple fact—that more money is to be made
by the writing of serials than by the writing of
ordinary novels by those who excel in this very
distinct branch of literary craftsmanship. The
writer in the Daily Chronicle goes too far when
he lays it down that two thousand a year, or
thereabout, can be “easily” earned in this way.
A large income can be no more easily gained in
this branch of literary activity than in any other.
Only the best workers win the rewards ; and these
best workers are tried by the most difficult of all
standards—the standard of results. The rich in-
flow of money does not come to those who put
together a story, sell it, and then trouble them-
selves no more about its fortunes. The successful
serial-writer must increase, or at least conspicuously
maintain, the circulations of the journals in which
his stories appear. He or she has a challenge cup
to win; and when the serial-writer has won this
challenge cup he cannot rest on his laurels, but
must hold what he has won against all comers, or
else his success and his income will fail and fall
together, rapidly and irrevocably. By this it will
be seen that the person who embarks upon the
business of writing serial novels in order to gain
a large income must have, besides a natural gift
for writing, the gifts of almost tireless industry
and energy, a quick and practically bottomless
invention, dramatic force, and robust health to
stand the strain of regular, unflagging hard work.
Any man or woman who enters this particular
literary arena lacking these initial advantages will
soon find that for one serial-writer who earns an
income anywhere approximating to two thousand
a year, there are hundreds who can only hope to
win the barest subsistence. The few—the very
few—who succeed brilliantly from a financial point
of view are trained specialists, who usually work
regularly for one journal and who practically hold
the market, and will hold it until others shall
displace them by proving themselves their betters.
Maris C. LEIGHTon.
—_+——+—_
III.
Tue article dealing with this subject which
recently appeared in the Daily Chronicle under the
heading of “Fiction for the Million,” gives an
166
initiated reader the impression that some one must
have been “getting at” the gentleman who de-
scribes himself as a “literary taster.” Can he be
serious in asserting that there are many writers of
popular serials earning from £2,000 to £3,500 a
year without much effort ? Surely he has been
misled by the statements of those writers who
wish to convince him, in his capacity of
“adviser to one of the most successful publish-
ing firms in the world,” of the esteem in which
their work is held by other successful publishing
firms!
For instance, there are writers not above calcu-
lating their incomes on a current month of
exceptional good fortune. Say that A., whose
usual rate is 15s. per thousand words, is lucky
enough to obtain a commission for a serial of
60,000 words at £1 5s. 0d., and that he can turn
out 18,000 words a week. Thereupon he lightly
informs B., who may be “literary taster” to the
successful publishing firm he wishes to impress,
that he is earning “at the rate of £1,100 or
£1,200 a year,” whereas the fact is, that he is
frequently without work at any price, and that
necessary rest, illness, etc., is bound to interrupt
his output during many weeks of the year. Hence
the genesis of these calculations.
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that a good
income may be made by writers of facility who can
be dramatic and sentimental to order, and have the
knack, often unconscious, of interesting the bulk
of the population; and undoubtedly there are
several writers, comparatively unknown to the
public, who are earning far more by serial work
for the newspapers and popular weeklies than
many novelists of note by their books. And
their employment is secure, for the statement in
the Daily Chronicle that “most publishers now
have every line or at least a considerable part of
the story in hand before they buy it,” and that
“the syndicate reserves to itself the right of
refusing any work submitted,” does not tally
with the experience of the present writer. When
a serial writer’s position is established, he need
not put pen to paper without an agreement as
binding upon the publisher or syndicate as upon
himself.
In other words, this class of fiction is a very
good thing for those at the top; but that any
serial writer is in receipt of a regular £2,000 a
year is problematical, and £3,500 is a quite
incredible figure, even if those authors are included
whose serials subsequently attain a fair measure of
success in book form, and who are occasionally
able to sell their American, colonial, and foreign
rights. As for the dramatic rights of these stories,
they need not be counted seriously, the majority
being available for nothing better than crude
THE AUTHOR.
melodrama in which the “pump” is of greater
value than the plot.
The figures in the Daily Chronicle are absurd
for various reasons. Firstly, £2 2s. per thou-
sand words is the usual top price of most
newspapers. Occasionally £2 12s. 6d. is paid, and
even £3 3s., but these prices cannot be used as a
basis for calculation. Secondly, only a few writers
can always command £2 2s. Od. Thirdly, how
long would those writers maintain their supremacy
if they turned out work at the rate of anything
like a million to a million and a-half words a
year ? And the same argument may dispose of
the “ghost” theory, because the “ghost’s” stuff
must be of inferior quality as he is unable to
obtain remunerative employment for himself in a
market where names have little value. Fourthly,
it is only a limited number of rich newspapers
which will pay £2 2s. per thousand to any-
body. The provincial syndicates have to be
reckoned with, certainly; but as an agreement
with a syndicate usually contains a clause to the
effect that the author is to publish no other work,
during the period of the contract, through any
other syndicate, the provincial market is more
restricted than the London one.
This being the case, where could “many
writers” place their collective millions of words—
this enormous mass of “copy ”—at top prices which
is to provide these numerous incomes of from
£2,000 to £3,500 a year? No, the British Press,
though big, is not big enough for them. They
dwindle, on the most cursory investigation, to
the half-dozen elect, and Jane, the housemaid,
need not be tempted to devote her pen-and-ink to
“ literature.”
When we take the second and third-rate
writers, whose remuneration varies between
£1 1s. Od. and 10s. per thousand, the statement
becomes still more reckless. The half-dozen
writers of the first rank are always in demand, and
can usually take their choice of work offered, but
the second- and third-rate writer is numerous and
competition is severe, and where, in the name of
common sense, could many of them place, say,
from three and a half to seven million words a
year, as they would have to do to earn an annual
€3,500! The mere figures make one’s head
swim.
It is far more probable that £1,800 a year
represents the limit touched by the few most
successful writers of newspaper fiction.
ANoTHER SERIAL WRITER.
THE AUTHOR.
On Titles.
THE question of the property in Titles is a
very vexed question. Many authors come to
the Secretary for advice on this subject, and
sometimes are hurt because the Society cannot
recommend them to take action. It has been
thought well, therefore, to repeat in substance,
with certain additions, an article that appeared in
The Author in 1898.
There is no copyright in a title. This is a
sound foundation to start upon; but this state-
ment cannot be taken as absolutely true, for in
the case of Dick v. Yates, which went to the Court
of Appeal, where the title ‘Splendid Misery” was
under discussion, the Master of the Rolls spoke as
follows :—
“Now I do not say that there could not be
copyright in a title, as for instance in a whole page
of title or something of that kind requiring inven-
_ tion. However, it is not necessary to decide that.
But, assuming that there can be copyright in a
title, what does copyright mean? It means the
right to multiply copies of an original work. If
you complain that a part of your work has been
pirated you must show that that part is original,
and if it is not original you have no copyright.
How can the title ‘Splendid Misery’ be said to be
original when the very same words for the very
same purpose were used nearly eighty years ago ?”
This case was fought out mainly on the basis,
«Ts a title copyright?” and the question of trade
mark law on which the right of property in a title
rests, though dealt with, was dealt with as a
secondary point. The reason for this course in
this particular case is clear on the facts as reported.
Those who desire the reason are referred to the
report.
_ Again, (1) speaking generally, it cannot be said
there is copyright in a title.
(2) If there is copyright, then the title must
claim distinct originality.
That, however, there is property in a title is
quite clear, and the law bearing on the right of
such property comes under, and is in some way
analogous to, trade mark law, but titles cannot be
registered like trade marks.
The real question to consider is whether the
infringement amounts to a common law fraud on
the public.
This is distinctly pointed out in the case—the
*Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University
of Oxford v. Wilmore-Andrews Publishing Com-
pany—which was tried in the United States
courts. It is a case of great importance, and
brings into prominence the solid principle on
* The Author, August, 1900.
167
which this question rests. There the Chancellor of
the University of Oxford obtained an injunction
against the defendant for publishing a Bible termed
the Oxford Bible, which was not the “Oxford
Bible’ as known on the market and published by
the Clarendon Press. The plaintiffs could not
possibly have any copyright either in the Bible or
title, and this is the point it is desired to make
especially clear, but the defendant had no right
to sell a book as the product of the plaintiffs,
which product was a well-known market com-
modity.
In order to obtain this property, two points
therefore are clear :
(1) That the product must be actually selling on
the market, and must have established a position
on the market by continuous sale.
(2) That products with similar names must be
similar products.
This latter statement would appear self-evident
if confusion had not frequently arisen in cases
placed before the Secretary. For instance, a book
of poems could not be confused with a philosophical
treatise, nor a work of fiction with a book of
sermons, even though the names were the same.
There are also one or two minor points which
are very difficult of decision, and are too intricate
to be dealt with in a short article.
The case in the American court above referred
to makes it clear that if the book is out of copy-
right, it does not follow there is no trade mark in
the title. But with whom the right of commencing
an action would lie might need some ingenuity to
determine.
A further point arises for consideration. When
a book has been produced and is out of print, and
the author is deliberating, or states that he is
deliberating, about the production of a second
edition, how far would the author have the right of
stopping the production of a similar book under a
similar title ?
Though each case must be decided on its separate
facts and its separate peculiarities, the broad general
rule would hold that as it was impossible to buy
the first book in the open market, it was impossible
that any of the public could be deceived, and
therefore the production of book No. 2 could not
possibly be a fraud. This is an important point,
as cases have been known to occur where authors
have practically abandoned their book, their title,
and their rights, but have tried to revive all three
on seeing another book produced with a similar
name.
It might be useful to quote again a case that
was quoted in a former article, as it illustrates one
or two of the most important points with regard to
property in a title.
Messrs. Hogg in 1863 registered an intended
168
new magazine to be called Belgravia. In 1866,
such magazine not having appeared, Mr. Maxwell,
in ignorance of what Messrs. Hogg had done,
projected a magazine with the same name, and
incurred considerable expense in preparing it and
extensively advertising it in August and September
as about to appear in October. Messrs. Hogg,
knowing of this, made hasty preparations for
bringing out their own magazine before that of
Mr. Maxwell could appear, and in the meantime
accepted an order from Mr. Maxwell for advertising
his (Mr. Maxwell’s) magazine on the covers of
their own publications ; and the first day on which
they informed Mr. Maxwell that they objected to
his publishing a magazine under that name was
Sept. 25, on which day the first number of Messrs.
Hoge’s magazine appeared. Mr. Maxwell’s maga-
zine appeared in October. Under these circum-
stances, on a bill filed by Mr. Maxwell, it was held
that Mr. Maxwell’s advertisements and expenditure
did not give him any exclusive right to the use of
the name Belgravia, and that he could not restrain
Messrs. Hogg from publishing a magazine under
the same name (the first number appeared before
Mr. Maxwell had published his) ; and on a bill
filed by Messrs. Hogg, that the registration by them
of the title of an intended publication could not
confer upon them a copyright in that name, and
that in the circumstances of the case they had
not acquired any right to restrain Mr, Maxwell
from using the name as being Mr. Hogg’s trade
mark.
This case was, contrary to Dick v. Yates,
decided almost entirely on the aspect of the trade
mark. Certainly papers register titles, and produce
periodically dummy copies in the hope of obtaining
some kind of property. Any one who has studied
the question would at once know that this labour
is wasted, and that this kind of property can only
be claimed when a title has become associated
with a certain commodity by a continued public
circulation.
How can a paper of which one copy only is
published even every day claim to be such a public
commodity ?
The contention is absurd.
From the most practical point of view, therefore,
it is best for the author not to name the title of
his book until his book is produced, if he considers
that there is any particular power in the words he
is using.
Those who through personal experience have
come across the question of title for the first time
consider the matter as a difficulty but recently
discovered, which needs immediate amendment :
they may, however, rest assured that the question
of legislating more fully on the point has been
deeply and thoroughly discussed and considered
THE AUTHOR.
by all those who have attempted to legislate on
copyright or who are interested in the affairs of
authorship. It is not a simple or one-sided
question. It is exceedingly complicated, and has
many sides.
At present no remedy has been devised suffi-
ciently satisfactory to embody in any of the
Copyright Bills, and the solution of each case is
based upon the common law. On the whole, it may
be considered that this is the most satisfactory
way of leaving the question. It gives more scope
and adaptability, and prevents the stiffening that
is often produced when a matter is statute-bound.
G; ae.
—1—~—+—_.
The “Encyclopedia Britannica” in Canada.
A. & ©. Buack e¢ al. v. Tur ImprrtaL Boox
CoMPANY AND JAMES Haurs.
Tus action, begun in September, 1901, was
tried before Street, J., at the Toronto Non-J ury
Sittings on September 23rd, 1902, and argued on
January 3rd, 1908. The judgment delivered on
January 26, in the present year, contains many
notabilia dicta worthy the attention of authors,
especially of those who have vested interests in ‘‘
Canada.
The material facts were, shortly, as follows :—A
Canadian firm called “ Hales and Sparrow” had
been importing into Canada a cheap American | te
reprint of the ninth edition of the “ Encyclopedia ae
Britannica,” its properly-authorised Canadian pub-
lishers being the Clark Company of Toronto. :
Just outside the statutory term—a year—within i
which actions for infringements must be brought,
Hales and Sparrow formed themselves into a com-
pany, calling itself ‘‘ The Imperial Book Company, — .
Limited.” The company had strange notions of
q
“See
‘imperial ” obligations, for it continued to import
the reprint. Hence the present action. The chief
arguments set up for the defence were well-worn
ones; and the lucid and masterly judgment of
Street, J., reviewing once again much of our
familiar case law, makes the action and its result
an object-lesson for the misguided, if enterprising,
Colonial publisher, who hopes by a splendid variety
of defences to evade his simple obligations as a
citizen.
It was first of all objected by the defendants
that a certificate of registration at Stationers’
Hall did not, in the absence of other proof, estab
lish proprietorship of copyright ; and that there-
fore it was necessary for the plaintiffs, in addition
to the certificate produced, to prove in fact that
they were the proprietors. Street, J., held that in
the absence of any evidence to the contrary on
Sn,
“<
uo
THE AUTHOR. 169
either side, except the copy of the certificate, its
production was jal] that was necessary to make out
a prima facie Proprietorship of copyright in an
encyclopedia under Sections 18 and 19 of the Act,
or under Section 11 to make out a prima facie
proprietorship of the copyright in a book. On
this first point, therefore, the defence failed,
The title to the copyright being therefore estab-
lished, it was next contended that the effect of the
agreement entered into between Messrs. A. & C.
Black and their co-plaintiffs, the Clark Company,
was to transfer the copyright to that company ;
that Messrs. Black could not maintain this action
because they had assigned the copyright to the
Clark Company ; and that the Clark Company
could not maintain it because they had not regis-
tered the assignment at Stationers’ Hall.
This was an extremely plausible contention, but
Street, J., found on the facts no difficulty in dis-
posing of it. As this part of his judgment will
have great interest for all authors, we make no
apology for quoting it in full :—
“T have examined the agreement in question, and Iam
of opinion that it is not to be treated as an assignment but
merely as a licence. In this agreement Messrs. A. and C.
Black are called the publishers, and the Clark Company
are called the Company. By the agreement the publishers
agree that until 31st December, 1912, the Company shall
have the exclusive right to print and sell the ninth edition
of the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ and for the purpose of
enabling them to print it the publishers agree to deliver to
the Company the existing plates used in its publication,
and not to publish or announce the publication of a tenth
edition of the work until after the 31st December, 1912.
The Company, on its part, agrees not to alter the text of
the work, and that the style of paper, printing, and binding
shall remain unaltered. That they will pay £40,000 to
the publishers for the rights acquired under the agree-
ment. That they will not sell any copy of the work under
£15, either in Great Britain or America; and that they will
as soon as possible after the 31st December, 1912, deliver
to the publishers any unsold copies of the work and all the
plates used in printing it then in their possession. The
Company further agrees that they will not knowingly
issue any advertisement of and concerning the work of a
nature likely to do injury to the publishers either in their
business or as the owners of the copyright of the work.
Authority is also given to the Company to institute, in the
names of the publishers, any proceedings they may deem
proper in respect of any breach of copyright of the
work. . . . They have expressly reserved the copyright to
themselves, and this reservation is entirely consistent, it
appears to me, with the full enjoyment by the Company of
the rights given them. The agreement therefore must, in
my opinion, be construed as a licence merely, and not as
an assignment,”
It is interesting to note that, after citing almost
all the case law on the subject in support of his
view, the learned Colonial judge was not above
referring the litigants to our most recent treatise
on the subject, “ MacGillivray on Copyright,” pp.
80,81 and 82. We congratulate Mr. MacGillivray
on the unusual honour. He is the first of our
writers on modern copyright to, give particular
attention to the distinction between a licence and
an assignment. The distinction for the practical
purposes of authorship is only in the air as yet,
but we believe things are shaping that way, and
the day is not very distant when we shall be able
to say definitely of every publishing agreement
either that it is an assignment of copyright or only
a licence to use. a
The next point in the defence was that the
plaintiffs did not correctly notify the Customs of
their ownership of copyright as required by the
Customs Act, 39 & 40 Vict., cap. 36. The learned
judge had no doubt that if this Act was ever in
force in Canada the defence would have been good,
because the date given by the plaintiffs as to when
their copyright expired was wrongly entered as
1924 instead of 1917. The question, therefore,
remained: Was the Customs Consolidation Act
ever in force in Canada? The Commissioners who
prepared the “Table of Imperial Statutes appear-
ing to be in force in Canada, ex proprio vigore, at
the end of 1901,” included Section 152 of the Act,
which lays down that proper notice must be given.
But Section 151 especially excepts from the opera-
tion of the Act “any British possessions which
shall by local Act or ordinance have provided . . .
for the regulation of the Customs of any such
possession, or made in like manner express pro-
vision in lieu or variation of any of the clauses of
the said Act for the purposes of such possession.”
Now Canada was brought clearly within this
exception by the Statute of the Province 10 and
11 Vict., cap. 31, by which entire provision was
made for the regulation of the Customs of the
Province by the provincial Legislature. The
defence, therefore, failed on this issue. As the
learned judge said :—
“T can find no reason in the context or subject-matter
of Section 152 of the Customs Consolidation Act requiring
me to say that it ought to be held to be in force in Canada
notwithstanding Section 151, under the circumstances
above set forth: and I am therefore obliged to conclude
that it never was in force here, because Canada had, with
the assent of Her Majesty, assumed entire control of its
own Customs before the Customs Consolidation Act of 1876
was passed,”’
The defence at this point appeared to have been
prepared with considerable ingenuity and fore-
sight, for the next argument set up looked as if it
had anticipated this ruling : it looked as if the
defendants had said : “Oh, very well, if you hold
that Section 152 of the Customs Consolidation Act
is not in force in Canada, but that Canada has
regulated her own Customs by Provincial Statute,
—then you must also hold that the English Copy-
right Act of 1842, is not im force there, since
Canada has also copyright legislation of her own ;
170 '
and therefore the qHaintiffs are not entitled to
recover under thp Ack of 1842 which they plead.”
But the learned\judke was unable to entertain
that view. Caner in his opinion, had no copy-
right legislation which over-rode the Imperial Act
of 1842. Besides, the point had already been
determined adversely to the defendants’ objection
in Routledge v. Low, Smiles v. Belford, and Morang
y. Publishers’ Syndicate. Many hard things have
been said from time to time in Canada, and in
laces not so far away, about “ the Act of 1842” 3
and the activity of Canada in legislating for itselfin
copyright matters has been the subject of eulogy.
But until the new Copyright Bill comes into force,
at least, both Canadians and Englishmen. will do
well to remember one important fact about
“Macaulay’s Act” before they ignore it: It is
still in force in Canada!
The next and last question with which the judg-
ment dealt was whether there had been, in bringing
this action, delay amounting to acquiescence or
“laches.” Notwithstanding the protest of Mr. H.
E. Hooper, the Managing Director of the Clark
Company, that he did not know that the illegal
reprint was being sold in Canada until just before
the action was brought, the learned judge held
that there had been some delay. But the degree
of delay which might bar an action for an inter-
locutory injunction would by no means necessarily
be an answer to an action of this kind, and there
was not sufficient delay here to prove acquiescence
or “laches” on the part of the plaintiffs. The
learned judge then summed up as follows :—
“ ] think the plaintiffs have established their right to an
injunction perpetually restraining the defendants, The
Imperial Book Co., Limited, their servants and agents,
from importing into Canada any copies of the ‘ Encyclo-
pedia Britannica, ninth edition, or of any part thereof
printed in any country outside the British dominions,
which infringe the copyright of the plaintiffs, Adam and
Charles Black ; and I order that the said defendants, the
Imperial Book Co., Limited, do deliver up for cancellation
all and any copies so printed in their possession. The
plaintiffs are also entitled to an account of the profits
realised by the defendants, the Imperial Book Co., Limited,
from the sale of any such copies within one year before
the commencement of this action.”
As to Hales, who, it will be remembered, was a
co-defendant with the Imperial Book Co.: he
hed undoubtedly made large profits out of the
sale of the unlawfully imported copies of the
‘ Ehcyclopaedia, but by pleading the statute, as we
have seen, he escaped accounting for them. The
action, therefore,.failed as against him. But he
had to pay his own costs.
CHARLES WEEKES.
‘ —_ +
6
THE AUTHOR. ;
1908.
——
r
THE ANNUAL “aa oe OF
PPVHE Annual General Meeting of the Society
was held in the Large Hall of the Royal
Medical and Chirurgical Society, at 20,
Hanover Square, on March 5th.
Mr. Douglas Freshfield took the Chair at 4 p.m.,
and, in opening the proceedings, paid a tribute to
the great services rendered by his predecessor, Mr.
A. Hope Hawkins, to the Society as Chairman of its
Committee of Management during the past three
years. Mr. Freshfield went on to suggest that the
report of the Committee, which had already been
in the hands of the Society’s members, might, as
usual, be taken as read, and proceeded to make a ~
few explanatory remarks and comments upon its
details. He dwelt upon the good work always
being done by the Society in strengthening the
desired friendly relations between authors and
publishers by removing causes of difference between
them, and criticised the conduct of those authors
who entered the Society for the purpose of getting
some difference adjusted between them and their
publishers, leaving it after having obtained the
desired benefit, to rejoin it only when once more in
need of its assistance. He put forward as a
principle to be adopted by the Committee that, in
dealing with the affairs of members of this class,
litigation should only be entered upon where a
question was involved, the settling of which was
likely to be useful to the Society at large. Mr.
Freshfield also expressed regret at the slow progress
that is being made with copyright legislation.
With reference to the memorial to Sir Walter
Besant, he informed the Society that the work of
Mr. Frampton, R.A., with which considerable
progress has been made, is, in the opinion of those
who have seen it, likely to prove eminently satis-
factory. The other topics which he touched upon
included the work done for the Society by its legal
advisers and the Secretary, the Pension Fund, the
changes in the Committee and Council, and the
dinner, fixed for the 30th of April, the tickets for
which, the Society was informed, are to be 10s.,
while the dinner is to be followed by the usual
conversazione. The report was adopted without
further discussion, and the re-election of Mr.
Morley Roberts to the committee for the manage-
ment of the Pension Fund concluded the agenda of
which notice had been given.
Mr. Bernard Shaw then rose, and in a vigorous
speech expressed his regret that neither the com-
mittee nor any individual member should have
question for its
provided the meeting with any :
and upon which
discussion of interest to authors,
authors might be glad to ventilate their possibly —
{!
divergent opmions: In the absence of any such
subject, Mr. Shaw made reference to a matter with
regard to which the feeling of those present was
too unanimously with him for it to form the subject
of controversy. Calling attention to the fact that
the Society of Authors is at times the subject of
adverse criticism and uninformed or wilfully mis-
taken obloquy in the Press, he asked whether no
means existed for the punishment of the literary
black-legs who might be responsible for defamatory
statements such as those to which he referred, and
he suggested that the best method for dealing with
them might form a fit subject for the Society’s
consideration upon such an occasion as its general
meeting.
Mr, Warwick Bond, Mr. Eyre Hussey, and other
speakers continued the discussion, and addressed
those present briefly upon the same subject, the
Chairman suggesting, in conclusion, that the diffi-
culty of detecting the offender might be responsible
for the impossibility of disposing of him or of his
statements otherwise than by contradiction and
refutation. As no member had any other matter to
bring forward, a vote of thanks to the Chairman was
then proposed by Mr. E. A. Armstrong, who con-
gratulated the Society on having obtained so able
a successor as Mr. Douglas Freshfield to take the
place of Mr. A. Hope Hawkins. The motion was
seconded by Lieut.-Col. Manifold Craig, and
unanimously carried.
The attendance at the meeting was decidedly
smaller than usual, and considerably less than it
used to be before the Society had won the secure
position which it now occupies. This may in part
have been due to the inclement weather, and to the
fact that there was no controversial topic among
the agenda. It is, however, to be regretted that
members of the Society should not be present in
greater numbers upon the annual occasion which
gives them the opportunity to raise questions of
interest to themselves and authors in general, and
to express their approval of the labours of their
Committee and Secretary.
Among those present were—Mr. E. A. Armstrong,
Miss E. A. Barnett, Miss Clementina Black, Mr. R.
Warwick Bond, Miss E. E. Charlton, Lieut.-Col.
R. Manifold Craig, Mr. Arthur Dillon, Mr. Basil
Field, Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Miss Beatrice
Harraden, Miss Helena Heath, Miss BE. M. Hine,
Mr. Eyre Hussey, Mr. H. T. Inman, Mr. Benjamin
Kidd, Miss Arabella Kenealy, Mr. J. M. Lely, Mrs.
Nella Parker, Miss Olive K. Parr, Dr. A. Rattray,
Mr. Edward Rose, Mr. Bernard Shaw, Mr. F,
Vicars, etc., etc.
ee Gee cme eee
THE AUTHOR. fi
}
171
THE AUTHORS’ ASSOCIATION.
1)
N the list of societies given in the Literary
Year Book for the current year we find one,
founded apparently early in 1902, under the
name of the Authors’ Association.
We have had brought before us two circulars,
one setting out the “Rules and Constitution of the
Association” and the other its objects :—
‘Any person who has, or is desirous of adopting a
literary life either as a profession or a recreation is qualfied
for membership. The subscription for the first year is one
guinea, for following years half a guinea,”
The control of the society is vested in a Council,
to consist of not less than six or more than twelve
members, including the Secretary and Officers,
This Council, it is provided, “shall manage the
business of the Association, consider what steps
are necessary to forward the objects for which the
Association is established, and take such measures
to carry them out as they may deem advisable,
including the disposal of the funds of the Associa.
tion.”
The Secretary has charge of all correspondence
and accounts, and the Treasurer pays all debts of
the Association at his direction.
It is further enacted that “no general or Council
meeting shall without special announcement be
considered a public meeting, or be attended by
reporters for the Press except by invitation of the
General Secretary by order of the Council ; nor
shall any report of or comments upon the proceed-
ings of any meeting be supplied to any newspaper
or periodical, or be printed and published in any
form, except by order of the Council conveyed by
the General Secretary.”
The General Secretary is Mr. Galloway Kyle,
F.R.S.L., who resides at Darlington. The Asso-
ciation, however, has a temporary office at 62,
Paternoster Row.
In the circulars before us the Countess of Aber-
deen is stated to be the President of the society.
We have called Mr. Kyle’s attention to the fact
that her ladyship withdrew from the office in
November last, and that, notwithstanding her
resignation, her name is retained as President
in the Literary Year Book for 1903, and also in
circulars issued by the Association up to the.end
of January.
In reply Mr Kyle, while disputing the right, of
the Authors’ Society to call for any explanation,
states in general terms that at the time of her
withdrawal her ladyship was informed that in the
Literary Year Book and certain circulars already
prepared her ladyship’s name would appear, and
further that ‘any advertisement or announcement
made or arranged after a certain date does not
contain her ladyship’s name.”
Mr. Kyle has @ecfined to give any more direct
answer to the exp¥cit question whether he had
Lady Aberdeen’s authority to continue the use of
her name after her withdrawal.
The following names are printed under the
heading Council in the prospectus :—
General Secretary and Editor, Mr. Galloway
Kyle, F.R.S.L. ; Treasurer, Mr. J. Wilson ; Art
Editor, Mr. T. Eyre Macklin, R.B.A.: Music
Editor, Mr. T. Hutchinson, Mus. Doc. ; Solicitors,
Messrs. Warburton & Robertson.
The minimum number of six can, therefore, only
be made up by including the Countess of Aberdeen,
who has resigned, or counting the firm of solicitors
as two councillors.
The prospectus of the Association is a strangely
inconsistent and self-contradictory document. For
instance, it states emphatically in one paragraph
that, “the Association is not a literary agency,”
but on turning to page 2 we read :—
“LITERARY AGENCY,
“ A commission, varying with the position, experience of
the author, and the character, length, and value of the
work, will be charged on the price obtained for all MSS.
published through the offices of the Association. Special
arrangements may be made for the supply of topical
articles, short stories, &c., by experienced members.”
Inconsistency and obscurity of statement are not,
however, confined to a single point. The circular
alleges that the Association “is neither a trading
nor a philanthropic institution.” Yet it is pro-
posed not only to do the business of a literary
agent, on’very vague terms, but also “to undertake
typewriting and duplication of MSS. at the usual
rates,” and to criticise MSS. for members on terms
stated, or for non-members at double those terms.
Every member, we must mention, has the right
to have one MS. of 5,000 words criticised each
year free of charge. Though in no way philan-
thropic—
“Tt is an attempt to offer reliable responsible authorita-
tive advice and criticism to beginners in literature and
journalism, to afford the inexperienced the assistance of
experience ; to organise tentative efforts and direct mis-
directed and wasted energy; to protect and develop
professional interest and to be of general use to literary
workers, especially to the isolated, the uninfluential, and
the amateur, and to introduce some order, coherence, co-
operation and uniformity in the chaotic and feebly indivi-
dualistic state of the earlier stages of the literary
profession.”
Once more the circular states that among the
Association’s objects are “to assist and advise the
beginner in literature.” ‘To give legal advice on
questions within the scope 6f the Association, and
to afford members the protection and advantage of
a powerful and responsible organisation in touch
with the higher as well as with the lower branches
of the profession of letters.”’
THE AUTHOR.
And yet we read, “the scope of the Association is
entirely outside that of the Authors’ Society, of
which it can only be a feeder and not a rival.”
We need hardly assure our readers—but we are
glad to assure Mr. Kyle—that we should welcome
most cordially any Association likely to be of sub-
stantial assistance to authors, even though its field
of action might in some directions overlap our
own. Before, however, we can extend to him the
hand of fellowship, he must produce some further
proof than is contained in the circular before us
that the Association which he represents is the
“responsible and powerful organisation” he claims
it to be.
He must prove that it has an acting President
and a working Council whose names will convey to
the public an adequate assurance of its indepen-
dence and capacity to administer the funds and
dispose of the interests, literary and financial, that
may be entrusted to it for the benefit of its
clients.
—_o——_e__-
BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
1
IR GEORGE DOUGLAS will publish this
month, through Messrs. Hodder and Stough-
ton, “The Man of Letters,” a novel embodying a
study of the literary temperament. We have
already had from this author’s active pen an
admirable “History of the Border Counties,”
“Poems of a Country Gentleman,” “The Fireside
Tragedy,” etc., etc. He is, besides, a steady con-
tributor to The Bookman and Scotsman.
Mr. John Murray is just bringing out the
first series of lectures given in the Physiologicab
Laboratory of the London University at South
Kensington. It is intended that the series shall
comprise two volumes a.year. The volume now
in the press is by Dr. A. Waller, F.R.S. This is
the first sign of life that the University of London
is giving as a seat of learning. These lectures are
especially to belong to what may be termed “ the
growing surface of our knowledge,” on work that
has been or is actually being carried out by the
University lectures.
The numerous readers of Mr. Richard Bagot’s
“Donna Diana,” and “The Just and the Unjust,”
will be interested to know that the author is
making arrangements for their dramatisation. Mr.
Bagot is at present in Italy, and is engaged on
a new novel. ‘This is to appear as a serial during
the coming summer, and is to be published in
volume form afterwards.
A letter of Mr. Bagot’s recently appeared in
the Atheneum under the heading of “ Fiction and
ih
Fact.” In it he'pfotested, and very rightly, against
the growing practice of labelling characters in
fiction with the names of individuals. Mr. Bagot
sent to the Editor of the Atheneum cuttings from
articles published in the Mew York Times, in
which names of well-known members of Roman
Society—personal friends of the author—were
mentioned as being the originals of certain of his
characters in ‘‘ Donna Diana.”
As this matter touches authors very nearly we
quote a portion of the protesting letter :—
“That well-known individuals should be mentioned by
name as the originals of an author’s characters appears
to me an abuse of the privileges of the Press. In the
present instance, the statements made are absolutely false
and likely to cause pain, not only tothe individuals alluded
to, but also to many others, while the novelist can scarcely be
pleased at being regarded as a photographic machine. .. .
The characters in ‘Donna Diana’ are types—no living
members of Roman Society are the originals from whom
these types have been selected.”
We are to have two annuals from Louis Wain
this year. One is to be a “Summer Book,” for
children only ; there is to be also the “ Winter
Annual,” which appeals to grown-ups as well.
Mr. Wain has no intention whatever of throwing
up his cats for a literary career. He is bound
hard and fast to the cat, for he is convinced this
despised little animal is going to do great things
in the cause of humanity.
Mr. Wain tells us that when he started on his
career as an artist by drawing for the illustrated
papers at dog, cat, and agricultural shows, he soon
found that the primary cause of success was to
please other people and not his own art instincts.
If he drew an animal as others imagined it he at
once made a hit ; but did he follow his own fancy
he “got it hot on the spot.” Every development
he has since made in his art or hobbies has been
the direct outcome of contact with men who are
past-masters in their own particular work. He
has looked through their spectacles, as it were,
and he has endeavoured to grasp the essentials of
all the arts.
He says further :—
“In a small way I have started by building up my
annual... . That we shall race forward and arrive at a
more masterful cult in all the arts and sciences directly
the flood of fortune touches the starved-out literati,
quickens the active instincts of the artists, and calls to
life the finer sense of feeling of the musician, I believe
to be a truism; but the organisation to bring it about
will be built up of the united judgment of many master-
minds,”
Mr. Felix Moscheles, whose very interesting
“Fragments of an Autobiography” we all know,
has no long book in hand at present, but he is busy
in other directions. He is a regular contributor
to Concord, the monthly organ of the Inter-
national Arbitration and Peace Association, of
| THE AUTHOR.
| 173
i
which he is chairman. The sbjects treated are
naturally in close connection wh the aims of the
society, and the articles are mainly intended to
popularise and strengthen the Hague Conventions,
and the International Tribunal established in that
city.
Mr. Moscheles has also lately written on Esperanto,
the International language invented by Dr. Zamen-
hof, of Warsaw. An Esperanto Club has been
formed, and Mr. Moscheles is its president.
Dr. Andrew Balfour, who went out last December
to the Gordon College at Khartoum, as director of
the Research Laboratories, presented to the Govern-
ment by Mr. H. S. Wellcome, of Messrs. Burroughs,
Wellcome & Co., Limited, fears he will have no
time for fiction in this new position, as there is
any amount of hard work to be done, and that in a
climate which can scarcely be called stimulating.
Perhaps it is not generally known that Dr.
Balfour wrote, with Dr. C. J. Lewis, of Edinburgh,
a large text-book entitled “Public Health and
Preventive Medicine.” He took to scribbling, by
way of relaxation, shortly after graduating at Edin-
burgh, in’94. His first story, ‘‘ Gentleman Jerry,”
was accepted by Chambers’ Journal, much to his
surprise and delight. He then wrote “ By Stroke
of Sword,” which was published by Messrs. Methuen,
and quickly ran into a fourth edition. The same
firm issued his “lo Arms” and “ Vengeance is
Mine.” “To Arms” is now in its second
edition.
Like many another, Dr. Balfour served his year
as a civil surgeon in South Africa: the result has
been the output of two books—‘ Cashiered,” a
volume of short stories (Nisbet), and “ The Golden
Kingdom” (Hutchinson). Dr. Balfour belongs to
the same clan as that which claims R. L. Balfour
Stevenson, viz., “ the auld hoose o’ Pilrig,” and he
is very proud of the fact.
The Rey. Silas K. Hocking is finishing his new
novel, “A Bonnie Saxon,” and will publish it at
an early date through Messrs. F. Warne & Co.
He is also engaged on a new serial story for the
Sunday Companion, the title of which will be
“The Tempter’s Power.”
Miss Constance Hill is now at work upon a book
dealing with an eighteenth century subject. Mr.
John Lane will publish it. A second edition of
“Jane Austin: Her Homes and Her Friends,” is
in preparation. Our readers will remember that
this really admirable and, we venture to think,
definitive book about the famous authoress was
illustrated by Miss Hllen S. Hill, and that it was
published last Christmas year by Mr. John Lane.
Miss Constance Hill began to write in 1888,
when she edited and added matter to a series of
books for children written to a large extent by her
174° i
mother before her marriage. These volumes were
called “ The Parents’ Cabinet of Amusement and
Instruction.” This series ran through many
editions, and elicited letters of warm appreciation
from Maria Edgeworth. In 1894 Miss Hill edited,
with large additions, her father’s life. It was
entitled, “Frederic Hill: an Autobiography of
Fifty Years in Times of Reform” (Bentley).
Then, in 1899, Mr. Heinemann published her
“ Story of the Princess des Ursins in Spain.” This
has just been translated into German and published
by Carl Winter. (Heidelberg University Press.)
A third edition of Rita’s new novel, “Souls a
(Hutchinson & Co.), is already in preparation. The
first edition was sold out in a week, and the second
is practically disposed of.
A new book on astronomy by Mr. J. EH. Gore,
F.R.A.S., entitled “The Stellar Heavens: An
Introduction to the Study of the Stars and
Nebule,” is in the press, and will shortly be
published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus.
Mr. Wilkinson Sherren, whose ‘“ Wessex of
Romance” was published by Messrs. Chapman
and Hall last year, is revising for press a volume
of tales, chiefly rustic in character. A picturesque
cover vignette has been drawn by Mr. William
Pye, whose Dorset pictures and etchings are
becoming increasingly popular. The title of this
volume will be “A Rustic Dreamer.”
This month Mr. H. J. Drane will publish a
tragedy called “ Messalina,” by Mr. F. T. Winbolt,
author of “Frithof the Bold,” ete. The drama
deals with the schemes of the Empress, and con-
cludes with her overthrow and assassination. The
last scene depicts Claudius at a banquet listening
to the pleadings of Domitia, the mother of Messa-
lina, for the life of her daughter, whom he has
ordered to be slain. Moved by the words of
Domitia, Claudius pardons Messalina, but as he
does so, the news arrives that his orders have been
carried out, and that the Empress is dead.
The Sunday School Union has just brought out
a fine edition of Miss Wood’s Picture Map of
Palestine, which gives all the physical features of
the country, and is most useful for teaching pur-
poses. It is six feet long, and the names are very
clearly printed. The map is on an entirely new
principle, and is very graphic.
A little volume, “Recollections of a Royal
Parish,” by Mrs. Patricia Lindsay, recently pub-
lished by Mr. John Murray, gives an interesting
account of the parish of Crathie, in which are
situated Balmoral and Abergeldie Castles. The
book contains several hitherto unpublished letters
from Queen Victoria to the writer’s father and
herself. These throw some interesting sidelights
upon the character of the late Queen, and on life
THE AUTHOR.
in the Highlands. The oa illustrated by
some excellent views and portraits.
Mr. E. H. Lacon Watson, author of “ Chris-
topher Deane,” ‘ Benedictine,” and several other
volumes, has recently published a new novel
through Mr. Edward Arnold. Its name is ‘The
Templars,” but intending readers are warned that
the story has no concern with life at the Bar or
with the Knights Templars of the Middle Ages.
The title, in fact, is taken from the name of the
family whose fortunes are chronicled in the book.
It is quite modern.
Miss C. Gascoigne Hartley’s “Early British
Heroes,” stories founded upon Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth’s Chronicles, has been favourably noticed
by reviewers. Messrs. Dent and Co. are the pub-
lishers. The book is illustrated by Mr. Patten
Wilson.
A notable book just out is “ The Rubaiyat of
Umar Khaiyam,” done into English from the
French of J. B. Nicholas, by Frederick Baron
Corvo, together with a reprint of the French text.
There is an interesting introduction by Nathan
Haskell Dole (John Lane). It seems that the
translation was undertaken at the solicitation of
Mr. Henry Harland and Mr. Kenneth Grahame.
We give a triplet of the far-famed quatrains in
this new and striking form :—
‘“ When I am drinking Wine, its Foes appear on every
Hand to induce me to abstain, alleging Wine to be the
Enemy of Religion. For this exquisite Reason, now, I dub
myself Faith’s Champion, and with God’s Aid I will drink
Wine ; knowing that to drink the Blood of His Enemy is
a meritorious Deed.” (93)
“When low lieth mine Head at the Feet of Death, when
Haides shall have plucked me like a Fowl, make nothing
save a Flagon from my Dust; for the odour of the Wine
therein, perchance, for an instant, will revive me.” (290)
“OQ limpid Wine, Wine of richest Tincture! Fool that
I be, I will in such excess to drink thee, that whoever shall
perceive me from afar, may mistake me for thee, and say,
© Master Wine, pray tell me whence thou comest.” (439)
The Russian Choir at present singing in “ Resur-
rection” at His Majesty’s Theatre has received
several invitations to sing in other places. An
extensive programme is being prepared of the most
characteristic Russian Church chants, operatic
choruses, and arias, folk-lore and wedding songs,
etc., embracing those of Great Russia, Little Russia,
White Russia, Lethuania, Poland, and the s0-
called Gipsy Cycle. The choir will wear costumes
characteristic of the historical epoch and locality
represented. The undertaking will be under the
direction of M. Jaakoff-Prelooker, who will accom-
pany the performances with brief explanatory
remarks in English. The most important songs
will be printed in full English translations.
A second edition of Mr. Arthur Lovell’s “ Con-
centration ” (post free, 2s. 3d.), is now ready, It
THE AUTHOR.
is enlarged by the addition of a new
entitled, “ Matter and Force.”
Mr. Bernard Cape’s new novel, “A Castle in
Spain” (Smith-Elder), has gone into a second
edition,
At the annual general meeting of the Royal
Literary Fund Mr. W. E. H. Lecky was elected
president for the ensuing year. Among those
present were Mr. Edmund Gosse, Mr. Julian
Sturgis, Mr. Owen Seaman, Mr. M. H. Spiel-
mann, and Sir Theodore Martin. Mr. Julian
Sturgis presented the reports of the Fund. He
announced that their income last year amounted to
£2,986, while the sum expended in grants was
£2,870. The total invested sum was £56,410,
which produced an income of £1,741. They were
in want of strong cases, said Mr. Sturgis, and would
be glad to hear of any bond fide literary people who
were in trouble, or of anybody who was engaged in
literary research.
An_ original light comedy in three acts by
Mr. Henry Arthur Jones entitled, “ Whitewashing
Julia,” was produced at the Garrick Theatre
on Monday evening, March 2nd. Mr. Arthur
Bourchier was successful in the part of Mr.
William Stillingfleet, and Miss Violet Vanbrugh
made the most of Julia. Miss Ethelwyn Arthur
chapter
Jones made a decided hit as the Bishop’s out-
spoken niece, Trixie Blenkinsop. Mr. Sam Sothern
and Mr. Kenneth Douglas were exceedingly good
as the Hon. Edwin and the Hon. Bevis Pinkney
respectively,
“The Two Mr. Wetherbys,” a “middle-class
comedy ” by St. John Hankin, was successfully pro-
duced at the Imperial Theatre on March’ 15th
before members of the Stage Society. A public
performance was given at the same theatre on
the following afternoon. Mr. Hankin may be
remembered as the author of the series of
“ Dramatic Sequels,” which, after appearing in the
pages of Mr. Punch, were republished in book
form by Messrs. Bradbury & Agnew about a year
ago.
————__+—~@—.
PARIS NOTES.
—_+-—>—+—__
HE book of the month here
: 4 “L’Inde,” by Pierre Loti.
It has been advertised in many of the
papers as “L’Inde, sans les Anglais,” and this
title gives an admirable idea of the book.
We have had many volumes on India, and
magazine articles without number, but in most of
these the British element is in the foreground, and
in a country like India, from a poetic and artistic
1s, undoubtedly,
175
point of view, the British element is so prosaic
that it completely spoils the picture. In that
wonderful book on Burma, “The Soul of a People,”
the author shows us clearly how prosaic and un poeti-
cal we are. Pierre Loti goes still farther, he leaves
us out altogether, and his book, from an artistic
point of view, gains immensely by the omission.
Prince Henri @Orléans, in his last book,
“ L’Ame du Voyageur,” speaks of the éfat d’ame
of the explorer. He Says: “Le voyageur ne
recueille pas uniquement le bénéfice d’un travail
conscient ; il éprouve des sensations connues de lui
seul, sensations profondes, nettes, qui lui laisseront
& jamais une impression aussi vive qu’au premier
Jour. Sentant qu’il est prés d’elle et qu'il est a
elle, la nature le prend pour confident et lui ouvre
tout grands ses mystéres. I] n’a pas lieu de
s’enorgueillir, il nest guére plus savant que
d’autres ; mais il a vu de pres, sans voiles; il est
Partiste qui se repait pleinement, sainement de la
beauté,
Dans ces moments de révélation le voyageur qui
crayonne sur son carnet ne se sent pas écrire; sa
main semble courir toute seule, poussée par une
force inconnue, et l’état de son ame se refléte en
ces pages comme en un miroir.”
This is surely the way in which Pierre Loti was
inspired to write the poem in prose which he has
entitled “L’Inde.” The volume is divided into
five parts : “ En Route vers Inde,” “A Ceylon ;”
“Chez le Maharajah du Travancore 57 = Danes
VInde des Grandes Palmes 3° ° Dang inde
Affamée ;” and ‘“ Vers Bénarés.”
“ L’Oblat,” the new book by M. J. K. Huysmans,
is extremely interesting, treating as it does one of
the burning questions of the day in France, that
of the Associations Law and the recent expulsion
of many of the religious congregations. The
oblatis a kind of lay brother who is admitted
as a boarder into a monastery, and as M. Huysmans
tried this experiment himself, and remained in his
monastery until the exodus of the monks and
their departure for the land of exile, the author of
this book speaks feelingly when, as Durtal, he gives
us his opinion on recent events. There are some
very fine pages in “ L’Oblat,” and, as a French critic
says, “ It is a continuation of M. Huysmans’
‘ Encyclopzedia of Catholicism, ’”
Durtal is living in a monastery in the neigh-
bourhood of Dijon as an oblat, when the Pope’s
letter with regard to the Associations Law causes
a stir in the French Catholic world. The monks
believe that the Government will not dare to touch
the religious orders, but Durtal has not this faith,
and, in the passages where he attacks the Govern.
ment, treating Loubet “as a veritable Pilate,” we
recognise not only the lay brother, but Huysmans,
an author of the realistic school.
176
He describes the indignation of the worthy
monks who object to ask the authorization of the
Government, and who object, still more strongly,
to give an inventory of all they possess. Through
all the tribulations of the monks, the lay brother,
Durtal, appears to see clearly the causes which
have brought about this state of things. “Les
fideles,” he says, “ont aidé A faire du catholicisme
ce quelque chose d’émascule, d’hybride, de mol,
cette espéce de courtage de priéres et de mercu-
riale @oraisons, cette sorte de Sainte-Tombola ou
Yon brocante des graces en insérant des papiers
et des sous dans des troncs, scellés sous des statues
de saints !”
Finally, Durtal is convinced that if God allows
His Church to be persecuted it is in order that
certain reforms shall be made, and that the Church
shall be more in accordance with the requirements
of the times.
Among other ideas Durtal proposes that artists
shall help to restore the monastic idea. He
dreams of a huge settlement composed of houses
and studios, where men of various professions shall
live, each house offering hospitality to a monk, but
all living together and having a common oratory.
In conclusion, Durtal says: ‘“ L’Eglise pourrait
faire plus mal que prier Dieu de lui envoyer des
artistes. leurs ceuvres opéreraient plus de con-
versions et lui améneraient plus de partisans que
les vaines rengaines que ses prétres, juchés dans
des coquetiers, versent sur la téte resignée des
fideles.””
On closing the book one is struck with the idea
that the society of M. Huysmans must have been
a great addition to the monks in the monastery
where he resided for some time.
“Au milieu des massacres” is the title of the
book just published by Madame Maurice Carlier,
the heroic woman who was recently decorated by
the French Government with the Order of the
Legion of Honour. Her husband was the French
Consul who distinguished himself by his courage
during the events of Sivas, in 1895.
The “Correspondance de Chateaubriand avec
La Marquise de V.—”’ has just been published as
“Un Dernier Amour de René.”
The story of this correspondence is quite a
romance. The Marquise de V. was a great
admirer of Chateaubriand’s works, and for years
had “worshipped” in silence. When she was
about forty-eight she ventured to write to the
celebrated author, because she had seen from the
newspaper that he was ill. Chateaubriand replied
in the most cordial terms, and the Marquise then
wrote a longer letter, in which she expressed her
admiration for his works, and owned that he had for
many years been her “ étoile.”
The correspondence continued during the next
THE AUTHOR.
two years, and it is very evident from the letters of
the Marquise that her admiration developed into
love, and that she suffered tortures between her
longing to see the man whom she idolised and her
dread lest their meeting should prove to be the end
of their romance. Chateaubriand persisted in
believing that she was quite young, and she had
not the courage to undeceive him.
Before the end of the first year of this exchange
of letters, Chateaubriand writes: “J’aime celle
qui ne m’est plus inconnue que de visage.” A few
months later he calls on the Marquise, and then
after a few more letters the correspondence ceases.
As the preface to the book explains ‘ Chateau-
briand avait toujours vite fait de cesser d’aimer et
nombreuses sont les femmes qui en ont souffert.”
The Marquise de V. was probably one of these
women.
The letters are well worth reading, and one
understands from those of Chateaubriand some-
thing of the fascination he exercised.
The death of M. Gaston Paris is a great loss
to the French literary world. He was a member
of the Academy, a great savant and a philologist
of the first order. He lectured at the College of
France on the French language and literature of
the Middle Ages. Among his numerous works the
following are perhaps the best known :—“ Histoire
poetique de Charlemagne,” “Les plus anciens
monuments de la langue francaise,” “ Les Contes
orientaux de la littérature francaise du Moyen-Age.”
The French Academy has lost its Doyen, M.
Ernest Legouvé. He became a member of the
Academy in 1855, and has, during his long career,
seen all his thirty-nine colleagues replaced by new
members. Hewas born in 1807. His best known
works are: “Adrienne Lecouvreur,” and the
“ Bataille de Dames,” et “Contes de la Reine de
Navarre,” in collaboration with Scribe.
The late M. Zola’s books have been sold, and
among them a Latin manuscript, a breviary of
the fifteenth century, executed by the Abbé de
Moissac. The miniatures and illuminations were
very beautiful.
Tt seems that the breviary had a history.
Zola picked it up ata sale, and it appears that it
inspired him for his book “ Le Réve.” The exact
description of this manuscript is to be found in
the book.
An exquisite little volame has just been pub-
lished entitled, “‘Pensées d’une Solitaire.” The
authoress of these “ Pensées,” Madame Ackermann,
died in 1890. She had published an edition in
1883, but it was very soon out of print, and this
reprint is preceded by a chapter entitled “ Madame
Louise Ackermann intime,” written by Mlle. Louise
Read. In this chapter many hitherto unpublished
fragments of poetry and prose are given, and also
THE AUTHOR. 177
a brief sketch of the life of the authoress whose
works won the admiration of such men as Tolstoy,
Sully Prudhomme, Coppée and Barbey @’ Aurevilly,
The latter, who was often horrified at Madame
Ackermann’s tone of revolt in certain of her
writings, spoke of her as “ tout 4 la fois un monstre
et un prodige: un prodige pur le talent et un
monstre par la pens¢e.”
Whereupon Mme. Ackermann sent her critic a
volume of her poems dedicated to him by “ Un
monstre reconnaissant.”’
Mile. Read sums up admirably the great merit
of both the Pensées and the poems. “Ceux qui
avaient déja souffert aussi,’ she says: “savent
combien son influence était fortifiante et reposante
et quel courage ils puisaient prés d’elle, non qu’elle
s’efforcat de leur donner de vagues consgolations,
mais sondant avec eux les abimes de la souffrance
méme, la généralisant, l’ennoblissant. La est sa
supréme puissance.”
The new review published here (The Weekly
Critical) has made rapid strides, both as regards
quality and popularity. The French are quick to
recognise literary merit, and the Editor, M. Arthur
Bles, has already been nominated Offcier a’ Académie.
The tenth number of the review contains some
excellent articles, among others, “An English
View of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” by John F,
Runciman; “The Decay of Craftmanship in
England,” by Arthur Symons ; “ Joseph Conrad,”
by Ernest Newman; and a criticism of the
Schumann Lieder, by Hugues Imbert. Some of
the first writers in France are contributing to this
review, and weekly articles are also to appear by
Arthur Symons, John F. Runciman, and Ernest
Newman.
The International Theatre, too, seems likely
to be a success. This magazine is published on
the 20th of each month, and the March num-
ber is most interesting. The theatrical news of
the world is summed up in sixty pages, and as
every article is given in two languages, French
and English, it seems as though the whole world
should be able to read it. Dramatic authors will
no doubt enjoy following their plays to the various
countries and seeing the photos of their interpreters
of all nationalities. Besides the “ news,” there are
some excellent articles in this number on subjects
connected with the theatre. Mr. Louis N. Parker
writes on “ Authors and their Adapters.” He says
that in the course of his work he has been struck
by the “callous indifference of authors towards
their own plays. The majority of them do not
seem to care by whom their plays are translated or
interpreted, and they display a reckless ignorance
of theatrical matters outside their own immediate
surroundings which is perfectly amazing. ...
Subsequently they are pained and surprised if,
owing to the grotesque incompetence of the transla-
tion, or the laughable inappropriateness of the
performance, their play is a fiasco.”
Perhaps the International Theatre will change
all this. It will be more easy from henceforth for
dramatic authors to know what is going on outside
their own country.
Another of the articles in this number is “ The
American Syndicate since its Foundation,” by
Norman Hapgood. The author explains very
clearly the origin of the “ Theatrical Trust.”
In Paris, the city par excellence for all things
connected with dramatic art, the new venture has
been welcomed cordially, and, as the name of
Simpkin and Marshall appears on the cover of
this month’s issue, it is evident that London, too,
has discovered it.
At the theatres there is great activity. ‘ Werther,”
by M. Decourcelles, still holds the bill alternatively
with “La Dame aux Camélias” at the Sarah
Bernhardt Theatre.
‘Le Beau, Jeune Homme,” by M. Capus, at the
Renaissance, has not had the success of “ La Chate-
laine,”
At the Odeon “ Le Message” and “ Les Appe-
lears ” have been put on in the place of “ Résur-
rection.” M. Antoine has had great success with
“ Le Colonel Chabert,” a piece cleverly adapted by
M. Louis Forest from a novel by Balzac.
The new play, which is now being rehearsed by
Madame Réjane, is awaited with great interest. It
is in five acts and entitled “La Meilleure Part,”
by Pierre de Coulevain, written in collaboration
with Pierre Decourcelles.
Pierre de Coulevain’s last novel, “Eve Victo-
rieuse,” had great success in Paris, and, as in the
play an American woman is one of the prominent
characters, great curiosity is felt, not only with
regard to the play itself, but also as to the inter-
pretation by a French artiste of an American girl
who becomes the wife of a French aristocrat.
Madame Réjane has an extremely difficult ré/e, that
of one of the most complex of complex women.
She will no doubt rise to the occasion, and it is
more than probable that ‘‘ La Meilleure Part” will
be her greatest triumph.
Atys HaLtaRp
——_$_-—~<—_ —______
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
es
Some American Conditions.
HE Authors’ Society might do worse than
issue a Special Commission to inquire into
and report upon the present state of the
business of book-making and (so far as “ authors”
are concerned) of periodical-making in the United
States of America, Foreign markets are of ever-
176
He describes the indignation of the worthy
monks who object to ask the authorization of the
Government, and who object, still more strongly,
to give an inventory of all they possess. Through
all the tribulations of the monks, the lay brother,
Durtal, appears to see clearly the causes which
have brought about this state of things. “ Les
fidéles,” he says, “ ont aidé & faire du catholicisme
ce quelque chose d’émascule, d’hybride, de mol,
cette espéce de courtage de pricres et de mercu-
riale d’oraisons, cette sorte de Sainte-Tombola ou
Yon brocante des graces en insérant des papiers
et des sous dans des troncs, scellés sous des statues
de saints ! ”
Finally, Durtal is convinced that if God allows
His Church to be persecuted it is in order that
certain reforms shall be made, and that the Church
shall be more in accordance with the requirements
of the times.
Among other ideas Durtal proposes that artists
shall help to restore the monastic idea. He
dreams of a huge settlement composed of houses
and studios, where men of various professions shall
live, each house offering hospitality to a monk, but
all living together and having a common oratory.
In conclusion, Durtal says: ‘‘ L’Eglise pourrait
faire plus mal que prier Dieu de lui envoyer des
artistes. Leurs ceuvres opéreraient plus de con-
versions et lui améneraient plus de partisans que
les vaines rengaines que ses prétres, juchés dans
des coquetiers, versent sur la téte résignée des
fideles.”’
On closing the book one is struck with the idea
that the society of M. Huysmans must have been
a great addition to the monks in the monastery
where he resided for some time.
“Au milieu des massacres” is the title of the
book just published by Madame Maurice Carlier,
the heroic woman who was recently decorated by
the French Government with the Order of the
Legion of Honour. Her husband was the French
Consul who distinguished himself by his courage
during the events of Sivas, in 1895.
The “Correspondance de Chateaubriand avec
La Marquise de V.—” has just been published as
“Un Dernier Amour de René.”
The story of this correspondence is quite a
romance. The Marquise de V. was a great
admirer of Chateaubriand’s works, and for years
had “worshipped” in silence. When she was
about forty-eight she ventured to write to the
celebrated author, because she had seen from the
newspaper that he was ill. Chateaubriand replied
in the most cordial terms, and the Marquise then
wrote a longer letter, in which she expressed her
admiration for his works, and owned that he had for
many years been her “ étoile.”
The correspondence continued during the next
THE AUTHOR.
two years, and it is very evident from the letters of
the Marquise that her admiration developed into
love, and that she suffered tortures between her
longing to see the man whom she idolised and her
dread lest their meeting should prove to be the end
of their romance. Chateaubriand persisted in
believing that she was quite young, and she had
not the courage to undeceive him.
Before the end of the first year of this exchange
of letters, Chateaubriand writes: “J’aime celle
qui ne m’est plus inconnue que de visage.” A few
months later he calls on the Marquise, and then
after a few more letters the correspondence ceases.
As the preface to the book explains “ Chateau-
briand avait toujours vite fait de cesser d’aimer et
nombreuses sont les femmes qui en ont souffert.”
The Marquise de V. was probably one of these
women.
The letters are well worth reading, and one
understands from those of Chateaubriand some-
thing of the fascination he exercised.
The death of M. Gaston Paris is a great loss
to the French literary world. He was a member
of the Academy, a great savant and a philologist
of the first order. He lectured at the College of
France on the French language and literature of
the Middle Ages. Among his numerous works the
following are perhaps the best known :—“ Histoire
poetique de Charlemagne,” “ Les plus anciens
monuments de la langue francaise,” “ Les Contes
orientaux de la littérature francaise du Moyen-Age.”
The French Academy has lost its Doyen, M.
Ernest Legouvé. He became a member of the
Academy in 1855, and has, during his long career,
seen all his thirty-nine colleagues replaced by new
members. He was born in 1807. His best known
works are: “Adrienne Lecouvreur,” and the
“Bataille de Dames,” et “Contes de la Reine de
Navarre,” in collaboration with Scribe.
The late M. Zola’s books have been sold, and
among them a Latin manuscript, a breviary of
the fifteenth century, executed by the Abbé de
Moissac. The miniatures and illuminations were
very beautiful.
Tt seems that the breviary had a history.
Zola picked it up ata sale, and it appears that it
inspired him for his book “ Le Réve.” The exact
description of this manuscript is to be found in
the book.
An exquisite little volume has just been pub-
lished entitled, ‘“ Pensées d’une Solitaire.” The
authoress of these “ Pensées,” Madame Ackermann,
died in 1890. She had published an edition in
1883, but it was very soon out of print, and this
reprint is preceded by a chapter entitled “ Madame
Louise Ackermann intime,” written by Mlle. Louise
Read. In this chapter many hitherto unpublished
fragments of poetry and prose are given, and also
& BER
THE AUTHOR.
a brief sketch of the life of the authoress whose
works won the admiration of such men as Tolstoy,
Sully Prudhomme, Coppée and Barbey d’ Aurevilly.
The latter, who was often horrified at Madame
Ackermann’s tone of revolt in certain of her
writings, spoke of her as “ tout a la fois un monstre
et un prodige: un prodige pur le talent et un
monstre par la pensée.”
Whereupon Mme. Ackermann sent her critic a
volume of her poems dedicated to him by “Un
monstre reconnaissant.”’
Mlle. Read sums up admirably the great merit
of both the Pensées and the poems. “ Ceux qui
avaient déja souffert aussi,” she says: “savent
combien son influence était fortifiante et reposante
et quel courage ils puisaient prés d’elle, non qu'elle
s’ettorgat de leur donner de vagues consolations,
mais sondant avec eux les abimes de la souffrance
méme, la généralisant, l’ennoblissant. La est sa
supréme puissance.”
The new review published here (The Weekly
Critical) has made rapid strides, both as regards
quality and popularity. The French are quick to
recognise literary merit, and the Editor, M. Arthur
Bles, has already been nominated Officier i’ Académie.
The tenth number of the review contains some
excellent articles, among others, “An English
View of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” by John F.
Runciman; “The Decay of Craftmanship in
England,” by Arthur Symons ; « Joseph Conrad,”
by Ernest Newman; and a criticism of the
Schumann Lieder, by Hugues Imbert. Some of
the first writers in France are contributing to this
review, and weekly articles are also to appear by
Arthur Symons, John F. Runciman, and Ernest
Newman.
The International Theatre, too, seems likely
to be a success. This magazine is published on
the 20th of each month, and the March num-
ber is most interesting. The theatrical news of
the world is summed up in sixty pages, and as
every article is given in two languages, French
and English, it seems as though the whole world
should be able to read it. Dramatic authors will
no doubt enjoy following their plays to the various
countries and seeing the photos of their interpreters
of all nationalities. Besides the “news,” there are
some excellent articles in this number on subjects
connected with the theatre. Mr. Louis N. Parker
writes on “ Authors and their Adapters.” He says
that in the course of his work he has been struck
by the “callous indifference of authors towards
their own plays. The majority of them do not
seem to care by whom their plays are translated or
interpreted, and they display a reckless ignorance
of theatrical matters outside their own immediate
surroundings which is perfectly amazing. ...
Subsequently they are pained and surprised if,
177
owing to the grotesque incompetence of the transla-
tion, or the laughable inappropriateness of the
performance, their play is a fiasco.”
Perhaps the International Theatre will change
all this. It will be more easy from henceforth for
dramatic authors to know what is going on outside
their own country.
Another of the articles in this number is “ The
American Syndicate since its Foundation,” by
Norman Hapgood. The author explains very
clearly the origin of the “ Theatrical Trust.”
In Paris, the city par excellence for all things
connected with dramatic art, the new venture has
been welcomed cordially, and, as the name of
Simpkin and Marshall appears on the cover of
this month’s issue, it is evident that London, too,
has discovered it.
At the theatres there is great activity. “ Werther,”
by M. Decourcelles, still holds the bill alternatively
with “La Dame aux Camélias” at the Sarah
Bernhardt Theatre.
“Le Beau, Jeune Homme,” by M. Capus, at the
Renaissance, has not had the success of “ La Chate-
laine.”
At the Odeon “ Le Message” and “Les Appe-
lears”” have been put on in the place of “ Résur-
rection.” M. Antoine has had great success with
“ Le Colonel Chabert,” a piece cleverly adapted by
M. Louis Forest from a novel by Balzac.
The new play, which is now being rehearsed by
Madame Réjane, is awaited with great interest. It
is in five acts and entitled “La Meilleure Part,”
by Pierre de Coulevain, written in collaboration
with Pierre Decourcelles.
Pierre de Coulevain’s last novel, “Eve Victo-
rieuse,” had great success in Paris, and, as in the
play an American woman is one of the prominent
characters, great curiosity is felt, not only with
regard to the play itself, but also as to the inter-
pretation by a French artiste of an American girl
who becomes the wife of a French aristocrat.
Madame Réjane has an extremely difficult ré/e, that
of one of the most complex of complex women.
She will no doubt rise to the occasion, and it is
more than probable that ‘‘ La Meilleure Part” will
be her greatest triumph.
Atys HaALuarp
$+ —____
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
—_—
Some American Conditions.
HE Authors’ Society might do worse than
issue a Special Commission to inquire into
and report upon the present state of the
business of book-making and (so far as “ authors”
are concerned) of periodical-making in the United
Foreign markets are of ever-
States of America.
178
increasing importance to the competent British
writer, and the American is by far the most
valuable of them all. We stand to gain, too, not
only by the greater frequency of these over-sea
transactions and the “invasion” of this country
by American firms, but also by the example of
vigour and intelligence which they often afford to
the more conservative British publishers, editors,
and retailers. Unfortunately, the only trustworthy
information at present available is necessarily
coloured by personal experience, and those who
know most are least inclined to indulge in rash
generalisation. I am very glad to respond to the
editor’s request for some personal impressions ;
but I am not at all inclined to help to encourage
the young writer in the notion that there is, out
there in the sunset, a new El Dorado yearning to
acknowledge and reward his budding genius. In
this, as in other departments of industry, the
Republic is beginning to expect to balance exports
against imports. It is now capable of supplying all
the trash it can consume (which, indeed, is saying
a good deal) ; the only conquests that remain are
for special talent, or something still rarer, backed
by skilled advice and vigilant organisation.
Let me take the periodical Press first. I am
much struck by the courtesy and still more by the
open-mindedness of the American editor, as com-
pared with his English fellow. He is infinitely
more receptive, and, on the financial side, generally
more venturesome. There is no air of pontifical
inspiration or Thibetan impenetrability about the
American editorial office. Thanks to our world-
wide traffic we still have a greater range of oppor-
tunity in politics and the more weighty public
subjects ; in the kaleidoscopic representation of
social life we are sadly behindhand. In publica-
tions devoted to bookish affairs America leads the
whole world, with the Critic, the Bookman, Current
Literature, the Reader, the Lamp, the New York
Times’ Saturday Review, the Dial (Chicago), and
the Literary World (Boston), the last two serving
to remind us of the advantage of having more
than one centre of literary production. When we
recall that, in addition, it is no infrequent thing
to find four or six pages of book reviews in a
single issue of any of the twenty leading news-
papers, it becomes evident that the American
publisher has to cater for an appetite which, already
Jarger than ours, is still growing, and growing
under fairly good guidance. Criticism has not the
air of preciosity to which we are accustomed, and
perhaps it sometimes fails of the expertness on
remote subjects which gives certain British journals
their sole value. Ina word, letters are the posses-
sion not of a small cult but of a great democracy ;
a people marked by the limitations, but also the
glorious vigour and sympathies of youth.
THE AUTHOR.
It may be positively said that the American
editor has finished with average British fiction,
short or long. The reasons are obvious ; but it is
only after having received many hard knocks in
the last few years that some accepted English
writers have bowed to the inevitable. Brother
Jonathan is rapidly learning to discriminate. He
is also a very positive person, and, general polite-
ness notwithstanding, very impatient of incompe-
tence. The editor is a man of ideas, not an
amiable Mr. Mantalini. Great names, great deeds,
new ideas, unfailingly appeal to him. He simply
doesn’t want of us what his own public school
children can do, as he would say, ‘‘in their sleep.”
I am inclined to think that he runs to greater
extremes of price in both directions, though it is
difficult to know how our own lower scales can be
outdone ; but the high prices are nearly all re-
served as prizes for a few men and women of
special gifts and achievements. For the rest, the
national tastes and distastes—for instance, the
absorbing interest in material accomplishment, and
the prevalent puritanism—must be carefully re-
garded. For very few authors can the United
States be looked upon as more than a supplemen-
tary field; and then it can only be effectively
attacked through a trustworthy agent. That,
indeed, may be said of all ‘ foreign rights.”
Conditions of book publication still differ con-
siderably on the opposite sides of the Atlantic,
though no doubt they tend to become more homo-
geneous with the growth of literary intercourse.
The work of the Authors’ Society has still to be
done over there. Only a few men have been
tempted into the new and difficult sphere of
literary agency (one of the chief English syndicates
has lately withdrawn its American representative),
and they exist in the main by and for foreign
business. Cost of production has never, so far as
I know, come under public discussion ; and it is
even more difficult there than here to get books
satisfactorily produced on commission. Even the
beginnings of a corporate feeling among craftsmen
of the pen are hardly yet discernible. In a nation
with the heritage of the Old World behind and
immeasurable material tasks before, it is not sur-
prising that native literature has hitherto been a
mere by-product. Now that a thousand more or
less intelligent young men and women have been
tempted to try their hands upon the romance
topographical or historical, we may expect some
esprit de corps to appear. But the terrible indi-
vidualism of the American character is an obstacle ;
the existence of three or four great national
centres is another ; while the greatest of all will
be found in the peculiar character of American
publishing enterprise in its present stage. If it
be possible, the man of art is more completely than
THE AUTHOR. 179
we are in the hands of the man of business ;
though he may more often console himself with
the reflection that his publisher really is a man of
business, and not merely a dilettante or a potterer,
Agreements oftener take an arbitrary form ; and,
even with the best firms, accustomed to the more
rigid British methods, it is often necessary, for
the sake of a greater advantage, to pass minor
provisions which are now hardly ever met with at
home. Extraordinary arrangements with authors
are also—if the bull may be permitted—more
frequent, these being generally the outcome of, or
closely connected with, the American advertising
system, and the quest of the “boomster.” The
English publisher rarely gives a substantial
advance on royalties unless previous sale records
justify it. The American of good standing can
apparently draw to a much larger extent upon the
support of the retail trade, and so is enabled to
mortgage the royalties on a larger first edition if
he scents a “big seller.” Thus, a quite uew
author may be offered a very large sum in advance
of what turns out to be—until sales have reached
twenty or thirty thousand—a very small royalty,
the inducement being not only the large advance
payment, but the prospect of an expenditure on
advertisements so heavy that it would be, as the
publisher probably justly contends, impossible
under the normal British system. It will be better
for everyone, I think, when this “boomster ”
business is played out ; and one notes with satis-
faction that some of the best of the newer houses
are following the best of the old ones, by abandon-
ing the plan of an exceedingly reduced list of
meretricious works, designed solely for sensational
advertisement. One wonders how some English
houses meet their newspaper bills; and it is not
surprising to learn that the American publisher,
whose expenditure in this direction has sometimes
reached fabulous proportions, is beginning to learn
that it is a mistake. He may spend much less and
yet set us a needed example of effective display.
The Author has been saying some very severe
things of late about the British bookseller ; and,
without endorsing all of them, I quite agree that
our retailers have much to learn, and that upon
the improvement of their position the improvement
of the outlook for authors and publishers largely
depends. If Transatlantic examples are to be
quoted, however, it must be subject to some under-
standing of the differences of the two cases. In
England, apart from a few central shops in the
large cities, bookselling is a sadly impoverished
business, subsisting largely upon the respectability
that attaches to the skirts of culture in an ancient
society. The fall of incomes of the landowners
and the poverty of the country clergy—classes
which would sacrifice books before other luxuries
—the extension of the Mudie and Smith libraries,
the increasing habit of buying in London, and the
growth of the discount system have played havoc
with bookshops in the provinces. In America the
circumstances are widely different. The book-
man is respected no more, probably less, than the
engineer ; indeed, no one calling is much more
respectable than another. But solid profit is the
measure of success in all callings ; and the book-
seller expects to get, and does get, solid profits.
Trade discounts run to at least 40 per cent. off
“subject” books, and 25 per cent. on net books,
but the net system now practically covers all but
novels. New York is very far from absorbing all
the wealth and enterprise and interest of the land ;
in every town the readers are much more dependent
than we are upon the local stores, Partly because
of the comparative newness of the trade, and partly
from the American faculty for concentration,
these are fewer and larger than in this country.
McClure’s, for instance, is almost the only con-
siderable bookshop in Chicago, and it is, I believe,
the largest in the world, dealing with every kind
of book from the “Caxton” and the “First Folio
Shakespeare ” to the latest ten-cent reprint. | th
does an immense intermediary trade; and alto-
gether—to say nothing of the publishing depart-
ment—no such organisation exists in this country.
Burrows’s, of Cleveland, is another big concern
holding the strings of the retail trade of a wide
and wealthy region. The recent sale by the pub-
lishing house of Henry T. Coates & Co., in Phila-
delphia, of their retail department marks the progress
of specialisation in this business. Such a firm as
Elder and Shepard’s, in San Francisco, includes
extremes of trade which are divided here by all
that lies between, say, Hatchard and Stoneham ;
and their little periodical, Zmpressions, shows
with how much skill they appeal to what is best
in their vigorous and prosperous community. In
Boston, where the trade is older and competition is
keener, where the community is more critical and
better supplied with libraries, and offers less oppor-
tunity for the merely mechanical adjustment of
supply to demand, than in the West, there is a
greater approximation to English conditions.
But everywhere in the New World—and this is
the supreme fact—there is a more numerous, more
instructed, and more highly-vitalised public to
appeal to ; and a wider diffusion of wealth makes
effective the universal regard for knowledge as
the only title to honour and authority. Ask any
intelligent American what is the matter with poor
old England, groaning amid her feudal remains,
and he will tell you that Culture, also, if we are
to get the most out of it, must be based upon
Democracy.
G. H. Perris.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
Sg
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to :
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in he Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
* Cost of Production.”
IV. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
—_—_—_—_—___o__
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
— +
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager,
THE AUTHOR.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.
This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills,
(0.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.¢.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (@.) apply
also in this case.
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5, Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘'hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
——————
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
i, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
I
THE AUTHOR.
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination,
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6, The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. ‘The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) I'o enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members,
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
———_—__—_§_o-——____
THE READING BRANCH.
—1+~ +
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. heir MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, ‘The term
MSS. includes NoT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientitic works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
———_ +> —____ =
NOTICES.
ee
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
181
Communications for Lhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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,
TT Oo
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED RY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever, very effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—+~< +
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bunk of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
——+-~ +
V E have read with much pleasure the Report
of the Canadian Authors’ Society for 1902.
The Society has done good work on
copyright, and is evidently still anxious to keep
the right view of the Imperial Copyright question
before the Canadian authorities. he officers of
the society for 1902 are as follows :—
Hon. President: Prof. Goldwin Smith, D.C.L.
President: Hon. G. W. Ross, U.L.D.
Vice-Presidents: Dr. Bryce (Winnipeg), Dr.
Drummond (Montreal), Dr. Frechette, C.M.G.
(Montreal), Hon. J. W. Longley (Halifax), D. C.
Scott, F.R.C.S. (Ottawa).
Secretary: Prot. Pelham Edgar, Ph.D.
Treasurer: John A. Cooper, B.A., LL.D.
Executive: Messrs. James Bain, jun., Castell
Hopkins, O. A. Howland, Bernard McEvoy, Mac-
donald Oxley, J. 8. Willison, B. E. Walker, and
Professors Davidson, Lefroy and Mayor.
The society numbers over 100 members, and
although there are still, as in the case of every
society of this kind, some well-known authors out-
standing, the list shows that the society is well
supported.
The main objects of the society are the same
as our own.
From such a satisfactory beginning great things
may be expected when the literature of Canada is
us large as its territory.
One of His Majesty’s Consuls residing in a
distant part of the Continent has forwarded a
182
letter to the office complaining of the extraordinary
advertisement by postcard of a book published by
the firm of Messrs. R. A. Everett & Co.
The question has been dealt with by letters in
The Times at the beginning of last month.
We have only taken notice of it because the
Secretary received the correspondence from a man—
personally unknown to him and not a member of
the Society ; one, however, who appeared to be
well aware of the interest the Society takes in
matters relating to books and book advertise-
ments.
The Consul also reports that other members of
the consular service have received similar post-
cards. This tends to show the terrible extent to
which this peculiar form of advertising has been
carried by the author’s unknown friend, or
enemy.
We read with pleasure in the letter that appeared
in The Times signed by the publishers, that both the
author and the publishers deny any responsibility
for this method of advertisement.
Tt still remains a mystery, therefore, who the
enemy may be who has done this serious injury to
the author.
Has a careful study of the postcards been
made }
As many members of the Society require advice
on the more difficult subjects connected with copy-
right and the management of their property,
articles have from time to time been printed in
The Author declaring the law and advising on these
special points. In pursuance of these principles,
Agreements from certain houses have also been
exhaustively criticised.
It has been necessary occasionally to republish
these articles, because former numbers of The
Author have either been sold out or distributed,
and members still require assistance. This is
rendered more easily by a printed article than a
lengthy letter.
Among the many points of law there is one
which is frequently a cause of disagreement in the
Publishing and Literary world, namely, the law
with reference to titles of books.
In the September, 1900, issue of The Author an
article was printed dealing with this subject. As
in other cases so in the present, that number of
The Author is entirely out of print. It has been
thought advisable to republish the article.
M. Jules Lermina, perpetual Secretary of the
“Association Littéraire et Artistique Inter-
national,” writes to inform us that the address
of the Association has been transferred to “22,
THE AUTHOR.
Rue Chaiteaudun, Paris (9e).” Correspondence
should be addressed to the Secretary at “85,
Boulevard de Portroyal, Paris.” The twenty-fifth
Congress of the Association will take place on
the 3rd of October next, at Weimar, under the
patronage of the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar.
The report of the Naples Congress of 1902 is in the
press, and will be shortly distributed.
——_+—_>_+-__
AMERICAN NOTES.
t+
HE year 1902, was as I anticipated in my
last notes, a record one for its output of
books. It was also remarkable in another
way. The statistics of the best selling novels
show that, in this department at least, there is a
growing taste for home products. Domestic
fiction claims twenty-three out of the twenty-eight
most-read novels of 1902, as compared with nineteen
out of twenty-nine in the preceding year, “ The
History of Sir Richard Calmady,” “The Hound
of the Baskervilles” and “The Right of Way”
(which last some are inclined to claim as itself
half-American), were the only serious foreign com-
petitors of the champion “Mrs. Wiggs of the
Cabbage Patch,” “The Mississippi Bubble,” “ The
Virginian,” “Dorothy Vernon,’ Mr. Connor's
“The Man from Glengarry,” and the long-lived
“Crisis.” Mr. Whiteing has announced his
opinion that American fiction is being increasingly
influenced by French novels ; but for my part I
should say that there were some indications that
native genius would in time find itself strong
enough to stand alone.
There is certainly nothing French about “ Mrs.
Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” which is now, I
believe, being much read in England. It is prob-
ably the most successful work that the Century
Company have yet issued. Yet the publishers are
quite refreshingly reticent about its sale, declaring
that the book is “ too delicate in its motive to be
handled in that way ”’—that is, as a “big seller.”
At the end of January, however, they did not
object to an announcement that the sales had con-
siderably exceeded two hundred thousand—it was
first issued so long ago as October, 1901—and
were still “going*merrily on.” I note that it
follows Mr. Norris’s posthumous story in the last
lists, still holding second place.
Surely it is rather new for a publishing company
to have a sentiment against “ working” the public
in the interest of one of their works. A cynic might
suggest ulterior motives; but far be it from the
present writer to make any such base insinuation,
Meanwhile, I have to congratulate Miss Hegan
THE AUTHOR.
upon having, like “ Mr. Dooley,” joined the ranks
of those prepared to give hostages to fortune. She
is now the wife of Mr. Cale Young Price, the
Kentucky poet. Her new book, “Lovey Mary,”
is, I gather, in the nature of a sequel to “ Mrs.
Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.” I infer from the
title of a recent announcement of the Boston
Mutual Book Company—“ Mrs. McPiggs of the
Very Old Scratch” — that the last-named has
attained the distinction of being parodied.
Undoubtedly, the most remarkable book that
has appeared since my last notes were written is
the literary legacy of Mr. Frank Norris. “The
Pit” was the second part of the wheat trilogy,
planned by the American Zola. “The Octopus ”
had dealt with the growers of the grain ;
“The Pit” is a study of the speculators in it.
The scene is Chicago, where the novelist lived
as a boy. It is probably an improvement even
upon “The Octopus,” and is generally thought
to contain the author’s best female character. It
is sad to reflect that “The Wolf,” which was to
have concluded the trilogy, will never exist but in
name.
A book which has been exciting much curiosity
in the literary world on this side, is “The Journal
of Arthur Stirling ; or, The Valley of the
Shadow,” published by Appleton. Obituary notices
of the supposed diarist, who was said to have com-
mitted suicide after the rejection of his blank
verse drama by eight publishers, appeared in
prominent papers ; but the work is now supposed
to have been a concoction, and has been attributed
to Mr. Upton St. Clair. If this be true, it is to be
hoped that the veritable author will enjoy the
exceedingly outspoken utterances which some of
its critics have allowed themselves. One re-
viewer, whose name appears at the foot of his
article, roundly declares the “ Journal ” to be “ the
most vulgar and impudent humbug that has been
perpetrated for years,” adding to his censure the
contemptuous remark :—‘‘ But it won’t work.’
From what I have seen of it, I should judge that
his strictures were not without justification.
The new story by the author of “J. Devlin
Boss” is a romance of the Civil War, and the
titular hero, “ The Captain,” is General Ulysses S.
Grant. That industrious romancer, Dr. Cyrus
Townsend Brady, has also written a new novel,
“Woven with the Ship,” treating of the same
period, which seems to yield inexhaustible
material.
Raymond L. Bridgman’s “ Loyal Traitors” con-
tains dramatic scenes from the late struggle in the
Philippines, and is written in a vein of strong
sympathy for the Filipinos. Its admirers would
fain have it classed with “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Another notable novel which has appeared
183
recently is Hamlin Garland’s « Captain of the
Grey Horse Troop,” which tells how a friend of
the redmen not only succeeded in protecting them
in the reservation where he lived as agent but
also won over to his views the lady of his love
who had shared her father’s hostility to the
Indians.
I do not think I mentioned in my last notes
Ralph Corner’s story of school life ‘in Canada,
which should be read by all those who enjoy boys’
books as well as those who are attracted by “ best
sellers.”
“The Henchman,” by Mark Lee Luther, is a
cleverly written story of political life in New York
state—distinctly a good specimen of the genre to
which it belongs.
I have an impression that amidst the crowd of
books from which I had to make selections for
comment in my Christmas notes I passed over a
work which is so much out of the common as “The
Letters of a Self-made Merchant to his Son.” As,
however, Mr. Lorimer’s book is probably by this
time as well known in England as America, it seems
hardly necessary for me to repair the omission
now.
The flood of fiction is scarcely yet at the full,
and I must pass on to a few weightier, if not so
widely circulated, books.
Despite the great mass of publications that have
already come forth—a bibliography issued by
authority last year specifies about 450 separate
works—writers are still busy with the Trust
problem. The latest contributions of importance
to the discussion are Mr. George L. Bolen’s “ Plain
Facts as to Trusts and the Tariff,’ and a volume
somewhat quaintly termed “The Trust: Its
Book,” edited by James H. Bridge. The latter is
written by a syndicate in defence of the Trust, the
several departments of the subject being treated of
by specialists. Mr. Bolen, on the other hand,
takes up the position of a judge rather than that
of an advocate, suggests remedies and recommends
tariff reform.
Another subject of great concern to Americans
is discussed by Professor Fernow, who, in his
“ Kconomics of Forestry,” pleads for a scientific
treatment of the question. A good popular work
about trees, which has been lately written by Miss
Julia Ellen Rogers, ‘“ Among Green Trees,” may,
perhaps, be mentioned in this connection, since it
is not only descriptive, but both scientific and
practical.
Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. propose to
celebrate the centenary of Emerson’s birth, which
occurs next May, by the issue of an edition of his
works, which is to include some hitherto unpub-
lished manuscripts. Of what these will consist we
have as yet been told nothing, but it is announced
184
that the Riverside Press will issue a limited edition,
subscribers to which will be presented with original
sheets (not fac-similes) of Emerson’s own hand-
writing. This “Autograph Centenary Edition z
will be a real treasure to the admirers of the
philosopher poet.
Dr. Van Tyne’s edition of Daniel Webster's
Letters will also include unpublished matter of
some interest. The editor, it may be noted, has
recently published an interesting little monograph
upon the “ Loyalists of the American Revolution.”
With the appearance of its fourth volume, Dr
McCrady’s “ History of South Carolina in the
Revolution” has reached its conclusion. It is a
monument of research, but many people will think
that the subject has been treated at somewhat
disproportionate length, and that General Greene
has been rather unnecessarily disparaged.
Some extracts, and a fac-simile of entries, from
Washington’s private Account Book for 1790-1,
which was rescued from a fire some fifteen years
ago, have been printed in “ The Bookman,” while
the Crific of the same month may be said to have
gone one better historically with an illustrated
“Columbus Codex.” Mr. Herbert Putnam, who
is responsible for the latter article, traces the
history of the manuscript, and adduces reasons in
support of its authenticity. It purports to be one
of the three parchment copies which Columbus had
prepared at the time of his disgrace, in 1500, of
the various grants that had been made to him by
the sovereigns of Castile and Aragon, of the Bull
accorded him by Pope Alexander VI., and of
various other documents. The Codex, which has
lately been acquired hy Congress, was bought by
the late Edward Everett at Florence in 1818,
mentioned in print in 1824 in connection with the
printing of another of the transcripts in the pre-
ceding year, and again in Justin Winsor’s “ Lite of
Columbus ” some seventy years later, but not
actually seen by anyone but its possessor until
1898, when Dr. William Everett lighted upon it
by chance. It was submitted by the latter to
experts in England, and by great good fortune was
rescued intact from a fire which broke out in Dr.
Everett’s house two years ago. The seller is said
to have let this precious document go to the
National Library at a practically nominal price.
Who wrote “Mary had a Little Lamb”? It
appeared that Miss Anne Hollingsworth Wharton
had triumphantly demonstrated that the honour
belonged to Sara Josepha Hale ; when, lo and
behold! there comes a friend of the latter who
declares of her own knowledge that the said Mrs.
Sara Josepha did not pen the first three—the
immortal—stanzas! This is a conclusion too
affecting for words.
There is now at last to be a first-rate American
THE AUTHOR.
art magazine. The aim of the American Connois-
seur, which will be edited by Mr. Charles de Kay
(director of the National Sculpture Society, art
editor of the New York Times, and much else) is
stated to be “ to reflect the various manifestations
of art in America with due reference to the work
of foreign countries, and to contribute to the
tastes of American connoisseurs ”—a commend-
able programme.
I return for a moment to literature in order to
make mention of a work which deserves com-
mendation as being rather apart from the beaten
track struck out by the national genius. This
is Richard Thayer Holbrook’s “ Dante, and the
Animal Kingdom.” Dr. Holbrook’s work will
appeal not only to the Dante student, but also to
the man of science, and even the general reader
may find it not without interest to him.
In “ Twenty-six Historic Ships” Mr. Frederic
Stanhope Hill, formerly of the United States
Navy, may also claim to have overstepped con-
ventional limits, even if he has not created a new
subdivision of belles lettres, which is neither
exactly history, science, or biography.
In the last-named department I have little at
present to chronicle—in fact, Gaillard Hunt’s
“Life of James Madison” is the only book that
occurs to me. But I must add to historical publi-
cations a volume in Appleton’s “Story of the
West” series, A. ©. Lant’s “The Story of the
Trapper,” and the opening volume of the “ Corre-
spondences of the Colonial Governors of Rhode
Island between 1723 and 1775,” edited by Gertrude
Selwyn Kimball.
My obituary list contains only two names, those
of Mrs. Catherwood and Mrs. Frémont. Mary
Hartwell Catherwood was the pioneer of the present
deluge of historical romance. Under the inspira-
tion of Parkman she first wrote stories of the early
days of the Middle West, but in “The Lady of
the Fort St. John” transferred the scene further
north. Her best and most successful work was
“ Lazarre,” the story of Hleazar Williams, one of
the numerous faux Dauphins, or supposed sons of
Louis XVI. But she also excelled in the short
story and in tales for children.
Jessie Benton Frémont, besides helping General
Frémont by her masterly inactivity at a critical
moment to conquer California, wrote several
successful volumes of reminiscences, and is said to
have completed at her death biographical studies
of her father and husband.
—_ > ——_—_
THE AUTHOR.
A CAPE LETTER.
++
VALUABLE contribution to South African
literature has been supplied by Mr. Gardner
F. Williams, M.A., General Manager of
De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, in ‘“ The
Diamond’ Mines of South Africa—Some Account
of their Rise and Development,” published by
Macmillan in New York and London. The
scope of this bulky volume is much wider than
might be expected from its title, and the style in
which it is written is flowery and most readable.
After opening with a chapter on “The Ancient
Adamas,” which recounts the adventurous careers
of many famous gems, the author passes to an
historical account of the various treasure-seeking
expeditions which have exploited South Africa,
introducing the subject with some mention of the
Pheenicians and of the first navigators of the
“Cape of Storms.” This leads up to the history
of the Diamond Mines, which is followed by a
detailed description of the industry in all its
branches and aspects, together with a chapter on
“The Formation of the Diamond.” One of several
appendices is devoted to the Defence of Kimberley,
in which the De Beers Company took so pro-
minent a part. There are seven maps, 29 full-page
plates (a few of them coloured), and 420 other
illustrations ; these covering a large variety of
subjects.
“The Art of Life—An Essay,” by Rev. F. C.
Kolbe, D.D. (Cape Town, J. C. Juta & Co.;
Dublin, The Catholic Truth Society of Ireland),
is described in a prospectus as “an analysis and
development of the principle that life is an art,
and is therefore subject to all the rules of art.”
In his first chapter, Dr. Kolbe analyses the various
fine arts, as thus: “A sculptor (1) by the power
of his hand, (2) working under the guidance of
his mental grasp of bodily form, does (3) with
hammer and chisel (4) shape (5) a block of
marble (6) into a permanent type of beauty ;”
and in the same manner he describes life as
“The art wherein man (1) by the power of grace
(2) working through the Moral Sense illuminated
by Faith, does (3) with the instrumentality chiefly
ot Prayer (4) transform (5) the nature of the
Soul (6) into the Divine beauty of Justice.”
Another little volume published for a Cape
author by a British firm is “The Children’s
Shakespeare (J/erchant of Venice, Midsummer
Nights Dream, and As You Like It),’ by Miss
Ada Baynes Stidolph, with a preface by the Very
Rev. C. W. Barnett-Clark, M.A., Dean of Cape
Town (London, Allman & Son, Limited). The
stories chosen are takingly told in short prose
chapters, and the book is graced with several
185
excellent photogravure plates, including a repro-
duction of Faed’s beautiful conception of ‘ Shake-
speare in his study.” The volume is dedicated by
permission to the little daughter of the Governor
of this Colony.
A remarkably interesting and entertaining story
is contained in the Rev. Wm. Dower’s unpretentious
book entitled ‘Early Annals of Kokstad and
Griqualand Kast” (printed at Port Elizabeth,
C. C.). The author describes himself as the only
one left “of those who took part in the founding
of the town (Kokstad) thirty years ago,” and as
having occupied the position of a sort of “ Pontifex
maximus’ in the little native State. He traces
the development of the Griqua tribe, and the rise
of its “civilisation ’—due partly to an admixture
of half-caste slave blood—and describes its migra-
tions, the cruel wrongs it suffered from both Boer
and Briton, and its unflinching loyalty to the
British flag. The account of the methods of
government is most diverting. There were a
Aaptyn (captain or chief, who was elected), Privy
Council, Volksraad, Magistrates, etc. Dutch was
the official language. ‘‘ Decisions of the Volksraad
were sent up to the Privy Council, and were often
discussed in a free and easy style on the stoep of
the chief’s house,” with the accompaniment of
coffee and tobacco. The delegates were always the
guests of the Government, and the length of the
session depended on the food supply: “No beef
no business, was the unwritten but standing rule
of this assembly!” The country was annexed to
Cape Colony in 1874. A number of good illustra-
tive plates supplement the narrative.
Messrs. J. C. Juta & Co. continue to repair the
ravages of the fire mentioned in a previous letter,
a number of second editions of South African
legal works have appeared within the last few
months. Among publications of less importance
are “St. Andrew’s College Register,” and the
“Report of the Good Hope Society for Aid to the
Sick and Wounded in War (South African War,
1899—1902),” both illustrated, and the usual batch
of Christmas Numbers; the most notable of these
being that of the Cape Times entitled “ Through
the Transvaal with Pen and Camera.” The
Central News Agency has in projection a large
paper publication entitled, “ With Chamberlain in
South Africa,” which will be contributed to by
many correspondents of English papers, as well as
local Pressmen. It is being compiled by Mr. G. H.
Kingswell, editor of Zhe Owl, and will be fully
illustrated.
After an existence of little more than half
a year, Zhe Examiner, an ambitious review
published fortnightly at Beaufort West, has
disappeared. It is doubtful whether anything like
it has ever before been attempted here, and the
186
venture was the more daring in that the paper was
domiciled in a sleepy little country town. Among
its contributors were many eminent English
writers, and its decease is much to be deplored.
All local magazines, save those devoted to very
temporary matters, have an uphill struggle against
the teeming produce of the Mother Country. Of
new monthlies just out or shortly to appear, Zhe
Camera and the South African Freemason are
sufliciently introduced by their names, but the
same can scarcely be said of the Plagiarist, a
sporting journal, which has surely hit upon an
original title, even if the paper’s main purpose is
not therein indicated. Zhe Tribune is a new
weekly, describing itself as a labour paper. Two
or three new dailies are also announced. The
South African Jewish Chronicle now makes a
weekly instead of a fortnightly appearance. Mr.
Jas. Strang, poet, novelist, and journalist, who has
come to this country for health, has been appointed
editor to the Cradock Observer.
General De Wets’ “‘ Three Year’s War” has had
a phenomenal sale in South Africa, and there has
been a large demand for ex-President. Kruger’s
‘“‘Memoirs,”’ General Viljoen’s ‘ Reminiscences,”
and Sir A. Conan Doyle’s “Great Boer War” ;
all of these appearing in our book shops, both
in English and in Dutch.
A South African society of artists was a few
months ago formed in Cape Town, having for its
object the fostering of the study and practice of
art in this part of the world. At the imaugural
meeting, Mr. J. S. Morland was elected president,
Mr. G. Crosland Robinson, treasurer, and Miss
Glossop, secretary ; the lady last named has since
been succeeded by Mr. E. C. Mace. In conjunction
with the South African Drawing Club, the society
held its first exhibition of pictures in December,
the results being most satisfactory and encouraging.
Yet another dispute has occurred between our
rival theatrical managers, Mr. Geo. Edwardes,
through his representatives, Messrs. B. & F.
Wheeler, applying to the Supreme Court for an
interdict to prevent Messrs. Mouillot and De Jong
from producing the comic opera, “ La Poupée,”
in Cape Town. The evidence not being conclusive
on either side, the Court refused the interdict, but
ordered that respondents should keep an account
of receipts, and that costs should be included in
an action for damages. The dispute centres round
the question as to whether a certain South African
right sold by Edwardes was temporary or per-
petual. Apropos of this squabble, one of our
weeklies, Zhe Owl, published a cartoon reproducing
a well-known poster which shows an elderly
gentieman acting as a barrier between “La
Poupée” and a young admirer, but substituting
Messrs. De Jong and Frank Wheeler respectively,
THE AUTHOR.
for the two male figures.
The case of Sass vy.
Wheeler, concerning the right to play “ Magda”
in South Africa, which was noticed in The
Author a few months ago, is still awaiting
settlement, but it has not again been brought into
court. In the subsequent cases of Hdwardes v.
De Jong, in which “A Gaiety Girl” was the
cause of quarrel, negotiations resulted in costs
being paid by plaintiff.
A certain Dutch attorney, having successfully
sued the Cape Argus, Cape T'imes, and Scotsman, in
connection with asseverations regarding the loyalty
of his conduct at the time of the siege of Kimberley,
not long ago proceeded to take action against Dr.
E. Oliver Ashe, of Kimberley, for defamation of
character contained in that gentleman’s book,
“Besieged by the Boers” (London, 1900). In
this instance the plaintiff assessed his damages
at £1,000, refused an offer of £100, and was
awarded £5 with costs to date of tender only.
Defendant’s counsel remarked that the libelled
one seemed to have created a lucrative business by
such restitution of his character, and was evidently
making the most of it ; but the present transaction
has proved unprofitable!
Sipney YoRKE Forp.
Cape Town, January 31st, 1903.
a a
“THE LITERARY YEAR BOOK.”
—— 1
HE editor of a book has no doubt a large
power to influence the opinions of his
readers. If competition is the life and
soul of business, so no doubt criticism is the life
and soul of literature. We owe thanks, therefore,
to the former editor of the ‘‘ Literary Year Book”’
for dealing in this, the seventh issue, kindly and
sympathetically with the aims and objects of
the Authors’ Society. Though he may not have
grasped its highest ideals he yet realises that
its work is useful and beneficial, and flatters its
Committee by praising the more recent lines of the
Society’s developments.
In last month’s Author there was a review of the
book as a whole. It is our duty to look to those
parts which bear on the legal and business aspect
of the literary life.
We have not had time to compare the articles on
Agreements and Copyright with those in last year’s
issue, but feel—perhaps a more kindly mood is
with us—that the only objection to be raised at
the present is one inherent in the subject, namely,
that it is impossible to deal adequately with these
two difficult questions in the allotted space. A
small volume would not exhaust the former, nor a
large volume do justice to the latter, As in last
THE AUTHOR.
year’s annual so in the present issue, the most
difficult part is allotted to Mr. Weekes, and
courageously he grapples with his subject.
On page 72, dealing with the Royalty Agree-
ment, he states, ‘‘a date before which the book
should be issued is sometimes insisted on by the
author,’ and passes the matter by as one of little
consequence, although in his comments on ‘“ The
Author Commissioned,” he insists that “time is
naturally of great importance to the publisher ina
contract of this kind.”
In truth, time is of no less importance to the
author in a Royalty Agreement. The author may
have other books coming out, and the dates of
publication must not clash. He may have secured
a contract for the United States market, and time
is therefore essential.
A certain well-known publisher, whose publica-
tions at one time were more notorious than
illustrious, must have failed to secure during the
past year the future writings of many meritorious
authors, owing to neglect in the past of this very
point, and the consequent inconvenience to those
whose works he was handling.
If time had been made the essence of the con-
tract the publisher would have been forced into
salutary business habits or would have had to bear
the penalty. There are no doubt publishers not
a few who would feel it a point of honour not to
inconvenience an author by unwarrantable delay,
but there are others whose unwritten word is like
an eggshell ripe for the breaking.
The date of publication then is most important,
and the fact should have been emphasised.
On page 73, again, the right of making abridg-
ments should not be left with a publisher. The
author may contract under certain circumstances
not to abridge, but should not leave the control
in the publisher’s hands.
On page 78 Mr. Weekes deals with the profit-
sharing agreement, but in a manner hardly satis-
factory. As this method is most dangerous, the
author ought to have been given a fuller explana-
tion of the snares and pitfalls that surround it.
The mention of its great dangers recalls an epi-
gram that appeared in a recent number of this
magazine :—
PUBLISHER: The agreement’s signed; the profits we
divide—
A half to each; applaud a just decision.
AUTHOR: Peace and good-will to all this Christmas tide.
Clearly ’twixt you and me there’s no division !
Under the same heading in the cost of pro-
duction is included, “ catalogueing, warehousing,
prospectuses, and general office expenses.” These
are items not of the cost of production, but of the
cost of publication. To cover these items the
187
publisher is receiving half profits. Otherwise the
publisher is obtaining 50 per cent. of the profits
as a reward for sitting still ; or—looking at the
matter from another point of view—if the publisher
has a right to these charges in settling the account,
then the author must also bring into account
many items altogether omitted connected with his
work and labour. There is no doubt that for
an author to be able to obtain sufficient protection,
this agreement and its practical issues should
have been dealt with at greater length with fuller
detail.
Lastly, why only in the agreement entitled, “ The
Publisher Commissioned,” should the author insist
upon “ the right to examine vouchers” ? Thisisa
Common Law right, and it is best not only in this
but in all contracts to let it remain so. Ifa clause
is inserted, instead of helping the author, it may
curtail his powers. There are clauses, drafted by
publishers in their agreements, not unknown at the
Society’s office, which, while they appear to the
uninitiated to give all that is desired, bind the
author to certain definite forms of proof, and
restrain him from free action.
On the whole, therefore, it is best to rely on
the Common Law, which is not unfrequently a
synonym for common sense.
The faults culled from this article on agreements
are faults of commission rather than omission.
It has been our aim to fix on one or two salient
points and insist on their importance. On the
whole, we bestow unstinted praise on the care
and diligence shown by the writer. The same
comment may well be applied to the article on
copyright.
Here again the fault, if any, lies in the method.
A limit in space must produce many omissions,
and the author who relies on an epitomised state-
ment of one of the most intricate of laws may find
himself surrounded by snares wholly unsuspected.
But still there are some phrases and deduc-
tions concerning which, perhaps, the writer of
the article may be able to offer some more lucid
explanation.
“There is no copyright at Common Law after
the expiration of the statutory period.”
Here is a merry confusion of terms: Copyright
is a creature of statute. That which is a creature
of statute is not of the Common Law, and where
in all the statutes or elsewhere is it stated that the
right at Common Law to restrain the publication
or multiplication of unpublished works does not
continue beyond the expiration of the statutory
period ? Such a doctrine is surely wholly untenable,
otherwise the privacy of the individual would cease
to be possible seven years after his death.
In the paragraph about “ Books,’ Mr. Weekes
states: “The word copyright means the sole and
188
exclusive liberty of printing or otherwise multiply-
ing copies of a book.” This undoubtedly is part of
the meaning of the word “copyright,” but case
and statute law has defined it to cover a wider and
more comprehensive range.
It is impossible, therefore, to argue “ contrari-
wise,” that an assignment of the sole and exclusive
liberty of printing a book without limitation is
practically an assignment of copyright. It is no
such thing, it is still only “a licence.” To take
one point of difference, a licence is a personal
contract, even though it be for the whole term of
copyright. A sale of copyright is not. It is a
conveyance of a piece of property. Again, a
licensee could not make alterations in an MS.,
but an assignee of the copyright could alter within
non-libellous limits ; and the opinion of an author
as to what is libellous may differ considerably from
that of a judge and jury.
If we turn to the paragraph on “ Magazines and
Periodicals,” we find the explanation of section 18
is not very clear, but, recognising the difficulty,
forbear from further comment.
The paragraph that follows on the drama is
unsatisfactory. The author, in his effort to be
terse, has sacrificed his lucidity, and the same fault
is evident when he talks of paintings, drawings and
photographs ; but the artistic copyright affords
some excuse for incoherence. It is more complicated
than section 18 of the Act of 1842.
Let us pass by the rest with a feeling of relief
that our task has been to criticise and not to compile.
Mr. Weekes has made a conscientious effort, and
the result, if not perfect, shows study, knowledge,
and judgment.
The lists compiled for this book, like all lists in
every annual, are not without faults.
Some, which might easily have been avoided, were
pointed out in last month’s review. The editor’s
note before the Tables of Royalties is hardly con-
vincing. If the deficiency of the English coinage
forbids giving the exact Royalties, for example, on
a sixpenny book at the rate of 24 per cent., 5 per
cent., 74 per cent. and 10 per cent., it surely would
have been better to have settled the matter in
decimals or omitted to state the result. To give
figures which are absolutely wrong and inaccurate
is an impossible solution of the difficulty. The
sole value of these tables must depend on their
accuracy. And the majority of authors have some
knowledge of the decimal system.
We hasten to pay a final compliment to the
editor and compilers, and to thank them for the
care and pains bestowed on the production.
G, i. a.
THE AUTHOR.
“OF THE FASCINATION OF THE LIFE
OF LETTERS.”
1
[eee about their craft must always have a
peculiar interest for bookmen, and to light
upon one of which the charm is not marred
by any awakening of an entagonistic critical spirit
is a pleasure worth recording. Guide books to
Parnassus, author’s wade-mecums—what is the
plural of vade-mecum?—and most compilations
of hints and suggestions have an irritating effect
upon such of us as may be said to have secured a
foothold upon the ladder that leads to success in
literature ; but books of the Highways and Bye-
ways class, written by men who know the country,
may generally be relied upon to provide gentle
entertainment and food for quiet thought. ~ Two
such books have lately been published, “ Literature
and Life,” by W. D. Howells (Harper and Brothers),
and “‘ The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft,” by
George Gissing (Archibald Constable & Co.).
The pleasure afforded by these two books is of
an identical kind, although emanating from two
very different minds. Howells is cheerily optimistic,
Gissing tenderly compassionate, although, relatively
to himself, optimistic too; the former accepts
things as they are with a good-humoured toler-
auce ; he is of the world, and has found it a genial
place upon the whole; the latter looks back upon
his life “with man’s infinitely pathetic power of
resignation, sees the thing on its better side, for-
gets all the worst of it, makes out a case for the
resolute optimist ” ; he has been in the world, but,
partly from temperament, partly from force of
circumstance, has never been of it. The optimism
of the one is congenital, of the other acquired, and
its expression in the one case is transparently
ingenuous, whereas in the other it savours of
special pleading. It follows that the advice given
incidentally to their fellow-craftsmen by these two
writers is conveyed in widely differing manners,
while on essential truths they approximate to
identity of opinion. Both books are full of what
someone has well described as seed thoughts, and
the arm-chair philosopher may water and tend
them with advantage to himself.
There are authors who write because they can,
and others who write because they must, impelled
thereto by the irresistible force of genius. It is
only with the latter that posterity will have to
deal ; but the former are a mighty host, and it is
with pity for them that Gissing overflows.
“ Innumerable,”’ he says, ‘ are the men and women now
writing for bread, who have not the least chance of finding
in such work a permanent livelihood. They took to writing
because they knew not what else to do, or because the
literary calling tempted them by its independence and its
THE AUTHOR.
dazzling prizes. They will hang on to the squalid pro-
fession, their earnings eked out by begging and borrowing,
until it is too late for them to do anything else—and then ?
With a lifetime of dread experience behind me, I say that
he who encourages any young man or woman to look for
his living to literature commits no less than a crime.’
The fact, of course, is that while the world wags
young men and women will continue to look there
without encouragement, and the old speculation
arises in the mind as to wherein the fascination of
the life of letters exists. ‘The love of books:
the desire of a quiet life: the imaginary freedom
from the ordinary cares ; the joy of composition:
the desire to achieve the love and respect of the
world: their own respect and love for great authors
—these,” wrote Sir Walter Besant, ‘‘ are the chief
among the many determining forces which may make
a young man or a young woman ardently desire to
embrace the profession of letters.” That is the
summary given by one whom experience had
taught, and if not wholly convincing, it will serve ;
and having embraced it, what did he foresee? A
little further on in the same book he wrote : “ The
Literary Life may be, I am firmly convinced, in
spite of many dangers and drawbacks, by far the
happiest life that the Lord has permitted mortal
man to enjoy. ... But I admit that without a
reasonable measure of success it must be a dis-
appointed and a miserable life. 'That reasonable
measure of success is an essential.” It may not
come, and there’s the rub.
Henry Ryecroft, or George Gissing—even if we
preserve the fiction, it matters not which—gets
nearer to the truth. “It has occurred to me,” he
says, “that one might define Art as: an expres-
sion, satisfying and abiding, of the zest of life.”
And in a thoughtful passage he justifies his defini-
tion. There, probably, is the answer to the question.
* All men are poets if they might but tell” what
stirs within them ; the fascination of the life of
letters is that thereby, albeit with prayer and
fasting, the dumb are taught to speak and the
inarticulate‘learn to give expression to something
of the passion with which their souls are trembling.
Even if the artist, from a modesty too rare or from
whatsoever cause, forebears to communicate to
others the ideas to which he has given expression,
he will, nevertheless, have experienced for himself
something of the fascination of that life; the
charm of literature for the literary man lies in the
fact that it is an art as distinct from a profession,
and brings its own reward apart altogether from
fees.
Here crops up that everlasting rock—the ques-
tion of financial remuneration for literary work,
and Howells deals with it in no uncertain fashion.
Every man ought to work for his living without
exception, and when he has once avouched his
189
willingness to work, society should provide him
with work and warrant him’a living. “I do not
think,” he says, “any man ought to live by an art.
A man’s art should be his privilege, when he has
proven his fitness to exercise it, and has otherwise
earned his daily bread ; and its results should be
free to all.” ... “The work which cannot be
truly priced in money, cannot be truly paid in
money.” There is no affectation of superiority in
his attitude, no blinking of facts as they are ; he
is perfectly aware that the artist is, and must be,
only too glad if there is a market for his wares,
without which he must perish or turn to something
more saleable. ‘All the same, the sin and the
shame remain, and the averted eye sees them still,
with its inward vision. Many will make believe
otherwise, but I would rather not make believe
otherwise ; and in trying to write of Literature as
Business, J am tempted to begin by saying that
Business is the opprobrium of Literature.”
Especially is this true of literature, which “ is
at once the most intimate and the most articulate
of the arts.” The whole article in Mr. Howells’
book is worthy of serious consideration, but enough
has been quoted to support the contention that
quite apart from pecuniary reward, the charm of
the literary life lies in the fact that literature is an
art as distinct from a profession, and that art is an
expression, satisfying and abiding, of the zest of
life.’ It is that satisfaction for which men strive.
If the gods endow you with temporal prosperity so
much the better for you, but if that “reasonable
measure of success” be not vouchsafed, it may be
human, but it is not logical to complain. Henry
Ryecroft, or George Gissing—again, it matters not
which——anticipates the objection :
* And why should any man who writes, even if he write
things immortal, nurse anger at the world’s neglect? Who
asked him to publish? Who promised him a hearing?
Who has broken faith with him? If my shoemaker turn
me out an excellent pair of boots, and I, in some mood of
cantankerous unreason, throw them back upon his hands,
the man has just cause of complaint. But your poem, your
novel—who bargained with you for it? If it is honest
journeywork, yet lacks purchasers, at most you may call
yourself a hapless tradesman, If it comes from on high,
with that decency do you fret and fume because it is not
paid for in heavy cash? For the work of man’s mind there
is but one test, and one alone—the judgment of generations
yet unborn, If you have written a great book, the world
to come will know of it. But you don’t care for post-
humous glory. You want to enjoy fame in a comfortable
armchair. Ah, that is quite another thing. Have the
courage of your desire, Admit yourself a merchant, and
protest to gods and men that the merchandise you offer is
of better quality than much which sells for a high price.
You may be right, and indeed it is hard upon you that
Fashion does not turn to your stall.”
Reiteration of a truth subtracts nothing from
its essence ; rather does each fresh presentation
190
add something to its force.
ditto to Henry Ryecroft :
“Art is not produced for artists, or even for
connoisseurs; it is produced for the general, whocan
never view it otherwise than morally, personally,
partially,from their associations and preconceptions.
Whether the effect with the general is what the
artist works for or not, he does not succeed with-
out it. Their brute liking or misliking is the final
test ; it is universal suffrage that elects, after all.
Only,’in some cases of this sort the polls do not
close at four o’clock on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday of November, but remain open for
ever, and the voting goes on. Still, even the
first day’s canvass is important, or at least
significant.”
Even if in the event the artist be not elected,
he will, if Gissing’s definition be sound, have found
satisfaction in expression. And in his search after
success, what guide shall he follow, at whom shall
he aim his winged words? With Mr. Howells’
reply this article may fitly conclude:
“There is only one whom he can safely try to
please, and that is himself. If he does this he will
very probably please other people ; but if he does
not please himself, he may be sure that he will not
please them ; the book which he has not enjoyed
writing no one will enjoy reading.”
Mr. Howells says
V. HE. M.
MORE REFLECTIONS FOR A REJECTED
MS.—AND OTHERS.
a
T’S no use crying over spilt ink.
I Too many books spoil the market.
A roving MS. gathers no dross.
Spare the style and spoil the paper.
Put a minor poet on Pegasus—he’ll write like the
devil !
Fine ‘“ puffs” do not make fine books.
Take care of the agreements;—the publishers will
take care of themselves.
It’s an ill critique which blows no author any
good.
Ce n’est que le premier ‘“‘ par” qui cotite (?).
(For the Magazine Editor.) Bread I win,—Tales
you lose.
(For Sir Conan.) A botched plot,—never Doyle’s !
ARTHUR LAYARD.
THE AUTHOR.
MR. J. H. SHORTHOUSE.
E record with regret the death of Mr.
Joseph Henry Shorthouse, which took
place on the night of Wednesday, March 4th. Mr.
Shorthouse was born in 1834, and was consequently
nearly fifty years of age when “ John Inglesant,”
upon which work his literary reputation deservedly
rests, was published. Mr. Shorthouse’s early sur-
roundings were of a commercial nature. He had
not a public school or university education, and
among the circumstances which combined to make
him a student, an impediment in his speech,
rendering social intercourse irksome, is said to
have played a part. On the other hand, his birth
and education in a Quaker family had some effect
in guiding his studies in the direction of questions
his mastery of which drew universal attention to
his first book. The story of the publication of
“John Inglesant”’ in 1881 is one of considerable
interest. The result of long labour, it was for
some years denied acceptance. Published privately
in 1880 in an edition of 100 copies, it came into the
hands of Mrs. Humphry Ward, then living at
Oxford, whose appreciation secured its production
by Messrs. Macmillan ; after which its success was
largely accelerated by the interest evinced in it by
Mr. Gladstone.. Mr. Shorthouse’s other writings
include ,“« The Little Schoolmaster Mark” (1883),
“ Sir Percival” (1886), ‘Countess Eve” (1888),
“The Teacher of the Violin, and other Tales”’(1888),
and various literary essays, among which were
articles on Wordsworth and on George Herbert.
His residence was at Lansdowne, Edgbaston,
Birmingham.
Oe
THE VERY REY. DEAN FARRAR, F.R.S.
E have to chronicle with regret the death
of Dean Farrar. He had been a member
of the Society since its foundation in 1884, and had
always shown himself in sympathy wilh its aims
and objects.
His literary activity was incessant, and to an
extent overshadowed his great and powerful claims
to recognition as a Churchman and a public man.
His “ Life of Christ ” has had, and no doubt will
continue to have, an enormous sale, although some
have found fault because its passages are too
florid.
Apart from his theological writings, he will
doubtless be remembered as the author of “ Eric,
or Little by Little,” and other books of a similar
type. These books have also had a large sale, but
THE AUTHOR.
it is certain that they did not appeal to the class of
boy for whom they were written. Possibly the
public school boy has changed, but we hardly
think this contention is probable. The fault of
the book, as far as it is a representation of
school life, lies with the author rather than the
subject.
Dean Farrar’s influence has been one of great
power and endurance, and will no doubé last for
many years in the English church.
+ —_____
CORRESPONDENCE.
Se
“WHETHER OR NO.”
Str,—The question does not seem to me to be
quite fairly put. Grammar has nothing to do with
logic, but depends upon usage and idiom. If a
phrase has been widely used, it is “correct” for
practical purposes. But if a writer chooses to say
“whether or not” because he thinks that others
do so, I, for one, shall not object ; and if his case
is strong enough, it will prevail.
When we come to the true test, that of usage,
it can be shown that “ whether or no” has, at any
rate, a long record, and it must be familiar to all
who have read any other English than that of the
present day. Here are a few examples, got together
in a few minutes :—
“ Whether thou be’st he or no.”— emp. v. 1, 111.
“Whether one Nym . . . had the chain or no.”
Merry Wives, iv. 5, 33.
“‘ Whether the three worthies shall come in or no.”
L. L. L., y. 2, 486.
dwell with him or no.”
Merch. Ven. ii. 2, 48.
“Whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or no.”
fd. iii. 1, 45.
“Whether those peals of praise be his or no.”
Id, iii, 2, 146.
“Whether one Lancelot .. .
At least five more examples occur in Shakespeare
alone.
“ Whethyr will ye come or nay ?”
The Life of Ipomydon, ed, Weber, 1. 1844.
“ Now whether have I a siker hand or noon?”
Chaucer, C.T., D. 2069.
‘Is hit alyfed . . . the na?” (i.e. “Is it lawful :.. or
no ?”)—Matt, xxii. 17, Anglo-Saxon version [ A.V. “or not.’]
An idiom which has been in use for a thousand
years requires no apology.
Watrer W. SKEAT.
191
I.
Str,—Does your correspondent, “ King’s Eng-
lish,” whose letter appeared in The Author for
March (p. 160), mean seriously to contend that it
is not correct to say or write “whether or no,” or
that “ whether or not” is to be preferred? I am
not enough of a scholar to discuss the origin of
the phrase, but am inclined to suggest that the
‘or no” in modern English, and for that matter
in fairly old English, is superfluous, and that
“or no” may be all that remains of a phrase
“whether, ay or no,” etc. There is tolerably old
and good authority for “whether,” without any
alternative expressed after it.
Let us, however, consider the authorities for
“‘whether or no,” and leave anyone who suggests
that it is worse English than “ whether or not”
to produce his authorities for the latter. I can
tell him of one which is cited in the Century
Dictionary :—
“This obscure thorn-eater of malice and detraction, as
well as of quodlibets and sophisms, knowes not whether it
were illegall or not.”— Milton, “Apology.”
But the same work also quotes :—
‘Whether they had their charges borne by the Church
or no, it need not be recorded.” —-Milton, * Touching Hire-
lings.”
“King’s English” refers to the Authorised
Version; I will submit another passage :—
“Ts it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no ?”—
Luke xx, 22.
Will it be suggested that the word “no” is bad
English here because “not” would be equally
intelligible ?
To return, however, to the authorities for the
use of “whether or no.” Here are a few from
Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary, or rather from Latham’s
Todd’s Johnson (1870), and from the Century
Dictionary. “ King’s English” can verify them
if he likes :-—
“ As they, so we have likewise a publick form, how to
serve God both morning and evening, whether sermons
may be had or no,” —Hooker’s “Ecclesiastical Polity.”
“Resolve whether you will or no.” — Shakespear e
Richard IIT,, Act iv. se. 2.
“This assistance is only offered to men, and not forced
upon them whether they will or no.”—Archbishop Tennison.
“To that frere wyll I go And bring him to you, Whether
he wyl or no,” —“ Robin Hood,” Child's Ballads, v. 421.
“Whether one Nym... had the chain or no.” —
Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iv. se. 5.
In conclusion, if Shakespeare and Milton are
: ; : : pie.
not of sufficient weight to satisfy “ King’s English,
192
let me remind him of the opening lines of the
English classic which tells how the long dead, but
none the less immortal batrachian voluptuary—
“ Would a wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no.”
I am, etc.,
ARcHIE ARMSTRONG.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
S1r,—Though I have read many articles in
The Author on the trade of bookselling, I do
not recollect having seen any allusion to the
economic principle which seems specially applicable
to the subject. The principle was laid down many
years ago by Babbage in his interesting book, “ The
Economy of Manufactures,” and is essentially as
follows :—
Whenever competition is effective there is
generally but little profit to be obtained from
retailing articles of such a nature that the pur-
chaser can easily verify for himself that the
article is indeed that which the salesman professes
it to be.
The sale of ordinary books comes under these
conditions. Any intending purchaser can tell at a
glance whether the volumes which the salesman
calls, let us say, the “ Encyclopedia Britannica ”
do really form that work. As, therefore, the
reputation of the salesman is immaterial, the pur-
chaser may quite safely buy the work from any
cheap dealer in a back street, and therefore will
not willingly pay a higher price to the honoured
owner of an expensive shop.
On the other hand, how difficult it is to ascertain
whether a horse does possess the qualities which he
who would sell it declares it to possess. The prudent
buyer of a horse must generally shun the dealer of
unknown character. He gives his custom to dealers
of high repute only, and has, very properly, to
pay a high price for doing so. No doubt the
bookseller who deals in rare editions or choice
bindings may still find ample rate of profit on
his turnover, for then Babbage’s principle does
not apply.
Thus the ordinary bookseller’s difficulty seems
to be the consequence of an economic law, and if
this be so it is irremediable by net prices or any
similar device.
Yours truly,
A Constant READER.
——
THE AUTHOR.
II.
Sir,—Seeing that this question is stated in The
Author of March to be ‘the most important of
all accessory literary problems,” perhaps you will
allow me to return to my suggestion in the
January number.
That the sale of books of all kinds would be
universally increased if the public had real facilities
for inspection, is obvious. The writer of the
article in your March number says, correctly,
“ There is probably not a book in the world which
some one would not purchase on the spot if it were
placed before him.” This may be equally true of
most commodities, but the book trade differs from
all others, in giving the public practically no
chance of ascertaining what it is they are asked to
buy. ‘To obviate this, books must be treated like
other goods, and offered to the public for inspec-
tion. A shop might be opened where books could
be inspected for a fee (in case a purchase was not
made). Books would also be sent by post, and
brought to customers’ houses in carts. The tariff
might be 5 per cent. on the value of the books
inspected, unless 10 per cent. of their value was
bought.
What a difference it would make if books were
brought to the door! There is a very large public
to be exploited, people who, though well able to
afford it, scarcely ever buy a book, being kept out
of the market by the difficulty of ascertaining what
books are for sale, what the contents of these books
are, and how they are to be obtained. Make these
things easy instead of difficult, and it is quite
certain that the sale of books would be greatly
increased. Make book-buying easy and satis-
factory, and the public will eagerly pay.
Why not imitate the butcher and the baker, who
bring their wares to the door ?
Yours, etc.,
Norwoop Youne.
WANTED A REFERENCE.
Srr,—Could any reader of Zhe Author be 80
kind as to inform me through its columns the
source of the following quotation ?—
Qui cessat esse melior, cessat esse bonus.
I have searched every quotation book and list of
mottoes in vain. I have seen somewhere, but
forget where, that it was Oliver Cromwell’s
motto.
Yours obediently,
J. M. Lary.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 07 (April 1903)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che Huthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIII.—No. 8.
May ist, 1903.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
THE TELEPHONE.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
——_>— > —_____
NOTICES.
—— +
OR the opinions expressed in papers that are
K signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
—+-—~— + —_
List of Members.
Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors
can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,
at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
——— +
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou. XIII.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
RO 2 en £1000 0 0
G8 08s 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11
We A i 201 8 8
otal 2. £1,993 9 2
SPECIAL APPEAL.
Tue Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the
Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-
mittee has been very successful.
The total amount of subscriptions and donations
up to Dec. 1st is :—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;
donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to
either list are set out below.
Subscriptions.
Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . . £0
Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia < 0-1
Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . s 02
» Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 1
. Brinton, Selwyn 0
Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie 0
Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the
Duchess of : : :
Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .
Dec. 22, Anonymous ;
Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W.
Pike Clement, E.
19038.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke
3 Deane, Rev. A.C. .
Jan. 4, Anonymous
Heath, Miss Ida
i Russell, G. H. :
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline
5, Bedford, Miss Jessie
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice : ;
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M.
—
OOS Orn ooocoece
ooocoo oOocooaceg
9
22
me Oo Oo Or COCO So OS Oo > bo
or
on
eoooocoocooooan
194
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred. > 6
Keb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . : 0
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 0
Apl. 10, Bird, C. P. 0
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery . (
oC
Donations.
Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon
5
- Smith, G. C. Moore 1
Dec. 2, T'revor-Battye, Aubyn 1
» Marks, Mrs. . 0
Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles (0
Dee. 11, Lutzow, Count 9
», “Leicester Romayne ” 0
», Hellier, H. George. 1
Dee. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 0
», Panting, J. Harwood 0
» ‘attersall, Miss Louisa . 0
Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0
Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 0
Dec. 28, A. 8. 1
» Bateman, Stringer . 0
Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary . 10
1908.
Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. : 0
5 Middlemass, 1] Miss Jean . 0
Jan. 6, Avebury, The R ight Hon.
The Lord . :
» Gribble, Francis :
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston
» Miller, Miss E. T. .
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs...
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. .
5, Ord, Hubert H.
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor
» Carlile, Rev. J. CO. .
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.
Feb. 26, Speakman, “Mrs.
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella
Mar. 16, Hallward, N. L. .
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice .
Mar. 20, Mathieson, Miss Annie .
Mar. 20, Browne, T. A. “ Rolfe Boldre-
wood” A
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry :
Api. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H.
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore
cCorcezocoorecocooresm
fon
= tec
Or Or
or or
— ee
acnc
es
acounorce
e
H
corcauno Cire
—
i0
THE AUTHOR.
caoamoococceo
cooooccoococeocesco
eageocooco
eoocoo
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir ood Bart., F.R.C.S,
Rashdall, The Rey. H
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C,
Dowsett, G, R
‘here are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
SPECIAL. CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Subscriptions,
Hawkins, A. Hope
: ‘ £10 0 6
Barrie, J. M. . ; : : . 10 0 0
Drummond, Hamilton : ; - 10.0 0
Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 0 0
Gilbert, W. 8S. . : : ; - 10-0 9
Sturgis, Julian . : : : - 10 0 0
oe
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
THE amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6
There are a few promised subscriptions still
outstanding. The total of these
about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st
to the date of issue are given below :—
Patterson, A. . : : 8
Salwey, Reginald E.
Gidley, Miss E. C.
Nixon, Prof. J. E.
Dill, Miss Bessie
Moore, Henry Charles
Kemp, Miss Geraldine
Clarke, Miss B.
ao
acnanoor
_
eco coc oF
—_—_——_——_-—___+____—_
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—+-~> +
T the meeting of the Committee held on
the 30th of March twelve new members
and associates were elected to the Society.
Their names are, as usual, printed below.
Mr. George Gissing and Mr. Justin McCarthy
were elected members of the Council. They have
consented to accept the responsibilities of the
position.
There was only one case before the Committee,
and it was adjourned for fuller information on one
or two points.
is, roughly, ©
nt
THE AUTHOR.
Elections.
“Ben Marlas”’
Bird, C. P. (D. I, M.) Drybridge House,
Hereford.
Bowman, Robert Cynwyd, Curwen, N.
Wales.
Corelli, Miss Marie. Mason Croft, Stratford-
on-A von.
11, Chaleote Gardens,
England’s Lane, N.W.
Exeter College, Oxford.
Dearmer, The Rev. Percy
Donovan, P. V. de P.
Douglas, Miss Maud 28, Oakley Street,
Tsidore Chelsea, S.W.
Douglas, Robert Langton 50c, South Street,
Dorking.
Lechmere, Mrs. (Cecil 29, Cadogan Gardens,
Haselwood) S.W.
Stott, Miss Beatrice Moorside Road, Flix-
ton.
Sutro, Alfred 10, Russell Mansions,
W.-C:
Wyatt, Geo. Herbert Henley House, West
Side, Wandsworth
Common, 8.W.
—_—>—+—
Another Pension.
Iy the month of May the Pension Fund Com-
mittee will proceed to consider applications for
pensions to be granted under the Pension Fund
Scheme of the Society of Authors. Pursuant to
the power to make bye-laws for regulating appli-
cations for pensions vested in the Committee by
the Schenie, the Committee have made and hereby
give notice of the following regulations :—
1. All applications must be in writing and
addressed to the Secretary of the Society of
Authors at the Offices of the Society (39, Old
Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W.), and must reach
the Secretary on or before June Ist, 1903.
Envelopes should be marked “ Confidential.”
2. Applications may be made (a) by the appli-
cant for a pension, (/) by any two members of the
Society on the applicant’s behalf. In the latter
case the Committee may require the applicant to
signify in writing his willingness to accept a
pension if granted.
3. Applications must state, to the best of the
knowledge and belief of the person or persons
making the same :
(a) The fall name, description, and present
address of the applicant. If the applicant has
written under an assumed name such name should
also be given,
(6) The age of the applicant and the date at
which the applicant became a member of the
If the applicant has ceased to be a
Society.
member, the date of his or her retirement must
be given.
(¢) The financial position of the applicant,
including an account of the applicant’s entire
annual income from all sources (including volun-
tary allowances, if any).
(d) The names of the publications relied on to
establish the merit of the applicant’s literary work.
4, Applications may, if desired, be accompanied
by not more than two testimonials to the appli-
cant’s character, and to merits of the applicant’s
works or either of them, and bya further statement
of the applicant’s financial position from some
person acquainted therewith.
5. Applications and the contents of all state-
ments relating thereto will be treated as confiden-
tial, the names of the recipients of the pensions
and the amounts granted alone being stated in Zhe
Author.
6. All communications’ whatever must be ad-
dressed to the Secretary, and to him only.
Canvassing of members of the Committee, either
by or on behalf of the applicant, is prohibited.
7. The pension created will be granted as from
March 25th, 1903, and will be payable, as to the
first instalment immediately, and thereafter in
quarterly instalments in advance on the usual
English quarter days.
By order of the Pension Fund Committee,
G. HERBERT THRING,
Secretary.
4
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
i
HE Rev. Edwin A. Abbott, D.D., formerly
Headmaster of the City of London School,
and author of “ The Spirit on the Waters,”
** Newmanism,” “ Through Nature to Christ,” etc.,
has just published (Adam and Charles Black) a
very interesting and scholarly pamphlet, entitled
“ Contrast; or, a Prophet and a Forger.”
Dr. Abbott is convinced that the author of the
Fourth Gospel is often, historically as well as
spiritually, closer than the Synoptic Evangelists
to the truthful conception of the birth, nature,
life, and resurrection of our Lord. At the same
time he is firmly convinced that the author was
not the son of Zebedee, nor an eye-witness of the
facts he relates. He was one who considered him-
self but the pen of John the son of Zebedee, and
gave unity to the preaching and revelations of
John.
Dr. Abbott has in the press a work entitled
“From Letter to Spirit; an Attempt to Reach
through Voicesand Words the Man beyond them”’
(Adam and Charles Black).
196
Sir Lewis Morris has added to the last edition of
his works, to be published immediately, several
poems written last year, including the lines on
“The Peace Thanksgiving in St. Paul’s,” “The
Coronation Ode,” written by the King’s request,
and set to music by command, by Dr. Cowen ;
“ Peripeteia,” or an pode, which appeared in the
Times ; the announcement of the King’s illness ;
the lines on “The Last Pageant,” of October
26th, and the “Ode on the Installation of the
Prince of Wales as Chancellor of the Welsh
University at Bangor.” ‘The new issue comprises
also the lines on “The Jubilee of the Free
Libraries at Manchester,” held as late as the 3rd
of the present month. Sir Lewis, we understand,
is now desirous of bringing his poetical career to a
close, if his friends the public will permit.
Lieut.-Colonel E. Gunter has published, through
Messrs. Wm. Clowes & Sons, Limited, 28, Cock-
spur Street, S.W., a seventh edition of his military
pocket-book, ‘‘ The Officer’s Field Note, and Sketch
Book and Reconnaissance Aide-Mémoire,” which
was much used by officers during the late Boer
War. This edition, which has been brought up to
date, contains the amendments in war establish-
ments, new sketches, showing the latest designs for
field trenches, etc., as the result of the war experi-
ences, and other matter useful for field training,
besides materials for Field Sketches and Reports.
The Religious Tract Society has shown its
appreciation of Sir William Charley’s recent
work, “The Holy City, Athens and Egypt,” by
placing in their saloon, 56, Paternoster Row, and
65, St. Paul’s Churchyard, copies of the work for
sale. This volume is founded on personal obser-
vation and the researches of modern explorers, and
is a vindication of the Bible narrative against the
assaults of the Higher Criticism. Sir William has
written a lecture on “The Higher Criticism and
the Bible,” which he will shortiy deliver.
Sir William Charley’s legal works, “The Real
Property Acts” (Sweet) and “The Judicature
Acts” (Waterlow), each ran through three
editions and are now out of print. But there
are three of his books still in circulation: “The
Crusade against the Constitution; an Historical
Vindication of the House of Lords” (7s. 6d.,
Sampson Low); “Ending and Mending the
House of Lords” (2s. 6d., Simpkin, Marshall); and
the above-mentioned “The Holy City, Athens and
Egypt” (10s. 6d., Marshall Bros.).
“The Sword of Azrael,’ Mr. R. E. Forrest’s
latest novel, is a chronicle of the Great Mutiny.
The title-page has it that the writer is Major-
General John Hayman, late Hon. E.I.C.S., edited
by R. E. Forrest. This is, of course, a mere
literary device. We will not divulge the plot
of this vividly written story; our readers can
THE AUTHOR.
follow John Hayman’s realistic narrative for
themselves ; they will find it very interesting,
, Mr. Forrest has published four books, all con-
nected with India. The first one, entitled “The
Touchstone of Peril,” was most favourably re-
viewed. The second, “ Hight Days,” came out
in the Cornhill Magazine, and in book form went
through four or five editions. The third was
“The Bond of Blood” (Little Novels series :
T. Fisher Unwin). It was a small book that
evoked many long reviews; notably it had a
favourable mention in an Ldinburgh Review
article on Anglo-Indian Novelists, known to
have been written by Sir Alfred Lyall.
Miss Beatrice Marshall has in hand a story of
London in the time of the Commonwealth, which
will be published next autumn by Seely & Co.
Her “ The Siege of York,” a story of the days of
Thomas Lord Fairfax (Seely & Co.), published
last year, proves that she has inherited her
mother’s literary gifts. This was Miss Marshall’s
second historical romance, the first being “ Old
Blackfriars in the Days of Sir Anthony Vandyck.”
When Mrs. Emma Marshall died in 1899 her
last story was left incomplete. At the request of
her publishers it was-finished by her daughter, and
so successfully finished that Miss Beatrice Marshall
was encouraged to tread further in her mother’s
footsteps. Previous to this she had contributed
articles, chiefly on modern German literature, to
several papers. Two of these, one on Nietzsche
and another on Gerhard Hauptmann, appeared in
the Fortnightly Review.
After the appearance of her translation of
Sudermann’s great novel “Der Kalzensky”
(John Lane), Messrs. Smith Elder invited her
to take part in the translation of the Bismarck
Memoirs. The biographical sketch of her mother
has gone into a second edition. It contains a por-
trait of that prolific novelist besides twelve illus-
trations (6s., Seeley & Co.). The writing of it
was a real labour of love.
Mr. William Westall, in spite of ill-health, has
nearly finished a present-day novel which he pro-
poses to call “ Dr. Wynne’s Revenge.” He hopes
soon to begin a long contemplated Lancashire story,
dealing with the stirring period of the cotton famine
and the American Civil War.
Ian Maclaren (the Rev. John Watson) is not at
present engaged in any literary work owing to
considerations of health.
Mr. Walter Jerrold is editing a big collection of
Nursery Rhymes for Messrs. Blackie. There are
to be numerous illustrations by Charles Robinson.
Besides this Mr. Jerrold is editing (1) Mrs.
Gaskell’s “Life of Charlotte Bronté” for Dents’
Temple Classics; (2) “ Longfellow’s Poetical
Works” for a new series of Poets to be published
THE AUTHOR.
by Messrs. W. Collins & Sons; (3) and he is also
editing Dents’ edition of Thackeray’s Prose Works.
Mr. Robert Machray’s new serial, “ The Mystery
of Lincoln’s Inn,” started in 7%t-Bits on April
11th, where it will appear for the next three or four
months. The story, which Mr. Machray describes
as an ‘“‘experiment in sensation,” will be published
in book form by Messrs. Chatto and Windus in
September. ‘The Mystery of Lincoln’s Inn” is
built round that somewhat familiar fact of every-
day life, the defaulting solicitor.
Miss Montgomery-Campbell has written a Pre-
face to a volume, shortly to be issued, entitled “ Old
Days in Diplomacy.” It is by the daughter of Sir
Edward Cromwell Disbrowe, En. Ex., Min. Plen.,
G.C.G., and is inscribed to the Honble. Mrs.
Richard Boyle (E. V. B.). This volume, illustrated
with portraits, is 7s. 6d. net—by post 7s. 11d.
The edition is strictly limited, and the price will
probably be raised in the case of those who do not
subscribe for it.
“Old Days in Diplomacy,” written at the
request of many friends, gives an account of life
at the Courts of Russia, Wiirtemberg, Sweden,
and the Netherlands, during the first half of
the nineteenth century. The ceremonies at the
foneral of the Emperor Alexander and the Coro-
nation of the Emperor Nicholas are described, also
the official visits of the Dukes of Wellington and
Devonshire to St. Petersburg, as well as the inter-
course with Prince Metternich. It contains many
most interesting personal recollections of royalties
and celebrities at home and abroad.
A fifteenth edition of Lieut-Colonel Sisson C.
Pratt’s “Military Law, its Procedure and Prac-
tice,” was published a short time ago, and a fifth
edition of the “ Military Law Examiner” (Gale and
Polden) will be issued this spring. Before long
Lieut.-Colonel Pratt will have to take in hand the
revision of the official “‘ Précis of Modern Tactics,”
which was re-written by him, and in view of the
recent experiences in South Africa a new edition
will be of general interest.
Mr. Morley Roberts’ new book, ‘‘ The Promotion
of The Admiral, and other Sea Comedies,” is a
volume of short stories well worth reading. The
first, which gives the book its title, is in two parts,
and tells how Shanghai Smith, of San Francisco,
tries to get even with a sailor who had once given
him a thorough licking; this sailor being now
Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Dunn, K.C.B. How
Shanghai Smith is himself paid out and how the
Admiral comes up top we will not reveal.
“The Scuttling of the Pandora,” the last in the
book, is a remarkable little tale of an unlucky ship.
Here is a passage from it :—
‘‘T want to see her sink,” Joe said savagely. “I want
to see ’er go where she’s put so many good men. What
197
right ‘as we to save ’er to do more ’arm? It ain’t alone as
she’s drownded my chum or the others, but she ’as a black
record that ain’t finished unless we finish it. She’s strong
and will go on killin’ for twenty years, Geordie. She'll
oa praney for them as doesn’t care, but what of the likes
of us ?*
He was greatly moved.
“She’s caulked with men’s lives, and painted with their
blood!” he cried passionately. “I'd rather she sunk with
me than sailed the seas any more.”
Mr. Charles Whitworth Wynne, author of «Ad
Astra,” &c., has just published through Messrs.
Kegan Paul a drama in five acts, called “David
and Bathshua.” It is founded on the story in
the Bible, and Saul, Jonathan, Abner, Uriah,
Natham, Michal, and Merab are among the
dramatis persone.
Mr. F. Marion Crawford’s fascinating book “ Ave
Roma Immortalis,” being studies from the
Chronicles of Rome, has gone into a second and
cheaper edition.
In his “Studies in Contemporary Biography,”
Mr. Bryce gives us twenty graphic impressions of
twenty notable men. Lord Beaconsfield, Mr.
Gladstone, Dean Stanley, Anthony Trollope, Mr.
Parnell, Archbishop Tait, Cardinal Manning, Lord
Acton, are among the personalities presented to us
in these interesting pages of biographies. This is
a book not to be missed.
Miss May Crommelin’s “Midge” forms No,
51 of the Weekly Telegraph novels. This is
“‘a monthly series of copyright books by the best
authors.” “Midge” is a readable story. Miss
Iza Duffus Hardy has written No. 31 of this
series, ‘‘ Hearts or Diamonds.”
John Strange Winter has contributed No. 46
of the same series, “Mignon’s Secret.’ No.
48 is “The Dancer in Yellow,” by Mr. W. E.
Norris; No, 47, “The Peer and the Woman,”
is by E. P. Oppenheim. ;
“Helen” is the name of a new story by Cherry
Rowland—a pleasant tale with a happy ending.
Copies can be had of the writer at Llwyn-y-brain,
Whitland, South Wales.
Mr. I. Zangwill’s “ The Grey Wig ” (Heinemann)
is a collection of stories old and new. ‘“ Merely
Mary Ann” is an old one, but is none the less
welcome for that. “The Grey Wig,” the first, and
we fancy one of his latest, is very good indeed.
In his recently published book “The Danger
of Innocence,” Mr. Cosmo Hamilton has given us
asmart Society satire. It is published by Greening
& Co. at 6s.
Mr. J. Bloundelle Burton’s novel, “A Branded
Name” (Methuen, 6s.), is full of incident. The
name, branded on a woman’s shoulder, was a mark
that would remain upon that shoulder as long as
her life would last.
198
The “Star-Dreamer,” by Agnes and Egerton
Castle, is full of charm—‘ the story of a woman’s
influence.’ The atmosphere of a herb-garden and
a laboratory respectively permeate the tale.
In Sydney ©. Grier’s “The Advanced Guard”
(Blackwood, 6s.), the hero is Sir Dugald Haigh,
who was doubtfully blest with an uncomfortable
wife. The story begins in India; the time is, the
‘* Dickens period.”
Mr. Rider Haggard’s new romance, “Pearl
Maiden” (Longmans, 6s.), is interesting from
start to finish. Miriam, the Pearl Maiden, is born
aboard a Phcenician merchant galley bound for
Alexandria. Miriam is brought up among the
Essenes. She endures many things during and
after the siege and fall of Jerusalem. In this
portion of the romance Mr. Rider Haggard has
surpassed himself.
Mr. William Archer’s article in the April Fort-
nightly Review has been attracting a great deal of
attention. He advocates the formation of a
Critical Court of Honour to which disputed ques-
tions theatrical should be referred. He suggests
that a body of six delegates should be selected
from the representative societies of the different
classes interested, viz., the Society of Authors, the
Institute of Journalists, and the Actors’ Associa-
tion. ‘These delegates to elect an additional
member as president with a casting vote. Com-
plainants would be expected to appear before this
board, and Mr. Archer says, ‘‘ We may be sure that
a plaintiff who had refused to submit his case to
its arbitration would go into the law courts under
a heavy handicap.”
We understand that the leading réle in Mr.
Sydney Grundy’s new play, Zhe Gipsy, is to be
played—created, in fact—by Miss Fay Davis.
—_—— + +-____-
PARIS NOTES.
—1—~<—+
MONG the recent novels which have had
the greatest success here are “ Dona-
tienne,” by M. René Bazin; “L’Inutile
Effort,” by M. Edouard Rod, and ‘‘ La Nouvelle
Espérance” by the Comtesse de Noailles.
Curiously enough, in each of these three books
the most prominent feminine character is an
absolutely selfish woman singularly devoid of
conscience.
Donatienne, in M. Bazin’s story, is the young
wife of a Breton peasant. She is the mother of
three children and the idol of her husband, but
poverty compels her to leave the little cottage
Just
home and engage herself as nurse in Paris.
THE AUTHOR.
continual presence of the husband’s
_ details to the end of the volume.
at first she sends her earnings to her husband to
enable him to keep the little home together until
better times. Gradually, however, she becomes
accustomed to the luxuries and amusements of her
new life Her letters to her husband are rare and
finally cease altogether.
The poor Breton peasant is somewhat slow of
comprehension, but when it dawns upon him that
his wife hus no intention of returning to her
family, the little home, with its memories, becomes
unbearable to him, and with his three children he
sets out with a vague idea of seeking his fortune
elsewhere.
The story is most pathetic and the dénouement
both touching and tragic. It is told with a
simplicity that adds greatly to the pathos. There
is not a word too much, not a line of any descrip-
tion which could be omitted, and the book is
certainly one of the finest of M. Bazin’s novels.
“L’Inutile Effort” is a. masterly study of
character. Leonard Perreuse is the ambitious
man of our modern society, the man whose one
object in life is to succeed. He is seconded by a
wife who is narrow-minded, selfish and unscrupu-
lous. They are both somewhat hampered by the
brother
Raymond, a man who has not advanced or rather
degenerated with the times, and who is old-
fashioned enough to have a conscience. The
story of the book turns on the trial of a French
girl in London, who has been arrested on the
charge of murdering her child by pushing it into
the Thames.
On reading the account in the newspaper both
brothers are convinced that the child is Leonard’s,
and they are equally convinced that the poor girl
whom he deserted is incapable of the crime of
which she is accused. Raymond, who had always
blamed his brother’s conduct in this matter, had
taken an interest in the girl, kept up a corre-
spondence with her for some years, and helped her
when, through illness, she had been in difficulties.
He persuades Leonard that their duty now is to go
to London and give their evidence in favour of the
prisoner. Leonard’s wife, fearing the consequences
of ascandal for herself and her children, insists that
her husband must relinquish this plan. Raymond,
in his indignation, refuses to enter his brother's
house again. “Ihe unfortunate girl is condemned
to death, and from that moment Leonard’s punish-
ment begins. His conscience is aroused at last,
and in desperation he leaves everything and goes
with Raymond to London to see if anything can
now be done.
We will not spoil the story by telling all the
It is a book in
which all the characters live, and it is undoubtedly
the strongest of M. Rod’s novels.
THE AUTHOR.
As regards ‘La Nouvelle Espérance,’ by the
Comtesse de Noailles, the title is quite misleading.
From the first page to the last of the book one
searches in vain for the “new hope.” With such
a fine title one naturally expects some elevated
thoughts and ideas, but the whole book is “ of the
earth, earthy,” with a woman as the principal
character who is positively repulsive. ‘‘ The
Degenerates’”’ would have been a more suitable
title for such a novel, as, with the exception of the
unfortunate husband of the heroine, all the cha-
racters are more or less unwholesome. There is
very little plot or even story to the book. It is
merely the account of an idle, selfish, luxurious
woman, who imagines herself ultra-refined and
who has no aim or object in life. She has
a devoted husband whose chief fault appears to
be his blindness to his wife’s defects. Having
absolutely nothing to do, she is naturally bored to
death, and being an extremely self-centred person
she spends hours brooding over her own feelings
and sensations.
She then endeavours to make love to various
friends of her husband. Her third attempt, only,
is a success, and this liaison with a married man
relieves the monotony of her life until the new
lover discovers that he has a conscience and retires
with his wife to the country.
The extraordinary feature of this book is the
absolute depravity of the woman, which, consider-
ing her education and surroundings, makes the
whole story appear unreal. When her lover goes
away she decides that she cannot live without him,
and without the slightest compunction as far as her
husband is concerned, she prepares a strong dose of
morphia, writes a farewell letter to the recreant
lover, which she leaves for her husband’s sister to
forward, and when the clock strikes midnight
takes her departure from this world. In this
farewell letter she says, “Vous m’aimiez et vous
€tes parti parce que votre femme et votre fils yous
Pont demandé. . . . Vous avez fait ce que vous
deviez faire : les hommes ont de la conscience. Les
femmes, mon ami, n’ont pas de conscience ; elles
ont une épouvantable volonté de n’étre pas plus
malheureuses qu’elles ne peuvent.”
_ On closing the book one can only wonder why
it should have been written. As a great French
eritic said about the works of another author:
“ When such things are read and meet with success,
eritics can only write a page of history on the
Manners and customs of a society which reads such
00ks,”
“La Bastille des Comédiens ” is the title of the
new book by M. Frantz Funck-Brentano, the well-
snown author of “ Le Drame des Poisons” and
L’ Affaire du Collier.”
In January, 1902, the Société de I’Histoire du
199
théatre opened a competition for a study on For
PEvéque, the famous prison in which so many
comedians, dramatic authors and critics were incar-
cerated. So little was known about this old prison
that it has been no easy task to collect the necessary
information from the various libraries and the
national archives.
M. Funck-Brentano’s work was unanimously
declared to be the best, and the volume now pub-
lished, illustrated with eleven engravings, is a most
interesting study of Old Paris and its history and
customs. About a third of the book is taken up
with a description of the prison itself and its
history, while the remaining two-thirds tell us of
the strange customs of those bye-gone days, when
prisoners were notified that they were sentenced to
a few days’ seclusion, and accordingly wended their
way to the prison unescorted.
The author tells us amusing stories, too, of the
way in which fathers could have their sons im-
prisoned for a short time. In 1744 a M. Thibaut,
of Bordeaux, writes to the police-lieutenant of
Paris to the effect that his son, aged thirty, is in
the gay capital. ‘He is leading a dissipated life,”
writes the anxious father, “and the result may be
that he will disgrace his family.” All that’ the
father asks is that his son may be detained in
prison for a short time and he is quite willing to
pay the expenses. The police-lieutenant investi-
gates the case, and signs a paper on the 5th of
April, “ Bon pour prison, aux dépens du pere.” The
son objects to the hospitality provided for him and
appeals for a release. The father’s consent to this
is necessary, and on the 25th of April, evidently
considering that the lesson has had time to be
beneficial, he signs the paper for the release of
his son.
Comedians who were wanting in respect either
to the king or to their public were detained at For
l’Evéque for a time, and we are told many amusing
anecdotes about them. Life in this prison was by
no means monotonous, and some of the inmates
entertained their friends in the most hospitable
manner. ‘The celebrated actress, Mlle. Clairon,
gave “des soupers divins et nombreux,” and
carriages filled the street from morning till night
as long as she was in prison.
When the artistes of the Francais were im-
prisoned they were always allowed liberty for their
performances and rehearsals, as the Comédie could
not dispense with their services.
In the magazines there are some excellent
articles this month.
In the International Theatre M. Max Nordan
writes on “Theatrical Censorship.” The authorities
in Berlin have forbidden the production of Paul
Heyse’s “Mary of Magdala,” and M. Nordau
thinks that “all civilised Europeans should blush
200
to tolerate the existence of that degrading vestige
of feudal despotism : theatrical censorship.”
The English are specially favoured in the cur-
rent number of this theatrical paper.
M. Sardou has allowed the editor to publish
photographic reproductions of the principal scenes
of his new play “ Dante,” which is to be produced
soon by Sir Henry Irving. About eight of these
scenes are reproduced, accompanied by an excellent
article giving an idea of Dante’s original concep-
tion of the Inferno.
Madame Réjane has had to postpone until next
season the new play she was rehearsing: “ La
Meilleure Part.”
“Ta Rabouilleuse” is a success at the Odeon.
It is a four-act play cleverly adapted by M. Emile
Fabre from Balzac’s “ Ménage de Garcon.”
Ouida’s “ Two Little Wooden Shoes ” has been
produced at the Opéra Comique as “ Muguette.”
The music is by M. Missa.
“Tyes Affaires sont les Affaires,” by M. Octave
Mirbeau, is the event of the moment at the
Francais. It is an extremely up-to-date satire on
the omnipotence of wealth. The piece is a literary
triumph, the dialogue brilliant and the interest
well sustained.
“T’Autre Danger,” by M. Maurice Donnay, is
still a success at the Francais. It is admirably
put on, but the subject is a very delicate one—of
the same nature as that of M. Paul Bourget’s novel,
“Le Fantome.”
“Lucifer” was the title of the last piece of this
season produced by M. Bour at his International
Theatre. It is a very strong play in four acts,
translated by M. Monnier from the Italian of
M. Butti.
Lucifer is the name given to a free-thinker, who
was formerly a priest, by the students to whom he
lectures. This ex-priest has married and has a
son and daughter, whom he has brought up as
atheists. An old friend of his comes to live near
him as Professor at the University. This friend is
a religious man, and has an only daughter. The
ex-priest’s son falls in love with her, but her father
refuses his consent to their marriage on religious
grounds. The lovers elope, and after their marriage
return to the ex-priest’s home. In the last act the
young wife has taken a severe chill and is dying.
Her husband, in the presence of Death, implores
his atheist father to teach him a prayer, as in his
desperation he suddenly feels the need of religion
and the certainty that there is something beyond
this life. The struggle between his pride as a
savant and atheist and his family affection is very
terrible, and the scene between the father and son
is most dramatic.
M. Bour was remarkably fine in this réle.
“Lucifer” and “ Alléluia” are undoubtedly his two
THE AUTHOR.
best creations. M. Bourny, as the son, was also
excellent. M. Bauer had only a small part, but he
was as fine as usual in it.
M. Bour has also produced another play by M.
Robert Bracco, a one-act piece entitled “Don
Pietro Carusi,” which is quite a chef d’wuvre.
ALys HALLARD.
9
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
es
Literary Larceny.
R. HARTLEY ASPDEN, the Editor of the
Sunday Companion and Sunday Circle, has -
laid before the Secretary of the Society of 7 iw
Authors a case of literary larceny of a very serious |
character. |
As it is probable that similar cases may have oe:
occurred, and as it has always been the object of —F
the Authors’ Society to maintain the rights of
authors against all comers, members of their own
profession or not, it has been thought right to
publish the facts in detail.
In January of this year, Mr. Aspden, as Editor
of the papers mentioned, received from a Mr.
Reginald Nash, a story entitled “Through Great f°. *
Tribulation.” This story he was inclined to accept,
and wrote to the author as follows :— B iyky
DEAR S1R,—My reader has reported favourably on your :
story “Through Great Tribulation.” Please tell me if you
are the author of the story, and if you are willing to accept
£15 (our usual price for these stories) for it.
Yours faithfully.
THE EDITOR.
The author’s reply was on a post card, to the
following effect.
Dar SrR,—Received offer for story entitled ‘Through _
Great Tribulation,’ which I accept.
Believe me, I am,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) R. NASH.
By chance Mr. Aspden discovered that the story
had already been published about two years pre-
viously in another of his publications entitled Golden
Stories. The story was word for word the same,”
with the exception that the title had been changed
and the name of one of the characters. He
thereupon wrote a second time to the author, and —
requested to know whether the story was his own
production.
In answer, he received a letter stating it was the
author’s own production, and implying that he was”
a contributor to many other magazines. . :
The original story was written by Mrs. H. B.
Welch. If Mrs. Welch had been a member of the”
Society of Authors the Committee would, no doubt,
THE AUTHOR.
have gladly taken up the case on her behalf and
exposed the matter in the courts, but the Com-
mittee had no locus standi, and left it therefore to
Mr. Aspden to bring the affair before the public.
Further correspondence made it clear that this
was not the only story that had been taken from
other papers and forwarded to editors as the anthor’s
own work, and we are indebted to Mr. Aspden for
having thrashed out the matter carefully. In con-
sequence Mr. Nash has written, signed and published
+
in the Norwood Free Press the following apology :
I, Reginald Nash, of No. 1, Dassett Road, Knight’s Hill,
West Norwood, beg humbly to apologise to the Editor of
Sunday Stories and Golden Stories for having, without his
knowledge and consent, taken stories published in those
journals, and endeavoured to dispose of them for payment
as my own original compositions, and I hereby promise not
to repeat this offence in the case of Golden Stories or
Sunday Stories or any other paper.
(Signed)
Witness, H. Brown,
Dated 18th Mareh, 1903.
The matter is of serious interest to all members
of the Authors’ Society, and we think it expedient
to publish in full this apology, which has already
appeared in one newspaper.
REGINALD NASH.
1
An Unwarrantable Infringement.
ANOTHER case has been brought to the notice of
the Secretary. In the autumn of last year a paper
entitled the Science and Art of Mining gave a
prize for the best answer to certain questions
concerning mining.
One of the questions was :
‘« What are the chief causes of boiler explosions ?
—What precautions would you take ?”
The prize was awarded to John R. Ford.
Mr. Powis Bale, who is a member of our Society,
an engineer, and a writer of some valuable books on
the subject, discovered in a roundabout fashion that
the answer to the prize question was copied directly,
without any acknowledgment, out of his book
“Steam Engineering,” although one of the rules of
the competition especially forbade this.
If those who enter prize competitions are in the
habit of competing on these lines the sooner the
fault is exposed the better.
Mr. Bale placed the matter in the hands of the
Secretary, who at once wrote to the editor of the
paper.
It is quite clear from the answer of the pro-
prietors that they were unaware of Mr. Ford’s
methods. They have at once taken steps to express
their regret in a public manner, by publishing in
their paper a statement of the facts approved by
the author whose copyright they had unwittingly
infringed.
201
Mr. Ford’s mistake has been acknowledged, and
Mr. Powis Bale has kindly consented to refrain
from taking any further action on the publication
of the apology set forth below :—
In the autumn of 1902, the Science and Art of
Mining proposed a prize competition, one of the
conditions of which runs as follows :
“Original answers are specially desired. In all cases
where quotations or extracts are made. the source and
authority must be stated. Any breach of this regulation
which comes to our notice will debar the offender from all
future competitions in these columns.”
Contrary to the rule quoted, I copied my answer
—consisting of 205 lines—to Question 5, entitled,
“What are the Chief Causes of Boiler Explosions ?
—What Precautions would you take?” from Mr.
Powis Bale’s well-known book, “A Handbook for
Steam Users,” published by Messrs. Longmans,
Green & Oo.
As my answer won the Prize, it was published in
the issue of the above periodical on October 11th,
1902, infringing Mr. Powis Bale’s copyright.
I tender my sincere regret to the Author of the
Book and the Editor of the Paper, and in order to
make my apology public, I give leave that you
should publish it in the Engineer, Engineering, and
the Mechanical World, and in any two others you
may think fit.
(Signed) Joun R. Forp.
To M. Powrs Bats, Esq.,
16 & 17, Appold Street,
London, E.C.
eo
THE AUTHORS’ ASSOCIATION.
Oe
N last month’s Author a short article was pub-
I lished referring to this association. One of
the statements contained in that article was
as follows :—
‘Every member, we must mention, has the right
to have one MS. of 5,000 words criticised each
year, free of charge.”
We have had a letter from Mr. Galloway Kyle
in which he points out that we have misquoted the
words of his prospectus, which run as follows :—
‘Hach member is entitled to have one novel, or
three shorter MSS. of not more than 5,000 words
each, dealt with thoroughly per year.”
Weare glad to correct this inaccuracy, and express
our regret that it should have occurred.
The publisher, whose offices are situated at 62,
Paternoster Row, E.C., which was referred to in the
same article as the temporary address of the Asso-
ciation, writes to inform us that this address is no
longer connected in any way with the Association.
202
AN AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW.
ee a
(This Article is taken from the American Book and
News Dealer, March, 1903).
Of Interest to Authors, Publishers, Booksellers,
Printers, Compositors and Electrotypers.
+ NDER the heading “ A Plea for the Abolition
of the Duty on Books,” Mr. George F,
Brett has recently written a pamphlet for
private circulation, which was published for the
author by the Macmillan Company.
Mr. Brett says :
“Tf it be conceded that a duty on books was
needed in the early development of our country,
either for purposes of revenue or to protect the
printing and allied trades, or, more important
still, for the purpose of fostering and encouraging
the original work of our native authors, it must be
clear that such a duty is no longer for any of these
reasons either necessary or expedient.”
The argument here used is precisely
ment used by all Free Traders to show why
protective tariffs should be abolished.
It is possible that the next Presidential campaign
will be fought on the Tariff issue ; but if so it is
not probable that the Free Trade party would be
willing to wage the campaign against a special
branch of trade or industry that
the argu-
all
would directly
antagonise ail American authors, publishers, book-
sellers, printers, compositors and electrotypers.
It is certain that the Ways and Means Com-
mittee of the Congress would give a hearing to
representatives of these important industries before
reporting to the House a Bill that would strike
down all protection they now enjoy under the
protective tariff.
The undertaking to carry such important legis-
lation through the Congress is worthy of one who
is credited with the overweening ambition to
publish all of the books for all of the American
people.
But Mr. Brett continues :
« When we turn to the matter of protection for
the printing and allied trades, the duty is unneces-
sary, as these important trades can no longer be
called ‘infant industries’ in any sense of this
‘much-abused term, and in the production of the
cheaper classes of books this country may, without
doubt, I think, claim to lead all English-speaking
countries, both in the amount of material produced
and in the cheapness of its costs of manufacture.
«Tf protection to these trades, moreover, were
still needed, it is already provided, and in a much
more effective form, by the provision of our Inter-
national Copyright Act, which makes a copyright
THE AUTHOR.
in this country depend upon the manufacture of
the article copyrighted within the limits of the
United States.”
If it be true that the International Copyright
Act affords ample protection for the manufacturing
branches of the book trade, then why repeal the
protective tariff laws that protect and foster these
trades? If they are amply protected under the
one law, why not give them the benefit of both ?
Does not Mr. Brett seek to have this law
repealed in order that he may import still more
English-made books without paying any revenue
into the United States Treasury ?
Would not the repeal of the tariff law materially
lessen the amount of work now done by the
American book-manufacturing trades, in setting
up the type, making the paper, electrotyping the
plates and printing the English books that are now
reprinted in this country ? If not, then why
repeal the law ?
Again, Mr. Brett continues :
«When we turn to the more important reason
for the existence of the duty, the only reason, if
there be one, worthy of serious attention, 7¢., the
necessity of fostering a native literature, a litera-
ture which shall echo the needs and voice the
sentiments of our national life, it still appears that
we may with entire safety abandon the duty on
books, a duty which has been often and aptly
termed ‘a tax on knowledge.’
“ Here, again, the workings of our International
Copyright Act, an act of ‘justice to foreign
authors, has had results of great importance to
our own people. Our younger and less known
authors have, since the passage of the Act, found a
much more ready welcome and appreciation at the
hands of American publishers, who are no longer
able to appropriate and exploit the works of
foreign authors without payment.
“ Let us, then, remove the duty on books as ‘a
tax on knowledge’ and freely welcome what
English authors may have to offer us that is
worthy of acceptance, in order that we may move
forward to our manifest destiny as the greatest
nation the world has yet seen, whether we are
judged by the standards of finance, commerce,
literature or art.”
Here, again, it is urged that the International
Copyright Act affords ample protection to American
authors ; but if so, why repeal the law? Would
not its repeal again result in flooding the American
market with the product of English authors, manu-
factured and published in England ? Are American
authors prepared to make the test ?
Do American booksellers wish again to have
the American market flooded with cheaply-made
English books ?
There is bu} little profit in the sale of cheap books,
THE AUTHOR. 203
especially when the trade discount afforded by the
importer is so short that it allows a sales profit
less than the actual cost of handling the books.
Would not such a measure directly antagonise all
American booksellers ?
It is pertinent to enquire whether the publication
of this pamphlet by a house of English publishers
is the beginning of a Free Trade propaganda ‘to
break down the American industry of writing,
publishing and selling books. If this is not
true, it would be well for the English house of
Macmillan & Co. to disavow such purpose before it
estranges the goodwill of all American booksellers,
If the impression created is allowed to go un-
disputed, it will be necessary for all English
authors, who hope for a fair measure of patronage
in the American market, to take to cover in self-
defence.
Neither English authors nor English publishers
can afford to have their books sold in this country
by booksellers who would be compelled to band
together in self-defence, and to sell only so many
of such books, from under the counter, as may be
necessary to hold their favourite customers. In
such case it would be necessary for English authors
to place their books with such English publishers as
have American connections of such character as can
command the goodwill and patronage of the American
bookselling trade !
It will be recalled that William McKinley was
exalted to the Presidential chair, in Opposition to
the combined influence of the leading politicians
of New York, New England and Pennsylvania, by
the American people, simply because he had become
recognised as the leading apostle of the American
policy of protective tariffs.
Since the enactment of the Dingley Law, the
American people have been enjoying a great wave
of prosperity, that has been constantly accelerated
by cumulative energy, until our thriving industries
have made this great nation the cynosure of all
eyes and the object of envy by our European rivals.
This is the priceless heritage left to the American
people by our late martyred President. Can it be
supposed fer a moment that we will lightly cast
it aside ?
9
LITERARY COPYRIGHT: THE PERIOD
OF PROTECTION.
Se
ONSIDERABLE differences of opinion exist
as to what should constitute the period of
protection for literary matter. Some con-
sider that the existing period of protection is not
long enough; others contend that literary pro-
perty should be regarded like other forms of
property, and that copyright should be perpetual.
Authorities differ, and distinguished authors dis-
agree, as to the expediency of permitting the period
of protection to be indefinite. It has been said
that an author’s right to his work is, on every
ground of reason and justice, absolute ; and that
in the whole sphere of property, there is probably
no right which rests on such solid foundation, as
that of creation.
Mr. Edward Jenkins, a member of the Copy-
right Commission of 1876-8, appointed to consider
the chaotic condition of the existing Copyright
Acts, in his report said: “The statute law creates,
it does not recognise, copyright. There is no such
thing as an inalienable natural right to the form
in which a man has embodied his ideas. The
copyright law is, like the patent law for inven-
tion, a creation of a temporary monopoly, for the
encouragement of learning. It is the outcome of
expediency and not of principle.”
Sir James Stephen, a member of the Copyright
Commission, said: “ The law of copyright ought,
in my opinion, to protect money interests only ;
and I think that the only money interests which
it should protect are those which it creates—that
is to say, the money interest of the author of a
work of literature or art which is capable of being
reproduced by mechanical means in such a manner
that every copy is as valuable as the original. I
approve of copyright in books, because the MS.
has no value till it is printed, and because when it
has been printed, every copy is of equal value, so
that unless a copyright law existed the author of
the most valuable book would have no money
reward for writing it.”
Sir Louis Mallet, who was also a member of the
Copyright Commission, in the course of his report,
said : “I do not consider that a copyright law, or,
in other words, a law which enables a copyright
owner to prevent other persons from copying pub-
lished works, rests on the same grounds of public
expediency as those which justify the recogni-
tion by law of proprietary rights generally. Nor
does it appear that in modern times it has been
ever so regarded by the legislation of the countries
where it exists. The right conferred by a@ copy-
right law derives its chief value from the discovery
of the art of printing ; and there appears no reason
for giving to authors any larger share in the value
of a mechanical invention, to which they have con-
tributed nothing, than to any other member of the
community. It is not even claimed that an author
should have a right of property in ideas, or in
facts, or in opinions. It is impossible ever to
ascertain or to define how far these are the product
204 THE AUTHOR.
of his own thought or of his own labour. It
is merely the form in which they are presented for
which this claim is advanced, and for this all that
is in principle required appears to me to be that
he should be protected in any contract which he
desires to make once for all in the original publi-
cation of his works. Some of the witnesses whose
evidence has been received have urged the claim
of authors to perpetual copyright, on the ground
that the right of an author to property in his
published works is as complete and extends as far
as the right of any person to any property what-
ever. If this analogy were admitted, it appears to
me that it would be difficult to dispute the claim
of an author to perpetual copyright ; but I ven-
ture to submit that the claim of an author to a
right of property in his published work rests upon
« radical economic fallacy, viz., a misconception of
the nature of the law of value. . . . Property exists
in order to provide against the evils of natural
scarcity. A limitation of supply by artificial
causes creates scarcity in order to create property.
To limit that which is in its nature unlimited, and
thereby to confer an exchangeable value on that
which, without such interference, would be the
gratuitous possession of mankind, is to create an
artificial monopoly which has no warrant in the
nature of things, which serves to produce scarcity
where there ought to be abundance, and to confine
to the few gifts which were intended for all. It is
within this latter class that copyright in published
works must be included. Copies of such works
may be multiplied indefinitely, subject to the cost
of paper and of printing, which alone, but for copy-
right, would limit the supply, and any demand,
however great, would be attended not only by no
conceivable injury to society, but on the contrary,
in the case of useful works, by the greatest possible
advantage. .. . The policy, then, of copyright
laws must be sought in another order of ideas, and
be made to rest on some ground other than that
which is the foundation of rights of property in
whatever is the subject to a natural limitation of
supply.”
Mr. Farrer, now Lord Farrer, secretary to the
Board of Trade at the time of the Copyright
Commission, in a paper prepared by him_ for
the members of the Commission, said: ‘“‘ Pro-
fessor Huxley, and I think Mr. Spencer and
Professor Tyndall agree with him, states in
the strongest and clearest terms his view that
the foundation of copyright law is the absolute
right of the author once and for ever to the
form in which he has uttered his thoughts, and he
ingeniously suggests that this law is merely a
convenient substitute for a sale by the author of
each copy, with a condition attached that the
purchaser shall not copy. It is needless to say
that this suggestion is as fictitious as it is
ingenious. A chattel going about the world with an
implied covenant by every one, who with or with-
out consideration gets possession of it, that he
will not imitate it, would certainly be a legal
novelty. The real history and fact of copyright
law are very different. As to the absolute and
perpetual right, not only has it never been recog-
nised as a matter of fact, but analogies are against
it. Words, thoughts, and actions, when uttered or
done, pass, as a general rule, into the common
domain, and it is thus that human life is carried
on. In those productions of the human mind which
are most essentially original, and which are at
the same time the most useful to mankind ; in such
things as the moral doctrine of the Sermon on the
Mount, the intellectual theory of gravitation, of
evolution, or of the conservation of energy, there
is and can be no exclusive right. Nor, again, is
there, as a matter of practice, any exclusive right
in more ephemeral matters, ¢.g., in the news,
information, or articles of a newspaper, or in a
political speech. It is only when put into the
particular form of a book, or a lecture, or a picture,
that an exclusive right over the productions of the
human mind has been recognised, and that with
certain limitations and for a certain specified
purpose.”
It has since been decided that for copyright
purposes the author of the report of a speech is
the “ author” of the speech within the meaning of
the Act.
The existing period of protection according to
the Act of 1842, passed ‘‘to afford greater
encouragement to the production of literary works
of lasting benefit to the world,” is forty-two years
from the date of publication, or life and seven
years, whichever term may be the longer. As to the
adequacy or otherwise of this term we might very
well refer to the report of the Copyright Commis-
sion. The particular paragraphs read as follows :
‘““ We have already stated that we consider some
kind of protection in the nature of copyright
desirable ; and it appears to us that the existing
terms are not more than sufficient, if indeed they
are sufficient, to secure that adequate encourage-
ment and protection to authors which the interests
of literature, and therefore of the public, alike —
demand from the State. We proceed, therefore,
to call attention to the three objections to the
present duration of copyright :
“ First, the period is said not to belong enough.
The chief reasons for this assertion are that many
works, and particularly those of permanent value,
are frequently but little known or appreciated for
many years after they are published, and that they
do not command a sale sufficient to remunerate
the authors until a considerable part of the term
THE AUTHOR.
of copyright has expired. Some works, as, for
instance, novels by popular authors, command an
extensive sale and bring to the authors a large
remuneration at once, but the case is altogether
different with others, such as works of history,
books of a philosophical or classical character, and
volumes of poems. In some instances works of
these kinds have been known to produce scarcely
any remuneration until the authors have died and
the copyrights have nearly expired. It is also
urged that in the case of many authors who make
their living by their pens, their families are left
without provision shortly after their deaths, unless
their works become profitable very soon after they
are written.
“These arguments and others of a like kind,
which will be found not only in the evidence we
have taken, but in the debates in Parliament, are
in our opinion of great weight, but on the other
hand, we do not lose sight of the public interest
which, it has been urged upon us, would be
prejudiced by prolongation of copyright. Greater
freedom of trade and competition are said to be
desirable that books may be more abundant and
cheaper in price.
‘The second objection to the present duration of
copyright is, that copyrights belonging to the same
author generally expire at different dates. That it
-is well founded is manifest, for if an author writes
several works, or one work in several volumes
which are published at different times, as is
frequently the case, the copyrights will expire
forty-two years from the respective dates of pub-
lication, unless the author happens to live so long
that the period of seven years after his death is
beyond forty-two years from the publication of his
latest work or volume.
“ Under the present system, moreover, copyright
in an earlier edition expires before copyright in
the amendments in a later edition of the same
work. We have had evidence that in one case the
first and uncorrected edition of an important work
was republished before the expiration of the copy-
tight in the later and improved editions. But
if the alteration in the existing term of copyright,
which we suggest hereafter, were adopted, namely,
that it should be for the life of the author and a
fixed number of years after his death, all the
copyrights of the same author would expire at the
same date, and it would then be open to any pub-
lisher to put out a complete edition of all the
author’s works, with all the improvements and
emendations which have appeared in the last
edition, in a uniform shape and at a uniform price.
“The third objection to the present duration of
copyright is that it is frequently difficult, if not
impossible, to ascertain its termination, owing to
the fact that the expiration of the period depends
205
upon the time of publication. It is in most cases
easy to ascertain the date of a man’s death, but
frequently impossible to fix with any certainty the
date of the publication of a book. Under the
present law it is uncertain what constitutes pub-
lication; but whatever may be a publication
sufficient in law to set the period of copyright
running, it generally takes place in such a manner
that the precise date is not noted even if known.
It is sometimes said that the date printed in the
title page of a book should be considered the date
of publication, but books are frequently post-
dated, and in many cases bear no date at all.
This objection is one which, in our opinion, should
be removed.”
The above, I think, is a fair presentment of the
points considered by the Royal Copyright Com-
mission. Many years have elapsed and we still
find that little has been done to co-ordinate the
various Copyright Acts which were considered by
the Royal Commissioners to be in a chaotic con-
dition, and frequently unintelligible.
In the Bill drafted by Lord Thring, based on
the recommendations of the Copyright Commission,
it was proposed that “the copyright in a book
shall begin with the publication thereof, and shall
subsist for the term of the author's life and thirty
years after the end of the year in which the author
dies, and no longer.” The effect of such an Act
would obviously be that, although the copyrights
of authors’ works would expire simultaneously,
immature efforts would enjoy a longer term than
works of greater value, though, of course, it does
not thereby follow that the sales of the former
would be the greater. Some time ago, the writer
approached several of the leading publishers for
their opinions as to the duration of the period of
protection.
Mr. John Murray considers that a new Copy-
right Act is urgently needed in this country. He
thinks the period of protection ought to be life
and fifty years. Perpetual copyright, though it
would be equitable, is impossible, he considers.
Messrs. Macmillan think that the present period
of protection is insufficient ; life and thirty years
would be more satisfactory. They see no reason
to dissent from the view taken by Mr. Alexander
Macmillan, a former head of the firm, in his evi-
dence before the Royal Commission in favour of
perpetual copyright.
Mr. William Heinemann, while favouring the
fullest protection possible for literary property,
thinks it would be a matter of serious national
loss, if literary productions were not, after some
time, made popularly accessible.
Mr. E. Marston considers perpetual copyright an
impossible idea. He thinks that life and thirty
years would prove a satisfactory term.
208
Messrs. Kegan Paul & Co, remark that un-
doubtedly the limitation of copyright tends to the
general diffusion of good literature, though they
think it hard that a man of outstanding genius,
having produced property of value calculated to
survive his own life, should not have the privilege
of leaving the interest in the property to his
descendants.
Messrs. George Bell & Sons certainly think the
present period of protection insufficient. They
favour the proposed extension to thirty years
from the author's death. They are also inclined
to think favourably of a suggestion that has been
made, that direct descendants of an author should,
on certain conditions, have the privilege of obtain-
ing further extensions for successive terms of years
so that a valuable copyright might be kept alive
for an indefinite time.
Mr. A. Nutt can see no reason why literary
property should be placed in a different category
trom other property. In any case, copyright, he
thinks, should have a clear hundred years’ run
from the death of the author.
Another publisher, who has issued a large number
of charming reprints, thinks that the present period
of protection is long enough, except in exceptional
cases ; he does not think that anyone can argue
that the time presses hardly upon any relatives of
a man’s family if, after forty-two years and seven
years, the copyright is given to the public. In all
patented works, it is acknowledged that the public
have rights, and in books, it seems to him that so
long as a man has been comfortably paid for his
labour, the books belong to the public more than
even matters of invention.
Thus we have a variety of opinions upon an
interesting and somewhat complicated subject.
We can assume that the life of the average book
is not forty-two years. Novels which have an
immense sale at the time of first publication have
their day and practically cease to be, in many
instances. How many of them will be in demand
thirty years after the decease of the authors or in
some cases the manufacturers of them ?
Text books, of course, get out-of-date. Similarly
with works of reference. Comparatively few books
are absolutely original in every respect. In the
majority of cases, the authors are dependent to a
more or less degree upon the labours of their pre-
decessors. And literary matter would be of com-
paratively little commercial value in the absence
of any method whereby 1t could be rapidly repro-
duced in quantity. ‘he peculiar nature of literary
property is obvious. In the course of the life of the
author, plus thirty years, it ought to be possible to
find a sufficient demand to make most worthy
books remunerative to author and publisher, if
the field is properly worked, But in special cases,
THE AUTHOR.
such as in regard to books which have involved
special labour and expense to produce, and which
have not proved sufficiently remunerative during
the period of protection, it ought to be possible
for the publisher, or author, to obtain an extension.
If it were practicable the period of protection
should depend on the degree of originality of the
matter. This would obviously be a difficult question
to decide.
J. A, Ret.
ee
THE PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION.
Oo ¢
The Annual Meeting.
HE screeds Association has held its annual
general meeting, under the presidenc of
Mr. C. J. Longman, and has batted its
report to its members.
The Authors’ Society has already had note of the
steps that were taken last year with a view to
dealing with the question of copyright. It is
unnecessary, therefore, to repeat the extent to
which the Association also rendered its valuable
assistance in endeavouring to push forward legis-
lation. :
The President, in his speech, dealt with one or
two interesting points, and, in addition to the
questions connected with the report, mentioned
the contract for serial rights. He stated as
follows :—
“Of course a good many matters come up at the
Council meetings which it is not desirable to
trouble you with or to put into the report, but here
and there one comes up which may be of interest.
Now there was a subject mentioned not long ago—
a small affair if you will, and only of interest to a
certain section of the members who are novel
publishers. Buta case came up in regard to the
question of serial rights. It has been not infre-
quently the practice, particularly with literary
agents, to sell not only what are known as serial
rights, but what are known as second serial rights.
Unless there is some limit in time put as to when
these second serial rights are to run out, it may be
an intolerable nuisance, and I know cases in my
own business where it has become a nuisance.
There are certain syndicates who buy serials for
circulation in the Press. They buy absolute serial
rights, which is understood to mean that so long
as the term of copyright exists they go on cireu-
lating the novel, or any other work, in the columns
of newspapers, magazines, and so on. A publisher
buys the copyright, but this spectre is never laid.
You never know where it may turn up, and the
thing gets out of control. Sometimes, as in the
case which I have in my mind, the work gets
THE AUTHOR.
published under another title, or is abridged. The
only reason I have in mentioning it is that I think
it very desirable, in the interests of publishers,
that they should decline to buy a novel in which
the serial rights are sold without limit of time-—
that is to say, the serial rights should cease when
the book is published. If there is any question of
the book being circulated again, which may possibly
be done occasionally, that should be a matter
decided by the copyright owner, who may be the
publisher or author, or both, but I think it very
undesirable either to buy or publish a novel with
these indefinite rights hanging over it. That is
not, perhaps, a very important point, and it only
refers to one section of our members.”
This question may be a small question to pub-
lishers, and only touch a certain section of them,
but to authors, to those who write fiction, is of
great import.
Firstly, we have always insisted, and now insist
again, that it is absolutely essential that contracts
with regard to the sale of serial rights should be
clear and limited, and should not be general or
indefinite ; that when serial rights are sold they
should be sold either to one paper or to a limited
circle of papers for one issue only, or for a limited
time.
Secondly, that under no circumstances should
fiction writers sell the copyright of their works to
the publisher for a sum down or otherwise; and,
thirdly, if, contrary to all advice, they do sell the
copyright, they are bound to disclose to the pur-
chaser a contract of this kind for the sale of serial
rights. If this is the case, then the publisher
buys with full knowledge, and has no cause for
complaint.
From Mr. Longman’s statement it would appear
that either the publisher has not taken the trouble
to enquire into the point, or that the author has,
unwittingly maybe, refrained from giving full
information.
Another important question was dealt with by
the publishers.
The matter was brought forward by Mr. Frederick
Macmillan, of the firm of Macmillan & Co.
It refers to the supply of educational books to
the educational authorities. This matter is of no
little consequence to the providers of educational
books, and it is hoped that the cutting of prices
which at present rules will not be allowed to con-
tinue, and that the publishers will refuse to supply
the educational centres direct, but will supply only
through booksellers and retail agents. The question
is one that affects the educational author very
closely, as the following example may serve to
show :—
A certain member of the Society made his living
out of the writing of educational books, and was
207
paid a fixed royalty by the publisher under a hard
and fast agreement. Large orders were gent in to
the publisher for the purchase of his books, and a
demand was made that as the order was large
special terms should be stated. ‘The publisher
wrote to the author and asked him to accept half
the royalty that he was being paid under the
agreement, or otherwise it would be impossible
for him to supply the orders mentioned, and a
large sale would thereby be lost to the author.
If the author’s profits had been reduced pro-
portionately to the publisher’s profits it ig
possible that the publisher's request might have
been willingly acceded to, but the figures showed
that this was not the case, and it lay with the
author to decide whether he would yield to this
extraordinary pressure of the publisher or whether
he would lose the sale. In this special instance,
the royalty on these books was, unfortunately, the
bread and butter of the author, and he was obliged
to give way. Thus the publisher procured a large
sale at a reduced but not inadequate profit, while
the author received starvation wages. The other
alternative was for the author to refuse to yield, and
Insist on the publisher keeping to his contract ; 0
that case the publisher would have refused to supply
the market, and the author would have had no
remedy.
It is hoped, therefore, if this question is satisfac-
torily solved as far as authors are concerned, that
it will be impossible for such a case to occur again
or for undue pressure to be brought to bear upon
an author to yield up even the small returns that
some of the publishers are willing to pay him for
his work.
After some discussion it appears from the report
of the general meeting of the Publishers’ Associa-
tion, that the original question put forward was
somewhat modified, and that the following amend-
ment was passed :—
“That a special committee be appointed to deal
with questions affecting educational publishers,
and that its first business be to consider the
situation created by the Education Act, 1902.”
We must congratulate Mr. C. J. Longman on
his re-election to the Presidency of the Association
—which now represents all the important houses of
England.
G. oy T.
pn *—~>—_+ :
SOME FREE LANCE EXPERIENCES.
—+—>+—
OME little time ago I set forth in these pages
S certain experiences that had fallen to me
while pursuing the calling of a free lance
journalist. Since then a good deal of water has
208
flowed under Westminster Bridge, and, as during
this period I have continued on my career, further
experiences have naturally come my way.
number of these, it seems to me, are worth jotting
down on the present occasion, for they are not
altogether uninstructive, while a proportion of
them have the additional virtue of breaking
comparatively new ground.
Those coming within this latter category have
been gathered mainly in America. The United
States, indeed, forms a virgin field for the English
free lance. I know that there is a deeply-rooted
impression to the effect that the Press on the other
side of the Atlantic is a close preserve to all but
those over whom the Eagle spreads its protecting
wings, but I am convinced that, this isa fallacy.
Speaking generally, every paper is open to every-
body, and to a wide-awake editor (such as those in
New York) the nationality of a potential con-
tributor is, like his opinion on conscientious
objections, the superiority of the American boot,
or the educational value of musical comedy, a
matter of complete indifference. Were it not for
this fact, the path of the unattached free lance
would be a good deal thornier than it is at
present.
My connection with American papers originated
in rather curious fashion. About a year ago I
wrote a short article dealing with a theatrical
subject in which I was interested. This [ for-
warded, together with a number of photographs,
to a magazine which had just been started in
London with rather a flourish of trumpets for the
express purpose of “ministering to the best
interests of the Drama.” My effort, however, to
promote this high intention was evidently an ill-
conceived one. At any rate, the article was
returned, with a a curt note to the effect that it
failed to reach the standard of “ literary excellence”
insisted upon by, let us say, the Footlights Maga-
zine. The intimation was also accompanied by
an ingenuous suggestion that I should forthwith
enrol myself as an annual subscriber to this some-
what exigeant periodical, “ and thereby familiarise
myself with the editorial requirements.”
On receiving back my MS. (in a condition, by
the way, that pointed strongly to its having been
used as a doormat during the interval), I decided
that the English market’ was too limited for it. A
voyage across the Atlantic would, I thought, do
the article good. I accordingly looked through an
American newspaper directory, and, with the airy
confidence that is part of the equipment of all free
lances, despatched it to the most widely circulated
magazine in the United States, and sat down to
await the result. This came in three weeks’ time
and took the form of a polite letter of acceptance,
accompanied by a cheque for seventy-five dollars.
altogether.
THE AUTHOR.
The discriminating periodical in question was
Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly.
Another American magazine which I have
approached with even more success is Munsey’s.
Within the past few months the editor has
purchased five articles from me, paying in each
instance at a rate that is at least equal to that
obtaining among the leading periodicals of the
same nature in this country. As my work has
appeared in the Pall Mall, Strand, Windsor,
and Cassell’s, I may claim to know something
on this most important of points. The Cosmo-
politan, too, of New York, has proved itself
enterprising enough to print work of mine. In
respect of weekly journals of Transatlantic origin,
my most satisfactory dealings have been with
Collier’s Weekly. This, which is also published
in New York, has given hospitality to at least half-
a-dozen contributions from me in recent numbers.
The daily papers, however, have as a rule shown
themselves disinclined to permit me to illumine
their columns at space rates. They appear to
prefer to insert bodily articles of mine which take
their fancy when they make their début in English
publications. As in doing so such journals seldom
go through the formality of either acknowledging
their origin or remunerating me for the same, the
practice only meets with my qualified approval.
Occasionally, I have expressed my views of the
matter: so far, however, the result has not been
satisfactory. One editor, indeed, relying appa-
rently on the fact that the broad Atlantic rolled
between us, replied on a type-written postcard as
follows: ‘Sir, if you don’t like it, lump it!”
Speaking generally, however, I am firmly of
opinion that American editors transact their work
in a manner that tends to promote the pleasantest
possible relations between themselves and their
contributors. To this end they are courteous,
prompt, reliable, and business-like in their
dealings. Whenever I have made a_ proposal
for an article, or submitted a manuscript for
consideration, the matter has been attended to
without delay. Non-acceptances have been notified
in so charming a fashion that the pangs of
rejection have been in great measure removed
As often as not such communications
are almost apologetic in tone, and might reasonably
give the novice the impression that his work is
returned merely because its publication would set
too high a standard of excellence. Of course, it
merely amounts to the curt “declined with
thanks” in vogue in this country; at the same
time, however, it has decided points in its favour.
The cordiality of the average American editor
towards his unknown contributors is quite remark-
able. The atmosphere of aloofness which is
generally observed on this side of the Atlantic
THE AUTHOR. 209
seems to have no existence in the United States.
““My dear Sir,” is apparently the most formal
opening ever employed in inaugurating a corre-
spondence, while before two letters have passed
this probably becomes “My very dear Sir.” It is
the same thing with the terminations. When you
are not assured that the editor is « Sincerely
yours,” you are begged to regard him as “ Yours
most cordially.” One of those to whom I once had
occasion to write on a strictly business matter
subscribed himself mine “ In all sincerity in every-
thing calculated to foster what is best and brightest
in contemporary literature.” This somewhat
effusive individual conducted a society journal in
Chicago.
An American editor frequently uses terms that
strike English ears a little strangely. I remember,
for example, on an occasion when I had written to
point out that payment for a certain contribution
was overdue, receiving a “ check ” accompanied by
a hope that “we should not run up against such
snags in future.” A second editor, to whom I
applied for a proof before publication, excused him-
self on the grounds that I might “rely with
confidence on his lynx-eyed compositors.” Another
expressed his opinion of my capabilities in this
fashion : “ Dear Sir, I like your stuff. It is real
spry! Send me some more blocks of it as soon as
you please. You are a live news-getter.”’ Occa-
sionally, however, a wholesome corrective is
administered. One such, sent in answer to a
request for a decision respecting an article submitted
several weeks earlier, ran as follows : “Dear Sir,
your work doesn’t suit us. Our office-boy could
write better copy blind-fold.”
On the subject of returning unsuitable manu-
scripts forwarded them from this country, American
editors have a good deal to learn, They appear,
for example, to be under the impression that all
that is necessary is to put the article into an
envelope and affix a one-cent stamp to it. Of
course, it then travels as letter-post and is sub-
jected to a considerable surcharge on delivery.
Even when I have taken the precaution to send a
properly stamped uewspaper-wrapper when sub-
mitting a contribution, it is very seldom that any
notice has been taken of it.. Once or twice I have
ventured on a mild expostulation, but the only
reply that this has elicited is that “the editor cf
the prefers to use envelopes.” He also seems
to prefer that their recipients should pay double
postage on the same.
It must not be thought from the preceding
observations that I have permitted the English
Press to languish for want of attention on my part
during the last few months. So far from this
being the case, I have conducted my campaign in
this country contemporaneously with my American
one, and with equal vigour. The periodicals in
which work of mine has seen the light within this
interval range from the « serious” monthlies to
the more frivolous dailies, from magazine articles
and stories in Cassell’s and the Windsor, to
“Celebrities at Home” in the World, and para-
graph matter in Punch. [ wrote columns of
Coronation matter in June and August, and did
my best to keep alive public interest in the Boer
War long after the declaration of peace. I also
furnished for some weeks—in the absence of the
regular correspondent—a “ London Letter” for a
well-known Indian paper. After the second of
these contributions appeared the editor was
removed from office by his proprietors. I should
be sorry to think that my connection with the
paper had anything to do with this, but candour
compels me to admit that I was not invited to
continue my contributions.
The greater portion of my output of late has
been published in the different periodicals which owe
their existence to the enterprise of Messrs. Pearson
and Newnes. The host of “ Bits” journals which
emanate from the offices of these Liptous of Litera-
ture are a veritable gold-mine to the unattached
free lance. They have an insatiable appetite for
informative articles on the private lives of dis-
tinguished personages, and give a ready welcome to
anyone who can write thereon with an appearance
of authority. At the same time, I must place it on
record that Queer Bits, while expressing itself as
pleased to consider a proposed series on “ Duchesses
I have Dined with,” uncompromisingly rejected a
second on “ Countesses I have Kissed.”
The rate of payment obtaining among periodicals
of this description is usually the fixed one of a
guinea per column of about 750 words. As the
standard of literary excellence insisted upon therein
is not lofty, the scale is quite a fair one. Indeed,
it is superior to that in force in many decidedly
more ambitious journals. To one of these, for
example (which grandiloquently describes itself as
reflecting politics, literature, science, and art—and,
no doubt, many other matters as well), I once sub-
mitted an article on a military subject. A couple
of months afterwards (no proof for revision, or
notification of acceptance having been forwarded in
the meantime) the contribution appeared. It was
set up, however, in the form of a “ Letter to the
Editor.” This struck me as a little frigid. Yet
worse was to follow, for when—at the end of five
weeks—I mildly pointed out that the cheque due
to me had not yet reached me, I received a
dignified intimation to the effect that “it was not
the practice of the to pay for correspondence.”
To this I naturally replied that it was not my prac-
tice to write articles for publication as “corre-
spondence.” I mentioned, however, that I would
210
be prepared to relax my rule in this partieular
instance in so far that I would write a letter
embodying my views on the conduct of periodicals
which filled their columns without expense by the
simple expedient of treating articles as “ Letters
to the Editor” without the sanction of their
authors. The offer still remains open.
I have frequently heard it contended that when
ladies conduct periodicals they do so in an un-
pusinesslike fashion. For myself, I am disinclined
to take this view, for I have always found that
they are quite businesslike enough in their methods
to get as much as they can for nothing. For
instance, the editress of a monthly magazine called
—let us say, the Perfect Lady—once stipulated
that she could only accept an article of mine on
the condition that I should induce the people
referred to therein to bear the expense of having
their photographs reproduced. The offer did not
appeal to me. It was the same lady, by the way,
who on the second occasion that I submitted -a
contribution, offered me two guineas for three
thousand words and nine photographs, the copy-
right to belong to her. When I sent a district
messenger boy to the office to say that I was not
in the business for my health, she replied on a
postcard, “ There is no oceasion to be rude.”
This question of payment is a delicate one. Not
even the most brazen of free lances likes to haggle
over the matter, but when he receives an experi-
ence such as the one just recounted he would
scarcely be human if he did not venture on a
protest. For myself, I have two working rules.
One of them is to take all I can get, and the other
is to cash a cheque first and draw attention to its
inadequacy afterwards. I applied this latter on
one occasion when a certain weekly journal, called,
let me say, Our Girls, commissioned me to write a
three-thousand word article (entailing the interview-
ing of six different people, and the supplying of eight
photographs), and then sent me four guineas for the
same. On receipt of my letter of polite expostula-
tion, the proprietors curtly informed me that if I
was dissatisfied I might return the cheque and
they would return the article. I explained that
my system prevented me sending back the original
cheque; I accordingly forwarded one of my own
instead.
Notwithstanding these little rebuffs I recently
approached a third journal, the editorial direction
of which was also in the hands of a lady. The
paper was a weekly one, and had only just been
started. It was, in fact, from reading its initial
number that I conceived the idea that it contained
an opening for some one who had a slight acquaint-
ance with practical journalism. In “Number
One,” for example, a prominent feature was made
of “Answers to Correspondents,” although no
THE AUTHOR.
explanation was given as to how “ Constant
Reader,” ‘Subscriber from the First,” and the
other seekers after enlightenment had written their
letters of inquiry before the. paper had even
appeared. Several other points in the general
make-up and management of Cackle—as I will call
the bantling—also struck me as betraying the hand
of the amateur.
To the office of Cackle, therefore, I went, armed
with a selection of articles and an assortment of
ideas to be submitted diplomatically if occasion
offered, and taking with me a letter of introduction
provided by an acquaintance of the editor. At the
top of avery long flight of stairs was a door marked
“QackLE, Lrp. Srricrty Private.” Having
negotiated a hundred and twenty steps, a little
matter like this was not going to stand in my way.
Accordingly, I rapped on the door and was bidden
by a feminine chorus to enter. On doing so, I
found myself in a small room occupied by five
ladies, sitting round a table littered with manu-
scripts and making a light luncheon off; a bag
of mixed biscuits and a box of chocolates. I
tendered one of them my card together with
the letter of introduction, requesting her to
convey it to the editor, and then sat down on
the only unoccupied chair. While the messenger
was absent her colleagues continued an animated
discussion which my arrival seemed to have
interrupted. From fragments that caught my
ear it seemed evident that press-day was at hand.
“ What is a stick, Gertie ?”” inquired one peroxide
of hydrogen-tinted young woman of another.
“Why do you want to know, Maudie?” “Oh,
the horrid printer says that he is a stick short,”
was the reply, “and I’m sure I don’t know what
he means. Yesterday he sent to ask if I wanted
galleys or page proofs? Why on earth can’t
printers talk English ? "
At the end of ten minutes or so the messenger
returned. I rose expectantly. “ The editor says
she can’t see you,” was the rather disconcerting
announcement that met me.
“That is sufficiently obvious,” I remarked,
blandly, “unless she is looking through the
keyhole.”
“The editor of Cackle only interviews visitors
by appointment,” explained a member of the
staff, in the tone that would be adopted when
referring to the Times. “ Perhaps you will call
again.” There was no mistaking the hint con-
veyed in the last observation. I took it without
delay. Since then, ladies’ papers as a class have
not received any great amount of attention from
me. Iam unable to think, however, that this has
had that adverse effect upon their circulation that
it ought to.
H. W.
amt
THE AUTHOR, 211
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
1
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained, But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement),
In this case the following rules should be attended to :
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements,
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author,
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
“Cost of Production.”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :-—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
————_—_+—~»@—,______
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
IES:
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
\ Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—_
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters
ito such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills,
(0.) SALE oF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS oF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES Ge,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (4.) apply
also in this case,
4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important,
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform, The legal distinction is
of great importance,
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘Yhey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
_ HO?
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—+~—
1. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member.
212
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the
experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not seruple
to use the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements.
7. No confract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
—_—_—_———__+—__+—__—_
THE READING BRANCH.
—_——
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term
MSS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
—_—_———__+——_o—__———_
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
—_——_—_—\§|o—< > __——
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
Eprror on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
— a
Tur SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
—-——s—_
N the case of Judge Parry against Mr. Israel
Gollancz, which dealt with the publication of
“ Dorothy Osborne’s Love Letters,” a general
injunction was granted to the plaintiff. Various
views of the questions involved have been put
forward in the papers during the past month
In a letter to the Zimes, dated April 238, 1908,
the plaintiff's solicitors state that the proceedings
are not concluded. We must therefore defer any
comment both on this ground and also because
the matter has not yet come before our Committee.
Mr. Loneman in his “ Notes on Books” (an
interesting trade circular published by his firm)
gives the following definitions :—
DEFINITION OF THE TERMS “IMPRESSION,”
“ EDITION,” “ RE-ISSUE.”
ImprReEssron.—A number of copies printed at any one time.
When a book is reprinted without change it should be
called a new “impression,” to distinguish it from an
“ edition,” as defined below.
EpDrrron.—An impression in which the matter has under-
gone some change, or for which the type has been
reset.
ReE-IssuE.—A re-publication at a different price, or ina
different form, of part of an impression which has
already been placed on the market.—From Longman’s
“ Notes on Books.”
We believe these definitions have been approved
by the Publishers’ Association.
There is one point, however, which has not been
settled. It appears to us to be the most important
point of all.
We ask Mr. Longman if it is not possible to
Cees
&
THE AUTHOR. 213
settle the unit of an edition or impression? In
every other trade involving weights, measures, and
numbers units have been settled long ago. It is
only necessary for the Association to come to some
conclusion and bind its members to recognise some
definite system. A thousand copies seem to be a
reasonable number to fix. Thus, if a limited issue
of five hundred copies was produced, the publisher
could state that he was about t6 produce half an
edition, or that the issue would be limited to half an
edition. Again, instead of seeing the advertise-
ments of the large sales quoted in numbers, it
would be sufficient merely to say twenty, thirty, or
forty editions or impressions. We draw attention
to this special point, as in one case that came
before the Secretary of the Society the author com-
plained that although his publisher was advertising
his book as in its third edition, only twenty-five
copies had been sold.
This was naturally very annoying to the author,
but he had no legal position, and could not claim
damage, as the sole control of the issue of the book
was left, by the agreement, in the hands of the
publisher.
Again, there is the guarantee agreement not in-
frequently before the Secretary of the Society from
another publishing house that states : “* This edition
shall be the property of the publisher,” or that
“The author shall receive 10 per cent. royalty after
the sale of the first edition.” In neither case is the
amount of the edition mentioned.
It is important, therefore, to all those who trade
in books that some settlement of the unit of an
edition should be obtained, and when that unit is
settled the Publishers’ Association should enforce
observance of it on its members.
It is well known that some of the editions of the
daily papers are little more than formal issues, but it
would be unfair to publishers and authors to put the
publication of books on the same level as the issue
of journalistic editions.
Members of the Society will no doubt recall to
mind that a discussion occurred not long ago in
the Literary Supplement to the Zimes, on the
subject of the payment for articles by a cheque
with a copyright receipt printed on the back.
The discussion arose out of the fact that a
banker, acting on the instructions of his client,
had refused payment in those cases where the
receipt form was altered.
It would be interesting to have a list, complete
as far as possible, of those magazines and those
firms which issue this form of cheque.
We should be obliged if those members of the
Society who have received such cheques within the
last six months will forward to the Secretary the
name of the magazine or publisher.
In the early days of printing, when literary
property began to have a bre definite aan
value, there were two forces acting to obtain the
profits of the author’s labour—(1) the power of
the Crown, which was inclined to adopt printing as
a monopoly for its own benefit; and (2) the
power of the trade, which was inclined to think
that the labour of authors should be for its private
advantage,
Accordingly, by degrees, legislation was evolved,
primarily, for the protection of the Crown monopoly
and the printing trade. :
As printing developed and literature expanded,
the public gradually came to view the matter in a
different light, and to consider, after all, that the
author might have some right in his own property.
Legislation was then introduced, not on behalf of
the trade, but to protect the author.
In all the civilised countries of Europe modern
legislation has tended to give a wider basis and
firmer security to the author. Surely to this he is
entitled. He is as much the owner of his property
—perhaps more so—as the man who buys a piece
of land is the owner of that land.
In another column of The Author we have
much pleasure in printing an article headed “ An
American Point of View.” We see with some amuse-
ment, not unmixed with sadness, that the American
printing trades are still inclined to consider that
legislation dealing with literary property should
not be passed with a view to the protection of the
author, but rather with a view to fostering the:
trade. They have headed the article “ Of Interest
to Authors, etc.” There is irony in this remark,
no doubt suitable to the American humour.
1
THE LATE LIEUT.-COLONEL G. F. R.
HENDERSON, C.B.
——~ +
N the March number of Zhe Author we
I expressed regret that the name of this officer
had been inadvertently included among those:
members who had died in 1902. We were un-
happily only premature in the announcement, for
he died on the 5th March, at Assouan, Upper Egypt,.
where he had gone for the benefit of his health,.
which had for some time been precarious. This
was largely owing to his unremitting work. He
never allowed himself proper rest from his literary
labours, and so anxious was he to push on with the:
official history of the Boer War, which had been
entrusted to his able pen, that he insisted on taking.
214
his work with him, and had nearly completed the
first volume, when he died, in his forty-ninth
year. This much lamented officer was the eldest
son of the Dean of Carlisle. He was educated at
Oxford and entered the Service in 1878. He was
appointed an Instructor at the Royal Military
College in 1890, and in 1892 had become so well
known by his studies and writings on Military
History and Tactics that he was given the
Professorship of Military History and Art at the
Staff College in succession to Colonel F. Maurice.
He obtained a brevet majority for his services
in the Egyptian War of 1882. He distin-
guished himself by his admirable tactical studies,
“The Campaign of Fredericksburg,” “ The
Battle of Spicheren,” and “ The Battle of Worth,”
which were characterised by insight and power of
analysis and a knowledge of men, as well as by a
literary style to which such works seldom aspire.
But his best known work is “Stonewall Jackson and
the American War,” which was speedily translated
into many European languages, and will ever
remain as a model of military biography. Its
publication stamped Colonel Henderson as one of
the most important military writers since Sir
William Napier, and had he lived he would un-
doubtedly have had his name inscribed very high
up on the roll of fame. He worked indefatigably
in South Africa as Director of Intelligence, and
was of the greatest assistance to Lord Roberts ; but
his health, which had been undermined by over-
work, broke down after Paardeberg, and he was
invalided home. After an all too brief rest he
began the History of the War, and travelled
over to South Africa again to revisit the scenes
of the battles he was describing as was his con-
stant practice. This, though fatiguing, was of
benefit to him as giving some little respite from
work ; but when he resumed his writing and heavy
brain work, it was seen that the strain was too
great, and a winter in Egypt was prescribed. His
splendid example of constant devotion to his
profession, and his high character, exercised a
lasting influence upon the officers of the present
generation ; and his literary work, though pic-
turesque and classical in style, was thoroughly
practical in its aims. His descriptions were vivid,
and he never ceased to search out the why and the
wherefore of events. One of his latest efforts was
the admirable and characteristic preface he wrote
to Count Sternberg’s “ My Experiences of the Boer
War” (Berlin: Reimer, 1901), which was trans-
lated into English (Longmans), and which, though
in the main a lively and amusing account of
adventures as a war correspondent, contains many
reflections upon modern war that are at least worth
consideration. In every way—as an officer, as
a strenuous and clear-minded instructor, and as a
THE AUTHOR.
writer—Colonel Henderson, who was of a most
unassuming and amiable character, will be long
regretted in the British Army, and, as a well-
known writer of descriptions of foreign armies and
their characteristics in his excellent letters written
to the Zimes while attending foreign manceuvres,
his loss will be much felt by the general public.
—___+—>__+____
OF COLLABORATION.
+
I WONDER if it is a confession of weakness to
acknowledge that I find something agreeable
in a state of indecision—not with regard to
matters of prime importance, be it understood, but
with regard to those smaller matters of which the
friendly discussion gives point to the conversation
of cultivated men. To be poised between two
friendly disputants, inclining now this way and now
that as one or the other drops fresh crystals of
reason into the scale, and finally to attain a state
of rest midway between the two, thus testifying to
all the world that once more much may be said
upon both sides, and that where there is six of the
one there is again half a dozen of the other, is a
condition in which I like to be, a function I am
ever happy to perform. Yet, the function dis-
charged, I like to draw the disputants aside and
with deference submit to their consideration such
points about the matter of debate as I think they
may have ignored or failed to see. It has been my
invariable experience that I thus acquire some
reputation of being an intelligent fellow, one with
brains in his pate, sir, open to reason, and not too
proud to learn. If I may thus achieve renown as
being a clever man, I am well satisfied to let my
ears do all the work, and give my tongue a rest.
Others may dogmatise: I am content to suggest ;
and if, when all is over, captious critics say it
has been much ado about nothing. I can quote
Shakespeare too, and say ‘“‘all’s well that ends
well.”
It was thus with me the other day, when the
conversation turned upon collaboration in fiction.
I found that most of those present had in their
early days collaborated with some friend, being
induced to do so by the old argument that two
heads are better than one, or by their observation
of the fact that babies frequently teach themselves
to walk by holding on to chairs. I was interested,
however, to find that the general vote was adverse
to collaboration. Isolated instances of good novels
written in collaboration were, of course, known
and cited, but it was suggested that there was
something in our national temper, or temperament,
unfavourable to the method, and the suggestion
was supported by the assertion that, with the
THE AUTHOR.
exception of Besant and Rice, there was no instance
of British authors working together continuously
and producing such happy results as did MM.
Erckmann-Chatrian and Paul and Victor Mar-
gueritte.
With this view Besant himself agreed. “If I
were asked for my opinion as to collaboration in
fiction,” he says, “it would be decidedly against
it, Isay this without the least desire to depreciate
the literary ability of my friend and collaborateur.
‘The arrangement lasted for ten years, and resulted
in as many successful novels. I only mean that,
after all, an artist must necessarily stand alone.
- +. There will come atime when both men fret
under the condition; when each desires, but is
not able, to enjoy the reputation of his own good
work ; and feels, with the jealousy natural to an
artist, irritated by the loss of half of himself, and
ready to accept the responsibility of failure in order
to make sure of the meed of success... . The
collaboration would have broken down, I believe,
amicably. It would have been far better if it had
broken down five years before the death of Rice, so
that he might have achieved what has been granted
to myself—an independent literary position.”
The modesty and sincerity of Sir Walter Besant
were such that it is absurd to try to read between
these lines and discover any little-mindedness in
roserve. That “jealousy natural to an artist ” is
the quality which he discovers in the British
temperament unfavourable to the method of joint
production, and, so far as collaboration in fiction
is concerned, there cannot be much dispute that
his point is well taken.
Sir Walter always declined to offer any explana-
tion or give any account of the method on which
he collaborated with Rice, although this was a
matter with regard to which he was pestered for
information. Why people should be so anxious to
find out how collaboration is conducted is a form
of curiosity that always inspires me with amused
wonder. It seems to me that it should bea reason-
ably easy matter, provided proper provision is made
at the outset for the ‘personal equation.” For
those, however, who desire light upon the subject,
and have not had the passage brought before their
notice, I may, perhaps, quote a couple of paragraphs
from a recent issue of the Daily Mail having
reference to Mr. and Mrs. Egerton Castle.
“The collaboration of husband and wife is rare
and interesting. Mr. and Mrs. Castle plan out
their work together, talk it over thoroughly, and
finally write it in unison, so that it is almost
impossible in the end to decide with whom any
particular idea originally started. The authors
never write of places or people they do not know
familiarly. Mr. Castle states that he never begins
to write out a romance until it has been complete
215
in his mind (as discussed and elaborated with his
wife) for a very long time. It is only when both
character and incident and the reciprocal influence
of one on the other have become familiar that the
story is begun.
“After that the writing goes fast enough at an
average rate of 2,000 words a day—writing in the
morning and revising at odd moments of the day.
Thus a long novel will be written in three months ;
but, of course, the period from its conception is
much longer—generally a year or more.”
The obviousness of that explanation detracts
not a whit from its interest, and any difficulty
which other people may experience in applying the
principle to practical use themselves will be found
due to their own personality and that of the writer
with whom they work. The old simile of cog-
wheels applies to collaborators as well as to friends ;
while it is essential that each party to the partner-
ship should supply the other’s deficiencies, the
wheels must be oiled if they are to run smoothly,
and the kind of oil most suitable to the par-
ticular machinery will be ascertained without
difficulty.
This sort of partnership between husband and
wife is not, however, so rare as might be supposed.
I know of several instances among writers of serial
stories for the cheap newspapers. The editor of
one of these told me he found the system worked
admirably in practice, the wife generally supplying
the battle, murder, and sudden death, while the
husband supplied the tender passion and what one
of Mr. Morley Roberts’s characters describes as
“ideal poppycock.” The information struck me
as being very illuminating.
Upon the question of collaboration in fiction I
thus remain in a state of, to me, agreeable inde-
cision. With regard to collaboration in the other
forms of literary work, I am, perhaps, less vague.
In the writing of plays the association of two
minds seems very often desirable—one to supply
that brilliant superficial cleverness which modern
playgoers seem to require at the hands of drama-
tists, the other to construct the play on the practical
lines necessary to make it effective from the front
of the house and practicable from behind. One
very well known novelist, and part author of
several very successful plays, told me he could
never get his people on the stage, If they were
put there for him he could make them dazzling in
their wit. “You put them in the right place,” he
said, “at the right time, and I'll put the right
things in their mouths. It’ll be terrific!” Un-
fortunately my peculiar genius also runs in the
direction of “cackle,” while I am as ignorant of
“osses”” as the Jubilee Plunger, so that play is
still unwritten. I did, however, write a play once
in collaboration with a man whose forte was
216
construction. We had an agreement drawn up and
engrossed and stamped; I almost decided to have
my copy of it framed. My friend was to supply
the bones and see that they were all properly
articulated, and I was to put the meat upon them
and clothe the finished article in the latest mode.
The work was done, upon the whole, without
excessive loss of blood, and in due course the play
began its round of the managers. Writing a play,
by the way, is the easiest part of the business ; the
dramatist’s trouble does not begin until that is
done.
The first manager wrote very civilly to say he
had read it with interest; and, whilst it was
admirably constructed, it was written in so dull
and illiterate a fashion that he was afraid he could
do nothing with it. My friend explained that he
was only responsible for the construction, and
produced the agreement to prove his words and
attest his competence to construct another play
for the manager to be written by some one else
than me.
The second manager also wrote very civilly. He
found the dialogue amazing in its brilliance ; the
wit was pungent, the satire refined, and the whole
writing in perfect taste. The construction, how-
ever, was so amateurish, and showed such ignorance
of stage technique, that he, too, was afraid he
could do nothing with it. My friend explained
that the writing was his, the construction mine ;
and if the manager would supply him with a
scenario, upon whatsoever subject, he would be
happy to write it up. His explanation on this
occasion was uncorroborated by documentary
evidence.
The third manager wrote more civilly still.
Construction and dialogue were both superlatively
good—far above the average. The story, how-
ever, did not appeal tohim. He thought so highly
of the work that he would like to consider the ques-
tion of commissioning a play by the same authors.
Would my friend explain the terms of the collabo-
ration, and give him some information as to my
position as a writer for the stage? My friend wrote
by return of post to explain that the play was
entirely his; he dictated it to me, and my name
appeared as part author because, in the then state
of his finances, it was inconvenient for him to pay
me a weekly salary as secretary, and I agreed to be
paid by a percentage of his royalties provided he
would allow my name to be published on all pro-
grammes and bills of the play.
I do not think there is any moral in this
anecdote. I tell it because it relates to my only
experience of joint authorship, and is, therefore,
not mal apropos in an article upon collaboration.
V. E. M.
THE AUTHOR.
AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.
es
By Bass BLAKE.
I. The Best Provision for Age.
HATEVER the advantages may be of the
career of a successful writer, a uniform
income is not one of them. The merit
of his work may show uo falling off ; but all the
same, his profits are materially affected by changes
in the public taste, and the various moods and
maladies peculiar to readers. A commercial man,
once his position is assured, in many cases produces
his income by repetition of those faculties to which
he owed its commencement; but with a writer,
each year brings with it the necessity for origi-
nality, and for the initiation and working out of
fresh ideas. A prudent business man will each
year set aside a sum for the depreciation of his
machinery, with a view in a certain number of
years to replace it by a new plant. It is upon far
more delicate machinery that the bulk and quality
of a writer’s work depends, and it is machinery
which can never be replaced ; yet it is common to
find that no provision is made for its depreciation.
In most cases the writer lacks that foresight which
teaches the commercial man to conserve a certain
proportion of his income against bad times. The
author frequently lives at the top of his income,
disburses his capital as it arrives, and whilst being
peculiarly at the mercy of changes and depressions,
makes little or no preparation for them.
A common reason for this omission is that the
author’s circumstances and habit of mind do not
bring him into touch with those means of thrift
with which the man of business ig more or less
familiar. That well without water which is termed
“the City” is but a name to him, and his financial
experiences are often confined to some chance
scheme which falls in his way, or to disastrous
incursions into the Stock Exchange. He may
possess some vague notion that in insurance, pro-
viding as it does co-operative protection for the
individual, there are some elements of attraction ;
but the number of policies are so many, and in
their nature so complicated, that he is repelled
from the subject. He has small experience of
finance, and in the multitude of schemes, each
purporting to be the best in the market, he sees
only confusion.
Modern life insurance nevertheless offers to the
author perhaps the only means of providing his
family with means at his death, or himself with a
provision in age. The popular idea of the question
is, that if a man happens to die young it is a good
bargain for himself and a bad one for the company,
but, should he happen to live, insurance becomes a
very poor investment. A policy, however, suited to
THE AUTHOR.
a man who is dependent wholly upon his own
powers as a means of income, must be one which
guarantees to him not only life insurance, but a
capital sum when his powers of production may be
expected to be on the wane, and is therefore
strictly a life, and not a death policy, as in
ordinary insurance.
The form of policy which on the whole is most
suited to authors is that known as endowment
assurance. This provides capital to his family at
his death, as in ordinary insurance, but it also
guarantees to him a sum in cash a stated number
of years hence, when, it may be expected, it will be
very necessary to him. ‘This contract is simple.
The assured pays to the company a yearly premium
for a stated number of years, at the end of which
the policy matures and his premiums cease. If in
the meantime he should die, the sum assured
(together with profits attaching to the policy)
is paid to his estate. But should he survive to the
age stated, the sum assured (with the total profits)
is paid to him in cash. Endowment assurances
are effected for any term of years—say ten, twenty,
thirty, or forty—and, of course, the shorter the
term the higher the premium percent. Twenty or
thirty years is, however, a suitable term, as being
sufficient time to allow the profits allotted to his
policy time to accumulate at compound interest to
a material sum.
A man with any sum to fifty pounds per annum
to set aside has very limited channels for invest-
ment. In financial circles the advantages are all
with the capitalists who pull the strings, and to
the profits of whom the small investor cheerfully
contributes from his small income. But the
author cannot afford to run risks. With a good
British company the security is equal to that of a
State institution, and an endowment assurance
therein offers the best secure investment which,
so far as I am able to judge, it is possible to
obtain. An instance is provided by a man of
thirty who sets aside twenty pounds per annum as
apremium. For this he obtains a profit-sharing
endowment assurance for £600. At the age of
sixty the policy matures and he will receive,
with accruing bonuses according to last declara-
tion, a total sum of £1,000 in cash. He will
have paid in by this time a sum of £600, and he
receives £1,000, besides a life insurance cover
provided during the whole of the term during
which the policy has been maturing. But as a
fact, the policy has been even more advantageous
to him, as the Government allows a rebate of
income tax, alone among all investments, upon
life insurance premiums. Reckoning the tax at
one shilling in the pound, his £20 premium is
reduced to £19, and the amount therefore he
actually disburses in thirty years is £570 instead
217
of £600. The return of £1,000 is close upon
4 per cent. compound interest, with the addition
of the cover provided of the sum assured, with
profits to date, should he die in the interim.
Compound interest is a result not achieved
without some element of compulsion. There are
few men with sufficient strength of mind to
compel themselves faithfully to set aside each year
in a bank such asum as £20 or £50, and allow it to
accumulate at compound interest. Besides, such
savings provide no life insurance in the event of
early death. The form of a policy provides what
may be termed obligatory thrift, inasmuch al-
though, after a few years, there is a surrender
value to the policy should it be discontinued, by
far the best bargain is to be made by following
out the policy to maturity.
An author with a sense of his responsibilities
must see in endowment assurance a matter of
some importance. It provides for his family in
the event of his death or for his own future in his
age. But he is ill-advised to embark upon any
scheme without some study and inquiry. Gener-
ally, it may be said that a good British office of
established reputation offers the best investment,
but the results in some companies are decidedly
better than in others, and care in selection will be
amply repaid.
I have shown above the result of an endowment
payable at sixty with a premium of £20. The
following table shows more completely the results
of an endowment payable at fifty with a yearly
premium of £50.
Cox’s TABLE SHOWING THE WORKING OF AN ENDOW-
MENT ASSURANCE. AGE AT ENTRY, 30. AMOUNT
oF Poxicy, £1,000.
Plan of policy : Twenty-year endowment assurance, viz.,
payable at age 50 or previous death.
£ s. da.
Annual premium for twenty years ... 50 8 4
Less income tax at ls, in the £ 210 4
. ninteainamneonnae poet
Net cost ... £47 18 0
WORKING OF POLICY.
C. At death of insured before age 50.
| | In return for net |
At end of year. | The company | premiums paid | Return for cost.
| will pay— ORE
| _ —
3 | £1,045 £143 | £902
5 1,095 239 | 856
io im ae
15 1,313 718 595
19 1,378 910 463
218
B. Inevent of surrender of policy before age 50 the company
will grant—
)
In return for
premiums paid
Or cash sur-
lA paid-wp policy render value
At end of year. She.
| of— of—
3 | 8195 ( Ane eka
5 tb ee 139 | 229
9 | «on oo we fe
15 1,063 [ce 510 718
19 1,323 | ons 677 | 910
death. |
‘A. On survival to age 50.
The company will pay (including bonuses) £1,438
In return for total premiums paid of... 958
Return over cost ee bo £480
The subject of modern insurance is one of some
complexity, but the cardinal facts are straight-
forward. There are other forms of endowment
assurance, but the simple with-profit policy is
found to be the most profitable to the assured.
It provides life insurance, and, what is very
material, the largest possible sum in cash when his
policy matures. For the rest, if there is any
point which, to an author interested in the subject,
is not sufficiently clear, the writer of this article
is at his service.
The above figures are those of a first-class
representative British office.
Se
THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT.
— t-—~— 9
M* SCRUTTON has got tired of waiting, and
no wonder. We welcome heartily the 4th
Edition of his able work on Copyright.
It has been needed for some time.
Mr. Scrutton’s sound and careful deductions, the
result of exhaustive and diligent labour, come as
a “boon and a blessing” to those who have studied
the intricacies and difficulties that surround all the
questions of Copyright. °
No writer has presented the subject so clearly
and distinctly, has gone so thoroughly to the heart
of the question, and swept away all those side
issues that might tend to obscure any given point.
The work is so ably written that it would be
possible for a layman, after perusal of its pages,
to deceive himself with the idea that he was an
authority on the subject.
The chapters dealing with Literary Copyright
treat this division of statute and case law from
every aspect, and bring forward the very latest
decisions. The chapters dealing with Artistic Copy-
right are perhaps not quite so full, ‘There are one
or two points on which we should have been pleased
THE AUTHOR.
if Mr. Scrutton had turned his discriminating
powers with more freedom. Take as an example
the difficult question of Artistic Copyright and
Book I]lustration. :
With regard to Canadian Copyright (an exceed-
ingly involved and difficult matter) the author has
not brought together the very latest information.
He makes no reference to the last Act of the
Canadian Legislature, or the refusal of the Canadian
Government to collect the royalties under the
Foreign Reprints Act. Although the author has
not dealt in any of the former editions with the
subject of Copyright in foreign countries, it is a
pity that he did not take it up now.
As Copyright under the Berne Convention is
almost universal it is of great importance to all
those who hold literary property to have an epito-
mised statement of the limits that surround their
property in those countries included in the Con-
vention. Mr. Copinger, in his able book, under-
took this work, but since the last edition was pro-
duced there has been considerable alteration in the
laws of the different countries.
With Mr. Macgillwray’s book and with Mr.
Scrutton’s 4th edition, and we hope—at no distant
date—a supplement containing the further informa-
tion, Copyright has been lucky in its exponents.
Whilst touching on these minor faults of omission,
we must pay Mr. Scrutton every compliment and
thank him for his labours, which are so amply
justified by the result.
———————E
HOMES FOR WANDERING MSS.
+
HE second volume of the “ Writers’ Year
Book” is before us. The price is 1s. 6d.
net. Itis published from Granville House,
Arundel Street, Strand, W.C.
The great point in a book of this kind must
necessarily be its accuracy, and on looking care-
fully through the lists compiled they seem to be
satisfactory, though, no doubt, in the publication
of all lists there are bound to be a few mistakes.
The book is for the assistance of those authors
who desire to find the proper channel for their
talented productions. It puts before them the
names and addresses of five hundred papers that
receive MSS., photographs or drawings, and at
the same time explains as far as possible the
conditions on which these commodities are accepted.
The book opens with three articles: “‘ How to
Write for the Press,” “Journalism for English
and American Women,” and “ Writing for the
Magazines.”
It is not our desire to criticise these articles, but
it is our opinion that in a book of this kind they
USO PRRSOS IES
THE AUTHOR.
are out of place. It should confine itself entirely
to one object, and make its sole aim to be as
practical and as perfect as possible on the points
it undertakes to elucidate. Articles on the ‘‘ How
To” in literature are in evidence in many other
works. It is not necessary to multiply them.
Ifthe editor had been ambitious to deal with
the legal and technical questions surrounding the
marketing of MSS., drawings and photographs, a
book at least three times the size of the present handy
volume would hardly have exhausted his ambition.
The book, however, cannot fail to be of use to
those literary and journalistic tyros who are
anxious either to widen their market or increase
their income.
a se
THE IRRITABILITY OF AUTHORS.
es
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 he 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 com-
plicated kind, possibly tends to nervous tension
that causes the fibre of an author’s brain to jar
under circumstances incapable 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 very 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.
All this 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 con-
scious of this weakness, why are not penmen of all
219
classes constantly on their guard against it ? Why
do they not frequently ask themselves, in all serious-
ness, ‘‘ What is the use of losing 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 enter-
prise, whether successful or unsuccessful, must
inevitably be a vast increase of whatever 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 difficulties and disillusions is really
inexplicable. Yet it is certain that no one thinks
much beforehand 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 draw-
backs and its dangers. No one is ignorant of the
fact. In making choice of a profession men reflect
upon its hardships, and prepare themselves 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 begun writing the difficulties
appear, and then ensue the phenomena of the
author’s peculiar irritability and proclivity to lose
his temper.
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—saviny the knack of keeping his temper.
The story will not shape itself. The characters
will not come out well defined. The scenario is a
tangle. 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 for-
warder 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 publishers.
After many holocausts, some manuscript is at last
completed, often more by good luck than by good
management. The editor or publisher, to whom
220
it is offered, then refuses it. In nineteen cases
out of twenty the author is absolutely 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.’ © Ebe
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
these 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 into 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 disagreeable 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 it so. 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
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 everything. With
all these the author is unceasingly getting into
passions of different kinds.
And of what use to him are his rages? Do
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.
—_—____—_e—>_+___—_—__-
SHAKESPEARE AND LONDON.
——— +
HE regret for the loss of Sir Walter Besant,
which was touchingly expressed by Lord
Rosebery at the last meeting of the London
Topographical Society, might well apply to a recent
project for the celebration of Shakespearein London.
THE AUTHOR.
This movement has no fortuitous origin, it is
the unfolding of a silent growth, and there has
been no writer of equal influence and power so well
fitted to be its exponent as Sir Walter Besant.
His knowledge of history and of historical criti-
cism would have enabled him to perceive that the
recognition, in a special sense, of Shakespeare in
London is the inevitable result of a process of
development. A few words of explanation on this
point will be, I think, the best means by which to
recommend the matter to the attention of the
Soviety of Authors and the readers of this
journal.
That Shakespeare spent his working life as poet
and dramatist in London, and that his plays were
published to the world in London theatres and
printed at a London press are facts which have not
penetrated the public cognisance. Why is this ?
After the death of Shakespeare his vogue as a
dramatist in London increased rather than dimi-
nished under James and Charles; we can trace
in the records of the Restoration period that the
influence of Shakespeare was competing vigorously
with new modes and a different dramatic con-
vention; in the literary age of Queen Anne,
Shakespeare was promoted from the theatre to his
status as a literary classic, and his first biographer,
Rowe, turned the attention of readers from the
playhouse to the birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon.
Ina later generation we find Dr. Johnson, who
might almost be considered an embodiment and
living-type of London, continuing the editorial
labours of Pope and Theobald without a thought
for the London associations of the plays in their
origin and theatrical history. This example was
improved upon by his great theatrical con-
temporary, Garrick, who, inheriting the traditions
of Davenant and Betterton, in a direct line from
the time of Shakespeare himself, showed his
unconsciousness of ‘history by becoming the most
active promoter of that celebration at Stratford-
on-Avon which served only too effectually to
divert the minds of the dramatic world away from
London, and ultimately, during the last century,
to establish the Birth-place as the Mecca of the
vast public of Shakespeare’s admirers. The
recoil from this position has been slow and sure :
its stages may be marked by a succession of
literary investigators, from Malone at the beginning
of the nineteenth century until the present time.
The History of the Stage, which we owe to him; the
investigations of Francis Douce ; the History of
Shakespeare, and his Times by Drake ; the labours
of John Payne Collier and the publications of the
Shakespeare Society ; the works of Wright and of
Halliwell ; the more popular expositions of Charles
Knight and Walter Thornbury; the work and the
influence of F. J. Furnival and the publications of
THE AUTHOR.
the New Shakspere Society ; the History of the
Stage by F. G. Fleay; the recent biography by
Sidney Lee; and, perhaps I may add, my own con-
tributions to the snbject. These may serve to outline
a progressive study of conditions and environment,
by which Shakespeare has become visualised as a
working playwright, in a London not too remote
for realisation from historical evidence.
With this brief introduction the prospectus of
the London Shakespeare League may be read with
a due perception of its significance. The first five
paragraphs are as follows :—
For long years past there has been an enthusiastic
feeling among many Englishmen that the 23rd of April,
the day of England’s Patron Saint, should be revived as
an annual Festival in honour of the ever-living memory
of England’s greatest son and noblest pride—William
Shakespeare. “Certainly it was St. George for merry
England,” wrote Dr. George Macdonald in 1864, “ when
Shakespeare was born. But had St. George been the best
saint in the calendar—which we have little enough ground
for supposing he was—it would better suit our subject to
say that the Highest was thinking of His England when He
sent Shakespeare into it, to be a strength, a wonder, and a
gladness to the nations of His earth.’’ The 23rd of April
was the death-day, and, traditionally, also the birthday of
the poet.
At the birthplace an annual festival is held, and the
“Shakespeare Week” is worthily celebrated ; but few can
avail themselves of the celebration there, and many
Londoners haye expressed the hope that an organised effort
might be made, duly to observe in London by various
festivals the greatest day in our calendar, so that the
example of the capital might eventually be followed by the
Empire generally, and “‘ Shakespeare Day’ become anational
and Imperial celebration, helping to re-vivify the sentiments
associated with the day in bygone times.
The movement which has culminated in the formation of
“The London Shakespeare League” took shape during
“Shakespeare Week’ last year, and, as the outcome of
careful consideration, the League places in the fore-front
of its aims an annual celebration to be held in London ;
but the celebration is to be merely one manifestation of the
work it proposes to carry through for advancing the true
knowledge and appreciation of the poet’s works. It is
hoped in course of time to secure a permanent habitation
for the League available for its many purposes.
The accompanying programme is a first attempt at a
London celebration, and indicates the manner in which the
various learned and dramatic societies may rally round the
League and observe the day.
An even more effective celebration will, it is hoped, result
if the managers of the London theatres, and ultimately
theatrical managers throughout the Empire, may be pre-
vailed upon to regard as their duty the performance of
Shakespearian plays on or about the 23rd of April. Simi-
larly, organisers of concerts may be induced to devote
the day to Shakespearian music. The League commends its
aims to the attention of Shakespeare societies and reading
unions,*
When this notice appears in 7e Author the
celebration will have been held, and whether
success or failure attends this first attempt, I
* The Annual Subseription to the League is, at present,
5/-. Application for Membership should be made to the
Hon. Secretary, Dr. W. Martin, 2, Garden Court, Temple.
221
venture to think the objects of the London Shake-
speare League are worthy of the active support of
all literary craftsmen. Next year I hope the
Society of Authors and the Authors’ Club. will
associate themselves with the London Shakespeare
Commemoration. The leadership of Sir Walter
Besant need not be absent if his patriotism, his
devotion, his love for London, his reverential
attachment to the memory of Shakespeare, his
desire to assist any movement having for its object
and effect the awakening of the public mind to the
treasures of its intellectual heritage, if his example,
in a word, yet lives in the memory of his
associates and contemporaries to inspire a resolute
belief in the power of an idea.
T. FarrmMan OrDISH.
> +
THE WORLD BEYOND!
E
HO over that gulf a bridge can throw,
Which fearfully yawns between
The world of Sense that we think we know
And the other that is unseen ?
Are there some nerve-cells in the brain,
Seemingly fashioned all in vain,
Where the sole path may lie ?
A lesion slight in the matter grey!
Those cells arranged in another way,
And solved is the mystery !
Il.
Then—only then, will a flash of light
Spring forth from the brain to span,
Like a bridge of glory, that realm of night,
Which shrouds ‘‘ the beyond ” from man !
Yes, then the real world shall we see
With eyes unsealed, and ‘iis dream shall flee,
And we shall know at last
That the things of Sense are but shadows all,
Veiling the Spirit-land like a pall—
But, we should stand aghast !
III.
Yea, happy for us that few will dare
To span for us that profound,
For nameless terrors may wait us there,
Where horrors unguessed abound !
Satyrs and Fauns of ancient Rome
In that pale realm may have their home,
And things never named by man !
In opened eyes would a wonder strange
Amoment dawn ! then to dread would change—
We should see the Great God Pan !
F. B. Doveton.
Norre.—Suggested by Mr. Machen’s “The Great God
Pan,”
\
2:22,
SOME NOTES ON METHODS OF REJEC-
TION AND REVIEW.
i
WO years ago I sent an article to a well-
known monthly magazine. It was returned,
with an unusual variant of the customary
enclosing letter. I was told that the MS. was in-
teresting, but that the editor was already supplied
with material enough to last for six months. At the
end of six months I again submitted the MS. Again
it was praised, but 1 was informed that for several
months to come there would be no vacancy for
anything. I then dealt with the MS. in other
ways, and at the end of a year from the date of the
second rejection I submitted another article to the
same periodical. On this occasion a similar but
intenser form of reply was adopted. ‘ With sin-
cere regret the Editor returns the enclosed, not
because he fails to appreciate its interest and value,
but because, for a few months at any rate, he can
accept nothing whatever.”
Naturally, it is not my intention to wait until
this river goes by. But the system of laudatory
indefinite postponement is not frank. No writer
ought to complain of rejection after submitting a
MS. to an editor who considers it, for an editor, if
not always a good literary judge, is presumably
the best authority as to the requirements of his
periodical. If, however, an editor has a staff upon
whom he exclusively relies, he should state plainly
that he does not want outside help. I have no
reason to complain of the staff system, since for
many years a gentleman who controls a certain
paper of somewhat humble and restricted scope,
has habitually printed and paid for everything I
have sent him, thus, indeed, obliging me in honour
to edit my own contributions, and prepare them
with exceptional care. But in this case outside
work is freely admitted when it is suitable, and I
suppose that in a world of competition the open
door is the best policy. An editor who shuts the
gates of consideration on mankind may discover
that his readers, as well as his contributors, are a
small group, and even the potent advertiser may in
time adopt the principle of laudatory indefinite
postponement.
It may be that it is considered ‘‘neat”’ to
reject with praise under colour of surfeit, or it
may be that in some cases there is an “inner
circle.” But I prefer an editor who will have
the courage to say—‘ Not of the slightest
use,” or “ Don’t want it. Please don’t send any
more.”
Rejections by publishers stand on another foot-
ing. It is curious, however, that nowadays if you
mention poetry to them they shudder as at pesti-
lence. One is prepared for reluctance. The
THE AUTHOR.
commercial objections, based on wide and calami-
tous experience, are well known. But what is
happening to-day is that the hint of verse causes a
fit. To such a miserable depth, of the fatuous and
factitious, has this art been dragged by innumerable
professors, that the publishing fraternity have
generalised, and assume that the human race is no
longer capable either of producing or of hearing
language in its higher powers. It is assumed that
your product will be, at best, of the well-known
machine-made variety, to which even the greatest
names in the last century not infrequently de-
scended, and of which people are tired. Conse-
quently, though for aught the publishers know to
the contrary you may speak with the tongues of
men and of angels, their ears are already filled with
wax. Originality is supposed to have exhausted
itself in Whitmanism, a product (by the way) of
morbidity and American convention, differentiated
from other alleged poetry mainly by chaotic manner.
In the general Dunciad are included the raw
amateur, the maker of dead mosaic, and the pos-
sible genius who may be trying to utter some new,
important truth, and whose work, designed to
transcend all conventional types in matter and
form, may bear the same relation to current poetry
as the Marconi system of telegraphy bears to the
penny post. 7
This is not a wail. The hypothetical genius, of
course, confronted by such difficulties, would find
a way of overcoming them. He might go to some
place where there is a tub, and, mounting thereon,
give forth his verse orally to the world at large,
thus incidentally creating a public that no book-
seller would ignore. It would save much trouble,
however, and many fits, if the state of affairs I
have indicated were clearly recognised.
The perpetration, some years ago, of a small
book of verse (amongst other printed writings) is
admitted by the present writer, who hastens to
disclaim for it any pretence of transcendent revela-
tion. But with regard to criticism, one further
complaint may be made. The general racket of
criticism any man ought to be able to stand “ with-
out turning a hair,” especially as the critics are so
often mutually destructive. Nor do I much mind
the half-educated critic, a common variety, of
which a specimen (writing in a newspaper of
patrician, professional and fashionable readers)
took me to task on a point of grammar. I had
used a word in its strict etymological sense, and in
such a way as would have given no offence either
toa highly-cultured reader or to an uncultured one
of simple perception. My usage was denounced,
in a superior way, as proof of rusticity. Happily
the context was quoted, and I was content that
many readers would perceive the true state of the
case.
In fact, I felt something of the quiet joy of
THE AUTHOR. 223
an angler who has landed a big trout—a trout that
complacently generalised, and gobbled everything
muscoid within view.
* Different were the reviewers (unfair critics, I call
them) who, after “faint praise,’ observed that,
despite my efforts and certain similarities, I did
not at all come up to the level of ‘‘ Mr. Henley”
and “ Mr. Watson.” Curiously enough, I had never
up to that time read a line of either Mr. Henley or
Mr. Watson, but I proceeded to look into their
work, and soon found that what they burned I
adored and what they adored I burned. I could no
more think of imitating those gentlemen in matter
or style than (I am sure) they would think of
imitating me. Beyond a possible genial sense of
human fellowship consistent with a determination
to continue gaily on our respective paths, there
could be nothing in common between us—certainly
the suggested straining and rivalry was absurd.
And there is no likeness in the styles. I and my
distinguished contemporaries certainly do not write
in the language of the critical Press, but that does
not constitute a mutual resemblance. Now, my
indictment of these reviewers is this, that with the
fullest range of good and bad adjectives at their com-
mand—they might have pelted me to their hearts’
content either with flints or with flowers—they
chose to mislead their readers, and my possible
readers, by a foolish comparison. It was much the
same as telling the author of an astronomical treatise
that he was not Chaucer, and was fairly outclassed
by Horace. When will critics learn their trade ?
Ruo.
CORRESPONDENCE.
——~+—
THE ABSURDITY OF MODERN REVIEWING.
Sir,—May I call attention to the inconsistency of
the modern reviewer, who seems to do his level best
to “boom” any book that strikes him as worthless.
In a certain daily paper last week a criticism
appeared of a certain book that has roused the ire
of critics. It began by calling this book “ stupid,
vulgar and offensive”; it ended with a recom-
mendation that the volume should be thrown in
the dustbin, “‘whence we can only hope that the
female servants may not by any unlucky chance
rescue it for unwholesome consumption at the
kitchen supper table.” In the middle of this was
a good half column about the book, which was
freely quoted in large chunks for the whole world,
“female servants” included, to read and digest !
Could inconsistency and absurdity go further? If
the book in question is only fit for the dustbin, is
it fit to be quoted at length in a family newspaper
with a large circulation ? :
Other critics have spluttered in the same way, but
nearly all have written columns about the book,
showing their intense interest in it. Why can they
not be candid and say, ‘“ This is the sort of stuff T
like, and anyone who wants to be amused should
read it”? instead of turning up their eyes to
heaven over its iniquity, and, at the same time,
advertising it for all they are worth. It is imbe-
cility and it is humbug, this way of reviewing. If
a book is “stupid, vulgar and offensive,” why hold
it up as a lure for the public to run after; why
spend hours of time and columns of print over it ?
Let it die, or be honest enough to confess that it
is vital and deserves to live.
Mi Ee.
———>—+ —_
THE SOCIETY’S DINNER.
A> Protest.
Sir,—My annual shock in the form of an official
intimation of the price at which is fixed the yearly
dinner of the Society of Authors has just been
experienced by me. I note that the amount on
this occasion is to be half a sovereign, exclusive
of any more exhilarating vintage than cold water,
while the scene of the function is once more to be
a leading hotel.
Now, Sir, this is altogether wrong ; it is entirely
opposed to the manner in which such a function
should be organised. Would Shakespeare (or
Bacon, if you prefer it) or Dr. Johnson have
contemplated with equanimity the prospect of
incurring this outlay for the mere privilege of
eating a meal in the company of their fellow-
writers at a big restaurant ? Assuredly no. They
would have had souls above the gilded splendours
of the Hotel Cecil and the ten shilling menus.
Who are we, pray, that we cannot be equally
moderate in our requirements? What, too, is
gained by disbursing this sum? Nothing, I am
convinced, that is at all commensurate therewith.
I speak, Sir, from experience, for I have attended
several of these annual orgies (each, I grieve to
say, at an increased cost). On each occasion the
poor but honest author has been conspicuous by
his absence ; in his place have been serried ranks
of uninteresting nonentities, whose sole claim to
being present is that they have been able to pay
for their seats. A ten-shilling dinner is for our
Pierpoint Morgans, and; the number of these
enrolled in the ranks of the Society is, I take it,
limited.
Then again, it is not as though the dinner were
a good one ; on the contrary, it is a remarkably
224
bad one when the cost thereof is taken into con-
sideration. On one memorable occasion, indeed,
-the price was a guinea, while the meal served.
would have been dear at eighteenpence. -It seems
to me, Sir, that we are making a great“mistake in
this matter. I am no advocate for the chaste
simplicity of Lockhart’s or Lyons’, but I am
certainly of opinion that the gorgeous saloons of
a first-class hotel are not necessary for the proper
application of a feast of reason—such as should
mark the annual dinner of our Society.
I object, too, to the practice of the Committee
in inviting guests of their own selection. ‘* Who
pays the piper calls the tune” is a sound com-
mercial axiom. As the members of the Society
meet the bill for the same they should have a
voice in inviting those on whose account it is
incurred. It is the more excellent way. For
myself, I am so constituted that it affords me no
particular joy to pay for the dinner of an individual
IT do not know (or want to) from Adam. I fancy
that Iam not alone in this view. For the Com-
mittee to invite outside guests at all is, in my
opinion, a mistake. It reduces the annual dinner
of the Society of Authors to the level of that of a
charitable organisation touting for money. Surely
we have enough members among ourselves to
secure a satisfactory attendance—in point of num-
bers at any rate. Of course, if the Society were
on a proper basis it would give its members an
annual dinner as a bonus ; failing the realisation
of this pleasant state of affairs it ought at least to
organise a dinner which should not cost those
attending more than five shillings at the outside.
I am, yours faithfully,
HoracE WYNDHAM.
April, 1903.
“WHETHER OR NOT.”
Srr,—Surely it is disappointing that even such
an authority as Prof. Skeat can only refer one to
“usage,” though it be the usage of a Shakespeare.
Why should not a Scotchman also plead usage when
he says, “I will drown and no one shall save me” ?
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
And the people who of late years have affected
to be a “trifle” sorry, a “trifle” thoughtful—a
erowing band, I fear—are fast making “usage”
of a noun as the modifier of an adjective. If
acknowledged as usage, one has nothing to say
save that there is correct usage and incorrect
usage.
Your other correspondent, A. Armstrong, also
quoting Shakespeare, at least suggests “whether
THE AUTHOR.
or no”’ might be a curtailed idiom, “ whether ay
or no.” But when I say, “ Whether I go or not,”
what is suppressed is not an imaginary “ ay,” bat
the repetition of the verb.
I suppose it is “usage” which makes nine out of
ten, if not ninety-nine out of a hundred, of modern
authors write “whether or not.” Why have we
arrived at that usage ? And I doubt the English
school examiner could be found who would pass
“whether or no.” in a boy’s exercise book without
at least telling him he had better say “or not.”
Why so ?
hat my inquiry of 7'he Author resulted in such
answer (I had asked for good reason) only shows
what weak legs our poor King’s English—beloved
and beautiful withal—has to stand on! Our
language, being so largely the spoil of other
languages, is not securely founded in its own con-
struction. All foreigners, at least every Frenchman
and German learning English, know that. They
have been well grounded in their grammar, and
when they come to acquire our tongue, behold they
find ‘usage ”—too often usage minus reason.
Sorrowfully,
Kine’s ENGLISH.
TYPEWRITING.
Sir,—If any of your readers want to know of a
really good typewriter I shall be most happy to
recommend one: she is a lady, very highly educated,
with literary experience, and is thoroughly to be
trusted with valuable MSS.
Yours faithfully,
OuIveE KATHARINE Parr.
WANTED A REFERENCE.
Srr,—In reply to Mr. J. M. Lely, the passage
which he quotes—
“ Qui cessat esse melior cessat esse bonus,”
was stated in the Daily Telegraph of Thursday,
May 29th, 1902 (p. 9, c. 1), to be the motto
written by Oliver Cromwell in his pocket Bible,
in the possession of the Earl of Chichester.
I, too, have endeavoured to ascertain the source
of this sentence, but, so far, unsuccessfully, and,
therefore, incline to the belief that it was Cromwell’s
own composition.
Hupert Hass.
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Che #uthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR
WALTER BESANT.
JUNE Ist, 1903.
Vou. XIII.—No. 9.
[Prick SrxpPENnog.
THE TELEPHONE.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
———_—__—_+—~@—
NOTICES.
—-~<> +
OR the opinions_expressed in papers that are
K signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
THE Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
— +
List of Members.
THE List of Members of the Society of Authors,
published 1902, can be obtained at the offices of
the Society, at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
—-—>+—
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIII.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Coagole 25 Fees. £1000 0 6
POCH) LOANS obec. 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 ‘ Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ...............
We lon
291 19 Tt
201 9 3s
otal o1,995 9 2
Subscriptions.
1908.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6
»» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 06
Jan. 4, Anonymous 0) 5. 6
- Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0
“ Russell, G. H. ; Ll 0
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0.5 06
», Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5. 0
Jan..19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 35.0
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 1 0 5 0
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : - 0 10 0
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5b 0
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . ; 0 5 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0° 5 0
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0° 5 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 05 0
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1° 0 6
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6
Apl.10, Bird, ©. PB. . : A - 0 10.6
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery. 0 5 0
May Lees, R. J... : ; 1 0
: Wright, J. Fondi . ; ~ 905 6
Donations.
Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. : , 0 10 6
» Middlemass, Miss Jean . ~ 010 0
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord . D0 0
» Gribble, Francis. : . 010 0
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . . 010 6
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 11 0
» Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5.0
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
226
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French . - 0) 5) 0
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt : . 0 16 0
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . : » 0-10 6
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 210
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . : . 010 6
, Ord, Hubert H. . ‘ de)
Teb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor : . 010 0
» Carlile, Rev. J. C.. : . 010 0
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. . : : a2 0-0
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs. . : . 010 0
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 2 0 10° 0
Mar. 16, Hallward,N. LL. . : ll 0
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : - 0 8.9
» Mathieson, Miss Annie . . 010 0
» Browne, T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-
wood”) . j : : 12 0
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry. 110.0. 0
Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. - 2070
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore : 0 2) 0
May King, Paul H. : : ~ 010-90
: Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 90
» 21, Orred J. Randal . : pedo E70
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
Se
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
Tur amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £336 4 9
May 22, Orred J. Randal............... Lied
—____—<>—_e____\_
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
ee
HE Committee of the Society of Authors met
on May 6th. Mr. Douglas Freshfield took
the chair.
‘Twelve members and associates were elected to
the Society. The list is printed below.
The case of Parry v. Gollancz, with all the papers
and letters, was laid before the Committee and
carefully considered. The Committee decided to
issue a summary of the case with comments in
The Author, (See article, page 232.)
The agent of the Society in New York has been
forced to give up the work of the Society owing to
the fact that he has taken up the work of a
THE AUTHOR.
literary agent. As he candidly expresses it, “ he
found it difficult to have to write peremptory
letters of demand to editors and publishers, when
at the same time he might be offering them MSS.
for acceptance.” Accordingly, the Society has
been obliged to appoint another agent, and the
Committee have nominated Mr. Morris P. Ferris,
counsellor-at-law.
‘There were two or three cases before the Com-
mittee. One dealt with the loss of a MS. by a
publisher. It was decided to take the matter up
on behalf of the member, as from the circumstances
connected with the case, it appeared that the
publisher had shown considerable negligence.
Another case, that of alleged breach of agree-
ment by a publisher, the Committee found they
were unable to support, as the solicitors of the
Society did not consider that there was cause for
legal action.
It was decided not to republish the list of
members during the current year, but in the
autumn, to publish a supplementary list of those
members who had been elected since the last
publication.
oo
Cases,
Tue last statement of the cases taken up by
the Society was printed in the March number of
The Author. Since that date forty-three have been
before the Secretary. They may be subdivided as
follows :—
Ten for the return of MSS. ; three for accounts ;
five for accounts and money ; eighteen for money
due ; one dealing with the false advertisement of a
book; one with the infringement of copyright ;
five embracing disputes which cannot be classed
under any particular heading.
The Secretary is pleased to report that all the
cases chronicled in the March number of The
Author have either been settled or have been placed
in the hands of the solicitors.. All the cases from
that date up to the beginning of April have also
been settled or placed in the solicitors’ hands, with
the exception of one case, where the author—
unfortunately living abroad—had a claim against a
magazine for non-payment.
The record of the ten claims for the return of
MSS. is as follows :—
One case has been placed in the hands of the
Society’s solicitors, to enable the member to claim
damages for loss of a MS. by a publisher, as it
appeared clear to the Committee that the publisher
had been negligent. In two cases there has been
no evidence that the MSS. had been received at
the office of the paper. In the remaining seven
the MSS. have been returned at the request of the
Secretary.
Set
In the three demands for accounts the Secretary
has been able to obtain the requisite statement,
with the exception of one case against a well-known
firm that is always dilatory in meeting the demands
of the author or the Secretary of the Society for
details of this kind. No doubt a little mild
persuasion will bring about the requisite result,
There has been an increase with regard to demand
for unpaid moneys, and the result. of the Secretary’s
applications may be catalogued as follows :—
In the claims for accounts and money two have
been partially settled—this means that part of the
money due has been paid, the rest will no doubt
follow. One has been completely settled, and two
are still in the course of negotiation. The last are
demands against an American publisher, whose
name is well known on the English market, but
whose methods of doing business when it comes to
the settlement of accounts appear to be far from
satisfactory. In six cases the money has been
paid without any difficulty. In five the matters
have had to go into the hands of the Society’s
solicitors. Two cases are still unsettled, and in one
it is impossible to enforce the Society’s claim owing
to the fact that the member resides abroad.
This is, on the whole, a satisfactory record,
especially when it is remembered that those matters
referred to the solicitors deal with magazines that
are most probably either in liquidation or on the
verge of Jiquidation. The case of infringement of
copyright has been satisfactorily settled. A full
statement of this was printed in 7he Author. The
false advertisement has also been remedied, and
the remaining matters—various disputes on con-
tracts—are in the course of negotiation.
Out of thewhole forty-three there are only thirteen
which have not been closed as far as the work of
the Secretary is concerned. Some of them, as
mentioned above, are being continued in other
hands, it is hoped with satisfactory result.
NEES “ESSE
May Elections.
4, Gray’s Inn Squares
W.C.
Scarborough.
Wentworth House, Key-
mer, Sussex.
The Cedars, Denmark
Avenue, Wimbledon,
Aitken, Robert
Alcock, Joseph Crosby .
Arthur, Miss Mary
Bedford, Mrs.
SW.
Dickinson, F. James 6, Claremont Terrace,
Hargreaves, F.R.S.L. Claremont Park,
Blackpool.
Lees, Robert James
. Engelbery, Ilfracombe.
Macdonald, Mrs. A. E. .
Gordon Road, Gordon,
Sydney, N.S. Wales,
Australia.
THE AUTHOR. 227
Merriman,
B.C,
Pickering, Sidney .
Smith, Miss M. C,
Labor A., Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Stratton, Falmouth.
Gretna Hall, Gretna
Green,
200, Stockwell Road,
Brixton, 8.W,
Colonial Institute,
Northumberland
Avenue, W.C.
Trost, Johann
Wright, Edward Fondi .
+-—<—e
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
ae
| PROFESSOR RHYS DAVIDS’ “Buddhist
| India” in the Stories of the Nations Series,
may be out any day now. It was all passed
for press some time ago, but it is being printed in
America. he Professor has just finished editing
the issues of the Pali Text Society for 1903 ; they
form the Journal of that Society. He has also
edited the second volume of “The Digha” in
conjunction with Mr. E. Carpenter. These are
now ready for distribution to members.
The Government of India has determined to
publish, through the Royal Asiatic Society, two
series of historical volumes. Of these, one is on
the History of India before the arrival of the
English, and will be under the editorship of
Professor Rhys Davids.
The first volumes to be published will deal with
the historical geography of ancient India, and
with the historical evidence contained in the
Vedas. The other series, to be called The Records
Series, will embrace the period after the arrival of
the English, and will consist mainly of official
documents. The first volume will deal with the
events connected with the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Mr. Arnold White has had a trying experience :
He lost, during the fire at the Hotel du Palais, at
Biarritz, the MS. of the work on which he was
engaged. It is a continuation of the series on
Efficiency which began eighteen years ago in “The
Problems of a Great City,” and ended in his last
two books—* Efficiency and Empire,” and “ For
Efficiency.”
Mr. White, however, hopes in the course of the
next twelve months to re-write and complete a
work on National Efficiency, especially with regard
to government and municipal administration, and
its effects on the pockets, the health, and the lives
of citizens of the Empire.
Miss Mabel Quiller Couch, whose short stories
are well known, has published two volumes of them
under the titles of “The Recovery of Jane Vercoe,”
228
and “Some Western Folk.” At present she is
completing serial work already ordered, but she
means in the near future to write a story for girls
on somewhat new lines. Our readers may remember
a very interesting volume entitled, “ The Holy Wells
of Cornwall,” which Miss Mabel Quiller Couch wrote
in conjunction with her sister.
Mrs. Mary M. Banks is engaged in editing a
MS. collection of tales of the fifteenth century for
the Early English Text Society. Some two years
ago Mrs. Banks edited the alliterative ‘‘ Morte
Arthur,” published by Messrs. Longmans. Since
then she has given lectures on modern literature,
besides writing articles on literary subjects.
Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have in preparation
for the autumn a romance of Italy in the thirteenth
century, by Emily Underdown (Norley Chester).
This firm lately published “ Dante and Beatrice,”
a play in blank verse suggested by episodes in the
Vita Nuova, by the same author. It forms one of
a series started by Miss Elsie Fogerty. “ Dante
and Beatrice” is also published in a tastefully
got-up edition, with a reproduction of Rossetti’s
painting, “ Dante’s Dream,” as a frontispiece.
Members of the Society will be interested to
know that Mr. Poulteney Bigelow has been asked
to address the United States Naval War College
at Newport, on German Colonisation, on the 16th
of June. This is the college before which Captain
Mahan delivered his lectures on “‘ The Influence of
Sea Power on History ”—a book which has been
translated into almost every tongue, and yet
which, at the time, was declined by the Harpers.
Lismore, which the King is to visit next
August, is the “ Innisdoyle ” of Julia M. Crottie’s
“ Neighbours,” a book of Irish sketches, published
by T. Fisher Unwin a year or two ago. Lismore
is a quiet old town, beautifully situated on the
poet Spenser’s Blackwater, and although now
fallen away from its ancient importance, still
possesses some features of interest in its fine old
abbey and castle.
Mr. Frank Rutter, the editor of To-day, has
just published, through R. A. Everett & Co.,
a little volume of scenes and characters from
eee life. ‘‘’Varsity Types” is the title
of it.
“Varsity Types” has a dozen illustrations by
Stephen Haweis. The dedication runs thus—‘‘ To
those who unconsciously have posed as models for
the following sketches, this little volume is grate-
fully and affectionately dedicated by the author.”
Among the entertaining characters are ‘“ The
Swot,” “The Trophy Maniac,” “ The Snob,” and
“The Bedder,” while “‘ Ditton Corner,” “ An Art-
less Dean,” and “An Academic Court-Martial,”
are scenes to laugh over.
THE AUTHOR.
Miss Julie Sutter’s book on the Social Problems
—Brirain’s Next Campaign ”—has just been
issued at a shilling net (320 pp.) by R. Brimley
Johnson, 4, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C. The
Daily News this winter thought it worth while to
publish a series of articles from its pages, and Sir
John McDougall (as chairman of the London
County Council) invites ‘every Londoner, official
on non-official, to make himself acquainted with
this book.” Both he and Canon Scott Holland
head the volume with a preface.
Mr. F. Stroud’s publishers will issue almost
immediately a much-enlarged edition of his Judicial
Dictionary. It will be in three thick volumes of
about nine hundred pages each. The work is
unique in that, whilst it is a dictionary in the
ordinary sense of that word, yet the pivot on which
it moves is that it deals with the English of affairs
as expounded by the English Judges and by
Parliament.
To search for verbal definitions through the
many hundreds of volumes of Reports of Cases,
and the Statute Book from Magna Charta down-
wards, and to harmonise the authoritative exposition
of words and phrases culled from these sources,
must have been an enormous task, requiring much
prior knowledge and the unfailing patience of years.
The idea of this edition is to bring down the
exposition from the earliest times to the end of the
nineteenth century. Whilst we should imagine it
to be indispensable to the practising lawyer, the
book cannot fail to be of general interest, for inci-
dentally it frequently presents striking phases of
the picturesque past.
Mr. Percy White has been kind enough to send
us the following interesting extract from a letter
written to him by a great admirer of George
Meredith. The writer is himself a novelist and
man of letters :—
“THE Two MEREDITHS.
“T am reading ‘ Evan Harrington,’ in the original edition
of 1861. I find that in the final edition, published by
Constable, many admirable passages have been cut out, and
a good deal of broad humour and fun has been lost. An
interesting little paper might be made on a comparison of
the two editions—the old Meredith pruning the younger.
It is remarkable how completely ‘modern’ this book of
1861 reads—a book which might have been written to-day,
whilst its successful contemporaries, ‘ Framley Parsonage,’
‘The Silver Chord,’ ‘The Woman in White,’ &c., are all as
old-fashioned and uncouth as the crinolines, matador hats,
and chenille hair nets of the early sixties.”
“ Park Lane” is the title of Mr. Percy White’s
new novel—needless to say a very readable one—
which has been published by Messrs. Constable
at 6s.
Mr. G. W. Forrest, O.1.E., ex-Director of Records,
Government of India, and author of “ Sepoy
THE AUTHOR.
Generals,” has published through the same firm a
copiously illustrated book called ‘‘ Cities of India”
(10s. 6d. net). Mr. Forrest, who is one of the
greatest living authorities on the ancient and
modern history of India, has seen with his own
eyes the cities he so admirably describes. The
illustrations are excellent.
’ The Transactions of the Royal Society of Litera-
ture are being edited, as indeed they have been
‘since 1894, by Perey W. Ames, LL.D., F.S.A.
Besides publishing the following addresses : ‘‘ Posi-
tivism in Literature,” “Supposed Source of the Vicar
of Wakefield,” ‘‘ Racial and Individual Tempera-
ments,” ‘‘ Superstition, Science, and Philosophy,”
“Poetry and Science of Archeology,” &c., &c., Dr.
Ames, in 1900, edited, with introduction and one
lecture, “‘Chaucer Memorial Lectures.” In 1898
he edited, with an historical sketch of the Princess
Elizabeth and Margaret of Navarre, “The Mirror
of the Sinful Soul.” Before that he edited, with
an introductory address, a volume of “ Afternoon
Lectures on English Literature.”
Mr. Sydney Lee has brought to a close his tour
in America. He has been accorded an enthusiastic
reception in the Hastern and the Western States.
He has given fifty-three Jectures, and has travelled
by rail more than ten thousand miles. Besides
delivering addresses before the Library Association
at Washington and the State University of North
Carolina, Mr. Lee lectured at Staten Island, New
York, at the request of Mr. William Winter, in aid
of the library founded by him in memory of his son,
the late Mr. Arthur Winter.
Mr. Lee also gave addresses on Shakespeare at
Indianapolis and before the State Universities of
Ohio and Indiana.
Among recently published books by members of
the Society is Mr. Justin McCarthy’s ‘British
Political Leaders” (T. Fisher Unwin: 7s. 6d.
net). Though all may not agree with his point
of view, may not see eye to eye with him, yet
readers can scarcely fail to find this volume attrac-
tive. It is charmingly written.
There is also a couple of volumes issued by Mr.
John Murray, entitled, ‘‘ More letters of Charles
Darwin,” being a record of his work in a series of
hitherto unpublished letters, edited by Francis
Darwin, Fellow of Christ’s College, and A. C.
Seward, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
(32s. net.)
Then, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, whose remarkable
novel, “The Conqueror,’ we all remember, has
now published, through Harpers, “A Few of
Hamilton’s Letters.” Those who are interested in
that famous man’s personality will find this selection
from his correspondence well worth reading.
229
Professor E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., etc., Direc-
tor of the British Museum of Natural History,
has contributed a Preface to Mr. S. Theodore
Andrea Cook’s book, ‘ Spirals in Nature and Art”
(John Murray). This is a study of spiral forma-
tions based on the manuscripts of Leonardo da
Vinci, with special reference to the architecture of
the open staircase at Blois in Touraine, now for
the first time shown to be from his designs. This
interesting volume is 7s. 6d. net.
Miss Marie Corelli recently addressed a crowded
meeting of the O. P. Club in the large hall of
the Criterion Restaurant. Miss Corelli spoke
on “The Trust on behalf of the Nation at
Stratford-on-Avon.” She protested against the
destruction of any buildings in Heniey Street, par-
ticularly such old and valuable ones as were seen
and known by Shakespeare, and were on that
account priceless to the literary and dramatic
world of to-day. Especially did she plead for the
quaint little half-timbered dwelling of Thomas
Green, once town clerk of Stratford and cousin of
Shakespeare.
Miss Corelli protested against the proposed
destructive alterations, and earnestly requested
that a committee might be formed to inquire
into the case she put forward. She considered
that the culpable ignorance and carelessness of
the Executive Committee of the Shakespearean
Trust proved that the time had come when their
national duty should be taken up by a wider,
more educated and more Shakespearean body. An
appeal to Parliament for the preservation of Henley
Street was being sent out for signature, and there
was every reason to believe that it would bereceived
with favour.
The clause in the Employment of Children Bill
which prohibits the appearance of children under
fourteen upon the stage has evoked a series of
protesting letters in the Daily Telegraph from
such authorities as Sir Henry Irving, Miss Ellen
Terry, Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr. George Alexander,
Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Messrs. Frederick Harrison
and Cyril Maude, and Mr. Arthur Collins and
Mr. F. W. Wyndham. We have room for two
quotations only. Miss Ellen Terry says :
“T cannot remain silent when I hear of disaster threaten-
ing our future actors and actresses. Sir Henry Irving and
others have urged the cruelty of taking joy and pleasure
from the lives of children by prohibiting their employment
on the stage. I go further, and say that the effect of such
a law will be to take education from them, education in the
widest sense technical. I can put my finger at once on the
actors and actresses who were not on the stage when
children. Withall their hard work they can never acquire
afterwards the perfect unconsciousness which they learn
then soeasily. .. . lam anactress, but first 1 am a woman
and I love children. I don’tsay that the conditions under
230
which they work on the stage are perfect. I could point to
many things which IJ should like tosee altered, particularly
the practice of their being too many hours at a stretch in
the theatre, as is the case when they are employed in two
performances on one day. But surely it is not right to
sweep away a fine training for children because it has
faults ?”
The second extract is from Mr. Tree’s letter :
“T will leave to others the task of pointing out in detail
how desirable it is for the children of poor parents to have
the opportunity of learning in their early years those
habits of obedience, cleanliness and orderliness which are
part of the discipline of every well-regulated theatre ; also
the social value to them in after life of daily mixing, while
still young, with those who can teach them good manners
and self-respect. The one point I am most anxious to
make is this: The Bill as it stands would not only deprive
the children of these benefits, but would also deprive
hundreds of thousands of the public of the pleasure they
derive from those theatrical performances (such as panto-
mime, and the like), from which the services of children
areinseparable. Moreover, any such new legislation would
practically banish from our stage many of Shakespeare's
most-admired plays, such as “The Midsummer Night's
Dream,” “ The Tempest,” “ A Winter’s Tale,” ‘The Merry
Wives of Windsor,” ‘Richard III,” “King John,” and
other classical works. It is needless to point out that these
remarks apply equally to grand opera and public concerts
whenever the services of children form an integral part of
the entertainment.”
All the letters are worthy of careful considera-
tion, and we refer our readers to the particular
issue of the Daily Telegraph from which we have
quoted, 7.¢., that of Monday, May 18th.
———_—_—__- ~~
PARIS NOTES.
—— >
ANATOLE FRANCE’S novel, “ Histoire
Mi e Comique,” is now published in volume
form, after running through the Revue
de Paris as a serial. There is nothing comic
about it except the one word in the title. It is, in
fact, a most gruesome story. Félicie, an actress
who is considered a star, has deserted her lover of
less prosperous days for a young aristocrat, Robert
de Ligny. ‘The ex-lover, Chevalier, warns her of
his own jealousy and begs her to return to him.
She pays no attention to his words and one day,
when she is coming away from a rendezvous
with de Ligny, Chevalier commits suicide in her
presence.
From this day forth Félicie has no peace of
mind. The dead man’s face seems to haunt her,
and at the most unexpected times and places she
fancies that she sees him.
Chevalier had been an actor, and all his thea-
trical friends undertake the arrangements for his
funeral. The Church refuses the burial service on
account of the suicide, and Félicie, who hopes that
the holy water may lay the ghost of the dead man,
THE AUTHOR.
joins with her comrades in insisting on the religious
rites being performed. A certain Dr. Trublet, the
medical adviser of the theatre to which Félicie
belongs, is the philosopher whom we usually meet
in Anatole France’s books. In this instance the
artistes have recourse to him for a certificate
proving that Chevalier was insane when he shot
himself. A priest had suggested, in a wily way,
that the dead man had, perhaps, not been respon-
sible for his actions, and that if this could be
proved the Church would not refuse to bury him.
Dr. Trublet accordingly searches among his learned
books, and finds various instances of temporary
insanity. He delivers a long harangue on the
subject of free will and determinism. His con-
cluding argument is that the world is an amusing
place on the whole, and that Chevalier must have
been more insane than other men, since he had
voluntarily resigned his place here. The certificate
that he makes out is so full of technical terms that
the doctor declares that it is “ too utterly devoid
of any sense to contain a lie.”
The funeral service is accordingly held in the
church, All the artistes attend the ceremony and
then proceed to the cemetery, but they are all so
much occupied with their own private affairs and
with ull the gossip and scandal they have to tell
each other, that they only remember at intervals
what has brought them all there together.
Immediately after the funeral Félicie goes with
her lover to luncheon at a _ restaurant, and
endeavours to forget the dead man.
It is of no use, though, and to the end of the
story she is haunted by his reproachful eyes.
There is not much plot and there is a great deal
that is unpleasant in the book, but the keen
observation, the delicate sarcasm, and, above all, the
perfect style and language are all to be found in
“ Histoire Comique” as in every work by Anatole
France.
In Brada’s new novel, “Retour du Flot,” we
have a subject which lends itself well to the
weaving of a romance. The mystery is that it
has not been adopted more frequently by authors.
It is the story of a woman who, after several
years of happiness in her married life, loses her
little girl and cannot recover from her grief. Her
husband, who was also devotedly fond of the child,
wearies of the gloominess of his home and the
constant sadness of his wife and seeks amusement
elsewhere.
On discovering that he has been faithless to her
his wife applies for a divorce and will hear of no:
compromise.
After two or three years of loneliness and misery
she consents to marry a cousin who has always
loved her, and who is a man of fine character. She
is quite resigned to her new lot in life when, on the
THE AUTHOR. 231
sixth anniversary of her little girl’s death, as she
is walking past her old home, she meets her first
husband. He saves her from being knocked down
by a vehicle as she is crossing the road. It is the
first time they have met since their divorce, and
they both realise, as they talk to each other once
more, the fatal mistake they made in the old
days.
The struggle which now takes place in the
woman’s heart between the love which has never
died and her new duties is described with great
delicacy.
The loneliness and misery of the man who had
formerly been everything to her appeal to her ;
and when he begs her to meet him again she con-
sents, Her life during the next few months is
almost unbearable. The book is charming to the
very end, and the dénowement seems most natural.
All the characters live, and there is no seeking
after effect. It is merely a simple story told in the
most simple and natural way possible.
During the last year the books which have been
most discussed here have been those written by
women. ‘This may seem rather flattering to the
fortunate writers of them, but it is only fair to add
that much of the discussion has been on the subject
of the exaggeration of women writers, as shown in
several of their recent novels.
Judging by some specimens of these realistic
novels that have been before the public, it seems
as though “women rush in where men fear to
tread.”
In “La Maison du Péché” we had an example
of this, and still more recently in “ La Nouvelle
Espérance.” “ I,’ Inconstante,” too, is a novel that
has astonished everyone, coming, as it does, from
the pen of a woman.
Exaggeration of this kind cannot be attributed
to Madame Daniel Lesueur in the novel she has just
published, “ Le Coeur Chemine.” It is a delight-
fully natural story of a woman who makes the dis-
covery that she is not as happy as she thought
she was in her married life. Thanks to a poet
whom she had known years before, and whom
she meets by accident at Antwerp, she makes this
discovery. She has accompanied her husband on
one of his business journeys to Antwerp and
Bruges, and the poet wanders through the
museums and churches with her, with the result
that she realises how prosaic her life is.
There is no strong plot running through this
book: it is just a psychological study from beginning
toend. The poet makes love to the wife of the
prosaic husband, and she is tempted to promise, at
any rate, to be his friend and his muse. Things
cannot stop at this stage, but just at a critical
moment the wife discovers the nobility of character
of her husband and remains faithful to him. As
the years go by life is again most monotonous, and
once more the poet crosses her path. She has
another terrible struggle with herself, and once
more comes out victorious,
The minor characters in the story are all well
drawn, and the author only attempts to show us
the workings of the heart of all these human beings
without trying to explain at all why so much that
is unsatisfactory should remain so to the end. It
is, as she says, a most pitiful mystery that one
should be compelled to make sacrifices which, as
far as we can see, do no final good, although they
cost us so much.
The second volume of “Souvenirs sur Madame
de Maintenon” has just been published by the
Count d’Haussonville and M. Hanotaux. It is one
of the most interesting books that has yet appeared
on this subject, as it contains the famous “ Cahiers
de Mademoiselle d’Aumale.” We get a detailed
account of life at the French Court under Louis XIYV.,
dating from his liaison with Madame de Montespan.
In the Preface, by M. Hanotaux, we are told
that Madame de Maintenon wished “to remain an
enigma to posterity,’ and that she only intended
those papers about her life to be published which
she had prepared for publication. It was on this
account that Madame de Maintenon destroyed all
her correspondence with Louis XIV, and with
various other persons. ‘
Mademoiselle d’Aumale commences her memoirs
with a chapter on “Madame de Maintenon and
Madame de Montespan.” Another chapter is on
the ‘‘Duchesse de Bourgogne,” and there is also
an account of the death of Louis XIV., which
Mademoiselle d’Aumale witnessed,
“Zette”’ is the title of the new story by MM.
Paul et Victor Margueritte.
“L’Amoureuse Rédemption,” by M. Armand
Charpentier, is a strong book which appears to be
having great success.
Among other new novels are “ Ballons Rouges,”
by Madame de Bovet, “TL Etape Silencieuse,” by
Jean Saint-Yves, and “ Petite Fille d’Amiral,” by
Pierre Maél.
A new poet has also come to the front with a
volume entitled “Jamais,” the preface of which
is written by M. Sully Prudhomme. The poet is
M. Charles Reculoux.
Various books on religious questions have been
published recently, and are no doubt due to the
agitation now going on here with reference to the
Congregations.
One of these books is “ Le Concordat de 1801,
ses Origines et son Histoire,” by Cardinal Mathieu ;
and another is “La Révolution Francaise et les
Congrégations,” by M. Aulard.
At the last meeting of the French Academy
literary prizes were awarded to Madame Bentzon
232
and to MM. Adolphe: Brisson, Mandat-Grancey,
Pontsevrez, Victor du Bled, de Pommerol and
A. Halley.
The chief theatrical event here has been the
production of Maeterlinck’s new play, “ Joyzelle,”
at the Gymnase Theatre. Space forbids our giving
any details about this piece this month.
There is an excellent article on “ The Works of
Maeterlinck ” in the May number of the Interna-
tional Theatre, which gives a very good idea of the
chief features of this author’s books and plays.
M. Mirbeau’s piece at the Francais may be pro-
nounced a success, and we hear it is to be put on
the English stage by Mr. Alexander as “ Business
is Business.”
The great theme of the play is the influence of
money in modern society. It is a somewhat daring
piece and the banker is a cleverly drawn type of
the financier of our times.
“Le Ruban Rouge” is a melodrama taken from
the novel by M. Pierre Sales, whose success as a
« fenilletonist” has been as marked. It has been
put on at the Ambigu, and was very much
appreciated by the house.
In honour of M. Rostand’s reception at the
Academy, Madame Sarah Bernhardt will revive
“J Aiglon” at her theatre, and M. Coquelin will
give ‘Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Porte Saint-
Martin.
Auys HALLARD.
__ 9
PARRY y. MORING AND GOLLANCZ.
—+—~<—+ —
N this action, to which two members of the
Society, Judge Parry and Mr. Gollancz, were
parties, a point of considerable literary im-
portance was decided, and several others were raised
either in the pleadings or in the newspaper con-
troversy which followed it.
The facts on which the action was based are
briefly as follows :—
In 1888 Judge Parry obtained from their then
owner, the Rev. 8. R. Longe, with a view to pub-
lication, copies of the original letters written before
marriage by Dorothy Osborne to Sir William
Temple in A.D. 1652-4. To the originals them-
selves he had no access. The copies were made
by the daughter-in-law of the owner, and the
gratuitous offer of them had been occasioned by
the publication in April, 1886, in the English
Illustrated Magazine, of a sketch by Judge Parry,
compiled from Courtenay’s “ Life of Temple,”
and entitled Dorothy Osborne, Judge Parry
re-arranged the letters, many of which were
undated, in what he believed to be their proper
sequence, and spent some time in modernising
THE AUTHOR.
their spelling and English and in annotating
them. He proceeded to publish the letters after,
at the request of his publisher, making excisions’
amounting in all to about 100 lines, in a guinea
volume, entitled Zhe Letters of Dorothy Osborne
to Sir William Temple. He registered the copy-
right of his book on June 15th, 1888. In October,
1888, a second edition was issued at the price of 6s.
_No mention appears to have been made at the
time by the original owner, or by Judge Parry, of the
copyright in the letters ; nor was any notice given
of the copyright having been previously dealt with
when in 1891 the original letters were, after the
death of the Rev. 8. R. Longe, sold by the then
owner to the British Museum, where the librarian
arranged and bound them (with one exception)
in the same order in which Judge Parry had
printed them.
In November, 1902, Judge Parry’s attention
was called to the advertisement of a volume
entitled Zhe Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to
Sir William Temple. Newly Edited from the original
MSS. by Israel Gollancz. On the 1st December
Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co., Judge Parry’s
solicitors, wrote to Mr. Moring, the publisher
of the proposed volume, stating that their client:
had copyrighted his publication, of which he was
preparing another edition, and that if necessary he
would take steps to prevent the publication adver-
-tised by Mr. Moring. Mr. Moring answered, on the
2nd December, that the work in question had been
prepared from the original letters in the British
Museum, and that under these circumstances he
presumed Judge Parry would take no further steps.
in the matter. Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co.
repliedfon the 4th December stating that they and:
Judge Parry were unable to understand how Mr.
Moring claimed to be entitled to publish the book
advertised by him, and under what permission or
sanction from the British Museum he claimed
such authority.
On the 8th December Mr. Gollancz wrote to
Judge Parry, alleging that “the fact of the originals
now being the property of the nation made the
letters common property,” and offering “to con-
nect the new edition with your esteemed name.”
On the 9th December Judge Parry referred Mr.
Gollancz to his solicitors, and on the same day
Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co., wrote to both the
defendants calling on them “to discontinue the
issue of the edition published by you.”
Mr. Moring, however—after three months delay
issued the volume at 2s. 6d. in March, 1903; and
on the 18th March Judge Parry filed an affidavit in
the Chancery Division of the High Court in support
of an action to restrain its further issue. In
this he did not insist on the claim suggested
in the correspondence to an exclusive copyright in
THE AUTHOR.
the original letters, but based his case on the
allegation that the copyright in his work already
described had been infringed with regard to (1) his
notes, (2) his arrangement of the letters, (3) his text,
and (4) his title. The defendants replied by affi-
davit alleging that “they had not made any unfair
use of the plaintiff’s book,” and as to the notes,
they contested in detail the evidences of any such
use brought forward by the plaintiff. Mr.
Gollancz for himself denied having copied the
order of the letters, stating that he had followed
with one or two exceptions (based on his own
researches) the British Museum order. He ad-
mitted that, “as rough working copy, a print was
set up of the letters as appearing in the plaintiff’s
book,” but he alleged that the editor had collated it
with the original letters “ at least ten times” and
corrected “about 2,000 errors and differences,”
and restored numerous omissions extending from
one line to thirty, “the result being a new
and very superior text.” He entered into detailed
explanation of the cases in which he was charged
with having copied or retained errors in Judge
Parry’s notes. He submitted that his title was
no infringement of copyright. He added, “I
have always bond fide believed that I was acting
within my strict rights, and in a way that could
not be thought unfair to other editors, or in
particular to the plaintiff.”
The case came on before Mr. Justice Farwell gn
April 8rd, 1903, on an application for an interim
injunction. The Judge ut once expressed his
opinion that the defendants’ admission that they
had taken Judge Parry’s book and had copied it
was fatal. In reply to the argument that they
might “‘have made it their own by ten or a dozen
comparisons with the manuscripts,” he added, “ It
seems to me the substratum is fatal to you ; you
cannot use your scaffolding.”
On this point, and on this alone, the case was
decided. The defendants’ counsel, “ who stated
“‘they were not altogether taken by surprise,”
submitted to’ judgment for delivery up on oath
of all the books and documents constituting the
infringement, and an inquiry as to damages and
costs down to the trial.
There can be little doubt that the judgment,
which was so readily accepted by the defendants’
counsel, was sound in law.
No decision, it will be noted, was arrived at by
the Court on the three further alleged infringements
of copyright brought forward—the title, the
arrangement of the letters, and the notes—nor
does the Committee presume to express an opinion
on the legal points involved. :
With regard to the notes the question is a
complicated one. The following sentences convey
the opinion furnished to the Committee by an
233
eminent counsel on the general rules likely to be
applied by a Court of Law dealing with similar
cases: ‘The principle of the law, as laid down
in various judgments, appears to be that an
author may use his predecessor’s work, but must
not copy it. He must, by adding something
of his own, or derived from other and separate
sources, by amalgamating and assimilating his
literary material, create a new product. He must
incorporate what he takes in his own work. Inthe
words of Lord Eldon, he is allowed ‘ the legitimate
use of a publication in the fair exercise of a mental
operation deserving the character of an original
work.’ Mere unintelligent copying, especially if
mistakes are copied, will be stopped. Intelligent
verification and assimilation of previous research
in a work of substantial originality will: not be
interfered with. The application of this principle
to individual cases must be guided by the study of
the particular facts involved.”
The result of the trial gave rise to a newspaper
correspondence, in which some well-known scholars
took part. Dr. Furnivall, in the Zimes, asserted
that the case had been decided on a technical
point, and that a substantial injustice had been
done by declaring illegal a practice which he
asserted to be common among scholars and essen-
tial in the interests of literature. His letter,
however, was not mainly directed to the points
brought before the Court, and still less to the
point decided. He preferred to lay stress on
Judge Parry’s assertion of his own belief that “if
at any time an honest attempt were made to copy
the MSS. in the British Museum, he could show
circumstances entitling him to restrain publica-
tion of such a copy if he so desired,” or, as Dr.
Furnivall put it, “that he could show circumstances
that would entitle him to restrain publication of
these manuscripts in the British Museum if he
so desired.” Professor Skeat also wrote calling
attention to the excisions made by Judge Parry
in his text, and commenting severely on his descrip-
tion of it as “a complete edition.”
In the opinion of the Committee there can be
no question that any legal hindrance to the use
of manuscripts in a national collection would be
a misfortune to literature. But this claim was not
put before the Court, and Judge Parry has speci-
fically stated that he will never seek to enforce it.
It may therefore be dismissed from the discussion.
The Committee are unable to regard the point on
which the case was decided as purely technical. Mr.
Gollancz had the original letters at his disposal. It
was open to him to copy them, and to collate his
copies with his predecessor’s version if he thought
it desirable. He preferred to take the opposite
course. He borrowed: his predecessor’s text, and,
without reference to Judge Parry, made it the
234
basis of his own. It can be no defence to allege
that Judge Parry’s work was at once faulty and
defective. If it is the custom among scholars to go
to a faulty version, when the original is at hand,
or to use a living editor’s text without communi-
cating with him until after he has threatened legal
proceedings, the Committee consider that the law
has done a service to literature in declaring that
such practices are illegal.
The Committee have not overlooked the literary
aspect of the case. Judge Parry’s edition of the
letters is admittedly incomplete, and the reason
assigned by him for the excisions, namely, the request
of his publisher, cannot be considered adequate. It
is not disputed that his text and notes stand in
considerable need of revision. Although the
second edition of his volume was published as
far back as October, 1888, he had apparently not
availed himself of the accessibility since 1891 of
the original MSS. in order to revise his text. For
it was not till January, 1903, that Judge Parry
employed a copyist to compare the letters in his
book with the originals in the British Museum,
But, while admitting these considerations, the
Committee feel that Judge Parry was entitled to
be consulted before any use was made of his work
in the preparation of a new edition of the letters.
Finally, as in the Z%mes correspondence the
action of the Secretary of the Society has been
referred to, the Committee think it desirable to
state the part he has taken in the matter.
Before the trial Mr. Gollancz, as a member of
the Society, called on the Secretary, who, at his
desire, wrote to Judge Parry in the following
terms :—
THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS,
Mareh 20th, 1903,
DEAR SIR,—
I have now perused your affidavit. I have also
seen Mr, Gollancz, who has given me his view of the
position. :
Mr. Gollanez has asked me to put this offer before you—
but without prejudice to his legal position if you do not
accept it—that either I should endeavour to arrange the
matter between you, or he is willing to abide absolutely by
any decision come to by an arbitrator appointed by the
Committee of Management of the Society.......
Yours truly,
(Signed) G. HERBERT THRING.
The omitted portion of the letter is private, and
does not refer to any offer.
Judge Parry, in his reply, stated that any offer
Mr. Gollancz desired to make must be made through
the usual channels. This information was com-
municated to Mr. Gollancz by the Secretary.
ee
THE AUTHOR.
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
a
Opinions on United States Copyright Law.*
I.
Music Booxs DrEniep ImportTATION
FEBRUARY 15, 1898.
I. Reprints of musical compositions are pro-
hibited importation.
II. The term ‘ books” in the prohibiting clause
includes music books.
III. Music books made up partly of copyrighted
and partly of uncopyrighted compositions cannot
be imported.
TV. Destruction of unlawfully imported musi¢
books, pursuant to rules of the Secretary of the
Treasury, is legal.
By the Solicitor-General.
I. The Act of March 3, 1891, prohibits “ during
the existence of such copyright, the importation
into the United States of any book, chromo, litho-
graph, or photograph so copyrighted.”
Musical compositions are usually lithographed or
set from type. They thus fall within the class
prohibited. The act indicates an intent to pro-
hibit copyrighted compositions, which includes
musical compositions, when reprinted by type set
or by drawings on stone made outside of the
United States.
Il. In the clause prohibiting importation, the
word “books” signifies the mechanical means to
place the author’s intellectual work in_ saleable
shape. Courts have construed “books” in this
sense to include a musical composition though on
but one sheet. The reprint may be a book, a
lithograph, or a photograph, according to the pro-
cess. In any of these forms the reprint cannot be
imported during the life of the copyright.
III. Music books made up in part of copy-
righted compositions are prohibited. A prohibited -
article cannot be admitted by being attached to an
article which is not prohibited. A book is an
entity. If part is not admissible, it must all be
excluded.
IV. Under the convention with Canada pro-
viding for the reciprocal return of mail matter
which is “not delivered from any cause,” books
imported in violation of law need not be returned.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster-
General have power ($4958, R. 8.) to make rules
to prevent importation of prohibited articles.
Under this general authority rules for the forfeiture
* Extracts from a pamphlet published by the Americam
Publishers’ Copyright League.
THE AUTHOR.
and destruction of prohibited articles unlawfully
imported may be framed so as to provide “ due
process of law.”
II.
DrRaMatic RIGHTS IN AMERICA JUNE 80, 1896.
An unpublished drama need not be copyrighted
to protect stage-rights.
By Mr. Rives.*
An American publisher is requested by an Eng-
lish author ‘‘to copyright a dramatisation” of a
forthcoming story by producing a simultaneous
technical performance.
In the United States stage-right rests entirely
on common law right of property, not upon
statute. An unpublished play is protected. The
play is still unpublished if the text of the drama
has not been printed, although the play has been
produced on the stage and the novel from which it
is taken has been published.
The simultaneous performance desired is un-
necessary to protect the stage-right.
II.
Notice oF CopyricuHt; Form or
1897.
Marcu 4,
When a story, published in a magazine and
copyrighted, is reprinted in book form by another
publisher, under an assignment of the copyright,
the notice therein should give the date of the
original copyright and name of the original
publisher.
By Mr, Rives.
A story was copyrighted by the J. B. Lippincott
Company when published in its magazine. The
copyright was assigned to Dodd, Mead & Company,
who are about to publish the story in book form,
and who inquire as to the proper form for the notice
of copyright.
The law requires a notice to be printed in every
book in order to entitle it to protection under its
coypright. The notice must be in the required
words, Congress declares it must give ‘the year
the copyright was entered and the name of the
party by whom it was taken out.” If the story is
reprinted in the same form the notice should be
“ Copyright, 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company.”
If it is not to be published in exactly the same
form as in the magazine it may be copyrighted as a
new edition, and the notice should be “ Copyright,
1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company ; Copyright,
1897, by Dodd, Mead & Company.”
* My. Rives is the Counsel to the League.
hd
oe
Or
IV
RE-BINDING CHEAP Eprrions ror SALE
APRIL 3, 1899,
Can the owner of a copyright, who sells a
cheap edition of the book, prevent its being put in
another cover, so as to compete at lower prices with
a better edition of the same book ?
By Mr. Rives.
The question of how far the owner of a copy -
right can impose restrictions upon the use of his
book has often been before the Courts. The ques-
tion seems to depend on the consideration whether
the owner of the copyright has sold the book. If
the owner of the copyright has nof sold the book he
can restrict its use. So in case of an edition of
Blaine’s “Twenty Years in Congress,” the
publisher had not sold it to canvassing agents and
the bookseller, who got a few copies, knowing of
the agreement under which the agents got the
book, was restrained. But the moment the book
is sold, even though conditions are attached to the
sale, the owner of the copyright must rely on his
remedy for breach of contract, and not on his right
to restrain an infringement of copyright.
So, where books damaged by fire were sold toa
dealer on condition “that all books be sold as
paper stock only and not placed on the market as
anything else,” but the books were rebound and
put on sale, the Court held the remedy was not for
violation of the copyright, but of the terms of the
contract.
The question next arises how far an owner of a
copyright who se//s his books can protect himself
by imposing conditions on their use. I think an
agreement by which a dealer undertakes, for an
expressed consideration, to sell the books only in a
certain form would, be valid and enforceable as a
contract ; without reference to any copyright.
A greater difficulty arises with respect to the
one to whom the first purchaser may sell. The
contract might also provide that the first purchaser
should insert similar conditions in any contract of
sale with a subsequent purchaser. How far a con-
tract between B. and C., made for the benefit of A.,
is enforceable by A., is hard to say. The rule
varies in different States, but usually A. would have
no remedy against C.
I advise, the safest course is for the publisher to
have a carefully drawn agreement with the dealer
providing that the dealer shall not dispose of the
books except in proper covers ; and also that in
selling to other dealers the original purchaser shall
agree to impose the same condition ; and that any
breach shall be compensated by liquidated damages.
It would also be well to print a notice in each copy
of the book referring to the original contract.
236
Such contract should be enforced against the first
purchaser, and he might be trusted to enforce it
against the dealers to whom he sold.
Vv.
PUBLICATION TO SECURE COPYRIGHT
OcToBER 30, 1901.
Is publication of a book necessary to secure
copyright ?
ae By Mr. Rives.
The text of the statute is silent on this point.
The act, however, assumes that every copyrighted
book is to be published. Copies of the book must
be deposited “not later than the day of publica-
tion.” No action for infringement can be brought
unless a notice is printed in the “ copies of every
edition published.’ The question is what the
Court will infer from this language. In “ Drone
on Copyright,” it is said that “ publication is made
an essential prerequisite to securing copyright ; and
hence there can be no statutory copyright in an un-
published work.” The case of Boucicault v. Hart
(Circuit Court of the United States in New York)
held that a mere filing of title conferred no rights,
unless there was a publication in a reasonable time.
There is, however, a dictum in the case of Farmer
vy. Calvert (Circuit Court in Michigan) that publi-
cation 1s not necessary. The point, therefore, is
somewhat doutbful. ‘he Constitution empowers
Congress to pass copyright laws, not only to pro-
tect authors, but (as it declares) ‘to promote the
progress of science and useful arts,” or, in other
words, to encourage the diffusion of knowledge.
Part of the price an author pays for protection is
that his work shall be available for consultation by
all who desire it.
I am, therefore, of the opinion that the purpose
of the law is that the author shall, within some
reasonable time, make his work public.
As the question is not definitely settled, I should
consider it unwise for a publisher to defer actual
publication for a long time, as it would be running
a serious risk of having his copyright declared
invalid if he afterwards tried to prevent an
infringement. ®
———+—
A Curious ‘Case.
In the autumn of 1902 a member of the Society
received a communication from a firm of the name
of Messrs, J. E. Stannard & Co., calling itself
advertising agents aad contractors, offering to
procure the copyright of certain of her books in
America, for a fixed price. As, however, the books
had already been published in England the author
_ was advised that this would be impossible.
THE AUTHOR.
The contractors, however, were not to be beaten
and claimed that they had a method of obtaining
protection, although the work had already been
published in England. They promised great things
from the circulation of the book and offered to
obtain the control of the whole American market.
Still the author hesitated, but finally, under the
advice of the Secretary of the Society, refused to
accept the offer. The Secretary pointed out that
as the American copyright was lost, it would be
much better for her to deal with her former
American publishers —an old-established and
reliable firm—if she desired to test the American
market. Her English publishers gave her the same
advice. Still Messrs. Stannard & Co. were per-
sistent, “ considering that it must be disheartening
to theauthor to feel that rights worth somethousands
of pounds might slip away at any moment.” Again,
in a letter dated October Ist, 1902, they state as
follows :—
“We think it decidedly unfair that after we have taken
the trouble to do for you what neither of your ‘ firms of
standing’ ever thought of doing, that is, telling you how
to rescue what you have lost, you straightway go and turn
over the information to someone else. We could have
secured the copyrights ourselves and no one would have
blamed us for so doing, instead of which we offered to get
them for you. Our clients learn to rely on us for straight-
forwardness, and it is natural that we should expect the
same in return. We should be pleased to hear from you in
due course. We are tempted with an offer which would
amply recoup us for our trouble, but as it would not be any
to your advantage if we accepted it we have postponed the
reply until you come to a decision.”
The author was still obdurate.
In a letter from Messrs. Stannard & Co., dated
October 24th, we find the following paragraphs :—
‘Since we are not in business as philanthropists we have
advised our American manager by this mail to secure copy-
rights of your books if possible, and retain them in our
name.
“Failing this, he is to issue a par. to the American
Literary Press that the American Literary Copyrights are
not secured.
“ Since respectability does not enter into the methods of
American business men, we have no doubt that this will
have the desired effect, and if some cute American publisher .
copyrights the works in his own name and prevents you
from issuing them in the U.S.A. you cannot say that timely
warning was not given you.
‘* As we have pointed out before, the copyrights are worth
as much to us as they are to you. If we get them, the law
is with us. Under no circumstances will we sign your
publisher’s agreement, and unless you are willing to agree
to the terms stated in our agreement we must follow our
own course in the matter.
“A cablegram (prepaid) will be the only course open
if you wish our American manager to await further
instructions.
“Since much valuable time has been wasted, we must
ask for a final decision at your earliest convenience.”
The daring of the gentleman who writes for the
firm is interesting quite apart from his legal know-
ledge, which is peculiar, It is abundantly clear
THE AUTHOR. 237
to those who have any knowledge of American
Copyright Law that if any person actually obtains
copyright in America without the English author’s
sanction, he must be taking that which does not
belong to him—that is to say, supposing the pub-
lication in both countries to be simultaneous. If
he does not obtain the author’s copyright, but
merely publishes on the American market, he is
only acting as a common but legalised pirate,
On the 21st of January of the present year,
Messrs. Lane and Stannard, presumably repre-
senting the same firm in the United States,
wrote as follows from New York :—
“Re the U.S.A. copyrights of your books. We beg to
inform you.that they have been secured in accordance with
the law, and should therefore be pleased to hear from you
with respect to the publishing of the same in this country.
“As the general publishing price in this country is
$1.50, and the wholesaler’s price but half that amount,
it isnot possible to import an edition and sell at a profit, as
there is a duty of 45 per cent. on imported books. Taking
your offer of two shillings and sixpence (or 60 cents) per
volume, and adding the cost of freight and duty, you
will see that the importing cost would be at least $1 per
volume, and therefore cannot be entertained as a business
proposition.
“Weare willing and ready to deal with you on equitable
terms for the printing and publishing here, and offer and
require similar terms given to your publishers in England,
with exceptions which you will note in the enclosed
agreement. Under these terms you can have full control
over the MSS., and the books can go to press exactly as
written, which I understand you keenly desire.
“We wish you to understand, however, that unless they
are purchased by you, the copyrights will remain in our
possession, and we reserve the right, if you refuse our offer,
to sell to an American publishing firm, without stipulation
as to the editing of the MSS. Should, however, you desire
to purchase, your offer would receive premier consideration.
“In case you accept our offer to publish, the books will
be issued by a New York firm, and will be advertised widely
but economically. Please cable your reply on or before
February 5th, as after that date we shall conclude that you
refuse our offer and shall feel at liberty to conclude negotia-
tions with a firm here for the sale of copyrights with the
privilege of editing the MSS. as they desire.
‘‘We must warn you that any further shipments of your
English edition to this country will be liable to be seized
and confiscated, but we will, of course, allow you reasonable
time to warn your publishers and agents.”
The agreement that they asked the author to
sign is interesting and instructive. There are
three books in question: 25,000 copies of two
of the books are to be published, and 50,000 of the
third. The author agrees to pay all expenses of
printing and publishing, including illustrating,
binding, packing, freights, etc., and also one-half
of the total cost of efficiently advertising the said
books, No limit is fixed for the cost of production
or for the advertisements, and the author has to
deposit in cash a sum equal to the estimated cost
of production and in addition a sum equal to the
estimated initial cost of advertising with the Trust
Company of the City of New York. Such deposit
to be subject only to the draft or cheque of the said
firm on the certification of such bills of indebtedness
by the author if residing in New York, or in her
absence by her legally appointed representatives.
Should, however, bills or accounts as above stated
be presented for certification and no action taken
on the same within seven days, then the said bank
or Trust Company is hereby authorised to pay such
cheques or drafts out of the aforesaid deposits on
receiving an affidavit by the said firm setting forth
such default or negligence. And lastly, in con-
sideration of the above articles being faithfully
performed and carried out, the said firm agree to
pay half profits.
It is hardly necessary to make any comment on
the above extraordinary agreement or upon the
proposals made during the course of negotiations.
The facts speak for themselves,
Although the first letters were full of large
promises of profits of all kinds to the author, yet
the last offer is quite distinct. It is possible that
the author might have been led away by the
temptation held out of large returns arising from
obtaining copyright in the United States, but no
author, however unaccustomed to the ways and
methods of publishers and their dealings in literary
wares, could possibly be deceived by the final letter
and the finalagreement. Nothing farther remains
to be done. The author must stand and wait. If
the books are produced in the United States, they
are pirated copies of the English edition. If they
are produced as copyright, under the American
law, the firm will be subject to severe penalties,
and if the books are produced as an authorised
edition, the author’s remedy is to make the whole
case public,
G. HE.
“FAIR COMMENT.”
— oe
HE Court of Appeal has now given its
judgment in the case of McQuire v. The
Western Morning News Company, Limited.
The case is a very interesting one, not only from
the point of view of the dramatist, but from the
point of view of the author. All members of the
profession of literature are subject to criticism.
Although each particular case of “unfair com-
ment’? must be to a certain extent decided on its
own especial facts, yet there are certain broad
rules which the Court lays down in order to
determine on what lines and to what extent a
criticism may be libellous.
The case was brought by an actor who repre-
sented a piece at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth,
238
and objected to the comment that appeared next
day in the Western Morning News.
In the Court of first instance judgment was
given for the plaintiff with £100 damages. The
defendant company pleading that the words were
not libellous, but fair and bond fide criticism on a
matter of public interest.
The defendants appealed, and on the appeal the
judgment in the Court below was reversed,
The Master of the Rolls, in delivering an
elaborate judgment, made some very weighty com-
ments on the law of “ libellous criticism.”
Firstly, as the libel complained of was a dramatic
criticism of the play publicly acted, unless it
exceeded “fair comment,” it could not be counted
as libellous.
After going carefully over the statements of the
plaintiff and defendants, he proceeded to raise the
most important question of what are the limits of
“ fair comment.”
“ One thing,” he said, “is perfectly clear. That
the jury have no right to substitute their own
opinion of the literary merits of the work for that
of the critic, or to try the fairness of the criticism
by. any such standard.”
This point is most important, and although it
has been made before, yet it cannot be sufficiently
insisted upon. If the verdict of whether the
criticism was fair or not depended upon the jury’s
verdict of the merits of the piece, the result might
be in a good many cases extraordinary. Authors
and dramatists know but too well how even the
highest critics have been known to disagree when
writing about or discussing the features of works
of art.
Secondly, the Master of the Rolls quoted a
saying of Lord Ellenborough’s bearing on this
subject :—
“The Commentator must not step aside from
the work or introduce fiction for the purpose of
condemnation. Had the party writing the criti-
cism followed the plaintiff into domestic life for
the purpose of slander, that would have been
libellous.”
And again, from the same judgment, “ Show me
an attack upon the moral character of the plaintiff,
or upon his character unconnected with his author-
ship, and I shall be as ready as any judge that ever
sat here to protect him.”
Lastly, he states, “I think the word ‘ fair’
embraces the meaning of honest and also of rele-
vancy.” And later, “‘ The comment, in order to be
within the protection of the privilege, had to be
fair, 7.¢., not such as to disclose in itself actual
malice. It also had to be relevant; otherwise it
never was within it. And the judge could hold,
as a matter of law, that the privilege did not extend
to it.’
THE AUTHOR.
These are some of the general points, and in
this particular case the Master of the Rolls stated
that he was clearly of opinion that the verdict was
against the weight of evidence, and that he con-
sidered the latter part of the summing-up of the
judge in the Court of first instance might have led
the jury to apply the standard of their own taste
to the appreciation of the thing criticised, and to
measure the rights of the critic accordingly.
Members of the Society from time to time come
to the office with questions of this kind, and it is
very useful to put before them those fundamental
facts on which alone an action for libellous criti-
cism will rest.
G. Hoo.
—$-—<—-—____
A COMMA AND A COW.
++
PWHE British Medical Journal of the 28th of
March, 1903, had an interesting account of
a dairy visited during an investigation into
“The Milk Supply of Large Towns.” One of the
incidents was described as follows :—
“The driver having finished milking, his cow
offered to take me into an adjoining room, where
the milk was cooled.”
In its following issue the British Medical Journal
commented upon the freak of the “ devil” who had
thus with the aid of a comma created a bovine
successor to Balaam’s ass, and gave two amusing
instances of the powers of misplaced punctuation.
In the one a well-known Nonconformist divine,
wishing to disclaim any ambition to appear in the
black coat and white tie, or stock, of orthodoxy, was
credited with a public declaration that he would
“wear no clothes, to distinguish him from his
fellow-Christians.”
In the other, a Canadian firm having placed a
new patent nursing-bottle on the market, accom-
panied it with these recommendations, for the
guidance of anxious mothers:
“When the baby is done drinking it must be
unscrewed, and laid in a cool place under a tap.
If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk it should
be boiled.”
The last example would seem to require some-
thing more than the minding of stops, in order to
satisfy a critical literary taste. It is not, however,
recorded that any baby suffered. In such a case
an interesting question of legal responsibility might
have been raised by an action for negligence against
the vendors of the bottle brought by a chilled or
par-boiled infant suing through his or her “next
friend.”
THE AUTHOR.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
++
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement),
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
C.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher,
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author,
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
** Cost of Production,”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production,
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld,
o—~<>—
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
—< +
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. [t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager,;
239
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTs :
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certaindate
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (e.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or dificult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event, It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved,
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time, This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance. :
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11, An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA«#
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
&—~<}P— —
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member,
bs Ly VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
240
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements,
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
.8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
—_—_+—>_ +—___—_—_
THE READING BRANCH.
— to
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term
JISS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
————_——__.——_o—_____
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
5s, 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communieations for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
i
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever, Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—+— +
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
ge
R. G. H. PUTNAM, the Secretary of the
American Publishers’ Copyright League,
has forwarded to the offices a pamphlet
privately printed for the League, entitled “ Opinions
on Questions of Copyright.”
The pamphlet contains opinions upon the more
important issues that have been in dispute during
the last ten years ending December, 1902. Mr.
Putnam, in his letter to the Secretary, states, ‘he
will be very pleased to meet any special require-
ments that may arise for copies on the part of the
managers of the Society.”
If, therefore, any member for a special purpose
should desire to have a copy of the pamphlet he is
requested to communicate with the Secretary, who
will, no doubt, under Mr, Putnam’s favour, obtain
the work in question.
We see, with interest, that the Publishers’ Asso-
ciation of America means to print at different
intervals further similar summaries as they are able
to secure records of decisions on Copyright Cases.
These publications will in time no doubt grow to
great importance, as it will be possible in a handy
form to have a collection of all the leading Copy-
right Cases. We thank Mr. Putnam for his
courtesy and consideration.
Amone@ the Correspondence we print a letter
from Mr. Thomas Hardy.
It comes at a very suitable time, as the same
subject was treated in the May number of The
Author, on page 206, when comment was made on
the Annual Meeting of the Publishers’ Association,
In that article we stated as follows :—
“ Firstly, we have insisted, and now insist again,
that it is absolutely essential that contracts deal-
ing with the subject of serial rights should be
clear and limited and should not be general or
indefinite, and when serial rights are sold they
should be sold either to one paper or to a limited
circle of papers for one issue only or for a limited
time.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy seems to have
suffered from a complaint which is not infrequent
among authors, the revival of an earlier work
without any reference to the author. Legally, the
position is quite correct. If the copyright has
been sold or if serial rights without any limitation
have been transferred, the position is often very
unsatisfactory both for the author, or, as in the
case quoted in the May number, for the publisher.
It is necessary to warn authors who publish serial
work to be careful about their agreements.
In the early days of the past month the papers
were full of the Stock Exchange walk from London
to Brighton, and applauded the fact vociferously
that out of some 90 starters 72 covered the
distance under thirteen hours. From a physical
point of view no doubt the result is highly satis-
factory. : : :
In the American Author there is an interesting
article on the mental activity of authors. Mr. John
Swinton, “journalist, orator, and economist,” was
desired to write a novel based on certain economical
questions, consisting of 500 octavo pages, small
pica type, in twenty days. Reckoning a page to
contain about 250 words, this meant a book of
125,000 words. Mr. Swinton objected, but the
representative of the publishing firm was
inexorable, and at last the author stated that
he would make an effort. His own words are
as follows :—
“He demanded the preface of my book at once. I
pondered. I was familiar with the subject, having thought
and spoken and written much upon it in other years. I
hastily sketched a plan as I talked with him.
‘“‘He said he would wait in the house till I had written
the preface, which he desired to take to Philadelphia that
evening. Becoming desperate under his urging eye, I sat
down, and in an hour gave him the preface. The first
chapter was mailed in a few days. Chapter followed
chapter. I worked day and night, keeping up pluck with
never-ending pots of coffee. Three hundred of the five
hundred pages were written, and time was nearly up. I
padded. I put in things I had formerly written. The
twenty days were out, and over one hundred pages were
yet needed. I had to get a few days of grace. Finally the
book of 500 pages and 125,000 words was finished. Its
title is ‘Striking for Life,’ ”’
This was certainly fine mental athletics, but the
THE AUTHOR.
241
article goes on to quote from another American
periodical, the Bookman, a few facts which have
no doubt been fully verified by the writer.
For instance—Frank Norris wrote 125,000 words
in 89 days. Mrs. Oliphant always wrote at night,
and more than once completed a three volume
novel in six weeks. The following interesting
statements about English authors, from the same
article, may come as a surprise to some :—
““Weyman writes one novel a year, and cannot be per-
suaded to attempt more. It took Hall Caine three years to
write ‘The Manxman,’ Barrie four to write ‘ Sentimental
Tommy,’ and four more to produce ‘Tommy and Grizel.’
Maurice Hewlett wrote ‘The Forest Lovers’ four times
before he was willing to let it go from his hands, and the
late Bret Harte tore up a dozen pages of manuscript for
every one that he completed. Harold Frederic was five
years writing ‘The Damnation of Theron Ware. ”
But for sound mental athletics, consider gravely
an offer made by a certain well-known publisher to
a gentleman, whom he desired to employ to grind
out fiction. This offer was quoted in’ the April
number of Zhe Author, and is absolutely authentic.
The serial writer was to have £600 a year. To
earn this money he would have to produce 5,000
words a day for six days a week, without any
provision for sickness or holidays. It will be seen
that work under this offer comes nearly up to that
of Mr. Swinton, but has to be continued year in
and year out, until the publisher, the public, and
the author are tired, and the last, a useless wreck,
loses his position.
In the American Critic an article entitled
“Uncertainties of Literature,” written by Elliot
Flower, follows the same lines as the articles that
appeared in the February and March (1902) num-
bers of Zhe Author, on “Some Free Lance Expe-
riences.”
In reading the record it would appear that the
struggling ree Lance meets with much the same
treatment on both sides of the water. The record
is tabulated.
Out of 53 MSS., each MS. had to be sent on
its travels on an average slightly over five times
before it could be placed. Nine were accepted at
once, and 12 on a second trial, but at the other
end of the scale, one was sent out 30 times before
acceptance, one 18 times, and two 13 times.
There is no doubt that when an author has
reached a certain point of facility in writing there
is nothing like persistence to bring success.
Tux following rhyme, written, perchance, with a
view to ridicule, has been dropped into the Society’s
post bag.
We print it for what it is worth, in the hope that
249
the author will put aside his cloak of modesty and
discover himself.
No doubt, he calls it an epigram. If so, he
would, we feel sure, be a proper inmate for one of
those beautiful and sanitary buildings that adorn
the hills of Surrey and Sussex.
To tHE Society of AUTHORS, 39, QUEEN STREET,
SrorEY’s GATE.
You flourish on Authors’ alarms ;
You arouse the unfriendly in Man ;
Then you sell healing balms,
To stifle their qualms,
At the cost of One Guinea per ann.
But pause for a moment, I pray,
A pen stroke :—your ruin is clear,
From the Street that is clean,
With the name of the QUEEN,
To the street that is doubtful and QUEER.
ee <>
THE LYTTON CENTENARY.
— +
HE Lytton centenary has produced the
ordinary crop of commemorative articles, the
best being Mr. Francis Gribble’s paper in
the Fortnightly Review, and the more sober appre-
ciation in Blackwood’s Magazine. Of these two
papers we think the latter has the greater value as
criticism, for Mr. Gribble’s virile intolerance of any-
thing savouring of affectation prompts him to con-
vey the suggestion, though he does not actually
formulate the charge, that Lytton’s vapourings
about the Beautiful and the True originated in
preciousness ” and were therefore insincere, and
his resentment of the seeming insincerity prompts
him to do scant justice to Lytton’s compensating
merits.
With the intolerance of affectation we are in full
sympathy, but we do not endorse the very common
opinion that Lytton was insincere. He was despe-
rately in earnest, ever painfully conscious of his
“mission”; he had indeed that high seriousness
which, according to Matthew Arnold, comes from
absolute sincerity. With it, too, he had a sense of
humour ; “ Kenelm Chillingly” proves that, even
as it proves its author’s funereal gravity and fathom-
less sentimentality. And with those two qualifica-
tions, high seriousness and humour, it is odds but
what any man will go far. The mistake Lytton
made was in allowing his mission to get in the
way of his art. “In forming his conception,”
Mr. Worsfold says, “the artist should be guided
by the test of ‘great ideas ’; in executing his con-
ception he must be guided by the ‘rules of art,
THE AUTHOR.
He, on the one hand, can never be, by the nature
of things, so independent of the mass of mankind
as to make artistic excellence his sole object; on
the other, moral worth, however distinctive, can
never of itself suffice to endow his work with the
characteristic charm of art.” Lytton’s moral inten-
tions were above suspicion, and his literary facility
was so extraordinary that it is not surprising that
he neglected the rules of art when, without them, he
could achieve such an extraordinary vogue as he
did at once.
The measure of success that was meted out to
him might well, indeed, have turned the brain of a
much more robust man, and the wonder is, not
that he enjoyed such a vogue in the earlier part of
his career, but that he was not spoiled by it and
wholly incapacitated for doing the much better
work that he actually produced in the latter half
of his career.
Whether Lytton was a great artist or not is a
question little likely to be brought up for discussion
now ; the centenary merely offers opportunity for
reconsidering him as a writer at the expiration of
a given period. What he wrote, he wrote ; some
of it suited and has been accepted ; “and that’s
success.” ‘To describe him in a single epithet is
not possible, but the epigrammatic criticism passed
upon him by a writer in the Academy is pro-
bably as fair a one as could be devised : that he
was so full of talent that there was no room left in
him for genius. That his bicentenary will be com-
memorated, and those books which are read now
be read a hundred years hence, may, we think, be
assumed ; and of many a better writer so much
could not be said.
Or
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
—
(Reprinted by kind permission from the Publishers’
Circular, May 2nd.)
R. ANDREW LANG has been “ pitching
in” to the booksellers in the Morning
Post—or, what is much the same thing,
he has borrowed the stick of a “ trenchant critic ”
who writes in 7’e Author and re-applied it—with
reservations. He lets his “author” point the
moral, and then he adorns the tail, with another
sting of the stick.
«The bookseller’s affair is,” he says, “to know
about books and men. My author, however,
‘believes that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate
the lethargy and incapacity of the ordinary retail
bookseller.” Mr. Lang kindly adds: “These be
very brave words ; I should hesitate to apply them
PohCenSORNRRI
THE AUTHOR.
to his Majesty’s ministers, much more to the
ordinary retail bookseller.” Then why, Mr. Lang,
did you not hesitate before-taking such an unfair
statement out of its coffin and publishing it to the
world ?—it would have remained stillborn had you
not godfathered it. ‘“ ‘The habit of reading,’ says
my author, ‘is being all over the country dis-
couraged by the insutficiency of the vast majority
of booksellers.’” Mr. Lang quotes this silly libel,
and adds that he deems it “ much too sweeping.”
How much ?
“*The country,’ says my author ferociously,
‘would be benefited by the bankruptcy of the
whole lot of booksellers, and the transference of
their business to more competent hands.’” Mr.
Lang’s comment is: “This man _ has suffered
much.” How much? Anyone would think the
whole of the booksellers of the United Kingdom
had united to offend him by refusing to stock his
works, but all we are told is that some unnamed
“suburban bookseller” failed to get him a cheap
copy of Milton’s poems.
“The book never came, but at the end of a
fortnight the bookseller found energy enough to
send a messenger to say it could not be procured.”
If this cock-and-bull story were true, what
ground is there in it for libelling the whole book-
selling trade of the country ? Another ‘“ example,”
as Mr, Lang calls it, of this man’s sufferings at the
hands of the whole trade is that, despairing of
getting a learned work on Egyptology from the
suburban bookseller—apparently he did not even
ask for it—he gives its title and the address of its
publisher to a tobacconist, who at once procured it
—whether the confiding tobacconist ever got paid
for it we are not told. But why should Mr. Lang
give credence and publicity to such a Blue Fairy
story as this ? ’
“The larger part of the reading public cannot
get the books it desires,” says Mr. Lang’s “ tren-
chant critic.” If this is trne it only goes to prove
that the larger part of the public is what Carlyle
said it was.
How interesting it would be to have the name
and address of this “author” who would like to
see the whole bookselling trade made bankrupt
because some apocryphal suburban bookseller could
not procure for him a copy of the “ Chandos’
Milton. Mr. Lang’s pen is not often dipped in
disappointed author’s bile, and it is not as if he
believed the charges were true; then why give
currency to anonymous and unfounded abuse of
the booksellers ?
There are thousands of booksellers in the United
Kingdom selling millions of books every year, and
yet they are all condemned in this wholesale way
because some nameless author says he could not
get a cheap book from some unnamed bookseller.
243
It is true that one or two other “examples ” are
given by Mr. Lang. Some old lady in Norway
wrote for Mr. Lang’s books to an Edinburgh book-
seller, who gaily replied that they were all out of
print. Are we to infer from the strange conduct
of this prevaricating Edinburgh bookseller that
Mr. Lang has no honour in his own country ?
Heaven forbid! Booksellers would be the last to
claim that their knowledge and methods were never
at fault—but even those of authors are not perfect.
o—~<—
HALF-PROFITS ON SHEETS TO
AMERICA,
— +
T may seem dull reading to the constant reader
of The Author to see the repetition of certain
forms of agreement, certain clauses, certain
methods of publishing, accompanied with the same
comments; but as long as publishers persist in
bad clauses so long must Ve Author's objections
persist also.
There is a clause often embodied in agreements
issued by the best houses in London in which the
author, who does not obtain the American Copy-
right, is entitled to half of the profits on the sale
of sheets to America. If this clause is inserted in
the usual half-profit agreement there is little to be
said against it. The only points at issue, then,
are, Is a profit-sharing agreement desirable? In
what proportion should profits be divided between
author and publisher? But if the clause is inserted
in an agreement where the author is to obtain a
royalty on the publication of the English edition,
there are two very strong points of objection.
This sale to an American house is mere agency
work. If conducted through the medium of an
author’s agent the latter would be highly pleased
with the payment of 10 per cent. on the net result.
Not so the publisher, although he is constantly
crying out against the agent and his charges, It
is a well-known fact—instances have often been
quoted—that the publisher, although he expresses
strong disapproval of the intervention of the agent
who charges a modest 10 per cent., makes—when
he endeavours to undertake any of the agent’s
duties—a general charge of 50 per cent. The
lowest percentage which has ever been seen in any
agreement before the Secretary of the Society was
25 per cent. Further arguments against allowing
a publisher to undertake an agent’s work need not
be repeated here.
The second objection rests on the fact that a
clause drafted on these lines is a distinct pitfall to
the author. It is a pitfall for the following
reasons :—1. Because to the ordinary person the
244
difficulties with which the clause is pregnant are
altogether invisible. 2. Because the amount the
author receives in royalty is always calculated—
see the books of the Society on the point—on the
basis that the full cost of composition is charged
against the English edition. If this were not
the case, the author ought to receive a higher
royalty on British sales. :
Let us explain what we mean more fully.
ake the ordinary 6s. book :—
Cost of composition of 3,000 copies ... £30 0 0
Cost of printing ; ee 16 0 8
Cost of paper a 2 58 0 0
Total... ..£104 0 0
Of the 3,000 copies the publisher sends 2,000 to
America, and receives for the same (say) 1s. a copy
£100. The cost of composition was compulsory
for the completion of the English edition, the
author’s royalty, as stated, being based on_ this
understanding ; but the publisher takes two-thirds
of this cost towards the American edition, as well
as two-thirds of the cost for the print and the paper,
leaving to be divided between himself and the
author—
By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0
‘Two-thirds cost of production ~ 69 6 8
£30 13 4
As the cost of composition has no right to be
charged against the American edition, but only the
cost of print and paper, the difference would work
out as follows :—
By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0
‘Two-thirds cost of print and paper... 49 6 8
£50 13 4
Instead, therefore, of the author receiving
£25 6s. 8d., by the publisher’s method of calcu-
lation of half profits, the author receives
£15 6s. 8d. and the publisher £35 6s. 8d. It
is almost as reasonable an arrangement as the
ordinary half-profit agreement, whose clauses and
workings have so often been exposed in Zhe
Author.
To show how this method may be worked out in
the interests of untrustworthy publishers unfairly to
the author, say the publisher in the first instance
only publishes a thousand copies. The cost of
composition would still be £30; printing, £10;
paper, £20. He sells 500 copies to America, and
on the same principle the following sum is worked
out —
THE AUTHOR.
Half cost of production .. £30 0 0
By sale of 500 copies to America at 1s.
per copy ... one ae «=. 202 0 0
£5 0.0
This would leave a deficit against the author’s
account of £2 10s., as the sale to America has
failed to cover the cost of production.
As soon as the edition is sold and the amount is
worked out against the author he prints 10,000
copies for the English edition, but never takes into
account the proportion of the cost of production of
the 500 sent to America to the 10,000 printed in
England. Again, supposing you take the first
instance and 20,000 were subsequently sold, the
cost of the 2,000 sold to America is still taken in
proportion to the cost of the 3,000 of the first
edition printed, and not in proportion to the whole
cost.
It will be seen, therefore, that, quite apart
from the contract being unfair and a pitfall
to the unwary (as on the face of the agree-
ment the difficulty is invisible), even if it is
worked out by a publisher with an honest idea of
doing nothing dishonourable, the result of its
working, its natural evolution, becomes a fraud
on the author, as it is impossible to calculate this
sale to America on the basis of future sales. It
must always be calculated upon the sales that have
already been made. The position is ridiculous. It
is to be hoped that the Publishers’ Association will
dissociate themselves from this form of agreement.
G. H. T.
—_—--
AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.
II.—The Purchase of an Annuity.
O possess an annuity is the dearest desire of a
poor man’s heart. An income assured for life,
against which neither the rumours of wars
nor the depressions of the money market has any
effect, isperhaps the most comforting of all prospects.
For this reason doubtless—the immunity from finan-
cial worry—the lives of annuitants extend beyond
the common span. One company, in a recent report,
stated that the average age of the annuitants dying
during the year under review was eighty-eight.
The records of other companies confirm this experi-
ence, which is remarkable in view of the fact that
many of the annuitants are in weak health when
they effect their policies, and would not be accept-
able for life insurance except at special rates.
The Moral Objection is one which arises in the
consideration of the annuity. It is held that as
the capital invested with the company is forfeited
to them at the death of the assured ; that the con-
tract is a peculiarly selfish one; at least this is
often the opinion of near relatives. The question,
however, depends wholly upon circumstance. For a
married man with distracting responsibilites to
sink all his available capital might very well be an
unwise step. On the other hand, there area variety
of situations in which to purchase an annuity might
be a most prudent step, inasmuch as the annuitant
is relieved immediately of all anxiety—providing
the annuity is of sufficient amount—as regards
his future.
Annuity versus Investment—It is generally
agreed by financial authorities that the highest
return on money it is possible to obtain from abso-
lutely secure investment is 8 per cent. he
return from the annuity is much higher, varying
from 5 to 20 per cent., according to age. A
man of sixty would receive £30 a year from his
investment of £1,000, whereas the annuity would
produce him an income of £94. The difference
might very well mean to him the path from penury
to comfort. In consequence of the curious life-
giving properties of the annuity it is regarded with
disfavour by some of the insurance companies, as it
is not a department which is very profitable to
them. The occasional early death of an annuitant
does not recompense them for the abnormally long
lives on which they continue to make a high return.
Another aspect of the annuity in comparing it with
investments is that the return never varies. The
recent depreciation in the value of Consols and
certain railway stocks indicates a risk which
attaches even to “ gilt-edged”’ investments.
The choice of an annuity is necessarily confined
to persons of capital. But the return per hundred
pounds is the same as per thousand, and to persons
whose income comes to them, as it were, in flashes,
a few hundred pounds might very well be sunk in
producing a small income which has the immense
advantage of being guaranteed to them for life.
The choice of an annuity, being a perfectly simple
contract untroubled by side issues, is one which
offers no difficulty. All the well-known British
offices are absolutely safe. The object, therefore,
should be to purchase the annuity in the office
offering the largest return for the particular age.
The returns differ far more than in ordinary
insurance. For example, a man of sixty can pur-
chase for £1,000 a life annuity of £94 in one
office, whilst another will return him only £80 10s.
The difference is over 14 per cent. Both offices
are of the highest standing, but a man would be
very unwise to take the latter policy when the
former is obtainable. ‘The differences indicated at
several ages is clearly shown in the following
table. The terms quoted by the Post Office are
also given for the purpose of comparison.
THE AUTHOR.
245
INVESTMENT oF £1,000,
Males.
|
| Age 40. Age 50,
Highest re-| £ 5, d.| £ s.. d.| & $d. & sg
2 Gunn 62 10 0173 10.0104. .0 1134 oO 8
Lowest re- |
tora =... | 62 1 0.) 63 10 0130-10 06 114 8 6
Difference..| £9 15 0/10 0 0/1810 01/19 15 0
Average of |
50 offices. | 5 |
! W1t 8) 68 7 6 | 8812 61196 6 §
Post Office..| 55 17 6 |.66 18 4187 1 8 195 9 9
Females.
: ee
Age 40, | Age 50 Age 60. | Age 70,
|
d.| ee a A es as ga.
Highest re-} £ s. | £ 8.
CHI cs 56 12 0 | 66 10
O18 0 0 1193 0 6
Lowest re- | |
nibunloy eee 48 0 0/5616 8| 7218 4|105 6 8
Difference..|£8 12 0| 918 4/1211 8|1713 4
Average of
50 offices.| 52 11 8 | 62 1 817915 O1115 0 0
Post Office..|] 50 5 0{60 510/78 8 4 111416 8
|
-Vote.—For the return per £100 in each instance divide:
by ten.
There is no doubt, however, that the complete
surrender of capital to the company is a material
objection, in some minds, to the purchase of an
annuity. “Should I die the day after, they argue,
the money is absolutely lost, and my estate receives
nothing!” The number of annuitants dying in
the early days of their contract is so small as to be
beyond practical consideration ; but all the same
this objection remains. To meet this several com-
panies have lately devised a plan by which the
income is guaranteed over a stated number of years,
usually ten or twenty. This provides against the
early death of the annuitant, as, in any case, a
return of ten or twenty payments is guaranteed to.
the estate. We have shown that the best return
obtainable for age sixty for £1,000 is £94 per
annum. With the annuity guaranteed for tem
years the return would be £80 3s. and for twenty
years £62 9s. Such tables would appeal to persons.
who wish to provide their estate against the risk
of early death. But, on the other hand, most per-
sons of mature age are more or less covered by life
insurance, and it is perhaps better business to
accept the slight risk of early death in order to:
procure the materially higher income.
246
THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE SOCIETY
OF AUTHORS.
1+
HE annual dinner of the Society, held at the
Hotel Cecil, on Thursday, April 30th, was
attended by about 170 members and guests.
Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Chairman of the Committee
of Management, was in the chair, with Captain
Sverdrup, of the Fram, one of the gold medallists
of the Royal Geographical Society for this year,
on his right hand and Sir Clements Markham,
K.C.B., President R.G.S., on his left ; and the
vice-chairs were occupied by Mr. G. H. Thring
(Secretary), Mr. Rider Haggard, Mr. Anthony
Hope Hawkins, and Dr. 8. Squire Sprigge. When
dinner was over the Chairman proposed the health
of the King in a brief speech, followed by that of
the Queen and Royal Family.
After these loyal toasts had been duly honoured,
Mr. Douglas Freshfield rose again to propose the
toast of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
Making reference to the important work done by
the Society for authors at large and for its members
in particular in enabling them to obtain the full
market value for their work, he described it as a
Society for the Protection of Authors. In their
business relations with publishers authors often
needed protection. He deprecated the idea that
the Society led a crusade against publishers, and
preferred to consider it as working to promote
an alliance necessary to both; he likened it rather
to a trades union, having, however, no power to call
its members out on strike. Mr. Freshfield also
referred to the subject of the foundation of an
Academy of Literature, as a question of interest to
authors, on which he believed that there was some-
thing to be said on both sides, though he indicated
his own doubts as to the advantages to literature
and the public taste that might be derived from
such a body counterbalancing the obvious draw-
backs and difficulties connected with its creation
and renewal.
Mr. Rider Haggard replied for the Society in a
vigorous speech, in which he deprecated the
expression of any desire by authors for the institu-
tion of an Academy, and inquired what the methods
were likely to be by which election to such an
Academy might be secured. He declared that he
had no wish to see authors—men of letters—touting
round to other men of letters in order to secure
election to the Academy. He asked by what stan-
dard it was proposed that their claims to election
should be judged. Was popularity to be the test,
and was the author of whose work many thousand
copies were sold before it appeared to be the one
elected to the Academy, or he whose work was
considered to have high literary qualifications ?
THE AUTHOR.
He hoped that the question of the Academy
would be left alone, and expressed the belief
that every class had the right to combine
for the mutual comfort and protection of its
members, and that this was the spirit which
actuated those who founded the Society of Authors,
of which he had been a very early member. While
alluding to the question of the prices paid for
literary work and the success of the Society in
bettering the position of authors with regard to
payment, Mr. Haggard asked why Milton sold
““Paradise Lost” for £10? He answered his own
question by saying, with emphasis, that it was
because he could not get any more. For unpaid
work, amateur work, he expressed no great respect,
indeed he questioned the merits of work done
without hope of reward in such terms that some of
his hearers were inclined to express dissent from
his views. In the course of his speech Mr. Haggard
referred to the friendly relations which he believed
to be those that should rightly exist between
author and publisher, and in conclusion he paid a
graceful tribute to the memory of Sir Walter
Besant.
In proposing the toast of the guests of the
Society of Authors, Mr. Richard Whiteing referred
to those preseut who, representing science, had
maintained the connection ever existing between
science and literature. He mentioned among those
present Mr. C. Longman, Dr. Clifford Allbutt, Dr.
Mill, Sir William Church, P.R.C.P., Sir Henry
Howse, P.R.C.S., and Mr. G. W. Prothero. In par-
ticular he made allusion to the work done recently
by Captain Sverdrup on board the Fram, and to the
kindred services to science and exploration with
which the name of Sir Clements Markham is
associated. With these gentlemen he joined Mr.
Henry Newbolt as representing the guests of the
Society.
In replying for the guests, Sir Clements Markham
laid emphasis upon the recent achievements of
Captain Sverdrup in the department of scientific
Polar exploration, and mentioned that Captain
Sverdrup himself would probably find difficulty in
making a lengthy reply to the toast in any but a
foreign tongue. Unfortunately this was the case,
and Captain Sverdrup, to the regret of his hosts
and fellow-guests, confined himself to a_ brief
expression of thanks for the cordial welcome
received by him.
Mr. Henry Newbolt, replying in his turn for the
guests, described himself as being in a sense a
publisher as well as an author, and was inclined to
think that the attitude of author and publisher
towards one another must necessarily be charac-
terised by some hostility due to their relative
positions and interests. Referring to standards by
which modern literature may be judged, Mr.
THE AUTHOR.
Newbolt took a hopeful view of his contemporaries,
but compared their passage past our range of
vision to that of a procession, pointing out that
the procession as it goes by seems to be a confused
succession of units, while the relative merit of the
figures and groups composing it can best be appre-
ciated as it passes into the distance.
At the conclusion of Mr. Newbolt’s speech Mr.
Oscar Browning rose to give the health of the
chairman. Mr, Browning avowed himself able in
doing this to speak from long acquaintance with
the subject of his speech, whom he had first
known as climbing Mont Blane while a school-
boy at Eton, when he was himself a master
there, and with whose work as an explorer of
mountain peaks and ranges, and discoverer of
ground untrodden by previous climbers, he had
been familiar from his earliest days.
Mr. Freshfield, in thanking those present for the
warmth with which they had received the toast,
made graceful reference to his memories of Mr.
Browning as an Eton master, and to the long
friendship with him which so many Eton and
Cambridge men had enjoyed.
A soirée was held after the toasts had been
drunk, and the members and guests had an oppor-
tunity of meeting one another.
The following is a list of those present :—
Ackermann, A. 8. E.
Ackermann, Mrs.
Allbutt, Prof. Clifford
Armstrong, E. A.
Ashley, Mrs.
Back, Mrs. Eaton
Baildon, H. Belsize
Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite
Begbie, Miss A, H.
Bell, Mackenzie
Berene, Sir
K.C.M.G.
Besant, Geoffrey
Besier, Rudolf
Bird, C. P.
Boddington, Miss Helen
Bolam, the Rev. C. E.
Boutwood, Arthur
Boutwood, Mrs.
Browning, Oscar
Bryden, H. A.
Buxton, Dudley
Buxton, Mrs. Dudley
Campbell, Miss Mont-
gomery
Carlile, John C.
Childers, Erskine
Church, Sir William &.,
PEC, P,
Churchill, Lt.-Col. Seton
Henry,
Colquhoun, Archibald
Colquhoun, Mrs. Archi-
bald
Craig, Lt.-Col. R. Mani-
fold
Crawshay, Mrs.
Croker, Mrs. B. M.
Davidson, Miss L. C,
Davy, Mrs. E. M.
Doudney, Miss Sarah
Douglas, Sir George,
Bart.
Dowsett, C. F.
Duncan, Miss Sarah
Jeanette
Esler, Rentoul
Esler, Mrs. Rentoul
Free, the Rey. Richard
Freshfield, Douglas
Galpin, H.
“ Wirt Gerrare ”
Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer
Grierson, Miss
Griffin, H. M.
*‘ Victoria Cross ”’
Groser, Horace G.
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E.
Haggard, Miss Dorothy
Haggard, Miss Angela
Haggard, H. Rider
Hallett, Col. W. Hughes
Harrison, Miss Rose
Hawkins, A. Hope
Henslowe, Miss
Hepburn, David
Hills, A. E.
Hodges, W. O.
Holman, Martin
Howse, Sir Henry G.,
P.R.C.S.
Humphreys, Mrs. Des-
mond (‘‘ Rita ’’)
Hutchinson, the Rey,
HN,
lliffe, Mrs.
Irvine, Mrs. Duncan
Irvine, Duncan
Jacobs, W. W.
James, Miss W. M.
( Austin Clare”)
Jenkins, Mrs. L. Hadow
Keltie, J. Scott
Kenealy, Miss Arabella
Lechmere, Mrs.
Lechmere, Mr.
Lee, Miss Alice
Lefroy, Mrs.
Lennox, Lady William
Little, J. Stanley
Little, Mrs.
Longman, C. J.
Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc
‘Maarten Maartens ”
Magnus, Laurie
Markham, Sir Clements,
KO. BE RS:
Marks, Montagu
Mason, Miss EH. M.
Meadows, Miss
Mill, Dr. H. R.
Montagu, Mrs. Drogo
247
Morris, Mrs. Frank
Moscheles, Felix
Newbolt, H.
Oppenheim, E. Phillip
Pennethorne, Deane
Pennethorne, Mrs.
Perrin, Mrs.
Perris, G. H.
Petano, D. K.
Phibbs, Miss I. M.
Praed, Bulkeley
Praed, Mrs. Campbell
Prelooker, Jaakoff
Prothero, G. W.
Rae, John
* Allen Rainé”
Reeves, Mrs.
Reich, Emil
Rogers, A.
“ Leicester Romayne ”
Royle, William
Savory, Miss Isabel
Stanton, Miss H. M.
Stanton, Stephen J. B.
Stroud, F.
Stroud, Miss
Smith, Mrs. Isabel
Spielmann, M. H.
Sprigge, Mrs. Squire
Sprigge, 8. Squire
Sverdrup, Capt.
Thring, Mrs.
Thring, G. H.
Trench, Herbert
Tweedie, Mrs. Alec
Walrond, Charles
Wells, Mrs.
Wells, H. G.
White, Arnold
Whiteing, R.
Wilson, Mrs.
—_——___—_1+—>—_ 2 —____—-
EDUCATE YOUR OWN CHILDREN.
9
EFORE the South African War it was some-
times asked whether such and such a
colony was really loyal.
That question has been answered. ‘To-day, at any
rate in Canada, an Englishman may be forgiven
if he sometimes asks of himself “ Does the old
country really want to keep us?”
If she does not, why not say so openly, and let
those who wish to, return to her, and those who
wish to, join hands with the States.
But if England really wants to keep Canada,
248
why does she allow the United States to educate
the public opinion of her colony ?
It is not enough that most of our daily news
comes to us coloured to suit America, that our
telegrams are not altogether reliable, that there
are so many Americans amongst us and such go-a-
head American towns close to us, that our people
must take some tones and colours from their
neighbours which an Englishman born would
rather they did not ?
To all this is added, for the sake of a few paltry
pounds in the pocket of the English Post Office,
the fact that almost all our light literature and
practically all our magazines are American.
The way of it is thus: American periodicals
are not better than English. Far from it. Better
illustrated two or three of them may be, but no
one who could get a Blackwood would, I assume,
take any ten American magazines in exchange
for it.
And our people know this; but the American
magazines are cheaper than ours, thanks to the
extremely high postal rates which our magazines
have. to pay.
Magazines which cost the same at the offices of
publication differ as one to two in price when they
reach the Canadian market.
Here is an illustration: The Strand and
Pearson's are both published in New York as well
as in London. Our booksellers sell the old-style
edition, of course, which costs them 74 cents in
New York, and is mailed to them at 1 cent
per lb. If they bought the English edition they
would have to pay about 9 cents in London, and
8 cents per 1b. postage.
The result of this kind of thing is that, taking
the figures of one of our booksellers here as a
criterion, we seil four American magazines for
every British magazine, though we are a British
people and like our own wares best.
My first.point is a national one.. If you want
to keep Canada British, you had better feed her
mind on British literature.
My second is for the authors. If you want to
keep a market for British books in Canada, you
had better ask British publishers to advertise a
little (not necessarily in the vilely bad taste common
on this continent, but in such a way that a man’s
intimate friends may have a chance of finding out
that he has written a book), and press for such
postal rates as will allow the magazines in
which they advertise to compete with American
magazines,
If any one is sufficiently interested in my subject
to pursue it for himself, let him take up any of the
leading magazines of the States and see how they
advertise their books.
When “David Harum” came out you could
THE AUTHOR.
not walk through the streets of Ottawa without
being flipped in the face by long streamers of
“extracts ” which floated from the booksellers’
doors ; you could not open a magazine without
setting free a shower of notices ; the book haunted
you. As to our books, I had to start a crusade
against our booksellers, to wake them up to the
fact that ‘The Four Feathers ” had been written.
Are we not big enough as a nation to sacrifice a
few dollars, that our children may learn at their
mother’s knee, and not at another’s ?
CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY.
—_—_____» <> ____
“SIR MACKLIN.”
a
OLLECTIVE psychology is a subject which,
as this volume” testifies, has not escaped the
attention of Mr. A. B. Walkley, but one
reader, at least, inclines to the opinion that he has
not applied his knowledge with sufficient particu-
larity in this present instance. Had he done so he
would not have forgotten that devices proper to
the rhetorician are not always proper to the author
and that a looseness of argument may pass un-
challenged in the spoken word, but cannot escape
so lightly in the written word: in short, that good
lectures do not necessarily make good books.
There is a certain sort of banter, wholly or partly
good-humoured, that frequently is not only lawful but
expedient to a lecturer who desires to carry with
him the last obstinate objector in his audience ;
but the same banter may have a contrary effect
when the lecture is reproduced in the unsympathetic
medium of printer’s ink and submitted to the
leisurely consideration of the same individual in
the seclusion of his library.
I seem to detect such partly good-humoured
banter in the first lecture in the volume before me.
I am conscious of an attempt on Mr. Walkley’s
part to anticipate any suggestions I may make of
flaws in his work and to dispose of them before-
hand by belittling my qualifications to estimate its
value. He puts me in my place, so to speak, and
the human nature in me is disposed to rebel
against the operation.
‘Everyone who expresses opinions, however
imbecile, in print calls himself a ‘critic.’ The
greater the ignoramus, the greater the likelihood
of his posing as a ‘critic.’” Sentences of this
kind may serve to raise an unthinking laugh and
break the ice between lecturer and audience, but
they are not worthy of being perpetuated in print ;
* “ Dramatic Criticism,’ by A. B. Walkley. London:
John Murray, 1903. (5s. net.)
THE AUTHOR. 249
their inaccuracy is only equalled by their antiquity.
The sole reason that 1 can find for their preserva-
tion here is a desire to rule me, and others like me,
out of court by writing me down an ass before I
begin to suggest that perhaps Mr. Walkley does
not embody all the law and the prophets. As a
mere caudal appendage of “that great baby, the
public,” I may be a barbarian, or, isolated, a harm-
less citizen or a placid British vestryman ; with
luck I may be an amateur of culture, in which
case my judgment is probably spoiled by the
literary bias, or a mundane person, in which case
I have a bias either of the individual or the vogue.
Whatever I may be, I don’t matter, which is a
soothing reflection for Mr. Walkley and a chasten-
ing one for me. And yet I can’t help wondering
if it is quite true.
“From the people whom the critic criticises it
would be unreasonable to expect sympathy,” Mr.
Walkley remarks ; he omits to say what it would
be reasonable to expect from the people who
criticise the critic ; perhaps the possibility never
entered his head. But he also observes that ‘just
as one solid body cannot collide with another with-
out the manifestation of a form of energy which
we call heat, so one mind cannot impinge upon
another without the manifestation of that form of
energy which we call criticism.” Inasmuch as it
is due to Mr. Walkley, with Mr. Murray as a con-
tributory party, that his mind has impinged upon
mine, it is not only excusable but natural that I
should manifest energy with the best of them.
My dissatisfaction with this book is due to the
fact that it does not take me any further forward
than I was before ; it is nebulous and inconclusive.
Portentously serious in intention it is not a serious
contribution to the literature of criticism. The
author has an irritating trick of proving all sorts
of things, and then, when he has triumphantly
written Q.E.D. at the end of his argument, hastening
to explain that the theorem is wholly immaterial.
He reminds me of Sir Macklin, who, as every
schoolboy knows,
“was a priest severe
In conduct and in conversation,
It did a sinner good to hear
Him deal in ratiocination.
“ He could in every action show
Some sin, and nobody could doubt him,
He argued high, he argued low,
He also argued round about him.”
It is not for me to suggest whom to cast for the
bishop in the story.
Thus he refers to Gibbon’s division of critics
into three classes, takes leave to reduce them to
two, compares these two, showing in the process
that there is not so much difference between them
as they themselves suppose, and then, having
compared and contrasted them to his own entire
satisfaction, war's us that the contrast must not be
taken too seriously. By such a device the most
exiguous contribution to literature might be
bumped out to the most ample proportions, but
its value, when so bumped out, would be open to
question.
On page 20 he quotes Mr. Birrell as follows :—
“T have had some experience of authors, and have
always found them better pleased with the ‘ unprofes-
sional’ verdicts of educated men, actively engaged in the
work of the world than ever they were with the laboured
praise of the so-called ‘ expert.’ ”
Then on page 35 he examines the passage as
follows :—
“ After the crowd, the average or uncultivated amateur,
let us turn to Mr. Birrell’s candidate for the critical post—
the man of affairs or of the world who dabbles in the arts ;
in other words, the amateur of culture. Mr. Birrell puts in
a very artful plea for this class. He says the authors like
them, preferring their verdicts of approval to the ‘ laboured ’
praise of the so-called ‘expert.’ Here, however, we must
be on our guard against the rhetorical device of the pro-
fessional advocate—the familiar device of comparing one
thing at its best with another thing at its worst. The
praise of the ‘expert’ is not necessarily ‘laboured.’ And
you will observe that the authors like the men of the world
when they deliver verdicts of approval. What the authors
think of this class when they deliver verdicts of disapproval
we are not told.”
I have italicised the words in these two passages
which reveal the discrepancy between the text as
given by Mr. Walkley and the text as criticised
by him. I refrain from giving the exact text
of Mr. Birrell’s words, and merely submit that the
discrepancy ought not to have been passed in a
considered argument, not so much because it
affects, or does not affect, Mr. Walkley’s point
as because it affects his credit as a dialectician.
That there is plenty of good stuff in the book, of
course, goes without saying ; most of it is Aris-
totle’s, and a perverse and tricksy memory brings
before me some lines from an obscure burlesque :—
“My grievance is that in these modern plays,
There's nothing new and good ; whate’er of praise
Their lines deserve, you'll find in the antique ;
Whatever's idiotic isn’t Greek.”
With the necessary modifications the quotation
has point, and in all seriousness I cannot think
: : :
that this volume will add to Mr. Walkley’s
reputation.
Meandering has a fascination for most ‘‘amateurs
of culture.” I would like to meander a little and
express an opinion which, however imbecile, I hold
: : : z
in common with a good many other people. That
opinion is that what is wrong with the dramatic
critic of the day is his appalling lack of the sense
of humour. It is all very well for M. Anatole
France to talk about “the adventures of a soul
among master-pieces,” and for Mr. Walkley to
announce that “judices nati’? may still be found
250
amongst us. I admire the pretty fancy of the one
and rejoice at the good tidings of the other ; but
recent happenings in the dramatic world dispose
me to think that so far as the stage is concerned
people take themselves much too seriously. Mr.
Walkley snorts at the fatuity of the question,
«« What is the wse of dramatic criticism?” Well,
it is a fatuous question. Mr. Walkley replies to
it from the point of view of the dramatic critic :—
“ The use of any art is asa channel for the communication
of ideas and emotions between man andman. It is a mode
by which the producer of the art shares out his moods, his
soul-states, his views of life, with the consumer. This is
what is meant in popular language by ‘ being interesting.’
Just as you may have an interesting novel or an interesting
play, so you may have an ‘interesting ’ dramatic criticism.
And that is the use of it.”
I find that answer very satisfactory, and hope
that the “ club of play-goers ”—there is a world of
sarcasm in the employment of that form of the
genitive case—will perpend it. From the point of
view of the manager a dramatic criticism in, say,
the 7'imes, at the price of a stall costs only sixpence
more than the hire of ten sandwich-men at a
shilling a head for the day, and it carries farther.
It advertises the “show.” And that is another
use of it.
As I suggested at the outset, I hesitate to put
forward these comments as a “criticism” of Mr.
Walkley’s book ; they are merely indicative of my
soul’s adventures in that masterpiece. I hope I
shall not be deemed irreverent if 1 speed them with
yet one more quotation, protesting that they are
quite honest in intention, and not born of that
little-emindedness which finds pleasure in cheap
sneers :
“Go, soul, the body’s guest,
Upon a thankless arrant ;
Fear not to touch the best,
The truth shall be thy warrant.”
Vy. iE. M.
ee
POPULARITY.
oe
OBERT VINCENT, historian and man of
letters, had received his death sentence.
The physicians gave him one short year to
live ; but their word was the signal for a cloud,
impalpable as yet, but darker than that of death,
to rise upon the dying man’s horizon. He was a
young man, and it seemed to the world as if it was
but yesterday that he had succeeded in making
his name. But the world was mistaken. The
initiated knew that the reputation which Robert
Vincent had won was of no mushroom growth.
He had won it by sweat, by blood, by years of
patient labour and research. Nay, as was being
proved now, he had bought it with his very life.
THE AUTHOR.
To this small band of scholars Robert Vincent
had been known for years, young as he still was,
as the rising historian of the day, as a writer in
whom in the highest degree scholarship, imagina-
tiveness, and honesty were combined.
To this small band he was the ideal historian
for whom the world had waited so long. Scholarly
historians there have been. Honest historians’ are
not altogether unknown. Picturesque writers of
history have made their works as household words
tous. But the combination of the three qualities
in one person has often been pronounced to be an
impossibility. 1t appeared in Robert Vincent, and
scholars awaited with bated breath its further
development. But the world in general, the
world which nearly every man secretly craves to
enlist on his side, even when he most professes to
despise it, turned, for a long time, a deaf ear to
the teaching of the historian. To those who
knew, this deafness was simply a question of time.
The world would hear, and hearing would accept
Robert Vincent at his true value. The event proved
that, for once ina way, those who knew were right.
Robert Vincent won his place as a world power
in literature by the publication of his great book,
“The Welding of the Races.”
It was a great book in every way. Great in
conception, great in execution. Well balanced,
accurate, and judicial, yet written in language
almost passionately picturesque. ‘The Welding of
the Races ” threw its search light on a period of
English History at once the most obscure and the
most salient. ‘‘As at the touch of an enchanter’s
wand,” the darkness which for hundreds of
years had lain upon the early middle ages was
dissipated, and Englishmen knew at last the secret
of the greatness of their country. “The dark
ages have for England ceased to exist,” was the
judgment of the greatest German critic.
The wisdom of the small band of scholars
was justified. The world knew and, knowing,
acclaimed, as with one voice, Robert Vincent as the
greatest writer of the century. The author him-
self would have been more than human if he had
not exulted in his triumph. He was young and
he was ambitious, and it is given to few men
indeed to realise, to any great extent, the ambition
of their lives.
“The Welding of the Races” rapidly proved
itself the success of the day, and the fortunate
author felt that his name had been made for all
time, that he was destined to be numbered with
the great ones of the earth. “‘ Westminster Abbey,”
he said laughingly to his wife, “ will know me yet.”
And then the end came.
No prank which the Great Jester loves to play
is dearer to his heart than the summoning of a
man from the prize to gain which he has given
THE
the best years of his life, given his very soul,
when it is almost within his grasp. We die just
when we are beginning to know how to live. So
it was to prove with Robert Vincent.
Perhaps it was due to the strain which the
completion of his work had put upon him, perhaps
there was an original weakness of constitution
hitherto unsuspected, or perhaps—. Anyhow,
whatever may have been the cause, at the very
height of his fame the sentence, from which there
is no appeal, was pronounced, “ You must die!”
There is no need to dwell on the dull, sickening
sense of hope frustrated which fell like a black
shadow on Robert Vincent’s heart when he knew
that he must leave the world, which appeared to
him just then to be so full of brightness and
beauty. But he was no coward, his life had shown
that, and he resolved to face the music like a man,
“My body will die,” he said to his wife, “but
my soul will live ; for that I have won immortality.
I have put my whole soul into ‘The Welding of
the Races,’ and while England lasts it will last
also.” This he said in no vainglorious spirit.
To him it was a simple fact. But as he grew
weaker there came upon him a mental uneasiness
which puzzled greatly his wife and his doctors.
To some extent, but to some extent only, it seemed
to be assignable to the stress of previous literary
work. The fact was, the dark, impalpable cloud
gathered blackness and substance as time went on.
It pressed in upon him, making the last few weeks
of his life into a hideous, waking nightmare.
“Qlang, clang! throb, throb! What are they
printing so close to me? Who are printing? Is
it Gradband & Shimmery ?”
“No, dear,’ said his wife gently, “there is no
printing near you.’ The doctor, who overheard
the mutterings, looked grave and asked the wife
“Did your husband ever have any dealings with
these publishers, Gradband & Shimmery ?”’
“No,” she replied, ‘not that I know of. I
never heard their names.”
“Of course not,” said the doctor with a smile,
“it is scarcely likely that Mr. Vincent would have
had anything to do with publishers of that class.”
The doctor was quite right. It was indeed
unlikely—the most unlikely thing in the world.
For Messrs. Gradband & Shimmery were known
as publishers of fiction of the baser sort, fiction
which had an enormous circulation among City
¢lerks and shop girls.
The stuff which this firm turned out in vast
quantities was lurid and sensational to a degree,
especially that for which “Sydney Trevor,”
popularly supposed to be an assumed name, was
responsible, but it could no more claim to be
literature than a farthing rushlight could claim
to be the moon.
AUTHOR.
251
Of course it was too wildly absurd to suppose
that Robert Vincent, of all people in the world,
could have had any dealings with such a firm as
this. And the doctor made a mental note of his
uneasiness as a curious illustration of an obscure
brain lesion. But this did very little good to the
patient himself. The noise of the printing presses
at work seemed to become louder and more insis-
tent every day. Every day too his imagination
seemed to be haunted by a terror which ever drew
closer and closer. His lucid intervals proved to
those about him that he had no fear of death, nor
even of the act of dying; but even his lucid
intervals were haunted by the shadow of the fear
which oppressed him so terribly in his delirium.
Whatever the fear might be, it was associated with
the idea of printing, and with the names of
Gradband & Shimmery. Nothing that his wife
could do or say—no news she might bring him of
the ever increasing success of his book, no assur-
ances of the high position, daily becoming more
manifest, which he had secured for himself in
literature, was able to expel this fear devil from
his soul. Thereit sat, grinning at him till he died.
As soon as Robert Vincent’s death was an-
nounced, steps were taken by those whose word
carried weight with the authorities to secure a
place for him in Westminster Abbey. It seemed
likely that their efforts would be crowned with
suecess, and that the historian’s jesting remark to
his wife would prove to be a true prophecy.
It was urged that the country had only one
way now of paying the recognition it owed to an
admitted genius. What the leaders of thought
said, the general public echoed with all its heart.
No name was so constantly on men’s lips and
before their eyes during these days as the name of
Robert Vincent, historian and man of letters.
Westminster Abbey was the place for him, and to
Westminster Abbey he must be taken. And then
suddenly all this talk stopped.
Messrs. Gradband & Shimmery flooded the
country with their advertisements—newspapers,
hoardings, omnibuses, trains, sandwich-men—
every available means of advertisement were
pressed into the service of Messrs. Gradband &
Shimmery. There had never been known, since
books were first printed, such gigantic enterprise
in advertising methods. Wherever men looked
they saw the names of Gradband & Shimmery ;
and underneath, only in larger characters, the
name of “Sydney Trevor” in inverted commas ;
and below that the name of Robert Vincent ; and
below that again a list of books whose lurid and
sensational titles spoke for them.
Then the world learnt that Robert Vincent was
identical with ‘Sydney Trevor,” and Westminster
Abbey knew him not. CO. L:
ESSAY ON CRITICISM.
Oe
(Reprinted from Longman’s Magazine, by kind permission
of the Author and the Publisher).
(By A Lapy NoveEtist).
S there no real critic on these shores
Yet to be found? O Tempora, O Mores !
How shall they judge who measure all by
rule
While Genius, for them, might dwell in Thule?
Tis quality, not quantity, decides
The merit of such work as mine—Quid rides ?
When will they learn the truth that each great
writer
Of prose or poetry—non fit—nascitur ?
When cease to sneer with condescending smile
At woman—vyarium et mutabile ?
Yet why should I the critics heed? Whate’er
They say, ’tis mine—aequam mentem servyare.
My place among the Immortals is secure,
*Tis mine—divino ac humano jure.
I feel within my breast the sacred fire,
And I—I know it—non omnis moriar.
Already on Parnassus’ sacred slope
I dwell with Melpomene and Calliope.
No marble tomb I crave, no trophies pious,
My monument is—aere perennius.
FR.
a a
CORRESPONDENCE.
—1—~> +
AN ANSWER TO “A PROTEST.”
Sir,—In reference to a letter entitled “A Pro-
test’ in last month’s Author, I would like to say
a few words in common justice to all concerned in
the arrangement of the Society’s annual social
function.
In the first place, it is a puzzle how the receipt
of the announcement of a dinner could shock even
the most highly strung and sensitive nerves.
If Shakespeare had lived in the twentieth century
he would no doubt have participated in a meal at
the Hotel Cecil with as much equanimity—and
perhaps even enjoyment—as any other author.
Next I would like to point ont to the writer in
question that as the Soviety is formed for the pro-
tection and maintenance of literary property, it
must needs respect itself. So, if the Society of
Authors were to hold its annual festival at a third
or fourth rate restaurant, and charge a low price,
as suggested, it would certainly be considered an
inferior concern, and be looked down upon
accordingly. :
Further, the writer contradicts himself, for he
says that he has attended several dinners each at
THE AUTHOR.
increased cost, and then confesses having been
present at a guinea one. Comment is needless. If
the protester could be present at a guinea dinner
it seems inconsistent that the suggestion of a 10s.
one should give him a shock.
As I did not attend any of the guinea functions
I cannot speak from personal experience as to
whether it would have been “ dear at eighteenpence,’””
but I can honestly say that at all the four dinners
which I have attended the food was as good and
as well served as one could wish.
I have always understood that the Society does
not wish to make money by the dinner, but charges
a price sufficient to cover expenses. If the com-
plainant refers to the ‘ Annual Report,” he will
find that the Society was 5s. 10d. out of pocket by
last year’s dinner ; hence, no doubt, the decision
to raise the price.
With regard to the guests, it seems to me that
the Society is honowred by the presence of such
men as Sir Clements Markham, Captain Sverdrup.
and others ; men noted for their good and useful
work, some in one field, some in another. I have
never heard of the Society asking subscriptions,
so I don’t quite see how it can be brought down
to the level of a charitable organisation.
Lastly, I will say that I am so far in sympathy
with the writer of “A Protest” that I think it
would be more agreeable if it were possible to
arrange a festival, or annual gathering, in which
all the members could participate. It is clearly
impossible to please everyone in a large body of
people like the Authors’ Society, and if authors are
“proverbially irritable,” what a large amount of
self-control is needed by a committee formed of
authors, whose task in endeavouring to please all
can scarcely be an enviable one.
H. M. E. Stanton.
May 4th, 1903.
SERIAL RIGHTS IN STORIES.
S1n,—As I receive inquiries concerning my “new
story” in the Sphere for May 2nd and 9th, will you
allow me space to say that, so far from. being new,
it is a resuscitated old story which appeared in a.
country journal nearly twenty years ago, and that
I am in no way responsible for its publication as if
new ? ae
I make this an opportunity of reminding inex-.
perienced writers of fiction that, in disposing of
‘serial rights” in their productions, they should
take care to limit the time during which such
rights may be exercised.
Tuomas Harpy.
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che #uthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR
WALTER BESANT.
JUNE Ist, 1903.
Vou. XIII.—No. 9.
[Prick SrxpPENnog.
THE TELEPHONE.
The Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
———_—__—_+—~@—
NOTICES.
—-~<> +
OR the opinions_expressed in papers that are
K signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
THE Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
— +
List of Members.
THE List of Members of the Society of Authors,
published 1902, can be obtained at the offices of
the Society, at the price of 6d. net.
It will be sold to the members of the Society
only.
—-—>+—
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIII.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Coagole 25 Fees. £1000 0 6
POCH) LOANS obec. 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 ‘ Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ...............
We lon
291 19 Tt
201 9 3s
otal o1,995 9 2
Subscriptions.
1908.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6
»» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 06
Jan. 4, Anonymous 0) 5. 6
- Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0
“ Russell, G. H. ; Ll 0
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0.5 06
», Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5. 0
Jan..19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 35.0
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 1 0 5 0
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : - 0 10 0
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5b 0
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . ; 0 5 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0° 5 0
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0° 5 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 05 0
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1° 0 6
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6
Apl.10, Bird, ©. PB. . : A - 0 10.6
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery. 0 5 0
May Lees, R. J... : ; 1 0
: Wright, J. Fondi . ; ~ 905 6
Donations.
Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. : , 0 10 6
» Middlemass, Miss Jean . ~ 010 0
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord . D0 0
» Gribble, Francis. : . 010 0
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . . 010 6
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 11 0
» Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5.0
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
226
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French . - 0) 5) 0
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt : . 0 16 0
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . : » 0-10 6
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 210
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . : . 010 6
, Ord, Hubert H. . ‘ de)
Teb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor : . 010 0
» Carlile, Rev. J. C.. : . 010 0
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. . : : a2 0-0
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs. . : . 010 0
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 2 0 10° 0
Mar. 16, Hallward,N. LL. . : ll 0
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : - 0 8.9
» Mathieson, Miss Annie . . 010 0
» Browne, T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-
wood”) . j : : 12 0
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry. 110.0. 0
Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. - 2070
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore : 0 2) 0
May King, Paul H. : : ~ 010-90
: Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 90
» 21, Orred J. Randal . : pedo E70
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
Se
Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.
Tur amount standing to the credit
of this account in the Bank is......... £336 4 9
May 22, Orred J. Randal............... Lied
—____—<>—_e____\_
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
ee
HE Committee of the Society of Authors met
on May 6th. Mr. Douglas Freshfield took
the chair.
‘Twelve members and associates were elected to
the Society. The list is printed below.
The case of Parry v. Gollancz, with all the papers
and letters, was laid before the Committee and
carefully considered. The Committee decided to
issue a summary of the case with comments in
The Author, (See article, page 232.)
The agent of the Society in New York has been
forced to give up the work of the Society owing to
the fact that he has taken up the work of a
THE AUTHOR.
literary agent. As he candidly expresses it, “ he
found it difficult to have to write peremptory
letters of demand to editors and publishers, when
at the same time he might be offering them MSS.
for acceptance.” Accordingly, the Society has
been obliged to appoint another agent, and the
Committee have nominated Mr. Morris P. Ferris,
counsellor-at-law.
‘There were two or three cases before the Com-
mittee. One dealt with the loss of a MS. by a
publisher. It was decided to take the matter up
on behalf of the member, as from the circumstances
connected with the case, it appeared that the
publisher had shown considerable negligence.
Another case, that of alleged breach of agree-
ment by a publisher, the Committee found they
were unable to support, as the solicitors of the
Society did not consider that there was cause for
legal action.
It was decided not to republish the list of
members during the current year, but in the
autumn, to publish a supplementary list of those
members who had been elected since the last
publication.
oo
Cases,
Tue last statement of the cases taken up by
the Society was printed in the March number of
The Author. Since that date forty-three have been
before the Secretary. They may be subdivided as
follows :—
Ten for the return of MSS. ; three for accounts ;
five for accounts and money ; eighteen for money
due ; one dealing with the false advertisement of a
book; one with the infringement of copyright ;
five embracing disputes which cannot be classed
under any particular heading.
The Secretary is pleased to report that all the
cases chronicled in the March number of The
Author have either been settled or have been placed
in the hands of the solicitors.. All the cases from
that date up to the beginning of April have also
been settled or placed in the solicitors’ hands, with
the exception of one case, where the author—
unfortunately living abroad—had a claim against a
magazine for non-payment.
The record of the ten claims for the return of
MSS. is as follows :—
One case has been placed in the hands of the
Society’s solicitors, to enable the member to claim
damages for loss of a MS. by a publisher, as it
appeared clear to the Committee that the publisher
had been negligent. In two cases there has been
no evidence that the MSS. had been received at
the office of the paper. In the remaining seven
the MSS. have been returned at the request of the
Secretary.
Set
In the three demands for accounts the Secretary
has been able to obtain the requisite statement,
with the exception of one case against a well-known
firm that is always dilatory in meeting the demands
of the author or the Secretary of the Society for
details of this kind. No doubt a little mild
persuasion will bring about the requisite result,
There has been an increase with regard to demand
for unpaid moneys, and the result. of the Secretary’s
applications may be catalogued as follows :—
In the claims for accounts and money two have
been partially settled—this means that part of the
money due has been paid, the rest will no doubt
follow. One has been completely settled, and two
are still in the course of negotiation. The last are
demands against an American publisher, whose
name is well known on the English market, but
whose methods of doing business when it comes to
the settlement of accounts appear to be far from
satisfactory. In six cases the money has been
paid without any difficulty. In five the matters
have had to go into the hands of the Society’s
solicitors. Two cases are still unsettled, and in one
it is impossible to enforce the Society’s claim owing
to the fact that the member resides abroad.
This is, on the whole, a satisfactory record,
especially when it is remembered that those matters
referred to the solicitors deal with magazines that
are most probably either in liquidation or on the
verge of Jiquidation. The case of infringement of
copyright has been satisfactorily settled. A full
statement of this was printed in 7he Author. The
false advertisement has also been remedied, and
the remaining matters—various disputes on con-
tracts—are in the course of negotiation.
Out of thewhole forty-three there are only thirteen
which have not been closed as far as the work of
the Secretary is concerned. Some of them, as
mentioned above, are being continued in other
hands, it is hoped with satisfactory result.
NEES “ESSE
May Elections.
4, Gray’s Inn Squares
W.C.
Scarborough.
Wentworth House, Key-
mer, Sussex.
The Cedars, Denmark
Avenue, Wimbledon,
Aitken, Robert
Alcock, Joseph Crosby .
Arthur, Miss Mary
Bedford, Mrs.
SW.
Dickinson, F. James 6, Claremont Terrace,
Hargreaves, F.R.S.L. Claremont Park,
Blackpool.
Lees, Robert James
. Engelbery, Ilfracombe.
Macdonald, Mrs. A. E. .
Gordon Road, Gordon,
Sydney, N.S. Wales,
Australia.
THE AUTHOR. 227
Merriman,
B.C,
Pickering, Sidney .
Smith, Miss M. C,
Labor A., Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Stratton, Falmouth.
Gretna Hall, Gretna
Green,
200, Stockwell Road,
Brixton, 8.W,
Colonial Institute,
Northumberland
Avenue, W.C.
Trost, Johann
Wright, Edward Fondi .
+-—<—e
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
ae
| PROFESSOR RHYS DAVIDS’ “Buddhist
| India” in the Stories of the Nations Series,
may be out any day now. It was all passed
for press some time ago, but it is being printed in
America. he Professor has just finished editing
the issues of the Pali Text Society for 1903 ; they
form the Journal of that Society. He has also
edited the second volume of “The Digha” in
conjunction with Mr. E. Carpenter. These are
now ready for distribution to members.
The Government of India has determined to
publish, through the Royal Asiatic Society, two
series of historical volumes. Of these, one is on
the History of India before the arrival of the
English, and will be under the editorship of
Professor Rhys Davids.
The first volumes to be published will deal with
the historical geography of ancient India, and
with the historical evidence contained in the
Vedas. The other series, to be called The Records
Series, will embrace the period after the arrival of
the English, and will consist mainly of official
documents. The first volume will deal with the
events connected with the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Mr. Arnold White has had a trying experience :
He lost, during the fire at the Hotel du Palais, at
Biarritz, the MS. of the work on which he was
engaged. It is a continuation of the series on
Efficiency which began eighteen years ago in “The
Problems of a Great City,” and ended in his last
two books—* Efficiency and Empire,” and “ For
Efficiency.”
Mr. White, however, hopes in the course of the
next twelve months to re-write and complete a
work on National Efficiency, especially with regard
to government and municipal administration, and
its effects on the pockets, the health, and the lives
of citizens of the Empire.
Miss Mabel Quiller Couch, whose short stories
are well known, has published two volumes of them
under the titles of “The Recovery of Jane Vercoe,”
228
and “Some Western Folk.” At present she is
completing serial work already ordered, but she
means in the near future to write a story for girls
on somewhat new lines. Our readers may remember
a very interesting volume entitled, “ The Holy Wells
of Cornwall,” which Miss Mabel Quiller Couch wrote
in conjunction with her sister.
Mrs. Mary M. Banks is engaged in editing a
MS. collection of tales of the fifteenth century for
the Early English Text Society. Some two years
ago Mrs. Banks edited the alliterative ‘‘ Morte
Arthur,” published by Messrs. Longmans. Since
then she has given lectures on modern literature,
besides writing articles on literary subjects.
Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have in preparation
for the autumn a romance of Italy in the thirteenth
century, by Emily Underdown (Norley Chester).
This firm lately published “ Dante and Beatrice,”
a play in blank verse suggested by episodes in the
Vita Nuova, by the same author. It forms one of
a series started by Miss Elsie Fogerty. “ Dante
and Beatrice” is also published in a tastefully
got-up edition, with a reproduction of Rossetti’s
painting, “ Dante’s Dream,” as a frontispiece.
Members of the Society will be interested to
know that Mr. Poulteney Bigelow has been asked
to address the United States Naval War College
at Newport, on German Colonisation, on the 16th
of June. This is the college before which Captain
Mahan delivered his lectures on “‘ The Influence of
Sea Power on History ”—a book which has been
translated into almost every tongue, and yet
which, at the time, was declined by the Harpers.
Lismore, which the King is to visit next
August, is the “ Innisdoyle ” of Julia M. Crottie’s
“ Neighbours,” a book of Irish sketches, published
by T. Fisher Unwin a year or two ago. Lismore
is a quiet old town, beautifully situated on the
poet Spenser’s Blackwater, and although now
fallen away from its ancient importance, still
possesses some features of interest in its fine old
abbey and castle.
Mr. Frank Rutter, the editor of To-day, has
just published, through R. A. Everett & Co.,
a little volume of scenes and characters from
eee life. ‘‘’Varsity Types” is the title
of it.
“Varsity Types” has a dozen illustrations by
Stephen Haweis. The dedication runs thus—‘‘ To
those who unconsciously have posed as models for
the following sketches, this little volume is grate-
fully and affectionately dedicated by the author.”
Among the entertaining characters are ‘“ The
Swot,” “The Trophy Maniac,” “ The Snob,” and
“The Bedder,” while “‘ Ditton Corner,” “ An Art-
less Dean,” and “An Academic Court-Martial,”
are scenes to laugh over.
THE AUTHOR.
Miss Julie Sutter’s book on the Social Problems
—Brirain’s Next Campaign ”—has just been
issued at a shilling net (320 pp.) by R. Brimley
Johnson, 4, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C. The
Daily News this winter thought it worth while to
publish a series of articles from its pages, and Sir
John McDougall (as chairman of the London
County Council) invites ‘every Londoner, official
on non-official, to make himself acquainted with
this book.” Both he and Canon Scott Holland
head the volume with a preface.
Mr. F. Stroud’s publishers will issue almost
immediately a much-enlarged edition of his Judicial
Dictionary. It will be in three thick volumes of
about nine hundred pages each. The work is
unique in that, whilst it is a dictionary in the
ordinary sense of that word, yet the pivot on which
it moves is that it deals with the English of affairs
as expounded by the English Judges and by
Parliament.
To search for verbal definitions through the
many hundreds of volumes of Reports of Cases,
and the Statute Book from Magna Charta down-
wards, and to harmonise the authoritative exposition
of words and phrases culled from these sources,
must have been an enormous task, requiring much
prior knowledge and the unfailing patience of years.
The idea of this edition is to bring down the
exposition from the earliest times to the end of the
nineteenth century. Whilst we should imagine it
to be indispensable to the practising lawyer, the
book cannot fail to be of general interest, for inci-
dentally it frequently presents striking phases of
the picturesque past.
Mr. Percy White has been kind enough to send
us the following interesting extract from a letter
written to him by a great admirer of George
Meredith. The writer is himself a novelist and
man of letters :—
“THE Two MEREDITHS.
“T am reading ‘ Evan Harrington,’ in the original edition
of 1861. I find that in the final edition, published by
Constable, many admirable passages have been cut out, and
a good deal of broad humour and fun has been lost. An
interesting little paper might be made on a comparison of
the two editions—the old Meredith pruning the younger.
It is remarkable how completely ‘modern’ this book of
1861 reads—a book which might have been written to-day,
whilst its successful contemporaries, ‘ Framley Parsonage,’
‘The Silver Chord,’ ‘The Woman in White,’ &c., are all as
old-fashioned and uncouth as the crinolines, matador hats,
and chenille hair nets of the early sixties.”
“ Park Lane” is the title of Mr. Percy White’s
new novel—needless to say a very readable one—
which has been published by Messrs. Constable
at 6s.
Mr. G. W. Forrest, O.1.E., ex-Director of Records,
Government of India, and author of “ Sepoy
THE AUTHOR.
Generals,” has published through the same firm a
copiously illustrated book called ‘‘ Cities of India”
(10s. 6d. net). Mr. Forrest, who is one of the
greatest living authorities on the ancient and
modern history of India, has seen with his own
eyes the cities he so admirably describes. The
illustrations are excellent.
’ The Transactions of the Royal Society of Litera-
ture are being edited, as indeed they have been
‘since 1894, by Perey W. Ames, LL.D., F.S.A.
Besides publishing the following addresses : ‘‘ Posi-
tivism in Literature,” “Supposed Source of the Vicar
of Wakefield,” ‘‘ Racial and Individual Tempera-
ments,” ‘‘ Superstition, Science, and Philosophy,”
“Poetry and Science of Archeology,” &c., &c., Dr.
Ames, in 1900, edited, with introduction and one
lecture, “‘Chaucer Memorial Lectures.” In 1898
he edited, with an historical sketch of the Princess
Elizabeth and Margaret of Navarre, “The Mirror
of the Sinful Soul.” Before that he edited, with
an introductory address, a volume of “ Afternoon
Lectures on English Literature.”
Mr. Sydney Lee has brought to a close his tour
in America. He has been accorded an enthusiastic
reception in the Hastern and the Western States.
He has given fifty-three Jectures, and has travelled
by rail more than ten thousand miles. Besides
delivering addresses before the Library Association
at Washington and the State University of North
Carolina, Mr. Lee lectured at Staten Island, New
York, at the request of Mr. William Winter, in aid
of the library founded by him in memory of his son,
the late Mr. Arthur Winter.
Mr. Lee also gave addresses on Shakespeare at
Indianapolis and before the State Universities of
Ohio and Indiana.
Among recently published books by members of
the Society is Mr. Justin McCarthy’s ‘British
Political Leaders” (T. Fisher Unwin: 7s. 6d.
net). Though all may not agree with his point
of view, may not see eye to eye with him, yet
readers can scarcely fail to find this volume attrac-
tive. It is charmingly written.
There is also a couple of volumes issued by Mr.
John Murray, entitled, ‘‘ More letters of Charles
Darwin,” being a record of his work in a series of
hitherto unpublished letters, edited by Francis
Darwin, Fellow of Christ’s College, and A. C.
Seward, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
(32s. net.)
Then, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, whose remarkable
novel, “The Conqueror,’ we all remember, has
now published, through Harpers, “A Few of
Hamilton’s Letters.” Those who are interested in
that famous man’s personality will find this selection
from his correspondence well worth reading.
229
Professor E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., etc., Direc-
tor of the British Museum of Natural History,
has contributed a Preface to Mr. S. Theodore
Andrea Cook’s book, ‘ Spirals in Nature and Art”
(John Murray). This is a study of spiral forma-
tions based on the manuscripts of Leonardo da
Vinci, with special reference to the architecture of
the open staircase at Blois in Touraine, now for
the first time shown to be from his designs. This
interesting volume is 7s. 6d. net.
Miss Marie Corelli recently addressed a crowded
meeting of the O. P. Club in the large hall of
the Criterion Restaurant. Miss Corelli spoke
on “The Trust on behalf of the Nation at
Stratford-on-Avon.” She protested against the
destruction of any buildings in Heniey Street, par-
ticularly such old and valuable ones as were seen
and known by Shakespeare, and were on that
account priceless to the literary and dramatic
world of to-day. Especially did she plead for the
quaint little half-timbered dwelling of Thomas
Green, once town clerk of Stratford and cousin of
Shakespeare.
Miss Corelli protested against the proposed
destructive alterations, and earnestly requested
that a committee might be formed to inquire
into the case she put forward. She considered
that the culpable ignorance and carelessness of
the Executive Committee of the Shakespearean
Trust proved that the time had come when their
national duty should be taken up by a wider,
more educated and more Shakespearean body. An
appeal to Parliament for the preservation of Henley
Street was being sent out for signature, and there
was every reason to believe that it would bereceived
with favour.
The clause in the Employment of Children Bill
which prohibits the appearance of children under
fourteen upon the stage has evoked a series of
protesting letters in the Daily Telegraph from
such authorities as Sir Henry Irving, Miss Ellen
Terry, Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr. George Alexander,
Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Messrs. Frederick Harrison
and Cyril Maude, and Mr. Arthur Collins and
Mr. F. W. Wyndham. We have room for two
quotations only. Miss Ellen Terry says :
“T cannot remain silent when I hear of disaster threaten-
ing our future actors and actresses. Sir Henry Irving and
others have urged the cruelty of taking joy and pleasure
from the lives of children by prohibiting their employment
on the stage. I go further, and say that the effect of such
a law will be to take education from them, education in the
widest sense technical. I can put my finger at once on the
actors and actresses who were not on the stage when
children. Withall their hard work they can never acquire
afterwards the perfect unconsciousness which they learn
then soeasily. .. . lam anactress, but first 1 am a woman
and I love children. I don’tsay that the conditions under
230
which they work on the stage are perfect. I could point to
many things which IJ should like tosee altered, particularly
the practice of their being too many hours at a stretch in
the theatre, as is the case when they are employed in two
performances on one day. But surely it is not right to
sweep away a fine training for children because it has
faults ?”
The second extract is from Mr. Tree’s letter :
“T will leave to others the task of pointing out in detail
how desirable it is for the children of poor parents to have
the opportunity of learning in their early years those
habits of obedience, cleanliness and orderliness which are
part of the discipline of every well-regulated theatre ; also
the social value to them in after life of daily mixing, while
still young, with those who can teach them good manners
and self-respect. The one point I am most anxious to
make is this: The Bill as it stands would not only deprive
the children of these benefits, but would also deprive
hundreds of thousands of the public of the pleasure they
derive from those theatrical performances (such as panto-
mime, and the like), from which the services of children
areinseparable. Moreover, any such new legislation would
practically banish from our stage many of Shakespeare's
most-admired plays, such as “The Midsummer Night's
Dream,” “ The Tempest,” “ A Winter’s Tale,” ‘The Merry
Wives of Windsor,” ‘Richard III,” “King John,” and
other classical works. It is needless to point out that these
remarks apply equally to grand opera and public concerts
whenever the services of children form an integral part of
the entertainment.”
All the letters are worthy of careful considera-
tion, and we refer our readers to the particular
issue of the Daily Telegraph from which we have
quoted, 7.¢., that of Monday, May 18th.
———_—_—__- ~~
PARIS NOTES.
—— >
ANATOLE FRANCE’S novel, “ Histoire
Mi e Comique,” is now published in volume
form, after running through the Revue
de Paris as a serial. There is nothing comic
about it except the one word in the title. It is, in
fact, a most gruesome story. Félicie, an actress
who is considered a star, has deserted her lover of
less prosperous days for a young aristocrat, Robert
de Ligny. ‘The ex-lover, Chevalier, warns her of
his own jealousy and begs her to return to him.
She pays no attention to his words and one day,
when she is coming away from a rendezvous
with de Ligny, Chevalier commits suicide in her
presence.
From this day forth Félicie has no peace of
mind. The dead man’s face seems to haunt her,
and at the most unexpected times and places she
fancies that she sees him.
Chevalier had been an actor, and all his thea-
trical friends undertake the arrangements for his
funeral. The Church refuses the burial service on
account of the suicide, and Félicie, who hopes that
the holy water may lay the ghost of the dead man,
THE AUTHOR.
joins with her comrades in insisting on the religious
rites being performed. A certain Dr. Trublet, the
medical adviser of the theatre to which Félicie
belongs, is the philosopher whom we usually meet
in Anatole France’s books. In this instance the
artistes have recourse to him for a certificate
proving that Chevalier was insane when he shot
himself. A priest had suggested, in a wily way,
that the dead man had, perhaps, not been respon-
sible for his actions, and that if this could be
proved the Church would not refuse to bury him.
Dr. Trublet accordingly searches among his learned
books, and finds various instances of temporary
insanity. He delivers a long harangue on the
subject of free will and determinism. His con-
cluding argument is that the world is an amusing
place on the whole, and that Chevalier must have
been more insane than other men, since he had
voluntarily resigned his place here. The certificate
that he makes out is so full of technical terms that
the doctor declares that it is “ too utterly devoid
of any sense to contain a lie.”
The funeral service is accordingly held in the
church, All the artistes attend the ceremony and
then proceed to the cemetery, but they are all so
much occupied with their own private affairs and
with ull the gossip and scandal they have to tell
each other, that they only remember at intervals
what has brought them all there together.
Immediately after the funeral Félicie goes with
her lover to luncheon at a _ restaurant, and
endeavours to forget the dead man.
It is of no use, though, and to the end of the
story she is haunted by his reproachful eyes.
There is not much plot and there is a great deal
that is unpleasant in the book, but the keen
observation, the delicate sarcasm, and, above all, the
perfect style and language are all to be found in
“ Histoire Comique” as in every work by Anatole
France.
In Brada’s new novel, “Retour du Flot,” we
have a subject which lends itself well to the
weaving of a romance. The mystery is that it
has not been adopted more frequently by authors.
It is the story of a woman who, after several
years of happiness in her married life, loses her
little girl and cannot recover from her grief. Her
husband, who was also devotedly fond of the child,
wearies of the gloominess of his home and the
constant sadness of his wife and seeks amusement
elsewhere.
On discovering that he has been faithless to her
his wife applies for a divorce and will hear of no:
compromise.
After two or three years of loneliness and misery
she consents to marry a cousin who has always
loved her, and who is a man of fine character. She
is quite resigned to her new lot in life when, on the
THE AUTHOR. 231
sixth anniversary of her little girl’s death, as she
is walking past her old home, she meets her first
husband. He saves her from being knocked down
by a vehicle as she is crossing the road. It is the
first time they have met since their divorce, and
they both realise, as they talk to each other once
more, the fatal mistake they made in the old
days.
The struggle which now takes place in the
woman’s heart between the love which has never
died and her new duties is described with great
delicacy.
The loneliness and misery of the man who had
formerly been everything to her appeal to her ;
and when he begs her to meet him again she con-
sents, Her life during the next few months is
almost unbearable. The book is charming to the
very end, and the dénowement seems most natural.
All the characters live, and there is no seeking
after effect. It is merely a simple story told in the
most simple and natural way possible.
During the last year the books which have been
most discussed here have been those written by
women. ‘This may seem rather flattering to the
fortunate writers of them, but it is only fair to add
that much of the discussion has been on the subject
of the exaggeration of women writers, as shown in
several of their recent novels.
Judging by some specimens of these realistic
novels that have been before the public, it seems
as though “women rush in where men fear to
tread.”
In “La Maison du Péché” we had an example
of this, and still more recently in “ La Nouvelle
Espérance.” “ I,’ Inconstante,” too, is a novel that
has astonished everyone, coming, as it does, from
the pen of a woman.
Exaggeration of this kind cannot be attributed
to Madame Daniel Lesueur in the novel she has just
published, “ Le Coeur Chemine.” It is a delight-
fully natural story of a woman who makes the dis-
covery that she is not as happy as she thought
she was in her married life. Thanks to a poet
whom she had known years before, and whom
she meets by accident at Antwerp, she makes this
discovery. She has accompanied her husband on
one of his business journeys to Antwerp and
Bruges, and the poet wanders through the
museums and churches with her, with the result
that she realises how prosaic her life is.
There is no strong plot running through this
book: it is just a psychological study from beginning
toend. The poet makes love to the wife of the
prosaic husband, and she is tempted to promise, at
any rate, to be his friend and his muse. Things
cannot stop at this stage, but just at a critical
moment the wife discovers the nobility of character
of her husband and remains faithful to him. As
the years go by life is again most monotonous, and
once more the poet crosses her path. She has
another terrible struggle with herself, and once
more comes out victorious,
The minor characters in the story are all well
drawn, and the author only attempts to show us
the workings of the heart of all these human beings
without trying to explain at all why so much that
is unsatisfactory should remain so to the end. It
is, as she says, a most pitiful mystery that one
should be compelled to make sacrifices which, as
far as we can see, do no final good, although they
cost us so much.
The second volume of “Souvenirs sur Madame
de Maintenon” has just been published by the
Count d’Haussonville and M. Hanotaux. It is one
of the most interesting books that has yet appeared
on this subject, as it contains the famous “ Cahiers
de Mademoiselle d’Aumale.” We get a detailed
account of life at the French Court under Louis XIYV.,
dating from his liaison with Madame de Montespan.
In the Preface, by M. Hanotaux, we are told
that Madame de Maintenon wished “to remain an
enigma to posterity,’ and that she only intended
those papers about her life to be published which
she had prepared for publication. It was on this
account that Madame de Maintenon destroyed all
her correspondence with Louis XIV, and with
various other persons. ‘
Mademoiselle d’Aumale commences her memoirs
with a chapter on “Madame de Maintenon and
Madame de Montespan.” Another chapter is on
the ‘‘Duchesse de Bourgogne,” and there is also
an account of the death of Louis XIV., which
Mademoiselle d’Aumale witnessed,
“Zette”’ is the title of the new story by MM.
Paul et Victor Margueritte.
“L’Amoureuse Rédemption,” by M. Armand
Charpentier, is a strong book which appears to be
having great success.
Among other new novels are “ Ballons Rouges,”
by Madame de Bovet, “TL Etape Silencieuse,” by
Jean Saint-Yves, and “ Petite Fille d’Amiral,” by
Pierre Maél.
A new poet has also come to the front with a
volume entitled “Jamais,” the preface of which
is written by M. Sully Prudhomme. The poet is
M. Charles Reculoux.
Various books on religious questions have been
published recently, and are no doubt due to the
agitation now going on here with reference to the
Congregations.
One of these books is “ Le Concordat de 1801,
ses Origines et son Histoire,” by Cardinal Mathieu ;
and another is “La Révolution Francaise et les
Congrégations,” by M. Aulard.
At the last meeting of the French Academy
literary prizes were awarded to Madame Bentzon
232
and to MM. Adolphe: Brisson, Mandat-Grancey,
Pontsevrez, Victor du Bled, de Pommerol and
A. Halley.
The chief theatrical event here has been the
production of Maeterlinck’s new play, “ Joyzelle,”
at the Gymnase Theatre. Space forbids our giving
any details about this piece this month.
There is an excellent article on “ The Works of
Maeterlinck ” in the May number of the Interna-
tional Theatre, which gives a very good idea of the
chief features of this author’s books and plays.
M. Mirbeau’s piece at the Francais may be pro-
nounced a success, and we hear it is to be put on
the English stage by Mr. Alexander as “ Business
is Business.”
The great theme of the play is the influence of
money in modern society. It is a somewhat daring
piece and the banker is a cleverly drawn type of
the financier of our times.
“Le Ruban Rouge” is a melodrama taken from
the novel by M. Pierre Sales, whose success as a
« fenilletonist” has been as marked. It has been
put on at the Ambigu, and was very much
appreciated by the house.
In honour of M. Rostand’s reception at the
Academy, Madame Sarah Bernhardt will revive
“J Aiglon” at her theatre, and M. Coquelin will
give ‘Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Porte Saint-
Martin.
Auys HALLARD.
__ 9
PARRY y. MORING AND GOLLANCZ.
—+—~<—+ —
N this action, to which two members of the
Society, Judge Parry and Mr. Gollancz, were
parties, a point of considerable literary im-
portance was decided, and several others were raised
either in the pleadings or in the newspaper con-
troversy which followed it.
The facts on which the action was based are
briefly as follows :—
In 1888 Judge Parry obtained from their then
owner, the Rev. 8. R. Longe, with a view to pub-
lication, copies of the original letters written before
marriage by Dorothy Osborne to Sir William
Temple in A.D. 1652-4. To the originals them-
selves he had no access. The copies were made
by the daughter-in-law of the owner, and the
gratuitous offer of them had been occasioned by
the publication in April, 1886, in the English
Illustrated Magazine, of a sketch by Judge Parry,
compiled from Courtenay’s “ Life of Temple,”
and entitled Dorothy Osborne, Judge Parry
re-arranged the letters, many of which were
undated, in what he believed to be their proper
sequence, and spent some time in modernising
THE AUTHOR.
their spelling and English and in annotating
them. He proceeded to publish the letters after,
at the request of his publisher, making excisions’
amounting in all to about 100 lines, in a guinea
volume, entitled Zhe Letters of Dorothy Osborne
to Sir William Temple. He registered the copy-
right of his book on June 15th, 1888. In October,
1888, a second edition was issued at the price of 6s.
_No mention appears to have been made at the
time by the original owner, or by Judge Parry, of the
copyright in the letters ; nor was any notice given
of the copyright having been previously dealt with
when in 1891 the original letters were, after the
death of the Rev. 8. R. Longe, sold by the then
owner to the British Museum, where the librarian
arranged and bound them (with one exception)
in the same order in which Judge Parry had
printed them.
In November, 1902, Judge Parry’s attention
was called to the advertisement of a volume
entitled Zhe Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to
Sir William Temple. Newly Edited from the original
MSS. by Israel Gollancz. On the 1st December
Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co., Judge Parry’s
solicitors, wrote to Mr. Moring, the publisher
of the proposed volume, stating that their client:
had copyrighted his publication, of which he was
preparing another edition, and that if necessary he
would take steps to prevent the publication adver-
-tised by Mr. Moring. Mr. Moring answered, on the
2nd December, that the work in question had been
prepared from the original letters in the British
Museum, and that under these circumstances he
presumed Judge Parry would take no further steps.
in the matter. Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co.
repliedfon the 4th December stating that they and:
Judge Parry were unable to understand how Mr.
Moring claimed to be entitled to publish the book
advertised by him, and under what permission or
sanction from the British Museum he claimed
such authority.
On the 8th December Mr. Gollancz wrote to
Judge Parry, alleging that “the fact of the originals
now being the property of the nation made the
letters common property,” and offering “to con-
nect the new edition with your esteemed name.”
On the 9th December Judge Parry referred Mr.
Gollancz to his solicitors, and on the same day
Messrs. Boote, Edgar & Co., wrote to both the
defendants calling on them “to discontinue the
issue of the edition published by you.”
Mr. Moring, however—after three months delay
issued the volume at 2s. 6d. in March, 1903; and
on the 18th March Judge Parry filed an affidavit in
the Chancery Division of the High Court in support
of an action to restrain its further issue. In
this he did not insist on the claim suggested
in the correspondence to an exclusive copyright in
THE AUTHOR.
the original letters, but based his case on the
allegation that the copyright in his work already
described had been infringed with regard to (1) his
notes, (2) his arrangement of the letters, (3) his text,
and (4) his title. The defendants replied by affi-
davit alleging that “they had not made any unfair
use of the plaintiff’s book,” and as to the notes,
they contested in detail the evidences of any such
use brought forward by the plaintiff. Mr.
Gollancz for himself denied having copied the
order of the letters, stating that he had followed
with one or two exceptions (based on his own
researches) the British Museum order. He ad-
mitted that, “as rough working copy, a print was
set up of the letters as appearing in the plaintiff’s
book,” but he alleged that the editor had collated it
with the original letters “ at least ten times” and
corrected “about 2,000 errors and differences,”
and restored numerous omissions extending from
one line to thirty, “the result being a new
and very superior text.” He entered into detailed
explanation of the cases in which he was charged
with having copied or retained errors in Judge
Parry’s notes. He submitted that his title was
no infringement of copyright. He added, “I
have always bond fide believed that I was acting
within my strict rights, and in a way that could
not be thought unfair to other editors, or in
particular to the plaintiff.”
The case came on before Mr. Justice Farwell gn
April 8rd, 1903, on an application for an interim
injunction. The Judge ut once expressed his
opinion that the defendants’ admission that they
had taken Judge Parry’s book and had copied it
was fatal. In reply to the argument that they
might “‘have made it their own by ten or a dozen
comparisons with the manuscripts,” he added, “ It
seems to me the substratum is fatal to you ; you
cannot use your scaffolding.”
On this point, and on this alone, the case was
decided. The defendants’ counsel, “ who stated
“‘they were not altogether taken by surprise,”
submitted to’ judgment for delivery up on oath
of all the books and documents constituting the
infringement, and an inquiry as to damages and
costs down to the trial.
There can be little doubt that the judgment,
which was so readily accepted by the defendants’
counsel, was sound in law.
No decision, it will be noted, was arrived at by
the Court on the three further alleged infringements
of copyright brought forward—the title, the
arrangement of the letters, and the notes—nor
does the Committee presume to express an opinion
on the legal points involved. :
With regard to the notes the question is a
complicated one. The following sentences convey
the opinion furnished to the Committee by an
233
eminent counsel on the general rules likely to be
applied by a Court of Law dealing with similar
cases: ‘The principle of the law, as laid down
in various judgments, appears to be that an
author may use his predecessor’s work, but must
not copy it. He must, by adding something
of his own, or derived from other and separate
sources, by amalgamating and assimilating his
literary material, create a new product. He must
incorporate what he takes in his own work. Inthe
words of Lord Eldon, he is allowed ‘ the legitimate
use of a publication in the fair exercise of a mental
operation deserving the character of an original
work.’ Mere unintelligent copying, especially if
mistakes are copied, will be stopped. Intelligent
verification and assimilation of previous research
in a work of substantial originality will: not be
interfered with. The application of this principle
to individual cases must be guided by the study of
the particular facts involved.”
The result of the trial gave rise to a newspaper
correspondence, in which some well-known scholars
took part. Dr. Furnivall, in the Zimes, asserted
that the case had been decided on a technical
point, and that a substantial injustice had been
done by declaring illegal a practice which he
asserted to be common among scholars and essen-
tial in the interests of literature. His letter,
however, was not mainly directed to the points
brought before the Court, and still less to the
point decided. He preferred to lay stress on
Judge Parry’s assertion of his own belief that “if
at any time an honest attempt were made to copy
the MSS. in the British Museum, he could show
circumstances entitling him to restrain publica-
tion of such a copy if he so desired,” or, as Dr.
Furnivall put it, “that he could show circumstances
that would entitle him to restrain publication of
these manuscripts in the British Museum if he
so desired.” Professor Skeat also wrote calling
attention to the excisions made by Judge Parry
in his text, and commenting severely on his descrip-
tion of it as “a complete edition.”
In the opinion of the Committee there can be
no question that any legal hindrance to the use
of manuscripts in a national collection would be
a misfortune to literature. But this claim was not
put before the Court, and Judge Parry has speci-
fically stated that he will never seek to enforce it.
It may therefore be dismissed from the discussion.
The Committee are unable to regard the point on
which the case was decided as purely technical. Mr.
Gollancz had the original letters at his disposal. It
was open to him to copy them, and to collate his
copies with his predecessor’s version if he thought
it desirable. He preferred to take the opposite
course. He borrowed: his predecessor’s text, and,
without reference to Judge Parry, made it the
234
basis of his own. It can be no defence to allege
that Judge Parry’s work was at once faulty and
defective. If it is the custom among scholars to go
to a faulty version, when the original is at hand,
or to use a living editor’s text without communi-
cating with him until after he has threatened legal
proceedings, the Committee consider that the law
has done a service to literature in declaring that
such practices are illegal.
The Committee have not overlooked the literary
aspect of the case. Judge Parry’s edition of the
letters is admittedly incomplete, and the reason
assigned by him for the excisions, namely, the request
of his publisher, cannot be considered adequate. It
is not disputed that his text and notes stand in
considerable need of revision. Although the
second edition of his volume was published as
far back as October, 1888, he had apparently not
availed himself of the accessibility since 1891 of
the original MSS. in order to revise his text. For
it was not till January, 1903, that Judge Parry
employed a copyist to compare the letters in his
book with the originals in the British Museum,
But, while admitting these considerations, the
Committee feel that Judge Parry was entitled to
be consulted before any use was made of his work
in the preparation of a new edition of the letters.
Finally, as in the Z%mes correspondence the
action of the Secretary of the Society has been
referred to, the Committee think it desirable to
state the part he has taken in the matter.
Before the trial Mr. Gollancz, as a member of
the Society, called on the Secretary, who, at his
desire, wrote to Judge Parry in the following
terms :—
THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS,
Mareh 20th, 1903,
DEAR SIR,—
I have now perused your affidavit. I have also
seen Mr, Gollancz, who has given me his view of the
position. :
Mr. Gollanez has asked me to put this offer before you—
but without prejudice to his legal position if you do not
accept it—that either I should endeavour to arrange the
matter between you, or he is willing to abide absolutely by
any decision come to by an arbitrator appointed by the
Committee of Management of the Society.......
Yours truly,
(Signed) G. HERBERT THRING.
The omitted portion of the letter is private, and
does not refer to any offer.
Judge Parry, in his reply, stated that any offer
Mr. Gollancz desired to make must be made through
the usual channels. This information was com-
municated to Mr. Gollancz by the Secretary.
ee
THE AUTHOR.
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
a
Opinions on United States Copyright Law.*
I.
Music Booxs DrEniep ImportTATION
FEBRUARY 15, 1898.
I. Reprints of musical compositions are pro-
hibited importation.
II. The term ‘ books” in the prohibiting clause
includes music books.
III. Music books made up partly of copyrighted
and partly of uncopyrighted compositions cannot
be imported.
TV. Destruction of unlawfully imported musi¢
books, pursuant to rules of the Secretary of the
Treasury, is legal.
By the Solicitor-General.
I. The Act of March 3, 1891, prohibits “ during
the existence of such copyright, the importation
into the United States of any book, chromo, litho-
graph, or photograph so copyrighted.”
Musical compositions are usually lithographed or
set from type. They thus fall within the class
prohibited. The act indicates an intent to pro-
hibit copyrighted compositions, which includes
musical compositions, when reprinted by type set
or by drawings on stone made outside of the
United States.
Il. In the clause prohibiting importation, the
word “books” signifies the mechanical means to
place the author’s intellectual work in_ saleable
shape. Courts have construed “books” in this
sense to include a musical composition though on
but one sheet. The reprint may be a book, a
lithograph, or a photograph, according to the pro-
cess. In any of these forms the reprint cannot be
imported during the life of the copyright.
III. Music books made up in part of copy-
righted compositions are prohibited. A prohibited -
article cannot be admitted by being attached to an
article which is not prohibited. A book is an
entity. If part is not admissible, it must all be
excluded.
IV. Under the convention with Canada pro-
viding for the reciprocal return of mail matter
which is “not delivered from any cause,” books
imported in violation of law need not be returned.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster-
General have power ($4958, R. 8.) to make rules
to prevent importation of prohibited articles.
Under this general authority rules for the forfeiture
* Extracts from a pamphlet published by the Americam
Publishers’ Copyright League.
THE AUTHOR.
and destruction of prohibited articles unlawfully
imported may be framed so as to provide “ due
process of law.”
II.
DrRaMatic RIGHTS IN AMERICA JUNE 80, 1896.
An unpublished drama need not be copyrighted
to protect stage-rights.
By Mr. Rives.*
An American publisher is requested by an Eng-
lish author ‘‘to copyright a dramatisation” of a
forthcoming story by producing a simultaneous
technical performance.
In the United States stage-right rests entirely
on common law right of property, not upon
statute. An unpublished play is protected. The
play is still unpublished if the text of the drama
has not been printed, although the play has been
produced on the stage and the novel from which it
is taken has been published.
The simultaneous performance desired is un-
necessary to protect the stage-right.
II.
Notice oF CopyricuHt; Form or
1897.
Marcu 4,
When a story, published in a magazine and
copyrighted, is reprinted in book form by another
publisher, under an assignment of the copyright,
the notice therein should give the date of the
original copyright and name of the original
publisher.
By Mr, Rives.
A story was copyrighted by the J. B. Lippincott
Company when published in its magazine. The
copyright was assigned to Dodd, Mead & Company,
who are about to publish the story in book form,
and who inquire as to the proper form for the notice
of copyright.
The law requires a notice to be printed in every
book in order to entitle it to protection under its
coypright. The notice must be in the required
words, Congress declares it must give ‘the year
the copyright was entered and the name of the
party by whom it was taken out.” If the story is
reprinted in the same form the notice should be
“ Copyright, 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company.”
If it is not to be published in exactly the same
form as in the magazine it may be copyrighted as a
new edition, and the notice should be “ Copyright,
1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company ; Copyright,
1897, by Dodd, Mead & Company.”
* My. Rives is the Counsel to the League.
hd
oe
Or
IV
RE-BINDING CHEAP Eprrions ror SALE
APRIL 3, 1899,
Can the owner of a copyright, who sells a
cheap edition of the book, prevent its being put in
another cover, so as to compete at lower prices with
a better edition of the same book ?
By Mr. Rives.
The question of how far the owner of a copy -
right can impose restrictions upon the use of his
book has often been before the Courts. The ques-
tion seems to depend on the consideration whether
the owner of the copyright has sold the book. If
the owner of the copyright has nof sold the book he
can restrict its use. So in case of an edition of
Blaine’s “Twenty Years in Congress,” the
publisher had not sold it to canvassing agents and
the bookseller, who got a few copies, knowing of
the agreement under which the agents got the
book, was restrained. But the moment the book
is sold, even though conditions are attached to the
sale, the owner of the copyright must rely on his
remedy for breach of contract, and not on his right
to restrain an infringement of copyright.
So, where books damaged by fire were sold toa
dealer on condition “that all books be sold as
paper stock only and not placed on the market as
anything else,” but the books were rebound and
put on sale, the Court held the remedy was not for
violation of the copyright, but of the terms of the
contract.
The question next arises how far an owner of a
copyright who se//s his books can protect himself
by imposing conditions on their use. I think an
agreement by which a dealer undertakes, for an
expressed consideration, to sell the books only in a
certain form would, be valid and enforceable as a
contract ; without reference to any copyright.
A greater difficulty arises with respect to the
one to whom the first purchaser may sell. The
contract might also provide that the first purchaser
should insert similar conditions in any contract of
sale with a subsequent purchaser. How far a con-
tract between B. and C., made for the benefit of A.,
is enforceable by A., is hard to say. The rule
varies in different States, but usually A. would have
no remedy against C.
I advise, the safest course is for the publisher to
have a carefully drawn agreement with the dealer
providing that the dealer shall not dispose of the
books except in proper covers ; and also that in
selling to other dealers the original purchaser shall
agree to impose the same condition ; and that any
breach shall be compensated by liquidated damages.
It would also be well to print a notice in each copy
of the book referring to the original contract.
236
Such contract should be enforced against the first
purchaser, and he might be trusted to enforce it
against the dealers to whom he sold.
Vv.
PUBLICATION TO SECURE COPYRIGHT
OcToBER 30, 1901.
Is publication of a book necessary to secure
copyright ?
ae By Mr. Rives.
The text of the statute is silent on this point.
The act, however, assumes that every copyrighted
book is to be published. Copies of the book must
be deposited “not later than the day of publica-
tion.” No action for infringement can be brought
unless a notice is printed in the “ copies of every
edition published.’ The question is what the
Court will infer from this language. In “ Drone
on Copyright,” it is said that “ publication is made
an essential prerequisite to securing copyright ; and
hence there can be no statutory copyright in an un-
published work.” The case of Boucicault v. Hart
(Circuit Court of the United States in New York)
held that a mere filing of title conferred no rights,
unless there was a publication in a reasonable time.
There is, however, a dictum in the case of Farmer
vy. Calvert (Circuit Court in Michigan) that publi-
cation 1s not necessary. The point, therefore, is
somewhat doutbful. ‘he Constitution empowers
Congress to pass copyright laws, not only to pro-
tect authors, but (as it declares) ‘to promote the
progress of science and useful arts,” or, in other
words, to encourage the diffusion of knowledge.
Part of the price an author pays for protection is
that his work shall be available for consultation by
all who desire it.
I am, therefore, of the opinion that the purpose
of the law is that the author shall, within some
reasonable time, make his work public.
As the question is not definitely settled, I should
consider it unwise for a publisher to defer actual
publication for a long time, as it would be running
a serious risk of having his copyright declared
invalid if he afterwards tried to prevent an
infringement. ®
———+—
A Curious ‘Case.
In the autumn of 1902 a member of the Society
received a communication from a firm of the name
of Messrs, J. E. Stannard & Co., calling itself
advertising agents aad contractors, offering to
procure the copyright of certain of her books in
America, for a fixed price. As, however, the books
had already been published in England the author
_ was advised that this would be impossible.
THE AUTHOR.
The contractors, however, were not to be beaten
and claimed that they had a method of obtaining
protection, although the work had already been
published in England. They promised great things
from the circulation of the book and offered to
obtain the control of the whole American market.
Still the author hesitated, but finally, under the
advice of the Secretary of the Society, refused to
accept the offer. The Secretary pointed out that
as the American copyright was lost, it would be
much better for her to deal with her former
American publishers —an old-established and
reliable firm—if she desired to test the American
market. Her English publishers gave her the same
advice. Still Messrs. Stannard & Co. were per-
sistent, “ considering that it must be disheartening
to theauthor to feel that rights worth somethousands
of pounds might slip away at any moment.” Again,
in a letter dated October Ist, 1902, they state as
follows :—
“We think it decidedly unfair that after we have taken
the trouble to do for you what neither of your ‘ firms of
standing’ ever thought of doing, that is, telling you how
to rescue what you have lost, you straightway go and turn
over the information to someone else. We could have
secured the copyrights ourselves and no one would have
blamed us for so doing, instead of which we offered to get
them for you. Our clients learn to rely on us for straight-
forwardness, and it is natural that we should expect the
same in return. We should be pleased to hear from you in
due course. We are tempted with an offer which would
amply recoup us for our trouble, but as it would not be any
to your advantage if we accepted it we have postponed the
reply until you come to a decision.”
The author was still obdurate.
In a letter from Messrs. Stannard & Co., dated
October 24th, we find the following paragraphs :—
‘Since we are not in business as philanthropists we have
advised our American manager by this mail to secure copy-
rights of your books if possible, and retain them in our
name.
“Failing this, he is to issue a par. to the American
Literary Press that the American Literary Copyrights are
not secured.
“ Since respectability does not enter into the methods of
American business men, we have no doubt that this will
have the desired effect, and if some cute American publisher .
copyrights the works in his own name and prevents you
from issuing them in the U.S.A. you cannot say that timely
warning was not given you.
‘* As we have pointed out before, the copyrights are worth
as much to us as they are to you. If we get them, the law
is with us. Under no circumstances will we sign your
publisher’s agreement, and unless you are willing to agree
to the terms stated in our agreement we must follow our
own course in the matter.
“A cablegram (prepaid) will be the only course open
if you wish our American manager to await further
instructions.
“Since much valuable time has been wasted, we must
ask for a final decision at your earliest convenience.”
The daring of the gentleman who writes for the
firm is interesting quite apart from his legal know-
ledge, which is peculiar, It is abundantly clear
THE AUTHOR. 237
to those who have any knowledge of American
Copyright Law that if any person actually obtains
copyright in America without the English author’s
sanction, he must be taking that which does not
belong to him—that is to say, supposing the pub-
lication in both countries to be simultaneous. If
he does not obtain the author’s copyright, but
merely publishes on the American market, he is
only acting as a common but legalised pirate,
On the 21st of January of the present year,
Messrs. Lane and Stannard, presumably repre-
senting the same firm in the United States,
wrote as follows from New York :—
“Re the U.S.A. copyrights of your books. We beg to
inform you.that they have been secured in accordance with
the law, and should therefore be pleased to hear from you
with respect to the publishing of the same in this country.
“As the general publishing price in this country is
$1.50, and the wholesaler’s price but half that amount,
it isnot possible to import an edition and sell at a profit, as
there is a duty of 45 per cent. on imported books. Taking
your offer of two shillings and sixpence (or 60 cents) per
volume, and adding the cost of freight and duty, you
will see that the importing cost would be at least $1 per
volume, and therefore cannot be entertained as a business
proposition.
“Weare willing and ready to deal with you on equitable
terms for the printing and publishing here, and offer and
require similar terms given to your publishers in England,
with exceptions which you will note in the enclosed
agreement. Under these terms you can have full control
over the MSS., and the books can go to press exactly as
written, which I understand you keenly desire.
“We wish you to understand, however, that unless they
are purchased by you, the copyrights will remain in our
possession, and we reserve the right, if you refuse our offer,
to sell to an American publishing firm, without stipulation
as to the editing of the MSS. Should, however, you desire
to purchase, your offer would receive premier consideration.
“In case you accept our offer to publish, the books will
be issued by a New York firm, and will be advertised widely
but economically. Please cable your reply on or before
February 5th, as after that date we shall conclude that you
refuse our offer and shall feel at liberty to conclude negotia-
tions with a firm here for the sale of copyrights with the
privilege of editing the MSS. as they desire.
‘‘We must warn you that any further shipments of your
English edition to this country will be liable to be seized
and confiscated, but we will, of course, allow you reasonable
time to warn your publishers and agents.”
The agreement that they asked the author to
sign is interesting and instructive. There are
three books in question: 25,000 copies of two
of the books are to be published, and 50,000 of the
third. The author agrees to pay all expenses of
printing and publishing, including illustrating,
binding, packing, freights, etc., and also one-half
of the total cost of efficiently advertising the said
books, No limit is fixed for the cost of production
or for the advertisements, and the author has to
deposit in cash a sum equal to the estimated cost
of production and in addition a sum equal to the
estimated initial cost of advertising with the Trust
Company of the City of New York. Such deposit
to be subject only to the draft or cheque of the said
firm on the certification of such bills of indebtedness
by the author if residing in New York, or in her
absence by her legally appointed representatives.
Should, however, bills or accounts as above stated
be presented for certification and no action taken
on the same within seven days, then the said bank
or Trust Company is hereby authorised to pay such
cheques or drafts out of the aforesaid deposits on
receiving an affidavit by the said firm setting forth
such default or negligence. And lastly, in con-
sideration of the above articles being faithfully
performed and carried out, the said firm agree to
pay half profits.
It is hardly necessary to make any comment on
the above extraordinary agreement or upon the
proposals made during the course of negotiations.
The facts speak for themselves,
Although the first letters were full of large
promises of profits of all kinds to the author, yet
the last offer is quite distinct. It is possible that
the author might have been led away by the
temptation held out of large returns arising from
obtaining copyright in the United States, but no
author, however unaccustomed to the ways and
methods of publishers and their dealings in literary
wares, could possibly be deceived by the final letter
and the finalagreement. Nothing farther remains
to be done. The author must stand and wait. If
the books are produced in the United States, they
are pirated copies of the English edition. If they
are produced as copyright, under the American
law, the firm will be subject to severe penalties,
and if the books are produced as an authorised
edition, the author’s remedy is to make the whole
case public,
G. HE.
“FAIR COMMENT.”
— oe
HE Court of Appeal has now given its
judgment in the case of McQuire v. The
Western Morning News Company, Limited.
The case is a very interesting one, not only from
the point of view of the dramatist, but from the
point of view of the author. All members of the
profession of literature are subject to criticism.
Although each particular case of “unfair com-
ment’? must be to a certain extent decided on its
own especial facts, yet there are certain broad
rules which the Court lays down in order to
determine on what lines and to what extent a
criticism may be libellous.
The case was brought by an actor who repre-
sented a piece at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth,
238
and objected to the comment that appeared next
day in the Western Morning News.
In the Court of first instance judgment was
given for the plaintiff with £100 damages. The
defendant company pleading that the words were
not libellous, but fair and bond fide criticism on a
matter of public interest.
The defendants appealed, and on the appeal the
judgment in the Court below was reversed,
The Master of the Rolls, in delivering an
elaborate judgment, made some very weighty com-
ments on the law of “ libellous criticism.”
Firstly, as the libel complained of was a dramatic
criticism of the play publicly acted, unless it
exceeded “fair comment,” it could not be counted
as libellous.
After going carefully over the statements of the
plaintiff and defendants, he proceeded to raise the
most important question of what are the limits of
“ fair comment.”
“ One thing,” he said, “is perfectly clear. That
the jury have no right to substitute their own
opinion of the literary merits of the work for that
of the critic, or to try the fairness of the criticism
by. any such standard.”
This point is most important, and although it
has been made before, yet it cannot be sufficiently
insisted upon. If the verdict of whether the
criticism was fair or not depended upon the jury’s
verdict of the merits of the piece, the result might
be in a good many cases extraordinary. Authors
and dramatists know but too well how even the
highest critics have been known to disagree when
writing about or discussing the features of works
of art.
Secondly, the Master of the Rolls quoted a
saying of Lord Ellenborough’s bearing on this
subject :—
“The Commentator must not step aside from
the work or introduce fiction for the purpose of
condemnation. Had the party writing the criti-
cism followed the plaintiff into domestic life for
the purpose of slander, that would have been
libellous.”
And again, from the same judgment, “ Show me
an attack upon the moral character of the plaintiff,
or upon his character unconnected with his author-
ship, and I shall be as ready as any judge that ever
sat here to protect him.”
Lastly, he states, “I think the word ‘ fair’
embraces the meaning of honest and also of rele-
vancy.” And later, “‘ The comment, in order to be
within the protection of the privilege, had to be
fair, 7.¢., not such as to disclose in itself actual
malice. It also had to be relevant; otherwise it
never was within it. And the judge could hold,
as a matter of law, that the privilege did not extend
to it.’
THE AUTHOR.
These are some of the general points, and in
this particular case the Master of the Rolls stated
that he was clearly of opinion that the verdict was
against the weight of evidence, and that he con-
sidered the latter part of the summing-up of the
judge in the Court of first instance might have led
the jury to apply the standard of their own taste
to the appreciation of the thing criticised, and to
measure the rights of the critic accordingly.
Members of the Society from time to time come
to the office with questions of this kind, and it is
very useful to put before them those fundamental
facts on which alone an action for libellous criti-
cism will rest.
G. Hoo.
—$-—<—-—____
A COMMA AND A COW.
++
PWHE British Medical Journal of the 28th of
March, 1903, had an interesting account of
a dairy visited during an investigation into
“The Milk Supply of Large Towns.” One of the
incidents was described as follows :—
“The driver having finished milking, his cow
offered to take me into an adjoining room, where
the milk was cooled.”
In its following issue the British Medical Journal
commented upon the freak of the “ devil” who had
thus with the aid of a comma created a bovine
successor to Balaam’s ass, and gave two amusing
instances of the powers of misplaced punctuation.
In the one a well-known Nonconformist divine,
wishing to disclaim any ambition to appear in the
black coat and white tie, or stock, of orthodoxy, was
credited with a public declaration that he would
“wear no clothes, to distinguish him from his
fellow-Christians.”
In the other, a Canadian firm having placed a
new patent nursing-bottle on the market, accom-
panied it with these recommendations, for the
guidance of anxious mothers:
“When the baby is done drinking it must be
unscrewed, and laid in a cool place under a tap.
If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk it should
be boiled.”
The last example would seem to require some-
thing more than the minding of stops, in order to
satisfy a critical literary taste. It is not, however,
recorded that any baby suffered. In such a case
an interesting question of legal responsibility might
have been raised by an action for negligence against
the vendors of the bottle brought by a chilled or
par-boiled infant suing through his or her “next
friend.”
THE AUTHOR.
GENERAL MEMORANDA.
++
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be
managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the
Secretary of the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement),
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
C.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher,
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
It is above all things necessary to know what the
proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible
for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly
the truth. From time to time the very important figures
connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author,
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the
** Cost of Production,”
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production,
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld,
o—~<>—
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
—< +
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. [t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager,;
239
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS
IN THREE OR MORE ACTs :
(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,
This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters
into such a contract should stipulate in the con-
tract for production of the piece by a certaindate
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES
on gross receipts. Percentages vary between
5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE
TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (e.,
fixed nightly fees). This method should be
always avoided except in cases where the fees
are likely to be small or dificult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (.) apply
also in this case.
4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event, It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved,
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time, This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance. :
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11, An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA«#
TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
&—~<}P— —
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, 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 without any cost to the member,
bs Ly VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
240
2. 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.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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
independence of the writer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements,
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary
agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-
pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.
.8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do
some publishers. Members can make their own deductions
and act accordingly.
—_—_+—>_ +—___—_—_
THE READING BRANCH.
— to
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term
JISS. includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY
AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
————_——__.——_o—_____
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
5s, 6d. subscription for the year.
THE AUTHOR.
Communieations for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
i
COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE
EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever, Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—+— +
THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
ge
R. G. H. PUTNAM, the Secretary of the
American Publishers’ Copyright League,
has forwarded to the offices a pamphlet
privately printed for the League, entitled “ Opinions
on Questions of Copyright.”
The pamphlet contains opinions upon the more
important issues that have been in dispute during
the last ten years ending December, 1902. Mr.
Putnam, in his letter to the Secretary, states, ‘he
will be very pleased to meet any special require-
ments that may arise for copies on the part of the
managers of the Society.”
If, therefore, any member for a special purpose
should desire to have a copy of the pamphlet he is
requested to communicate with the Secretary, who
will, no doubt, under Mr, Putnam’s favour, obtain
the work in question.
We see, with interest, that the Publishers’ Asso-
ciation of America means to print at different
intervals further similar summaries as they are able
to secure records of decisions on Copyright Cases.
These publications will in time no doubt grow to
great importance, as it will be possible in a handy
form to have a collection of all the leading Copy-
right Cases. We thank Mr. Putnam for his
courtesy and consideration.
Amone@ the Correspondence we print a letter
from Mr. Thomas Hardy.
It comes at a very suitable time, as the same
subject was treated in the May number of The
Author, on page 206, when comment was made on
the Annual Meeting of the Publishers’ Association,
In that article we stated as follows :—
“ Firstly, we have insisted, and now insist again,
that it is absolutely essential that contracts deal-
ing with the subject of serial rights should be
clear and limited and should not be general or
indefinite, and when serial rights are sold they
should be sold either to one paper or to a limited
circle of papers for one issue only or for a limited
time.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy seems to have
suffered from a complaint which is not infrequent
among authors, the revival of an earlier work
without any reference to the author. Legally, the
position is quite correct. If the copyright has
been sold or if serial rights without any limitation
have been transferred, the position is often very
unsatisfactory both for the author, or, as in the
case quoted in the May number, for the publisher.
It is necessary to warn authors who publish serial
work to be careful about their agreements.
In the early days of the past month the papers
were full of the Stock Exchange walk from London
to Brighton, and applauded the fact vociferously
that out of some 90 starters 72 covered the
distance under thirteen hours. From a physical
point of view no doubt the result is highly satis-
factory. : : :
In the American Author there is an interesting
article on the mental activity of authors. Mr. John
Swinton, “journalist, orator, and economist,” was
desired to write a novel based on certain economical
questions, consisting of 500 octavo pages, small
pica type, in twenty days. Reckoning a page to
contain about 250 words, this meant a book of
125,000 words. Mr. Swinton objected, but the
representative of the publishing firm was
inexorable, and at last the author stated that
he would make an effort. His own words are
as follows :—
“He demanded the preface of my book at once. I
pondered. I was familiar with the subject, having thought
and spoken and written much upon it in other years. I
hastily sketched a plan as I talked with him.
‘“‘He said he would wait in the house till I had written
the preface, which he desired to take to Philadelphia that
evening. Becoming desperate under his urging eye, I sat
down, and in an hour gave him the preface. The first
chapter was mailed in a few days. Chapter followed
chapter. I worked day and night, keeping up pluck with
never-ending pots of coffee. Three hundred of the five
hundred pages were written, and time was nearly up. I
padded. I put in things I had formerly written. The
twenty days were out, and over one hundred pages were
yet needed. I had to get a few days of grace. Finally the
book of 500 pages and 125,000 words was finished. Its
title is ‘Striking for Life,’ ”’
This was certainly fine mental athletics, but the
THE AUTHOR.
241
article goes on to quote from another American
periodical, the Bookman, a few facts which have
no doubt been fully verified by the writer.
For instance—Frank Norris wrote 125,000 words
in 89 days. Mrs. Oliphant always wrote at night,
and more than once completed a three volume
novel in six weeks. The following interesting
statements about English authors, from the same
article, may come as a surprise to some :—
““Weyman writes one novel a year, and cannot be per-
suaded to attempt more. It took Hall Caine three years to
write ‘The Manxman,’ Barrie four to write ‘ Sentimental
Tommy,’ and four more to produce ‘Tommy and Grizel.’
Maurice Hewlett wrote ‘The Forest Lovers’ four times
before he was willing to let it go from his hands, and the
late Bret Harte tore up a dozen pages of manuscript for
every one that he completed. Harold Frederic was five
years writing ‘The Damnation of Theron Ware. ”
But for sound mental athletics, consider gravely
an offer made by a certain well-known publisher to
a gentleman, whom he desired to employ to grind
out fiction. This offer was quoted in’ the April
number of Zhe Author, and is absolutely authentic.
The serial writer was to have £600 a year. To
earn this money he would have to produce 5,000
words a day for six days a week, without any
provision for sickness or holidays. It will be seen
that work under this offer comes nearly up to that
of Mr. Swinton, but has to be continued year in
and year out, until the publisher, the public, and
the author are tired, and the last, a useless wreck,
loses his position.
In the American Critic an article entitled
“Uncertainties of Literature,” written by Elliot
Flower, follows the same lines as the articles that
appeared in the February and March (1902) num-
bers of Zhe Author, on “Some Free Lance Expe-
riences.”
In reading the record it would appear that the
struggling ree Lance meets with much the same
treatment on both sides of the water. The record
is tabulated.
Out of 53 MSS., each MS. had to be sent on
its travels on an average slightly over five times
before it could be placed. Nine were accepted at
once, and 12 on a second trial, but at the other
end of the scale, one was sent out 30 times before
acceptance, one 18 times, and two 13 times.
There is no doubt that when an author has
reached a certain point of facility in writing there
is nothing like persistence to bring success.
Tux following rhyme, written, perchance, with a
view to ridicule, has been dropped into the Society’s
post bag.
We print it for what it is worth, in the hope that
249
the author will put aside his cloak of modesty and
discover himself.
No doubt, he calls it an epigram. If so, he
would, we feel sure, be a proper inmate for one of
those beautiful and sanitary buildings that adorn
the hills of Surrey and Sussex.
To tHE Society of AUTHORS, 39, QUEEN STREET,
SrorEY’s GATE.
You flourish on Authors’ alarms ;
You arouse the unfriendly in Man ;
Then you sell healing balms,
To stifle their qualms,
At the cost of One Guinea per ann.
But pause for a moment, I pray,
A pen stroke :—your ruin is clear,
From the Street that is clean,
With the name of the QUEEN,
To the street that is doubtful and QUEER.
ee <>
THE LYTTON CENTENARY.
— +
HE Lytton centenary has produced the
ordinary crop of commemorative articles, the
best being Mr. Francis Gribble’s paper in
the Fortnightly Review, and the more sober appre-
ciation in Blackwood’s Magazine. Of these two
papers we think the latter has the greater value as
criticism, for Mr. Gribble’s virile intolerance of any-
thing savouring of affectation prompts him to con-
vey the suggestion, though he does not actually
formulate the charge, that Lytton’s vapourings
about the Beautiful and the True originated in
preciousness ” and were therefore insincere, and
his resentment of the seeming insincerity prompts
him to do scant justice to Lytton’s compensating
merits.
With the intolerance of affectation we are in full
sympathy, but we do not endorse the very common
opinion that Lytton was insincere. He was despe-
rately in earnest, ever painfully conscious of his
“mission”; he had indeed that high seriousness
which, according to Matthew Arnold, comes from
absolute sincerity. With it, too, he had a sense of
humour ; “ Kenelm Chillingly” proves that, even
as it proves its author’s funereal gravity and fathom-
less sentimentality. And with those two qualifica-
tions, high seriousness and humour, it is odds but
what any man will go far. The mistake Lytton
made was in allowing his mission to get in the
way of his art. “In forming his conception,”
Mr. Worsfold says, “the artist should be guided
by the test of ‘great ideas ’; in executing his con-
ception he must be guided by the ‘rules of art,
THE AUTHOR.
He, on the one hand, can never be, by the nature
of things, so independent of the mass of mankind
as to make artistic excellence his sole object; on
the other, moral worth, however distinctive, can
never of itself suffice to endow his work with the
characteristic charm of art.” Lytton’s moral inten-
tions were above suspicion, and his literary facility
was so extraordinary that it is not surprising that
he neglected the rules of art when, without them, he
could achieve such an extraordinary vogue as he
did at once.
The measure of success that was meted out to
him might well, indeed, have turned the brain of a
much more robust man, and the wonder is, not
that he enjoyed such a vogue in the earlier part of
his career, but that he was not spoiled by it and
wholly incapacitated for doing the much better
work that he actually produced in the latter half
of his career.
Whether Lytton was a great artist or not is a
question little likely to be brought up for discussion
now ; the centenary merely offers opportunity for
reconsidering him as a writer at the expiration of
a given period. What he wrote, he wrote ; some
of it suited and has been accepted ; “and that’s
success.” ‘To describe him in a single epithet is
not possible, but the epigrammatic criticism passed
upon him by a writer in the Academy is pro-
bably as fair a one as could be devised : that he
was so full of talent that there was no room left in
him for genius. That his bicentenary will be com-
memorated, and those books which are read now
be read a hundred years hence, may, we think, be
assumed ; and of many a better writer so much
could not be said.
Or
THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.
—
(Reprinted by kind permission from the Publishers’
Circular, May 2nd.)
R. ANDREW LANG has been “ pitching
in” to the booksellers in the Morning
Post—or, what is much the same thing,
he has borrowed the stick of a “ trenchant critic ”
who writes in 7’e Author and re-applied it—with
reservations. He lets his “author” point the
moral, and then he adorns the tail, with another
sting of the stick.
«The bookseller’s affair is,” he says, “to know
about books and men. My author, however,
‘believes that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate
the lethargy and incapacity of the ordinary retail
bookseller.” Mr. Lang kindly adds: “These be
very brave words ; I should hesitate to apply them
PohCenSORNRRI
THE AUTHOR.
to his Majesty’s ministers, much more to the
ordinary retail bookseller.” Then why, Mr. Lang,
did you not hesitate before-taking such an unfair
statement out of its coffin and publishing it to the
world ?—it would have remained stillborn had you
not godfathered it. ‘“ ‘The habit of reading,’ says
my author, ‘is being all over the country dis-
couraged by the insutficiency of the vast majority
of booksellers.’” Mr. Lang quotes this silly libel,
and adds that he deems it “ much too sweeping.”
How much ?
“*The country,’ says my author ferociously,
‘would be benefited by the bankruptcy of the
whole lot of booksellers, and the transference of
their business to more competent hands.’” Mr.
Lang’s comment is: “This man _ has suffered
much.” How much? Anyone would think the
whole of the booksellers of the United Kingdom
had united to offend him by refusing to stock his
works, but all we are told is that some unnamed
“suburban bookseller” failed to get him a cheap
copy of Milton’s poems.
“The book never came, but at the end of a
fortnight the bookseller found energy enough to
send a messenger to say it could not be procured.”
If this cock-and-bull story were true, what
ground is there in it for libelling the whole book-
selling trade of the country ? Another ‘“ example,”
as Mr, Lang calls it, of this man’s sufferings at the
hands of the whole trade is that, despairing of
getting a learned work on Egyptology from the
suburban bookseller—apparently he did not even
ask for it—he gives its title and the address of its
publisher to a tobacconist, who at once procured it
—whether the confiding tobacconist ever got paid
for it we are not told. But why should Mr. Lang
give credence and publicity to such a Blue Fairy
story as this ? ’
“The larger part of the reading public cannot
get the books it desires,” says Mr. Lang’s “ tren-
chant critic.” If this is trne it only goes to prove
that the larger part of the public is what Carlyle
said it was.
How interesting it would be to have the name
and address of this “author” who would like to
see the whole bookselling trade made bankrupt
because some apocryphal suburban bookseller could
not procure for him a copy of the “ Chandos’
Milton. Mr. Lang’s pen is not often dipped in
disappointed author’s bile, and it is not as if he
believed the charges were true; then why give
currency to anonymous and unfounded abuse of
the booksellers ?
There are thousands of booksellers in the United
Kingdom selling millions of books every year, and
yet they are all condemned in this wholesale way
because some nameless author says he could not
get a cheap book from some unnamed bookseller.
243
It is true that one or two other “examples ” are
given by Mr. Lang. Some old lady in Norway
wrote for Mr. Lang’s books to an Edinburgh book-
seller, who gaily replied that they were all out of
print. Are we to infer from the strange conduct
of this prevaricating Edinburgh bookseller that
Mr. Lang has no honour in his own country ?
Heaven forbid! Booksellers would be the last to
claim that their knowledge and methods were never
at fault—but even those of authors are not perfect.
o—~<—
HALF-PROFITS ON SHEETS TO
AMERICA,
— +
T may seem dull reading to the constant reader
of The Author to see the repetition of certain
forms of agreement, certain clauses, certain
methods of publishing, accompanied with the same
comments; but as long as publishers persist in
bad clauses so long must Ve Author's objections
persist also.
There is a clause often embodied in agreements
issued by the best houses in London in which the
author, who does not obtain the American Copy-
right, is entitled to half of the profits on the sale
of sheets to America. If this clause is inserted in
the usual half-profit agreement there is little to be
said against it. The only points at issue, then,
are, Is a profit-sharing agreement desirable? In
what proportion should profits be divided between
author and publisher? But if the clause is inserted
in an agreement where the author is to obtain a
royalty on the publication of the English edition,
there are two very strong points of objection.
This sale to an American house is mere agency
work. If conducted through the medium of an
author’s agent the latter would be highly pleased
with the payment of 10 per cent. on the net result.
Not so the publisher, although he is constantly
crying out against the agent and his charges, It
is a well-known fact—instances have often been
quoted—that the publisher, although he expresses
strong disapproval of the intervention of the agent
who charges a modest 10 per cent., makes—when
he endeavours to undertake any of the agent’s
duties—a general charge of 50 per cent. The
lowest percentage which has ever been seen in any
agreement before the Secretary of the Society was
25 per cent. Further arguments against allowing
a publisher to undertake an agent’s work need not
be repeated here.
The second objection rests on the fact that a
clause drafted on these lines is a distinct pitfall to
the author. It is a pitfall for the following
reasons :—1. Because to the ordinary person the
244
difficulties with which the clause is pregnant are
altogether invisible. 2. Because the amount the
author receives in royalty is always calculated—
see the books of the Society on the point—on the
basis that the full cost of composition is charged
against the English edition. If this were not
the case, the author ought to receive a higher
royalty on British sales. :
Let us explain what we mean more fully.
ake the ordinary 6s. book :—
Cost of composition of 3,000 copies ... £30 0 0
Cost of printing ; ee 16 0 8
Cost of paper a 2 58 0 0
Total... ..£104 0 0
Of the 3,000 copies the publisher sends 2,000 to
America, and receives for the same (say) 1s. a copy
£100. The cost of composition was compulsory
for the completion of the English edition, the
author’s royalty, as stated, being based on_ this
understanding ; but the publisher takes two-thirds
of this cost towards the American edition, as well
as two-thirds of the cost for the print and the paper,
leaving to be divided between himself and the
author—
By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0
‘Two-thirds cost of production ~ 69 6 8
£30 13 4
As the cost of composition has no right to be
charged against the American edition, but only the
cost of print and paper, the difference would work
out as follows :—
By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0
‘Two-thirds cost of print and paper... 49 6 8
£50 13 4
Instead, therefore, of the author receiving
£25 6s. 8d., by the publisher’s method of calcu-
lation of half profits, the author receives
£15 6s. 8d. and the publisher £35 6s. 8d. It
is almost as reasonable an arrangement as the
ordinary half-profit agreement, whose clauses and
workings have so often been exposed in Zhe
Author.
To show how this method may be worked out in
the interests of untrustworthy publishers unfairly to
the author, say the publisher in the first instance
only publishes a thousand copies. The cost of
composition would still be £30; printing, £10;
paper, £20. He sells 500 copies to America, and
on the same principle the following sum is worked
out —
THE AUTHOR.
Half cost of production .. £30 0 0
By sale of 500 copies to America at 1s.
per copy ... one ae «=. 202 0 0
£5 0.0
This would leave a deficit against the author’s
account of £2 10s., as the sale to America has
failed to cover the cost of production.
As soon as the edition is sold and the amount is
worked out against the author he prints 10,000
copies for the English edition, but never takes into
account the proportion of the cost of production of
the 500 sent to America to the 10,000 printed in
England. Again, supposing you take the first
instance and 20,000 were subsequently sold, the
cost of the 2,000 sold to America is still taken in
proportion to the cost of the 3,000 of the first
edition printed, and not in proportion to the whole
cost.
It will be seen, therefore, that, quite apart
from the contract being unfair and a pitfall
to the unwary (as on the face of the agree-
ment the difficulty is invisible), even if it is
worked out by a publisher with an honest idea of
doing nothing dishonourable, the result of its
working, its natural evolution, becomes a fraud
on the author, as it is impossible to calculate this
sale to America on the basis of future sales. It
must always be calculated upon the sales that have
already been made. The position is ridiculous. It
is to be hoped that the Publishers’ Association will
dissociate themselves from this form of agreement.
G. H. T.
—_—--
AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.
II.—The Purchase of an Annuity.
O possess an annuity is the dearest desire of a
poor man’s heart. An income assured for life,
against which neither the rumours of wars
nor the depressions of the money market has any
effect, isperhaps the most comforting of all prospects.
For this reason doubtless—the immunity from finan-
cial worry—the lives of annuitants extend beyond
the common span. One company, in a recent report,
stated that the average age of the annuitants dying
during the year under review was eighty-eight.
The records of other companies confirm this experi-
ence, which is remarkable in view of the fact that
many of the annuitants are in weak health when
they effect their policies, and would not be accept-
able for life insurance except at special rates.
The Moral Objection is one which arises in the
consideration of the annuity. It is held that as
the capital invested with the company is forfeited
to them at the death of the assured ; that the con-
tract is a peculiarly selfish one; at least this is
often the opinion of near relatives. The question,
however, depends wholly upon circumstance. For a
married man with distracting responsibilites to
sink all his available capital might very well be an
unwise step. On the other hand, there area variety
of situations in which to purchase an annuity might
be a most prudent step, inasmuch as the annuitant
is relieved immediately of all anxiety—providing
the annuity is of sufficient amount—as regards
his future.
Annuity versus Investment—It is generally
agreed by financial authorities that the highest
return on money it is possible to obtain from abso-
lutely secure investment is 8 per cent. he
return from the annuity is much higher, varying
from 5 to 20 per cent., according to age. A
man of sixty would receive £30 a year from his
investment of £1,000, whereas the annuity would
produce him an income of £94. The difference
might very well mean to him the path from penury
to comfort. In consequence of the curious life-
giving properties of the annuity it is regarded with
disfavour by some of the insurance companies, as it
is not a department which is very profitable to
them. The occasional early death of an annuitant
does not recompense them for the abnormally long
lives on which they continue to make a high return.
Another aspect of the annuity in comparing it with
investments is that the return never varies. The
recent depreciation in the value of Consols and
certain railway stocks indicates a risk which
attaches even to “ gilt-edged”’ investments.
The choice of an annuity is necessarily confined
to persons of capital. But the return per hundred
pounds is the same as per thousand, and to persons
whose income comes to them, as it were, in flashes,
a few hundred pounds might very well be sunk in
producing a small income which has the immense
advantage of being guaranteed to them for life.
The choice of an annuity, being a perfectly simple
contract untroubled by side issues, is one which
offers no difficulty. All the well-known British
offices are absolutely safe. The object, therefore,
should be to purchase the annuity in the office
offering the largest return for the particular age.
The returns differ far more than in ordinary
insurance. For example, a man of sixty can pur-
chase for £1,000 a life annuity of £94 in one
office, whilst another will return him only £80 10s.
The difference is over 14 per cent. Both offices
are of the highest standing, but a man would be
very unwise to take the latter policy when the
former is obtainable. ‘The differences indicated at
several ages is clearly shown in the following
table. The terms quoted by the Post Office are
also given for the purpose of comparison.
THE AUTHOR.
245
INVESTMENT oF £1,000,
Males.
|
| Age 40. Age 50,
Highest re-| £ 5, d.| £ s.. d.| & $d. & sg
2 Gunn 62 10 0173 10.0104. .0 1134 oO 8
Lowest re- |
tora =... | 62 1 0.) 63 10 0130-10 06 114 8 6
Difference..| £9 15 0/10 0 0/1810 01/19 15 0
Average of |
50 offices. | 5 |
! W1t 8) 68 7 6 | 8812 61196 6 §
Post Office..| 55 17 6 |.66 18 4187 1 8 195 9 9
Females.
: ee
Age 40, | Age 50 Age 60. | Age 70,
|
d.| ee a A es as ga.
Highest re-} £ s. | £ 8.
CHI cs 56 12 0 | 66 10
O18 0 0 1193 0 6
Lowest re- | |
nibunloy eee 48 0 0/5616 8| 7218 4|105 6 8
Difference..|£8 12 0| 918 4/1211 8|1713 4
Average of
50 offices.| 52 11 8 | 62 1 817915 O1115 0 0
Post Office..|] 50 5 0{60 510/78 8 4 111416 8
|
-Vote.—For the return per £100 in each instance divide:
by ten.
There is no doubt, however, that the complete
surrender of capital to the company is a material
objection, in some minds, to the purchase of an
annuity. “Should I die the day after, they argue,
the money is absolutely lost, and my estate receives
nothing!” The number of annuitants dying in
the early days of their contract is so small as to be
beyond practical consideration ; but all the same
this objection remains. To meet this several com-
panies have lately devised a plan by which the
income is guaranteed over a stated number of years,
usually ten or twenty. This provides against the
early death of the annuitant, as, in any case, a
return of ten or twenty payments is guaranteed to.
the estate. We have shown that the best return
obtainable for age sixty for £1,000 is £94 per
annum. With the annuity guaranteed for tem
years the return would be £80 3s. and for twenty
years £62 9s. Such tables would appeal to persons.
who wish to provide their estate against the risk
of early death. But, on the other hand, most per-
sons of mature age are more or less covered by life
insurance, and it is perhaps better business to
accept the slight risk of early death in order to:
procure the materially higher income.
246
THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE SOCIETY
OF AUTHORS.
1+
HE annual dinner of the Society, held at the
Hotel Cecil, on Thursday, April 30th, was
attended by about 170 members and guests.
Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Chairman of the Committee
of Management, was in the chair, with Captain
Sverdrup, of the Fram, one of the gold medallists
of the Royal Geographical Society for this year,
on his right hand and Sir Clements Markham,
K.C.B., President R.G.S., on his left ; and the
vice-chairs were occupied by Mr. G. H. Thring
(Secretary), Mr. Rider Haggard, Mr. Anthony
Hope Hawkins, and Dr. 8. Squire Sprigge. When
dinner was over the Chairman proposed the health
of the King in a brief speech, followed by that of
the Queen and Royal Family.
After these loyal toasts had been duly honoured,
Mr. Douglas Freshfield rose again to propose the
toast of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
Making reference to the important work done by
the Society for authors at large and for its members
in particular in enabling them to obtain the full
market value for their work, he described it as a
Society for the Protection of Authors. In their
business relations with publishers authors often
needed protection. He deprecated the idea that
the Society led a crusade against publishers, and
preferred to consider it as working to promote
an alliance necessary to both; he likened it rather
to a trades union, having, however, no power to call
its members out on strike. Mr. Freshfield also
referred to the subject of the foundation of an
Academy of Literature, as a question of interest to
authors, on which he believed that there was some-
thing to be said on both sides, though he indicated
his own doubts as to the advantages to literature
and the public taste that might be derived from
such a body counterbalancing the obvious draw-
backs and difficulties connected with its creation
and renewal.
Mr. Rider Haggard replied for the Society in a
vigorous speech, in which he deprecated the
expression of any desire by authors for the institu-
tion of an Academy, and inquired what the methods
were likely to be by which election to such an
Academy might be secured. He declared that he
had no wish to see authors—men of letters—touting
round to other men of letters in order to secure
election to the Academy. He asked by what stan-
dard it was proposed that their claims to election
should be judged. Was popularity to be the test,
and was the author of whose work many thousand
copies were sold before it appeared to be the one
elected to the Academy, or he whose work was
considered to have high literary qualifications ?
THE AUTHOR.
He hoped that the question of the Academy
would be left alone, and expressed the belief
that every class had the right to combine
for the mutual comfort and protection of its
members, and that this was the spirit which
actuated those who founded the Society of Authors,
of which he had been a very early member. While
alluding to the question of the prices paid for
literary work and the success of the Society in
bettering the position of authors with regard to
payment, Mr. Haggard asked why Milton sold
““Paradise Lost” for £10? He answered his own
question by saying, with emphasis, that it was
because he could not get any more. For unpaid
work, amateur work, he expressed no great respect,
indeed he questioned the merits of work done
without hope of reward in such terms that some of
his hearers were inclined to express dissent from
his views. In the course of his speech Mr. Haggard
referred to the friendly relations which he believed
to be those that should rightly exist between
author and publisher, and in conclusion he paid a
graceful tribute to the memory of Sir Walter
Besant.
In proposing the toast of the guests of the
Society of Authors, Mr. Richard Whiteing referred
to those preseut who, representing science, had
maintained the connection ever existing between
science and literature. He mentioned among those
present Mr. C. Longman, Dr. Clifford Allbutt, Dr.
Mill, Sir William Church, P.R.C.P., Sir Henry
Howse, P.R.C.S., and Mr. G. W. Prothero. In par-
ticular he made allusion to the work done recently
by Captain Sverdrup on board the Fram, and to the
kindred services to science and exploration with
which the name of Sir Clements Markham is
associated. With these gentlemen he joined Mr.
Henry Newbolt as representing the guests of the
Society.
In replying for the guests, Sir Clements Markham
laid emphasis upon the recent achievements of
Captain Sverdrup in the department of scientific
Polar exploration, and mentioned that Captain
Sverdrup himself would probably find difficulty in
making a lengthy reply to the toast in any but a
foreign tongue. Unfortunately this was the case,
and Captain Sverdrup, to the regret of his hosts
and fellow-guests, confined himself to a_ brief
expression of thanks for the cordial welcome
received by him.
Mr. Henry Newbolt, replying in his turn for the
guests, described himself as being in a sense a
publisher as well as an author, and was inclined to
think that the attitude of author and publisher
towards one another must necessarily be charac-
terised by some hostility due to their relative
positions and interests. Referring to standards by
which modern literature may be judged, Mr.
THE AUTHOR.
Newbolt took a hopeful view of his contemporaries,
but compared their passage past our range of
vision to that of a procession, pointing out that
the procession as it goes by seems to be a confused
succession of units, while the relative merit of the
figures and groups composing it can best be appre-
ciated as it passes into the distance.
At the conclusion of Mr. Newbolt’s speech Mr.
Oscar Browning rose to give the health of the
chairman. Mr, Browning avowed himself able in
doing this to speak from long acquaintance with
the subject of his speech, whom he had first
known as climbing Mont Blane while a school-
boy at Eton, when he was himself a master
there, and with whose work as an explorer of
mountain peaks and ranges, and discoverer of
ground untrodden by previous climbers, he had
been familiar from his earliest days.
Mr. Freshfield, in thanking those present for the
warmth with which they had received the toast,
made graceful reference to his memories of Mr.
Browning as an Eton master, and to the long
friendship with him which so many Eton and
Cambridge men had enjoyed.
A soirée was held after the toasts had been
drunk, and the members and guests had an oppor-
tunity of meeting one another.
The following is a list of those present :—
Ackermann, A. 8. E.
Ackermann, Mrs.
Allbutt, Prof. Clifford
Armstrong, E. A.
Ashley, Mrs.
Back, Mrs. Eaton
Baildon, H. Belsize
Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite
Begbie, Miss A, H.
Bell, Mackenzie
Berene, Sir
K.C.M.G.
Besant, Geoffrey
Besier, Rudolf
Bird, C. P.
Boddington, Miss Helen
Bolam, the Rev. C. E.
Boutwood, Arthur
Boutwood, Mrs.
Browning, Oscar
Bryden, H. A.
Buxton, Dudley
Buxton, Mrs. Dudley
Campbell, Miss Mont-
gomery
Carlile, John C.
Childers, Erskine
Church, Sir William &.,
PEC, P,
Churchill, Lt.-Col. Seton
Henry,
Colquhoun, Archibald
Colquhoun, Mrs. Archi-
bald
Craig, Lt.-Col. R. Mani-
fold
Crawshay, Mrs.
Croker, Mrs. B. M.
Davidson, Miss L. C,
Davy, Mrs. E. M.
Doudney, Miss Sarah
Douglas, Sir George,
Bart.
Dowsett, C. F.
Duncan, Miss Sarah
Jeanette
Esler, Rentoul
Esler, Mrs. Rentoul
Free, the Rey. Richard
Freshfield, Douglas
Galpin, H.
“ Wirt Gerrare ”
Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer
Grierson, Miss
Griffin, H. M.
*‘ Victoria Cross ”’
Groser, Horace G.
Gunter, Lt.-Col. E.
Haggard, Miss Dorothy
Haggard, Miss Angela
Haggard, H. Rider
Hallett, Col. W. Hughes
Harrison, Miss Rose
Hawkins, A. Hope
Henslowe, Miss
Hepburn, David
Hills, A. E.
Hodges, W. O.
Holman, Martin
Howse, Sir Henry G.,
P.R.C.S.
Humphreys, Mrs. Des-
mond (‘‘ Rita ’’)
Hutchinson, the Rey,
HN,
lliffe, Mrs.
Irvine, Mrs. Duncan
Irvine, Duncan
Jacobs, W. W.
James, Miss W. M.
( Austin Clare”)
Jenkins, Mrs. L. Hadow
Keltie, J. Scott
Kenealy, Miss Arabella
Lechmere, Mrs.
Lechmere, Mr.
Lee, Miss Alice
Lefroy, Mrs.
Lennox, Lady William
Little, J. Stanley
Little, Mrs.
Longman, C. J.
Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc
‘Maarten Maartens ”
Magnus, Laurie
Markham, Sir Clements,
KO. BE RS:
Marks, Montagu
Mason, Miss EH. M.
Meadows, Miss
Mill, Dr. H. R.
Montagu, Mrs. Drogo
247
Morris, Mrs. Frank
Moscheles, Felix
Newbolt, H.
Oppenheim, E. Phillip
Pennethorne, Deane
Pennethorne, Mrs.
Perrin, Mrs.
Perris, G. H.
Petano, D. K.
Phibbs, Miss I. M.
Praed, Bulkeley
Praed, Mrs. Campbell
Prelooker, Jaakoff
Prothero, G. W.
Rae, John
* Allen Rainé”
Reeves, Mrs.
Reich, Emil
Rogers, A.
“ Leicester Romayne ”
Royle, William
Savory, Miss Isabel
Stanton, Miss H. M.
Stanton, Stephen J. B.
Stroud, F.
Stroud, Miss
Smith, Mrs. Isabel
Spielmann, M. H.
Sprigge, Mrs. Squire
Sprigge, 8. Squire
Sverdrup, Capt.
Thring, Mrs.
Thring, G. H.
Trench, Herbert
Tweedie, Mrs. Alec
Walrond, Charles
Wells, Mrs.
Wells, H. G.
White, Arnold
Whiteing, R.
Wilson, Mrs.
—_——___—_1+—>—_ 2 —____—-
EDUCATE YOUR OWN CHILDREN.
9
EFORE the South African War it was some-
times asked whether such and such a
colony was really loyal.
That question has been answered. ‘To-day, at any
rate in Canada, an Englishman may be forgiven
if he sometimes asks of himself “ Does the old
country really want to keep us?”
If she does not, why not say so openly, and let
those who wish to, return to her, and those who
wish to, join hands with the States.
But if England really wants to keep Canada,
248
why does she allow the United States to educate
the public opinion of her colony ?
It is not enough that most of our daily news
comes to us coloured to suit America, that our
telegrams are not altogether reliable, that there
are so many Americans amongst us and such go-a-
head American towns close to us, that our people
must take some tones and colours from their
neighbours which an Englishman born would
rather they did not ?
To all this is added, for the sake of a few paltry
pounds in the pocket of the English Post Office,
the fact that almost all our light literature and
practically all our magazines are American.
The way of it is thus: American periodicals
are not better than English. Far from it. Better
illustrated two or three of them may be, but no
one who could get a Blackwood would, I assume,
take any ten American magazines in exchange
for it.
And our people know this; but the American
magazines are cheaper than ours, thanks to the
extremely high postal rates which our magazines
have. to pay.
Magazines which cost the same at the offices of
publication differ as one to two in price when they
reach the Canadian market.
Here is an illustration: The Strand and
Pearson's are both published in New York as well
as in London. Our booksellers sell the old-style
edition, of course, which costs them 74 cents in
New York, and is mailed to them at 1 cent
per lb. If they bought the English edition they
would have to pay about 9 cents in London, and
8 cents per 1b. postage.
The result of this kind of thing is that, taking
the figures of one of our booksellers here as a
criterion, we seil four American magazines for
every British magazine, though we are a British
people and like our own wares best.
My first.point is a national one.. If you want
to keep Canada British, you had better feed her
mind on British literature.
My second is for the authors. If you want to
keep a market for British books in Canada, you
had better ask British publishers to advertise a
little (not necessarily in the vilely bad taste common
on this continent, but in such a way that a man’s
intimate friends may have a chance of finding out
that he has written a book), and press for such
postal rates as will allow the magazines in
which they advertise to compete with American
magazines,
If any one is sufficiently interested in my subject
to pursue it for himself, let him take up any of the
leading magazines of the States and see how they
advertise their books.
When “David Harum” came out you could
THE AUTHOR.
not walk through the streets of Ottawa without
being flipped in the face by long streamers of
“extracts ” which floated from the booksellers’
doors ; you could not open a magazine without
setting free a shower of notices ; the book haunted
you. As to our books, I had to start a crusade
against our booksellers, to wake them up to the
fact that ‘The Four Feathers ” had been written.
Are we not big enough as a nation to sacrifice a
few dollars, that our children may learn at their
mother’s knee, and not at another’s ?
CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY.
—_—_____» <> ____
“SIR MACKLIN.”
a
OLLECTIVE psychology is a subject which,
as this volume” testifies, has not escaped the
attention of Mr. A. B. Walkley, but one
reader, at least, inclines to the opinion that he has
not applied his knowledge with sufficient particu-
larity in this present instance. Had he done so he
would not have forgotten that devices proper to
the rhetorician are not always proper to the author
and that a looseness of argument may pass un-
challenged in the spoken word, but cannot escape
so lightly in the written word: in short, that good
lectures do not necessarily make good books.
There is a certain sort of banter, wholly or partly
good-humoured, that frequently is not only lawful but
expedient to a lecturer who desires to carry with
him the last obstinate objector in his audience ;
but the same banter may have a contrary effect
when the lecture is reproduced in the unsympathetic
medium of printer’s ink and submitted to the
leisurely consideration of the same individual in
the seclusion of his library.
I seem to detect such partly good-humoured
banter in the first lecture in the volume before me.
I am conscious of an attempt on Mr. Walkley’s
part to anticipate any suggestions I may make of
flaws in his work and to dispose of them before-
hand by belittling my qualifications to estimate its
value. He puts me in my place, so to speak, and
the human nature in me is disposed to rebel
against the operation.
‘Everyone who expresses opinions, however
imbecile, in print calls himself a ‘critic.’ The
greater the ignoramus, the greater the likelihood
of his posing as a ‘critic.’” Sentences of this
kind may serve to raise an unthinking laugh and
break the ice between lecturer and audience, but
they are not worthy of being perpetuated in print ;
* “ Dramatic Criticism,’ by A. B. Walkley. London:
John Murray, 1903. (5s. net.)
THE AUTHOR. 249
their inaccuracy is only equalled by their antiquity.
The sole reason that 1 can find for their preserva-
tion here is a desire to rule me, and others like me,
out of court by writing me down an ass before I
begin to suggest that perhaps Mr. Walkley does
not embody all the law and the prophets. As a
mere caudal appendage of “that great baby, the
public,” I may be a barbarian, or, isolated, a harm-
less citizen or a placid British vestryman ; with
luck I may be an amateur of culture, in which
case my judgment is probably spoiled by the
literary bias, or a mundane person, in which case
I have a bias either of the individual or the vogue.
Whatever I may be, I don’t matter, which is a
soothing reflection for Mr. Walkley and a chasten-
ing one for me. And yet I can’t help wondering
if it is quite true.
“From the people whom the critic criticises it
would be unreasonable to expect sympathy,” Mr.
Walkley remarks ; he omits to say what it would
be reasonable to expect from the people who
criticise the critic ; perhaps the possibility never
entered his head. But he also observes that ‘just
as one solid body cannot collide with another with-
out the manifestation of a form of energy which
we call heat, so one mind cannot impinge upon
another without the manifestation of that form of
energy which we call criticism.” Inasmuch as it
is due to Mr. Walkley, with Mr. Murray as a con-
tributory party, that his mind has impinged upon
mine, it is not only excusable but natural that I
should manifest energy with the best of them.
My dissatisfaction with this book is due to the
fact that it does not take me any further forward
than I was before ; it is nebulous and inconclusive.
Portentously serious in intention it is not a serious
contribution to the literature of criticism. The
author has an irritating trick of proving all sorts
of things, and then, when he has triumphantly
written Q.E.D. at the end of his argument, hastening
to explain that the theorem is wholly immaterial.
He reminds me of Sir Macklin, who, as every
schoolboy knows,
“was a priest severe
In conduct and in conversation,
It did a sinner good to hear
Him deal in ratiocination.
“ He could in every action show
Some sin, and nobody could doubt him,
He argued high, he argued low,
He also argued round about him.”
It is not for me to suggest whom to cast for the
bishop in the story.
Thus he refers to Gibbon’s division of critics
into three classes, takes leave to reduce them to
two, compares these two, showing in the process
that there is not so much difference between them
as they themselves suppose, and then, having
compared and contrasted them to his own entire
satisfaction, war's us that the contrast must not be
taken too seriously. By such a device the most
exiguous contribution to literature might be
bumped out to the most ample proportions, but
its value, when so bumped out, would be open to
question.
On page 20 he quotes Mr. Birrell as follows :—
“T have had some experience of authors, and have
always found them better pleased with the ‘ unprofes-
sional’ verdicts of educated men, actively engaged in the
work of the world than ever they were with the laboured
praise of the so-called ‘ expert.’ ”
Then on page 35 he examines the passage as
follows :—
“ After the crowd, the average or uncultivated amateur,
let us turn to Mr. Birrell’s candidate for the critical post—
the man of affairs or of the world who dabbles in the arts ;
in other words, the amateur of culture. Mr. Birrell puts in
a very artful plea for this class. He says the authors like
them, preferring their verdicts of approval to the ‘ laboured ’
praise of the so-called ‘expert.’ Here, however, we must
be on our guard against the rhetorical device of the pro-
fessional advocate—the familiar device of comparing one
thing at its best with another thing at its worst. The
praise of the ‘expert’ is not necessarily ‘laboured.’ And
you will observe that the authors like the men of the world
when they deliver verdicts of approval. What the authors
think of this class when they deliver verdicts of disapproval
we are not told.”
I have italicised the words in these two passages
which reveal the discrepancy between the text as
given by Mr. Walkley and the text as criticised
by him. I refrain from giving the exact text
of Mr. Birrell’s words, and merely submit that the
discrepancy ought not to have been passed in a
considered argument, not so much because it
affects, or does not affect, Mr. Walkley’s point
as because it affects his credit as a dialectician.
That there is plenty of good stuff in the book, of
course, goes without saying ; most of it is Aris-
totle’s, and a perverse and tricksy memory brings
before me some lines from an obscure burlesque :—
“My grievance is that in these modern plays,
There's nothing new and good ; whate’er of praise
Their lines deserve, you'll find in the antique ;
Whatever's idiotic isn’t Greek.”
With the necessary modifications the quotation
has point, and in all seriousness I cannot think
: : :
that this volume will add to Mr. Walkley’s
reputation.
Meandering has a fascination for most ‘‘amateurs
of culture.” I would like to meander a little and
express an opinion which, however imbecile, I hold
: : : z
in common with a good many other people. That
opinion is that what is wrong with the dramatic
critic of the day is his appalling lack of the sense
of humour. It is all very well for M. Anatole
France to talk about “the adventures of a soul
among master-pieces,” and for Mr. Walkley to
announce that “judices nati’? may still be found
250
amongst us. I admire the pretty fancy of the one
and rejoice at the good tidings of the other ; but
recent happenings in the dramatic world dispose
me to think that so far as the stage is concerned
people take themselves much too seriously. Mr.
Walkley snorts at the fatuity of the question,
«« What is the wse of dramatic criticism?” Well,
it is a fatuous question. Mr. Walkley replies to
it from the point of view of the dramatic critic :—
“ The use of any art is asa channel for the communication
of ideas and emotions between man andman. It is a mode
by which the producer of the art shares out his moods, his
soul-states, his views of life, with the consumer. This is
what is meant in popular language by ‘ being interesting.’
Just as you may have an interesting novel or an interesting
play, so you may have an ‘interesting ’ dramatic criticism.
And that is the use of it.”
I find that answer very satisfactory, and hope
that the “ club of play-goers ”—there is a world of
sarcasm in the employment of that form of the
genitive case—will perpend it. From the point of
view of the manager a dramatic criticism in, say,
the 7'imes, at the price of a stall costs only sixpence
more than the hire of ten sandwich-men at a
shilling a head for the day, and it carries farther.
It advertises the “show.” And that is another
use of it.
As I suggested at the outset, I hesitate to put
forward these comments as a “criticism” of Mr.
Walkley’s book ; they are merely indicative of my
soul’s adventures in that masterpiece. I hope I
shall not be deemed irreverent if 1 speed them with
yet one more quotation, protesting that they are
quite honest in intention, and not born of that
little-emindedness which finds pleasure in cheap
sneers :
“Go, soul, the body’s guest,
Upon a thankless arrant ;
Fear not to touch the best,
The truth shall be thy warrant.”
Vy. iE. M.
ee
POPULARITY.
oe
OBERT VINCENT, historian and man of
letters, had received his death sentence.
The physicians gave him one short year to
live ; but their word was the signal for a cloud,
impalpable as yet, but darker than that of death,
to rise upon the dying man’s horizon. He was a
young man, and it seemed to the world as if it was
but yesterday that he had succeeded in making
his name. But the world was mistaken. The
initiated knew that the reputation which Robert
Vincent had won was of no mushroom growth.
He had won it by sweat, by blood, by years of
patient labour and research. Nay, as was being
proved now, he had bought it with his very life.
THE AUTHOR.
To this small band of scholars Robert Vincent
had been known for years, young as he still was,
as the rising historian of the day, as a writer in
whom in the highest degree scholarship, imagina-
tiveness, and honesty were combined.
To this small band he was the ideal historian
for whom the world had waited so long. Scholarly
historians there have been. Honest historians’ are
not altogether unknown. Picturesque writers of
history have made their works as household words
tous. But the combination of the three qualities
in one person has often been pronounced to be an
impossibility. 1t appeared in Robert Vincent, and
scholars awaited with bated breath its further
development. But the world in general, the
world which nearly every man secretly craves to
enlist on his side, even when he most professes to
despise it, turned, for a long time, a deaf ear to
the teaching of the historian. To those who
knew, this deafness was simply a question of time.
The world would hear, and hearing would accept
Robert Vincent at his true value. The event proved
that, for once ina way, those who knew were right.
Robert Vincent won his place as a world power
in literature by the publication of his great book,
“The Welding of the Races.”
It was a great book in every way. Great in
conception, great in execution. Well balanced,
accurate, and judicial, yet written in language
almost passionately picturesque. ‘The Welding of
the Races ” threw its search light on a period of
English History at once the most obscure and the
most salient. ‘‘As at the touch of an enchanter’s
wand,” the darkness which for hundreds of
years had lain upon the early middle ages was
dissipated, and Englishmen knew at last the secret
of the greatness of their country. “The dark
ages have for England ceased to exist,” was the
judgment of the greatest German critic.
The wisdom of the small band of scholars
was justified. The world knew and, knowing,
acclaimed, as with one voice, Robert Vincent as the
greatest writer of the century. The author him-
self would have been more than human if he had
not exulted in his triumph. He was young and
he was ambitious, and it is given to few men
indeed to realise, to any great extent, the ambition
of their lives.
“The Welding of the Races” rapidly proved
itself the success of the day, and the fortunate
author felt that his name had been made for all
time, that he was destined to be numbered with
the great ones of the earth. “‘ Westminster Abbey,”
he said laughingly to his wife, “ will know me yet.”
And then the end came.
No prank which the Great Jester loves to play
is dearer to his heart than the summoning of a
man from the prize to gain which he has given
THE
the best years of his life, given his very soul,
when it is almost within his grasp. We die just
when we are beginning to know how to live. So
it was to prove with Robert Vincent.
Perhaps it was due to the strain which the
completion of his work had put upon him, perhaps
there was an original weakness of constitution
hitherto unsuspected, or perhaps—. Anyhow,
whatever may have been the cause, at the very
height of his fame the sentence, from which there
is no appeal, was pronounced, “ You must die!”
There is no need to dwell on the dull, sickening
sense of hope frustrated which fell like a black
shadow on Robert Vincent’s heart when he knew
that he must leave the world, which appeared to
him just then to be so full of brightness and
beauty. But he was no coward, his life had shown
that, and he resolved to face the music like a man,
“My body will die,” he said to his wife, “but
my soul will live ; for that I have won immortality.
I have put my whole soul into ‘The Welding of
the Races,’ and while England lasts it will last
also.” This he said in no vainglorious spirit.
To him it was a simple fact. But as he grew
weaker there came upon him a mental uneasiness
which puzzled greatly his wife and his doctors.
To some extent, but to some extent only, it seemed
to be assignable to the stress of previous literary
work. The fact was, the dark, impalpable cloud
gathered blackness and substance as time went on.
It pressed in upon him, making the last few weeks
of his life into a hideous, waking nightmare.
“Qlang, clang! throb, throb! What are they
printing so close to me? Who are printing? Is
it Gradband & Shimmery ?”
“No, dear,’ said his wife gently, “there is no
printing near you.’ The doctor, who overheard
the mutterings, looked grave and asked the wife
“Did your husband ever have any dealings with
these publishers, Gradband & Shimmery ?”’
“No,” she replied, ‘not that I know of. I
never heard their names.”
“Of course not,” said the doctor with a smile,
“it is scarcely likely that Mr. Vincent would have
had anything to do with publishers of that class.”
The doctor was quite right. It was indeed
unlikely—the most unlikely thing in the world.
For Messrs. Gradband & Shimmery were known
as publishers of fiction of the baser sort, fiction
which had an enormous circulation among City
¢lerks and shop girls.
The stuff which this firm turned out in vast
quantities was lurid and sensational to a degree,
especially that for which “Sydney Trevor,”
popularly supposed to be an assumed name, was
responsible, but it could no more claim to be
literature than a farthing rushlight could claim
to be the moon.
AUTHOR.
251
Of course it was too wildly absurd to suppose
that Robert Vincent, of all people in the world,
could have had any dealings with such a firm as
this. And the doctor made a mental note of his
uneasiness as a curious illustration of an obscure
brain lesion. But this did very little good to the
patient himself. The noise of the printing presses
at work seemed to become louder and more insis-
tent every day. Every day too his imagination
seemed to be haunted by a terror which ever drew
closer and closer. His lucid intervals proved to
those about him that he had no fear of death, nor
even of the act of dying; but even his lucid
intervals were haunted by the shadow of the fear
which oppressed him so terribly in his delirium.
Whatever the fear might be, it was associated with
the idea of printing, and with the names of
Gradband & Shimmery. Nothing that his wife
could do or say—no news she might bring him of
the ever increasing success of his book, no assur-
ances of the high position, daily becoming more
manifest, which he had secured for himself in
literature, was able to expel this fear devil from
his soul. Thereit sat, grinning at him till he died.
As soon as Robert Vincent’s death was an-
nounced, steps were taken by those whose word
carried weight with the authorities to secure a
place for him in Westminster Abbey. It seemed
likely that their efforts would be crowned with
suecess, and that the historian’s jesting remark to
his wife would prove to be a true prophecy.
It was urged that the country had only one
way now of paying the recognition it owed to an
admitted genius. What the leaders of thought
said, the general public echoed with all its heart.
No name was so constantly on men’s lips and
before their eyes during these days as the name of
Robert Vincent, historian and man of letters.
Westminster Abbey was the place for him, and to
Westminster Abbey he must be taken. And then
suddenly all this talk stopped.
Messrs. Gradband & Shimmery flooded the
country with their advertisements—newspapers,
hoardings, omnibuses, trains, sandwich-men—
every available means of advertisement were
pressed into the service of Messrs. Gradband &
Shimmery. There had never been known, since
books were first printed, such gigantic enterprise
in advertising methods. Wherever men looked
they saw the names of Gradband & Shimmery ;
and underneath, only in larger characters, the
name of “Sydney Trevor” in inverted commas ;
and below that the name of Robert Vincent ; and
below that again a list of books whose lurid and
sensational titles spoke for them.
Then the world learnt that Robert Vincent was
identical with ‘Sydney Trevor,” and Westminster
Abbey knew him not. CO. L:
ESSAY ON CRITICISM.
Oe
(Reprinted from Longman’s Magazine, by kind permission
of the Author and the Publisher).
(By A Lapy NoveEtist).
S there no real critic on these shores
Yet to be found? O Tempora, O Mores !
How shall they judge who measure all by
rule
While Genius, for them, might dwell in Thule?
Tis quality, not quantity, decides
The merit of such work as mine—Quid rides ?
When will they learn the truth that each great
writer
Of prose or poetry—non fit—nascitur ?
When cease to sneer with condescending smile
At woman—vyarium et mutabile ?
Yet why should I the critics heed? Whate’er
They say, ’tis mine—aequam mentem servyare.
My place among the Immortals is secure,
*Tis mine—divino ac humano jure.
I feel within my breast the sacred fire,
And I—I know it—non omnis moriar.
Already on Parnassus’ sacred slope
I dwell with Melpomene and Calliope.
No marble tomb I crave, no trophies pious,
My monument is—aere perennius.
FR.
a a
CORRESPONDENCE.
—1—~> +
AN ANSWER TO “A PROTEST.”
Sir,—In reference to a letter entitled “A Pro-
test’ in last month’s Author, I would like to say
a few words in common justice to all concerned in
the arrangement of the Society’s annual social
function.
In the first place, it is a puzzle how the receipt
of the announcement of a dinner could shock even
the most highly strung and sensitive nerves.
If Shakespeare had lived in the twentieth century
he would no doubt have participated in a meal at
the Hotel Cecil with as much equanimity—and
perhaps even enjoyment—as any other author.
Next I would like to point ont to the writer in
question that as the Soviety is formed for the pro-
tection and maintenance of literary property, it
must needs respect itself. So, if the Society of
Authors were to hold its annual festival at a third
or fourth rate restaurant, and charge a low price,
as suggested, it would certainly be considered an
inferior concern, and be looked down upon
accordingly. :
Further, the writer contradicts himself, for he
says that he has attended several dinners each at
THE AUTHOR.
increased cost, and then confesses having been
present at a guinea one. Comment is needless. If
the protester could be present at a guinea dinner
it seems inconsistent that the suggestion of a 10s.
one should give him a shock.
As I did not attend any of the guinea functions
I cannot speak from personal experience as to
whether it would have been “ dear at eighteenpence,’””
but I can honestly say that at all the four dinners
which I have attended the food was as good and
as well served as one could wish.
I have always understood that the Society does
not wish to make money by the dinner, but charges
a price sufficient to cover expenses. If the com-
plainant refers to the ‘ Annual Report,” he will
find that the Society was 5s. 10d. out of pocket by
last year’s dinner ; hence, no doubt, the decision
to raise the price.
With regard to the guests, it seems to me that
the Society is honowred by the presence of such
men as Sir Clements Markham, Captain Sverdrup.
and others ; men noted for their good and useful
work, some in one field, some in another. I have
never heard of the Society asking subscriptions,
so I don’t quite see how it can be brought down
to the level of a charitable organisation.
Lastly, I will say that I am so far in sympathy
with the writer of “A Protest” that I think it
would be more agreeable if it were possible to
arrange a festival, or annual gathering, in which
all the members could participate. It is clearly
impossible to please everyone in a large body of
people like the Authors’ Society, and if authors are
“proverbially irritable,” what a large amount of
self-control is needed by a committee formed of
authors, whose task in endeavouring to please all
can scarcely be an enviable one.
H. M. E. Stanton.
May 4th, 1903.
SERIAL RIGHTS IN STORIES.
S1n,—As I receive inquiries concerning my “new
story” in the Sphere for May 2nd and 9th, will you
allow me space to say that, so far from. being new,
it is a resuscitated old story which appeared in a.
country journal nearly twenty years ago, and that
I am in no way responsible for its publication as if
new ? ae
I make this an opportunity of reminding inex-.
perienced writers of fiction that, in disposing of
‘serial rights” in their productions, they should
take care to limit the time during which such
rights may be exercised.
Tuomas Harpy.
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The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 10 (July 1903)
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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The Huthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XTV.—No. 1.
THE TELEPHONE.
+
THE Telephone connection has now been estab-
lished, and the Society’s number is—
374 VICTORIA.
—————_+—>—+_____
NOTICES.
+
OR the opinions expressed in papers that are
K signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
THE Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
- concerned can obtain them on application.
—_*+——+—_
List of Members.
THE List of Members of the Society of Authors,
published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and
the elections from October, 1902 to J uly, 1903, as
a supplemental list, at the price of 2d. can now be
obtained at the offices of the Society.
It will be sold to members or associates of the
Society only.
—_t——+—__
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows. :
This is a statement of the actual stock ; the
Vou, XIV.
OcTOBER Ist, 1903.
[PRIcE SIXPENCE.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
DOMME oie services £1000 0 0
iiocal Loans 3... 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11
War lvan 2.3 201-953
Total, 2 36 £15993. 9. 2
Subscriptions.
1903.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke
» Deane, Rev. A.C. .
Jan. 4, Anonymous :
+ Heath, Miss Helena
» Russell, G. H. ;
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline
» Bedford, Miss Jessie
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice :
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M.
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : :
PRS eeHrocesoosorseoogonoocse
od hh
SOOWMMAH OOOO
PEFFRSOSCSOSOSSSSSSOSCSCOSCCSCS
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 5
Feb. 1iy7lincoln, ©, ‘ 5
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . : 5
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 5
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 5
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 0
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 15:
Api. 10, Bird, CP... : : ‘ 10
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery . 5
May Lees, R. J... : : : 1
S Wright, J. Fondi 5
Donations.
Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. 010 6
3 Middlemass. Miss Jean » 010 0
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord . : : 37) 0-0
» Gribble, Francis : 010 0
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston Let 0
» Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5.0
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
£ s. a.
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French 0 5 0
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt 010 0
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. : 010 6
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas 11.0
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. 010 6
5, Ord, Hubert H. - 010 9
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor 010 0
» Carlile, Rev. aC. 010 O
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. 5 0 0
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs. - 010 0
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. N ella 010 0
Mar. 16, Hallward, N.L. . J 1.0
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . 0 5 0
» Mathieson, Miss Annie . . 010 0
;, Browne, 'T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-
wood”) . : : _ tL 20
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry _. 10 0 0
Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. 2 0 0
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore 0 5 0
May King, Paul H. : : 2 010 0
Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 0
» 21, Orred J. Randal 148
June 12, Colles, W. Morris . -10 0 0
» Bateman, Stringer . . 010 6
» Anon 0 5 0
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S,
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that, either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
—_—_—_+——_+______
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—_——_—_—_ ++
HE last meeting of the Committee before
the vacation was held at 39, Old Queen
Street, Storey’s Gate, 8.W., on Wednesday,
July 8th. Twelve members and associates were
elected, Their names and addresses are set forth
below.
Other matters connected with the business of
the Society during the vacation, and with the
Besant Memorial were settled.
Tn addition it was decided to take up a case on
behalf of one of the members against a prominent
publisher who had failed to meet his account.
This case has since been settled—the publisher
has paid up in full.
THE AUTHOR.
Cases.
Tye last issue of the cases taken up by the
Society on behalf of its members was published
in the June number. That took the list for the
present year down to the middle of May. The
present record therefore covers the four months,
June, July, August, and September. Thirty cases
have been taken up. Of these, thirteen have been
for the return of MSS. ; nine for the payment of
money due; two for money and accounts ; four
for accounts only; and the remaining two for
matters connected with literary property and
copyright.
Tn ten cases, owing to the prompt attention of
the editors to the secretary's request, the MSS.
were at once returned and forwarded to the
authors. In the other three cases the editors were
unable to find the MSS. As there was no evidence
forthcoming of neglect, or in fact that the MSS.
had actually reached the office, the cases could not
be taken further. Of the cases for money, five
have been successful. The remaining four are
still open, but there is every prospect that they
will terminate satisfactorily. In one case however,
it is probable that the editor will become bankrupt.
Of the claims for account two have been terminated,
the accounts having been rendered ; and two are
still open. The two cases of money and accounts,
owing to the fact that no satisfactory answer could
be obtained, were placed in the hands of the
Society’s solicitors. One case is still pending in
the Courts. In the other case (against a well
known publisher), the amount was paid with costs.
The other two cases referred to as dealing with
literary property have terminated satisfactorily.
—
July Elections.
Ady, Mrs. Henry (Julta Ockham, Ripley, Surrey.
Cartwright
Corby, Miss E. Esker, Killucan, West-
meath.
Freed, Thomas, A. H. . Box 76, Nelson, New
Zealand.
Hodgson, Mrs. Wil- By-the-Sea, Exmouth.
loughby
Keene, Mrs. . Quetta, Balmenstan,
India.
25, St. Thomas Street,
Grosvenor Square, W.
Grosvenor House, Gros-
yenor Square, South-
ampton.
Ardblair Castle, Blair-
gowrie, N.B.
Korbay, Francis -
Mocatta, Mrs. Mary A.
Oliphant, Capt. P. L. K.
Blair (Philip Laurence
Oliphant)
ee ee
THE AUTHOR. 3
Rogers, Mrs. Fanny . Cape Town, South
Africa.
Russell, Fox : oo Garden Court,
Temple, E.C.
Shepheard-Walwyn, Dalwhinnie, Kenley,
H. W., F.Z.8., F.E.S, Surrey.
Vacaresco, Madame . 17, Rue de P Arcade,
Paris ; Vacaresis,
Roumania.
Oo?
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
+
POPULAR edition of Sir Lewis Morris’s
“Epic of Hades,” at 1s. 6d. nett, is
announced by Messrs. Kegan Paul & Co,
for October 1st. Though twenty-seven years have
elapsed since the publication of this poem, which
has gone, we believe, through forty-five editions,
this is the first edition to appeal to the masses, who
it is hoped will appreciate the great reduction in
price now made.
Sir Lewis Morris has decided to include the
story of “ Niobe,” which has hitherto been published
separately, in the present issue, the entire text of
which he has finally corrected. The poem in
question has a new introduction in verse specially
written by the poet.
A new and augmented edition of Dr. Richard
Garnett’s, ‘The Twilight of the Gods,” has been
issued by Mr. John Lane. The dedication reads :
‘To Horace Howard Furness and George Brandes.
Dabo duobus testibus meis.? The first edition of
these tales was published in 1888. It contained
sixteen stories, to which twelve are added in the
present impression.
This volume is the most personally illuminating,
the most characteristic Dr. Garnett has given us .
and that is to say it is well worth reading, and
worth buying for our “ best books” collection.
The Syndicate of the Cambridge University
Press propose to publish in the course of the
autumn a comprehensive work on the “ History of
Classical Scholarship,” which has been prepared by
the Public Orator, Dr. Sandys. It extends from
about 600 B.c. to the end of the Middle Ages, and
Consists of more than thirty chapters distributed
over six books, dealing with the «“ History of
Scholarship in the Athenian and the Alexandrian
ages ; ”“ The Roman age of Latin and Greek Litera-
ture” ; “ The Byzantine Age” ; and “ The Middle
Ages in the West of Europe.” The text, which fills
six hundred and fifty crown octavo pages (exclusive
of the index), will be accompanied by chronological
tables, facsimiles from Greek and Latin manuscripts
and other illustrations,
Colonel Haggard’s new book, “ Sidelights on the
Court of France,” will be issned immediately by
Messrs. Hutchinson, the period treated of being
that from the reign of Francis I. to the death of
Louis XIII., and of course including Henry of
Navarre. Prominence ig given to such characters
as Diana of Poitiers, Marguerite de Valois,
Richelieu and Mazarin. The book is very fully
illustrated.
Professor Skeat has this year re-issued his text
of “ Havelock the Dane” ; it was formerly printed
for the Early English Text Society, and ‘has ever
since been the standard edition. ‘It is now issued
by the Clarendon Press in a revised and augmented,
but cheaper form, with a preface that contains all
the important criticisms of the poem up to the
present date.
Professor Skeat is also greatly interested in
looking over the sheets of the « English Dialect
Dictionary ” and making a few suggestions by way
of addition. This important work, edited by Pro-
fessor Wright, of Oxford, is making satisfactory
progress. It is now in type nearly to the end of
the letter Y. Professor Skeat takes special interest
in it, as he was the founder, first secretary, and
finally the director of the English Dialect Society,
which in the course of twenty-four years (1873—
1896) collected and printed some eighty volumes,
thus providing sufficient material to make a founda-
tion for Professor Wright’s further labours,
A good deal of Professor Skeat’s time is taken
up with attempts to discover or verify the etymolo-
gies of difficult English words, with the view of
rendering some small assistance to the editor of
the “ New English Dictionary.” A few of the latest
results have lately been printed for the Philological
Society of London, but have not yet been issued,
Dr. Alexander Rattray’s new work, “Divine
Hygiene, or the Sanitary Science of the Sacred
Scriptures” (Nisbet & Co., two vols.) is well
through the printer’s hands, and may be expected
soon. Besides the main theme, the object is the
advocacy of the Holy Bible as the great educational
handbook for humanity ; our pioneer informant in
many subjects ; sole teacher in others ; and its
science and philosophy, though humanly speaking
ancient, not antiquated as often represented, but
advanced. Though professionally treated it is
popularly written, strictly Evangelical, practically
exhaustive, and a vindication of Christianity.
Mr. Ferrar Fenton, F.R.A.S., is about to issue
a translation of the “ Psalms, Solomon, and
Sacred Writers,” in the original metres, but in
modern English ; and also his “Complete Bible”
4
in modern English. The publishers are Messrs.
S. W. Partridge & Co., of Paternoster Row,
London, E.C. Their Majesties, King Edward
and the German Emperor have intimated that they
will be pleased to accept presentation copies.
Mr, Justice Condé Williams, of the Supreme
Court of Mauritius, who read _a paper some time
ago at the Royal Colonial Institute on “ The
Future of our Sugar Producing Colonies,” is about
to publish an autobiography under the title of
“From Journalist to Judge.”
Judge Williams was editor of the Birmingham
Daily Gazette in succession to Dr. Sebastian Evans,
and was for a short period a member of the staff
of the Zimes in Paris. His judicial experiences
extend to South Africa, the West Indies and
Mauritius.
From Journalist to Judge” will be published
by Mr. G. A. Morton, of 42, George Street, Edin-
burgh.
“Romantic Tales from the Punjab” (Con-
stable), is the second and final instalment of a
body of Indian stories collected by the Rev.
Charles Swynnerton, on the North-West frontier of
India, of which “Indian Night’s Entertainment ”
(Stock), published ten years ago, was the first.
Tt consists of the more important legends, and is
adorned with over one hundred illustrations by
native hands.
The longest and most important legend is that
of Raja Rasalu, consisting of twelve separate
stories, each complete in itself, as spoken and
sung by one or other of the three Punjabi bards,
Sharaf and Jama of the Rawal Pindi District, and
Sher of the Hazara District—with the exception of
the first and last stories of the twelve, which,
though mainly attributable to Sharaf, contain a
few details from other story-tellers.
The rest of the legends in the book, as “ Hir and
Ranjha,” are also of great importance and most
interesting ; while as well there are several short
stories, a careful introduction, and an appendix
containing many notes, and a selection of Punjabi
verses in original from “ Hir and Ranjha,” with
literal translations, and notes philological and
explanatory.
Professor G. F. Savage-Armstrong, author of
“Stories of Wicklow” and “Ballads of Down,”
is completing a novel which deals with Irish life
in the nineteenth century. He is also writing
miscellaneous poems for publication in volume
form.
Miss Rosa Nouchette Carey’s new novel “A
Passage Perilous” (Macmillan) has made an
excellent start, the sales of the first edition before
publication being most satisfactory.
THE AUTHOR.
Miss Evelyn Sharp’s latest story, to be pub-
lished immediately by Messrs. Macmillan, is called
“The Children Who Ran Away.” It is meant to
appeal to children about the same age as those who
liked “The Youngest Girl in the School.” This
latter popular story, by the way, is probably going
to be translated into Italian. Miss Sharp’s “ ‘Three
Story Readers,” published last spring, are doing
well. They consist of very easy stories (original,
of course), for children who only just know how to
read, and the stories are just stories, and not
directly instructive in any way: nothing about
them suggests the lesson book.
Hope Rea, author of “Tuscan Artists,” “* Dona-
tello,” etc., has just completed for Messrs. George
Bell & Son, the “ Rembrandt” for their miniature
series of the Painters. Hope Rea has arranged to
spend the coming winter in Italy for the purpose
of farther study and research connected with
Italian art, and to supplement the material already
acquired for a larger work on medieval and early
Renaissance Art, which this writer has had on
hand for some time.
The Clarendon Press is publishing “ Selected
Drawings from old Masters in the University
Galleries, and in the Library at Christ Church,
Oxford.” Part I. contains twenty drawings
exactly reproduced in collotype. They are chosen
and described by Mr. Sidney Colvin, Keeper of
Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.
Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have decided to make
their edition of “Thackeray’s Works” absolutely
exhaustive. They have secured the services of the
well-known Thackeray expert, Mr. Lewis Melville,
author of the “Life of William Makepeace
Thackeray,” etc. With his assistance they pro-
pose to include in this edition a great number of
scattered pieces from Thackeray’s pen, and illus-
trations from his pencil, which have not hitherto
been contained in any collected edition, and many
of which have never been reprinted.
Mr. Melville is also collating the volumes with
the original editions, and providing bibliographical
introductions and occasional footnotes.
Mrs. Stepney Rawson’s new noyel will be pub-
lished by Messrs. Hutchinson. It is a romance of
the Romney Marsh and of Rye Town. The action
takes place about 1820, and deals with the warfare
of the landowners and the harbour folk of the
Marsh at Rye, and also with the shipbuilding
industry there, which has since dwindled. There
is a strong love interest, and the story principally
hangs on the personality of a young designer of
boats and ships, who is apprenticed to the chief
shipbuilder of the town.
THE AUTHOR. 5
Mrs. Rawson, who is peculiarly sensitive to the
atmosphere of Place, has devoted herself to this
little corner of Sussex which she finds packed with
delightful traditions. She has written a number of
stories of new and old Rye; these she hopes to
publish in volume form later on.
Mr. Hume Nisbet has been travelling for the past
two years, and has been collecting material for
future work. His next romance “The Trust
Trappers ” will be published by Mr. J ohn Long in
the spring of 1904. It deals with millionaires and
corner syndicates. Besides being engaged upon an
Australian romance, Mr. Nisbet is writing his auto-
biography as author, artist and traveller. The
author of “ A Colonial Tramp” has gone through
many adventures by land and sea. This auto-
biography will be profusely illustrated by himself.
A new edition of “ The Care of Infants” by Dr.
Sophia Jex-Blake will be published immediately by
Mr. George Morton, of Edinburgh, as the first
edition of 5,000 copies has been out of print for
some little time.
Mr. Bram Stoker’s new novel “The Jewel of
Seven Stars” will be published this month by Mr.
Heinemann. It is something in the vein of
“ Dracula,” and part of it deals with the mysteries
of ancient Egypt.
Mr. Arthur A. Sykes’s collection of humorous
and satirical pieces from Punch will be published
this month by Messrs. Bradbury and Agnew, under
the title of “Mr. Punch’s Museum, and Other
Matters.” Mr. Sykes has previously brought out
two volumes of reprints from the same source—
“A Book of Words,” and “ Without Permission.”
The book will also contain “ Life’s Little Pro-
blems,” a semi-burlesque series which appeared in
Pearson's Magazine a short while ago.
Miss Edith ©. Kenyon is publishing a book
through the Religious Tract Society entitled “A
Queen of Nine Days, by her Gentlewoman Margaret
Brown.” The central figure is Lady Jane Grey,
and the story is told by a young lady who enters
her service and remains faithful to her.
Rita’s next novel “The Jesters,” will appear in
the early autumn. Messrs. Hutchinson & Oo. will
publish it. Rita purposes spending the winter in
South Cornwall to complete further work on which
she is engaged.
Miss O’Conor Eccles has recently published
through Falion & Co., of Dublin, a “ Reading Book
on Domestic Economy for the Use of Irish Schools,”
which is to be adopted by the Board of Education.
It takes the form of a little story, and contains
such simple, practical instructions as a good
mother of the working-class would give her young
daughter. :
The Department of Agriculture has presented a
copy to every village library in Ireland. The
Technical Schools of France and Belgium have
long had delightful illustrated primers dealing with
Household Management, Hygiene, Gardening,
Dairy Work, and rural life generally, treated on
similar lines ; but, so far as we know, the volume
referred to is the first of the kind introduced into
schools in the United Kingdom.
Mr. J. Beattie-Crozier’s “Civilisation and Pro-
gress’ has been translated into Japanese by a
Member of Parliament of Japan.
We understand from Mr. Leonard Williams that
he has been elected a corresponding member of the
Royal Spanish Academy.
‘Fishing in Wales,” by Walter M. Gallichan
(Geoffrey Mortimer) which was published a
few months ago, is to be re-issued in a new edition,
with a map and index. This author is writing a
handbook on “ Angling” for Messrs. Pearson’s
Popular Series; and he is publishing a volume on
“Seville” in the Medieval Towns Series during
the autumn.
Early this month Mr. G. A. Morton will publish
a book by Mr. Robert Aitken entitled “ Windfalls,”
the contents being “Some Stray Leaves Gathered
by a Rolling Stone.”
Mr. Frankfort Moore’s new novel, “ Shipmates
in Sunshine” (Hutchinson), is an open-air story,
the action taking place on board ship and in the
West Indies.
Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne’s “‘McTodd” is a volume
of stories published the other day by Messrs.
Macmillan. McTodd is a ship’s engineer, Scotch,
drunken, pugnacious, uncertificated, but a good
mechanician. He relates his various adventures
in the far north, on whaling trips, on shipboard,
or in towns that reek of fish-curing. Need we
say that McTodd has a conscience—of a kind !
Miss Jetta S. Wolff has just published “Les
Francais d’Autrefois,” Vol. I.—a short history of
France, intended for learners of the language
(Edwin Arnold). Miss Wolff has also lately
written a series of object lessons in practical
French, with a companion yolume containing
translations and notes, ‘intended as a hand-book
for teachers (Blackie & Son). These, and a new
collection of her little stories from the “ Lives
of Saiuts and Mariyrs” (Mowbray), will appear
shortly.
Madame Mijatovich has been busy with the
preparation of a second edition of her work, “The
History of Modern Servia,” which was published a
good aany years ago. She has now brought the
history up to the accession of King Peter.
Madame Mijatovitch is translating the Servian
6
popular ballads on “ Kralyevitch Marko” (the
King’s son Marko), who is the national hero of the
Servians.
«The Padre,” by Rose Harrison, author of
“Esther Alington,” honorary secretary of the
Children’s Protection League, will be ready in
October. This is a story “ dedicated to all who
live and work and love the Brotherhood.” _ Price
35. 6d. Itis being published by Richard J. James,
3 & 4, London House Yard, E.C.
It is authoritatively announced that six years ago
the late Pope Leo XIII. charged Count Soderini
with the task of writing a history of his pontificate.
While leaving the Count entire freedom of judg-
ment, the Pope placed numberless documents
hitherto wholly secret at the writer’s disposal, and
also dictated much material in explanation of his
acts. Mr. F. Marion Crawford is acting in col-
Jaboration with Count Soderini in the preparation
of the Anglo-American edition, which will be
published in London and New York by Messrs.
Macmillan & Co. The work will appear in all
countries in 1904.
Mrs. Humphry Ward has signed a contract
with Messrs. Harper for her new story, which will
begin to appear in Harper’s Magazine in June
next, The original play written by Mrs. Ward,
in collaboration with Mr. Louis Parker, is to be
produced during the winter season in New York,
with Miss Eleanor Robson in the leading part.
“ Bleanor” is also to be produced in New York
during November, and Mrs. Ward is now revising
the play.
Anthony Hope has finished a story, which will
be published by Messrs. Hutchinson next year,
entitled “ Double Harness.” Anthony Hope’s new
comedy, “ Captain Dieppe,” founded on a story of
his, and written in collaboration with Mr. Harrison
G. Rhodes, is to be produced in America this
autumn.
Mr. Cosmo Hamilton has just published, through
Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, a book called “‘ Cupid in
Many Moods.” Isbister & Co. is bringing out, at
an early date, a novelised version of the play
produced last September at the Comedy Theatre,
“The Wisdom of Folly”; and a serious effort of
Mr. Hamilton’s, “We of Adam’s Clay,” occupies a
large portion of this month’s Smart Set, afterwards
to make its appearance in book form simultaneously
here and in America.
Mr. Cosmo Hamilton’s dramatic version of
Kipling’s “Story of the Gadsby’s” is the next
production at the Haymarket. At present this
busy author is hard at work on some commissions
for plays. In two plays Mr. Hamilton is col-
laborating with his wife, Miss Beryl Faber, the
actress.
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. H. V. Esmond’s new comedy, “ Billy’s
Little Love Affair,” is going well at The Criterion
Theatre. It is preceded by Miss Rosina Filippi’s
charming playlet, “The Mirror.”
On Thursday evening, September 10th, 1903,
Mr. Beerbohm Tree produced at His Majesty’s
Theatre Shakespeare’s historical play,“ Richard IT.”
It is a brilliant revival in every sense of the word.
Mr. Tree has specially acknowledged his indebted-
ness to Mr. Percy Anderson, who has designed and
supervised the costumes; and to Mr. G. Ambrose
Lee, of the Heralds’ College, who has directed the
heraldry and ceremonial.
We understand that some pupils of the Brussels,
Antwerp and Bruges high schools are coming over
to see this revival of “ Richard II.” The play has
been selected as a subject for examination this
year by the Belgian educational authorities.
a
PARIS NOTES.
ee
bee winter season seems likely to be one of
great activity in the literary world, while
the length of the theatrical programmes is
alarming. So many new plays are announced that
dramatic critics will certainly not have much rest.
The recent death of M. Gustave Larroumet is
a great loss to the world of letters. For some
years M. Larroumet lectured on French literature
at the Sorbonne. He wrote in the Revue Bleue,,
the Revue des Deux-Mondes, the Revue de Paris,
and the Temps. His work on the life and theatre
of Moliére is a most complete criticism, but the
book which was perhaps his greatest success was
the one he consecrated to Marivaux.
The death of another literary critic is just
announced, a man whose name is perhaps nob
widely known, but who was one of the interesting
personalities of the Sainte-Beuve literary circle.
M. Jules Levallois, who has just passed away, was
Sainte-Beuve’s secretary. He worked, not only at
the ‘‘ Lundis,” but also at the invaluable book on
Port-Royal. In his day, M. Levallois was a great.
authority on current literature. In the paper
founded by Adolphe Guéroult he wrote the
“ Variétés littéraires,” and his book reviews were
considered as highly as Sarcey’s dramatic criti-
cisms, Jules Levallois had almost outlived the
group of literary friends he knew in the days of
Sainte-Beuve, the de Goncourt brothers, Barbey
d’Aurévilly, Alphonse Daudet, Hector Malot,
Flaubert, About, and others. He retained his keen
intelligence to the last, and_was as bright and
active as a young man. He was a voracious
reader, and only a few months ago he expressed
THE AUTHOR. 7
his thankfulness that his eyesight was so good,
He was then collecting a provision of books in the
library of a mutual friend, and regretting that in
our times people had given up reading, He
belonged essentially to the old school, to the days
when men had time to meet together and “ talk
literature,” and his conversation was worth listen-
ing to. One felt in his presence something of the
atmosphere of the men of intellect with whom he
had associated, for his memories and reminiscences
were a part of himself, and gave a great charm to
all that he said.
A most interesting book has recently been pub-
lished entitled “ Idées Sociales et Faits Sociaux.”
It contains several lectures which were given last
winter at the house of the Baroness Piérard.
“ Le Socialisme et son Evolution” is the title
of the lecture by M. Souchon, who tells us that the
idea of socialism is as old as humanity. He traces
it back to the Grecians and Romans, and shows
the various stages through which it has passed.
“ L’Organisation Professionnelle” is the practical
side of the question, and this is a very thoughtful
article. The most interesting chapter in the book
is the one by M. Riviere, “Vingt Ans de Vie
Sociale.” This is not so much an exposition of
theories as a statement of experiences. M. Riviére
is a practical man, who for the last twenty years
has been watching the results of his own experi-
ments, and who has discovered for the wheels of
his machinery an excellent receipt for oil;
“ Beaucoup de patience, non moins de fermeté, pas
mal de respect pour la liberté de louvrier, avec
addition de justice généreuse, affectueuse méme.”
A volume of short stories and sketches by
M. Georges Clemenceau, entitled “Aux Embus-
cades de la Vie,” is well worth reading.
There are in all some fifty stories arranged in
three divisions: “Dans la Foi,” “Dans l’Ordre
Etabli,” and “Dans l’Amour.”
The subjects are all delicately handled, the
stories themselves light, but there is much to read
between the lines. In “Le Fétiche de Mokou-
bamba,” we have a poor negro who is converted
and reconverted times without number to the
various beliefs and religions of the people who
take an interest in him.
Then there is a story of a German pastor who
is unfortunate enough to wake up to the idea that
there is no devil. His wife is horrified and thinks
it her duty to leave him, and the members of his
congregation decide that he must be an atheist.
There is a most amusing story, too, of a poacher,
which serves to show up the absurdity of certain
laws. Another excellent study is “Justin
Cagnard,” a type of the man who works mechanic-
ally. He is described as a “ produit de l’accu-
mulation quotidienne du labeur ancestral obstiné
dans le méme sillon. Il était le rouage d’une
machine dont l’impulsion venait uniquement de la
Vitesse acquise des anciens. II n’était ni intelligent,
puisqu’il ne concevait rien au deli de son métier,
ni béte puisque’il suivait avec suects la routine
des affaires... .” The whole volume is full of
the thoughts and reflections of a keen observer of
human nature,
“Chez les Rois” is another book of short
stories by Adolphe Aderer. The first of thege
stories is, however, not fiction. It is entitled
“ Meyerling,” and is supposed to be a true account
of the celebrated tragedy of the Archduke Rudolf,
The other sketches in the book are more or less
improbable. ‘
In “Sébastien Trume,” the new novel by M.
Sauvage, we are introduced to a number of indivi-
duals who are all in search of Utopia. Among
them we havea man devoted to the occult sciences,
a priest, a professor who is also a philosopher, an
anarchist and a young man who listens to the
theories and ideas of all the others, and can come
to no conclusion about life and_ its meaning.
When he is in despair, he is fortunate enough to
fall in love with a young girl, who proves to him
that in spite of all worries and difficulties life is
well worth living.
“Les Gens de Tiest,” by George Vires, is a book
without any strong plot, and is only interesting
as a study of life and customs in a quaint little
Belgian town.
“ Les Oiseaux s’envolent et les Fleurs tombent ”
is the poetical title of the novel recently published
by M. Elémir Bourges, one of the members of the
Goncourt Academy, We are told that M. Bourges
Spends about ten years in writing a book, and
certainly these five hundred pages must have
required a great amount of time. The scene is
laid in Russia about the year 1845, and the whole
story is full of action. It is distinctly melo-
dramatic, treating of jealousy, the abduction of a
child, and of a boy who is a Grand Duke, but grows
up to manhood, believing himself to be a very ordi-
nary individual. He is discovered asa Communist
after the war of 1870, and destined by his parents
to marry a princess, who proves to be the very
girl with whom he has already fallen in love. The
whole book is full of startling incidents, inter-
spersed with a certain amount of philosophy.
M. de Réenier’s novel « Mariage de Minuit,” is
disappointing. One expects, perhaps, too much
from a poet, and the tone of this book is distinctly
common-place. It is just the story of a young
orphan girl left without any means of support.
A coasin takes compassion on her and offers her
a home. This cousin is a widow and a woman
of the world, Her reputation is not spotless,
and the young girl’s,position is therefore extremely
8
difficult. The characters are well drawn, but most
of them are 80 uninteresting and vulgar that one
regrets making their acquaintance. On the whole,
there does not seem to be any raison d’ étre for a
book of this kind.
M. André Hallays has recently published a
book entitled “A travers la France.” It is com-
posed of notes taken during a ramble through
Normandy, Touraine, Burgundy, and Provence.
It is full of historical anecdotes and legends
belonging to the places visited, so that it is an
invaluable guide to anyone making a study of
provincial France. :
“Une Vie d’ambassadrice au siecle dernier,” by
M. Ernest Davdet, is the biography of the Princess
de Lieven, the celebrated woman who was so well
known in French, Russian and English political
circles from 1825 to 1857. The book is as
interesting aS any novel, giving as it does so
many anecdotes about the men and women of that
epoch.
Seyeral new writers are coming to the front, and
among them M. Charles Recolin. “ Le Chemin
du Roi,” by this author is a decided success. It
is a story in which all the characters live. ‘Fhe
theme is by no means new but it is worked out
well. Andrette Jouanollou comes of a family
which for more than four hundred years has lived
in the Pyrenees. Her father is an artist whose
two great interests in life are his daughter and his
pottery. Andrette has been educated well, and
has great talent as a poetess. A young farmer iS
in love with her, but she ig romantic and dreads
the thought of a prosaic existence. Just at this
critical time a Parisian comes to the little village.
He edits a review, and is in search of information
concerning certain legends. The schoolmaster
introduces him to Andrette, and the sequel is that
the village girl, with her fresh, romantic ideas,
marries the blasé Parisian. The story reminds
one of the “ Princess. of Thule,” but the French
story is more subtle and the analysis of character
more delicately treated.
Among other new novels recently published are
“Te Rival de Don Juan,” by M. Louis Bertrand ;
“Tes Paradis,” by Auguste Germain ; “La Com-
tesse Panier,’” by M. de Comminges 5 “ Marilisse,”
by M. Marcelin ; ‘Mademoiselle de Fougeres,”
by Ernest Daudet ; “ Un Menage dernier eri,” by
Gyp 3 * Flamen,” by Mme. Caro.
Mile. Hélene Vacaresco has ]
yolume of poems entitled “ Lueurs et
among which are some gems.
In the action brought by M. Léon de Rosny,
the Orientalist, against MM. Boex, to restrain
them from using the name of J. H. Rosny in
signing their literary work, the plaintiff was non-
suited, The Court held that as the brothers
ust published a
Flammes,”
THE AUTHOR.
Rosny had used that pen-name for seventeen years
without any protest from M. Léon de Rosny, and
that as their publications were of an entirely
different nature from his, there could be no con-
fusion caused by the brothers Rosny continuing
to sign the name they had adopted.
A literary convention has been concluded
between France and Montenegro for a period of
ten years. The two governments undertake to
prevent any illicit reproduction of artistic and
literary works on their respective territories.
M. ‘Liebler has made arrangements with M.
Henry Bataille for the production of this author’s
new five-act play, “ Mademoiselle de la Valliere,” in
se York. he piece is to be put on in London
also.
The principal play at the Sarah
Theatre this winter will be “ La Sorciére,” by
M. Sardou. The scene is laid in Toledo during
the troubled times of the struggles with the
Moors. The first night is announced for the end
of November.
M. Bour, who ran the International Theatre in
Paris last year, has now taken over the Trianon
Theatre and made arrangements for producing
some extremely interesting new plays. He opens
with one by M. Paul Loyson, the son of Pere
Hyacinthe.
M. Porel has a very long programme for us this
season, and Madame Réjane has some important
creations. Among the new pieces are “ Antoinette
Sabrier,” by Romain Coolus ; “La Meilleure Part,”
by MM. Pierre de Coulevain and Pierre Decourcelle ;
“Tes Menottes,” by MM. Simon and Xanrof.
‘he Odeon Theatre opens with “ Resurrection,”
and is soon to produce the French version of
«The Second Mrs. Tanqueray,” and later on
«“ Plorise Bonheur,” by M. Brisson.
Auys HaLLarD.
Bernhardt
—__—__-—> +
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
——
Dumas Translations.
N announcement has appeared in many of the
literary papers that Messrs. Methuen & Co.
have commenced the publication of a new
English translation of the novels of Dumas, under
the editorship of Mr. A. R. Allinson. The notice
states that Mr. Allinson’s competence is un-
questioned and that he is assisted by a group of
able scholars, and ends with these words, “It is a
bold scheme, and we hope Messrs. Methuen will
have an immense success with it.”
aeons
“matter: out of the 18th section
THE AUTHOR. 9
We should hope so too, did not a letter lie before
us, written by the editor, inviting the co-operation
of one not unknown as a writer and translator, on
the following terms—a remuneration of 2s. per
thousand words, printer’s estimate of length to
be taken as final, and the translation to be issued
in the name of the editor (Mr. Allinson) as being
generally responsible for the whole series,
If we work out the sum more completely, we
find that a novel of 200,000 words would bring
the translator £20.
We do not know whether this “bold” offer
emanates from the firm of Messrs. Methuen or
from Mr. Allinson. But will it be accepted ? We
trust not.
For if the “able scholar” is writing for a liveli-
hood, he will hardly attain it at this price. If
for pleasure, it is not fair that he should undersell
his fellow members of the profession of letters in
the labour market.
It is to be observed that the translator will not
even gain the merit of his work which Mr.
Allinson proposes to appropriate.
———+—_
The Serial Use,
Tux following point merits the attention of
members of the Society :—An author wrote an
article for an American magazine called Outing, a
periodical holding a strong position in the United
States, and copyrighted on both sides of the
Atlantic. The member, so far as he was concerned,
had no intention whatever of transferring to the
magazine a larger portion of his property than the
right to produce in serial form in that paper. The
article was published in due course. Imagine his
astonishment, however, when, at a later date, it re-
appeared in an English magazine. He put his
objection before the Editor of Outing and com-
plained of the use thut had been made of his MS.
The Editor pointed out to him that although
perhaps he had not intended to convey the whole
serial use, yet he had altered the receipt that
had been forwarded to him in his own hand-
writing from “ All rights to your MS.” to “The
right of serial use, of your MS.” without in any
way limiting the serial use. The member then
referred the matter to the Secretary of the Society
in order to obtain a decision as to his exact legal
position, and was informed that, under the circum-
stances of the case, the Editor of Outing was acting
entirely within his rights.
The point to which the attention of members
must be called is (1) to be careful when they
enter into contracts with editors of magazines
as to the rights which they sell ; (2) to take the
of the Act by
making an express contract ; and (3) to limit the
express contract to serial use in one issue of the
magazine.
Tt was not long ago that Mr. Longman, at the
meeting of the Publishers’ Association, complained
of this sale without limitation of serial rights, and
the serious loss that might result to a publisher
who purchased the copyright without knowledge
of this contract. The point was dealt with in
detail in The Author.
ot
Nethersole +. Bell.
Ty the above-named case, an action was brought
by Miss Olea Nethersole for infringement of her
rights ina play called Sapho,” which was written
by Clyde Fitch, the well known American
dramatist, and taken from Monsieur Daudet’s
novel. The defendants also produced a play called
“Sapho,” and put forward in their defence that
their play was written in Australia in 1899, before
the date of Mr. Fitch’s play, and was an adaptation
from an English translation of the novel.
The first point to be decided in this, as indeed in
every question of infringement of copyright, is how
far one play corresponds with or appears to have been
taken from the other. This point must be settled
on general principles, and for this reason the
matter was referred to a theatrical expert, Mr.
Seymour Hicks. The second question to be
decided is whether the evidence shows that both
plays were taken from an original source, or
whether one play or, at any rate, great parts of it
were taken from the other. Mr. Seymour Hicks’
report has not been set forth in any of the papers,
but it would appear that he had no doubt in his
mind that the play of the defendants contained
great portions of the action of Mr, Fitch’s play.
The second question then had to be determined.
Whether it was possible that the defendants could
have written their play from a common origin, or
whether there was any deliberate adaptation from
the other work. Mr. Justice Farwell, in summing
up, came to the conclusion that he was unable to
accept the explanation of the defendants that
nothing was taken from Mr. Fitch’s play. He
found it impossible to think that so many similari-
ties were merely coincidences, and he gave jude-
ment for the plaintiff with costs,
Every verdict in a case of this kind adds some
fresh argument, and some further evidence as to
the manner and method by which a case of infringe-
ment should be determined. Therefore the judgment
should be studied, As, however, an infringement
of copyright is not essentially a matter of law, but
of fact, the ultimate verdict must in most cases be
doubtful.
10
Springfield *. Thame.
THs was a case of infringement of copyright of
a different kind from that set forth in Nethersole v.
Bell. The plaintiff wrote an article on a piece of
news, describing an escape from drowning of Dr.
MacHardy, Professor of Ophthalmology at King’s
College Hospital.
The article was produced, subject to considerable
editorial alteration, in the Daily Mail, and also
appeared in the W estminster Gazette and in the
Daily Chronicle. The Evening Standard reprinted
the article with very slight alteration from the
Daily Mail version, and the plaintiff demanded
full payment, but was refused on the ground that
the article had not come direct from him. The
defendants, however, offered the sum of 2s. 6d.,
which was not accepted.
It is an exceedingly difficult matter to give a
fair exposition of a case of this kind, unless it is
possible to quote the original paragraph as written
by the plaintiff, the paragraph in the Daily Mail,
and the paragraph that appeared in the Avening
Standard, but the Judge, Mr. Justice Joyce,
evidently came to the conclusion that the editor of
the Daily Mail had so altered the paragraph that
although he had taken the piece of news from the
plaintiff he had virtually made the paragraph his
own by the alteration. But the plaintiff had been
paid for the use the editor of the Daily Mail had
made of his work. The cutting from the Evening
Standard was merely a statement of a piece of
news, though his Lordship seemed to think that if
the Daily Mail had inserted the plaintiff's “copy”
verbatim et literatim, and the Evening Standard had
then printed the paragraph, they would have been
liable. The Judge therefore came to the conclusion
that the plaintiff’s action must fail.
The Referee, the following week, making fun of
the eccentricities of Copyright Law, wrote as
follows :—
“Now that an English Judge has decided that a sub-
editor altering a word or two in a paragraph becomes the
author, the Incorporated Society of Authors is going to get
rid of its committee of original writers and fill up the
vacancies with sub-editors.
“THE NEw CoPYRIGHT.
“The greatest author on the earth
Sent in a par. of passing worth,
J, changing ‘sailor’ into ‘tar,’
Became the author of the par.”
———————__+——_+_____
CIVIL LIST PENSIONS.
—
HE following is the list of pensions for 1902
to March, 1908. This statement always
draws the attention of members of the
literary profession, as one of the first objects of
the Act is to reward those who, “ by their useful
THE AUTHOR.
discoveries in science and attainments in literature
and the arts have merited the gracious considera-
tion of their sovereign and the gratitude of their
country.”
It is instructive to follow the extent to which
these purposes have been fulfilled :—
1902.— May 8.
Miss Rhoda Broughton, in consideration of her merits £
as a writer of fiction ... me a wae ae 18
Mrs. Adelaide Fanny Eyre, in consideration of the
services of her late husband, Mr. Edward John Eyre,
the Australian Explorer and Governor of Jamaica 100
William Raymond Fitzgerald, George Francis Fitz-
gerald, and John Jellett Fitzgerald ... ane ... 100
During the minority of any one of them, and in
recognition of the services rendered to Science
and Education by their late father, Professor
George Francis Fitzgerald, F.R.S.: in trust to
their mother, Mrs. Harriet Fitzgerald.
Mr. Worthington George Smith, in consideration of
his services to Archeology and Botanical illustra-
tion, and of his inadequate means of support
ore
September 12.
Mrs. Zaré Elizabeth Blacker, in recognition of the
services of her late husband, Dr. A. Barry Blacker,
M.D., who lost his life through his devotion to
medical research ae oe ae ees 120
October 21.
Mr. Justin McCarthy, in recognition of his services
to literature... or ae Be x -- 250
Mrs. Margaret Duncan Adamson, in consideration of
the services rendered to Philosophy by her late
husband, Professor Robert Adamson, and of her
straitened circumstances ges ee ee ie
Miss Florence Buchanan, in consideration of her
scientific researches and consequent failure of
sight, and of her inadequate means of support .. 50
December 20
Miss Beatrice Hatch... aa si ae 23
Miss Ethel Hatch ves ees cae ae se e:
Miss Evelyn Hatch ee cae aoe a cus
In consideration of the services of their father, the
late Rev. Edwin Hatch, in connection with
Ecclesiastical History, and of their straitened
circumstances, such pensious to be additional
to their existing pensions.
1903.—March 25.
Mr. James Sully, in recognition of his services to
Psychology --- es ee oon Sos oe
Mr. Alexander Carmichael and Mrs. Mary Frances
Carmichael, jointly and to the survivor of them,
in recognition of Mr. Carmichael’s services to the
study of Gaelic Folk Lore and Literature ... io oe
Miss Mary Elizabeth Maxwell Simpson, in considera-
tion of the eminence as a chemist of her late father,
Professor Maxwell Simpson, and of her straitened
circumstances ... Oe ves a8 ove ee
Miss Bertha Meriton Gardiner, in consideration of the
eminence of her late husband, Mr. 8. R. Gardiner,
asa historian .. ets see i ase on
Mrs. Jane Earle, in consideration of the services of
her late husband, Professor John Earle, to English
Literature and Philology AS aes sk DO.
105
40
78
Tol «ee ee
THE AUTHOR. 11
A MUSIC PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS.
te
WRITER in The Vocalist, a paper whose
opinion no doubt thrills the musical world,
has thought fit to criticise an article that
appeared in the January, 1903, number of The
Author.
This article to which readers are particularly
referred was entitled “ A Musical Agreement,” and
set forth one ef those antediluvian documents
which the musical publisher is still in the habit of
imposing on the author of music. The comments
accompanying were drastic, but well deserved.
The end of the article set out a few figures of the
cost of musical publication and of the musical
publisher’s profits.
The writer in The Vocalist, like a skilful advo-
cate, ignores the terms of the agreement and the
caustic remarks—perhaps he catches a scintillation
of truth—and proceeds to expose to his own satis-
faction the falsity of the figures. In his trite
criticism he sneers at the writer—‘a little know-
ledge may prove a dangerous thing.” He then
proceeds to show not only how impossible it is for
a music publisher to make a fortune, but how for
an absolute certainty he is bound to become bank-
rupt. The retort is obvious, “if a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing,” “too much learning hath
made him mad.”
Please note his figures, the following is an
extract from his luminous statement—
“When a song is published, the first thing to be done is
to place it on the market, which may be done in three
different ways, according to the intention of the publisher,
whose common experience is that although the first is a
sine quad non, the two others are essential to commercial
success.
“(1) By empowering a traveller to tour the country with
a copy of the song in question amongst his samples,
soliciting orders for ‘the latest novelties,” from the retail
trade, i.e., the music seller.
(2) By engaging popular singers to warble the strains
of ‘the latest novelty’ at their public engagements, before
their highly expectant audiences.
** (3) By advertising this latter fact in the columns of a
daily newspaper, which is usually done on the front page
of The Duily Telegraph.
“Now these three things are usually made to work
together,
“We must therefore calculate, although somewhat
toughly, the cost of carrying out these operations.
“Cost of No. 1.—A traveller's expenses cannot work out
at much less than £6 per week; his remuneration is
probably from £1 to £3 a week fixed wages, plus a 10 per
cent. commission ; but whatever his system of remuneration,
it must surely amount to not less than £4 a week, judging
by the superior class of man that must necessarily be
engaged in this work. This works out at £10 a week, or
allowing for a period during which the weekly expenditure
is withheld while on holiday, £400 a year cost to the
publisher, Now, assuming that the traveller has ten
novelties constantly going, and calculating that one half
of his usefulness is to push novelties, it means £200 is
spent in ‘pushing’ say twenty novelties a year ; in other
words the proportionate share of each song towards this
expense is £10 a year,
“Obviously this is but a rough calculation, but it is
based on the facts as known by practical experience,
“The cost under heading No. 2 is by no means easy to
apportion, for although a publisher knows quite well that
a good hearing is absolutely necessary to secure orders from
his customers, the singers also know quite as well that their
services have such a distinct market value that they are
able to command high prices ‘for taking up ’ new songs,
It is quite true that some singers sing songs simply because
they suit the voice, or because the songs are artistic and
appeal to their better feelings, but such cases are compara-
tively rare, and the majority of singers still sing royalty
songs for royalties’ sake. Far be it from me to say that if
a singer has assisted to earn money for the publisher and
the royalty owner, he or she is not fairly entitled to some
of the spoil. But the risk to the publisher under existing
_ conditions is, nevertheless, considerable, for it is well known
how useless it is to try any one or two singers for one or
two dozens (this has become the trade term for professional
assistance)—if it be done at all it should be done thoroughly,
and a gross of programmes is perhaps the very fewest that
can be of any material service, Now, supposing the price
per programme be taken at an average of seven shillings,
this means casting about £50 as bread upon the waters,
hoping to find it after very many days of patient watchine
and waiting. .
“So far the cost of making each song known to the
public is £60.
“ Cost under heading No. 3.—We now come to what may
at first sight seem to be the least necessary, and the least
profitable expense in connection with farming songs, ie.,
advertising the fact of its being sung by a certain singer at
a certain place on a certain day in a certain paper. Whether
this be profitable or no, I am not prepared to express my
candid opinion ; it is sufficient that custom has made it
almost absolutely necessary. Now, the cost of advertising
In Lhe Daily Telegraph (the recognised medium) is about
5s. for the insertion of each song ; six insertions a week,
therefore, amount to £1 10s. (no reduction on taking a
quantity), or for—say three months, £18.
“It will thus be seen that in addition to the initial cost
of printing 2,000 copies of a song (which, bear in mind, the
writer of the article in The Author generously puts at £15)
other expenses amounted to £78, It is not for one moment
suggested that a publisher expends as much on exploiting
each of all the songs he publishes, but on an average it may
be taken as a reasonable estimate of the expense he incurs
in the case of songs that he reasonably hopes to sell.”
It will be seen this man of knowledge takes £78
as a not unreasonable figure for advertising one
song. His words are “on an average,” ete,
The case must not be overstated, say then
£60.
He accepts the cost of production, quoted in
The Author of January—£15 for 2,000 copies—
with a sneer. “ Many publishers,” he says in the
early part of this article, “ would be only too pleased
to publish a song on these terms.”
We will accept the same figure,
So far, then, in our efforts to save the publisher
from bankruptcy, let the cost of production be
limited to £75: £15 printing, etc., for 2,000
copies, £60 for advertising and marketing.
12
He then continues :
** “We leave for the present the question of rent, salaries,
And other incidental expenses of maintaining the up-keep
of an office, which are part and parcel of the machinery of
publishing a song, for each song clearly has to bear its share
of these expenses, which, it is needless to say, are heavy.
So far we have dealt only with the expense of what is known
as “placing a song on the market,” and it can easily be seen
that the mere printing of copies is but a trifle compared
with the greater expense of dealing with the copies when
printed. Now let us turn to the more important question
of selling them. Happy, indeed, is the man who positively
knows that he will certainly sell 1,500 of the 2,000 copies
he has made, even if two, or, if you will, ten years are
allowed for doing it. Why, the actual experience of pub-
lishers is, that on an average, taking large houses (which
can always command some gort of sale) with the small, only
one song in twenty ever exceeds a sale of 1,000 copies, and
songs which reach a sale of 5,000 in a year are quite excep-
tional, and it is safe to say that out of every fifty songs
published in London, at least forty never see a second
edition, and of the other ten only one or two go into a fifth
edition. So much, then, for the numbers. But what of
prices? The contributor to Zhe Author calculates that the
net return is ls. 2d. per copy.
This ignorance is tantalizing to the publisher, and provokes
exasperation. Why, the novelty rate is never higher than
one-sixth of the marked price (4s.) which, of course, is only
Sd. each, and very many novelties are sold in the present
days of keen competition at one-eighth, which is only 6d.
each. We will not mention lower rates, although they are
known to most music publishers. This rate, obviously, is
not permanent ; if it were, the publisher could not continue
his business for six months, unless he carried it on as a
hobby, or were actuated by philanthropic motives. No! as
soon as a song shows vitality, and * is asked for” over the
music-seller’s counter, then a ray of hope does indeed enter
the counting-house, for he is able to raise his prices, and
when the music-seller orders what he requires, he has to pay
in the early days of success 10d. per copy ;_ but if the song
has reached a certain height of prosperity, he pays an even
shilling, provided he can order a quantity at a time ; if,
however, he requires only a few, then the contributor to
The Author is actually correct, the publisher really and
truly receives ls. 2d. entire.
Tn the above I have, perhaps, exposed certain trade
secrets; but there are few people who are nowadays not
more or less acquainted with them. I may be pardoned,
therefore, if I have exposed one of the most fallacious
statements ever uttered in a respectable paper of any status
or standing.
But I have not exhausted the subject by any means, and,
although I must not presume on the space allotted to me, I
must breathe a sigh over bad debts and long credits which,
in the music trade, are without parallel elsewhere. These
have to be provided for, however, and, even in the case of
most cautious publishers they are a very serious item.”
He is tantalised and provoked to exasperation.
To ease his mind he blurts out strange trade secrets,
that seemingly pervert all the politico-economical
doctrines of supply and demand. For in this
remarkable trade a large demand with infinite
capacity for supply—reproduction is simple and
expansive-—makes the product dearer, not cheaper.
But his figures are no doubt correct.
Again, to give his figures every advantage, in
order if possible to save him from the ruin, which,
according to the statement, must be the unenviable
THE AUTHOR.
end of “all those rash enough to produce songs,
let it be supposed that the average price of each
song is 10d., and that 1,500 out of the 2,000 are
sold (an absurd estimate, according to his
figures). He would then realise 15,000 pence,
or 1,250 shillings, or £62 10s. On each song,
therefore, he loses £75 — £62 10s. = £12 10s.
Therefore, on the 40 songs out of the 50 he loses
40 x 124= 40 % 25 = LOO" = £500.
It is evident that the bankruptcy court must
claim its victim. For if the publisher’s actual
figures are taken, his loss must at the lowest
computation be half as large again.
It cannot be that, to save himself from this pre-
ordained destruction, he sucks the blood of the
composer.
Perhaps other members of this generous class
of philanthropic tradesmen who, so it is rumoured,
make their contracts by word of mouth across their
dining tables over the nuts and wine, may repudiate
with indignation such a statement.
But what does the musical composer say ?
i
MAGAZINE CONTENTS.
ear
BLACKWOOD’S MAGAZINE
ONTAINS a graphic description by Mr. Reginald
C Wyon of what he has seen in Macedonia, and other
articles in the number are :
The Homes and Haunts of Edward Fitzgerald. By his
grand-niece, Mary Bleanor Fitzgerald Kerrich.
‘An Irish Salmon River. By Sir Herbert Maxwell.
The Man Who Knew. A short story by Perceval
Gibbon.
Personalia : Political, Social, and Various. By Sigma.
Translations from Leopardi. By Sir Theodore Martin,
K.C.B.
Scolopaxiana : How to Walk for and Shoot Snipe.
Marco Polo. By Charles Whibley.
Lord Salisbury ; Humiliation ; Musings Without Method.
‘A Malay Deer Drive. By George Maxwell.
The Fiscal Crisis.
Tur CORNHILL MAGAZINE.
Barlasch of the Guard (Chapters xxviiii—xxx.). By
Henry Seton Merriman (concluded).
In Guipuzcoa, II, By Mrs. Woods.
The Old Colonial System and Preferential Trade. By
Sidney Low, L.C.C.
“Rachel.” By Hugh Clifford, C.M.G.
Some Recent Speculations on the Constitution of Matter.
By W. A. Shenstone, F.R.S.
The Pleasures of Fishing. By Stephen Gwynn.
“ Sportie.” By Miss Constance B. Maud.
‘A Visit to “ Le Procts Humbert.”
Doggerel Ditties. By Dogberry.
BRON AISI
Sos
THE AUTHOR. 13
A Pastoral.
Poetic Justice.
The Lapse of the Professor.
By the Rev. H. G. D. Latham.
By W. Basil Worsfold.
By Arthur H. Henderson.
FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW.
Mr. Balfour’s Economic Creed.
Lord Salisbury. By Sidney Low.
The Evolution of French Contemporary Literature. By
Octave Uzanne.
The Fiscal Problem—
() Article by Professor W. T. Hewins.
(2) Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Chamberlain.
Spender.
(3) Will a Preference Tariff oppress the Poor ? By
David Christie Murray
War Commission Report. By Major Arthur Griffiths,
The Macedonian Question. By H. N. Brailsford.
Legend and Marie Bashkirtseff, By Prince Kara-
georgvich.
French Friendship and Naval Economy. By Archibald
8. Hurd.
Children’s Prayers and Prayer Manuals.
H. Cooper.
What Ireland Really Needs. By Sampson Morgan.
A Maker of Empire. S. F. Bullock.
The Questioners. By Herbert Trench.
Theophano: The Crusade of the Tenth
Frederic Harrison.
Correspondence—
(1) The Coming Ireland.
(2) Mankind in the Making,
By Harold
By Edward
Century.
By Lady Bathurst.
By Sir Wm. Bennett,
LONGMAN’S MAGAZINE,
Nature’s Comedian (Chapters vii., viii), By W. 5
Norris,
Wagers. By D. H. Wilson.
Last Year. By A.C. S.
A Michaelmas Move. By Chas. Fielding Marsh.
Loafing-time. By Fred. Whishaw.
Jellyby’s Plot.
Egyptian Irrigation Works,
A.M. Inst.C.E,
Scholarship Howlers. By G. Stanley Ellis,
At the Sign of the Ship. By Andrew Lang.
By Lawrence Gibbs,
MACMILLAN’S MAGAZINE,
John Maxwell’s Marriage (Chapters xxix.—xxxii,), By
Stephen Gwynn.
Wreckage of Empire. By Hugh Clifford, C.M.G.
The Sayings of Sir Oracle.
Borough Councils and Rising Rates,
Emmel, Ph.D.
Hope.
The Amusements of the People.
Some Opinions of a Pedagogue.
A Toiler’s Romance.
The Irregulars of the N avy. By W. J. Fletcher,
By Aloys N,
By J. G. Leigh.
By 8. T, Irwin.
THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE,
Phil May ; the Manand the Artist (with his last sketches
in pen and pencil and coloured plates).
The Brighton Road and the Motor Car. By C. G. Harper,
(Illustrated by the Author.)
The Discoverers of Radium. (With Portraits.)
Hotels and Hotel Life in New York. (Ilustrated.)
Literary Geography : the Lake Country. By William
Sharp.
Stories by Maurice Hewlett, John Oliver Hobbes, Sir
F. C. Burnand, U, L. Sil berrad, and other well-known
writers.
.
THE WorwD’s Work.
Gladstone in his Last Days. Unpublished Sketch by A,
S. Forrest. (Coloured frontispiece.)
The March of Events: An Editorial Comment. (With
full-page portraits of Mr. Gladstone (never before pub-
lished), Mr. John Morley, M.P., Mr. Herbert Gladstone,
M.P. (from special sittings), and the Hon. Whe Dp,
Smith, M.P.),
Mr. Balfour's Economics.
German Agriculture under
Dawson.
Mr. Morley’s Life of Gladstone.
C
By Alfred Emmott, M.P.
Protection, 3y W. H.
By Augustine Birrell,
K
Why the Navy Costs so Much,
The Day’s Work at W. H. Smith & Son’s,
Sculpture by Machinery. (Illustrated.)
The Poor Man’s Cow. By Home Counties, (Illustrated.)
The Trade Union Congress.
A Teetotal Island. By Charles T. Bateman,
What Theatres Cost. By Fitzroy Gardner.
Russia in Manchuria. By Alfred Stead. (Illustrated.)
The Art of Swimming. By Montague A. Holbein,
Cllustrated.)
The Social Life of the Soldier,
(IUustrated.)
The Royal Commission and the War Office.
Ocean Sanatoria. By Eustace Miles.
The National Physical Laboratory.
Carpenter, Ph.D.
Gymnastics for Girls. Clustrated.)
The Coming of the Motor Cab. (Illustrated.)
The Books of the Month, (With portraits of Mr. James
Lane Allen, Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (Mas. Felkin), Dr,
William Barry, Mr. Bernard Shaw.)
The World of Women’s Work.
Among the World’s Workers,
By Archibald 8. Hurd,
(ustrated.)
3y Horace Wyndham.
By W. C. H.
QUARTERLY REVIEW.
The forthcoming number will contain the following
articles among others :—
Sophocles and the Greek Genius,
The Religion of Napoleon I. By J. Holland Rose.
The Novels of Mr, Henry James.
Our Orchards and Fruit-Gardens, By W. E. Bear.
The Time-Spirit in German Literature. By Walter
Sichel.
Leo XIII. and his Successor.
Richard Bagot.
Impressions of South Africa, 1901 and 1903.
The Journal of Montaigne.
Macedonia and the Powers.
The War Commission and Army Reform,
Wilkinson.
Lord Salisbury.
Protective Retaliation,
Mr. Morley’s Life of Mr, Gladstone,
——1—~@—-
TRADE NOTES.
eee
Land and Water (1902), Ltd.
N | OTICE has been given that a petition for the
winding up of the above company was
on the 7th ult. presented to the Court by
Spalding and Hodge, Ltd., of Drury Lane, London,
creditors of the company, and that the said peti-
tion will be heard betore Mr, Justice Buckley, at
the Royal Courts of Justice, on the 27th inst.
(Second Article.) By
By Spencer
14 THE AUTHOR.
WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS
OF BOOKS.
—— + —
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be
obtained, But the transaction should be managed by a
competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of
the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
Tn this case the following rules should be attended to :
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation,
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
“(.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form
of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now
possible for an author to ascertain approximately the
truth. From time to time very important figures connected
with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production,
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
(3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.
——__+—>_+__"__
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
Saar
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
_ petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
8. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays
in three or more acts :—
(a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This
is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into
such a contract should stipulate in the contract
for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills,
(b.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of percentages on
gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5
and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system, Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of royalties (‘.¢., fixed
nightly fees). This method should be always
avoided except in cases where the fees are
likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights-can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, those authors desirous of further information
are referred to the Secretary of the Society.
——+——_—__—_
WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.
—-—~> + —
ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the
assistance of producers of books and dramatic
authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as
a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical
composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-
cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic
property. The musical composer has very often the two
rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He
THE AUTHOR.
should be especially careful therefore when entering into
an agreement, and should take into particular consideration
the warnings stated above.
a
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—_— +
1 VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
: advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. — The
Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any
special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the
Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they
deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion, All this
without any cost to the member.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-
ence of ordinarysolicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use
the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, Before signing any agreement whatever, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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 your calling in promoting
the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents.to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work
can be obtained in the Prospectus.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to
them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit
them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary
of the Society.
This
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements.
The
must be done within fourteen days of first execution,
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; sO
do some publishers. Members can make their own
deductions and act accordingly.
10. The subscription to the Society is £1 4s. per
annum., or £10 10s. for life membership.
15
THE READING BRANCH.
——>—»
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
N branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry
and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
—————__+—~—
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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,
i
Communications and letters are invited by the
Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—1—~ +.
The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES,
—+—~>—+
HERE has been some mention in the papers
, since the last issue of The Author of Russian
copyright, and it has been suggested that
it is possible to obtain protection in that country.
Inquiries we have made do not confirm this state-
ment. Even the Russian author himself cannot
always obtain security, as different laws with regard
to copyright hold in different portions of Russia.
To begin with, the author who publishes in
Russia, in order to obtain any protection must
be a Russian. This is a sine gud non. Even then
he does not always obtain what he wants.
We understand, however, that Russia is taking
16
steps (this understanding, like the proposal for
copyright legislation in the Empire, has been
prominent for many years) to consolidate all the
local laws with a view to subsequent amendment.
It is to be hoped that this development will be
realised at no distant date.
An article will be found in another column
dealing with the commercial aspects of authorship,
and refuting the contention of those who find that
it suits their interests to deny the right of literature
to have a commercial side. It was largely for the
benefit of authors in their endeavour to understand
the commercial possibilities of their work, and to
secure the benefits from it which business-like
methods afford, that the Society of Authors was
founded, and has carried on its work ever since.
Its members include men and women belonging to -
all the three classes of writers into which the
article in question divides authors, and the work
which it carries on for individuals benefits authors
as a whole, whether they be its members or not.
From this point of view we would urge all writers
to consider whether they are justified in accepting
the advantages which the Society has gained for
them without seeking to extend and increase those
advantages for themselves and for others by joining
the Society.
-. We must record, if somewhat behind time, the
marriage of Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, our late
chairman, to Miss Elizabeth Sheldon, on the Ist
of July. A number of present and former members
of our committee combined with the President of
the Society in presenting Mr. Anthony Hope
Hawkins on the happy occasion with a silver punch-
bowl and ladle as some token of their friendship
and good wishes and appreciation of the services he
has rendered the Society. The Society of Authors
has never had a chairman who has been more devoted
to its work, or has, by his unfailing courtesy,
tact, and sound judgment, done more to promote
its efficiency and success. All connected with it
will, we are sure, unite in congratulations to Mr.
Hawkins, coupled with the selfish hope that he
may long be able to spare time to assist in its
mavagement, and thus lighten the labour of his
suCcCeSSOrs.
Mempers of the Society have no doubt seen the
letter which appeared in the papers towards the
end of July, signed by the President and Chairman
of the Committee, referring to the proposed public
memorial to Sir Walter Besant.
We are glad to have the opportunity to correct a
THE AUTHOR.
slight mistake which occurred in that letter. It
stated that the sum of £340 was raised from among
members of the Society only. This is not exactly
true, as on looking through the list, we find two
of the subscribers were not members of the Society.
Messrs. A. P. Watt & Son, of which firm Mr. A.
P. Watt, for many years Sir Walter Besant’s
literary agent and finally his literary executor, is
senior partner, made a subscription of twenty-five
guineas. This amount is included in the sum of
£340.
Aw offer was made, by a firm whose only excuse
can be that they do not hold the highest position in
the rank of publishers, of £10 for an original novel
of 60,000 words from the pen of a writer not
altogether unknown for his ability, but unfortu-
nately notorious for his chronic impecuniosity.
The offer was, we are glad to say, rejected, If
the work was worth printing at all, it was worth
more than the amount stated.
THE list of elections from October, 1902, to
July 1903, will be published during the course of
the month, as a supplement to the list of the
Society already published.
The cost of the Supplementary list will be two-
pence.
1
OBITUARY.
——
R. WILLIAM WESTALL, the Novelist,
died on Wednesday, the 9th of September,
at the age of sixty-nine.
He had been a supporter of the Society almost
since its foundation. He joined in 1888.
He was a writer of many novels, and although
none of them ever became a great popular success,
yet he was a sound craftsman and a careful worker,
and knew well how to write an interesting book of
incident and adventure. It is sad to have to
chronicle the death of the older members.
WE regret to announce also the death of the
Rev. Prebendary Godfrey Thring, who had been a
member of the society for nearly ten years. As a
hymn writer he was exceedingly well known, some
of his verses being the most popular in Hymns
Ancient and Modern.
His Church of England Hymn Book is now in
the third edition.
THE AUTHOR.
THE PERIL OF SHAKESPEAREAN
RESEARCH.
—_1—@—+—_
OR some years past scarcely a month passes
without receipt of a communication from a
confiding stranger, to the effect that he has
discovered some piece of information concerning
Shakespeare which has hitherto eluded research.
Very often has a correspondent put himself to the
trouble of forwarding a photograph of the title-
page of a late 16th or early 17th century book, on
which has been scrawled in old-fashioned script
the familiar name of William Shakespeare. At
intervals, which seem to recur with mathematical
regularity, I receive intelligence that a portrait of
the poet, of which nothing is hitherto known, has
come to light in some recondite corner of the
country, and it is usually added that a contem-
porary inscription settles all doubt of authenticity.
I wish to speak with respect and gratitude of
these confidences. I welcome them, and have no
wish to repress them. But truth does not permit
me to affirm that such as have yet reached me have
done more than enlarge my conception of the scope
of human credulity. I look forward to the day
when the postman shall, through the generosity of
some appreciative reader of my biography of Shake-
speare, deliver at my door an autograph of the
dramatist of which nothing has been heard before,
or a genuine portrait of contemporary date, the
existence of which has never been suspected. But
up to the moment of writing, despite the good
intentions of my correspondents, no experience of
the kind has befallen me.
There is something pathetic in the frequency
with which correspondents, obviously of un-
blemished character and most generous instinct,
send me almost tearful expressions of regret that I
should have hitherto ignored one particular docu-
ment, which throws (in their eyes) a curious gleam
on the dramatist’s private life. At least six times
a year am I reminded how it is recorded in more
than one obscure 18th century periodical that the
dramatist, George Peele, wrote to his friend Marle
or Marlowe, in an extant letter, of a merry meeting
at a place called the “Globe” (which some take
tobe a tavern). At that surprising assembly there
were present, I am trustfully assured, not merely
Edward Alleyn, the actor, not merely Ben Jonson,
but Shakespeare himself, and together these cele-
brated men are said to have discussed a passage in
the new play of “ Hamlet.” The reported talk is
at the best tame prattle. Yet here, if anywhere, I
am often told, is Shakespeare revealed in uncon-
stramed intercourse with professional associates.
Are such revelations numerous enough, I am asked,
to exeuse a biographer for overlooking this one ?
17
Unfortunately for my informants’ argument, the
letter in question is an 18th century fabrication of
no intrinsic brilliance or wit. It bears on its
dull face’ marks of criminality which could only
escape the notice of the uninformed. It is not
likely to mislead the critical. Nevertheless it has
deceived many of my uncritical correspondents, and
largely for this reason it has constantly found its
way into print without meeting serious confutation.
It may therefore be worth while setting its true
origin and subsequent history on record. Nothing
that I can do is likely in all the circumstances of
the case to prevent an occasional resurrection of
the bodiless and spiritless creation, but at present
the meagre spectre appears to walk in various
quarters unimpeded, and an endeavour to lay it
here may not be without its uses.
Through the first half of 1763 there was published
a monthly magazine called the Theatrical Review,
or Annals of the Drama, an anonymous miscellany
of dramatic biography and criticism. It ceased
at the end of six months, and the six instalments
were re-issued as “ Volume I.” at the end of June,
1763; that volume had no successor.* The
Theatrical Review, a colourless contribution to
the journalism of the day, lacked powers of
endurance. All that is worth noting of it now
is that among its contributors was at least one
interesting personality. He was a young man of
good education and independent means, who had
chambers in the Temple, and was enthusiastically
applying himself to a study of Shakespeare and
Elizabethan dramatic literature. His name, George
Steevens, acquired in later years world-wide fame
as that of the most learned of Shakespearean com-
mentators. Of the real value of Steevens’s scholar-
ship no question is admissible, and his reputation
justly grew with his years. Yet Steevens’s temper
was singularly perverse and mischievous. His con-
fidence in his own powers led him to contemn the
powers of other people. He enjoyed nothing so
much as mystifying those who were engaged in the
same pursuits as himself, and his favourite method
of mystification was to announce anonymously
the discovery of documents which owed all their
existence to his own ingenuity. This, he admitted,
was his notion of “fun.” Whenever the whim
seized him, he would in gravest manner reveal to
the Press, or even contrive to bring to the notice of a
learned society, some alleged relic in manuscript or
in stone which he had deliberately manufactured.
His sole aim was to recreate himself with laughter
at the perplexity that such unholy pranks invariably
* Other independent publications of similar character
appeared under the identical title in 1758 and 1772. The
latter collected the ephemeral dramatic criticisms of John
Potter, a well-known writer for the stage,
18
aroused. It is one of these Puck-like tricks that
has spread confusion among my correspondents.
The Theatrical Review, in its second number,
offered an anonymous biography of the great
actor and theatrical manager of Shakespeare’s
day, Edward Alleyn. This biography was clearly
one of Steevens’s earliest efforts. It is for the most
part an innocent compilation. But it contains
one passage in its author’s characteristic vein of
mischief, which requires close attention in this place.
Midway in the essay the reader was solemnly assured
that a brand-new contemporary reference to Alleyn’s
eminent associate Shakespeare was at his disposal.
The new story “ carries with it ” (he was told) “ all
the air of probability and truth, and has never been
in print before.” “A gentleman of honour and
veracity,” ran the next sentences, which artfully
put the unwary student off his guard, “ in the com-
mission of the peace for Middlesex, has shown us a
letter dated in the year 1600, which he assures us has
been in the possession of his family, by the mother’s
side, for a long series of years, and which bears all
the marks of antiquity.” The superscription was
interpreted to run, “For Master Henrie Marle
livynge at the sygne of the rose by the palace.”
There followed at full length the paper of which
the family of the honourable and veracious gentle-
man “in the commission of the peace for Middlesex ”
had become possessed “ by the mother’s side.” The
words were these :—
“ FRIENDE MARLE,
“1 must desyre that my syster hyr watche, and
the cookerie booke you promysed, may be sent by the man.
I never longed for thy company more than last night ; we
were all very merrye at the Globe, when Ned Alleyn did
not scruple to affyrme pleasantely to thy friend Will, that
he had stolen his speech about the qualityes of an actor’s
excellencye, in Hamlet hys tragedye, from conversations
manyfold which had passed between them, and opinyons
given by Allen touchinge the subject. Shakespeare did
not take this talke in good sorte; but Jonson put an end
to the stryfe with wittielie saying, ‘“ This affaire needeth
no contentione; you stole it from Ned, no doubt ; do not
marvel ; have you not seen him act tymes out of number”?
“Believe me most syncerelie,
“ Harrie
“ Thyne
“G, PEEL.”
The text of this strangely-spelt, strangely-
worded epistle, with its puny efforts at a jest, was
succeeded by a suggestion that “G. Peel,’ the
alleged signatory, could be none other than George
Peele, the dramatist, who achieved reputation in
Shakespeare’s early days.
Thus the freakish Steevens baited his hook.
The sport which followed must have exceeded the
impish angler’s expectations. Any one familiar
with the bare outline of Elizabethan literary history
should have perceived that a trap had been set.
The letter was assigned to the year 1600. Shake-
speare’s play of “ Hamlet,” to the performance of
THE AUTHOR.
which it unconcernedly refers, was not produced
before 1602 ; at that date George Peele had lain
full four years in his grave. Peele could never
have passed the portals of the theatre called the
“ Globe’; for it was not built until 1599. No
tavern of the name is known. The surname of
the peisoas to whom the letter was pretended to
have been addressed, is suspicious. ‘ Marle” was
one way of spelling “ Marlowe” at a period when
forms of surnames varied with the caprice of the
writer. The great dramatist, Christopher Marle,
or Marloe, or Marlowe, had died in 1593; but
“Henrie Marle” is counterfeit coinage of no
doubtful stamp. The language and the style of
the letter are obviously undeserving of serious
examination. They are of a far later period than
the Elizabethan age. Safely might the heaviest
odds be laid that in no year of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth ‘did friende Marle promyse G. Peel his
syster that he would send hyr watche and the
cookerie booke by the man,” or that “ Ned Alleyn
made pleasante affirmation to G. Peel of friend Will’s
theft of the speech in ‘Hamlet’ concerning an
actor’s excellencye.”’ From top to toe the imposture
stands confessed. But the general reader of the
eighteenth century was confiding, unsuspicious,
greedy of novel information. The description of
the source of the document seemed to him precise
enough to silence doubt. The Theatrical Review
of 1763 succeeded in launching the fraud on a
quite triumphal progress.
Again and again, as the century advanced, was
G. Peel’s declaration to “friend Marle” paraded,
without hint of its falsity, to the gaze of purblind
snappers-up of Shakespearean trifles. Seven years
after its first publication, the epistle found admis-
sion in a somewhat altered setting into so reputable
a periodical as the “Annual Register.” Burke
was still connected with that useful publication,
and whatever information the “ Register” shielded,
was reckoned to be of veracity. ‘‘G,. Peel” and
“friende Marle” were there suffered to play their
pranks in the best society in the year 1770.
In 1777 there appeared an ambitious work of
reference, entitled “‘ Biographia Literaria; or a
Biographical History of Literature,” which gave its
author, John Berkenhout,a free-thinking physician,
his chief claim to remembrance. Steevens was a
friend of his, and helped him in the preparation of
the book. Into his account of Shakespeare, the
credulous Berkenhout introduced quite honestly
the fourteen-year old forgery. The reputed date
of 1600, which the supposititious justice of the peace
had given it in the Theatrical Review, was now
suppressed. Berkenhout confined comment to the
halting reminiscence, ‘‘ Whence I copied this letter
T do not recollect, but I remember that at the time of
transcribing it I had no doubt of its authenticity.”
THE AUTHOR.
Thrice had the trick been worked effectively in
conspicuous places before Steevens died in 1800.
But the evil that he did lived after him, and within
a year of his death the old banner of imposture was
waved by a living hand more vigorously than before.
A correspondent, who concealed his identity under
the signature of “Grenovicus,” sent Peel’s letter to
the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1801, and it was duly
reprinted in the number for June. ‘“Grenovicus”
had the assurance to claim the letter as his own
discovery. ‘‘To my knowledge,” he wrote, “ it has
never yet appeared in print.” He refrained from
indicating how he had gained access to it, but
congratulated himself and the readers of the
Gentleman’s Magazine on the valiant feast he
provided for them. His act was apparently taken
by the readers of the Gentleman's Magazine at his
own valuation.
Not that the discerning critic elsewhere remained
altogether passive. Isaac D’Israeli denounced the
fraud in his “ Curiosities of Literature,” but he and
others did their protesting gently. The fraud
looked to them too shamefaced to merit a vigorous
onslaught. They imagined the misbegotten epistle
must die of its own inanity. In this they mis-
calculated the credulity of the general reader.
“Grenovicus” of the Gentleman's Magazine had
numerous disciples. Many a time during the
past century has his exploit been repeated, and
“@, Peel” has emerged from the shades of a long-
forgotten book or periodical to disfigure the page
of a modern popular magazine. I have met him
in all his impudence in at least one collection
of Shakespeareana published during the present
century. His occasional re-interment in the future
from the time-honoured jungle of the ‘‘ Annual
Register ” the Gentleman’s Magazine may safely be
prophesied. In those dusky retreats the forged
letter lurks unchallenged, and there will always be
some explorers, who, being strangers to exact know-
ledge, will from time to time suddenly run the
unhallowed thing to earth and bring it forth asa
new and unsuspected truth.
Perhaps forgery is too big a word to apply to
Steevens’s insolent concoction. Others worked at
later periods on lines similar to his ; but, unlike his
disciples, he did not seek from his misdirected
ingenuity pecuniary gain or even notoriety; for he
never set his name to this invention of “Peel” and
“Marle,” and their insipid chatter about “ Hamlet ”
at the “Globe.” It is difficult to detect humour
in Steevens’s endeavour to delude the unwary.
But the perversity of the human intellect has no
limits. This ungainly example of it is only worth
attention because it has sailed under its false colours
without serious molestation for one hundred and
forty years.
Sripney Lug.
19
THE COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF
AUTHORSHIP.
—_+———_
UTHORS may be classified in various ways,
according to the point of view from which
they are regarded. For the purposes of
this paper they may be divided roughly into three
classes : (1) Those who live by tlieir work. (2)
Those who supplement by their work incomes
derived from other sources sufficient to enable
them to live without writing. (3) Those who.
write without relying on the profits of their work
to any appreciable extent. There are also men
and women not yet ranking as authors who aspire
to belong to one of these classes. Hach of the
three classes defined above may again be divided
into two sections, the one consisting of those who
pay to their business relations with business men
publishing their writings as close attention as they
can, and the other of those who do not. The object
of an autbor in paying attention to business is
usually to make the full profit which is his due.
This, however, need not be his only motive, for in
some cases a writer is chiefly concerned with
gaining access to the largest possible number of
the public in order to make his opinions known,
or for other reasons, and then the methods by
which his work is circulated, and the considera-
tion and supervision of details connected with this
may be of importance to him. The largest pro-
portion of those who from indifference to pecuniary
considerations or other causes do not make as
large a profit as they are fairly entitled to do,
naturally belong to the third of the classes sug-
gested. There are, however, many of them to be
found in the second, and a smaller proportion in
the first. On the other hand, there are some who
obtain full value for their literary wares, who
might by their position be supposed to be in-
different in the matter. The eminent statesman
who writes on “Fiscal Fatuity” in a heavy
magazine, and the lady of title who publishes an
article in a lighter periodical on “Ought Girls to
Chaperon their Mothers ?” may be looked on by
some of their fellow-contributors as essentially
amateurs, but they are as a rule not only desirous,
but thoroughly able to obtain very good prices.
Their competition may be regarded by some writers
as not quite fair, but it is at least as honourable as
that of those who endeavour to obtain publication
by underselling others to whom payment is a more
necessary consideration than to themselves. It is
to writers who neglect, and possibly despise, the
business side of the author’s calling that this
paper is primarily directed, and particularly to
any who may not avail themselves of the assistance
in such matters which the Society of Authors
20
supplies. They are principally to be found outside
its ranks; but the circulation of Zhe Author is
not confined to members, nor has the society in
establishing and strengthening the commercial
position of authorship benefited its members
only.
That authorship should have a commercial
position, or a commercial aspect at all, is treated
by some as undesirable. This view is put forward
both by those who wish to make as much money
as possible by exploiting the author’s work, and
by others who claim that art should be pursued
“for art’s sake,” and see something degrading in
an author bargaining for the best price obtain-
able, as if he were a mere capitalist or artizan, or
any other person seeking a livelihood. ‘ Art for
art’s sake” is an attractive ideal programme con-
densed into proverbial form, but like many charming
ideas it is more frequently recommended to others
than carried into practice by those who preach it.
Even they who claim to pursue “art for art’s
sake? and gain the reputation of actually doing
so, may to some extent be deceiving themselves
and others. “ Art for amusement’s sake” is quite
a different thing, and so is “art for notoriety’s
sake.” Either can be quite harmless to those
immediately concerned, but may to some extent
affect fellow artists injuriously.
At the last dinner of the Incorporated Society
of Authors, Mr. Rider Haggard made a
speech in which incidentally he proclaimed his
opinion that Milton, when he accepted £10 for
“Paradise Lost,” did so for no other reason
than because it was the best price he could get.
Turning to our own times and mentally reviewing
the names of those held eminent in the artistic
professions, we should find it difficult to discover
many who pursue a different policy. We might,
indeed, among the ablest writers, painters, sculptors
and actors of to-day light upon some who are not
keen men or women of business, and who conse-
quently do not get for their work the bes! price
possible. We should find both among those out-
wardly most successful and those less so, many
doing their best work without regard for the question
whether their best work in an artistic sense would
be most popular or most lucrative, but we should
not find or expect to find them giving away
their productions for less than the market value
vis they had succeeded in establishing for
them.
It would, therefore, be impossible to say with
truth that in the professions selected above as
entitled to be termed artistic, the best workers
were indifferent to pecuniary *value or would
repudiate the existence of a business side to art.
They would not obtrude it nor should anyone else.
The Author, however, is the organ of a society
THE AUTHOR.
which concerns itself principally with the business
aspects of authorship, and these aspects are
necessarily conspicuous in its pages.
If, however, it is conceded that authorship has its
commercial side, which is not altogether undeserving
of consideration, it may be worth while to ask
whether authors who are indifferent in business
matters can in any case justify their attitude.
They are not to be found in great numbers, per-
haps, in the class of professional writers, but all
must recognise the fact that loose business methods
may substantially diminish the circulation of the
author’s work if it is his ambition to increase the
number of his readers, and that from a pecuniary
point of view they can increase the profits of no
one except the publisher. It has, however, been
pointed out that there are authors to whom their
literary work as such is not essential to their liveli-
hood. A considerable bulk of literature is put upon
the market by these, while some of it is of high
value, both from a pecuniary point of view and
otherwise. Many scientific writers, compilers of
educational books, travellers and biographers, for
example, are to be found among authors who do
not live by their pens, as well as among producers
of fiction, poetry, and lighter literary work. It is
among these that the business possibilities of
authorship are most frequently neglected, and if
they are reminded of them, they have many reasons
to give for their indifference.
In the first place they may say that the matter
is their concern, and the concern of no one else.
In this they are only partly right. To object
to one person under-selling another savours of
trades unionism and of protective policies, regarded
by some as leading to objectionable interference
with the freedom of contract. There is, however,
an undeniable hardship inflicted upon all in a
weak position (7.e., those who have to work to live
and who are struggling to do so), when others in
a stronger position (i.e., those subject to no such
necessity) under-sell them, or by acquiescing in
lax business ways, make it difficult for any to
insist upon stricter methods. These are the
principal results of easy going ways, where the
relations between the author and the publisher or
editor are concerned. ‘Those, however, who are
under discussion may say on the other hand:
“We pursue a course which suits our objects.
We desire to obtain public notice, for perfectly
honest reasons. We write upon topics which we
seek to make widely known, and we can best make
them known by giving the terms asked by those
who can secure a large circulation for us.” To
such as these it may be pointed out that stricter
methods will enable them to secure what they
desire with greater certainty. Price is not the only
important point which is stipulated for‘in a literary
THE AUTHOR. 21
contract. The conditions under which the work
will be placed upon the market, the manner in
which it will be advertised, and other details also
of importance have to be provided for, and the
contract to publish will not be carried out with
less energy, because the author understands and
expects to be informed of the steps which are taken
to secure the desired result. Even those, there-
fore, to whom the possible money value of literary
work is of no interest cannot afford to neglect the
business side of literature, if they are in earnest
in writing at all. Those who are not in earnest
are recommended to become so, or to leave litera-
ture alone.
In any case the commercial aspects of author-
ship are worthy of the study of all writers. It has
already been said that such matters need not
be made obtrusive, but it may also be observed
that the more carefully they are attended to, the
less likely they are to be forced into prominence.
It is the author who is loose in his business
arrangements in their early stages who finds
himself later on obliged to make them public in a
court of law, or to forego advantages to which his
indifference is less absolute than he supposed.
H, A. A.
$$
GOLLANCZ vy. J. M. DENT & CO.
————1—
OME of our readers may have noticed in the
daily papers some months ago the report of
a law case of interest to authors under the
above title. It has not previously been mentioned
in The Author because the case decided in the
Courts covered only part of the area of controversy
between the parties. All matters in dispute were
ultimately satisfactorily settled with the assistance
of the Society, and the points of interest to authors
may now be referred to.
The essential facts are as follows: Mr. Gollancz
was the editor of “The Temple Shakespeare,”
published by Messrs. J. M. Dent & Co.; he also
occupied till 1901 the position of general literary
adviser to that firm, and was editor of the “ Temple
Classics,” etc. The documents embodying the
terms under which the parties were working
together were informal, and the recent actions
arose out of the obscurity of some provisions of
these documents. The moral of the case is the old
caution which can never be urged too strongly on
authors: that their business arrangements should
be clearly and accurately defined, however close,
as in the present instance, may be their relations
with their publishers. When Mr. Gollancz sought
and obtained the help of the Committee in 1901
his relations with his publishers had become very
strained, and, shortly afterwards, Messrs, Dent
gave him notice to put an end to his engagement as
their literary adviser, and Mr. Gollancz felt obliged
to take action against them. The questions that
arose in this action will be dealt with presently,
In the following spring (1902) Messrs. Dent
announced the production of a “Temple Shakes-
peare for Schools,” edited, not by Mr. Gollancz, but
by Mr. Oliphant Smeaton and other writers.
Mr. Gollancz deeming this to be an infringement
of his rights, protested, and, failing to obtain
redress, commenced an action for an injunction
and damages in the Chancery Division. By
one of the clauses of the agreement as to “The
Temple Shakespeare,” it had been agreed that, in
the event of a cheaper or other form of edition of
any or either of the plays of Shakespeare being
thought desirable by Messrs. Dent, it should form the
subject of a new agreement with Mr. Gollancz on
proratd terms. A School Edition had been long in
contemplation in pursuance of this agreement, and
before the breach between the parties a definite
arrangement had been come to as to the amount
of royalty to be paid to Mr. Gollancz.
As Messrs. Dent persisted in bringing out “The
Temple Shakespeare for Schools,” the Chancery
action was proceeded with, and came on for hearing
before Mr. Justice Swinfen-Eady on March 26th
and 27th, 1903. The defence raised by the
publishers was that the clause quoted above only
referred to a cheaper or dearer edition of “The
Temple Shakespeare,” but the judge overruled this
contention, and, adopting Mr. Gollancz’s view of
the meaning of the agreement and of his arrange-
ments with Messrs. Dent, gave judgment in his
favour for damages and costs.
Mr. Justice Swinfen-Eady in his judgment
remarked that the School Edition, as ultimately
brought out by Messrs. Dent, although not an
infringement of the copyright of “The Temple
Shakespeare” (which, in fact, is vested in the pub-
lishers) was intended to have the benefit of the
reputation of that work. In fact, it was necessary
for Mr. Gollancz (as this remark of the judge
shows) to establish that he had no connection with
the School Edition which bore the name of “The
Temple Shakespeare.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Gollancz’s action for wrongful
dismissal was awaiting hearing in the King’s
Bench Division (where work is more in arrear
than in the Chancery Division). The main points
in this action, which are of general interest, were
two: first, whether Messrs. Dent had any right
to put an end to Mr. Gollancz’s engagement as
their literary adviser which, on the wording of the
letters that had passed, appeared to be (what Mr.
Gollancz had always understood it to be) a life
contract ; and, secondly, whether “The Temple
Cyclopedic Primers,” a series planned by Mr.
22
Gollanez and published by Messrs. Dent, were
to continue to be treated as “School Books” pro-
cured by Mr. Gollancz for the publishers, so as
to entitle him to a stipulated royalty thereon. In
the result, satisfactory terms of settlement of all
disputes between the parties were arrived at with-
out this case coming on in Court, so that the deci-
sion of the Court was not obtained on these points,
one of which would have been of much general
interest—i.e., the meaning and extent of the
expression “School Books.” By the terms of
settlement, however, the justification of Mr.
Gollancz’s action was fully recognised by the
publishers paying, in addition to all costs, a sub-
stantial sum as compensation, and agreeing to
continue the payment of royalty on the Primers,
as arranged for by Mr. Gollancz.
SPECIAL INSURANCE SCHEME.
oo
i HE Directors of the Legal and General Life
Assurance Society are prepared to grant to
members of the Society of Authors the
following reduction from the tariff rates of endow-
ment and whole-life assurance, viz. :
10 % (ten per cent.) off the first premium paid.
5 % (five per cent.) off each subsequent premium,
The distinctive features of the Society are :
(a) Perfected maximum policies by which life
insurance is provided at the lowest possible cost.
For example:
Age 30, £1 16s. 0d. per £100 insured.
Age 40, £2 10s. Od. per £100 insured.
Age 50, £3 14s. 4d. per £100 insured.
(0) With-profit endowment assurance, payable
‘at any age, or previous death, to which the Society
allots the largest bonus of any Insurance Company,
viz., 88s. per cent. compound.
Thereby a £100 policy increases as follows :
Duration 10years. 20 years. 30 years. 40 years.
Amount £120 £144 £172 £206
Special quotations for old-age pensions may be
had on application to the City office, 158, Leaden-
hall Street, E.C., where any further information
may be obtained.
The directors will be glad to afford every
facility for the working of the scheme, which
they think will be of advantage to the members
-of the Society of Authors.
J. P. B. BLAKE,
City Branch.
158, Leadenhall Street, E.C.
THE AUTHOR.
A GOOD BOOK.
—— +
V E are glad to welcome a new—the fifth—
impression of Professor Raleigh’s manual,
“The English Novel.”* Modestly
described by its author as a little book on a
great subject, it gives in its two hundred and
eighty pages a singularly effective sketch of the
history of this branch of literature from Malory to
Scott, with critical studies of the chief English
novelists before the appearance of the author of
“‘ Waverley,” these two purposes being “connected
by certain general lines of reasoning and specula-
tion on the nature and development of the novel.”
The historical sketch is adequate, the criticism
generally penetrating and just, but it is in the
connecting lines that we have found most pleasure.
No book dealing with literary principles can fail
to contain something of interest to authors, and
the great expectations with which we approach any
contribution to the subject by so eminent an
authority as Professor Raleigh are fully realised.
in so brief a note as this it is impossible to
attempt to criticise this little manual ; we prefer
to praise it in general terms and recommend it to
the attention of literary men. Most books of the
kind lose sight of the historical purpose and tend
to become only critical studies ; Professor Raleigh
contrives in the space at his disposal to keep both
his objects prominently before him. His style is
admirably simple and direct, and one lays aside
the book with a clear knowledge of the steps by
which the novel has risen to what it is, and also
with the memory of many illuminating phrases
emanating from a finely critical mind, and delicately
and humorously couched.
The pedigree of the English novel, as set forth
here, derives from the novella of the Italians and
the romance of chivalry ; the successive stages are
represented by the “ Gesta Romanorum,” Malory’s
“Morte Darthur,” Lyly’s “ Euphues” (strictly
speaking, the first original prose novel written in
English), the novellet or love pamphlet of Greene
and Nash, “‘ The Character ”’ ; the realistic accounts
of adventure represented by Defoe; the picaresque,
the autobiographic, the Schools of Terror, repre-
sented by Mrs. Radcliffe and Maturin, and of
Theory represented by Godwin, the story of
domestic satire, and lastly the union of the novel
proper with the romance which was effected by
Sir Walter Scott.
Professor Raleigh avoids the confusion which is
a frequent demerit in genealogies of this kind, and
he chronicles vividly the conflict that was waged
*«“The English Novel,’ by Walter Raleigh; fifth
impression, popular edition : London, John Murray, 1903,
3s. 6d.
THE AUTHOR.
between prose fiction and the drama, ultimately
won for the novel in the eighteenth century, and
the later conflict between verse and prose for “ the
prerogative possession of romantic themes,” when
prose was again the victor.
We wish we had space to quote some of the
many remarks that have arrested our attention
and appealed to our reason during our perusal of
this book. It is Professor Raleigh’s merit that
they are propounded unostentatiously, and as a
matter of course, but from some points of view
perhaps this merit may be regretted, for many
more popular reputations have been upreared on
less sound foundations. With the last one in the
volume we may conclude, confident that its truth
is sufficient apology for its triteness : “‘ Quod semper
et ubique et ab omnibus is the saving creed of a
novelist.”
2
TWO KINDS OF AUTHOR.
—_—t—— +
“PYFNHE Truth about an Author’’* is an anony-
mous satire on the profession of letters,
so skilfully accomplished that it would
not be hard to take it seriously and to be vastly
annoyed that it should have been written, in spite
ofitsgenuine humour. It narrates the career of one
who, starting in the Inferno of provincial journalism,
attains at length to a kind of suburban purgatory,
and emerges at last into a peculiar paradise of
poultry, Dalmatian dogs, and little grey mares in
phaetons. Itis, in short, a criticism of the literary
life elaborated from the pages of a ledger, but
unless our critical sense is sadly at fault, it is
written by one who, however greatly he may have
regarded literature merely as a trade, had the wit
to see the irony of his own attitude and that of his
admirers. Heischarmingly candid : ‘“ Ofcourse,”
he says, “when I am working on my own initia-
tive, for the sole advancement of my artistic
reputation, I ignore finance and think of glory
alone. It cannot, however, be too clearly under-
stood, that the professional author . . . is eternally
compromising between glory and something more
edible and warmer at nights....I am _ not
speaking of geniuses with a mania for posterity.”
It is obvious, indeed, that he is not. He is, or
pretends to be, one of that admirable and daily
increasing class which frankly, with no esthetic
pretensions to the contrary, provides sustenance
for the melodramatic appetite of the English
general reader. He admits that he was never
urged to write except by impulses not usually
esteemed artistic. But he sits down to write his
first novel under the ‘“ sweet influences (sic) of the
* “The Truth About an Author” : Constable, 1908.
23
Goncourts, Turgenev, Flaubert, and Maupassant.”
Such a galaxy of names would certainly arouse the
suspicions of the class to which he claims to
belong, yet, after all, it is said that our most
notorious female fictionist battens in secret on
Shakespeare, Milton, and the Bible. For ourselves,
we regard “The Truth about an Author” as an
admirable piece of invective, but those who con-
template literature, as the wise contemplate matri-
mony, simply as a profitable if unpleasant meétier,
will be able to find some valuable information in
the author’s remarks about journalism. At any
rate, the book is a relief after the silly and serious
guides that profess to teach the literary art, and
only succeed in exposing the dreariness of an
existence that the lack or decline of artistic
enthusiasm has reduced to a meticulous drudgery.
A very different kind of personality is exhibited
in an article called ‘“‘ Letters to a Young Writer,”
published in Cornhill for July, 1903. The author
of the article, at the outset of his literary career,
had the good fortune to meet a mature craftsman,
who lavished the wealth of his experience on
his pupil with a most breezy and unpedantic
generosity. The extracts from his letters are all
too few—some day, we hope, the recipient, in the
interests of youth and literature, may be induced
to give us a larger tale—but they are all admirable,
enthusiastic, great-hearted, and full of a golden
common-sense, a charming and spontaneous humour,
that might well have been dated from Vailima.
He was always ready to read and criticise the work
of his young friend, and his criticisms are invari-
ably delightful and of solid value. Here is one:
‘* But how about that ball? There is a long description
of a ball, and in the long description there is nothing new
except when she asks him to dance with her. But by God
you are not justified in describing the band.”
And another, after some advice about the
financial side of letters :
‘J do not care whether you are or are not angry with me
for putting this matter plainly. I do care that you
should not be discouraged by what I have said. You must
not lose your head either in success or disappointment.
Every art requires a long apprenticeship. If youallowthe
commercial attitude of your art to press too heavily upon
you, the art will be injured.”
And again :
“ Don’t lay yourself out to be smart.
any demi-god or set.
Don’t write to vex or to please any mere mortals.
just to make yourself cry and laugh and swear.”
One is tempted to continue re-quoting the
quotations of his disciple, despite the fear of the
Procrustean surgery of editors. ‘The words of this
critic, “‘as keen as he was gentle,” were, to follow
the disciple’s phrase, as humbling as they were
bracing. “What can be said of a man who
Don’t write against
Don’t write for any demi-god or set.
Write
24
believed in one before one was a man_ oneself,
before anybody else dreamt of doing so? Nothing ;
for he is dead and gone and cannot hear, nor ever
know. But I like to think of him on those
enchanted seas of his, overhauled by an argosy
laden with his own letters, dashed off and forgotten
when he was here; for he will be the first to appre-
ciate them, spontaneously and impersonally as
of old, and I can almost hear him laugh.” That
is how the disciple’s tribute to his master’s
memory ends, and the words are no mean proof
that all the cheering counsel he received of old was
effective in developing a writer of English, and of
winning a fast and unforgetful friend. Someone,
—is it Nietzche ? has said that it is impossible. to
think of a fine personality without experiencing a
sense of liberation, a certainty that humanity can
never become wholly and rigidly sordid. One
feels, as one reads the extracts from the haphazard
letters of this nameless writer, that he was one of
those who possessed that total lack of bitterness
which is the true wisdom, that frank, unpatronising
kindliness which alone can, in the real sense of the
word, educate ; and that even though the literary
fruit of his life’s work be unenduring, yet his
memorial has not perished with him.
Sr. Joun Lucas.
oo —__-
CONCAVE AND CONYEX.
eas
T fell to my lot a few days ago to read a novel
for a publisher. As is his practice when
submitting books to my opinion the publisher
had carefully removed from the copy the name and
address of the author and anything which might
furnish me with a clue to his identity, thus leaving
it to me to pass judgment solely upon the merit of
the work and reserving to himself the power to
take into consideration such other points as
“name” and “public” and the rest. The book
was light comedy ; it had no startling originality
of plot, but such as it possessed was ingeniously
planned and dexterously handled. I gave my
employer an outline of. the story, a general criticism
of its style and treatment, my advice—in this case
to accept the book—and my estimate of the com-
mercial possibilities of the work ; and I concluded
my letter by suggesting that it would be kind to
advise the author to secure his dramatic rights in
the story, and offering to furnish any information
desired about the formalities to be observed in
that connection.
I have assisted at these formalities on more than
one occasion ; they are extravagantly farcical, and
need not be detailed here ; but however farcical
the author has, upon their completion, secured his
play right in the manner prescribed by law, and
THE AUTHOR.
there is an end of the matter, and in all probability
the play is never heard of again.
It is a common-place that a good novel does not
make a good play, and the reason is obvious ; there
is as great a difference between the literary and
the dramatic presentation of an idea as there is
between the concave and the convex surfaces of an
egg shell ; a novel is one thing, a play something
else ; both are composed of the same material but
they are intended to be regarded from opposite
points of view. That there are authors who write
and communicate to the public both plays and
novels, I am, of course, aware, and J am disposed
to think that the writer whose anonymous manu-
script has suggested these reflections to me, is one
of the most prominent among them. Still, the
ability to treat a subject twice, from the inside
point of view which is the novelist’s business, and
from the outside point of view as the audience see
it which is the dramatist’s business, is not common.
Such authors will, however, support my contention
that the play and the book are two substantive pieces
of work, bearing no closer relationship than that they
deal in their respective fashions with the same
theme, and owing no obligation the one to the other.
My anonymous acquaintance has written an
amusing story, the material of which might be
used to make a successful trifling comedy, and I,
being a conscientious man, have suggested that he
shall take advantage of the ridiculous methods per-
mitted by our legislature and secure his dramatic
rights. Yet all the time I have a conviction that
his chances of success as a dramatist are in inverse
proportion to his chances of success as a novelist,
and that if the law of probabilities holds good I
am recommending him to commit a sort of suicide.
The lessee of one hall in London told me that the
number of plays produced for copyright purposes
on his stage was more than three hundred a year,
and that he could not recall the name of one which
had been reproduced elsewhere ; at any rate my
friend will join a numerous company.
But I shall be told that there is always the
possibility of huge profits, and that the author
will be foolish if he does not protect his dramatic
rights by the prescribed method, inasmuch as he
will then be doubly safe when some intelligent
person sees the dramatic potentialities of the novel ;
he will be the owner of the play in which he has
statutory play right, and also able to invoke the
more doubtful assistance of an injunction against
infringement of copyright on the precedent of the
decision in the case of Warne v. Seebohm.
Quite so; but it seems to me that the whole
thing rests upon an unsound foundation. Rights
in property presuppose the existence of property ;
in the case in point the existence of any is doubtful.
The plays knocked up for purposes of technical
THE AUTHOR.
representation have not, and are not even intended
to have, any commercial value ; they are blown
together with the object of meeting certain legal
requirements, and so of anticipating any attempt
by a bond fide dramatist to use for his advantage
any of the produce of the novelist’s brains. If
this safe-guarding of property, created in a manner
not specifically defined, but at all events created
incidentally and not by first intention, is the object
of the law, then I think it might be achieved in
some less contemptible and clumsy fashion; the
English law might be altered to conform with
that obtaining in the United States, by which
p: tential dramatic rights are protected by the pub-
lication of the novel; our present system isunworthy,
and if devised only in the interests of the novelist,
it is also needlessly expensive and troublesome.
If, moreover, the subject were to be dealt with
logically and consistently, all novelists should be
warned to protect their interests and produce
dramatic versions of all their novels “ for copyright
purposes” ; doubtless some enterprising person
would then appear and devote his attention
exclusively to this business: he need never be
out of work in these days. Until such an agency
is actually opened, things will probably remain in
their present absurd condition, and the validity of
the protection which novelists flatter themselves
they have secured by their technical performances
will not be too closely examined.
Is it, again, to the best interest that it should be
secured at all? I know it is a heresy, but speaking
as one who aspires to be a novelist and who has
not taken to writing for his health, I confess I can
see another side to the matter. An interesting
volume might be compiled, with some such title
as ‘The Foundations of Fiction,” tracing the
common origin of all novels. It would be a
difficult matter for any novelist to establish a
claim to be the originator of any idea, or even
situation ; and if a dramatist utilised the theme
of my excellent novel and manufactured therewith
his excellent play, I am prepared to hear his counsel
argue that as the producer of a substantive work of
art of commercial value his client is entitled to all
the fruits of his labour. More, if the play were a
great one I can conceive its being a public misfortune
that its communication to the world should be pre-
vented by the existence of my own dramatic version
of the theme concocted “tor copyright purposes,”
and produced in the perfunctory manner which
apparently satisfies the law.
That the dramatist would make handsome pro-
posals to me for a division of the profits accruing
from his play, and that I should deal handsomely
with him, of course goes without saying. Iam the
most sweetly reasonable member of a sweetly reason-
able fraternity, but the amiability and indifference
25
to sordid considerations which characterise British
novelists is not the subject of this somewhat
heretical note. It is written with the object
of advising novelists to consider seriously the
validity of the protection they fancy they secnre
by this formal dramatisation of their novels, and
of eliciting some expression of opinion as to whether
it is really in their own interests and—what is
perhaps of more importance—in the interests of
the community at large, that it should be done
at all.
V. BE. M.
0 —— © —
THE WOMEN WRITERS’ CLUB,
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
——~<—+——
“VT J\ARLY in the year 1902 a movement was set
S Hy on foot to start a society of women writers
and journalists in Melbourne. The informal
preliminary meetings were held at the rooms of
Miss C. H. Thomson, The Rialto, Collins Street.
The idea gradually took shape, and on May Ist
the new club came into existence. Admission to
membership is confined to women who are or who
have been actively engaged in literary work of
any description. The Society began with every
encouragement from editors, brother journalists,
black and white artists, and the reading public.
Mr. Donald Macdonald, the well-known South
African war correspondent, came forward with an
offer of a lecture on “ War and Peace.” Thanks
to the lecturer and to the assistance given by Miss
M. G. Bruce as honorary secretary, this brought
in a comfortable sum with which to furnish the
club rooms. The membership for the first year
was 45. The Society has its abode in Flinders
Buildings, Flinders Street. Meetings, social and
literary, have been held during the year, the most
noteworthy being when, last June, the club had the
honour of entertaining and admitting as its first
visiting member Miss Catherine H. Spence, of
South Australia, who was a veteran literary woman
long before her name became associated with pro-
portional representation. Besides serving as a
bond of social union the club hopes to be able to
extend a friendly hand to visiting writers, whether
from the neighbouring states or from other lands.
There is a plentiful supply of magazines and the
nucleus of a small library of such works of reference
as will be found useful to professional writers.
The first committee elected included Mrs. Cross
(Ada Cambridge), Mrs. Donald Macdonald, Mrs.
I. Aronson, Mrs. Baverstock, Miss Ethel Castilla,
Miss F. F. Elmes, Mrs. Sadleir Forster, Miss
Henrietta McGowan, Miss C. H. Thomson, Mrs.
Evelyn Gough (hon. treasurer), and Miss Alice
Henry (hon. secretary).
26
A CAPE LETTER.
—+——+ —
EGISLATION for the protection of works of
art has at last been introduced into the
Parliament of this Colony. At the present
time, no artistic copyright whatever is in existence
here, though literary and musical works have been
protected by two Acts, dated respectively 1873 and
1888. For some years past, the Copyright Section
of the Cape Town Photographic Society —number-
ing among its members several prominent painters
—has been endeavouring to secure the termina-
tion of this discouraging state of affairs; and,
after the war had temporarily paralysed all such
legislation, an effort was made to obtain the
introduction of a bill during last Session. Parlia-
ment, however, was at that time too busy wrangling
over racial questions, and the Bill has had to
stand over until the evening of the present
Session. 1t has now passed its second reading
in the Lower House, and its promoters have
every hope that it will complete its course before
Parliament rises.
The Bill, as printed, defines a work of art as
“ painting or drawing and the design thereof, or
a photograph and the negative thereof, or an
engraving,” and secures the copyright of such
works for fifty years from date of publication
or of registration, whichever of these events may
first occur. Registration is made essential to
obtaining copyright, but works which have been
registered in the United Kingdom are, without
further legislation, protected for the period speci-
fied in the Imperial Act concerned. The latter
provision, which is of course of great importance
to English proprietors, may, at the Governor’s
discretion, be extended to the other British
Colonies, and to foreign countries similarly favoured
in the Kingdom. Some minor clauses of the Bill
deal with fraudulent signature or disposal, and
with alteration, of artistic products ; and another
prohibits the exhibition of any portrait executed on
commission, if its subject, or the artist’s client,
shall object thereto.
Mr. G. Crosland Robinson, who is one of the
gentlemen connected with the above matter, has
been elected President of the South African Society
of Artists, in succession to Mr. J. 8. Morland, who
has left the Colony.
The first annual session of the South African
Association for the Advancement of Science was
held this year, in Cape Town. Many instructive
papers were read, and several interesting excur-
sions organised during the proceedings, a full
report of which is now in the Press. The Colonial
Government has made a grant of money to cover
the costs of this publication.
THE AUTHOR.
“Cape Colony for the Settler,” by A. R. E,
Burton, F.R.G.S., issued by the Government,
through Messrs. P, 8. King & Co., London, and
J. CG. Juta & Co., Cape Town, is a handbook of
the physical and industrial conditions of the
Colony, each electoral division of which is
separately treated. This volume, which contains
a number of plates, including eight maps, is
intended for the special purpose indicated in its
title, and does not supersede the late John Noble’s
“ Official Handbook” of the Colony, although,
within its scope, more completely up-to-date.
“Basutoland: Its Legends and Customs”
(London: Nichois & Co.), is the title of a little
volume by Mrs. Minnie Martin, the wife of a
Government Official in the territory named. The
book contains much interesting information con-
cerning the history and mode of life of the Basuto
people, together with a brief description of the
physical features of their beautiful country, whilst
the final chapters consist of native folk-tales
brimful of quaint superstition.
“The Union-Castle Atlas of South Africa”
(London, The Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co.,
Ltd. ; Cape Town, J. C. Juta & Co.), is a large
octavo containing twenty-one double-page map-
plates, excellently printed in colours ; in addition
to which there are forty-two pages of letterpress
relating to the geography, climate, resources and
history of the country.
English publishers have recently issued two
novels by South African writers on South African
subjects. These are “A Burgher Quixote,” by
Mr. Douglas Blackburn, and “ The Story of Eden,”
by Mr. Dolf Wyllarde.
Little that is worthy of note has been produced
by local publishers since the date of my last letter.
To meet a need caused by the all-affecting war,
Messrs. Juta have published a small treatise by
Mr. W. A. Burn, entitled “Claims against the
Military. The Law as to Requisitioning, and the
Hague Convention on Laws and Customs of
War.” In this, the terms of the Hague Conven-
tion are printed both in the original French, and
in English.
One of the local productions connected with Mr.
Chamberlain’s visit to South Africa was the first
part of “The Commission and ‘Travels of H.M.S.
Good Hope,” a brochure written by R. Moore, a
member of the warship’s crew. The author’s action,
however, proved to be out of harmony with the Navy
Regulations, and his literary career was suspended
by a sentence of imprisonment. An illustrated
guide-book of the Cape Peninsula and environs,
entitled “Cape Pleasure Resorts,” a few educa-
tional works, and a few volumes of Law Reports
and Parliamentary Debates, complete the list of
book publications. New magazines continue to
THER AUTHOR.
appear in comparatively large numbers. Among
these are the following monthlies:—The South
African Medical Record, Catholic South Africa,
Civil Service Review, the Twentieth Century,—A
Magazine of Commerce, and De Goede Hoop—a non-
political illustrated paper, in the Dutch language.
From Durban, we hear of a new weekly paperentitled
Indian Opinion, published in the English, Gujarati,
‘Tamil and Hindi languages, in the interests of the
British Indians of Natal.
The MS. of a “ Life”? of Sir Richard Southey has
just been completed by the Hon. Alexander Wilmot,
author of a number of historical and general works
on South African subjects. The late Sir Richard
Southey was for many years a prominent Colonial
statesman and volunteer officer, seeing much
service in the Kaffir Wars, and holding various
diplomatic posts. His later appointments included
those of Colonial Secretary, and of Governor of
Griqualand West. The book will be published by
Mr. T. M. Miller, of Cape Town.
A prize of 10/., offered by the Guild of Loyal
Women of South Africa, for a South Africa Patriotic
Poem, has been awarded to Miss Ethel M. Hewitt,
who dates from London. The competitors num-
bered about seventy, and the judging was under-
taken by Lady Gill, wife of the Astronomer Royal,
and Mr. Rudyard Kipling, who was at the time on
one of his visits to the Cape.
After prolonged negotiations between the parties
concerned, the case of Sass v. Wheeler has been
settled out of Court, the defendants agreeing to pay
over the sum of £75. This case was recorded in
The Author many months ago. Messrs. Wheeler
represented Mr. McKee Rankin and Miss Nance
O'Neill, whose right to perform “Magda” in
South Africa was challenged by Mr. Sass.
The death has occurred of Mrs. Sarah Heckford,
author of “A Lady Trader in the Transvaal”
(London, 1882), and well-known in the late
Republic by her energy as an educational reformer,
as well as by her literary work. Another lady
associated with literature has lately passed away
in the person of Mrs. Alexander Scott, one of the
historic “settlers of 1820,” and a sister of Thomas
Pringle, the South African poet, for whose verse
she is said to have maintained a great affection to
the end of a long life.
SypNEY YORKE Forp.
Cape Town,
August 19, 1903.
27
DR. JOHNSON AND BOOKSELLERS’
PROFITS.
—————+ —
HE following extract from a letter of Dr.
Johnson to the Rev. Dr. Wetherell, dated
March 12th, 1776, may be of interest to
readers. It runs as follows :
“Tt is, perhaps, not considered through how
many hands a book often passes, before it comes
into those of the reader; or what part of profit
each hand must retain, as a motive for transmitting
it to the next.
“We will call our primary agent in London,
Mr. Cadell, who receives our books from us, gives
them room in his warehouse, and issues them on
demand; by him they are sold to Mr. Dilly, a
wholesale bookseller, who sends them into the
country; and the last seller is the country seller.
Here are three profits to be paid between the
printer and the reader, or in the style of commerce,
between the manufacturer and the consumer; and
if any of these profits is too penuriously distributed,
the process of commerce is interrupted.
“We are now come to the practical question,
what is to be done? You will tell me, with
reason, that I have said nothing, till I declare how
much, according to my opinion, of the ultimate
price ought to be distributed through the whole
succession of sale.
“The deduction, I am afraid, will appear very
great : but let it be considered before it is refused.
We must allow, for profit, between thirty and
thirty-five per cent., between six and seven shillings
in the pound; that is, for every book which costs
the last buyer twenty shillings, we must charge
Mr. Cadell with something less than fourteen.
We must set the copies at fourteen shillings each,
and superadd what is called the quarterly book, or
for every hundred books so charged we must
deliver an hundred and four.
‘“‘ The profits will then stand thus :
“Mr. Cadell, who runs no hazard, and gives no
credit, will be paid for warehouse room and attend-
ance by a shilling profit on each book, and his
chance of the quarterly book.
“Mr. Dilly, who buys the book for fifteen
shillings, and who will expect the quarterly book
if he takes five and twenty, will send it to his
country customer at sixteen and sixpence, by
which, at the hazard of loss, and the certainty of
long credit, he gains the regular profit of ten per
cent., which is expected in the wholesale trade.
“The country bookseller, buying at sixteen and
sixpence, and commonly trusting a considerable
time, gains but three and sixpence, and if he trusts
a year, not much more than two and sixpence ;
otherwise than as he may, perhaps, take as long
credit as he gives.
28 THE AUTHOR.
“With less profit than this, and more you see
he cannot have, the country bookseller cannot
live; for his receipts are small, and his debts
sometimes bad. oO
“Thus, dear sir, I have been incited by Dr.
’s letter to give you a detail of the circulation
of books, which, perhaps, every man has not had
opportunity of knowing ; and which those who
know it, do not, perhaps, always distinctly con-
sider,
“Tam, &e.,
Sam. JOHNSON.”
SS
CORRESPONDENCE.
——
To the Editor of THE AUTHOR.
Srr,—An article appeared in the Daily Mail
for September 15th, signed “ Stanhope Sprigg,”
giving some particulars touching _ publishers’
readers.
As a publisher’s reader myself, I should like to
point out that the statements contained are
incorrect. I say nothing of the objectionable task
that a publisher’s reader may have of sitting in
judgment on fellow craftsmen, but I should like to
point out that the remuneration is not, as stated,
£1 1s. per MS. The writer in the Daily Mail
seems to consider that £1 1s.a MS. is low. Ihave
much pleasure in informing him, from bitter experi-
ence, that many of the publishers do not pay more
than 10s. 6d. a MS., and some as low a 6s. 8d.
or three for £1.
Thinking this information may be of interest to
some of your readers,
I beg to remain, yours faithfully,
isle
+
BOOK PURCHASERS AND BOOKSELLERS.
(Reprinted from the Zimes of Sept. 18th.)
Sir,—The following actual experience may
perhaps help to explain the difficulty in obtaining
the books they want which is a constant experience
in the lives of a large number of readers through-
out the British Empire. A well-known London
firm of booksellers who supply books to the
Colonies seriously protested against our annoying
practice of adding a complete list of our Colonial
Library to our lists of new and forthcoming
volumes which we issue from time to time. The
serious objection to this practice—at least the
objection seriously urged—was that the firm in
question constantly received orders for the volumes
in our Colonial Library, and, “of course,” they did
not have them in stéck. If we could not vouch
for this as an actual fact, surely such an attitude
would be incredible. The ostensible business of
the firm in question is bookselling.
Yours faithfully,
ARCHIBALD ConstTaBLE & Co. (LIMITED).
2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W., September 16.
—
A LITERARY FRAUD.
Str,—The following paragraph appeared in a well-
known, influential weekly paper. Its authenticity
does not admit of a doubt, and the high position
of the periodical isan assurance that the information
is bond fide.
‘“T could give you the names of several men, and
women too, who are féted and flattered and made
lions of on the strength of books not a line of which
they have written, or could write if they would. I
myself have just completed a novel of 120,000
words, which will swell the reputation of a certain
popular lady writer.”’
Other instances, which I need not particularize,
of similar malpractices have fallen under my own
notice. Of course, the perpetrators of these frauds
are pledged to silence and secrecy. The person
who is writing for a livelihood naturally will not
divulge names ; the celebrity who is fattening on
the hack’s brains laughs in his sleeve at the
uncritical, gullible public, and enjoys ill-gotten
gains. It is altogether a disgraceful and debasing
business ; a detestable crime so difficult to prove
and punish.
Of course, the rage for names, stimulated by
papers devoted to personalities; the craving to
read something by an author who has perhaps
startled the public with daring revelations of gush
or indiscretion, may account for these spurious
imitations. May be, a series of judicious personal
paragraphs, unveracious interviews, or audacious
logrolling may have lifted a commonplace romancer
into dazzling eminence, so that an extraordinary
demand has sprang up for the gifted writer’s books,
and as time and opportunity have limits, the pro-
ductions must be continued by the hacks engaged
for the purpose. I have quoted the actual words
of one in this article, but there must be hundreds
of others ; unknown scribes, who, unable to launch
their own ventures, are at this moment encouraging
the greed of known authors and publishers.
Is it not possible for this fraud to be stopped or
checked ? If not, it will continue to flourish and
increase, till the time may come when all lucky
authors who have made hits may live in leisured
ease on immense incomes solely derived by this
specious fraud. Is it not of sufficient importance
to engage the attention of the Society of Authors ?
Is it not a disgrace to literature, a stigma on the
profession, and a trial to all honest, literary effort ?
IstporE G. ASCHER.
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The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 01 (October 1903)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 01 (October 1903)
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The Author
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The Author
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<em>The Author</em>
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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1903-11-02
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Che Hutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
FOUNDED BY SIR
Monthly.)
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIV.—No. 2
NOVEMBER 2ND, 1903.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.
TELEPHONE NUMBER :
374 VICTORIA.
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS :
AUTORIDAD, LONDON.
SN at a
NOTICES.
——— +9
OR the opinions expressed in papers that are
KF signed or initialled the authors alone are
responsible. None of the papers or para-
graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
—
List of Members.
Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors,
published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and
the elections from October, 1902 to July, 1903, as
a supplemental list, at the price of 2d. can now be
obtained at the offices of the Society.
They will be sold to members or associates of
the Society only.
Ss
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock ;
VoL. XIV.
the
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Cope Soe hs £1000 0 0
Tic@al Moats: 2.0... iii 500 0 0
Victorian Government 3 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11
War Doan. 201 9 3
Total 3... ou, 993 Se?
Subscriptions.
1903. £ sd.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6
» Deane, Rey. A. C. 010 0
Jan. 4, Anonymous 0 5 0
» Heath, Miss Helena 0 5 0
5 Russell, G. H. ts 1 50
Jan. 16, White, “Mrs. Caroline 0 5 0
» Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 90
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5.0
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 0p 0
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred. . 0. 10 0
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5 O
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . 0 5 0
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 O
» Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John 0 5 0
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1 0. 0
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6
Apl. 10, Bird, Cp. - 0.10 6
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery . 0 8 0
May Lees, R. J. : Sd 20
5 Wright, J. Fondi : 0 5 0
Donations.
Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. 0 10.6
» Middlemass, MissJean . ~ 0-100
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord . : as)
» Gribble, Francis 010 0
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6
30 THE AUTHOR.
£ 2. d.
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 110
» Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5 O
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French 0 5 0
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt i 010 O
Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. , : 010 6
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 1170
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . 010 6
s, Ord, Hubert H. 010 O
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor 010 0
» Carlile, Rev. J.C. . 010 0
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. . 5 0 0
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs... 010 0
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 010 0
Mar. 16, Hallward,N.L. . 110
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . - 0-6 0
» Mathieson, Miss Annie . - 010 0
» Browne, T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-
wood”) ; : _ 1 tb 0
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry . -10 0 0
Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. 2 0 0
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore ; 0 5 0
May King, Paul H. . : - 010 0
es Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 0
» 21, Orred J. Randal : Jl 20
June 12, Colles, W. Morris . .10 0 0
» Bateman, Stringer . . 010 6
> Anon . i 0 5 0
» Mallett, Reddie 0 5 0
Oct. 27, Sturgis, Julian . 50 0 0
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rey. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
Se oe es
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—_-—~>—+—_
AT the first meeting of the Committee held after
the vacation, at 39, Old Queen Street, fifty-two
new members and associates were elected. This
election the Committee consider most satisfactory.
The total number of elections for the current year
amount now to 164. The full list of the month’s
elections is printed below.
A good many small matters that had been col-
lecting during the vacation came up for considera-
tion, but no very contentious business. The
settlement of the date for the unveiling of the
memorial to Sir Walter Besant was postponed
until after the return of Mr. Frampton, the
sculptor, from abroad. Due notice will be given
to all members when the details are fixed. It was
decided to invest a further sum of £90 of the Life
Membership Account in the purchase of War Loan.
This raises the Society’s investments to consider-
ably over £800. Should no unforeseen claim be
made on the Society’s resources owing either to
the loss of some action or expenditure on behalf
of some other matter in which the Committee feel
bound to uphold the principles of the Society, the
Reserve Fund ought before the end of next year to
amount to close upon £1,000,
The Committee decided to undertake the stamp-
ing of songs at the ordinary charge for such work
on behalf of those musical composers who are
members of the Society. This action will no
doubt be of considerable convenience to sony
writers. There were one or two small cases
before the Committee. It is, however, inexpedient
at the present time to declare the action of the
Committee.
—-——+
Cases.
SINCE the last month’s issue of the cases placed
in the hands of the Secretary sixteen further disputes
taken up on behalf of members have to be recorded.
Hight referred to the return of MSS.; of these five
have been successful; the MSS. having been sent to
the office and returned to the author. The editors
in all cases have shown themselves anxious to assist
the Society’s efforts. In one of the other three
cases diligent search has been made, but no
evidence that the MS. reached the office exists, so
although the editor has done what he could the
author has no legal claim. In one of the other two
a letter written by the Secretary has been returned
through the dead letter office, and it has been found
impossible to trace the person to whom the MSS.
were sent. he final case has only been taken up
during the last few days, and no answer has as yet
been received.
In two instances the copyright of members has
been infringed.
An author’s song was republished, together
with music, by Messrs. Chappell & Co., who received
the song with the music from the composer, and
published it in ignorance of the fact that there was
any copyright existing. As soon as their attention
was drawn to the matter, without demur they paid
the sum required by the author, and agreed to
publish his name on all future copies.
The second case dealt with the infringement of
i
THE AUTHOR. 31
the copyright in a dramatic piece by the publica-
tion of the same in story form, incident for incident,
with nearly all the minor details complete. The
story was issued by a well-known publishing house
as a penny novelette. It would be impolitic to
make any further comment on this case at present,
but we hope to insert a statement in 7’e Author at
a later date.
On four occasions the Secretary had to ask for
accounts which had not been rendered in accordance
with the clause inthe agreement. These have been
forwarded in due course and satisfactorily settled.
One matter was for money and accounts. This
has been completed by the rendering of the accounts
and the payment of the amount. Another claim of
money for articles published has now been amicably
arranged. Lastly, a case has arisen where an
author paid a sum for work to be finished by a
certain date. The work has not been done in
accordance with the contract, and the Secretary
has the matter in hand to see that the contract is
properly carried out. It is hoped that it will not
be necessary to take legal proceedings.
Of the cases mentioned in the last issue only
three are still unfinished. One refers to a demand
of a member against a paper in India. Owing to
the difficulties of correspondence, and the length
of time that must elapse between each letter, the
matter is still left open, but the Editor of the paper
in question has replied to the Secretary’s demand,
and no doubt a reasonable settlement will be come to.
Another case is against the firm of Messrs.
Romeike and Curtice, the well-known press cutting
agents.
A member of the Society, who lives abroad,
wrote to these agents asking that an album of
cuttings referring to a book he had lately pub-
lished should be forwarded to him, at the same
time enclosing their fee.
Not having received the album our member
communicated with the Secretary, who wrote to
the firm on his behalf on May 27th Jast, and on
the 8th of June received an answer as follows :—
“ DEAR S1Rx,—In reply to your letter of the 27th ult.,
re the albums of Mr.L.W. We have ascertained that they
were completed and in error sent to Zanzibar.
‘We. are extremely sorry for this, and have communi-
cated with Mr. W. We will at any expense procure
duplicate cuttings, mount them, and despatch next week.
“ Yours faithfully,
“ ROMEIKE and CURTICE.”
No explanation was given as to why the album
was sent to Zanzibar when the member resides in
Spain. Nor, in spite of this statement and of
several subsequent letters written to the firm, has
the album as yet been forwarded. As late as
October 21st the Secretary received a letter from
our member saying that it had not come to hand.
_ The third case is for money due for articles pub-
lished in a well-known weekly ladies’ paper. Here
owing to the fact that the member of the Society
lived abroad, there was some difficulty ; but the
Secretary obtained from the editor, ‘after some
little correspondence, a cheque on account and
a promise that the matter would be finally arranged
when the member returned to England and was
able to send in a formal account.
os
October Elections.
“ Airam ” : ; :
Armstrong, T. P. . - 126.
S. W.
Baden - Powell, Major- 32, Princes Gate, SW.
General R. 8S. S., O.B.
Barker, H. Granville
Barrett, Frank
Queen’s Gate,
Thwaite Rectory, Han-
worth, Norwich.
Beldam, George William. Boston Lodge, Brent-
ford.
Bell, R. S. Warren . 12, Burleigh Street,
Strand, W.C.
Bishop, John . “ Avington,” Hunger-
ford.
Blake, J. P. Bass ‘“‘Danesdale,” York
Road, Southend,
Essex,
Boulton, Miss Helen M. . Seend, Melksham,
Wilts.
Briscoe, John Potter - 38, Addison Street,
Nottingham.
Burrows, Prof. Montagu. 9, Norham Gardens,
; Oxford.
Carnegie, Mrs. Lindsay Kimblethmont, Ar-
(Chameleon) broath, N.B.
Clark, Arthur S. 109, Park Side, Wood-
ford Green.
109, Park Side, Wood-
ford Green.
Cock, Mrs. Alfred(#. Cock) 2, Tregunter Road,
The Boltons, S.W.
Keningale Ardat, Southall.
Clark, Mrs. Janet .
Cook, Mrs.
(Mabel Collins)
Curry, Commander E. Naval and Military
Hamilton Club, Piccadilly, W.
Dale, T. F. New Club, 4, Grafton
Street, W.
Daly, Charles . 31, Drayton Park, N.
“ Paul Danby ”
Dutton, T. D. Springhall, Sawbridge-
worth, Herts.
Escott, T. H.S. . . 33, Sackville Road,
Hove, Brighton.
Francis, Miss Rose (Ruby Burnham, Norton,
Lynn) King’s Lynn.
32
Godard, John George
Graves, Charles L. .
Harrison, Frederic .
Hartley, Miss Elizabeth .
Hawkins-Ambler, G. A. .
Hodgkin, Thomas .
Jennings, J. G.
oJ. MY . : :
Kendal, John (Dum Dum)
Laverack, The Rev. F. J.
Legge, W. Heneage
—tLuceas, FE. V. .
Mallett, Reddie
Mark, H. Thiselton
Parsons, E. B.
Pierpoint, A. E.
Romanes, Miss Ethel
“Prior Salford” . ;
Smith-Dampier, Miss N.
Stanton, Vincent Henry .
Stephens, Lucy H. G.
Symons, Arthur
Taylor, Harold
Turner, Samuel
Wharton, Leonard Cyril
(Ignoramus)
Wilson, Andrew
THE AUTHOR.
7, Radleigh Gardens,
Brixton Hill, S.W.
Athenzeum Club, S.W.
Elm Hill, Hawkhurst,
Kent.
16, Adair House, Oak-
ley Street, Chelsea,
S.W.
30, Rodney Street,
Liverpool.
Barmoor Castle, Beal,
Northumberland.
The Wardenry, War-
minster, Wilts.
2, Eliot Place, Black-
heath, S.E.
211, New King’s Road,
Parson’s Green, S.W,
Raymer, near Lewes,
Sussex.
Harlyn Bay, near Pad-
stow, N. Cornwall.
Owens College, Man-
chester.
41, Guildford Street,
Russell Square, W.C.
La Martiniere College,
Lucknow, India.
Pitcalyean, Wigg, Ross-
shire.
Twyford House, near
Winchester.
Trinity College, Cam-
bridge.
Trawsmawr Newydd,
Carmarthen.
134, Lauderdale Man-
sions, Maida Vale,
N.W.
Hampden House,
King’s Cross, N.W.
Haslemere, Orleans
Road, Upper Nor-
wood, 8.E.
Brunswick House,
Gayton Road, Har-
row.
110, Gilmore
Edinburgh.
Place,
_Two members alone do not desire publication
either of their name or address.
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
ER ee ee
I.—Dumas Translations.
Duar Sir,—We understand that your issue of
October 1st contains some criticisms of the fees
which are paid to the translators of our new edition
of the novels of Alexandre Dumas, and we hope
that you will in justice to us insert the following
statement.
An arrangement was made by us with the editor
of the series, by which he undertook for a certam
fee, suggested by himself, the translation of the set
of novels. He offered to find competent assistants,
and he proposed that we should leave the matter
in his hands. We had no reason to doubt his
competence or his fairness, and an arrangement
was made that he should deliver to us the trans-
lated books and pay his assistants out of the fees
which were received from us. Shortly after the
agreement was made we heard, much to our
surprise, that the editor was paying his colleagues
a sum very much lower than the sum which we
paid him. We at once wrote to him protesting
against the division of the fees, and pointing out
to him that the sum he was paying was far too
low. We insisted upon a higher remuneration,
and in order to make things easier for him and
fairer for his staff, we agreed to pay his contributors
a further sum after the sale of a certain number of
copies of each novel. We hold ourselves personally
responsible and we shall see that such payment is
made when the time comes. The correspondence
is at your disposal.
You will, we are sure, acquit us of any desire to
induce men or women to translate books at unfair
prices. We have always endeavoured to act fairly
to authors, and we are bound to say that we
are surprised that you should by suggestion call
our fairness into question without having made -
inquiries from us concerning the facts on which
you comment.
We are, dear sir,
Yours faithfully,
Mertuvuern & Co.
—+——+
II.—The Case of a Lost MS.
THIS case was heard, by consent, before T.
Willes Chitty, Esq., one of the Masters of the
Supreme Court, in August last.
The plaintiff was an author, the defendant Mr.
John Long, a publisher, and the action was brought
to recover damages for the detention of a manu-
script of a book written by the plaintiff, entitled
“The New Lorelei.”
THE AUTHOR.
It appears from the evidence given before the
Master that the plaintiff had written several books,
mostly on historical subjects, and also some short
stories for magazines.
On the 16th September, 1902, the author called
at the offices of Mr. John Long, taking with her
a typewritten manuscript of a novel which she had
written, consisting of 50,000 words, called ‘The
New Lorelei.” The original manuscript was de-
stroyed after the typewritten copy had been made.
The author offered the manuscript to a gentle-
man whom she believed to be Mr. John Long, who
stated that he would submit it to his reader, and
let her know the result.
On the following morning she received a letter
from the defendant acknowledging the receipt of
the manuscript, and at the foot of the letter were
the following words :—
* Note-—Every care will be taken of works
entrusted to Mr. Long, but he cannot be held
responsible for their loss in transit by fire or
otherwise. Authors should keep copies of their
works.”
Until the receipt of this letter the plaintiff said
she had never heard of the condition mentioned
in the note. Not having received any communi-
cation from Mr. Long, she wrote to him on the
5th December, 1902, asking what decision he had
come to with regard to the manuscript, and on the
6th December received a reply from Mr. Long
saying, “I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter, which shall be duly considered.”
Again on the 26th January, 1903, another letter
was written inquiring as to Mr. Long’s decision
about the manuscript, to which an answer was
received dated the 28th January, saying that the
letter was receiving Mr. Long’s attention.
On February 5th, 1903, Mr. Long wrote the
following letter to the plaintiff :
“THE NEW LORELEI.
“We find this MS. was returned to you on the 6th
November last ‘per London Parcel Delivery Company.
Will you kindly make enquiries your end?”
The manager of the London Parcels Delivery
Company was called at the hearing and stated that
no parcel was ever delivered to the company by
Mr. Long addressed to the plaintiff. Eventually
it was admitted on behalf of the defendant that no
one could be called to prove that the manuscript
had been delivered to the company. Mr. Long’s
reader gave evidence to the effect that the manu-
script had been sent to him by Mr. Long to read ;
and he had returned it to Mr. Long with his
comments upon it.
Mr. W. Oliver Hodges (instructed by Messrs.
Field, Roscoe & Co.) appeared for the plaintiff,
and Mr. Barton (instructed by Messrs. Rivington
& Son) appeared for the defendant.
33
On behalf of the defendant it was contended
that—
(1.) The defendant was a gratuitous and involun-
tary bailee and only liable for gross negligence,
(2.) The onus of proving negligence lay on the
plaintiff, and the mere loss of the manuscript by the
defendant was not evidence of negligence.
(3.) By the terms of the note to the author of
September 16th, 1902, the defendant was absolved
from all liability.
To these points it was replied on behalf of the
plaintiff that—
(1.) The defendant having received the manu-
script for the purpose of submitting it to his reader
with a view to seeing whether he would accept it
for publication took the case out of the category of
gratuitous bailees, because the bailment was for the
benefit of both parties.
(2.) The bailment being for the benefit of both
parties the onus lay on the defendant to show that
the loss occurred without negligence, which he had
failed to do.
(3.) The terms mentioned in the letter of 16th
September were not mentioned when the defendant
received the manuscript, and could not afterwards
be forced upon the plaintiff; and further, if! the
defendant wished to absolve himself from the
negligence of his servants he must do so in clear
and unambiguous terms, which the note did not do.
The Master gave judgment for the plaintiff for
£20 with costs, and observed that he would give
the defendant every facility should he desire to
appeal from the decision.
A writer ina weekly newspaper, Zhe Sphere, has
commented on this case, suggesting that the
decision, if legally sound, on which he throws
doubts, was morally unjust, and criticising the
action of our committee in taking up the matter.
We are confident that our members after reading
the preceding summarised report will consider that
the committee were fully justified in bringing the
case into Court.
A publisher is a man of business—or at any rate
a man engaged in business—and as such is (as it
happily proved) in some cases legally bound and in
all cases morally bound to deal with property
entrusted to him with ordinary business care.
When he has failed to do so he will not improve
his position in the eyes of the public by making an
attempt which he cannot sustain by evidence, to
shift his responsibility on to others.
What would the feelings of the anonymous writer
in Zhe Sphere be, if a watchmaker with whom he
had left his watch for repair after long delay failed
to produce it ? Would his higher morality prevent
him from making any claim in respect of the loss ?
34 THE AUTHOR.
III.—Copyright Infringement in Germany.
The following particulars may be of interest to
English authors :—Miss Henriette Jastrow, a
German lady living in London, wrote a leading
article, published in the Frankfurter Zeitung, under
the heading, “‘ Made in Germany : a word to German
manufacturers.” A little later she received from
the secretary of the Allgemeine Schriftstellerverein
(German Society of Authors) a letter, informing
her that her article had been reprinted in extenso
by the General-Anzeiger fiir LElberfeld und
Bremen, and that, unless she had given express
permission, such re-publication was an infringement
of the law, for which she could demand compensa-
tion. Having taken legal advice, Miss Jastrow
handed a statement of her case to the public prose-
cutor, requesting him to take action.
That official replied that her article, not “being
instructive, nor technical, nor entertaining,” did not
fall under the provisions of the law, of which,
therefore, its reproduction was not an infringement,
Miss Jastrow, on the advice of her solicitor,
appealed to the higher court, submitting that her
article was instructive, technical, and also enter-
taining, and the higher court instructed the public
prosecutor to take proceedings.
On the commencement of the proceedings the
editor of the offending paper wrote to Miss Jastrow,
informing her that he threw himself at her feet,
and offering to pay her for the article if the pro-
ceedings were dropped.
Judgment was given against the editor, who was
ordered to pay a fine to the State of 30 marks,
and a “ Busse,” or damages, to Miss Jastrow of
100 marks (£5).
The Schriftstellerverein has arranged with a
press cutting agency to receive notice of the re-
publication of articles written by members of the
Society, and the names of the republished articles
are printed in the Society’s organ, Die Feder.
Members who observe unauthorised reprints of
their own articles can obtain from the office of
Die Feder a copy of the offending paper, and can
then apply for payment. If this is not obtained
on application, the Society will initiate proceedings.
It is expected that members whose path has been
thus smoothed should pay 10 per cent. of the
money received to the Society, or 50 per cent. if
legal proceedings were taken by the Society.
Observations upon the usefulness of the Society
would be superfluous,
CLEMENTINA BLACK.
1
IV.—Denmark and the Berne Convention.
Tue King of Denmark has issued a decree
notifying the fact that Denmark became one of
the signatories to the Berne Convention of 1886,
to the additional Act of Paris, 1896, and the
Explanatory Declaration, as and from the Ist of
July last.
‘The law authorising this step was passed by the
Rigsdag some time ago, but only came into force
on the date above mentioned.
Ho
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
——< 1+.
ROFESSOR CHURCH, F.R.S., has just com-
P pleted for the Board of Education the
revision of his South Kensington Hand-
books on ‘“ English Earthenware” and “ English
Porcelain.” ‘hey have been out of print for a
year. The professor has recently published, through
Seeley & Co., a new edition of the “ Portfolio
Monograph on Josiah Wedgwood,” which first
appeared in 1894. The same publishers have also
lately issued a third edition of this author’s
“Chemistry of Paints and Paintings.” A supple-
ment to his “‘ Food Grains of India” has also been
published.
A volume entitled “ Records and Recollections ”
has been printed privately to the extent of forty
copies only for relatives of Professor Church. It
is an autobiography illustrated by photographs of
miniatures of works of art, etc., but it includes a
bibliography and a list of memoirs and papers.
Copies have been presented to the Bodleian Library,
the British Museum, and the Heralds’ College.
Sir Norman Lockyer’s address “ On the Influence
of Brain-power on History,” which was delivered
before the British Association for the Advancement
of Science at Southport, on September 9th, 1903,
is to be published in volume form by Messrs.
Macmillan & Co.
Professor Bertram Windle, M.D., F.R.S., Dean
of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bir-
mingham, has just finished a book on the “ Pre-
historic Age in England.” It will appear shortly
after Christmas by Messrs. Methuen. One of the
principal features of this book is that it contains
lists of the major objects, such as earthworks,
arranged according to counties, and lists of the
principal museums in which the minor objects can
be seen. At the present time Professor Windle
is engaged with Mr. F. G. Parsons on a work on
the “ Myology of the Mammalia,” which he hopes
to get out some time next year.
A new volume in the Cambridge Historical
Series is “ The Expansion of Russia” from 1815
to 1900, by Francis Henry Skrine, I.C.S. (retired),
author of “The Life of Sir W. W. Hunter,” etc.
THE AUTHOR.
“The Expansion of Russia” has a copious biblio-
graphy and index, and three coloured maps. Its
price is 6s. nett. oe
When Mrs. Craigie delivered her presidential
address to the members of the Ruskin Society of
Birmingham at the Priory Rooms, she took as her
subject “ The Science of Life: Saint Ignatius and
Tolstoi.” After confessing that the science of
life was the most difficult subject in the world,
Mrs. Craigie said, among other interesting things,
that the philosophy of Saint Ignatius, reduced to
its simplest form, was that man was made to serve
God and save his own soul. Tolstoi, who had had
exceptional opportunities for becoming disgusted
with the pleasures of life and the rewards of fame,
entreated men not to argue, not to analyse, but to
dig in the fields. .
Tolstoi found nothing but imperfections in their
social organisations and immorality in their con-
ceptions of life. Money was bad—was too evil
even to be given away ; it must be destroyed, and
work paid for with work. Those were paralysing
ideas. Mrs. Craigie considered that much of the
present discontent came from the artificial and
unwarrantable importance of position. She saw
nothing in enormous schemes of wholesale reform,
but everything in attention to the individual.
“ Miss Marie Corelli is at work on a new novel
which is more than half finished, though it will
not be published till next spring or summer. The
authoress has sacrificed a considerable amount of
time and money, besides giving a great deal of
‘personal hard work, to the business of saving the
, old buildings in Henley Street, Stratford-on-Avon,
on the side of Shakespeare’s birthplace, from
complete demolition,/and considers she has won
a victory over the vandals by the statement. of
facts in her pamphlet, “The Plain Truth of
the Stratford-on-Avon Controversy” (Methuen.
Price 1s.)
She has saved some genuine Shakespearean
property duly authenticated by old leases and
title-deeds, which would have been razed to the
ground in April last but for her protest. The
fight, however, which is not yet ended, has taken
much of her time away from her usual work,
though she has caught up with this considerably
during her two months’ sojourn at Braemar. Here,
_ ina quiet little cottage on “Chapel Brae,” which
commands a magnificent view of the mountains
and moors, she has been writing steadily, giving
all her mornings to work and her afternoons to
open-air exercise, and has so far proceeded with
her new romance that she has commenced a second
book, thus having two on hand at the same time.
This double production, it will be remembered,
she succeeded in when “ The Master Christian” and
“Boy ” were published almost simultaneously.
35
Mr. George Gissing, who is in the South of
France just now, has in hand a piece of historical |
fiction which has cost, and is costing, him much |
more labour than anything he has ever done. fit
all goes well, it may be finished by the end of this
year.
4 Mr. William Le Queux has gone to the villa he
has recently bought in the vineyards on the hill-side
at Lastra, overlooking Florence, and is there hard
at work on a new Italian romance of the cinque-
cento, which piece of fiction he has been contem-
plating for two years../He has lived in Italy many
years, and has devoted all his spare time to research
for the historical romance he is now completing.
Next year Mr. Le Queux will figure largely in
the newspapers and magazines. “The Closed
Book” is the title of his new novel in Chambers’s
Journal. A story called “ Who Giveth this Woman”
is announced by Tillotson’s Syndicate. “Both of
This Parish” will ran through the pages of the
Morning Leader, while he has still commissions to
complete during the forthcoming year for Cassell’s
Magazine, The British Weekly, and Tit-Bits.
Mr. Le Queux isa steady and industrious worker,
who writes every word with his pen, hates the sound
of a typewriter, and finds recreation in the study of
medizval parchments, in the deciphering of which
he is a recognised expert. His book, “ The Ticken-
cote Treasure,” which deals with ancient documents,
is one of the best selling books of last month.
Mr. Stephen Gwynne’s new novel, “John Max-
well’s Marriage,” which has been running through
Macmillan’s Magazine, is to be published imme-
diately by that firm. It treats of Irish life during
the period 1760—80, the scene of action being
Donegal.
Mr. Stephen Gwynne has also written for Messrs.
Macmillan a summary sketch called “ Landmarks
of English Literature,” which is in type. A volume
of fishing sketches, mainly written this summer,
Mr. Gwynne hopes to publish next spring. He has
also arranged to do “ Moore” in the English Men
of Letters Series.
Miss Sarah Doudney is busy with a novel which
she expects to bring out in the spring. The title
is “ One of the Few.” It deals with the inner life
of a single literary woman, divided between her
devotion to her profession and her tenderness for
an old lover.
Miss Doudney, who left Oxford last March, and
is now living in a pleasant sunshiny house on Old
London Road leading to Portsmouth, wishes it to
be understood that she writes alone, and has never
been associated with a co-worker.
Miss Clara Linklater Thomson, whose “ Samuel
Richardson” was published by Horace.Marshalt in
36
1900, and who also contributed a little ‘‘ Life of
George Eliot ” to the Westminster Biographies in
1901, has been devoting herself to the composition
of school books. She has just published Parts I.
and II. of “ A First Book in English Literature,”
and is now engaged on Part V. of a “ First History
of England,” of which four parts have appeared
and are having a good sale. Miss Thomson is now
acting as educational editor to Messrs, Horace
Marshall. : 2
Mrs. M. H. Spielmann’s “ Littledown Castle,” a
volume of tales for young people, finely illustrated
by jeading artists, is just out. 5
Miss Lily Dougall’s new story is to appear first
in serial form in Zemple Bar, beginning next
January, and is entitled ‘The Harthly Purgatory.”
Miss Dougall has left Montreal, and is now living
in South Devon.
Mr. Allan Fea’s new book, “ After Worcester
Fight,” a companion volume to his “The Flight
of the King,” is to be published very soon by Mr.
John Lane. It will contain five contemporary
accounts of Charles II.’s romantic adventures in
1651, a lengthy introduction dealing with the early
editions of Thomas Blount’s “ Boscobel,”’ with relics
associated with the king’s escape, traditions,
petitions, etc., and an appendix, including an
enlarged and revised Carlos pedigree, and Colonel
Carlos’s will, etc.
There are upwards of fifty illustrations in “ After
Worcester Fight,” including many portraits of
Charles and his loyal supporters, and facsimile
reproductions of the quaint illustrations in some
rare editions of Blount’s work, with the author’s
permission.
Messrs. Edwin Davies & Co., publishers, Brecon,
and Messrs. Quaritch, of London, have in the
press a “‘ Life of Richard Fenton, K.C., F.A.S.,”
the historian, by his grandson, Ferrar Fenton,
F.R.AS., M.C.A.A., to precede a new edition
of the “ Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire,’’
with important additions both literary and artistic.
A new children’s book by Mrs. Ernest Ames is
just out (Grant Richards). It is called “Tim and
the Dusty Man.” It is illustrated in colours, there
being one large picture to each page. “The
Tremendous Twins,” by this authoress, has gone
well.
Raymond Jacbern’s new books for children this
season are ‘Three Rascals,’ published by
Messrs. Macmillan, and ‘‘ The Scaramouche Club,”
published by Grant Richards.
Miss Christabel Coleridge did not undertake any
original work while she was engaged on the life of
Miss C, M. Yonge. She is now, however, writing a
novel, which she. hopes may be completed early
next year, and she continues to edit Friendly Leaves,
the organ of the Girls’ Friendly Society.
Miss
THE AUTHOR.
Coleridge also hopes to undertake some literary
studies in the Arthurian romances and legends,
‘A Lady of Misrule” is the title of the Rev.
Henry Cresswell’s new novel. Messrs, Chatto and
Windus are the publishers.
John Bickerdyke has resigned his editorial
appointment on The Field, with the object of
returning to his first love, Fiction. His last and
fifth novel, “The Passing of Prince Rozan,” had
the misfortune to be published three weeks before
war was declared, with the result that it had a
greater success in the States than in its native
country. Many authors suffered from the same
cause.
Austin Clare’s new book, “Court Cards” (F.
Fisher Unwin) is a romance concerning the
“Little Game played between England and
Scotland at the close of Centuary 16.”
Lovers of the occult and mystical will be
interested to hear of a new magazine, devoted to
these subjects, entitled Out of the Silence—now
in its second year—edited by Miss F. Voisin, B.A.
The October number contained the first instalment
of “The Descent,” a poem by an experienced
writer, for many years a member of the Author’s
Society.
Mr. Arrowsmith, of Bristol, is to publish imme-
diately “A Patience Pocketbook Plainly Printed,”
put together by Mrs. Theodore Bent. It is very
small and compact, and is for the use of travellers.
Mr. Arthur H. Holmes, author of “ Gumford,’”
etc., has published through Mr. T. Burleigh, at
‘2s. 6d., a volume of stories under the title of
‘“ Light and Shade.”
We have received a copy of a little publication
which may be useful to some of our members. It
is The Book Monthly, an illustrated record, guide,
and magazine for booksellers, librarians and pub-
lishers, book-buyers, readers and writers. It is.
published: by Messrs. Simpkin Marshall, Hamilton,
Kent & Co., Limited, at 6d. nett. Its list of “ New
Books Nearly Ready,” and the classified catalogue
of the noteworthy books, new editions, and reprints.
of the month, meet a want, and that in a clear and
concise form.
Mr. Kipling’s “ The Five Nations” ranks high
jamong the books recently published by members.
|of our Society.
Besides the popular edition, there
is one on hand-made paper, limited to two hundred
copies. There is also an edition of thirty copies.
on Japanese vellum at five guineas nett.
Mr. John Davidson’s new book (Grant Richards)
entitled “The Rosary” is a miscellany of criticism,
fable and parable, and other utterances in verse
and prose. The Coronation Ode written for the
Daily Chronicle is in it, also “ An Helogue of the
Downs,” which appeared in the Anglo-Saxon.
Review,
THE AUTHOR.
“; We need only mention Mr. H. G. Wells’s
“Mankind in the Making” (Chapman and Hall),
which is attracting so much attention. It is
being largely bought and widely read. We are
sorry we cannot squeeze in even one extract from
it. Chapter X., “ Thought in the Modern State,”
has a particular interest for members of the Society
of Authors.
We note, among other books recently published
by members, Miss Beatrice Harraden’s “‘ Katharine
Frensham,” Mr. Stanley Weyman’s “The Long
Night,” Mr. Fred Whishaw’s “A Splendid
Impostor,” Mr. F. G. Aflalo’s “Fishes of Our
Seas,” Mr. Neil Munro’s “ Children of Tempest,”
the Hon. Maurice Baring’s ‘The Black Prince”
(a volume of plays in blank verse), Mr. Robert
Machray’s “ The Mystery of Lincoln’s Inn,” which
has been running in 7ii-Bits: Miss Iza Duffus
Hardy’s “ A Butterfly,” Major Arthur Griffiths’
“The Silver Spoon,” Mrs. Hugh Fraser’s “The
Stolen Emperor,” E. Phillips Oppenheim’s “The
Yellow Crayon,” and Mr. Sidney Pickering’s “The
Key of Paradise.”
Mr. Max Pemberton is writing a modern society
story for the Queen, rather a novel departure for
him. His play, “The Finishing School,” will, Mr.
Pemberton hopes, be produced by Mr. Frank
Curzon before the New Year.
A dramatic version of Mrs. Croker’s novel,
“Terence,” is being played in the United States
with great success by Chauncey Olcott, the well-
known “star.” The actor and critics are unanimous
in declaring the part of Terence to be the best and
most telling character Mr. Olcott has ever repre-
sented. The play is drawing enormous audiences,
and will be one of the chief attractions in New
York during the winter season. It will probably
be seen in London at a later date.
Mrs. Croker’s Indian novel, “Her Own People,”
which she completed last year, is to be published
immediately by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett.
“Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philo-
sophy,” by Bernard Shaw (Constable), is another
volume by a prominent member of our Society
which is attracting much attention. “Some like
best the “ Epistle Dedicatory to Arthur Bingham
Walkley.” Some prefer the Comedy ; others have
much enjoyed the “ Revolutionists’ Handbook and
Pocket Companion by John Tanner, M.LR.C.
(Member of the Idle Rich Class).”
“* At Home’ Recitations” has been published
by Miss Ellen Collett, author of “ Play Time
Poems,” “ Flower Fancy,” and other lyrics.
The same author is producing a song cycle, which
‘will be sung by a well known vocalist early in 1904.
Miss Mary Carmichael is the composer.
Miss Jean Middlemass is publishing a novel
with Messrs. Digby, Long & Co., entitled “ Till
oT
Death us do Part,” which will be on the market
in the course of November.
A book by “ Officer,” entitled “Smith of the
Shamrock Guards,” has been published by Messrs.
Greening & Co., at the price of 2s. 6d. The book
is a drama, in a prologue and five acts, and is dedi-
cated by “ Officer” “to all those officers who, like
myself, abhor the disgraceful system of ‘ ragging,’”
Mr. J. C. Dick has published with Mr. Henry
Frowde an interesting book on the songs of Robert
Burns, with the melodies for which they were
written. Those who are lovers of old tunes will
have much to learn from the contents of the work.
/_On Thursday evening, October 8th, Mr. A. W. |
Pinero’s remarkable new drama, in four acts and
an epilogue, entitled “ Letty,” was produced by Mr,
Charles Frohman at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
Tt made a sensation. Miss Irene Vanbrugh ag
Letty Shell scored another great success; so also
did Mr. H. B. Irving in the part of Nevill Letch-
mere. /‘The whole cast is an admirable one.
——_-+—~>—-
PARIS NOTES.
—+—~@—+
NE of the strongest and most interesting of
() this season’s novels is undoubtedly “ Le
Maitre de la Mer,” by M. de Vogiié. The
portrait of the millionaire, Archibald Robinson,
who appears to be governing the whole commercial
world, is admirably drawn. The description of his
office in Paris reveals to us at once the man.
Everything in perfect order, and not a superfluous
piece of furniture or ornament. The most con-
spicuous object in the room is an enormous terres-
trial globe. The only pictures are three portraits
of Gordon, Livingstone, and Cecil Rhodes.
It is only in very rare cases that a French
author succeeds in depicting a typical Englishman
or American. M. de Vogiié has accomplished this
exceptional feat, for his American is a genuine one.
Mme. Fianona, too, a young widow who plays
an important réle in the story, is essentially English.
There are other characters in the book which have
evidently been drawn from life. There is a French
explorer, who, for political reasons, has to return
to his native country just as he has accomplished
the task which ought to have brought him the
highest honours.
Then, too, thereisan Englishman, whoat first seems
very familiar to us. “ Directeur d’un magazine ou
il développe ses idées originales, tantét il endoctrine
et stimule ses compatriotes, tantot il court le monde,
approchant tous les princes, tous les ministres ; il
les interroge, il leur en impose par sa liberté de
langage. II a été l’un des premiers instigateurs de
cet impérialisme qwil voulait pacifique, dont il
38
déplore et finit par absoudre les emportements
belliqueux. ‘Il est trés particulier,’ disent en
souriant les gens de sens rassis ; et leur pretention
est de ne pas compter avec ses idées, avec la petite
clientéle de ses fanatiques. Mais le mysticisme
pratique d’Hiram Jarvis a des prises profondes sur
les coeurs anglais; tel article de lui influence la
Cité, les Communes, la Cour, plus que ne veulent
en convenir ceux qui le suivent en le traitant
d’illuminé.”
The interest of the story is well sustained, and
the characters are all well studied and carefully
delineated, but the great charm of the book lies in
the setting forth in relief, as it were, the great
difference between the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin
race.
“Toute mon education,” says the American,
“m’a appris a tenir compte du fait, a en tirer le
meilleur parti pour me faire une vie plus large.
Toute la mienne,” replies the Frenchman, “m’a
instruit 4 mépriser le fait qui opprime lidée, a
mourier plutét que de forfairé.”” The key-note of
the whole book is in these few lines, and the author
then proceeds to explain the difference between the
two men. “Non,” he says, “ces deux hommes
ne pouvaient pas se comprendre. Sous la sphére
symbolique, objet de leurs ambitions et lieu de
leurs conflits, ils personnifiaient le duel tragique
de deux races, de deux mentalités. Tous deux
brilaient de conquérir ce globe, par des voies et
pour des fins différentes: l’un par son or, pour en
amasser d’avantage; Vautre par son épée, pour y
planter un drapeau et s’exalter aux anciens réves
de grandeur que lui rappelait cet embléme. Ie
Missionnaire poursuivait sa mission. ... Son
patriotisme ombrageux prétendait ignorer l’huma-
nité, la civilisation, et cet idéaliste prodigue ne
travaillait & son insu que pour elles. Le fils des
Vikings n’était pas moins sincere, pas moins
fidele au dur prosélytisme appris dans sa vieille
Bible, lorqu’il couvrait de ces grands mots son
besoin d’aventures fructueuses ; et il disait vrai:
comme le désintéressement de l’autre, son indus-
trieuse rapacité collaborait au perfectionnement de
ce globe, a la mystérieuse éclosion du futur ot tous
deux consumaient leurs énergies contraires.”
“La Vie Simple,” by C. Wagner, is an excellent
book. The author is a great believer in modern
progress, but he deplores the “ confusion de l’acces-
soire avec l’essentiel,” which is so common an error
in everyday life. He maintains that the wealthiest
man may be one of the simplest of individuals,
while beggars, parasites of all kinds, misers, effemi-
nate and ambitious men may be entirely devoid of
‘esprit de simplicité.” “ La livrée n’y fait rien,”
says M. Wagner, “il faut voir le coeur.... Un
homme est simple lorsque sa plus haute préoccupa-
tion consiste 4 vouloir étre ce qu’il doit étre. .
THE AUTHOR.
Aspirer a la vie simple, c’est proprement aspirer
remplir la plus haute destinée humaine. Tous les
mouvements de l’humanité vers plus de justice et.
plus de lumiére ont été en méme temps des mouve-
ments vers une vie plus simple. Jt la simplicité
antique, dans les arts, les mceurs, les idées, ne
garde pour nous son prix incomparable que parce
qu’elle est parvenue a donner un relief puissant &
quelques sentiments essentiels, a quelques vérités
permanentes.”
One of the finest chapters in the volume is
entitled ‘‘ La pensée simple.” The author is an
optimist, as the following lines will prove: ‘La
confiance fondamentale est le ressort mystérieux
qui met en mouvement tout ce qu'il y a de forces
en nous. Elle nous nourrit. C’est par elle que
Vhomme vit, bien plus que par le pain qu’il
mange. .. . L’histoire de l’humanité est celle
de l’invincible espérance. . . .1 Le pessimisme est
inhumain. ... Pour se permettre de trouver
mauvaise cette chose prodigieuse qui se nomme la
vie il faudrait en avoir vu le fond, et presque
avoir faite.”
“La Paix Latine” is the title of the latest book
by M. Gabriel Hanotaux. ‘“ L’Energie Francaise ”’
was the description of a tour through France and her
colonies, and this new volume is the account of a
journey farther afield. The author takes us from
Paris to Venice, and from thence to Barcelona,
Madrid, Cadiz, Oran, Tunis, Carthage, Palerma,
Syracuse, and Rome. M. Hanotaux appears to be
well up in the history, the foreign policy, and the
political economy of the various countries about.
which he writes. He is convinced that there must
be a Latin Renaissance, and, after pointing out the
great influence wielded by Italy, France, and Spain
in the past, he shows all that may be done in the
future by the “ Paix Latine.”
After Pierre Loti’s “ L’Inde ” we have “ Visions
de l’ Inde,” by M. Jules Bois. There is much that
is interesting in this volume, but it is more a series
of impressions than a detailed description of India.
‘“‘L’Année Fatale” is the title of the eighth
volume of M. Ollivier’s “ History of the Second
Empire.” It treats of the events of 1866, and shows
up the huge mistakes which were made, and which
led to the war of 1870. M. Ollivier has consulted
the letters and memoirs published on the subject
in Italy, Germany, and England, and has inter-
viewed many men who were in a position to know
all the political affairs of the times, so that this new
volume throws light on much that has hitherto
appeared mysterious.
La Fayette’s correspondence which contains his
“Lettres de Prison” and “ Lettres de |’Hxile”
(1791—1801) has been published, together with
an excellent biographical study written by M. Jules.
Thomas.
THE AUTHOR. 39
Among the most interesting articles in the recent
reviews are the following :—“ Les Origines du
Roman Balzacien,” by M. André le Breton, in the
Revue de Paris. “ En Pays Bouddhique,” by M.
André Chevrillon, in the Revwe des Deux Mondes.
In this review there is also an excellent transla-
tion of Mrs. Humphry Ward’s novel “ La fille de
Lady Rose.” In the Mercure de France there is
a most interesting article by Arthur Symons on
‘Casanova & Dux.” The Weekly Critical Review
is also publishing a very fine series of articles by
M. Rémy de Gourmont on “ La Littérature Anglaise
en France.” This review publishes, too, every
week an article by Arthur Symons, and French
readers appear to take the greatest interest in the
subjects treated by our celebrated English critic.
At the Francais Blanchette, by M. Brieux, has
been put on again. It is the story of a young
girl educated above her station in life. She finds
herself out of her element in her father’s home, and
goes away to seek her fortuneelsewhere. She finds
out her mistake, returns to her parents, and con-
sents to marry the man she had disdainfully refused
some time before. The play is slight but powerful,
and was as well received as when it was first
produced.
The Gymnase has put on an excellent piece in
five acts by MM. Gugenheim and Le Faure. Itis
entitled L’Epave, and takes us back to the days
which followed Waterloo.
Louis XVIII. reigns, and Napoleon’s faithful
soldiers are in disgrace. The piece opens with a
fete given by M. de Montenoi, one of the aides-de-
camp in great favour with the King. His wife,
Louise, is the daughter of General Faverney, one
of the most devoted of Napoleon’s soldiers. He is
supposed to be dead, as he was among the missing
after the fatal battle.
The Chevalier de Meyrargues, who had served
under General Faverney, asks Mme. de Montenoi
to meet him at a house kept by Fvareste Lemblin
at Reuilly, one of the suburbs of Paris. Lemblin
also has a café at the Palais Royal, which is a famous
meeting-place for the half-pay officers of the Grande
Armée. The police keep guard on this café, fearing
an insurrection against the King. In the second
act Mme. de Montenoi, closely veiled, arrives at
the house indicated by her father’s old friend. There
she learns that the General is not dead, and almost
immediately he appears on the scene and reproaches
his daughter bitterly for having married one of the
King’s minions. He proclaims to her his plan for
bringing about a Revolution, and Louise is tortured
between her love for her husband and her devotion
to her father.
In the third act we are introduced into the bureau
of Baron Chatelard, in the Palace of the Tuileries,
Chatelard is going through the papers belonging
to the detective service, and believes he has a
case against Meyrargues and Mme. de Montenoi.
Faverney, too, is there, and has taken the name of
Lieutenant Landrieux. The whole affair is most
complicated, and the situation extremely dramatic.
Another scene takes place at the Café Lemblin.
The chiefs of the conspiracy find that they have
been betrayed, and Faverney suspects Meyrargues.
The final scene is superb. The General is arrested,
he avenges himself on Chatelard, loses his reason,
and imagines himself on the battlefield just as the
military music announces the arrival of the King.
The piece will no doubt have great success in other
countries, as there is nothing from beginning to
end to which exception could be taken ; the situa-
tions are extremely dramatic, and the interest well
sustained. M. Calmettes and M. Dumeny are
excellent in their réles.
At the Opéra Comique Za Tosca has been
given, arranged as an opera in three acts by MM.
Illica and Giacosa, and translated into French by
M. Ferrier.
Atys HALLARD.
a ee a os
THE HANDICAP OF DISTANCE.
ee ee
HAVE been asked by the Editor to give the
readers of Zhe Author an idea of what are
the special difficulties that prevent writers
at the other side of the world from obtaining a
hearing in England.
All these difficulties can be traced to one
source, the six weeks’ distance that divides them
from the market to which they desire to send their
wares.
Of recent years a great many articles and even
some books have appeared, purporting to teach the
youthful writer how he is to open the editorial
oyster-shell. The advice given is on the whole
sound and excellent, only much of it is quite
inapplicable here. For instance, a favourite maxim
common to all such literary mentors runs some-
thing like this: ‘‘Don’t be disheartened, keep
sending your manuscript to one magazine after
another.” One cheerful writer, speaking from his
own experience, thinks that till an article has been
declined by at least forty editors it would be pre-
mature to throw it aside as wholly unsuitable. He
_ gives instances of articles of his own which had
been finally accepted after as many as twenty-six
and thirty-seven postal journeys. How would
that work out for the colonial writer? A manu-
script cannot possibly make its trip to England and
back under an average of thirteen weeks, that
would make four journeys in a year. It would
take six and a half years to try twenty-six editors,
40
and ten years to reach the limit of forty. How
many magazine articles would retain their fresh-
ness all that time ? how many would be lost in
transit ? and what a Fortunatus’ purse would be
needed for postage! All the ordinary obstacles
that meet the young English writer, little disagree-
ments about payment, the loss of manuscripts, and,
more serious and more common than all, the logs of
photos, are multiplied tenfold by distance. As in
Newton’s law, the personal importance of a con-
tributor to an editor certainly varies inversely as
the square of the distance which separates them.
Then editors are human: they can get so much on
the spot that they think twice before accepting an
article if it has to be returned to Australia for any
trifling alteration or abridgment. They hesitate
still longer before they give an order for work to
be executed so far away. I for one hardly blame
them, though when I see the superficial work,
studded with inaccuracies of fact and quite un-
Australian in spirit, which passes current for
Australian news in the daily press and in magazines,
I feel that English readers as well as Australian
writers suffer from a great deal of mutual misunder-
standing.
If an editor should desire to make enquiry as to
the Lona fides of anew contributor, he very often
does not know how to go about it, and prefers to
take no risks. An instance of this puzzle-headed-
ness of the average English editor was made
public some time ago. When the bubonic plague
first broke out in the Australian ports, a young
man, a journalist, who happened to be going to
England shortly afterwards, wrote a sketch on the
methods pursued to extirpate infected rats, of
which he had been a witness here. The sketch
may have been a poor one, but two at least of the
various London editors who refused it gave definite
reasons of another sort. One said that he had not
heard that plague had seriously attacked Australian
cities, and in any case he did not see that the subject
particularly coneerned readers in London. London!
the greatest port in the world! he last to whom
it was offered before being torn up, remarked that
he no more believed in the bubonic plague rat than
in the delirium tremens snake. An enquiry at the
docks or at the School of Tropical Medicine might
have enlightened him. “Ah! but,” says some
one, “think of De Rougemont.” I do think of
De Rougemont, and would reply to my critic that
in his case it was just because some one did not
know where to enquire or did not trouble to enquire
that his huge canards were let locse on England.
The first task is to get your manuscript inserted.
That accomplished, in matter of payment the
colonial author is at the mercy of his editor to a
degree of which the English resident can have no
conception. An editor or proprietor can pay
THE AUTHOR.
anything he likes, he can pay nothing, and except
to members of the Authors’ Society there is no
practicable remedy. These two difficulties sur-
mounted, there remains the third, the greatest
of all, though it will probably strike some of you
in quite a comical light : To see his own article in
print. With contributions published in newspapers,
the odds are even if he ever does. But what
matter, I hear it suggested, to any one past the
stage of the youthful and trembling aspirant.
This matter, that not only is the difficulty of
obtaining fair remuneration thereby complicated,
but in newspaper work all the practical educative
effect of seeing where the editorial blue pencil may
have been used is lost, of noting what in the
editorial eye—that is, in the last resort, in the
English public eye—are the telling points in his
article or his story. Again, unless he belongs to a
press-cutting agency, and few young writers can
afford that luxury, he misses many opportunities
of seeing letters, literary notices and other criticisms
upon his work or his opinions, Is all this no loss ?
One last pin-prick is inflicted by the Australian
postal system. Not only is the normal rate of
postage to and from England on both letters and
manuscripts heavy, but English correspondents do
not realise this, and the amount of mail matter
that weekly reaches Australia with deficient postage
is incredible. The “more to pay” may be any-
thing from 1d. to 5s. or more. The errors made
are two. Letters are sent at English inland rate,
both as to weight and amount. Manuscripts and
photos are sent closed up, or letters are enclosed in
open manuscripts, the whole perhaps weighing
several ounces, to be surcharged on delivery at
double letter rate, or 5d. per half-ounce.
It is clear then that a writer resident in
Australia cannot carry out the maxim to look after
his own affairs. He must entrust his manuscripts to
another. Someworry their friends, but that can only
be done occasionally. There remains the literary
agent, as to whose ability and disinterestedness
opinions vary. Buta trustworthy agent who would
make a speciality of Australian work and advertise
the fact in Australian newspapers, giving proper
references, would find no lack of clients. There is
one thing the literary agent cannot do for another,
and that is, make the slight but often important
alterations in phrasing, that render an article
attractive in a particular quarter. But if he did
everything short of that the Australian writer
would be in a less disheartening position than he
generally occupies to-day.
If the desirable literary agent with an Australian
connection is going to materialise shortly, he will
be by so much the more useful if he has relations
with New York. The best class of American
editors, with due respect to English editors, pay
THE AUTHOR. 4}
their contributors much higher rates than prevail
in England, and are scrupulously punctual, prompt
and business-like in their dealings.
Atick HENRY.
Melbourne, Australia.
——_—_—_———_+—<—___—
REALISM IN FICTION.
UST as there are preternaturally respectable
self-elected custodians of public morality who
would ruthlessly destroy undraped statues,
and consign to the flames every picture in which
the nude figure appears, so there are other kin-
dred spirits who would have each book faithfully
descriptive of life’s seamy side burnt by the com-
mon hangman and its author branded as an outlaw
withont benefit of sanctuary.
If the world were an earthly Paradise, men and
women angels deprived of wings, no necessity for
thinkers to treat of subjects other than the most
idyllic would arise. But the merest tyro emanci-
pated from paternal tutelage is brought face to
face with problems calculated to induce grave
reflection, though he may not find it expedient
to discuss them in “‘ polite society,” as soon as he
knocks unbefriended at the gloomy portal of life.
Were the least communicative citizen of the
world in Christendom to describe a portion only
of what he has seen with his own eyes and heard
with his own ears, he would be in a position to
publish a volume infinitely more shocking than
any effort in the realms of fiction ; for the wildest
flights of a novelist’s imagination would collapse
before the sombre actualities of human depravity
perpetrated without cessation in countries which it
is our graceful method to label Christian.
It must be remembered that authors do not
‘manufacture their records in order to convince the
irresponsible. The hoyden’s giggle, the hobblede-
hoy’s guffaw, the prude’s snort, and the prig’s
scowl, they, as a rule, completely ignore in their
mental calculations. There are passages in Shake-
speare, nay, in Holy Writ itself, whose repetition
provokes only insensate manifestations from
listeners of such mould.
The machinery of the brain once set in motion
cannot be retarded or stopped out of consideration
for the susceptibilities of a class intellectually too
microscopic for the author’s eye to perceive.
Realism in fiction! And why not ? To advocate
evil, to deck it with perfumed garments and price-
less gems, to make it alluring and seductive is one
affair—the affair of the minor poet.
To expose its horrors, to foreshadow retribution
inevitably attendant upon its heels, to strip it naked,
to lay bare its festering sores so that spectators
shudder, inwardly resolving to avoid the delusive
phantasm at all costs—surely this partakes rather
of the nature of a great moral lesson than of a
wanton invitation.
Descending to a rather lower level of argument,
the writer of this slight plea of justification for the
existence of realism in fiction directs attention to
the obvious inconsistency of those who oppose it
on a basis of public morality ; seeing that, while
reporters are permitted to enlarge at their own
discretion (subject to editorial sanction) upon
loathsome criminal and divorce evidence, it is
both unjust and unreasonable to forbid novelists
to exercise their pens upon matter incomparably
less crudely offensive.
Let guardians of universal purity, who would
blush to be caught perusing realistic novels, explain
why, not infrequently, they flock to the Law Courts
during the hearing of cases of particularly obscene
or atrocious sensationalism.
Let them account for the presence of English-
women at these ghastly lecal entertainments, if
the sensibilities of the feminine gender are indeed
and in very truth so ultra-refined that they must
needs be protected from literary moral contagion.
Now a writer never obliges anybody to purchase
his alleged outrages upon public decorum. How-
ever pernicious his wares may be stigmatised by
his enemies, they must be sought by those desiring
to become familiar with their contents. Disap-
proval of them would be, surely, more effectually
expressed by withholding assistance to their sale, a
course of action decidedly simpler than that of an
enactment of bell-men’s vé/e, and a free advertise-
ment for the very works they profess to abhor.
Those wretched raids made by the police from
time to time upon booksellers retailing reprints of
Aristotle and unexpurgated editions of volumes
never intended by their creators to be handled by
any save intelligently appreciative students—under
which head disgusting small boys and sly kitchen
wenches emphatically do not come—strike the
present writer as being egregiously illogical, inas-
much as they tickle curiosity concerning knowledge
it is their presumed motive to suppress.
When the history of current literature arrives at
something approaching elaborated form, two men,
both of them grim, frank, inflexible realists, will
be distinguished as stars of the first intellectual
magnitude amid a whole constellation of dim and
shadowy contemporaries—Zola and Tolstoi. The
first lived to be honoured in the capital—London
—where he had been venomously attacked and his
publisher prosecuted.
Passing phases, either of acclamation or oppro-
brium, leave about as much trace behind as the
wind, of which, indeed, they mainly consist.
42
Authors who conscientiously believe in holding
up the mirror to life may boast the advocacy of
no less stern a moralist than the redoubtable
r. Johnson.
e “ Books,” said he, “ without the knowledge of life
are useless, for what should books teach but the art
of living?”
eatin, pretence, mock-modesty, and hum-
bug, both in literature and life, no doubt prevailed
in his day as they prevail in a far more aggravated
form in our own. :
In confirmation of Dr. Johnson’s dictum, we
observe Schopenhauer declaring in his “ Essay on
Education”: “The most, necessary thing for the
practical man is the attainment of an exact and
thorough knowledge of what is really going on in
the world. .. . In getting such a knowledge of the
world, it is as a novice that the boy and youth
have the first and most difficult lessons to learn ;
but frequently even the matured man has still
much to learn. The study is of considerable diffi-
culty in itself, but is made doubly difficult by
novels, which depict the ways of the world and
of men who do not exist in real life. But these
are accepted with the credulity of youth, and
become incorporated with the mind ; so that now,
in the place of purely negative ignorance, a whole
framework of wrong ideas, which are positively
wrong, crops up, subsequently confusing the school-
ing of experience and representing the lesson it
teaches in a false light. If the youth was pre-
viously in the dark, he will now be led astray by
a will-o’-the-wisp ; and with a girl this is still more
frequently the case.
“ They have been deluded into an absolutely false
view of life by reading novels, and expectations
have been raised that can never be fulfilled. This
generally has the most harmful effect on their
whole lives.”
Let antagonists of realism in fiction swallow the
above excerpt from the conclusions of a man pro-
found in reflection and clear in articulation, and,
as the morsel digests, consider whether, after all,
it is so laudable an undertaking to inculcate in
books, lessons hereafter to be disproved by experi-
ence ; to hoodwink innocence and impose upon
ignorance. ;
In the interests of commonsense, let them medi-
tate upon the absurdity of execrating realism in
fiction so long as newspaper editors and pro-
prietors are free to sell, like hot rolls, editions
detailing infamous cases, and popular fancy rapa-
ciously seizes upon such putrid messes of realism
in life.
In an age when no man’s private affairs are
respected by the skulking spies of an advanced
press, and a gallant soldier may be driven to
death by their hateful interference, it is but
THE AUTHOR.
childish work to assume pious horror at the un-
conventional honesty of certain writers.
Considerations of cant apart, the ruling of a
character so unimpeachable as was that of Dr.
Johnson, ‘Books without the knowledge of life
are useless ; for what should books teach but the
art of living?” must carry weight with open-
minded adjudicators upon the question before us.
Meanwhile the position of those individuals who
would insist on compelling novelists to pen glorified
halfpenny novelettes for the delectation of senti-
mental servant girls ; or preposterous “‘ romances ”
to glut the appetites of mental striplings; or
fatuous “revelations” of a “high life,” to which
their exponents have never by any chance been
admitted, for the special and particular enlighten-
ment of a worthy social substratum professing a
righteous spirit of austerity towards everybody and
everything pertaining to the “ upper ten,” yet per-
versely delighting in nothing better than in feast-
ing upon its imaginary sayings, doings, manners,
and habits—all of which delude their unsophisti-
cated readers into “an absolutely false view of
life ”—is identical with that of the cranky bigots
who scream when they behold a classical or mytho-
logical picture, and avert their eyes at the un-
abashed apparition of a piece of Grecian sculpture.
L. Haruinerorp Norra.
ig
MAGAZINE CONTENTS.
ges
BLACKWOOD’s MAGAZINE.
An article on Russia and Japan.
Reviews—
Mr. Morley’s Life of Gladstone.
Mr. Whibley’s monograph on Thackeray.
Mr. Henry James’ biography of William Wetmore Story,
The War in the West. By Martini.
An article on the Fiscal Question.
The first instalment of a story by Hugh Clifford, ‘ Sally :
A Study.”
Musings without Method.
A Perilous Ride. By Pilgrim.
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE,
Good Living. By Laurence Housman,
The Fond Adventure. Part I. By Maurice Hewlett.
Blackstick Papers, No. 7. By Mrs. Richmond Ritchie.
In Guipuzeoa, III. By Mrs. Woods.
A Son of Empire. By Hamilton Drummond,
The Queen’s Brooch: A Postscript. By Sarah Sisson.
Chateaubriand and his English Neighbours. By the Rev.
D. Wallace Duthie.
A Rodeo in Southern California.
Vachell.
Mark Macintosh’s Lyrical Monologue.
“Cock.” By F. 8.
Provincial Letters.
By Urbanus Sylvan.
Midnight in Cloudland: An Experiment. By the Rev.
John M. Bacon.
By Horace Annesley
Made at the
XIII.—A House in Hertfordshire.
‘
THE AUTHOR.
The Sorrows of Mrs. Charlotte Smith. By Viscount St.
Cyres. :
The Countess and the Frying-pan. By M. E. Francis.
FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW.
Pinchbeck Protection. By Autonomos.
Mr. Chamberlain : The Protagonist and the Future. By
Calchas,
Economic Prejudice against Fiscal Reform. By L. L.
Price.
The Political Poetry of Mr. William Watson. By G. K.
Chesterton,
The Alfieri Centenary. By Count Rusconi.
Tribe and Family. By Andrew Lang.
The Alaskan Boundary. (Some opinions of those who
cross it.) By Elizabeth Robins.
The Education Act in the New Parliament.
Macnamara, M.P.
An Old-World Governess. By D. W. Rannie.
The Austro-Hungarian Deadlock. By Maurice Geroth-
wohl,
Thackeray as a Reader and Critic of Books.
Melville.
The Question of Korea. By Alfred Stead.
Behind the Scenes of Scottish Politics,
Wallace, LL.D.
The Woman at the Crossways.
Lalla Radha and the Churel.
By T. J.
By Lewis
By William
By Fiona Macleod.
By Laurence Hope.
Theophano: The Crusade of the Tenth Century
(Chapters iii., iv. and v.). By Frederic Harrison.
Correspondence. By Ernest Marriott. (EK. A. Poe and
Dr. Russel Wallace.)
LONGMAN’S MAGAZINE.
Nature’s Comedian (Chapters ix., x.). By W. E. Norris,
The Nemesis of Froude. By A. L.
First o’ May. By Ben Bolt.
Young Russian and Young Englishman.
Clayton.
The Fairy Pipers. By Duncan J. Robertson.
Old-fashioned Accomplishments. By Clementina Black.
The Justice of the Mountains. By Frances MacNab.
Canada in the Sixties—III. By Paul Fountain.
On a Cuban Ingenio. By Naranja Amarga.
The Disenchanted Squirrel. By Netta Syrett.
At the Sign of the Ship. By Andrew Lang.
By N. W.
THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE,
Master Workers——VIII. The Rt. Hon. J oseph Chamber-
lain, M.P. By Harold Begbie.
Joseph Chamberlain: The Orator and Debater. By Spencer
Leigh Hughes.
Autumn near London. By William Hyde.
Porlick’s Theory: A Complete Story. By Mayne Lindsay,
Real Conversations.— VII. With Mr. Sidney Lee.
By William Archer.
The Wish. By Marie Van Vorst.
Sand-Daisy: A Story. By Eden Phillpotts,
Recollections of the Chatsworth Theatricals.
Trevor.
The Wild Dream of Morris Ellison: A Story. By Frederick
Wedmore.
My First Stag—and Some Others.
Karr, M.P.
The Queen’s Quair: Book II. (Chapters i., ii.). By Maurice
Hewlett.
The Rhymer: A Poem. By H. D. Lowry.
In the Cause of Science: A Story. By Gerald Maxwell.
Say, But a Kiss: A Poem, By G. A.J. Cole.
Literary Geography: The English Lakes, II. By William
Sharp.
By Leo
By Sir Henry Seton-
43
Edmund Rostand. By Felicien Pascal.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, By Wilfrid Meynell.
The Palace of Sleep : A Poem, By Maria 8. Steuart.
The Vineyard (Chapters xiv., xv.). By John Oliver Hobbes
(Mrs. Craigie).
The Round Table: The Stone Age.
Watson.
Over the Sea: A Poem.
By H. B. Marriott-
By Charles Marriott,
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The Right Hon. Earl Spencer, K.G. (Special Portrait.)
The March of Events. (With-full page Portraits of the
Right Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, K.C., M.P., and the Right
Hon. H. 0. Arnold-Forster, M.P.)
The Month in Polities, By the Editor.
Peace or War in the Far East ? By the Editor.
The Hope of Temperance Reform, 3y the Editor.
Mr. Chamberlain’s Case and its Answer.
Alaska and its Prospects, By William R. Stewart.
(Ilustrated.)
Railway Motor Cars. By H. G. Archer.
Municipal Milk. By C. Ww. Saleeby, M.B.
The Day’s Work of a Ship’s Captain, (ustrated.)
Preparing an Atlantic Liner for Sea. (illustrated.)
The Worm Disease among Miners. By J. Court, L.R.C.P.
Making a Protective Tariff, By Chalmers Roberts,
Life in the Zoo. By R. I. Pocock. Cillustrated.)
Cold Storage and Ice Making. By R. M. Leonard,
(llustrated.)
The Scottish Granite Industry,
Cillustrated.)
The Art of Memory. By Eustace Miles.
The Work of a Lady Health Lecturer.
took.
A Daily Newspaper for Madame.
Gladstone the Worker.
The New Poultry Movement.
Cillustrated.)
The Story of Irish Lace. 3y E. M. Leahy. Clustrated.)
The Books of the Month. (With Portraits of Mr. Richard
Whiteing, Mrs. Fuller Maitland, Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne, Mr.
H. G. Wells.)
The World of Women’s Work.
Among the World’s Workers,
(Ulustrated.)
(Illustrated.)
By William Diack,
By Clarence
By Alfred Harmsworth.
By Home Counties,
TO —
TRADE NOTES.
ae
The Primrose Press.
“The Primrose Press,” we understand, is the
name of a new publishing house which is being
started under the management of Mr. Allen Upward
and Mr. L. Cranmer Byng.
J. C. Nimmo, Ltd,
The first meeting of the creditors and contribu-
tories under the winding-up order made against
John C. Nimmo, Limited, was held on Oct. 9th
at the offices of the Board of Trade, in Companies
Winding-up, Carey Street, Lincoln’s Inn.—Mr.
Winearls, Assistant Receiver, read his report.—
The Official Receiver was appointed liquidator to
wind up the company.
44
WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS
OF BOOKS.
—+——+ —
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be
obtained, But the transaction should be managed by a
competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of
the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(8.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. :
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form
of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now
possible for an author to ascertain approximately the
truth. From time to time very important figures connected
with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
IV. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author,
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
(3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.
0 a 8
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
Seige Sang ee
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
THE AUTHOR.
8. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays
in three or more acts :—
(a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This
is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into
such a contract should stipulate in the contract
for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills,
(b.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of percentages on
gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5
and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of royalties (7.¢.. fixed
nightly fees). This method should be always
avoided except in cases where the fees are
likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An‘ author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, those authors desirous of further information
are referred to the Secretary of the Society.
—_—_—+ <> —___—_—__
WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.
—
ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the
assistance of producers of books and dramatic
authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as.
a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical
composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-
cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic
property. The musical composer has very often the two
rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He
THE AUTHOR.
should be especially careful therefore when entering into
an agreement, and should take into particular consideration
the warnings stated above.
Oa
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
oe
i. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive
K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. The
Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any
special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the
Solicitors of the Societv. Further, the Committee, if they
deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion. All this
without any cost to the member.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-
ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use
the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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. Before signing any agreement whatever, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society
you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you
are reaping uo benefit to yourself, and that you are
advancing the best interests of your calling in promoting
the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements, Fuller particulars of the Society’s work
can be obtained in the Prospectus.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to
them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit
them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary
of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members,
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so
do some publishers. Members can make their own
deductions and act accordingly.
10. The subscription to the Society is £4 1s." per
annum., or £10 10s. for life membership.
45
THE READING BRANCH.
—+—~
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
N branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. ‘The term
MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry
and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under
Special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea,
—>— +
NOTICES.
—_1~>+__
HE Editor of Zhe 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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
Communications for Ze Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, S.W., and 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.
Oo
Communications and letters are invited by the
Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—_+~>—+—_.
The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
AUTHORITIES.
oe
We are glad to print under “ Literary, Dramatic,
and Musical Property,” a letter from the firm of
Messrs. Methuen & Co., explaining their position
in the matter of the Dumas Translations.
We have seen the correspondence referred to in
that letter. The firm seem to have dealt with
the question promptly and vigorously. We give
publicity to this letter with the more pleasure as
our opinian of the transactions of this firm and its
bearing towards authors has in the past always
been favourable.
It should, however, be remembered that publishers
must bear the responsibility for arrangements made
46
in their name and under their authority. — It is
their duty to guard their reputation from criticism
by making sufficient stipulations with those whom
hey employ.
We aes tad letters from other authors touching
this same question. The need for farther criticism
is at an end, but it may be interesting to state a
few facts concerning the price that ordinary trans-
lation work will obtain in the market. ;
As a rule, the pay is by no means lavish. In
consequence, many translations are done in a hurried
fashion and in an unsatisfactory manner. The
remuneration given varies between 10s. and 5s. per
thousand words. Sometimes for special technical
work or translations of special difficulty, even a
higher figure is received, but the mean may be
taken at 7s. 6d. A well-known firm always pays
9s. In consequence, its translations are done with
care, and gain a corresponding reputation in the
book market.
We print below an article dealing with the
United States Market. The subject must be
one of great importance to all British authors,
and the experience of members of the Society
would be interesting reading. We shall be much
obliged if those authors who have been in the
habit of obtaining these rights, would forward
some facts for the advantage of the other members
of the profession.
It is with much pleasure that we chronicle at
the same time a marked difference that has
occurred in the forms and terms of agreement
of some of the best known publishing houses
during the last three or four years, in spite of the
draft agreements issued by the Association to which
these firms belong. In one case, for the first time,
we have seen the publisher accept as one of the
terms of the contract a clause undertaking to
“gecure the American Copyright on behalf of the
authors, and further, if the book was finally placed
onthe United States Market through his (the Pub-
lisher’s) agency, agreeing to accept as his share of
the result merely the agency fee, 10 per cent.
This is indeed an advance, as prior to this, the
lowest commission charged was 25 per cent., and
many have asked for half profits for negotiating
the United States Market. Our exultation was
somewhat marred a week later by an agreement
with the same firm asking for 333 per cent.
THosE members of the Society who care to have
a photographic reproduction of the Memorial to Sir
Walter Besant will be able to obtain the same from
the Autotype Company, 74, New Oxford Street, W.,
at the price of 10s. 6d. each.
THE AUTHOR.
OBITUARY NOTICE.
——1—~ + —
T is our sad duty to chronicle the death of one
of the most distinguished members of the
Society and a member of the Council. Pro-
fessor W. E. H. Lecky died on Thursday,
October 22nd. He was a distinguished scholar, a
thoughtful philosopher, but above all a laborious
and impartial historian. His “ History of Euro-
pean Morals” brought him the well deserved praise
of all intelligent and serious students ; and his fame
as a writer was further enhanced by his monu-
mental work on the “Highteenth Century of
English History.” Every subject he took under
his consideration he treated in a broad spirit, from
the standpoint of the upright judge unswept by
party passion and class bias.
As a historian, and litterateur, his death must be
a sad loss to all those members of the Society who
are sincerely interested in the fellowship of the
profession.
But not on his position as an author alone does
his claim to fame rest ; he was a Member of Par-
liament for the University of Dublin, and in 1897
was elected a Privy Councillor.
From his position as Member of the House of
Commons he used his best endeavours to bring
forward a bill for amending and consolidating the
law of copyright.
Finally, he obtained the fullest public recognition
of his work when he was appointed one of the
original members of that most exclusive order—
The Order of Merit.
—_—_—
ENGLISH AUTHORS AND THE UNITED
STATES RIGHTS.
———>+
HE wider the Copyright Protection the larger
a nation’s literature. Before there was any
copyright for British authors in the States
or for United States authors outside their political
combination the works of the former in pirated
form were printed and read everywhere, while
authors—citizens of the United States—save with
afew striking exceptions, did not exist ; and the
United States literature was a tree of stunted
growth.
The United States publishers, owing to an
honourable understanding among themselves that
if one firm reproduced a British author no other
firm should interfere with his profits, found that
piracy paid, and the would-be United States authors
found that the remuneration of literature did not
suffice to purchase the bare necessaries of life. In
fact the almighty dollar was the moving factor
THE AUTHOR.
to the gain of the one side and the loss of the
other. What then was the cause of revolution,
of the change in policy from this restrictive pro-
tection and limitation ?—again the dollar.
Some keener sighted Yankee watching the
market saw his opportunity, and by a process of
underselling disturbed the family party, till pro-
fits were cut down to nothing, and the trade
generally began to realise that piracy at first so
profitable was now a failure. Then came about
that combination of author and publisher which,
backed by the capital of the latter, was able by a
stubborn political contest to bring about that
alteration in the United States Copyright Law
which gave the right of protection under restric-
tions to the work of foreigners.
This commercial transaction was covered with
the beautiful cloak of upright dealing to the
foreigner. But whatever the alleged motive—and
there were many put forward—the publisher could
now again produce the work of the. foreigner at a
profit, and he proceeded to do so.
Owing to previous piracy the author who had
not the unbounded felicity of being a citizen of
the United States had for many years held the
literary market, and to him the United States
tradesman naturally turned in the first instance.
British authors accordingly found that they now
had a double market, from each of which they
could obtain their deserved profit, and the trade
evolved itself along customary lines and under
natural laws.
By degrees, however, the United States authors
found that this alteration from the protective
copyright of former days to the freer trade of a
broader law raised their efforts in the wage
market. They could now obtain a fair return for
their work. They were not undersold by the pirated
brain work of the foreigner, but they were struggling
in equal competition with other nations, and a
good work had an equal chance in the United
States as in the British Empire and among
European nations. Many accordingly began to
write in earnest for a livelihood where formerly a
few had written for love. Gradually, and as a
natural sequence, the publisher awoke to this
fact. He found the United States author was
more easily dealt with than his brother across the
Atlantic—he knew less of the value of literary
property—that the delay in correspondence was
less, and that the United States public had a
natural leaning towards those who described in
feeling terms their own patriotic ideals, or lashed
unfeelingly their own patriotic vices.
Accordingly where one name was known in
literature in a few years there were ten, and the
foreigner appeared to be losing ground. For this
latter fact there was another cause. Hitherto the
47
United States publishers had been looking to the
British author and had been competing for the
purchase of his wares, deeming them the best to
supply the market, now they looked to the United
States. The British author failed to grasp the fact.
It is necessary therefore—to use some oft-
quoted words—that he should “wake up.” He
does not want to write better stuff; it is only
given to the few to be “among the gods.” But
he does want to see that his wares are better
marketed as far as the United States is concerned.
For this purpose it is essential to lay bare a few
faults and suggest a few remedies. Sir Walter
Besant has often pointed out that it is in no way
derogatory to a writer to obtain the best market
for his wares. Nor need this latter point in any
way detract from his artistic effort.
There are two ways in which authors can deal
with the United States market. (1) Direct, (2)
Through an agent.
As the first method is most important it is
necessary to consider the means an author should
employ in order to obtain an opening.
It is feared that some authors have allowed
matters to glide along too smoothly and prefer to:
lose the market by leaving the matter in the hands
of the middleman—the publisher or the literary
agent—rather than bestir themselves. It is
essential that an author should at once grasp the
fact that the United States market is of consider-.
able value, is worth a struggle to obtain, and
when obtained is worth holding ; that the United
States magazines pay for serial use, in many cases.
larger sums than the English magazines ; that the.
United States book market is almost as equally pro-
ductive, from a financial point of view, asthe English..
There are those authors who, cursed with the
artistic temperament, and full of the loathing for:
all business transactions, are unable to carry:
through their®own negotiations _ satisfactorily.
For these an agent is necessary. But for those—
and there are not a few—who are blessed with
cool business heads, the best method of dealing
with these rights is by going direct to the United
States publisher or United States editor. As.
there must be some delay in the correspondence,
even when the publisher or editor has an office in,
London, the author should take care to begin
early in trying to place his work—some time before-
he commences to try and place the book in
England. Instead of leaving these negotiations. .
to the last minute, as is the common practice at.
present—a practice which cannot but end in
failure—he should take time by the forelock. He:
should not be disheartened by refusals, but should
continue with even greater persistence than he
would, did he desire English publication only.
His energy must increase commensurately with his.
48
difficulty. It is almost certain that if his work
has any value he will at last obtain his reward.
There are, no doubt, some books which are suitable
for the English market only, but these are the
exceptions. Many kinds of literature appeal to
the whole world. :
When an offer has been made, then it may be
worth while to put the agreement before the
secretary of the Society of Authors for advice and
counsel. Further, as there must necessarily be
some delay owing to the distance between the
United States and the British Isles, it is advis-
able to deal in the first instance with the best
known publishing houses and the best known
magazines. For although the terms of the agree-
ment may not be altogether satisfactory, and
though it may be impossible to alter them in detail
owing to delay, yet a bad agreement with a trust-
worthy house might be more worthy of acceptance
than a better agreement with a doubtful tradesman.
British authors should not however abandon weakly
an important term in the contract merely on
account of delay. They should endeavour to make
their arrangements so that a little delay will not
invalidate their position. Above all things they
should persist and insist.
In considering the second method, the different
forms of dealing through an agent must be
enumerated and considered. Firstly, it is possible
to deal through the United States literary agent,
who will deal with the United States publisher.
Secondly, to deal with the English agent who
deals with the United States publisher. Thirdly,
with the English agent who deals with the United
States agent who deals with the United States
publisher. Fourthly, with the English agent who
deals with the English publisher who deals with
the United States publisher; and lastly, with the
English publisher who acts as agent and deals
with the United States publisher.
As has been pointed out already, the system of
dealing direct is, on the whole, the soundest,
but if an agent has to be employed, it is best for
the author to obtain a trustworthy agent in the
United States, and request him to attend to the
matter on his behalf. An agent on the other side
can deal direct with the publisher, and loses no
time between the rejection by one publisher and
the transmission of the MS. to another. He
should not, save under exceptional circumstances,
be allowed a free hand to accept any terms without
the author’s sanction. Although agents, no doubt,
have large knowledge of the trade, they are not
always infallible. There are not many literary
agents in the United States, but there are one or
itwo whose work has been thoroughly satisfactory.
An author should avoid if possible an agent who
also acts for English publishers.
THE AUTHOR.
Under the next three headings the question of
the English agent is raised, and there is no doubt
that he cannot work so successfully in obtaining
the United States rights as his fellow-trader in
America. Firstly, if he is dealing with the American
publisher direct, the same difficulties arise which
are bound to arise when the English author deals
with the United States publisher direct ; but there
is this additional difficulty, that as the English
agent is also trading the English rights, hemay some-
times be tempted, if he has obtained a particularly
beneficial English contract, and wants to settle the
matter out of hand, to waive the question of the
United States. He is very often guilty of delay,
commencing the United States negotiations sub-
sequent to or simultaneously with the disposal of
English rights. It was necessary to warn the
author of this fault when dealing direct, but an
agent ought to know the dangers. Heis appointed
for this sole reason to overcome these difficulties,
and make the rough places plain. Whatever means
he may attempt to satisfy the author’s objections,
still his failure is blameworthy. If he is dealing
through a United States agent then comes the ques-
tion of double agency fees ; and if the English agent
charges 10 per cent., there is generally a 5 per
cent. additional charge for the American agent as
well. One middleman is bad enough, but when
negotiations are carried through two middlemen,
the matter is complicated.
For the same reason it is a mistake to allow the
agent to leave the United States rights in the
hands of the English publisher ; but in addition,
firstly, it is the English agent’s duty to try to
obtain the United States rights—he should not
shift that duty on to the back of the publisher.
Secondly, the English publisher generally makes
excessive charges when he acts in this way ; and
thirdly, his financial interests are not in accord
with those of the author, as it often pays him
better to sell an edition in sheets to the United
States, or to sell stereo plates, than to obtain the
copyright in that country. If therefore an English
agent is employed, the author should insist that
he should keep the work in his own hands, and
should not create a second middleman ; that he
should endeavour to place the American rights
before he markets the rights for the British
Empire, and under the Berne Convention ; that he
should persist in his efforts and not weakly give
way with some specious excuse, as agents are some-
times inclined to do, owing to the greater trouble
involved.
Lastly, there is the case of the English publisher
acting as agent and dealing with the United States
publisher. Why this course is unsatisfactory has
to a certain extent been already propounded; yet
there are other reasons. Firstly, the English
THE AUTHOR.
publisher not infrequently asks 50 per cent. of the
profits resulting from his negotiations, work for
which an agent would charge 10 per cent. Secondly,
it often pays him better, as stated above, to sell
sheets or stereo plates to the United States, rather
than to make fan effort to secure the copyright ;
and lastly, the publisher is employed under a
licence from the author to put the book on the
English market, and to use his special knowledge
of the English trade, and ordinary agency busi-
ness does not come within his range, or if it
does, is not the main object of his existence. He
will therefore, apart from other reasons, not give
his full attention to this part of the work, and
will not put that thoroughness into it which is
absolutely essential, should the British author
desire to obtain the full returns that are due to
him for his labours.
Finally, it must be again repeated that if
English authors are failing in their efforts in the
United States market, the fault lies with them
and with them alone. It is not that the United
States literature is on a higher basis than that
produced in England, but it is because the author,
either owing to his artistic temperament, or owing
to the lack of energy in the agent he employs, is
weakly turning away when it is essential that he
should make a specially strenuous effort. It is to
be hoped, therefore, that the English author will
look well to it, and will ‘‘ wake up” to the realities
of the situation.
A, ©. B.
THE TRUTH ABOUT AN AUTHOR.
—-—— +.
I.—The Struggles of an Unpublished Author.
FEW months ago Mr. William Heinemann
published a book entitled “The Journal of
Arthur Stirling.” It purported to be a
record of the struggles of a young American poet
who had written a blank verse tragedy which had
been rejected by some six or seven publishers, At
length in despair of acquiring the fame he sought,
the author tied a weight round his body and
dropped into the depths of the River Hudson.
The following obituary notice appeared in the New
York Times.
STIRLING, ARTHUR—By suicide in the Hudson River,
poet and man of genius, in the twenty-second year of his
age, only son of Richard T, and Grace Stirling, of Chicago.
The publication of the “Journal” in America
caused a sensation. Since its introduction to this
country its authenticity has been called into
49
question. But whether or not the book is what
it claims to be, the actual experiences of one
particular individual of literary proclivities in his
struggles to obtain a hearing, the fact remains that
it makes a most pathetic piece of reading, and if
** Arthur Stirling” was of mere mythical substance,
it is none the less true that his alleged experi-
ences are the record of scores of young writers of
merit, who know what it is to have drunk deep of
the cup that falls to the lot of the persistently
rejected. No less is it true that the book is a
document that will form a text for many an editor
and publisher from which to draw a salutary moral
lesson.
As an over-much rejected novelist, the writer of
the following has tasted all the ignominy which
was the inheritance of “ Arthur Stirling.’ Hopes
raised, fears, weeks and months of weary waiting,
dreams of success ruthlessly dispelled, have been his:
lot again and again. “ Arthur Stirling” gave up
the struggle when his work had been rejected some
half-dozen times ; the present writer’s only novel
has been refused by no less than twenty-seven
publishers ! He still remains to tell the tale.
No doubt the reader will exclaim, “If twenty-
seven publishers have rejected the manuscript it
is highly probable that it is not worth publish-
ing!” Having only read so far, such a comment
is justified. But the writer has no doubt that
before the end of his story is reached he will
be able to prove otherwise on the testimony of
the publishers themselves.
Ten or twelve years ago the writer was a more
or less successful contributor of articles and short
stories to the popular monthly magazines. Evi-
dently his work gave pleasure—(perhaps to none
more than himself)—for he was the recipient of
some scores of letters from strangers, testifying to
the interest that they, as readers, had taken in the
productions of his pen. Among these letters were:
several which strongly urged him to write a novel.
The young author was flattered, but he doubted
his own powers for such an undertaking. At this
critical moment he received a letter from a friend,
a popular novelist, urging him to undertake the-
writing of a book. His ambition was fired, and he
determined to make a longer essay in fiction than
he had hitherto thought of. That well-meaning
letter from his novelist friend has been to the writer
the innocent cause of the misery of years !
The novel decided on, it only remained to evolve
it, place it on paper, and send it to a publisher.
The work was carried out with much burning of
midnight oil during a period covering long months,
until the end of a year saw the completion of what
the author considered a masterpiece, in one hundred
and thirty thousand words, and a young man pale:
and haggard but triumphant.
50
The manuscript had now to be typewritten.
This meant what to its author was a ‘considerable
sum of money. But he had reckoned on this, and
by exercising a certain amount of self-sacrifice he
had saved the necessary six pounds. _
In due time the novel was typewritten, revised
and corrected. A leading London publisher was
selected, the maiden effort carefully and lovingly
packed and sent off with a polite letter. =
‘And now followed some anxious weeks of waiting.
This time had its joys, for in it the novelist built
a hundred castles—not more substantial than those
in Prospero’s dream. Every day his darling book
was with him in thought, every day he made
schemes for future work.
At length, one morning, the postman brought a
letter, bearing on the outside of the envelope the
favoured publisher's address. The author went
white with joy. His trembling hand tore off the
cover, and he read the following :—
“ DEAR SIR,—I am returning your MS. entitled ‘
by parcels post. While thanking you for allowing me to
read it, I regret to say that I do not feel justified in under-
taking its publication.
’
”
“ Yours truly,
The manuscript was duly delivered by parcels
post. The fair sheets of foolscap had become
curled and soiled. “This,” thought the author,
“‘ will probably prejudice my novel in the eyes of
the next pablisher to whom I send it, and who
may thus have reason to think that it has already
been read and rejected.” A hot iron and a piece
of india-rubber made it respectable once more,
the wretched publisher’s label was scratched off
the brown paper wrapping, another was pasted on
in its place, and the parcel was a second time
committed to the post.
The weeks of waiting that followed were more
anxious than the last ; there might be more than
one foolish publisher in the world. Too true.
“Mr. regrets that he is not able to accept Mr.
’s story entitled ‘— . While the novel has
certain points of merit it appears to fail in construction.
It is also much too long. The MS. is returned herewith,
with thanks.”
Here was a blow, but a reason was given.
Youth requires much to daunt it. The author
determined to have an expert opinion on his work.
That excellent institution, the Society of Authors,
gives practical advice on young writers’ manu-
scripts for a moderate fee. The story was posted
to the secretary, and in due course was returned
with the following notes :—
“The Reader of ‘———,’ after careful consideration,
has come to the following conclusions. In the first place
the story is much too long, novels of 80,000 to 100,000 words
are generally the most acceptable length. Secondly, the
weakest point of the story lies/in the lack of artistic con-
struction, But artistic literary construction can be acquired
THE AUTHOR.
—in fact must be acquired if the author wishes to write
successful fiction, The Reader advises Mr. — to study
the novels of Guy de Maupassant, the best of which are
models of literary construction. He has pleasure in adding
that he considers that Mr. ’s story is well-written,
and evinces distinct promise. There are dramatic moments
and scenes of very considerable power. The scenes are
also well handled. Moreover, the novel contains many
passages of considerable value and strength, and the inci-
dents themselves are welltold. The knowledge of ‘ charac-
ter’ displayed is deep and effective (this is particularly so
in the case of the characters X and Z ), and
the Reader must add that the author has distinct power asa
descriptive writer. Where he fails is in the very elements
of successful novel writing ; and the Reader’s advice to Mr.
— is that he should reconstruct, rewrite, and con-
siderably curtail his story. Mr. has the ability,
and his success depends entirely upon himself.” :
Youth was cheered. Apparently only hard work
and proper discernment were in the author’s way
to success. He placed his manuscript aside for six
months and studied Maupassant. The story was
reconstructed, entirely rewritten, and shortened to
about half its original length. The author gave
the nights and holiday afternoons of nearly two
years to the work, but the giant’s task was accom-
plished, and the novel was again despatched to the
Reader of the Society of Authors. His reply came
as follows :— :
“ The Reader congratulates Mr. on his successful
accomplishment of that most difficult enterprise—the
rewriting of a novel. The ending of the story is undeniably
effective, and the whole novel seems to the Reader to move
swiftly and strongly from opening to close.... The
Reader would strongly advise Mr. to devote himself
at once to a new novel, in which he should try to do even
better work.”
Once more joy! Once more hope! To
Publisher Number Two the manuscript was again
despatched. Three weeks later it was returned :
“Mr, ——— has read Mr. ’s rewritten story with
pleasure. It is a more concise and better book than it
was, and it is certainly astory of merit. Mr. thinks
that it would be well spoken of by reviews, but owing to
the unsatisfactory state of the literary market, he doubts
if its sale would be sufficiently great to render it com-
mercially successful. Heis much obliged to Mr. for
allowing him to see the MS, again, which he is returning
by parcel post.”
But was “merit” to be smothered at birth for
the want of a foster-parent? No, it should seek
one elsewhere.
Two months later the novel came back once
more. The author was becoming bold and hard
of heart. He wrote for a reason of the rejection :
“Tt is not our practice to give reasons for the rejection
of MSS. We may say, however, that we do not at present
feel justified in taking up the work of new authors. Our
Readers allagree that the story is very well written, but we
do not feel that it would be likely to be as popular as its
merits deserve. We returned the MS, reluctantly.”
Despair now suggested itself. Yet while there
was a publisher in London who remained untried,
THE AUTHOR. :
there should be no fainting heart. The next
firm written to politely declined to read the novel
as “the supply of fiction was greater than the
demand.” It was therefore offered to a young and
enterprising house. This firm kept it some five or
six months before sending it back :
“ Our Reader informs us that the book has many qualities,
but not qualities that would be likely, in the present
depressed condition of the market for books—and especially
for fiction—to attract to it a sufficient amount of attention
to enable a publisher to sell the thousand or so copies that
are essential.”
And so the heartbreaking work of despatching
the story and receiving it back continued for
years. Sometimes the MS. was returned with a
polite note of refusal, sometimes a few words of
appreciation and commendation were offered, and
thankfully received. In nearly all cases where
reason for refusal was given, the excuse was laid
to the account of the bad state of ‘the literary
market.”
At length the author decided to seek new fields.
He sent his novel to a popular newspaper that
makes a feature of publishing serial stories. Three
months later the now familiar answer came :
“The novel is most carefully written, but we prefer
stories of strictly modern days. Always glad to read any
story you may write.”—Editor
About this time the would-be novelist received
a letter from his friend, who, in the course of it,
remarked, “if you at any time decide to write a
novel, and desire ‘a friend at court,’ send the MS.
on to me and I will forward it to ———” (a
publisher), “who is a friend of mine.”
Here was hope again! ‘The story was des-
patched, with a note of thanks for the offer. Four
months later the novelist wrote :
“ My DEAR , [am sorry—very sorry to tell you that I
have been unsuccessful in placing your novel. I have read
it myself, and think that with a few touches it ought to go
well. But, as you know, there is such a little chance for
new writers nowadays. Everything tends towards keeping
fiction in a narrow and successful ring. Publishers abso-
lutely refuse to risk money over new authors, while with
the favourites all they write sells before it is published—or
at least is ordered by the trade, which is the same thing.
If your story was published bearing the name of a well-
known author it would sell, whereas with your name being
unknown to the trade as that of a novelist, I dare say that
the novel would hardly repay the publisher for the
printing.
“Yet it seems a pity for such a good story to remain in
oblivion !
“ Both and (here is inserted the names
of two publishers) say that they won’t risk a penny on
new authors. Shall I send the MS, back, or what shall I
do with it?
”
“ Yours ever, ———-—
This was the last straw! The author replied
that he did not much care what his friend did with
the MS. : he might make pipe-lights of it, or give
it away.
51
It has come back !
So ends the story of an unpublished author of
“merit,” and so does mere cleverness—wanting
the name of popularity—find no favour with Dame
Fortune. How obtain a hearing? The multitude
will not hear you because they know you not,
neither do they wish to know you. And yet, if
they would but listen ———-! No, they will not
—the twenty-seven publishers have decided. When
no hand is extended to help him the young novelist
must devise other means to gain a hearing, or
perish. He may present his work to some pub-
lisher or editor (if he will have it) for the sake of the
advertisement its publication may give him, or he
may pay a publisher to produce his work. Other-
wise he may sup on leek and remain, like the present
“writer,
Unwept, UNHONOURED AND UNSUNG.
ee ot
II.—The Struggles of a Published Author.
THERE are aspects of the literary life other
than those presented in “The Truth about an
Author.” The pleasant experiences of the writer
of that book belong to the exception, not to the
rule, and certainly they do not square with my
own. My literary career has been an unceasing
struggle, in which every advantage had to be
fought for ; each advance was contested and had to
be won, and the merit of one book in no way
assured a reception for the next. In fact the
reverse happened, for with each success it became
increasingly difficult to place another book.
My grandfather wrote books which were issued
by the leading publisher of his day ; my father
wrote books which were published by a newer
house, but I have not been able to place anything
with either firm. Practically I started without
knowing any publisher or editor, determined simply
to make my way by the quality of my work. [
have written a few novels and six other books ; all
have been well received by the Press; all are
considered successful. One is in the reading room
of the British Museum, another has been trans-
lated into various Huropean languages, and
published in half-a-dozen countries; of another
a pirated edition in the Japanese vernacular has
been issued at Tokyo; some have sold as well
in America as in this country, and one is in its
seventh English edition. I could paper the walls of
my study with different very flattering notices news-
paper critics have wasted upon my work, and I
have perhaps a score of more or less disparaging
reviews. All my books have attracted notice.
Several times I have fancied myself near real
pecuniary success, believing after so much praise
had been lavished upon one book that I should
52
find the search for a publisher easier, be. offered
work by editors, or, at least, get some sort of
salaried post on a periodical. :
My latest book was the first of mine to be issued
simultaneously in distinct editions in England and
America. In both countries it had excellent
publishers who advertised it generously ; it was
noticed on the day of publication and much
praised ; the daily newspapers gave it a column,
and of the literary weeklies some devoted as many
as six columns to the book; extracts from it
appeared in almost every periodical from the
Family Herald to the Quarterly Review, both
included ; the public responded.
With so much fame and the book selling, I
thoucht it a fit moment to approach publishers and
editors for future work. The result was dis-
appointing. ‘Twelve book publishers refused abso-
lutely to consider anything ; fifteen others would
not entertain a work on the subjects I suggested,
one because he had published a book on a cognate
topic, another because he was going to do s0, a
third because he had never done so—any excuse
served to complete the vicious circle. The net
result was that two firms, quite third-rate in the
trade, answered by inviting me to “ submit ”’—an
abominable word—my manuscript. One then
stated that he liked what I offered, but declined
to publish it on any terms ; the other has the work
under consideration still.
The Press Syndicates refused my overtures. Of
the editors of periodicals eight declined to consider
any serial from me; thirty others rejected various
offers I made them of articles, services, etc. ; three
only stated as a reason that my price was too high.
The net result was—one short article accepted,
and four intimations that I might “submit”
MSS. which, if used, would be paid for at scale
rate, which was not specified.
For all practical purposes of making a livelihood
by writing, I am in exactly the same position I
was before my “ great” book was published.
In itself the pecuniary value of literary fame is
nil. It issomething which is worth more to any-
one else than it is to the literary worker.
For instance, my fame has brought me an offer
from a firm of German manufacturers who, if only
I will cease writing and will travel about to get
information for them, will pay all my expenses and
reward me with a high salary. I detest Germans
and I abhor trade, but I do like getting informa-
tion, and I want that salary very badly. If a
British or an American firm offered it I would
close at once, and then anybody who wishes to
possess a first-class reputation might obtain one
ready-made and cheap from a writer who has never
had any use for it.
ARTIFEX,
THE AUTHOR.
AN EDITOR’S LETTER BOX.
1
YE Editor of the “ New York Bookman,” in
his interesting paragraphs “Chronicle and’
Comment,” publishes some letters which show a
pleasing variety in the correspondence that comes
to him as he sits in his editorial chair. He says,
“Tg it not more pitiful than humorous that so
many simple souls come to such an unfeeling con-
fessor in his unadorned confessional and lay bare
their very hearts and reveal their desires and hope-
less aspirations?” and later, “When a busy man
has given a half hour of his valuable time to
dictate a word in season to a youth who will never
be able to write, as even a blind man could dis-
cover, and receives no more thanks for his pains
than this, one cannot wonder that he grows
indifferent :—
“ Dear sir, your crazy ; i ean right, you don’t know what
your talking about. Your a d—— fool and your old paper
aint no good anyhow. i no good potry wen i see it, and
my prose is excellent to, having bin criticised by the best.
Their is those who strive to keep us from getting to the
front where we belong, but it aint no use. So ile take
your old paper and throw it in the fire and ile tell all my
frens to do the same. All editors are fools anyway. Your
a bigger one... .”
Another style of writer sends him the follow-
ing :—
“ Please do not return this story to me if you do not want
it as I do not wish my wife to know that it has been
rejected. She would laugh so at me.”
We fear that writers under this category are not
a few. What again is to be said of the woman
from Kansas who, when told that the Editor’s
payment was ten dollars a thousand, writes to say
that she would rather stick to chicken raising, as
it would take her so long to write a thousand
stories.
The Hditor not infrequently received letters
from would-be suicides :—
“ Unless you except this pome by leven o’clock thursday
morning i will jump into the hudson river.”
There is no doubt that such letters are written.
We have heard of similar cases in the English
Literary Market, but so far, we have never
heard of the suicide. Of another kind of writer
we have also had experience this side of the
water, the half educated, sentimental, romantic
woman who considers herself a genius, and sits
down and fills reams of paper to the distraction of
her family with no benefit to herself. We quote
the Editor of the “ Bookman’s” experience of this
kind of person :—
“Tam most ambitious to appear in the leading magazines
and papers throughout the country, and if you like the
first hundred thousand words of my novel, | will send you
THE AUTHOR.
the rest as soon as it is completed. I am working hard on
it now. My husband idles his days away. He will not
work, but is only too willing to sleep, and I have to do
something to support the family. Iam conscientious about
my literary work, and I feel sure that I was cut out to be
an author. I cannot afford to pay the express charges on
my story, so send it at your expense. If you return it—
and oh, I pray you won’t !—please prepay the package, for
we are very, very poor. I have been writing ever since I
was a child, and I am now forty-three years old, but I have
never had anything published either in a paper or in a
book. But I know I am just as big a genius as , only
I have never had the chances he has. We have had hard
bacon for breakfast so long that I’m tired of it; so please
hurry my check if you accept my story, as I would like a
change of food, and also I would like to surprise my
indolent husband.”
The same date the Editor received a letter from
the irate mother which we have also taken the
liberty of reprinting :—
“Dear sir,—By this mail, I understand that my daughter,
who is married, is sending you a pleading letter—I know
it must be pleading for she has been writing them for
years—and a big manuscript. I beg you to believe that it
will be the greatest kindness if you will pay no sort of
attention to her story or her letter. She is the mother of
three young children, and while her husband does all he
can to support her and them, he cannot earn very much,
owing toa heart weakness. She should take in washing,
as I have had to do, and try to help out by that instead of
by writing fool stories. She has always had an idea that
she was a great author, and we cannot keep the pencil out
of her hand, although we hide it and the paper pads ton,
If she would spend more time in doing honest sensible
work instead of wasting her days in composing novels that
I know are trash, she would be better off. So please don’t
answer her request, and don’t encourage her in any way.
I am her mother, and I know.
“ Yours in all sincerity.”
It certainly is more pitiful than humorous.
We can only hope that the Editor will continue in
his kind and praiseworthy efforts. To many, no
doubt, his communications come as a gleam of
sunshine. Where there is real hard work, where
there is really a painstaking effort, a favourable
comment will go a long way to smooth the toil-
some path. But while human nature is humanly
natural, the other side, which is pitiful, cannot fail
to come to the fore. But let us not despair.
Finally the Editor, after considering so many
letters as the companions of MSS., is inclined to
think that as a rule the letter is a superfluity, and
that Editors generally can do better without them.
———
THE HORSE IN FICTION.
<>
rYN\HE coming of the motor-car seems likely to
displace that noble animal, the horse—in
Enrope at all events—from the high posi-
tion he has held’ for innumerable centuries. Is
this proud, generous, and most useful beast, the
53
friend and ally of warriors and of princes, to be
relegated to obscurity, to fade out of existence? In
all sincerity one may hope not! What a history
has been his! The Bible, in glowing words, has
set forth his renown ; poets and writers in all ages
have sung his prowess ; he has aided in the winning
of great battles, the conquering and overrunning
of vast countries ; his achievements, whether in
peace or war, have been as innumerable as they
have been glorious. Yet, though poets and
novelists have in countless works written in vague
and general praise of the horse, when one begins
to delve into particulars, one realises that the
writer of fiction has, as a rule, been always rather shy
of this subject. The novelist and the poet have
not, one begins to discover, much real acquaintance
with horses and horsemanship, and a survey of the
literature of the last century almost convinces one
that writers, as a class, prefer to leave the achieve-
ments of the noblest of all domesticated animals
rather severely alone. Few creators of romance
have, in fact, cared to particularise on a subject
which, adequately dealt with, offers many
attractions.
Byron, it is true, strikes a stirring note in the
poem of ‘‘ Mazeppa,” that spirited and romantic set-
ting of an old Polish or Cossack tradition. Byron
gathered his materials for‘‘ Mazeppa”’ from Voltaire’s
‘* History of Charles XIT.,” and makes his hero, the
aged Hetman of the Ukraine Cossacks, recount his
terrible ride to Charles on the night following the
disastrous battle of Pultowa. According to Byron,
Mazeppa, a young Polish gentleman, detected in
an intrigue with the wife of a Count of Podolia, is
seized, bound to the back of an unbroken horse
fresh from the wilds of Ukraine, and driven forth
into the forest and the wilderness. The tale is
finely told in Byron’s best manner, yet, when one
begins to inquire closely into the particulars, one
finds that poetical licence has been somewhat
too freely made use of. For two days and nights,
according to Byron, Mazeppa’s steed carries him in
a career so headlong that even the tireless wolves
which pursue them are left behind. Now wolves,
it is well known, will run down the best horse in
the world ; while any one who is acquainted with
horses and their capabilities, will bear out the
writer in his affirmation that no horse ever foaled
could pursue a rapid flight, unchecked, for forty-
eight hours. However, at the end of that time, even
the steed portrayed by Byron begins to flag. He
swims with his burden across a mighty river, and
presently sinks down upon the Ukraine steppe, where
Mazeppa is rescued and unbound by natives of
that wild district. Among these people the hero
makes his home, in years to come rising to the
position of Hetman or Prince of the Ukraine
Cossacks.
54
Sir Walter Scott understood horses probably a
good deal better than did Byron, and in the “ Lady
of the Lake” Fitzjames’s chase of the stag, roused
in Glenartney Forest, is with a first-rate horse
feasible enough. Fitzjames, however, appears to
have been a more enthusiastic hunter than he was
a good horse-master, and having overridden his
good grey from Glenartney to the shores of Loch
Katrine, the generous beast yields up its life, and
“stretched its stiff limbs to rise no more.” Scott,
however, paints an incident that still occasionally
happens, even in fox-hunting, and his knowledge
of the grdund described, and of the limits of a
horse’s endurance, have prevented him from depict-
ing the impossible in his spirited account of the
great run with a Glenartney stag.
Harrison Ainsworth’s well-known description of
Dick Turpin’s ride to York almost rescues “ Rook-
wood” from the region of rather cheap melodrama.
Turpin, of course, never performed the ride in
question, a ride, as Ainsworth describes it, prob-
ably far beyond the limits of any single horse’s
endurance. Nevertheless, so well is the famous
highwayman’s gallop described, and so much pains
has the novelist displayed in the management of
this part of his tale, that good Black Bess and her
immortal course will probably live in fiction to
delight schoolboys for generations yet to come.
Among English novelists, Whyte Melville cer-
tainly knew more about horses and their capa-
bilities than any other. In “ Katerfelto” he has
made the highwayman’s grey nag, of which. John
Garnett becomes possessed, almost as much the
hero of his tale as the man who bestrides it. The
hunt on Exmoor is excellently well done, and
Katerfelto’s leap for freedom, a leap which saves
his master, and is the undoing of Parson Gale and
his black gelding, Cassock, is admirably set forth.
The stallion Katerfelto, according to Whyte Mel-
ville, is never again captured, and becomes the
semi-feral progenitor of much of the moorland
pony-stock of West Somerset and North Devon.
There may be, as Melville hints, some substratum
of truth at the bottom of this romance. ‘‘Sata-
nella” is another of Whyte Melville’s tales, which
mingles the fortunes of a handsome black mare
with the story of a beautiful but ill-starred woman.
Among other famous horsemen and horses of
fiction, Starlight and his good nag, in “ Robbery
Under Arms,” naturally occur to one; while the
great ride of Umslopogaas, so graphically set forth
by Rider Haggard in “ Allan Quatermain,” is an
excellent piece of work, strong, exciting, and not
‘overdone in colouring. Taken as a whole, how-
ever, fiction is somewhat surprisingly poor in a
domain where it might have been expected to
reap many laurels, and horses and their feats have
been but little utilised.
THER AUTHOR.
Turning from the realm of fiction to that of —
hard facts, one recalls three great and marvellous
rides. First, that of the Welsh Knight of the
Shire, who rode up to London, on the spur, from
his own home to record his vote in favour of that
Act of Succession which established the present
dynasty on the throne of Britain. The squire
reached Westminster literally in the very nick of
time, and his casting vote decided the fate of the
Stuarts and the rise of their Hanoverian cousins.
One of the greatest of all historic rides was that of
young Robert Carr from London to Edinburgh, to
carry to James the First the tidings of the death
of Queen Elizabeth. Carr’s ride, accomplished
practically without rest or respite, on relays of
horses, still stands to the present day as one of the
finest of all achievements in endurance and horse-
manship.
Sir Harry Smith’s ride from Cape Town to
Grahamstown, on the outbreak of the Kaffir War,
in 1834, is beyond all doubt one of the most
striking feats in horsemanship ever recorded. He
accomplished the distance—610 miles—in six
days, picking up raw, grass-fed Cape ponies as he
went along, and accomplishing his journey success-
fully during the height of the hot weather season.
Browning’s imaginary gallop with the good news
from Ghent to Aix pales effectually before this
very real and wonderful performance of the fiery
veteran, Sir Harry Smith.
H. A. BRYDEN.
ee
THE ONLY WAY.
— a
HIS book is harmless. It is also colourless.
It is full of platitudes, and appears to be
written by one who has some knowledge but
no sympathy. It is not likely to inspire genius.
It is not likely to spread any literary disease. The
impression it makes is lack of impression —it
inspires no ideals.
That the book is written with some knowledge
is evident from the quotation of current prices and
certain reliable information of the contents of the
better-known magazines. There are some minor
hints on technique which expose the expert.
The facility of the whole work inclines one to
think that though the author has trodden the path
to success, he has not been assailed by the thorns
and brambles that clog the footsteps of the ordinary
literary tramp. He has in consequence become
* “How to Become an Author,’ by Arnold Bennett,
(C. Arthur Pearson, Limited.)
THE AUTHOR.
didactic and narrow. He looks upon his road as
| the only road, and cannot help his fellow wayfarer
4) to overcome his difficulties.
That the author inspires no ideals is clear from
his view of modern journalism, which he asserts
has attained its present perfection in a well-known
halfpenny Daily.
The spirit of this method speaks through the
author as follows: “‘ Let us decide whether our
readers—not as they ought to be, but as they actually
are—will read and be interested in this thing.”
The freelance, he assures us—not in these words
—ought to write down to his public ; and again,
“He must put away all sentimentality about the
art of literature and the moral mission of
“journalism.”
This sort of advice may be successful in turning
out a fair hack, but not a real live author; but
these wise saws are no good if the practical advice
does not help the would-be author further.
Again, his opinions about fiction and other
-methods of becoming an author may or may not
be true—that is neither here nor there. Stories
are not written, books are not composed by rule.
Tot homines, quot sententie, is still a good motto,
but when these wise sayings have been read, is the
teacher convincing, or does the tyro’s mind at the
end of this book appear like Lord Rosebery’s slate
—without a mark upon it, absolutely clean ?
The practical side of the book is unsatisfactory,
and the remarks on the technique of literary work,
the business of placing the book on the market,
the prices paid for modern literature, and the
thousand and one pitfalls to be avoided are sadly
deficient.
‘We must protest also that only one reference
is made to the Authors’ Society, and that in
no liberal spirit. Mr. Bennett does not appear
from the published list to be one of that body.
Though he knows of its existence, he is ignorant
of the work it does and of the information at its
command. In the journalistic portion he men-
tions some books which may be useful to beginners,
but does nct care to refer to the valuable, confi-
dential, and practical help offered by the Society.
In his advice to producers of books he states, “ In
selecting publishers for experiment, the aspirant
should begin with the best and work downwards
in the scale of importance,” but where is the
information to come from? Who are the best
publishers? The writer is evidently not aware
that some firms whose names loom large to the
public are utterly unsatisfactory to the author.
Here again there is no mention of the Authors’
Society.
Only when touching on the question of contracts
for books (he makes no attempt to discuss con-
tracts with editors, perhaps rightly), after some
55
interesting suggestions, he states, “The aspirant
with a legal turn who wishes for further informa-
tion should join the Authors’ Society, which pub-
lishes a highly interesting and intricate literature
on the relations between writers and publishers
and all the dreadful possibilities thereof.”
If the author had dealt with his subject in any
other way than facile superficiality this book might
have sufficed, but his method is so full of omissions
when he writes with the air of finality that from
the business standpoint his view may lead beginners
far astray.
For instance, “The aspirant should not trouble
much about American (he means United States)
copyright. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain
American copyright of a first book. But if by a
happy chance it can be obtained, so much the
better.”
Because it is difficult, therefore the fledgling
need not trouble.
The United States market is in many ways a
bigger financial gain than the British, therefore,
so far from not troubling, the tyro should strain
every nerve for success.
We are glad to see that he has noted one well-
known publisher who settles libel actions at his
own discretion, but at the author’s expense. Who-
ever he may be, our adviser states “that this is
manifestly wicked.”
In conclusion, the work can only be expressed
by a series of negations. It is not a good book ;
it is not practical. It lacks depth. It is a series
of omissions.
Sir Walter Besant’s “‘ Pen and the Book” is still
by far the best work at present on the subject, in
spite of ‘‘ How to Publish,” “‘ How to Write for
Magazines,” and many similar effusions. A second
edition is sadly needed.
If the author is a member of the Society then
there is no apology needed for these strictures.
If not, he should study the work it does, and
remember that authors who personally stand in no
need of direct assistance must yet directly profit
by much of its work, done at the expense of its
members.
BR. ULE
eg
CORRESPONDENCE.
—_—>—-+—
A Lirerary FRAUD.
I.
Srr,—All I can say about Mr. Isidore G. Ascher’s
admirable letter under the above heading in your
56
last issue is that I, for one, would be very glad of
an opportunity of writing books at a living wage
for rich people desirous of literary celebrity.
Naturally, I detest the notion of permitting other
persons to batten on my brains : but I detest still
more the notion of becoming useless and idle in
the workhouse. ae
You see, now (when every Gajo, Titio, and
Sempronio writes), it is quite impossible for every-
one to get published. ‘Then debt, duns, the dead
whiteness of a gardenia replacing ruddy health on
one’s child’s face, the awful aspect of friends whose
eyes say, “I hope to God you're not going to ask
me to do anything for you,” harass and benumb
and acidulate the boycotted writer, who naturally
catches at any straw in the current which is sweep-
ing him to perdition. It is not fame, it is not
justice which he wants now, but a roof and daily
bread.
No; I do not think one ought to denounce as
guilty of fraud the hacks who sell their brains.
They do it, not for pleasure, but from necessity.
Their motive is the honourable one :of Indepen-
dence. Blame the crow who wears the peacock’s
tail, as “a disgrace to literature,” etc., if you will,
but do be merciful to the poor peacock.
Yours truly,
A. Hack.
— +
II.
Srr,—I cannot quite understand Mr. Ascher’s
indignation against the “ ghost” system. What
does it matter whether the twaddle given to the
world under a popular name has been written by
a money-grubbing celebrity himself, or by some
talented unknown person who is thus enabled to
get the living he could not, perhaps, otherwise
obtain ?
No decent author would ever allow his, or her,
name to appear over another person’s work, and
those who are sufficiently degraded to allow it
must be punished by the knowledge that their
“ghosts” are as competent as themselves. If
they have any amour propre at all this should
gall them; and if the public cannot detect any
difference between the work of its idols and that
of industrious employees, then the public certainly
deserves to be taken in. Finally, if the poor
“ghost” can only get his work in print this way,
why grudge him the joys of authorship beneath
what is, practically, a pseudonym? As things go,
with a huge mass of readers devoid of literary
taste and craving only “names,” the employment
of journeymen seems to me rather a good arrange-
ment. The true man of letters knows that his
THE AUTHOR.
work can be done by himself alone, and why
should he care if the charlatan makes a fortune,
through which some needy quill-driver benefits ?
Yours truly,
M. L. P.
——~—+—
THINGS THAT MATTER.
Srr,—I notice in your last issue a list of the so .
contents of various magazines, and I think this <i;
would be a useful feature of The Author, providing =<"
it appears regularly and includes all the articles =...
in the periodicals mentioned. It is impossible to «!“'
subscribe to every magazine, and writers who ~
travel, as well as your readers residing in the -
country and abroad, will welcome such a list as =>
you give, since it contains information not elsewhere
readily obtainable. 5
It occurs to me that your “Trade Notes” would — °
be more valuable if you made a point of mention-
ing well in advance of publication the issue of new >
periodicals—of which doubtless you receive, or can = «
get, the earliest trustworthy information. What —
writers wish to know is the scope of a pro- —
jected magazine, and who will edit and who ~
publish it. Subsequently there might be published —
in The Author the ‘ Notice to Contributors,”
as supplementary to the list you have issued
separately.
Mention might be made also of new firms of — ™
publishers and of new publishing companies
Several firms of book publishers have commenced
business recently, but of them there has not been ~
a word in Zhe Author. Of new publishing com
panies there are many more, and a list of these —
might be given, with such particulars as will
enable writers to form an adequate idea of the ©
scope of the enterprise projected. In September,
for instance, the following were registered at
Somerset House :—African Publications; British —
Sports ; English Illustrated Magazine ; Enterprise —
Publishing Co.; Folkestone Chronicle; Index ©
Advertising Co. ; Press Picture Agency; Smart
Set ; Sphere and Tatler ; Studio Press; World of —
Billiards ; all with limited liability, and with a ~
nominal capital of from £500 to £200,000 each.
Some, doubtless, are of no possible use to any ©
member of the Society, but of them such particulars —
might be given as will enable each reader to judge -
whether or not they are, or may be, of service. ;
I have no doubt the secretaries of all newly
formed companies will be ready to furnish readers
of The Author with information of interest to
writers and readers.
Yours faithfully,
Broap-NIs.
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The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 02 (November 1903)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 02 (November 1903)
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<em>The Author</em>
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che Huthor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XTV.—No. 3.
DECEMBER 1sT, 1903.
[Prick SIXPENCE.
TELEPHONE NUMBER :
374 VICTORIA.
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS:
AUTORIDAD, LONDON.
a
THE
UNVEILING OF THE MEMORIAL
TO SIR WALTER BESANT.
—— 9
ORD MONKSWELL, the Chairman
of the London County Council, has
kindly undertaken the duty of unveiling
the Memorial to Sir Walter Besant. The
ceremony will take place in the Crypt of
St. Paul’s Cathedral on the afternoon of
Friday, December 11th, at 3 o’clock.
It is hoped that those members of the
Society who care for the memory of Sir
Walter Besant, and are grateful for his
unselfish and earnest labours on behalf of
his fellow writers, will make every effort
to be present.
es
NOTICES.
OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
VoL, XIV.
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
a
List of Members.
TuE List of Members of the Society of Authors
published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and
the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as
a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be
obtained at the offices of the Society.
They will be sold to members or associates of
the Society only.
od
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
ORO FE oor es £1000 0 0
Wocal Wioans 20... 500 0 0
Victorian Government 8 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11
War Oa 2630090. ee 20r 9 8
oval... 6. oe £1,993 9 2
Subscriptions.
1908. £ 8s. d.
Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 &
» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 O
Jan. 4, Anonymous : 0 5 0
» Heath, Miss Helena : ~ 0 5 0
>» Russell, G. H. : : 11.0
58 THE AUTHOR.
Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline
», Bedford, Miss Jessie
Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.
Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice :
Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M.
Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred. : -
Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred
Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. .
Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert .
» Haggard, Major Arthur .
Feb. 23, Finnemore, John .
Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C.
Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie
Apl. 10, Bird, CO. P..
Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery .
May Lees, R. J...
Wright, J. Fondi .
Nov. 138, Longe, "Miss Julia .
Donations.
Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss H. :
», Middlemass, Miss Jean . :
Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.
The Lord .
» Gribble, Francis
Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .
Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston .
» Miller, Miss E. T. .
Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine
Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French
Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt
Feb. 9, Sher wood, Mrs. .
Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas
Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. .
5, Ord, Hubert H.
Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor
» Carlile, Rev. J. C..
Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.
Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs...
Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella
Mar. 16, Hallward, N.L. .
Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice .
», Mathieson, Miss Annie .
» Browne, T, A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-
wood”’) ‘
Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry
Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H
Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore
May King, Paul H. :
S Wynne, Charles Whitw orth
», 21, Orred J. Randal :
June 12, Colles, W. Morris .
» Bateman, Stringer .
* = Aton. 3.
» Mallett, Reddie
Oct. 27, Sturgis, Julian
=
rt
OOH OO OHS OHOL ON OHA ONO SO OL OUT OT
cCorocoroocoooorSSOSC’®
He
eoooamoccoeosoooooo™
SCeorocounooeocorooocoroeon oo
e on} I
_
_
eouncoorocouncocorH
ecoaoecoecoocoo ccoocoooceocoononoonoonaoeo on
eooocoocorocooconNnNorFH
or
Nov. 2, Stanton, V. H. ;
Nov. 18, Benecke, Miss Ida. ;
Nov. 23, Harraden, Miss Beatrice
The following members have also made subserip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
1 hompson, Sir poy Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rey. H
Guthrie, "Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
—___
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
A
At the meeting of the Committee held on the
2nd of November, 18 members and associates were
elected, bringing the total for the curftent yeaup
to 182.
The date for the unveiling of the Besant
Memorial was discussed and the necessary details
considered. The full statement of the arrange-
ments is set forth on another page. There were
one or two other matters on “ the agenda,” but no
contentious business. One case, which was laid
before the Committee, they did not see their
way to take up, and it was hoped that another case,
dealing with accounts, would be satisfactorily
settled between the secretary and the publisher,
without any need of further action.
Se
Cases.
Since the last statement was issued twelve cases
have been in the Secretary’s hands for settlement.
Four of these refer to the return of MSS., three to
the rendering of accounts, four to the payment or
rather the non-payment of money, and the last to
false representation. MSS., accounts and money
are the most frequent causes for the Secretary’s
interference, as will be seen by those members who
read the monthly statement of the Society’s work.
Of the twelve cases four have been concluded and
eight are still unsettled. Of the former, in the one
dealing with MS., the MS. has been returned and
forwarded to the author; in the one dealing with
accounts, the necessary documents have been
supplied; and in the two demands for the payment
of money the amount due has been forwarded to
the office.
Out of the cases reported in former issues there
_~ Prothero, G. W.
THE AUTHOR. 59
‘are only three still open. One of these, it is
possible, will have to be abandoned owing to the
fact that the member resides abroad ; the other two,
although the authors are unwilling to follow up their
‘demands by an action in Court, will probably be
satisfactorily settled.
—_—
November Elections.
81, Congoumbruto,
Leghorn, Italy.
6, Sidney Terrace,
New Road, Ports-
mouth, Hants.
Wiscombe Park, Coly-
ton, Devon.
Carmichael Montgomery .
Eagleman, E. J. (Colin
Conway)
Edmonds, Miss
Eldridge, Robey F. . Daylesford, Newport,
Isle of Wight.
Fevez, Miss Coralie Westdale, Streatham,
S.W.
Firth, C. H. 2, Northmoor Road,
Oxford.
Madeira Hotel, Shank-
lin, Isle of Wight.
Spixworth Park, Nor-
wich.
St. Ives, Cornwall.
The Hut, Fairlie, N.B.
24, Bedford Square,
Howell, Miss Constance .
Longe, Miss Julia G.
Marriott, Charles
Morgan, Mrs. .
WC.
Smedley, Miss Constance. 119, Ashley Gardens,
BWo
Shore, Miss Emily K. 29, Norfolk Mansions,
Battersea Park, 8S. W.
Sparrow, A. G. Daisy Mere House,
Near Buxton.
Stirling, Mrs. (Percival 30, Sussex Villas, W.
Pickering)
Wyatt, DaviesErnest R.J. 7, Bridge Street, Cam-
bridge.
20, Kew Gardens Road,
Kew.
Yosall, J. H., M.P.,
PENSION FunD.
THE Pension Fund Committee held a meeting
on Monday, November 2nd, at the offices of the
Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, in
order to deal with the moneys which the trustees
had intimated were at their disposal for the
allotment of a fresh pension.
The Committee granted a pension of £25 a
year to Miss Helen M. Burnside, whose work as a
writer of verse and whose books for children are
well known.
Among those who supported her application may
be mentioned the following :—
Mr. Mackenzie Bell, Miss Rosa Nouchette Carey,
Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Miss M. Montresor, Mr.
Algernon Swinburne, Mrs. Humphry Ward, Mr.
Watts-Dunton, Mr. Arthur Waugh, Mr. W. H.
Wilkins, and others.
In order to give members of the Society, should
they desire to appoint a fresh member to the
Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has
been thought advisable to place in Zhe Author a
full statement of the method of election under the
scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.
Under that scheme the Committee is composed of
three members elected by the Committee of the
Society, three members elected by the Society at
the General Meeting, and the chairman of the
Society for the time being, ew officio. The three
members elected at the general meeting when the
fund was started were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.
M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie.
According to the rules it is the turn of Mr.
M. H. Spielmann to resign his position on the Com-
mittee. In tendering his resignation he submits
his name for re-election.
The members have power to put forward other
names under Clause 9, which runs as follows :—
“ Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-
mittee by the members of the Society (not being a retiring
member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing
to the seeretary, at least three weeks prior to the general
meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and
the nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed
by, at least, three members of the Society. A list of the
candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members of
the Society with the annual report of the Managing Com-
mittee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes at
the general meeting shall be elected to serve on the Pension
Fund Committee.”
In case any member should desire to refer to
the list of members, a copy complete, with the
exception of those members referred to in the note
at the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s
office.
It would be as well, therefore, should any of the
members desire to put forward candidates, to take
the matter within their immediate consideration.
The general meeting of the Society has usually
been held towards the end of February or the
beginning of March. ‘This notice will be repeated
in the January number of The Author. It is
essential that all nominations should be in the
hands of the secretary before the 31st of January,
1904.
o—~<> «-
60
AFLALO AND COOK vy. LAWRENCE AND
BULLEN.
—1——+ —
HIS case came before the House of Lords on
November 13th, the defendant company
having appealed from the judgments given
in the Court of First Instance and in the Court of
Appeal to the House of Lords. The facts of the
case may be briefly set forth as follows :—
The plaintiff, Aflalo, conceived a scheme for the
publication of a work to be called “The Encyclo-
peedia of Sport.” The defendants determined to
adopt the scheme making the plaintiff, Aflalo,
editor under an agreement, the chief terms of
which were as follows :—
That for his editorial services the plaintiff
should be paid £500, and a further sum to cover
expenses of postage, etc. :
That the plaintiff should write, without further
fee, 7,000 words as special articles, and contribute
all the unsigned articles that might be required.
That the plaintiff should be entitled to pursue
his literary work so far as it did not interfere with
the performance of his editorial duties.
That the defendants might determine the agree-
ment under certain conditions.
Under this agreement the work was produced,
and the plaintiff Aflalo contributed an article,
entitled “Sea Fishing.” Prior to the commence-
ment of the action he was registered as the holder
of the copyright. The plaintiff Aflalo, as editor,
further arranged with the co-plaintiff Cook, for
the latter to contribute certain articles at certain
prices on terms contained in a letter dated June 2nd,
1896. The following, omitting the formal parts,
is a copy :—
“IT am now requested by Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen
to definitely ask you to undertake for their forthcoming
“Encyclopedia of Sports and Pastimes” the following
work. Of the angling article 5,000 words and separate
articles of 5,000 each on trout and pike.
“The former (angling) we should want in by the middle
of July, the two latter will do later. The remuneration
will be at the rate of £2 per thousand, payable ordinarily
when the work is passed for press, but if you prefer letting
us have all the trout and pike articles in by August I
understand the publishers will make no difficulty about
paying for the whole by October. Will you also see Senior
about your share in the angling article, and also let us know
if these terms are satisfactory.”
These articles were written and appeared in the
“Encyclopedia.” Prior to the commencement of
the action the plaintiff Cook was registered as the
proprietor of the copyright in his articles. In
neither of the agreements with the plaintiffs (i.e.,
the above-mentioned agreement and letter) was
there any express stipulation as to the proprietor-
ship of or copyright in any of the articles so
contributed by them.
THE AUTHOR.
In 1900 the defendants published a book, entitled
“The Young Sportsman,” containing copies of each
of the said articles or substantial portions of them.
The plaintiffs alleged that such reproduction in-
fringed their copyright, and further that it was a
publication of the said articles separately or singly
within the meaning of section 18 of the Copyright
Act. The plaintiffs claimed injunction and
damages.
The defendants put in issue the allegations of the
plaintiffs. They denied that the plaintiffs were
the holders of the copyright in the articles, and
claimed that an implied term of the agreement
between them and the plaintiff Aflalo was that the
copyright should belong to the defendants as pro-
prietors of the “ Encyclopedia,” or that alternately,
the plaintiff became their servant for the purpose
contemplated in the agreement, and all the work
he did was their absolute property.
That the plaintiff Cook was employed by them
upon the terms contained in the letter of June
quoted above. That the said articles were paid for
by the defendants upon the terms contained in
the said letter, and that it was an implied term
of the plaintiff Cook’s said employment that the
copyright in the said articles should belong to the
defendants as proprietors of the “‘ Encyclopedia.”
They admitted publishing “The Young Sports-
man,” and that as they were entitled to do they
reprinted therein the said articles or portions
thereof. And by way of counter-claim the defen-
dants claimed a deévlaration that they were the
proprietors of the copyrights in the said articles,
and an order expunging from the book of registry
the entries whereby the plaintiffs had wrongfully
registered themselves as such proprietors and
damages and costs.
In order to assist further those interested in the
judgment we print the portion of the second section
of the Copyright Act referred to herein, and the
eighteenth section in full :—
Section 2. “In the construction of this Act the word.
“Book” shall be construed to mean and include every
volume, part or division, of a volume, pamphlet, sheet of
letter-press, sheet of music, map, chart, or plan separately
published.”
Section 18. “ When any publisher or other person shall,
before or at the time of the passing of this Act, have pro-
jected, conducted and carried on, or shall hereafter project,
conduct, and carry on, or be the proprietor of any encyclo-
pedia, 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 wrder such employ-
ment 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 con-
ductor, the copyright in every such encyclopedia, review,
magazine, periodical work, and work published in a series:
THE AUTHOR. 61
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 respec-
tively the right of publishing the same in a 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, pub-
lisher, 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 shall
be so employed as aforesaid to publish any such his com-
position 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,
according to this Act, without prejudice to the right of
such proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor as
aforesaid.”
The case in the Court of First Instance was
heard on July 81st, 1901, before the Hon. Mr.
Justice Joyce, and judgment was given in favour
of the plaintiffs on the same date. His lordship’s
judgment is reported in the Law Reports, 1902,
1 Ch., p. 264.
From this judgment the defendants appealed to
His Majesty’s Court of Appeal, and the appeal was
heard before the said Court, consisting of Lords
Justices Vaughan Williams, Romer, and Stirling
upon June 30th and July Ist, 1902, when their
lordships took time to consider their judgments.
Upon August 11th, 1902, their lordships inti-
mated that they desired to hear further arguments
-upon the point whether under the circumstances
and having regard to the definition of a “ book”
in section 2 of the Act and to section 3, the plain-
tiffs had any such right as entitled them to main-
tain their action—copyright or any other right.
And the said appeal was further heard and argued
efore the said Court upon December 6th, 1902,
when their lordships again took further time to
consider their judgments ; and on December 18th,
1902, they delivered judgments differing in opinion,
Lord Justice Vaughan Williams delivering judg-
ment in favour of the defendants the appellants,
whilst Lords Justices Romer and Stirling delivered
judgment in favour of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs
accordingly obtained a second decision in their
favour. Their lordships’ judgments are reported
in the Law Reports, 1903, 1 Ch., p. 318.
From this judgment the defendants again ap-
pealed to the House of Lords. The appeal was
heard on November 13th. Their lordships gave
their judgments as follows :—
Tue Lorp CHANcELLOR.—My lords, if I had
not come to the conclusion that the case is covered
by authority I should have desired further time to
consider the mode in which I should express the
views I entertain.
I think it is absolutely impossible, after the
decision arrived at just about half a century ago
upon this very point, and confirmed as it is by a
decision of the Court of Appeal, to render it
doubtful what the decision on this appeal ought to
be. Ido not deny that there may be—there pro-
bably is—a distinction between the inference of
fact that would be drawn from the fact that a
person had employed another to create something
for him if it was a mere material subject and the
rule which would apply to literary composition.
Although there is a distinction in that respect
which ought to be insisted upon, on the other
hand, literary compositions are subjects of barter
and sale. When a person is employed to create
some literary composition, and that involves some-
body else spending money for its publication, and
incurring the responsibilities and great risk that
may attend the publication, it is impossible not to
recognise the fact that some of the inferences at
all events could have been drawn from those facts
of employment and payment which would naturally
attach to the payment for something for which
another person was employed. It is not a question
of law ; it is a question of fact to be derived from
all the circumstances of the case what is the nature
of the contract entered into between the parties.
My lords, I must say I thought that we had
arrived at some sort of concurrence by the
learned counsel themselves in the course of the
argument, that in the construction of the eighteenth
section, at all events, there were two propositions
that could not be disputed. The first was that the
bargain between the parties involving this question
of copyright need not be in writing. Secondly,
that no express words were necessary in order to
constitute the contract, such as it is, contemplated
by the statute. I must say I can entertain no
doubt that this is one of those inferences which
you are entitled to draw, but for which you can lay
down no abstract rule. That which may be im-
plied in a contract must depend very much on
what the contract is—the nature of the contract—
and whether or not the written contract displaces
every other term whatsoever ; because, in the infi-
nite variety of dealings among mankind, there are
some things which none would think of expressing
in terms, although undoubtedly they would form
part of any contract made on such a subject.
Now, my lords, as I have said, this case, I
think, is concluded by authority, and, therefore, I
do not want to re-argue the matter; but I rather
concur with what fell from my noble and learned
62
friend Lord Davey, that if this question had not
been raised and decided half a century ago, it would
have been open to consideration whether or not
the eighteenth section did not imply some express
contract, at all events, one way or the other ; but
where a state of law has been recognised now for
half a century and confirmed by the Court of
Appeal, it would be, I think, a startling novelty for
your lordships to treat that as res integra, which
we should determine for ourselves without reference
to previous decisions. .
My lords, I confess I should feel great hesi-
tation in disagreeing with any proposition that
had been laid down by such a Court presided over
by such Judges as those who decided the case
in the Common Pleas, which has been referred to,
I think, after the very careful review of
those cases that have been brought before your
lordships by the learned counsel who very ably
and candidly argued this question on the part of
the plaintiffs, it is unnecessary to go through the
whole of these authorities beyond this: if one
looks at that case in the Common Pleas, one
sees it was decided upon a special case, and
the learned Judges were unanimous in their
decision that you could infer a transfer of the
copyright from the facts, and then when you look
and see what the facts are to which they refer
as being those from which a reasonable man would
infer it, it is manifest that the question which
is raised here, about the possibility of competition,
formed no factor in the problem which the learned
Judges decided. It is said: “Here is a person
who is for the purpose of profit selling to a person
who is to adventure and risk his money in the
concern, and unless you come to the conclusion
as a matter of reasonable inference that the copy-
right in the thing so purchased was to belong to
him, the result would be that he would get nothing
for his money.”
My lords, that is a general observation which
I think may very properly be made in the abstract.
People do not spend money except upon the hypo-
thesis that they get something for it, and unless
you give to the bargain the effect which the
language itself seems to import, that the person
who is the projector, the publisher, and who is
called “the proprietor,” is to stand in the shoes
of the actual author, and if you are to treat it
as it has been treated at the Bar here, the truth
is the projector, the publisher, and so forth would
get nothing for his money, because the whole
object of his publication might be defeated the
very next day either by the same person to whom
he had paid the money, or by any stranger who
might obtain the result of if. It seems to me,
therefore, that it would be a very unreasonable
inference to draw from such a transaction as this,
THE AUTHOR.
that the person who paid the money was not to
have the right which would, as a matter of business
in the case of a publisher where he is buying
literary compositions, naturally be the thing for
which he pays. He is the publisher, not the
author ; he goes to the author and buys from him
what the author composes. Under these circum-
stances, my lords, it seems to me it would be a
most unreasonable inference for one to draw from
the facts, in proof in this case, if I were not to
suppose that the person who paid that money and
incurred that risk was not to have the complete
right such as the original author would have had if
it were not published in this way, to publish it
himself.
Therefore, my lords, I think the appeal ought
to be allowed and the judgment ought to be
reversed. ;
As I have already intimated, another question
has been raised (I mean the words “ separately
published”) upon which I propose to give no opinion
at all. I therefore propose to leave that question,
because it is not necessary to decide it for the pur-
poses of the present case.
Lorp S#HAND.—My lords, as your lordships
have resolved that there shall be no decision given
on the question which has been raised under
section 2 of the Statute as to the effect of the
words “separately published,” there used in regard
to the publication of the different articles, with
others in an encyclopedia or magazine, I shall say
no more than that I am certainly not prepared,
from the arguments we have heard, to agree with
Lord Justice Vaughan Williams in what he alone
has said on that subject.
With reference to the case otherwise, I entirely
agree with what has fallen from my noble and
learned friend on the Woolsack. The question
really here to be decided is whether the copyrights
have been transferred by the publication from the
authors to the publisher.
The case is one in which the publisher’s right
depends on its being shown that the articles were
contributed “on the terms” that the copyright in
them should belong to him. Upon that question
I think we have important facts to consider. In
dealing with it, it has not been disputed, that
although the agreement is contained in writing, it
is not necessary that the terms as to copyright
shall be expressly stated, and where as here there
are not express terms, it is enough to create a
transfer of the right, if that right be implied from
the nature and whole circumstances of the publica-
tion, and the arrangement and transaction between
the parties. As bearing upon that matter I think
in the first place a very important point is that the
publisher conceives the creation of the magazine
which he publishes as his undertaking for his
THE AUTHOR.
profit ; that it is for the purpose of his magazine
that the articles are contributed. Again, the
articles as so contributed for the purpose of being
used in his magazine are given on his employment,
and on his payment undertaken and made.
Regarding those circumstances together, it appears
to me that the articles are contributed on the
footing that on payment under such employment
they shall become his property.
The Statute declares that if transferred on terms
having this effect they shall be the property of the
proprietor or publisher, who shall enjoy the same
rights as if he were the “ actual author thereof.”
It appears to me that it would be inconsistent
with the notion that they were to become his
property as if he were the author and with all the
full rights of the author, that there should be still
left in the author after payment made to him a
property which would enable him to use the same
articles in other magazines. This would clearly
follow if the appellants’ contention were sound.
It would give the publisher little if any benefit for
the payment he had made, and I think that
circumstance so inconsistent with the result of the
payment made in the circumstances as of itself
sufficient to show that the practical result of what
happened between the parties, having regard also
to the clause in the Statute, is that the terms to be
inferred are that the copyright should belong to the
proprietor or publisher ; and that is to my think-
ing, therefore, the inference to be drawn from the
contract between the parties.
On these grounds, my lords, and concurring with
all that his lordship has said upon the authority
of the cases in the past, I am of opinion that
the decision of the Court of Appeal should be
reversed.
Lorp Davey.—My lords, I am of the same
opinion. If this matter could be regarded ag res
integra I think that there would be a great deal to
be said for a construction of the eighteenth section
such as that which was contended for by the
learned counsel in the case which was referred to
of Lamb v. Evans, viz., that it was for the publisher
or proprietor to prove an agreement that the com-
poser or author was employed upon the terms that
the copyright should belong to the publisher. But,
my lords, any such proposition as that would be
inconsistent with the law as laid down in the cases
to which my noble and learned friend has referred,
of Sweet v. Benning, and the more recent case of
Lamb v. Evans.
My lords, the law which I understand to be laid
down in Sweet v. Benning is that it is not necessary,
according to the true constructionof the eighteenth
section of the Copyright Act, that you should find
an actual agreement that the copyright should
belong to the proprietor; nor indeed is it even
63
necessary to find special circumstances which lead
to that conclusion. I say so because I find that in
the case of Sweet v. Benning the special case upon
which the opinion of the Common Pleas was
delivered contained a statement that nothing was
said between the parties affecting copyright. I
can find no special circumstances stated in the
special case, and the decision seems to me to have
been founded only upon the nature of the employ-
ment, the nature of the publication and the
relation of the parties,
My lords, Mr. Justice Joyce tells us in his
judgment: “I decide this case upon the short
ground that I see no special circumstance either
in the nature of the work or in the terms or in the
nature of the employment, from which I can infer,
or must infer, that which is not expressed, namely,
that the copyright is to belong to the proprietor.”
That being so, he says in another passage that the
consequence would not be different from what it
would be in an ordinary case. Now, my lords, [I
do not think that that decision was consistent with
Sweet v. Benning or Lamb v. Evans. I think that
what the Court has to do is to look at all the
circumstances of the case and to say as a jury,
what is the inference which you would draw ? or as
Lord Justice Bowen puts it in his judgment in
Lamb v. Evans, what is the way in which business
men would look at the question ?
My lords, of course what the inference should be
isa matter of fact, and for my own guidance [
adopt the rule laid down by Lord Justice Kay in
Lamb v. Evans, as correctly stating what I under-
stand to be the law, and therefore I ask myself
what is the inference which I am to draw from
these circumstances ? The circumstances are that
the publisher is minded for his own profit to
publish an “ Encyclopedia of Sport” ; he is prepared
to spend, and he does spend, a very large sum of
money, amounting to some thousands of pounds,
upon the enterprise in which he is engaged ; he
employs a gentleman to act as editor and also to
write some of the articles at a given salary, and
through the editor he employs another gentleman
named Mr. Cook to write articles for a given
remuneration. Those are all the material facts of
the case ; and I have to ask myself what is the
inference that I draw from those facts. That, I
repeat, is a matter of fact and not a matter of law.
No doubt one may gain some assistance from the
way in which a similar set of facts have been
regarded in other cases ; but after all, where it is
a question of fact each case must stand upon its
own merits.
My lords, if I were to express my opinion as a
juryman upon the facts I have mentioned, I should
say that it was one of the terms on which these
gentlemen were employed to write articles for the
64
« Encyclopedia,” that the copyright should belong
to the proprietor, and I say so for this reason, ‘The
‘* Encyclopeedia ” was to be his property, it was to be
his book, he was to derive the benefit and profit to
be derived from its publication ; and therefore I
should assume that in buying the articles written
by these gentlemen the inference 18 that both
parties intended that the proprietor should have
the right that was necessary for him to protect the
property which he had purchased, and adequately
to protect the enterprise for the purpose of which
these articles were intended to be used. In my
judgment he could not adequately protect the
articles which he had purchased, or his property,
in the book for the purpose of which the articles
were written and purchased, without having the
right to prevent an invasion—I hardly like to say
of the copyright, but I must say of the copyright
in those articles. ‘Therefore the inference I should
draw would be the same as was drawn in the cases
of Sweet v. Benning and Lamb v. Evans ; and for
my part 1 am perfectly prepared to adopt every
word of the judgment of Lord Justice Bowen, and
that of Lord Justice Kay, as well as the judgments
in the earlier cases. If I might choose one passage
which I think expresses my meaning in better
terms than I could use myself, I ask leave to read
this passage from the judgment of Lord Justice
Kay : “ What is the fair inference from the facts
of the case? Surely the inference is that the
man who is to go to the expense of printing and
publishing this book will, as between him and the
agents he may have employed to assist him in
the compilation of it, have in himself whatever
property the law will give him in that book.
That is the inference I should certainly draw ;
and, I think, in this case it is sufficiently clear, in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the
terms of employment of those several agents
involved this, that the copyright in the portions
of this book which they composed should belong
to the owner of the book.”
Lorp Rogertson.—My lords, in my opinion
this case ought to have been decided on the
authority of Sweet v. Benning and Lamd v. Evans,
as furnishing a rule of inference applicable to the
facts of the present case.
I do not think that the conclusion which I sup-
port is accurately described as inferring one of three
statutory requirements from the existence of two.
Whether that inference be legitimate or not must
depend on the nature and on the other conditions
of the employment ; and the cases to which I refer
do nothing to take the question out of the region
of fact. Butit is obvious that the facts of employ-
ment and of payment stand in a different category
from the terms on which employment and payment
take place, those terms being necessarily an element
THE AUTHOR.
or ingredient in the employment, and not a separate
or independent fact.
Accordingly the view of the two Lords Justices
about the three conditions all requiring, by the
structure of the section, to be proved, really means
that an express agreement about copyright must be
proved, or the writer retains the copyright. Unable
as I am to accept this view, which is opposed to the
decision in Sweet v. Benning, and indeed was not
supported by Mr. Scrutton, I am free to consider
what is prima facie the proper inference ; and I
prefer, on its merits and also from its authority,
the inference of Sweet v. Benning.
The result has been that the judgments of the
two Courts below have been reversed and dis-
charged and final judgment given that the action
be dismissed with costs,
aa ee
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
oe
ROFESSOR J. E. GORE, F.R.A.S., M.R.LA.,
who published recently a book entitled “‘ The
Stellar Heavens: An Introduction to the
Study of the Stars and Nebule” (Chatto and
Windus), has in hand a work on the constella-
tions, with special reference to the Persian astro-
nomer, Al-Sufi’s, “‘ Description of the Fixed Stars,”
written in the tenth century. This will probably
be published early next year. Professor Gore has
also nearly ready for the press a collection of popular
articles on astronomical and other scientific sub-
jects.
Mr. de V. Payen-Payne, Hon. Treasurer of the
Modern Language Association, Principal of Ken-
sington Coaching College, &c., &c., is compiling a
“ Scientific French Reader” for Messrs. Blackie; be
is also editing a series of ‘‘Short French Readers’’
for Mr. Nutt, and is correcting Cassell’s “ French
Dictionary.” Then the Cambridge University Press
will shortly publish an abridgment of Gautier’s
“Voyage en Italie,” annotated by Mr, de VY.
Payen-Payne.
Mr. A. C. Benson has a study of Tennyson
(Methuen’s “ Little Biographies”) coming out
very soon; also a small selection of “ Whittier,”
which is to be published by Messrs. Jack, of Hdin-
burgh; while his “ Rossetti’? (Macmillan’s ‘* Men
of Letters” series) is in the press. At the end of
this year Mr. Benson resigns his mastership at
Eton, which he has held for nineteen years, and
he will take up, with Viscount Esher, the task of
editing ‘Queen Victoria’s Correspondence from
1837—1861.”
Major Greenwood, M.D., L.L.B., has a novel in
hand. His book, The Law Relating to the Poor
THE AUTHOR.
Law Medical Service,” is now being advertised by
the medical press. Messrs. Bailli¢re, Tindall and
Cox are the publishers of it. :
Mr. James Baker, F.R.G.S., F.R.Hist.Soc., is
now travelling in the East, and will be making a
tour in the Holy Land. Before leaving Clifton he
was engaged on a series of topographical articles,
and he has completed a novel on Oxford life. He
has been writing a great deal on technical educa-
tion and technical agricultural education for the
Leeds Agricultural College.
Mr. Baker is also preparing several lectures for
the early part of 1904 on Egypt, Russia, &c. He
has lately written, too, an article on the life of
Macaulay, using for it some of Macaulay’s hitherto
unpublished letters.
Mr. Wynford Dewhurst, R.B.A., will publish
immediately through Messrs. Newnes & Co. his
book, ‘‘ Impressionist Painting.’ Its price is 25s.,
and it will contain some 50,000 words and about
100 illustrations in monochrome and colours.
There will be photographs and short biographies of
leading impressionist artists. The whole is the out-
come of many years ofart study, of friendships with
the impressionist painters, and of strong conviction.
Mr. G. B. Buckton, F.R.S., has recently published,
through Messrs. Lovell, Reeve & Co., a “ Mono-
graph of the Membracide.” The family of insects
it treats of is only barely represented in this
country. A review of the extraordinary develop-
ment of the five hundred insects Mr. Buckton
draws and colours is highly suggestive. Professor
E. B. Poulton, of Oxford, adds a valuable chapter
to illustrate the effects of protective mimicry,
which he assigns as the principal cause of these
highly specialised forms.
This monograph professes to be only pioneering
work in an almost unexplored region of entomology
—yet the spread of these curious insects is almost
world-wide. Their chiefly known homes are the
two continents of America, though the Old World
is also well represented,
We note three important books by members
of the Society. There are Lord Wolseley’s two
volumes of “ Memoirs,’ just out; there is Sir
Gilbert Parker’s “ Old Quebec,” written in col-
laboration with Mr. Claude G. Bryan; and there
is Mr. EK. K. Chambers’ ‘‘ The Medieval Stage,” in
two volumes.
Lord Wolseley is an active member of our Society.
He wrote an account of the China War in 1860.
He is, besides, the author of “The Soldier’s Pocket
Book,” which went through several editions ; he
has written books on Napoleon, and has contributed
numerous articles to the leading magazines of
England and America. Then last, but far from
least, there are his two volumes on the great Duke
of Marlborough,
65
The demand for the eighth edition of Lieut.-
Colonel E. Gunter’s “ Officer’s Field Note and
Sketch Book and Reconnaissance Aide-Mémoire,”
published by Messrs. Wm. Clowes & Son, 23,
Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, in August, hag
been such that the edition is nearly exhausted.
Mr. H. Rider Haggard’s novel, “ Stella Frege-
lins,” appears at the beginning of next year. It
is a mystical story of modern life. His romance,
“The Brethren,” a tale of the Crusades, begins in
Cassell’s Magazine next month. Mr. Hagvard is
now engaged upon a sequel to “She,” and it will
be published in the Windsor Magazine in due
course.
Sydney C. Grier is at present finishing a his-
torical novel, which Messrs. Blackwood hope to
publish in the spring. It is called “The Great
Proconsul,” and deals with the Indian career of
Warren Hastings, from his marriage in 1777
to his return to England in 1785. The story is
told in the first person by an inmate of his
household, and aims at bringing out the lighter
and more domestic side of his character, which is
necessarily almost overlooked in the formal bio-
graphies, while preserving the historical background
intact.
It is ten or twelve years since Sydney C. Grier
began to collect the materials for this book, and
for the past two years she has devoted herself to
it exclusively, studying as little as possible the
modern books written about Hastings, and as much
as possible the immense mass of contemporary
material still extant.
Madame Albanesi is engaged on a novel, which,
after serial production here, and in the United
States, will be published in book form by Messrs.
Methuen & Co. in England, and Messrs. McClure,
Phillips & Co. in America.
Madame Albanesi is also just finishing a series
of stories for Zhe Onlooker, which are now running.
Further, she is at work on a play—the dramatisa-
tion of one of her own books—and she has certain
serials to finish, which appear either anonymously
or under a pen-name.
The title of Miss Jean Middlemass’s novel “ Till
Death Us Do Part” has been altered to “ Ruth
Anstey,” owing to the fact that the former title has
already been used,
Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell’s new story for children
will run as a serial in Cassell’s Little Folks in the
last half of next year. Mrs, Cuthell, as in her
early work “ Only a Guardroom Dog,” now in its
second edition, tells of the life of an officer’s
children and their pet. But the scene is now laid
in India, and in the more remote and thrilling days
of the Mutiny. The adventures are exciting, but
all ends happily.
Mr. F, Anstey has written a story for children
66
called “ Only Toys.” It contains numerous illus-
trations by Mr. H. R. Millar, and tells how Santa
Claus gave the gift of speech and movement to the
toys belonging to a little boy and girl who con-
sidered themselves too big and far too clever to play
with them. Mr. Grant Richards is the publisher
of “Only Toys.”
. yes. Bright,” by Miss Montgomery-Campbell
(Jarrolds, 1s. 6d.), a book of heroic deeds for lads,
dedicated to the Church Lads’ Brigade, has just
been published, and has received favourable notices
from the provincial press. ‘The second edition of
“Qld Days in Diplomacy,” which Miss Montgomery-
Campbell was instrumental in bringing before the
public, and for which she wrote a preface, is being
widely read, and has been warmly praised by
diplomatists. :
Mrs. E. M. Davy’s new book of stories, “ Seven
of Them,” was published the other day. All the
tales contained in the volume have appeared in
good English and American serials.
Two of Miss R. N. Carey’s recent books, “ Rue,
With a Difference,” and “Heart of Grace,” have
been published in cheap standard editions. “A
Passage Perilous” is being issued in Baron Tauch-
nitz’s Continental series. a ov
Norley Chester’s new book, “ Cristina,” is just
out. It is published by Messrs. Swan Sonnen-
schein.
Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co.
have ready a new and cheaper edition of Mr.
Austin Dobson’s ‘The Ballad of Beau Brocade,
and Other Poems of the XVIIIth Century,”
with fifty-five illustrations by Hugh Thomson,
price 2s. 6d. net, and 3s. 6d. net. There is a
special edition, limited to 250 copies, with all
the illustrations coloured by hand, at 12s. net.
In his “ Fanny Burney” (Messrs. Macmillan’s
“ English Men of Letters ” series), Mr. Dobson has
given us a study of the surroundings in which
that famous novelist was brought up ; there is a
detailed account of Evelina and Cecilia; and a
condensed account of George III.’s Court as Miss
Burney saw it, including a touching picture of the
king’s madness.
Owing to the success of Mr. Powis Bale’s work,
“A Handbook for Steam Users,” Messrs. Crosby
Lockwood & Son will publish immediately a com-
panion volume entitled “Gas and Oil Engine
Management.”
Mr. A. B. C. Merriman Labor, of the Colonial
Secretary’s Office, is issuing this month the second
edition of his handbook on Sierra Leone for 1904
and 1905. It is a treasury of information relating
to the Colonial and municipal governments, trade,
religion, education, army and navy, and every con-
ceivable matter of interest connected with the
Colony and its Protectorate. Its price is 3s. net,
THE AUTHOR.
and the publisher is Mr. John Heywood, of Man-
chester.
The American Register, published weekly in
Paris and London (13, Rue Tronchet, and 20, Hay-
market, W.), has decided to include each week a
Supplement of Sports, without extra charge. Its
rice is 1d.
Mr. Haldane Macfall spent some three years
over his novel, “The Masterfolk,”” published a
short while ago by Mr. Heinemann. Curiously
enough both Mr. Wells and Mr. Bernard Shaw
touch close on the heels of the idea embodied in
“The Masterfolk.” It is in the (psychic) air, no
doubt. Oddly enough, Mr. Macfall’s first title, “ A
Strenuous Life,” was filched, all unwitting, by the
President of the United States; and the second
one, “ Youth,” was taken in all ignorance by Mr.
Conrad.
The main scheme of the book is that of a youth
and maiden of to-day awaking into the modern
idea and the modern thought: old ideas lie crumb-
ling, new ideals are all untried, and the two move
forward with all the splendid insolence of youth to
try them. To quote his own words :—
“T look upon the novel as the great literary means of
artistic expression to-day ; not as a mere tale, or a cold,
polished marble unity, but as a splendid artistic instrument
in which the prose of each chapter should leap to the mood
of the idea expressed, moving in slow cadence of prose to
the solemn mood, and skipping light-footedly to the jigging,
lyrical emotions. . . . Well, in some hundred movements,
or chapters if you will, I have tried to give emotionally
the lives of this pair of humans, with the secondary
harmonies of others, moving to the goal in which they
would find the meaning of life.”
Mr. Macfall is now at work on a comedy “ of
the rollicking high-comedy complexion.”
“‘My Lady’s Favour” is the title of a (one-act)
Little Comedy in black and white, by Mary C.
Rowsell and E Gilbert Howell. It is published by
Samuel French, Limited, 26, Southampton Street,
Strand. Miss Rowsell has also published two
musical fairy-extravaganzas for private perform-
ance, and “ Richard’s Play.” This last was written
with Mr. Joseph J. Dilley.
Mr. George Alexander will return to the St.
James’s Theatre on January 28th, and will start
with “ Old Heidelberg.”
It stands at present that Mr. Tree will produce
the Japanese play, “The Darling of the Gods,”
on the 28th inst. Miss Lena Ashwell will take
the part of Yo-San.
Mr. Arthur Bourchier will produce Mr. J. L.
Toole’s version of “‘The Cricket on the Hearth,”
at the Garrick for a Christmas run. The music is
by Mr. Edward Rickett.
Mr. Seymour Hicks’ new musical play “The
Cherry Girl” is to be produced at the Vaudeville
on or about the 10th inst.; and Messrs. Seymour
THE AUTHOR. 67
icks and Ivan Caryll’s new musical play “The
Ouy Gil” is to be plied at the Adelphi on
7th inst.
ae date Mr. E. 8. Willard will revive
“The Professor’s Love Story” at the St. James’s
re.
Tye Sideraand that Captain Basil Hood’s new
comedy, “ Love in a Cottage,” will be produced at
Terry’s Theatre early in 1904.
When Miss Lena Ashwell was the guest of the
New Vagabonds’ Club last month, Mr. A. E. W.
Mason presided ; and amongst those present were
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Hope, Mrs. Arthur Stannard,
Mrs. Heron-Maxwell, and Lady Colin Campbell.
Mr. Haddon Chambers is in New York super-
intending the rehearsal of his new play “The By-
Path,” which is to be produced by Miss Annie
Russell.
—_—_ +o o-_
PARIS NOTES.
+--+
HE literary season has begun in good earnest,
and it is very evident that French authors
have not all been holiday-making, as every
week brings us a long list of new books, and the
announcement of many new plays. Among the
most interesting of the novels which have appeared
during the last month is “Guilleri Guilloré,” by
M. Charles Foley. The author has succeeded, as
usual, in getting the atmosphere of the times
about which he writes into his book. It is a novel
which, though not precisely historical, treats of
historical personages. The scene is laid in La
Vendée, that heroic province of France, the history
of which M. Foley has studied so thoroughly that
he is now considered one of the greatest authorities
on the subject.
The plot of this new novel is based on an episode
connected with the last of the Legitimist con-
spiracies of 1832. ‘The famous Duchess of Berry
has returned from exile and landed on the French
coast, hoping to excite a movemeni i favour of
her son. She finds friends in ua Vendée who are
willing to risk their fortunes and even their lives
in the cause of the young prince. The exploits of
the courageous and fascinating young duchess,
her wanderings in disguise, and her hairbreadth
escapes are graphically described by M. Foley.
Guilloré is a young aristocrat who, thanks to his
fallen fortunes, political opinions, and the troubled
times in which he lives, is separated from his
fiancée. He, too, in his wanderings through La
Vendée, takes his life in his hands, for, although he
is not in the conspiracy, he runs the same risk ag
the duchess, whom he meets disguised as a young
man. He recognises her, but is too chivalrous to
let her know this until he has escorted her in
safety to her destination.
The whole story of the political intrigue and
the treachery of the man who betrays her is
woven into M. Foley’s novel.
From the first page to the last the book is
captivating, with its melancholy Vendean atmo-
sphere and its well-defined types of aristocrat,
bourgeois and peasant. Most dramatic, too, are
many of the incidents, and intensely so the scene
in the street, when the duchess has been captured
and is being led on foot through a dense crowd of
spectators. Guilloré and his fiancée are there, too,
watching with deep pity and dreading lest any
word of insult should be uttered by the people.
When the duchess reaches him, Guilloré, alone in
all that vast assembly, takes off his hat and stands
bareheaded as she passes by. The effect of his
action is instantaneous, and all the men with one
accord “in dead silence follow his example, moved
with a feeling of respect and pity for the vanquished
heroine.”’
“T’Hau souterraine,” by MM. Paul and Victor
Margueritte, can scarcely be called a novel. It is
a most charming psychological study woven into
a romance. Aicha is the daughter of an Arab
chief who has been compelled to submit to French
rule. On seeing that further rebellion is in vain,
he not only bows to the inevitable but he deter-
mines to make the best of it. He is soon on
friendly terms with his conquerors, who find him
most useful in his native country, so that as time
goes on he is able to take a high official post under
the new dispensation.
In order to flatter the French he educates his
little girl in the European way, with the result
that she marries one of the French officers. The
great interest of the book lies in the conflict waged
in the Arab soul between the great force of
atavism and the new interests which come into the
girl’s life. With her native intelligence and tact
she is able to take her position as an officer’s wife
in French society, and, through her deep affection
for her husband, she becomes as it were a French-
woman at heart. But when through a terrible
catastrophe she is suddenly left a widow, the bond is
snapped which has held her to her adopted country,
and she returns to her native land to finish her
days as an Arab woman. It is the dme invisible
which is the “Eau souterraine,” as the author
explains most poetically at the close of the book.
“Une source vive jaillit de la terre... Elle
orne la montagne et vivifiela plaine . . . Soudain,
source, ruisseau, riviére, l’eau qu’on voyait a dis-
paru . . . Mais tout & coup, a quelques kilometres
ou & quelques lieues, l’eau qu’on croyait perdue,
de nouveau surgit Ame invisible, eau
souterraine.”
68
“T’Enfant 2 la Balustrade,” by M. René Boy-
lesve, is another delightful story without any
strong plot. It treats of provincial life and is
supposed to be told by a boy. We can only say
that, considering his age, the boy was marvellously
observant and philosophical. It is the history of
a certain M. Nadaud, a notary, in one of those
country towns where everyone attends to his neigh-
bour’s affairs. M. Nadaud is unfortunate enough
to offend the great man of the town by purchasing
a house which the said great man had intended to
buy. This apparently simple incident is the great
theme of the book. The notary has to endure all
kinds of tribulations and humiliations, and we are
introduced to nearly all the inhabitants of the
town, for the silent quarrel between the wealthy
man who keeps open house, and Monsieur Nadaud
is a great and momentous event in which every
person for miles round is concerned. _
M. Boylesve excels in these provincial sketches,
and succeeds admirably in taking his reader away
from the rush and turmoil of city life to little, out-
of-the-world places, where the inhabitants are
entirely taken up with their own small interests
and rarely give a thought to what is happening
beyond the boundary of their own town.
Madame Gautier has published the new volume
of her Memoirs as the “ Second Rang du Collier.”
This second volume is, perhaps, even more interest-
ing than the first one. Another book of souvenirs
which will be read with pleasure is “ La Cour et la
Société du Second Empire,” the second series of
which M. James de Chambrier has just published.
There are in all about forty chapters, containing
anecdotes and impressions, collected by the author,
about the various literary men, artists and histori-
cal personages of that epoch. There is a chapter
on “ Thiers et Jules Simon,” another on “ Duruy
et Napoléon III.,” some interesting notes about
Gambetta Pasteur, Caro et l’Impératrice, the
“Salons of Mme. Aubernon and Mme. Adamand,”
various anecdotes in connection with the Embassies.
Among the persons of interest who figure in this
book are also Gounod, Sardou, Sarcey, Octave
Fenillet, Mérimée, Augier, Rosa Bonheir, Sainte-
Beuve, Renan, Lamartine, Coppée, Dumas, Georges
Sand, Maupassant, Balzac, Rachel, Madame Patti,
Alphonse Daudet, and many others.
“Monsieur de Migurac, ou Le Marquis Philo-
sophe,” by M. André Lichtenberger, is the story of
the life and adventures of a “ gentilhomme péri-
gourdin,” born in the year 1741, and is curious as
a study of habits and customs.
“Ernest Renan en Bretagne” is a new bio-
graphy compiled by M. René d’Ys.
M. Anatole France has also published, in pam-
phlet form, an excellent résumé of the work of
Ernest Renan. It is in reality the “Discours”
THE AUTHOR.
pronounced by M. France on the occasion of the
inauguration of Renan’s statue at Tréguier, and
gives an admirable idea of the great savant, both
as a man and as a conscientious thinker and
writer.
“Forces Perdues ” is the title of the new volume
by Pierre Baudin.
“ Petites Confessions,” by M. Paul Acker, will
appeal to amateurs of what is generally known as
“literary gossip.” The volume consists of a series
of articles entitled “ Visites” and “ Portraits
Littéraires,” which have appeared in one of the
Parisian dailies.
Among the most interesting articles in the
French Reviews are the following :—
In the Revue des Deux Mondes—“ La Facheuse
Equivoque,” a criticism by M. Brunetiére of “La
Religion d’autorité et la Religion de I’ esprit.”
The “ Correspondance inédite de Sainte-Beuve ”
is also being continued in this review, and the
serial story by Mrs. Humphry Ward, “ La Fille de
Lady Rose.”
Another serial translated from the English is
“ Anticipations,” by H. G. Wells, in La Grande
Revue.
In this review there is an excellent article by
M. C. Bouglé, ‘Contre le Darwinisme social ”
(Les Conditions humaines de la lutte pour la vie).
In La Renaissance Latine there ig an article
by M. Loiseau on “La Russie et les réformes
intérieures,”
- In La Revue, M. d’Estournelles de Constant
writes on “Le Mouvement pacifique,” and speaks
in the highest terms of M. Roosevelt.
There is also an article with some telling
statistics, by M. Lefévre, entitled, “ Comment
reconquerir la beauté, la force et la santé.”
“Les Anglais dans le roman francais moderne”
is the title of an article by M. Leblond in the same
review.
The Weekly Critical has opened an enquiry on
“Le Roman contemporain,’ and publishes the
letters of Madame Daudet, M. de Régnier, M.
Boylesve, Rachilde, and M. Albert Cim on the
subject.
The great theatrical events of the month have
been the production of the two plays, “L’Adver-
saire,” by MM. Capus and E. Aréne, and “ Jeanne
Vedekind,” by M. Philippi. In the latter piece
Mme. Sarah Bernhardt plays the part of a mére
tragique to perfection, proving once more that a
true artiste can adapt herself to any réle.
“L’Adversaire” is an immense success, both
from a literary and dramatic point of view, and
M. Guitry scores another triumph.
M. Antoine has been playing “La Guerre au
Village,” by M. Trarieux, which is more or less a
political piece.
en
M. Bour has been fortunate in securing the play
by M. Jacques Richepin, “ Cadet Roussel,” as it
seems likely to have a long run, and M. Richepin
is also fortunate in having his piece interpreted by
an artiste of M. Bour’s talent and ability.
The result of the differences between M. Porel
and Mme. Réjane will probably be to change the
Vaudeville programme considerably, and it is
rumoured that Mme. Réjane will take a theatre
of her own.
As regards the success of a play, judged by a
long run, we have an example in M. Pierre
Decourcelle’s “ Deux Gosses,” (“ Two Little Vaga-
bonds.”)
A short time ago the author feted the thousandth
representation of this piece, and since then it has
been given a hundred times more. Reckoning the
representations in countries for which it has not
been sold outright, the piece has been played more
than ten thousand times.
Mile. Héléne Réyé, who created the réle of
Clandinet, and played it 750 consecutive nights,
is taking the same part now that it has been put
on again. She has since then created Gavroche,
in “Les Misérables,” and is certainly inimitable
as the Parisian street arab.
There are several important plays now being
rehearsed, among‘others “ Le Retour de J érusalem ”
and “ L’ Absent.”
Auys HaLLArD.
—____——_+—>—_-_
“C.K. 8.” AND THE SOCIETY.
—
EMBERS of the Society will recollect that
in the November number of Zhe Author
a case was reported, in which Mr. John
Long was the defendant, relating to a lost MS.,
and a reply was made to some comments there-
on printed in The Sphere by the writer signing
himself “C. K. 8.”
In the number of The Sphere for the 14th of
November “CO. K. 8.” returned to the action of
the Society in the case, in a statement of consider-
able length, which occupied a column and a half,
and contained over 1,100 words, comprising a
number of inaccuracies and incorrect inferences
both in fact and in law.
Consequently, on November 20th the Secretary
of the Society addressed to the Editor of a letter
correcting some of the more material errors into
which “C, K. 8.” had fallen.
For brevity’s sake, minor matters, such as the
statement that “C. K. S.,” who had no personal
acquaintance with the publisher, happened to be
in Court, whereas the case was heard in Chambers—
THE AUTHOR.
69
where only those engaged in the suit or friends of
the parties could be present—were not noticed.
The letter was in the following terms :—
S1r,—It is needless for me to discuss the article over the
signature of “ C, K. 8.” in the issue of The Sphere of Novem-
ber 14th point by point, as the statement of the case already
put forward in the November number of The Author answers
sufficiently the major parts of the arguments, There are
some points, however, which must be corrected.
1. On the question touching the value of the plaintiff's
literary productions ; she received £50 and not £30 as
stated in your paper for her MS. There was ample evidence
besides of acceptances and payments and of the value of
her work.
2. The MS. was handed in at Mr. Long’s office to a
gentleman whom the author was told was Mr. Long, and
accepted for consideration without conditions. The alleged
condition which you have printed in full cannot affect the
arrangement, as the letter containing it was sent to the
author subsequently.
3. I regret to state that you are entirely misrepresenting
the facts when you say that I have made an incorrect
statement of the evidence. The facts were obtained from
the learned counsel who acted on behalf of the Society, and
if anything the statement does not put the matter suffi-
ciently in our favour. It is true that the Manager of the
London Parcel’s Delivery Company stated that he did not
sign for every parcel received, his reason being that people
did not necessarily demand a receipt, but he produced his
day sheet on which the name and address of every parcel
coming into the office is entered. The date and the name
of the receiving office had already been furnished by the
publisher himself, and on the day sheet of the office on the
date mentioned no parcel addressed to the plaintiff was
entered. It is the essence of the case that the evidence
produced by Mr. Long entirely failed to satisfy the learned
master that the parcel was despatched, indeed his own
counsel admitted this.
The object of the Society is not, as you suggest, to spend.
its money on the petty persecution of publishers, but one
of its objects is to have the legal relations between authors
and editors or publishers definitely settled in as many
points as possible.
I remain,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) G. HERBERT THRING.
Readers will gather from the Secretary’s letter
the nature of the main statements he thought
it expedient to notice, while any members of
the Society who wish to refer to the number of
The Sphere containing them can do so at the
Society’s office.
The Editor of Zhe Sphere has not thought fit
to publish this letter, as he had, on the 24th of
November, undertaken, in writing, to do. The
ground he alleges is that “it is too long for publi-
cation,’’ to say nothing of being rather “truculent.”
He has preferred to give a partial paraphrase of
it so as to suit his own argument.
Of the truculence of the letter readers can judge
for themselves. As to its length, it contains 388
words: is therefore a third of the length of the
article to which it was a reply.
In his final note, published in Zhe Sphere of
the 28th of November—in which the Secretary’s
letter was not published—“C. K. 8.” sets out his
70
indictment against the Society in the following
erms :—
“T urge that the Society has no business what-
ever to persecute publishers over the question of
the return or non-return of MSS., and, further,
that the Society itself has a rule which com-
pletely stultifies its action to the effect that it
does not hold itself responsible for the safe return
of manuscripts sent to it.”
We can one suppose that in “CO. K. 8.’s” dic-
tionary “persecute” is defined as equivalent to
“enforce legal responsibilities,’ while his reference
to the rule of the Society seems to prove that he
still fails to understand the legal position and the
bearing of the facts on this position. To insert
into a contract conditions made subsequently at
the will of either party is neither legally nor
morally justifiable. :
“C. K.8.” further illustrates the confusion of
his mind on legal matters by referring to the case
of Aflalo ». Lawrence and Bullen, as an action
that has the appearance of a “legal vendetta ”—
to say the least, a fantastic description of a case
in which three judges decided on one side against
five on the other, and which owed its carriage
through three Courts to the action, not of the
Plaintiff, but of the Defendants.
We are convinced that the majority of the mem-
bers of the Society will not grudge the expenditure
which has led to a final decision on a point of
law so obscure and so important to every British
Author.
————_ +
THE CONTRACT OF BAILMENT.
——+-—<—
HE question of the responsibility of editors
8 and publishers for MSS. left or sent to their
offices is one that is constantly recurring,
An interesting case against Mr. John Long
which bears on this subject has been published,
but it may be of profit to consider the matter from
@ more general point of view.
We have before us a letter from one editor who
distinctly states that he is not responsible—we do
not know on what facts he bases his deductions—
and another editor referring to the case above
quoted made the following statement: “It is
extraordinary that an author may plant MSS, un-
invited upon an editor or a publisher, actually
leaving them at his offive, and that the editor or
publisher should be in any way responsible for
their safe return,” and goes on to say, on the
authority of some lawyer (name not mentioned),
“that if the publisher had not invited the delivery
of the MS. he does not believe he would be legally
responsible for its safe return.”
THE AUTHOR.
This last statement is, of course, begging the
question, the real point being whether the pub-
lisher or editor invites MSS. from authors or not—
either expressly or impliedly. What is the general
rule ?
Is it possible to maintain that a publisher or an
editor with an advertised address does not set
himself up as a mark at which authors should
aim their MSS.; can it be maintained that an
editor or a publisher is merely a gratuitous bailee,
and that he does not receive and deal with MSS.
for his own benefit, though put forward unsolicited ?
Would not any editor be greatly hurt if he did not
receive the opportunity of considering, with a view
to publication, the MSS. of his best friend—some
popular author—if the author put forward the
reason that the editor shunned responsibility ?
Let us reverse the argument. Is there any
publisher who lives by publishing books that come
to him as the result of his written orders only, or
is there any editor who issues his magazine com-
posed of nothing but ordered articles? In the
case of the publisher the answer must be absolutely
in the negative. In the case of the editor of a
magazine or newspaper it may be that one, or
perhaps two, out of many hundreds never print
any but solicited articles. If, then, this is the case,
if MSS. are sent in for the benefit of the publisher
or editor as well as the author, then the publisher
or editor must be more than a mere gratuitous
bailee. The bailment must be considered for the
benefit of both parties.
Some editors and publishers try to rid them-
selves of their responsibility, legal or moral, by a
process of bluff, others by placing notices some-
where in their papers—in some cases in fairly
conspicuous positions, in others mixed up amongst
the advertisements, where an author would hardly
see them.
The Society has taken counsel’s opinion with
regard to this custom of inserting notices and the
responsibilities of the editors under these notices.
Counsel is of opinion that if the author knew of
the notice the MS. would be considered to be sent
up subject to the terms contained in that notice,
but it would lie with the publisher or editor to
prove that the author was cognisant of the terms.
If the author was not cognisant of the notice,
then the question would arise under the facts
already put forward. Is a MS. sent in for the
benefit of both parties or not ? Under the present
custom the question is beyond doubt that the MS.,
though unsolicited in express terms, is clearly sent
in for the benefit of both parties. Under these
circumstances the publisher or editor is more than
a mere gratuitous bailee, and would be responsible
accordingly.
GQ. BT.
WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS
OF BOOKS.
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be
obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a
competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of
the Society.
Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
Ci.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
IiI. The Royalty System.
This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form
of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It isnow
possible for an author to ascertain approximately the
truth. From time to time very important figures connected
with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
(.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
tothe author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
(3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.
——————_ +
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
ee
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. [t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
THER AUTHOR. 71
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays
in three or more acts :—
(a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This
is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into
such a contract should stipulate in the contract
for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(b.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of percentages on
gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5
and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum inadvance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢e.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of royalties (i.c., fixed
nightly fees). This method should be always
avoided except in cases where the fees are
likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4. Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘'hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10, An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, those authors desirous of further information
are referred to the Secretary of the Society.
He
WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS,
—_1—~@—+ —.
ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the
assistance of producers of books and dramatic
authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as
a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical
composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-
cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic
property. The musical composer has very often the two
rights to deal with—performing right and copyright, He
72
should be especially careful therefore when entering into
an agreement, and should take into particular consideration
the warnings stated above.
———— oo
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
—
i VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. | The
Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any
special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the
Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they
deem it desirable, will obtain counsel's opinion. All this
without any cost to the member.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-
ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use
the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the baok represented. 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. Before signing any agreement whatever, send
the document to the Society for examination,
5. 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 your calling in promoting
the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society's work
can be obtained in the Prospectus.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to
them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit
them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary
of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. :
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so
do some publishers. Members can make their own
deductions and act accordingly.
10. The subscription to the Society is £1 41s. per
annum., or £10 10s. for life membership.
THE AUTHOR.
THE READING BRANCH. .
—_——
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
VI branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry
and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
a 0
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, 8.W., and 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.
——_+——_—____—__
Communications and letters are invited by the
Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
——> + —
The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
a
THE LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
——
N offer has been made of a special scheme of
Endowment and Whole Life Assurance,
admitting of a material reduction off the
ordinary premiums to members of the Society.
Full information can be obtained from J. P. Blake,
Legal and General Insurance Society (City Branch),
158, Leadenhall Street, B.C.
of
“
4
THE AUTHOR. 73
AUTHORITIES.
Se En ie seh a
Tue case of Aflalo and Cook v. Lawrence and
Bullen has now been finally decided. Judgment
was given in the House of Lords on November
13th, and is fully reported in another part of The
Author.
We feel sure that members of the Society will
be glad that a point of Copyright Law of genuine
interest to all writers has been decided. The
Committee took up the question when it first came
before them—after full consideration and on the
advice of Counsel—as a matter of principle, the
amount of money involved being small. In the
Court of First Instance the plaintiffs were successful.
If the case had gone against the Society it is an
open question whether the Committee would have
considered it sufficiently important to carry to a
higher Court, but in the circumstances there was
no choice, as the defendants, against whom the
judgment stood, took the matter to the Court of
Appeal. Here, the plaintiffs, Messrs. Aflalo and
Cook, again obtained a judgment in their favour
by the opinions of two judges against one. Lord
Justice Romer and Lord Justice Stirling decided
against the appellants, Lord Justice Vaughan
Williams dissenting. The appellants were not
satisfied, and determined to take the verdict of the
last appeal—the House of Lords. Again the Com-
mittee had no choice: they were bound to go on
with the case. In the House of Lords the judges
were unanimously in favour of the appellants, and
the Society therefore became responsible for the
costs. Apart from this incident, which is of
course unfortunate, the Committee see no reason
to regret their action, which will, they feel confi-
dent, receive the support of the members. The
ease has resulted in the elucidation of an important
and difficult point of copyright law : how difficult
may be judged by the fact that the matter was decided
by the smallest majority possible out of eight judges
before whom the case was argued, that is by five
against three. This alone proves the need there
was for a definite deeision, and justifies the action
of those who were of opinion that it was a proper
case to fight in the first instance.
It may be well to add that of the many cases
which have received the support of the Committee
this is the first in the Superior Courts in which
judgment has been given adverse to the Society.
We hope in a subsequent number of The Author
to give in detail the alterations that it will be
necessary for members of the Society to make,
owing to the decision, in their methods of marketing
their literary wares.
Mempers of the Society will no doubt remember
that some months ago the Committee made, through
a letter signed by Mr. George Meredith, their
President, and the Chairman, an appeal to the
public for a sum sufficient to enable them to hand
over a replica of the Besant Memorial about to be
unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul’s, to the London,
County Council, in order that it might, under their
auspices, be erected in some suitable site on the
Thames Embankment.
The appeal thus made has produced substantial
results, but a further sum of about £40 is required
to enable the proposal adequately to be carried out.
There are, it is believed, many members of the
Society who would be glad to see such a public
recognition of an important side of Sir Walter
Besant’s active life, his love of London and efforts
for its improvement.
A Memorial in St. Paul’s can at best be seen but
rarely and by comparatively few, and this considera-
tion has had weight not only with the Committee,
but also with the sculptor, Mr. Frampton, who is
ready to provide the duplicate at what is practically
cost price.
Remittances should be made payable to The
Secretary, the Society of Authors, 39, Old Queen
Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W.
A list of subscribers will be published in a
subsequent issue.
WE have before us a circular sent out by the
Authors’ Association, of which the Central Offices
are at Darlington, and Mr. Galloway Kyle is the
Secretary, inviting authors or intending authors
to become members.
This is the association to which reference was
made in our number for April (1903). Its title
easily lends itself to confusion with our Society.
We therefore think it well to warn our readers
against any possible mistake. '
The fact that a well known publisher is a Vice-
President of the Authors’ Association is perhaps
sufficient evidence of the distinction of aims between
the two bodies.
WE are glad to see that the corporation of
Portsmouth have acquired the birthplace of Charles
Dickens with the intention of retaining it as a
permanent museum of “ the relics, manuscripts, and
writings of the great author.” This is an interest-
ing fact, and speaks well for the increasing popu-
larity of one whose reputation as a writer was stated
by common report to be fading. Though we applaud
74.
the action of the corporation in the case of Charles
Dickens, we think the purchase of houses of
celebrities in order to turn them into museums
may in some cases lead to absurd results, and on the
whole should be checked rather than encouraged.
We have heard of many ingenious ways of
advertising books in order to increase the sale: in
fact not so many months ago there was considerable
stir in the papers over a publisher's methods in
dealing with a MS. that had come into his possession.
We have heard of publishers advertising “The
Third Edition,” when only twenty-seven copies
have been sold, and we have heard of advertise-
ments of enormous sales which the author found
manifestly incorrect on receipt of the accounts, but
none of the stories have touched the following,
which we have taken the liberty of reprinting
from the St. James’ Gazette :
A Parisian author had fought for many years against
poverty and ill-health, but nevertheless had produced
several novels which were considered by those who had
read them to be works of genius, but they had been total
failures as saleable commodities. On his last work he had
concentrated all his hopes of recognition and even of
existence, but on publication the book showed every sign
of going into the same limbo as its predecessors. The
author, however, hit upon a unique way of advertising it.
Acting upon the dictum that the best way to get a novel
tread is to have it publicly described as unfit to read, he
wrote from Marseilles a letter signed “An Indignant
Republican” to the authorities in Paris violently censuring
a certain work as dangerous to public morality and demand-
ing the imprisonment of its author. When inquiries were
made the writer and the author were found to be one and
the same person, but the writer’s object was accomplished.
A recent number of our valuable contemporary,
Le Droit d@ Auteur, contains some interesting notes
on the earliest examples of authors’ successful
claims to pecuniary remuneration for their work.
The first author who appears to have succeeded in
getting paid for his rights was a Canon of Mans,
who in 1452, having composed a “ Mystery of the
Nativity, the Passion, and the Resurrection,” ceded
it to the shrievalty of Paris for ten écus of gold, a
little more than five guineas. In the sixteenth
century French dramatic authors received three
écus for each comedy. Herdy wrote seven hundred.
Later Quinault received one-ninth of the money
taken at the doors of the theatre, and thus set the
first example of royalties.
_ Oo
THE AUTHOR.
W. E. H. LECKY.
Y the death of Mr. Lecky, the Society of
Authors has lost one of its most distin-
guished members, and Great Britain a
man of letters who was also a man of reading.
He was for more than thirty years an interesting
and considerable figure in cultivated London
society. Though a shy man he loved company,
and such society as is “quiet, wise and good.”
So rudimentary and simple were his notions of
enjoyment, that he was fond of dining-out. He
loved the movement and the stir of life none the
less, perhaps all the more, because he was personally
ill-adapted for the race. His interest in his
fellow-men was inexhaustible. He always wanted
to know how the other half of the world lived.
Although himself cast in an unfamiliar type, he had
a very human heart and longed to be at one with his
brother man. Hiscurious, unequal, but not wholly
uninteresting book called ‘ The Map of Life,” bears
witness to his desire to be treated, not as a mere
spectator or critic, but as an actual combatant in
the battle-fields of existence. Men of the world, as
they call themselves, smiled good-humouredly and
said, “ What on earth can Lecky know of life?”
But ‘men of the world” are too apt to give them-
selves airs in such matters. Life about town, or
on the race-course, or in barracks, or in law courts,
are but phases of the great Phantasmagoria, and
Mr. Lecky with his anxious eyes, his brooding
mind, his wide reading, his experience (gained both
at home and abroad), and, above all, his sad sincerity
and freedom from idol-worship, knew a great deal
about life, though not enough, it may be, to draw
maps.
Few men will be more missed in their accustomed
haunts than Mr. Lecky. He was one of those
friendly men who are always liked. He was a
sympathetic listener as well as an agreeable
talker. He belonged to many clubs and coteries.
He was welcome at all of them. You liked to see
his “willowy” figure steal furtively into the
room. To sit next him at dinner was always a
mild, but real pleasure. Like all good and sensible
men he was fond of the society of clever women,
and preferred meeting them é¢e-a-téte to any other
way. As an afternoon caller he had great merits.
His information was varied and extensive, and he
knew about many things besides history and books.
He was an excellent judge of pictures, particularly
Spanish and Dutch. He could handle china
knowingly, and criticise furniture with severity.
A deprecatory glance of his eye, an uneasy
contortion of his sensitive frame, was more damning
than an explosion of abuse from noisier connois-
seurs.
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THE AUTHOR.
Of books he had a great knowledge, and for
| them he had true feeling. In talking with most
men you are often amazed to discover the books
_ they have not read, but Mr. Lecky’s catholicity
was hard to impugn. I am speaking of English
1% books.
by I well remember the first appearance of his
i, “Rise and Influence of Rationalism.” Eloquence
| is a great quality in literature, and the book was
»; aneloquent one. It was also eminently readable
| throughout; and what is more, it breathed the
| spirit of the hour. Young men, and maidens of a
«| Speculative turn of mind, read it with eagerness,
| and discussed it at the tea-table with animation,
~ whilst their elders looked on and listened with
4 mingled alarm for the future and pride in the
4 talents of their offspring. The main note of the
book was the beneficence of scepticism, the good
» done to the world by the men who first had the
% courage to say “J don’t believe you.’ The atmo-
~ Sphere is different to-day, and our young people
. have begun once again struggling to believe in
something or another, if it be only in ghosts.
__ Of Mr. Lecky’s “ History ” this is not the place to
speak. It has throughout one rare characteristic,
» | @genuine dispassionate love of truth.
In the House of Commons, Lecky was a per-
.| sonality. As a learned Irishman he shared with
-{ another learned Irishman, Sir Richard Jebb, an
;- unassailable position. He was always listened to
| with the utmost attention, and was in my humble
judgment a really admirable speaker. His
_ character, of course, stood high, whilst his amiability
‘ and love of his fellow creatures were daily mani-
fested by his aspect and bearing.
The caricaturist made free with his figure. He
would survey these productions with a melancholy
smile in which there was no bitterness. “I seem
to lend myself to caricature,” he once said to me.
In a sense he did—but only in a restricted sense.
In the nobler elements of character and indivi-
duality, Mr. Lecky showed himself both to his
friends and to his readers as the true man he was.
The Society of Authors may well mourn his loss.
AUGUSTINE BIRRELL.
——__———+—_2-—_____—_
PROFESSOR THEODOR MOMMSEN.
+
; N the beginning of the year we were congratu-
lating Professor Theodor Mommsen on having
received the prize for literature granted by
@ the Swedish Academy acting under the will of the
‘4 late Mr. Nobel. Now we have, with sorrow, to
©@ announce his death.
: Professor Mommsen was born on the 30th of
4) November, 1817, and was, therefore, at the date
15
of his death, nearly eighty-six. Although born a
Dane he always considered himself a German. He
was, without doubt, in the varied fields in which
he studied, a living force. He carried light into
many of the dark places of history, and was one of
the greatest names in literature that Germany has
ever produced. His education commenced in the
gymnasium at Altona, and ended by his graduating
at the University of Kiel. It is a curious fact that
although the studies and works which made him
famous were in such dry subjects as philology,
history, and jurisprudence, yet he began his author-
ship by publishing a book of poems, with his brother,
in 1839. A few years after this date he obtained
a grant from the Government and spent a great deal
of his time in Italy and France. This, no doubt,
was the turning point in his career. From that.
moment he began his wonderful study of Roman
history, and of the subjects connected with the
Roman national life. His painstaking research
was assisted by a wonderful memory, and both
these by a brilliant insight and a fine judgment.
There is no doubt that on his work as a Roman
historian his reputation will stand in England,
To the schoolboy and the undergraduate his history
was always a bugbear. It is probable, therefore,
they may consider his fame and brilliancy over-
rated, but it is lucky for most geniuses that their
reputation does not rest on the eternal criticism of
generations of schoolboys and undergraduates.
Although his history of Rome is undoubtedly a
wonderful production on account of the grasp of
the life of the period and the character of the
nation, yet those who applaud his methods do not
necessarily approve his deductions. Some of them
were so startling that although they struck astonish-
ment in the first instance, yet after consideration
could not alwaysstand the light of maturer criticism.
Special reference should be made to his description
of Cicero, who, with all his faults, with all his
weaknesses, and with all his cowardice, was no
doubt, judging from the correspondence that
remains to us, the most important man of letters
of his time, and judging from other historical relics
one of the greatest advocates. To him Professor
Mommsen will grant no good qualities. He
calls him “journalist in the worst sense of the
word,” “dabbler,” “short-sighted egotist,” and
“statesman without insight.” Asa set off against
Cicero he lauds Cesar to the skies. Every historian
must have his faults. No sound critic, however,
could fail to recognise his power. For this reason,
during the latter years of his life, although he
lived in a simple manner at his home in Charlotten-
burg, he has been looked upon by the younger
generation of Germany as a model to look up to
and admire, and has, received constant recognition
of his brilliant accomplishments.
THE AUTHOR.
76
D
ENGLISH AUTHORS AND THE UNITE
STATES RIGHTS.
—St
P to the end of his historical survey of
iti 5 on
American conditions, cA CO, B. ea
safe cround ; but hardly anyone converse
5
: nos Wi inclined to
with international ine He ee are, ad
follow him further. That Hngls av bli
: lass, losing place with the United States pu ~
ha the points now : ee pear es
: thing to remedy that ste
ee ae ae lines we should oe
a : » ici t it is no
_ «A, OG, B.” says explicitly that
oe for the British author to write oe
stuff? All he has apparently to do is to “ wake
up.”” In other words, he is, on the literary and
artistic side, safe enough; it is only as what the
Americans call a “drummer ” that he fails. Now
I believe this attitude to be not only undignified
but wholly wrong. Setting aside the great names
in American letters, who were, i the most gel
historians, essayists and poets, American author-
ship is acalling of the past few years. a oe C. B.”
oints out, it dates from the passing of the American
a capsaht Act. It has only required a very short
time for the American writer to capture and hold
the attention of his fellow countrymen, and, in the
nature of the case, his success has been won largely
at the expense of the English author. Not of
course, that the English author has suffered much
pecuniarily by the passing of the American Copy-
right Act; the cheques for literary work that
travelled either way across the ocean in the old
days were very few. Yet the broad fact remains
that, where the American used to read English
fiction, he now reads the work of men and women
of his own nationality. The man who has been
hurt by the new conditions ig certainly not
the writer of the first rank—have we any such
men now producing actively ?—not even the writer
ofthe second rank; but, beyond doubt, the writer
of the third and even lower classes. These men
were worth reprinting in the United States when
their eo ae nothing but paper and print ; they
are not worth reprinting when they have to compete
for popularity with work of equal and greater bent
iat 1s written by Americans, deals with American
as and is in harmony with the habit of mind of
: ae and women who read it.
: 18 convenient to divide authors into Classes
ee arbitrary fashion that I have just ventured
hi eee but it is rarely that any writer finds al]
des ooks in the same class. He may ascend or
pene | some of his books will be better than
others. When I gay, I fear rather discourteous]
third-class authors,” I mean the writers cha
products die with each publishing season, and have
‘large one, and it comprises writers whose various
i im to longer existence.
in fact, no claim to long
the American publisher does not want; and he
t want them for the reason that he cannot 0
coe? To talk of “waking up” in offering Bi
sell them. UCT in one
such manuscripts, or “ persisting and insisting ”
with American publishers, is to be wholly wide of
the mark, Occasionally a book of this class is
placed in the United States market ; but there is
nearly always some special reason for its appear-
ing internationally. The American may buy it
because he hopes for another and better work from
the same pen ; he may have a contra-account with
an English publisher which he is anxious to settle
—in fine, he may have a hundred different reaSons
for his acceptance. But, on its merits, he does not
want the book. The author may “wake him up”
by every mail; he may “ persist ’’ with cablegrams ;
he may “insist” in season and out of season. The
facts are not altered.
T’o come now to the authors of the second class,
who may, not unfairly, be said to represent the
best of which we are now capable. Have such
authors any substantial grievance? I hardly think
so. The class of which I am now speaking is a
degrees of popularity differ markedly from one
another, But for any work that shows, I will not
say genius, but even a definite talent, either in the
direction of sustained interest of narration, real
psychological insight, or careful character study,
there is a distinct American demand. And if that
demand is not supplied from this side of the
Atlantic, the fault lies with the authors them-
selves, Many men who are read here widely have
but a small American following ; not infrequently
the converse may be said to be nearer the truth.
Yet, whatever may be the hold of any individual
writer on the American public,
books as I have now in mind are worth reprinting
and copyrighting in the States, and it is, almost
without exception, possible to make the necessary
arrangements. In this connection, “names” are of
smaller importance than is often supposed. United
States publishers are more open minded than their
English brethren ; many of them are attracted
by the notion of a gamble in an unknown writer’s
work. But the work, with all respect to “ A.C, B.,”
must be good, the publisher must haye a run for
his money. With the man who has an established
following, the question is what terms he can make ;
with the unknown writer who has his reputation
still to gain, it is whether he can make an entry
at all into another circle of readers.
good work and efficient handling—I do not pretend
to disregard what may be called the commercial
traveller aspect of the question—the result should
he satisfacto
Of authors of the first class, it is hardly neces-
Such books
nearly all such ~ i
“ig sary to write. As “A.C, B.” says, “ Many kinds of
~4)§ literature appeal to the whole world.”
Ҥ Granting the truth of the considerations I have
“lg already set down, it follows that it is only books
of the second class with which we have to concern
ourselves. “‘ A.C, B.,” while impliedly admitting
that an author may do wisely to make his English
uf arrangements through an agent’s intermediary, is of
@@ opinion that he will do better himself to attend to
eid his over-sea negotiations. In this particular, I fear
§ experience is against him. Certainly, the course
he proposes is not one that has recommended itself
to those English authors who have the largest fol-
lowing in theStates. In fact, one may say that it is
jo@ not an infrequent experience with agents to have
j proposals for the handling of work for America, while
@ the author intends to control personally his English
f business. Numerous as are the dangers and diffi-
3 culties attendant upon the sale of literary property
of in this country, the possibilities of loss in inter-
© national arrangements are far greater. I do not
y wish to cast any reflection on the integrity of
4 American firms, although the agreements that are
“18 offered from the other side are often and in many
| respects not such as would commend themselves to
any writer familiar with the practice of the best
tf London houses. But the opportunity of error is,
f in the nature of the case, much more frequent when
_ two firms, instead of only one, have to be con-
| sidered. There is the question of international
copyright ; of the synchronising of dates of appear-
ance, when, it may be, a book is serialised on one
side of the water and not on the other; of the
Canadian market, which is very often a bone of
9 contention between the English and the American
‘oq publisher. In short, it is only possible to sur-
‘a mount the difficulties inherent in the conditions
Jo obtaining by unremitting care, coupled with a
marked degree of expert knowledge. However
cool the business head” of authors may be, there
78 are, it is safe to say, not many of them who have
4 the equipment necessary, if the task involved is to
*d be grappled with successfully.
A It is possible to deal with one agent here and
another in the United States. But the course has
little to recommend it. In the first place, neither
‘8 agent can feel the interest in his client’s affairs
dé” which he would do were they entirely in his hands,
_ And, in the second, the two sets of negotiations are
02 so closely interwoven, that in practice, 1b will not
od be found possible entirely to separate them. For
9 example, the American agent may want instruc-
ii tions or information, the purport of which will
_ depend on what is being arranged with the English
_ publisher ; the man who can solve the difficulty at
once is the English agent, yet, were the course now
under discussion to be followed, the matter would
val have first of all to be referred to the author, who
THE AUTHOR.
17
on : his turn, have to consult his London
ae : 18 Just conceivable that a man of some
elicacy of feeling might hesitate before troubling
—possibly to a considerable extent—his agent with
work in which he had no pecuniary interest, But
leaving that point on one side, it can easily be
realised how many are the chances of confusion
and loss, Further, the London agent who is in
constant touch with one or more agents in New
York can command a degree of attention for his.
work as a whole which the individual author who
only occasionally sends MSS. across the Atlantic
cannot reasonably expect. The London agent
represents, for the American agent, a combination
of authors ; and, naturally, the affairs of a com-
bination are of more consequence than those of
any one person, unless, indeed, he be of consider-
able eminence. And, I take it, we are not now
concerned with the work of such men. Further,
the London agent is by no means confined to dealing
through an Americanagent ; with many American
houses he is probably in close personal touch, as
the result of his acquaintance with the members
of the different firms. An American publisher
when he is in London will certainly visit the chief
London agents, while—again leaving the man of
great reputation apart—it would hardly be worth
his while to call upon a number of individual
authors, whose work he nevertheless is probably
quite ready to consider.
As I understand his paper, “A.C. B.” is of opinion
that agents do not, as a class, deal efficiently with
the United States rights of books that are placed in
their hands. Without specific instances—which I
admit it would be difficult, and perhaps improper,
to give—of the neglect he complains of, discussion
of the point is difficult. But it may safely be said
that no agent who understands his business ever
loses sight of transatlantic possibilities. The notion:
that he would be tempted by a peculiarly beneficial
English contract to take no trouble to market 8
book in America is, with all courtesy, absurd, For
the better the contract that is possible here, the:
better, broadly speaking, will the American ainnde
ment be. The contention is interesting, ewer
as it is the first time that I have heard _
accused of indifference to the commercial - eo
their activities ; but Tam convinced that it . _
other value. To touch on a minor, point, a
frequently impolitic to begin negotiations
America before a contract is signed here ; with 4
ar to the American publisher,
me that is famili wublish
the course advised may be followed 5 but, p =
case of newer men, the best introduction to the
American publisher is the statement that a well
i ‘ the book.
nglish firm has taken up ol -
ee “most authors are alive to the inadvisa
bility of allowing their English publishers to act
THE AUTHOR.
78
agents. From every | point of
not in the author’s interests.
oks which are never copy-
righted in the United States, oye FED ogee
bat chance is to sell an edition in sheets. -
eae can and often does sell sheets of such publica-
eae and I have known cases Neate ae ae -
a to allow the Lon
he advantage of the author
paulieher to do the work. The question of the
division, as betwe
en author and publisher, of profits,
on such ‘transactions is very
often a cause of hard
feeling between the two,
and it is emphatically
one of the points where the advice of an expert 1s
most valuable.
as their American
view, the practice 18
But there are certain bo
C. F. CAZENOVE.
—_———__ + __
THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON
MEN OF LETTERS.
—-—<+—
“« O you observe any traces of ‘ Faust,,”
asks Shelley of a friend, “in the poem
I send you? Poets—the best of them—
are a very chameleonic race ; they take the colour,
not only of what they feed on, but of the very
leaves under which they pass.”
Shelley was thinking chiefly of the influence of
an author’s favourite books on his own productions,
but the remark is applicable to other descriptions
of leaves than book leaves, to any kind of influence
with which the poet, and in a less degree the prose-
writer, if a susceptible person, is habitually in con-
tact. From this point of view authors may be
divided into two classes—to both of which they
may belong at different periods of their lives—
those who can and those who cannot choose their
environment. When we can be sure that a writer
belongs to the former class, the environment, as an
index to his inclinations, in its turn reflects light
upon the characteristics of his own mind while
Sometimes it raises a problem. It is easy to see
why Louis Stevenson should have preferred to liv
in the South Sea Islands, and apart from the
qualities of the books composed th h ey
fact afford insight i i ae ere
8 an insight into his nature which could
eos ee are Be if his works had been peanad
ane. Dut Stevenson also shows that a b
may be entirely indepe oo
writing hig Tae and Se b
ally Scotch fiction, * Weir of Hermi cpiees
(as ’ ermiston,”’ amon
. a ibe of Samoa. This, in the i
é sensiti thle
demonstrate that, while ‘the ee Fe tO
ment cannot be denied, wit fmch ee
Beach of Teles hess such tales as “The
presence of an overmastering iinpula es
quarter.“ Weir of Bien pulse from another
» Judging from his
ence, would seem to be of all his bookg
the one which had taken the most complete
possession of him, hence its superior merit,
« And his own mind did like a tempest strong
Come to him thus, and drive the weary wight along.”
If we can easily follow Stevenson to the South
Seas, there are other writers able, like him, to choose
their own environment whose motives are for the
present inscrutable, and consequently fail to afford
light to their characters and writings. Why should
Mr. Henry James, the most subtle analyst of com-
plicated modern society, spend his life by preference
in a little Cinque Port? When we know what
secret bond attaches Mr. James to Rye, we shall
know more of him than we do, and if he does not
tell us himself, it will be a matter for his biographers
to investigate.
One of the strongest witnesses to the influence
of environment is Shakespeare, when he deplores
the evil influence of the profession of actor upon
him, and complains that his nature is
“ Subdued
To what it works in, like the dyer’s hand.”
(fe Observe this image,” comments Shelley, “how
simple it is, and yet how animated with the most
intense poetry and passion.”) There is great
reason to think that Shakespeare renounced the
profession of actor long before he ceased writing
for the stage ; it is certain that as soon as he was
able he acquired property at his native place, which
he must have visited as frequently as his profes-
sional engagements would allow. It is interesting
to inquire how far an influence from this change is
atl) in his Writings, and it may be traced
with certainty. The precise date of the sonnet
seas above ic doubtful, but it certainly did
not long precede his acquisition of property at
Stratford. Within a year or two of this oven we
find him producing the most sylvan of his dramas,
As You Like It,” more thoroughly pervaded with
the spirit of country life than anything he had
Nidan before, if we except the description of the
orse in “‘ Venus and Adonis,” beginning
“But lo, from forth a copse that neighbours by,”
and of coursing a hare in the Same poem, beginning
pote when thou hast on foot the purblind hare,”
€ latter, especially, ig ; :
oe ) lly, a marvel of accurate
a showing that Shakespeare must have
2b’ Many a coursing match. “Ve d
Adonis,” being descri be hans a
, us, Delng described by him ag “ the first hei
of my invention,” was i oe
1 » Was probably written not ]
after his departure from Stratford, when the tan
Tess i : :
p sion of country life would be strong with him
evived by his acquisit 1
quisition of a house there and
hi : a
'8 occasional visits, they come out in full force
correspond
after he has it his princi ;
whe pe it his principal residence there
rs, culminating in the pastoral
S
THE AUTHOR.
~sescenes in “A Winter’s Tale” (1611), where
‘fp villagers and village pastimes are painted to the
‘life. Here seems a clear instance of the effect of
ym@environment. It is an interesting question whether
od the total neglect of the country by the artificial
soe poets of a later day, such as Dryden and Pope, is
eto be attributed to their metropolitan environ-
‘om ment or to the pervading atmosphere of the period.
sd] Their opportunities for contemplating the face of
ie¥ Nature were indeed few, but they showed no dis-
‘aoe position to profit by those which they had. How
il different from Keats! who had scarcely been
vec beyond Edmonton when he produced his first
0¢ poems, which nevertheless contain couplets so
jaa instinct with the spirit of the country as this :
‘When a tale is beautifully staid,
We feel the safety of a hawthorn glade.”
Scott is a most signal instance of the power of
va environment. It would hardly be fair to appeal to
4 Byron as another, for he travelled with the deliberate
i intention of making poetical capital out of every-
4 thing that came in his way. He nevertheless forms
sae one of a remarkable group of English poets who
-ef have been deeply influenced by Italian environ-
om ment. The list includes Landor, Shelley, Keats,
‘ae and both the Brownings. Of these Robert Brown-
ui ing seems the most deeply influenced, doubtless
sod because as a dramatist he touched Italian life at
om more points than the rest. He is a magnificent
2a] instance of what improvement can be effected even
ai in a great poet by transplantation, provided that
ii the process is not continued so long as to pervert
“{ the original bent of his genius. The greatest
vil literary gift, however, that Italy ever made to
1@ England was not poetry, but Gibbon’s “ Decline
vg and Fall,” conceived as, sitting by the Coliseum
‘6 on a moonlight night, he heard the barefooted
‘d friars sing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter. The
af influence, however, though permanent in its effects,
-@ was too transient in its application to be reckoned
“8 among instances of environment ; but Gibbon has
told us of amore prosaic inspiration which certainly
5 deserved the name, the benefit which the historian
# who was ‘to write so fully on military matters
9% received from a spell of service in the militia.
_ It sometimes happens that a great writer spends
s a long life in an environment devoid of striking
features, and which we nevertheless feel to have
d been the best he could possibly have had. Such a
3 case was Goethe’s : he could not have been better
"4 suited than at Weimar, and yet Weimar can hardly
4 be thought to have supplied much aliment to the
4 genius of which he had given ample proofs 7
9 coming there. Its effect was to provide him her
4 the quiet, honourable, stable environment, wit -
which his calm, polished genius could work free 2
and happily, “ without haste and without rest, as
79
he said himself. He might have found it diff l
to observe this commendable maxim if his ci seg
stances had been less easy, and his s her : tae
more perturbed. : OU as
On the whole we can but concl ib i
possible to attribute both too oe little
to environment, that it always exerts some influence
but rarely makes the author an entirely different
oon - . Baa have been under other
te » an at this influence usually
in proportion to the susceptibility of his
perament. Men of the highest genius are
consequently in one point of view the most liable
to be affected by it, but from another the least, as
the force of their minds enables them to triumph
over circumstances which would crush feebler
natures. Milton affords a memorable instance,
composing his immortal poem under a total priva-
tion of sight, and under the most adverse personal
and domestic circumstances. Here the environment
was absolutely hostile, but his past studies and his
present meditations enabled him to create for him-
self another far different one, within which his life
was in reality spent. “ Paradise Lost” could not
have been greater if his circumstances had been of
the happiest, but this is mainly owing to the ideal
and spiritual character of the poem. The vast
majority of writers who deal with more sublunary
matters will do well to adapt, as far as may be,
their environment to themselves; and, when this
is not practicable, themselves to their environment.
Too much, however, must not be expected from
even the most favourable external situation; if a
man cannot do something where he is, he is not
‘kely to do much anywhere.
> ee : R. GARNETT.
——_—__- > >—_—_
OF LETTERS.
++
Christmas, and the big
hop was packed with
hurried customers, busily choosing their ate
Christmas gifts. Cards were being Lege!
ae ae ae a fe and
-osged much attention ;
tay Anite of all sorts sold i. eee
: a MO tek whe had stolen in unobserved
SF ck wie a hanging ealendar, half hidden
and s
oe ea It wasa child
ots of chattering women. Oe
. ae ag ee years old, clad in ee sent
abire with a battered red oh oe i
ae : ye-capped W ae,
worn heavy boots, toe-e PE a number of little
hair done in
Ft ial, tied up with cotton. She stood
. 2
A PATRON
T was two days before
country stationers §
80
till and quite alone, almost under the
sane her eed was half a foot below it, _
she could have seen nothing but the skirts tha
rustled about her. After watching her for some
minutes I asked her what she wanted.
«4 hook,” she whispered, showing a halfpenny
clutched tightly in her warm little dirty fist.
‘A book! She had come to buy a book—she
alone out of the crowd! Her answer gave mea
thrill of joyous optimism. She represented the
new generation, the coming woman, and she
wanted to buy a book. :
In three minutes she was out of the shop again,
blissfully hugging two cheap toy books, and, of
course, perfectly unconscious that they had cost
more than her own cheerfully given coin. I
slipped out, too, and furtively followed her. At
the first corner she stopped to examine her trea-
sures, and in a few seconds was so absorbed in
the contents of one that she wandered on without
seeming to know where she went. The dirty
street had doubtless become a paradise ; she was
deaf and blind to everything but the wonderful
world of pictures under her gloating eyes, and did
not even notice that she had strayed from the
pavement to the road. Still watching her as she
dragged her heavily-shod feet by the gutter, I was
suddenly roused to action by the approach of a big
dray that came lumbering down upon the child,
and there was only just time to drag her out of
danger. She looked up at me with eyes full of
dream, but spoke no word, though I walked beside
= till she turned into a grimy alley to find her
home.
There I lost sight of her, but I shall not readily
forget the tiny thing in the red cap and thick
boots who brought her precious ha’penny to the
bookshop instead of the sweetstuff stall. Ag a
struggling writer of books in an age of free
hbraries and cheap newspapers, I am not ungrate-
ful to this small patron of letters for her practical
encouragement, for the thrill of hope set vibrating
when, 1n answer to my enquiry as to her wants she
piped up, shyly but firmly : “A book.”
Bless her!” With h ly
to buy a book, er only copper she wanted
MAL, P.
oo eo
SHOULD WELL-KNOWN WRITERS
“FARM OUT” FICTION?
N
N a recent issue of The Author a correst
I alluded Incidentally to the Tia event
: well-known writers of fiction are said to have
adopted of late years of « farming out,” as it ig
called, a proportion of the work they are commis-
sioned to do, and he appeared to take it for granted
THB AUTHOR.
that all readers of Ze Author and all members of 6 2
the Authors’ Society must, as a matter of course, 921
agree with him that the practice is reprehensible iid;
in the extreme.
Now it would be interesting to know the exact |9s:
reason that leads this correspondent, and presum- ann
ably a section of the writing community, to look fo.
upon the practice of “ ghosting” for a well-known a
: : Se ul
writer, or of “ ghosting,” for that matter, for any ©
writer able and willing to pay a competent proxy,
asa contemptible and iniquitous practice. Ask any ¥
popular writer of fiction, or writer of popular fiction
—to be quite accurate—and he will tell you that a.
every year the applications he receives for long §
stories as well as for short stories increased, until f
now it has come to this :—(1) He must decline to
undertake to get through more than a comparatively &
small amount of work, and thus, in the language &
of the box-oflice, he must “turn good money
away” ; (2) he must “scamp” a portion of the
work he has agreed to do, and thus, in the long
run, ruin his well-earned reputation for producing
interesting stories ; (3) he must call in the aid of
a proxy, in other words, “ farm out” the surplus.
As the author of two stories that have appeared
serially and in book form as the original work of a
well-known writer, and as the writer also of a
number of short stories that have appeared in
magazines and elsewhere, and purport to be the
original work of a certain well-known writer, I
think that I may claim to speak with, at any rate,
a small amount of authority on this rather interest-
ing subject, and be allowed to draw attention to
some of the advantages the system of “ farming
fiction ” may be said to possess where the interests
of the unknown writer—the ghost—the hack—the
proxy—call him what you will—are at stake.
i may say, to begin with, that the writers for
whom I act as proxy know me sufficiently well to
be aware that | am not likely ever to blackmail
them, and in selecting a proxy this is of course an-
extremely important consideration. They also
know quite well that I am able to keep my own —
counsel. Now, with regard to the advantages of —
the system, it is in the matter of remuneration
that the proxy, so to speak, “romps in” so far
ahead of the individual who writes under his own
name only. For the first long story I “ ghosted ”
I received £2 15s. a thousand words all the way
through, one-third of the total amount being paid
to me before I had written a line ; one-third when
I had completed about one-half of the story ; one- —
third on the day I delivered the MS. complete.
Now, supposing that I had written that story on
the chance of its being accepted by some news-
paper, some syndicate, or some publisher, what
would have happened? In the first place I should
have worked hard for four whole months without
THE AUTHOR,
“ae receiving a single shilling, and all the time I
| should have been worried by the thought that
f perhaps I should, after all, be unable to “place”
‘ed the book, in which case those four months’ hard
» work would of course have been so much time
eu) absolutely wasted. At the end of the four months
ite! T should have set to work to send the story either
to a literary agent or to a publisher. The pub-
i) lisher would have kept it for a month or six weeks
at the very least, and then probably have returned
/ it to me with a polite but unsatisfactory note to
«1 the effect that the book would not suit his house,
but that it possessed merit and might be accepted
«| by some other publisher. I should then have sent
i it elsewhere, and when several months at least had
elapsed I should—if fortune had favoured me—
| have succeeded in “ placing” it. But how much
‘4 should I then have received for it? A guinea a
(| thousand words, perhaps. Very likely not so
Ҥ much. And when would the cheque have been
{ paid to me? Then and there, possibly. Much
more likely many months later. Should I have
“4 received any kudos 2? None to speak of—certainly
=) not enough to compensate me for so serious a pecu-
| niary loss. Personally, therefore, I look upon the
well-known writer who “ farms out” his work as a
sort of Heaven-sent being, and not, as some appear
to consider him, a species of impostor. He satis-
| fies himself; he satisfies the proxy he employs ;
| he satisfies his publisher; and he satisfies the
| public—for by this time the public has come to
know quite well that stories and books alleged to
be the work of Blank are certain to be readable.
| Whether Blank himself actually writes the books,
) or whether he employs someone to write them for
‘{ him, is really of no great consequence so far as the
4 general reader is concerned. ‘The general reader
looks upon Blank’s name as a sort of trade mark
—nothing more. The same kind of thing goes on
‘f in trades and professions, and nobody thinks of
' grumbling. Not very many years ago, to give a
#4 single instance, the business of one of the best
vl known West End gunmakers was acquired by the
4 son of an equally famous coach-builder. The
coach-builder adopted the name of the gunmaker
for business purposes, and to this day probably
two-thirds of this gunmaker’s customers are under
_97 the impression that Blank’s guns are built by the
son of the eminent gunmaker who actually worked
up the business and established its world-renowned
reputation. :
The same remarks apply to the proxy writer of
' short stories. I am commissioned by ‘ that
| popular and clever writer, Blank So-and-So,” to
| write a magazine story of, say, 3,000 words, .
/ appear under his or her signature. Blank tells
me the sort of story that is wanted—the sort that
he or she knows I happen to be capable of pro-
81
ducing—and we arrange terms. Blank agrees to
pay me at the rate of, say, three guineas, or perhaps
four guineas, a thousand words. I allow myself
perhaps a whole week, even ten days, in which to
map out, write and re-write this commissioned
story. I know that I shall be paid for it on the
day it is delivered, so I now have no need to
worry, or to wonder whether the story will ever be
published, and if so, when; and how long I shall be
kept waiting for my cheque. Now, had this story
been written on the chance of its being accepted on
its merits, I should in all probability have been
obliged to send it round to five or six magazines,
one after another, and perhaps at the end of a year
it would still be travelling about and trying to
place itself. Even if it had been accepted at once
I should not have been paid more than fourteen or
fifteen guineas for it. Very likely I should have
been compelled to accept ten, or even less, and the
cheque might still be owing, ‘the rules of this
office being not to pay until the contribution has
appeared.”
Therefore J maintain that for the free lance not
overburdened with wealth this ‘‘ ghosting” work
is by far the more profitable, by far the more
satisfactory in more ways than one provided, he
can get the right man to commission the stories,
and provided also that he is capable of turning out
the sort of stuff required—I employ the word
“stuff” in no derogatory sense—possibly provided
also that the sight of his own production appearing
under another writer’s signature will not cause him
either mortification or annoyance.
The life of the free lance addicted to “ ghost-
ing” is, | may add, by no means devoid of humour.
He is able to obtain upon all sides candid opinions
of his own work, opinions which often enable him
to realise his shortcomings and rectify his faults.
On one occasion, I remember, one of the books
I had “proxied” was sent to me for review,
accompanied by a note from the editor of the news-
paper—the editor is now dead—to the effect that
I might as well, for. reasons which he ae
“pepper this story of Blank’s a bit. I did the
best 1 could to “pepper” my own work, but i
admit that the task rather stuck in my throat.
When I told Blank, afterwards, what I had been
doing, he was immensely tickled. He said ib
reminded him of “poor Gilbert’s inimitable
a8
humour. Panry.
———_—__1———__o___—
«A Baronet in Corduroy” is ce Hee ot
of riod recently pub-
romance of the Queen Anne period recen)
lished (Grant Richards) by Mr. Albert Lee, author
of “The Frown of Majesty.”
82
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT.
—+-—>—
The following cutting came to us from the
correspondence column of a well-known ladies’
newspaper :—
Nixa.—According to the law of International Copy-
right, no book can be translated into any other language
without the author’s permission until ten years after the
date of publication. After that lapse of time, anyone may
translate the book; but within the period the author's
permission is usually obtained without much difficulty by
applying to him—or her—through the publisher of the
book, if the author’s private address is unknown.
It shows how dangerous a little knowledge
may be.
From the first sentence it would appear that
International Copyright was universal, and that to
translate a book appearing in any country on any
subject within the period of ten years would be
illegal without the author’s sanction. This of
course is not the case. The Berne Convention
of 1886 and the Additional Act of Paris, 1896,
have not been signed by all the European countries,
and the United States has always stood outside.
On a former occasion the names of those coun-
tries who were signatories have been printed in
these columns. While the statements contained
in the paragraph are abroad it would appear
advisable to print the list again.
Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Haiti, Italy,
Switzerland, Tunis, Monaco, Luxembourg, and
Japan have signed both the Berne Convention
and the Additional Act of Paris. Norway is a
signatory to the Berne Convention, and Denmark
signed both in July of this year. In addition, Great
Britain has a separate Convention with Austria-
Hungary. The Imperial Government signed the
Berne Convention on behalf of Great Britain and
all its Colonies, and the Additional Act of Paris
on behalf of Great Britain and the majority of its
Colonies.
In the countries enumerated —and in those
countries only—is it possible to retain translation
rights.
The paragraph quoted above goes on to say that
after the lapse of ten years anyone may translate
the book. ‘This was to a certain extent true under
the Berne Convention, but is entirely wrong under
the Additional Act of Paris. The Clause referring
to this runs as follows :—
“ Authors belonging to any one of the countries of the
Union, or their lawful representatives, shall enjoy in the
other countries the exclusive right of making or authorising
the translation of their works during the entire period of
their right over the original work. Nevertheless, the
exclusive right of translation shall cease to exist if the
author shall not have availed himself of it, during the
period of ten years from the date of the first publication
of the original work, by publishing, or causing to be pub-
ished in one of the countries of the Union, a translation in
he language for which protection is to be claimed.”
THE AUTHOR.
Accordingly, in those countries, if publication .
is made within ten years, the author has copyright
during the entire period of his right over the
original work.
It must be clearly stated, however, that none of
these extensions of property covered by the Berne
Convention refer to the United States. A law
based on an entirely different principle carries
copyright in that country.
It is a mistake, therefore, to talk in this loose od
It may lead [ime
way of International Copyright.
writers into difficulties.
MAGAZINE CONTENTS.
—-—<—+—
BLACKWOOD’S MAGAZINE.
A Sketch of the Life and Adventures of the Duke De
Ripperda, the Eighteenth Century Dutchman and Rene-
gade. By Walter B. Harris.
The Avatar of Bishwas Dass.
the pen of Mr. T. Hart Davies.
Voltaire. ‘
Oxford Revisited.
Sir William Wilcocks’ Scheme for the Irrigation of
Mesopotamia by means of the River Tigris.
Leopardi’s “ Village Saturday Eve.” Translated by Sir
Theodore Martin.
Babes of the Highway. By Oliver Locker Lampson.
Outside Pets.
Scolopaxiana.
Musings Without Method.
Sally: A Study. By Mr. Hugh Clifford,
An amusing story from
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE,
The Fond Adventure. Part I]. By Maurice Hewlett.
Colonial Memories: Old New Zealand, I., By Lady
Broome. :
Whistler the Purist. By Mortimer Menpes.
Mr. Whibley’s “ Thackeray.” By Andrew Lang.
Lines Written in Depression. By A. D. Godley.
Samuel Rawson Gardiner. By the Rev. W. H. Hutton,
B.D.
Though the Windows be Darkened. By John Oxenham.
The Grouse and the Gun-room. By Alexander Innes
Shand.
Ferments and Fermentations.
F.R.S.
“In Loco Parentis.”
By W. A. Shenstone,
By Powell Millington.
LONGMAN’S MAGAZINE.
Nature’s Comedian (Chapters xi., xii). By W. E. Norris.
A Turkish Redif. By Frances MacNab.
The Suspicions of Turkentine. By Chas.
Marsh.
Parliament in the Making. By William Auld.
An Unrecorded Incident. By “ Rimpie.”
Restaurant-keeping in Paris, By M. Betham-Edwards.
Billy. By May Kendall. :
Taurus Intervenes. By W. H. Rainsford.
Fielding
At the Sign of the Ship. By Andrew Lang.
Be
alt
THE AUTHOR.
THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE.
Six Weeks in North-Western Rhodesia. By Lady Sarah
Wilson.
Blue Roses: A Fairy Tale for Impossible Women. By
Netta Syrett.
Simple Simon: A Story. By Caroline Marriage.
Once, Always: A Poem. By Laurence Housman.
The Christmas Tree: A Poem. By Rosamund Marriott
‘Watson.
The Rebuilding of London: The Site of the Great
Fire.
The Best Man:
Hilliers.
The Song of Dagonet. By Ernest Rhys.
Lansdowne House. By Ernest M. Jessop.
No Trumps or Spades: A Complete Story. By Horace
Annesley Vachell.
Master Workers :
By Harold Begbie.
Child Awake. By Elsie Higginbotham.
The Play Angel. By Maude Egerton King.
Haggards of the Rock. By H. B. Marriott Watson.
The New Pope: An Anecdotal Narrative. By Rev.
Alex. Robertson, D.D.
The Queen’s Quair: Book II. (Chapters iii., iv.) By
Maurice Hewlett.
Heart's Harbour: A Poem. By Mary van Vorst.
The Girl Who Wasn’t Prim. By G. B. Burgin.
The Vineyard. (Chapters xvi., xvii.) By “John Oliver
Hobbes” (Mrs. Craigie).
What makes you Sit and Sigh? A Poem.
nald Lucas, M.P.
The Surprise. By H. Fielding Hall.
A Visit to the Island of St. Vincent and the Souffritre.
By Lady Ernestine Edgcumbe.
The Round Table: The Tidal Wave. By W. L. Alden.
The Month in Caricature. By G. R. H.
A Complete Story. By Ashton
The Rt. Hon. John Morley, 0.M., M.P.
By Regi-
THE WorLD’s Work (BIRTHDAY NUMBER).
Practical Points in the Fiscal Controversy. By J. A+
Spender.
Motor Cars and Men.
A Record Christmas for Fruits. By Sampson Morgan.
Mr. Sargent’s Famous Portraits. By Mrs. Meynell.
Trusts and Labour in New York: Amazing Revelations.
By Ray Stannard Baker.
Mr. John Burns, M.P., on Labour, Life and Hope. By
George Turnbull.
The Revolution among Women who Work. By Lady
Jeune.
The First Garden City.
Breeding Horses and Cattle.
Volunteer Cyclists: A Scheme for Home Defence. By
Guy Speir.
The Day’s Work of an Engine Driver.
A Farmers’ Trust. By H. 8. Wood.
The Problem of the Incorrigible Offender.
Hopkins.
Irish Toys for Christmas.
The Mystery of Radium. By J. A. Harker, D.Sc.
The Books of the Month. (With Portraits).
Among the World’s Workers : A Record of Industry.
By the Editor.
By Tighe
83
CORRESPONDENCE.
“THE ‘TIMES’ ENCYCLOPADIA.”
ASSOCIATED BOOKSELLERS OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND.
Secretarial Office,
1, Bathurst Street, Hyde Park,
London, W.
Sir,—In an advertisement of “The ‘Times’
Encyclopedia” that appeared on October Ist, it
is stated that after December 19th, 1903, the work
will be sold
“as it was before the Zimes took it in hand,
by booksellers only, in the ordinary course of
trade. The lowest price will then be £57
(net) for the cloth binding—more than double
the present price.”
Again, on October 4th, it is stated that
‘now the normal price, the net catalogue
price, is about to replace the temporary half
price, and the normal method of sale through
the agency of booksellers is about to replace
the exceptional system of sale direct to the
public at half price and for small monthly
payments.”
The natural inference from these statements is
that the public would have suffered materially had
the “ Encyclopedia Britannica” with its Suapple-
ment remained in the hands of the publishers and
been supplied through the booksellers. As such an
inference is injurious to the interests of the book-
sellers, we, as representing the booksellers, think
it right to place the following facts before the
public :
(1) The “ Encyclopedia Britannica” was sup-
plied to the public through the booksellers at
£18 for years before the Times reprint
appeared.
(2) If the Supplement had been published by
Messrs. A. & C. Black at the same price per
volume as the “Encyclopedia” itself, the
published price of the Supplement would have
been, in cloth £16 10s. for the eleven
volumes. The Supplement would have been
supplied by many booksellers for cash for
about £12 7s. 6d. The total price of the
“Encyclopedia” and the Supplement would
therefore have been about £30 7s. 6d., very
much the same price as that at which the
Times has sold the work.
(3) The work as supplied by the 7'imes on the
instalment system remained the property of the
Times until the last instalment was paid: the
work as supplied by the booksellers on credit
84
at a very little higher rate than the Times
rate would have become the property of the
purchaser from the moment it was delivered.
(4) The Times intimates that after December
19th, 1903 until 1919 the booksellers will not
be allowed to sell the work at less than
£57 (net) in cloth. This is nearly twice the
“normal price” at which the booksellers
would have sold it now had it been published
by Messrs. Black, and much more than twice
the price at which they would have sold it
ten or fifteen years hence. It is not customary
to sell an Encyclopaedia at a fancy price when
much of it must of necessity be hopelessly
out of date.
(5) Judging from the excellence of the articles
in the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” there is
no reason to think that the excellence of the
Supplement would have been less than it is
had it been published by Messrs. Black ; and
any unprejudiced person will admit that the
production, so far as printing and binding is
concerned, was better in the edition published
by Messrs. Black than in the 7%imes reprint.
(6) It is claimed for “The ‘Times’ Encyclo-
peedia” that it “ will settle the simpler queries
that present themselves in daily life.” We
fail to see how this will be possible in 1919,
when the last volume will be sixteen, and the
first volume about forty years out of date.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) Hznry W. Knay,
President of the Associated
Booksellers of Great Britain
and Ireland.
R. Bows,
Chairman of Eastern Branch.
T. Watson,
Chairman of Northern
Branch.
J. PATTERSON,
Chairman of North-Eastern
Branch.
C. J. PARKER,
Chairman of Oxford Branch.
A. WHEATON,
Chairman of Western Branch.
RospeRT MACLEHOSE,
Chairman of Scottish Branch.
ALEXANDER Dickson,
Chairman of Belfast Branch.
Witiram M‘Grr,
Chairman of Dublin Branch.
November 5th, 1908.
Oe
THE AUTHOR.
A Book Lover’s LAMENT.
Sir,—Can you, or any member of the Society,
tell me the author and publisher of a book called
‘“‘ John Lackland,” which appeared, I think, about
a year ago.
Ever since then I have been trying to get it
from one of the libraries in my country town, but
in vain. The librarians have written up to Mudie,
or some other London purveyor of literature, over
and over again without being able to procure the
book, and I do not see it on any list now. As it
was well reviewed as a work of note, I cannot
understand why it should be so difficult to obtain
from a library, and the fact raises a question : Are
not we poor book-lovers in the provinces utterly at
the mercy of the great distributors? They can
send us just what they choose and withhold the
books we should like to read. It is only by almost
superhuman efforts that I can get anything I want,
and I have been agitating nearly all this year for
« John Lackland.” Is it any wonder that good
books die without even being read by any but
reviewers, or that we readers in the country forget
their names when we never see them, or hear of
them after the first month ?
Surely the great question to-day is of the dis-
tribution of books. Publishers must often be in
despair, to say nothing of authors who have,
perhaps, spent years in writing that which nobody
can get at!
A Boox Lover at Bay.
Tur PuBLISHER’S READER
Str,—May I be permitted to supplement the
experience (as a Publisher’s Reader) of your corre-
spondent “H. B.” with my own? TI read MSS.
for a very prominent young publisher indeed,
giving my employer, on printed form supplied, an
outline of each story, a general criticism of style
and treatment, advice as to commercial possibilities
of the books, at a remuneration of 2s. a MS.
But, with the Daily Mail article signed “ Stan-
hope Sprigg,” I fear that one ought not to place :
undue importance on the statements made. We
must remember that every man of every degree,
nowadays, be he peer or publisher, or even a literary
agent who is (or has been) on the staff of a famous.
journal, must most strenuously exert himself in
order to get an honest living.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
F. W. R.
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The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 03 (December 1903)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 03 (December 1903)
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The Author
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<em>The Author</em>
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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Che Hutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.
FOUNDED BY SIR
Monthly.)
WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIV.—No. 4.
TELEPHONE NUMBER :
374 VICTORIA.
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS :
AUTORIDAD, LONDON.
1
NOTICES.
—_ >
OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tuer Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
+
List of Members.
Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors
published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and
the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as
a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be
obtained at the offices of the Society.
They will be sold to members or associates of
the Society only.
a
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
VoL, XIV.
JANUARY Ist, 1904.
[Price SIXPENCE.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
Be £1000 0 0
Wiocal Uioans 26s 500 0 0
Victorian Government 8 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... oot 19 18
OY Eo oes nss pete 201 9 8
Mota. ...0.2...3. £1,993 9 2
Subscriptions from October, 1903.
£ s. a.
Noy. 13, Longe, Miss Julia. : - 0 5.0
Dec. 16, Trevor, Capt. Philip 0 5 0
Donations from October, 1908.
4
Oct. 27, Sturgis, Julian é ; oo
Nov. 2, Stanton, V.H. .
Nov. 18, Benecke, Miss Ida.
Nov. 28, Harraden, Miss Beatrice
Dec. Minniken, Miss
The following members have also made subscrip-
tions or donations :—
Meredith, George, President of the Society.
Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.
Rashdall, The Rev. H.
Guthrie, Anstey.
Robertson, C. B.
Dowsett, C. F.
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
ourFaAe
nooo So
ooo oo
<> 6
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
—
Ar the meeting of the Committee held on
Monday, December 7th, twenty members and asso-
ciates were elected, bringing the total number of
elections for the current year to just over 200.
Among the subjects discussed and dealt with
were financial matters, the unveiling of the
memorial to Sir Walter Besant (which took place
86
on the 11th of December), cheap postage on maga-
zines to the Colonies, and finally the article signed
“ Proxy” in the December number of Ze Author.
The Committee decided that a paragraph should
be inserted in the next number of Ze Author
condemning the practice described by “ Proxy.”
Sir Gilbert Parker sept in his resignation as
a member of the Committee, owing to the heavy
pressure of his Parliamentary and other work. In
doing so, he wished the Society all prosperity.
ot
Cases.
Srxcz the publication of the last number of The
Author seventeen cases—an unusually large num-
ber—have been taken in hand by the Secretary on
behalf of members, and, in addition, two County
Court cases have been authorised by the Chairman
of the Society.
The seventeen cases may be divided as follows :—
Hight cases for money or for money and accounts,
three cases for accounts only, five cases for the
return of MSS., and one case for the proper settle-
ment of a contract. So far, only one case has
been settled. The MS. has been received by the
Secretary and returned to the author. ‘There is no
reason to believe that the other cases will not
terminate satisfactorily, but at this time of the year
it is difficult to get money out of those people who
desire to withhold it. In a future issue no doubt
satisfactory conclusions will be chronicled.
Of the cases referred to in previous numbers
there are five still incomplete.
‘As two of the matters in contention have to do
with the United States it is possible that they may
be still further delayed. The length of time that
a letter takes to reach the United States is not the
only cause of delay. It is often, unfortunately, the
fact that distance appears to make the offender
callous to his obligations.
Two of the cases will have to be abandoned
owing to technical and other reasons which prevent
the enforcing of the author’s just rights. The
fifth case is still in negotiation, and is proceeding
satisfactorily.
—— +
December Elections.
17, Newburgh Road,
Acton.
Braintree House, Cob-
ham, Surrey.
Ashe, Leslie
Cartwright, Miss A. M. .
Corkran, Miss Alice
Laurence, Lionel
Maudsley, Athol
Twyford, Winchester.
Needham, R. W. Bradshaw
Land Tax, Somerset
House, W.C.
THE AUTHOR.
Orr, Mrs. Mount Eagle Lodge
Brosna, Co. Kerry
Treland.
19, Chesham Place,
5.W.
21, Inglewood Road,
West Hampstead,
N.W.
Care of Messrs. Power,
Drury & Co., Madeira
16, Dorset Square,
N.W.
Colinton, Midlothian.
Pauncefote, The Hon.
Maud : ‘
Pierson, C. Harvard
Ramsey, Miss Lilian
Sheringham, H. T.
Skae, Miss Hilda
“‘ Stephen Walthair ”
Syrett, Miss Netta . 3, Morpeth Terrace,
Ashley Place, 8.W.
Saltwood, Hythe, Kent.
Ladies’ Army and Navy
Club, Burlington
Gardens, W.
Stigand, Mrs.
“Tiger Rose ”
Urwick, Edward
Vaughan, Capt. A. O. Aberdovey, N. Wales.
_One member does not desire the publication
either of his name or address.
1
Pension FunpD.
In order to give members of the Society, should
they desire to appoint a fresh member to the
Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has
been thought advisable to place in 7he Author a
full statement of the method of election under the
scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.
Under that scheme the Committee is composed of
three members elected by the Committee of the
Society, three members elected by the Society at
the General Meeting, and the chairman of the
Society for the time being, ex officio. The three
members elected ‘at the general meeting when the
fund was started were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.
M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie.
According to the rules it is the turn of Mr.
M. H. Spielmann to resign his position on the Com-
mittee. In tendering his resignation he submits
his name for re-election.
The members have power to put forward other
names under Clause 9, which runs as follows :—
“ Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-
mittee by the members of the Society (not being a retiring
member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing
to the secretary, at least three weeks prior to the general
meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and
the nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed
by, at least, three members of the Society. A list of the
candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members of
the Society with the annual report of the Managing Com-
mittee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes at
the general meeting shall be elected to serve on the Pension
Fund Committee.” :
THE AUTHOR. 87
In case any member should desire to refer to
the list of members, a copy complete, with the
exception of those members referred to in the note
at the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s
office.
It would be as well, therefore, should any of the
members desire to put forward candidates, to take
the matter within their immediate consideration.
The general meeting of the Society has usually
been held towards the end of February or the
beginning of March. It is essential that all
nominations should be in the hands of the
secretary before the 31st of January, 1904.
— se 7
SERIAL ISSUE—AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHERS OR EDITORS.
ee
Afialo and Cook v. Lawrence and Bullen.
OW that the case of Aflalo and Cook v.
Lawrence and Bullen has been finally
settled by the judgment of the House of
Lords, it is necessary to consider its bearing on
authors’ property and the methods employed for
the sale of that property.
There is no need to set forth at length the
18th Section. Members can refer to the last
number of The Author.
But it is necessary to remember three points.
Firstly, employment.
Secondly, that the work shall have been com-
posed in such employment on the terms that the
Copyright shall belong to the proprietor.
Thirdly, payment for such work.
Where. these three points are proved the copy-
right will belong absolutely to the proprietor, etc.,
of the Encyclopzedia and will belong to the pro-
prietor, etc., of the review, magazine, or other
periodical work, subject to the provisoes at the
end of the section.
It has been decided that the second of the three
points set out above may be inferred, and need not
be actually set forth in an express contract.
The question, however, according to the judges
in the House of Lords is one of fact and each case
must be decided on its own evidence.
In order that it may be possible to ascertain what
deductions are likely to be made from the evidence,
it will be necessary to look, firstly, into each decided
ease and to notice the inference drawn ; secondly,
whether such inference is growing wider in scope
or more restricted ; thirdly, whether more in favour
of the proprietor or the original owner of the
property, the author.
The Lord Chancellor stated “‘ The case is covered
by authority,” and that he thought it impossible,
after the decision arrived at about half a century
ago and confirmed by the decision of the Court of
Appeal, to give any judgment except one in favour
of the appellants.
The recent case is thus stated to be covered by
authority. }
Firstly then, it is necéssary to consider the
authorities and the inferences drawn from them,
before considering this special case and the further
inferences that may be drawn from it.
The authorities which to the Four Law Lords
and Lord Justice Vaughan Williams appeared to
decide the case in one way, and which to Mr.
Justice Joyce, Lord Justice Stirling, and Lord
Justice Romer seemed to suggest the opposite
decision, were Sweet v. Benning and Lamb v.
vans.
In Sweet v. Benning various members of the Bar
furnished reports of cases to the plaintiffs, the pro-
prietors of the Jurist. They were reports merely.
The barristers employed selected the cases they
thought fit to report and composed the head notes
and short summaries. They were paid for their
work. The arrangements were oral and nothing
was said about copyright. The property in dispute
on this occasion could hardly be called original,
except so far as the head notes and the abridge-
ment of the product of other people’s brains may
show originality. The case was decided in the
Court of Common Pleas, and the inference was
drawn that the copyright belonged to the proprietors
of the Jurist.
In Lamb vy. Evans the plaintiff employed and
paid for persons to canvass for advertisements
and arrange them under appropriate headings in a
trade directory. Here again the work in question
could hardly be called literary work of a high and
original order.
Lord Justice Lindley, in giving judgment, stated
that the burden of proof that the copyright belonged
to the plaintiff was on the plaintiff, and the statute
did not say the kind of evidence which had to be
adduced for the purpose of proving this. If there
is no express agreement the question is, ‘ What is
the inference to be drawn?’ and the inference
was drawn that the copyright belonged to the
plaintiff.
It is worth noticing that in both these cases the
ersons claiming the copyright were suing pirates
and the defendants’ objections were technical only.
And farther that the head notes in question could
only have been published by the authors in a form
which would compete with the publication for
which they had been written. In both cases it
would have been unbusinesslike to assume that
the authors intended to reserve a copyright which
could only be useful for a rival publication.
88
These were two cases that may be classed under
Encyclopedias.
The facts of Aflalo and Cook v. Lawrence and
Bullen were fully set forth in last month’s Author,
and the inference drawn from these facts was that
the copyright belonged to the proprietor of the
Encyclopedia.
Does this judgment extend the former judgments,
as to the inferences that may be drawn from the
facts, and is such extension in favour of the
publisher or author? On the whole it must be
held to extend them considerably, and in favour
of the publisher or proprietor.
It would have been thought, that it is the
publisher’s business to know the law and make
his bargains accordingly.
Authors, especially young authors, are often quite
inexperienced in the legal aspect of the case, and
much more likely than a publisher to enter into
bargains the full nature and consequences of which
they do not understand. It would have been no
hardship to the publisher to secure the copyright
by express provision in his contract.
The decision is revolutionary and must compel
some of the well-known writers on copyright to
alter their deduction from Sweet v. Benning and
The Bishop of Hereford v. Griffin in the next edition
of their works.
The evidence of employment was complete.
that point there was no need for argument. There
On
was evidence of payment. Of that there can be
no dispute. But one essential point must be con-
sidered—how far that payment could be reckoned
substantial for the copyright of the literary pro-
perty in question, when compared with the ordinary
literary prices of an expert writer on any given
subject.
Would Mr. Aflalo, for instance, for a sum of
£500, sell the idea of the Encyclopedia, give up
two years work and devote himself to the editor-
ship of it, writing without further fee, 7,000 words
and contributing all the unsigned articles that
might be required ? This would be poor pay for
the employment of the technical knowledge that
Mr. Aflalo possesses, and it is hardly likely that for
so small a fee he would care to sell the copyright
of his work. Again, Mr. Cook contracted to do a
certain amount of work at £2 per thousand words.
Anyone with Mr. Cook’s reputation as a fisherman,
and with his great technical knowledge, would not
be likely to sell his work to any magazine or
periodical, for a fee so small if he was not to hold
some subsequent rights; but the Court inferred
that Mr. Cook did so, and it is impossible not to
consider that the inference drawn in this present
case widens enormously the field of inference as
compared with the former cases. In this case you
get highly technical knowledge, the result of years
THER AUTHOR.
of work and study of particular kinds of sport.
You get that knowledge set out in original form
and paid for at a peculiarly low price. Is it possible
that in the next case which may be brought before
the Courts under the 18th section from less con-
clusive facts, a still wider inference may be drawn
—more salutary to the publisher, more disastrous
to the author ?
Their Lordships did not seem to consider that
the position of literary property nowadays is vastly
different from what it was fifty years ago, and that
therefore as the circumstances have changed, it is
impossible to make the same deductions.
It is clear that in the future authors should be
exceedingly careful of the circumstances in which
they contribute to Encyclopeedias,reviews,magazines
or periodical works, and some further points must
be put forward.
In this judgment very little was said of the
question of employment, as the employment was
clear and undisputed, but it is quite possible that
this question may be raised at some future date
and that the author’s position may be further
endangered. Mr. MacGillivray in his able work
on Copyright is inclined to think, from the cases
which have been already heard, that the employ-
ment must be antecedent, and so far, this deduction
appears to be satisfactory. There is no decision
on the subject, and the point does not appear to
have been actually argued. It is to be hoped,
however, that it may never be held that the
publication of a work submitted unsolicited to a
magazine proprietor and published by him without
any definite contract, will be sufficient to show
employment by the proprietor, of the contributor.
But this point has never been decided, and authors
should be exceedingly careful that they do not
allow themselves to depend on the broken reed
of the 18th section.
If such publication can amount to employment
the second deduction that the copyright should
belong to the proprietor would be the merest step
farther, and the author would find himself in
difficulties, even though, possibly, he had received
an entirely inadequate price for such sacrifice.
Evidence, unfortunately, is constantly coming
forward that the Bench and English juries have
very little appreciation of the real value of literary
productions.
That the danger is a serious one may be seen
from the fact that a great deal was made in the —
present case of the amount of money the proprietors
were sinking in the venture, but this is an obviously
unfair argument, unless, at the same time, the
return the publishers hoped for or actually realised
had also been stated. No one would object to
spend £50,000 to-day if he obtained £100,000 at
the end of six months, or thought he could.
THE AUTHOR. 89
It seems certain that if only the amount
ventured by the publisher in the production of a
magazine, review, or encyclopedia is large enough,
it must follow as a matter of course, according to
these lines of argument, that the employment will
be on the terms that the copyright shall belong to
the proprietor. No thought appears to have been
given to the opposite view that the publisher is a
man of business, and, as such, quite capable of
protecting himself from any danger of being
deprived of the full benefit of the literary wares
which he desired to buy, and that the price paid
to the author may be entirely inadequate to cover
the sale of copyright. The idea which seems to
have influenced the Law Lords was that if the
copyright in the articles had not passed to the
publishers, the authors might all have joined
together and republished their articles as a rival
encyclopedia, but surely the law of England would
be strong enough to stop such an unfair act of
derogating from their own grant, and in any event
the idea is a far fetched one. A much more
pertinent consideration would be that under the
present decision publishers might commission and
pay for articles for an encyclopedia over which they
announced their intention of spending large sums,
and then bring out the articles as cheap popular
books at large profit to themselves, or publish in
other remunerative manner before they finally
collected them into the encyclopedia,
That this idea is not imaginary may be shown
by the case of some publishers who purchase a
work with a view to book production, and then try
to sell the serial rights in a magazine, to the great
annoyance of the author, who may, through his
carelessness or ignorance, have left himself
defenceless.
Lord Shand, in his remarks, constantly mentioned
the word “magazine” in addition to “encyclo-
pedia.” There seems no doubt, therefore, that in
his mind, the same inference might be drawn in the
case of a magazine proprietor, as in the case of the
proprietor of an encyclopedia. He also referred to
the publisher as conceiving the creation of the
magazine which he publishes as his undertaking
for his profit. In this case, however, the concep-
tion of the work was the Plaintiff’s, Mr. Aflalo’s.
There is no need to consider at length the
judgments of those learned Judges of the Court of
First Instance and the Court of Appeal, when
verdicts were given in favour of the plaintiffs, but
in considering the present verdict an endeavour has
been made to show the increasing dangers that
surround authors ; and the members of the society
should be warned when, in future, they contribute
to an encyclopedia, review, or magazine, whether
they have been employed by the proprietor, or
whether they send in their work on their own
initiation, to be careful to state in a covering letter
the terms on which they are willing to dispose of
it. They should also be careful to keep a copy of
that letter, so that in any action it will lie with
the publishers to prove that the terms of the letter
have been subsequently varied.
The terms which the letter should contain must,
of course, depend upon the magazine for which the
author is writing and his position as a writer. It
is dangerous to sell serial rights without any
limitation.
Members will, no doubt, recollect the article that
appeared in The Author, where the serial rights in
an essay were sold to an American magazine, and
the author was astonished to find that his work
was being reprinted in a periodical in England.
There has been no decision in the Law Courts
to determine the exact definition of serial rights,
but the custom of the trade has been sufficiently
established to show that a conveyance of these
rights does not in any way convey the copyright,
but merely conveys the right to produce articles in
serial form—that is, in a review, magazine, or
other paper of periodical issue.
In further explanation it must be remembered
that the Courts have decided that an annual is a
periodical issue, and that some magazines print
long stories in one issue. When an author, there-
fore, sells his serial rights, either to a magazine
which undertakes to print his work in one issue,
or to an annual, he should be careful that he gets
an adequate price, as a single serial issue may have
some effect in spoiling the circulation of the story
in book form. This remark, however, does not
apply to short stories.
Dealing then, with the ordinary sale of a work
in serial form, the price per thousand words that
the author is willing to accept should be distinctly
stated, and the exact limitation of the serial rights
he is willing to sell, z.e, if possible, they should be
limited to one issue of a given magazine or
periodical. The author must remember that it
may be possible for him to obtain second serial
rights from other papers or to sell the further serial
use in other countries.
A fact incidental to this matter must not be
omitted. It is the custom of many of the popular
magazines of the day, when no contract has been
made in the first instance, to forward cheques to
their contributors, with notices stamped on the
back that the endorsement of the cheque is an
acknowledgment of the transfer of the copyright.
This custom is a distinct danger to authors, for
although the endorsement of such a cheque will
not in any way vary any eapress contract that
may have been entered into before publication,
yet it might be evidence of an implied term in a con-
tract if the cheque was endorsed without dispute.
90
Since the decision which has been given in the
case of Aflalo and Cook vy. Lawrence and Bullen,
it is especially dangerous, as the slightest evidence
may afford a chance of drawing a deduction
disadvantageous to the author.
If a publisher desires to obtain special terms or
the copyright, he has merely to say so beforehand,
and the author will know his exact position. It
is not fair that the purchaser should endeavour to
incorporate into a contract terms which never
existed in the mind of the author when the contract
was made.
Finally, by way of repetition, it cannot be too
strongly impressed on the minds of all members,
(1) that a letter should be sent with the “ copy’;
(2) that if no letter be sent with the “ copy ” an
express agreement should be made before publica-
tion; and (8) that in no circumstances, whether
a letter has been sent with the “copy,” whether
an express contract has been made before publica-
tion, or whether no contract has been made at all,
should an author sign a cheque that is issued to
him on the lines stated above.
Clearness and finality in contract is essential
to a good understanding between authors and
publishers or editors. If the two latter, instead of
abusing the methods of the Society, endeavoured
to work on more businesslike lines the wheels
would run much smoother for all parties. In
book production a clear understanding is now
nearly always the rule—a doubtful contract the
exception.
The time, perhaps, may come when the same
remark may be applied to the contract for serial
rights.
G. H.T-
——>—_¢ —____—--
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—
E are glad to say that our Vice-Chairman’s
latest book, “The & Becketts of Punch,”
has scored a success. These “ Memories
of Father and Sons,” within the compass of one
volume, make interesting reading. We should
like to quote at length from its pages, but lack
of space allows of one extract only. Referring
(page 236) to the Dramatic Authors’ Society,
Mr. d Beckett says the circuit system of Mr.
Crummles was the order of the day when it was
organised.
“Every theatre in the country belonged to it, and was
assisted according to its means of payment. It was the
duty of each subscriber to pay so much a night, and then
send up the bill of the evening’s performance to the Sec-
retary of the Dramatic Authors’ Society, who entered the
amount to the credit of the member. Thus, say Smith had
written a one-act farce, Snooks a two-act comedy, and
THE AUTHOR.
Larkins a one-act burlesque, the amount would be divided
into fourths, of which Snooks would take one half, to the
quarters apportioned to Smith and Larkins. . .. This
system worked very well while the remuneration of the
dramatist remained at £100 an act, which was the regu-
lation sum in the mid-Victorian era. But all this was
changed when Dion Boucicault introduced the system of
percentages. The moment that a dramatist’s remuneration
depended upon the takings of the house his fortune was
made. It was very much the royalty system applied to
plays. . . . There was an immediate revolution. Tom
Robertson, W. 8. Gilbert, and the present editor of Punch
naturally wished to get something better than a few
shillings a night for their newest plays in the provinces,
and a resolution was passed giving them the necessary
powers of reservation. The provincial managers com-
plained that all the newest London pieces were out of the
provincial market, and asked what was the use of being
assessed for old and unattractive plays. So by degrees
the Society disappeared.”
Mr. a Beckett has another book in hand which
will be published early in 1904, dealing with his
career entirely outside Bouverie Street.
Sir F. C. Burnand’s two volumes of ‘“ Records
and Reminiscences,” with numerous illustrations
and facsimile letters (Methuen), is another inte-
resting book recently published. It has been
widely reviewed and much quoted. It has been
read (or will be read), no doubt, by all our members.
The annual annotated volume of “Statutes of
Practical Utility” passed in 1903, which will
shortly appear under the editorship of Mr. J. M.
Lely (Sweet and Maxwell, Stevens and Sons), will
contain, with 17 other Acts selected from the 47
passed, the Motor Car Act, the Poor Prisoners
Defence Act (both of these two being fitted out
with extra notes), the London Education Act, the
Employment of Children Act, the County Courts
Act, the Pistols Act, the Finance Act, and the
Housing of the Working Classes Act. Some
interesting Departmental Regulations, e.g., those
of the Local Government Board under the Motor
Car Act, as well as the Cremation and Midwives
Rules under Acts of 1902, will also be included ;
and in the Preface attention will be called to the
desirability of some Parliamentary action being
taken to prevent, so far as preventible, the recur-
rence of obscurities in legislation. Acts relating
to Scotland or Ireland only are not printed in this
collection.
Sixpenny reprints are, happily, not limited to
fiction. In those issued thus far by Messrs. Watts
and Co. on behalf of the Rationalist Press Associa-
tion, there is included Herbert Spencer’s masterly
treatise on “Education,” of which some 40,000
copies have been sold in that form. Messrs. Watts’
next book in this cheap series will be Edward
Clodd’s “Story of Creation,” published by arrange-
ment with Messrs. Longmans, the first issue to
consist of 30,000 copies.
oA
AY
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Herbert Bentwich, LL.B., who published
a short time ago a pamphlet entitled “ A Plea for
a General School of Law,” is now taking up
seriously a long projected work on “ International
Copyright.” :
The publication by Messrs. Isbister & Co. of
Mr. G. S. Layard’s novel, at present entitled
“ Dolly’s Governess,” has been postponed until the
spring of next year. Mr. Layard is now engaged
upon “ The Life of Kate Greenaway,” in collabora-
tion with Mr. M. H. Spielmann. Any information
not already furnished concerning the deceased
artist and lover of children should be sent to Mr.
Layard at Bull’s Cliff, Felixstowe.
“Home Life under the Stuarts,” by Elizabeth
Godfrey (Grant Richards), is about to be followed
by a study of social life during the same period,
1603—1649. This will describe art and literature,
amusements, the literary coterie, travelling, friend-
ship, the religious life, and kindred topics. It will
be uniform with the preceding volume, which in
fact it completes, and will be illustrated.
Messrs. H. Sotheran & Co. (37, Piccadilly, W.)
are prepared to supply “ Kilboylan Bank,” by Mrs.
E. M. Lynch. It is an Irish story illustrating the
working of that humble form of finance—Agri-
cultural Co-operative Credit. The book should
prove useful at the present time, when the new
Irish Land Act is turning many peasants into
proprietors.
Captain G. E. W. Hayward, whose two articles
entitled ‘‘ Cosas de Espaia” appeared in the Feb-
ruary and June numbers of Blackwood, is now
completing a one volume novel which he hopes to
see published in the spring.
The Baroness de Bertouch is at work on her
*“ Life of Father Ignatius,” which Messrs. Methuen
have accepted and will publish early in 1904. In
order that the work might be done under the
supervision of Father Ignatius himself, the
authoress has spent nearly a year at Llanthony in
the guest-house of the monastery.
Mr. Leslie Cope Cornford, author of “ Captain
Jacobus,” &c., &c., has just completed a story
dealing with a phase of eighteenth century life.
It is to be published in 1904.
Mr. Bertram Mitford’s new novel, “ The Sirdar’s
Oath,” will be published by Messrs. F. V. White
and Co. some time in January. The scene is laid
on the northern border of India and the action
deals with the tribesmen inhabiting that locality.
The story has been running serially during this
year through several British and Colonial news-
papers under the title of “ Raynier’s Peril.”
Miss Theodora Wilson Wilson’s new novel,
“Ursula Raven,” is now running through the
Daily News as a serial. The scene of the story
4s laid in Westmoreland, and the chief interest
91
lies in the description of a struggle against
monopoly.
Mrs. Finnemore will publish shortly through
Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, a story entitled
“Tally.” It is of domestic interest, the period
being the early years of last century. It is a
shorter story than “A Man’s Mirror”? (Cassell,
October, 1908) and quite different in character.
Mrs. Finnemore is at present busy upon a story
which she hopes to have completed early in 1904.
The setting is the Welsh hills—Mrs. Finnemore’s
own neighbourhood, a solitary and wild bit of
country between the Berwyns and the sea.
“An Oath in Heaven” is the title of a new
novel by Mr. John Ryce. It is published by
Messrs. James Clarke & Co. at 6s.
Mr. Algernon Rose’s handbook for wind-instru-
mentalists entitled “Talks with Bandsmen,” a
thousand copies of which have been sold in this
country, has been pirated for serial purposes by the
Dominant, a musical paper of New York.
The Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain has accepted
a copy of Mr. Algernon Rose’s book “ On Choosing
a Piano” (Scott), one chapter of which deals
with the fiscal question as it regards pianoforte
manufacturers in this country.
We hear that a new and enlarged edition of Mr.
Reynolds-Ball’s Guide to the Winter Resorts of
the Mediterranean will be published very soon.
A new and useful feature will be a supplement
containing articles on the principal Colonial and
other extra European winter resorts, such as the
Canaries, the West Indies, and the Cape High-
lands.
Miss Florence M. King (Jfaud Carew), who has
been prevented by unavoidable causes from writing
anything for some time, is engaged on a new
children’s book.
“Songs of Summer,” by Mr. C. Whitworth
Wynne, has been published by Mr. Grant Richards.
Mrs. Caroline A. White’s book “Sweet Hamp-
stead and its Associations ” is now in asecond and
revised edition. It is dedicated to the Conser-
vators of the Heath and to all who love sweet
Hampstead for its own sake. The volume is
well illustrated. Messrs. Elliot Stock are its
publishers.
For the benefit of those among our readers who
saw the review in the Guardian (December 2nd) of
“A Queen of Nine Days,” by Miss Edith C. Kenyon,
suggesting that she had not written the book
herself, but only supplied a modern rendering, we
give her reply, which appears in the same journal
(December 9th) :—
S1z,—In allusion to your review of “A Queen of Nine
Days” in this week's Guardian, will you kindly allow me
to say that I wrote the whole of the book, and the idea
that it was written by one of Lady Jane’s gentlewomen is
only a part of the story. Moreover, if your reviewer reads
92
history, he will find that Lady Jane was singularly humble
and truth loving, and, like all great souls, in advance of her
eo EpitH C. KENYON.
“High Treason” (The Primrose Press: 64d.
nett) is Mr. Allen Upward’s latest contribution
to the Romance of Politics series. In his preface
Mr. Upward says: “Many of the incidents, I
think, will be fresh in the memory of most news-
paper readers, though the connection here traced
between them may not be perceived. For others,
I can produce my authorities, should the truth of
these pages be challenged. ;
Except for articles in papers and magazines, Mr.
Clive Holland’s chief work during the past year
bas been the writing of two plays. One is a
comedy (founded on his two Japanese novels,
“My Japanese Wife” and ‘‘Musme”), written in
collaboration with an American playwright, Miss
Florence Hopkins ; the other a modern comedy of
French and English life, written by himself. _
The former will probably see the light first in
New York; the latter will, Mr. Holland hopes, be
produced in London.
The Franciscan Friars of the Collegio di San
Bonaventura at Quaracchi, near Florence, who are
their own printers and publishers, have just brought
out the first critical edition ever attempted of the
writings of Saint Francis of Assisi. The rights of
translation into English have been assigned to M.
Carmichael.
We understand that Mr. Sidney Lee will deliver
a lecture (January 26th) on “Shakespeare” to
the members of the British Empire Shakespeare
Society. He will also deliver a lecture early in
the year at the Royal Institution, on “Shakespeare
as Contemporaries knew Him.”
Mr. W. L. Courtney is to deliver two lectures on
“Comedy, Ancient and Modern,” at the Royal
Institution, on the afternoons of February 6th and
13th. Mr. Alfred Austin and Mr, Henry Arthur
Jones are also to lecture at the same famous Institu-
tion in Albemarle Street.
i
AMERICAN NOTES.
re
MONG the six books now most in demand
throughout the States I note that only one,
Sir A. Conan Doyle’s “Adventures of
Gerard,” is a work that is not of American author-
ship. This is significant of the growing nationalisa-
tion of our literature. The best English books
still come to us, and are no doubt read and appre-
ciated ; but they are no longer, as they once were,
our exclusive models, and they take, generally
speaking, but a secondary place in the market.
Yet no great star can be said to have risen above
THE AUTHOR.
our horizon of late ; nor has any American work of
such wide appeal as Mr. Morley’s “ Life of Glad-
stone” been issued on this side. The advance is
rather horizontal than vertical, to say truth.
As if to atone for the loss of Frank Norris’s
promise, Mr. Jack London has sprung up and
attained something like distinction already. But
the merits of his “Call of the Wild” must be too
well known to readers of Zhe Author to require
comment from me at this time of day. He has
no doubt a great future before him. But Mr.
London’s book stands second in the list of “ big
sellers.” At the top is a spirited tale of the
Civil War by Mr. John Fox, junior. The scene
of “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come”
is the border state of Kentucky, and its most im-
portant character, John Morgan, the raider ;
though Grant is introduced. The book naturally
challenges comparison with Winston Churchill’s
«The Orisis.”
Another civil war story—not so good, though,
as Mr. Fox’s—is Frederick Palmer’s “ The Vaga-
bond,” which contains some well described war
scenes, notably a vivid account of the battle of
Bull Run.
Among the established favourites in historical
fiction Mr. Chambers has added to his record “ The
Maids of Paradise,” who are not houris, but
damsels of a Breton village. The period is that of
the Franco-German War. Brittany is also the
scene of Margaret Horton Potter's ‘‘ Castle of
Twilight”; but in this case it is the old-world
feudal province. Cyrus Townsend Brady has
deserted the historical field and broken new
ground in “A Doctor of Philosophy”; but his
success can scarcely be described as unqualified.
Two notable novels of modern life, each by a
woman, treat of university society. Miss Anna
McClure Sholl, in “The Law of Life,” recounts
the struggle of a Puritan conscience with femi-
nine instinct, and also raises the difficult problem
of the relations of a university towards a meddling
and not too scrupulous benefactor. The author is
generally supposed to have had Cornell in her
mind—not that the circumstances exist there.
“he Millionaire’s Son,” by Mrs. Robeson Brown,
is also concerned with a moral conflict, in this case
between the wish to carry on the paternal business —
and an overpowering scholarly bent inherited from
a grandfather.
James Lane Allen has once more exhibited his.
fine sense for style; but “The Mettle of the —
Pasture,” like “The Reign of Law,” falls far —
below the high standard attained by the book ~
which gave him fame.
The strangely-named “ Silver Poppy” (it is the —
title of the heroine’s first novel) by Arthur
Stringer, is a striking but imperfectly-conceived —
THE AUTHOR.
tale of love and literature in New York. The
latter, represented by the American woman, gets
the better of the former in the person of an Eng-
lish journalist.
Thomas Dixon’s “The One Woman” has
attained popularity rather on account of its subject
—socialism and sex—than its literary merits,
which are of the sensational order.
George Barr McCutcheon has made an ambitious
experiment in “The Sherrods,” which has been
the fictional attraction of the Bookman during the
greater part of the year. Other novelists who have
fully maintained their reputations are Mr. Stewart
White with “The Forest,” Charles Major in
“A Forest Hearth,’ and Mrs. Wharton in ‘“ The
Sanctuary.”
Of the older hands, I remark that Kate Douglas
Wiggin figures among the big sellers with her
“Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” Mr. Marion
Crawford has written another story of Roman
life ; and Mr. Howells, in “Letters Home,” has
handled with great skill the difficult instrument
of epistolary fiction. é
A slight but well-nigh perfect piece of work is
Miss Alice Brown’s ‘‘ Judgment,” in which justice
and mercy in the person of a husband and wife are
most artistically contrasted; and a word of praise
should be given to Mrs. Tilia W. Peattie’s pretty
collection of tales called ‘“‘ The Edge of Things.”
We pass to more solid literature, after remarking
that Mormonism has found a novelist in the author
of “The Spenders,” who has dealt with the subject
in his “Lions of the Lord”; and the multi-
millionaire his exposer in Mr. David Graham
Phillips, whose “Master Rogue” is to be com-
mended to the perusal of anyone in danger of
becoming one.
In biographical publications this fall has been
rather prolific. The two outstanding books in this
department have been, of course, the posthumous
recollections of Richard Henry Stoddard and the
autobiography of Senator Hoar ; but there are others
scarcely inferior to them in interest. Stoddard,
whose work was finished for him by Mr. Ripley
Hitchcock, and introduced by his life-long friend,
Edmund Clarence Stedman, has something interest-
ing to say of most of his literary contemporaries,
not a few of whom he knew intimately. Lowell,
Bryant, Poe, N. P. Willis, and especially Bayard
Taylor, the translator of “ Faust,” are celebrities
who cross his pages ; but probably the chief interest
of them lies in the account of his own boyhood and
early struggles.
Senator Hoar’s “ Autobiography of Seventy
Years” covers a somewhat similar period in the
political world. The eminent Republican was at
Harvard under Channing, made his first public
speech, in 1850, at Worcester, Mass., as a substitute
93
for Judge Allen, and in 1880 presided over the
party convention at which Garfield was nominated
for the Presidency. A great admirer of Grant, he
gives a pointed description of his unconciliatory
manners. Always a strong partisan, he explains
to his readers that he has never given a vote
against his conscience and justifies his adhesion
to Imperialism.
Searcely less important than the works I have
just glanced at is General John B. Gordon’s
“‘ Reminiscences of the Civil War,” which presents
various aspects of the great struggle from the
Confederate view-point, but in a thoroughly im-
partial spirit and in a most entertaining, simple
style. The writer held important commands at
the first battle of Bull Run, at Antietam, and
Gettysburg ; was largely responsible for the sur-
prise at Cedar Creek; and was with Lee in the
last despairing efforts of the South. The General
thinks that the war strengthened the American
character ; and his geniality pervades a book which
is equally instructive and amusing, abounding, as
it does, in good stories. “My Own Story, with
Recollections of Noted Persons,” by John Townsend
Trowbridge, contains anecdotes of some of the great
New England writers, such as Holmes, Emerson,
Bronson Alcott, and Walt Whitman, and some
curious evidence as to the undoubted influence of
the Concord sage upon the author of ‘“ Leaves of
Grass.”
Not the least remarkable of autobiographic
works is Miss Helen Keller’s story of her wonder-
ful education, partly told in her own words, partly
in those of the gifted teacher whose genius and
patience enabled her, with her imperfect senses, to
stand at least on a level with normally-endowed
mortals. In this connection it may also be men-
tioned that the daughters of Dr. Howe, the famous
teacher of the blind and deaf mutes, have recently
published an account of how he educated Laura
Bridgman.
Another book has been written upon Thomas
Jefferson ; and a personage nearer our own day,
Henry Ward Beecher, has found a biographer in
Dr. Lyman Abbott.
An admirable survey of American literature
appeared early in the fall from the pen of
Professor William P. Trent.
“American Tariff Controversies,” by Edward
Stanwood, is a work which will, no doubt, be
studied by others besides the author’s countrymen.
It merits attention from the thorough and com-
prehensive manner in which the subject is treated.
Consternation must have been experienced in
some quarters after the perusal of a little book
with the seemingly harmless title of “The Home:
its Work and Influence”; for the author, Mrs.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has dared to belittle
94
the domestic virtues, to maintain that cooking
should not be done at home, and to brand with
the fearful accusation of arrogance the mother
who undertakes the sole training of her own
child.
The veteran author, Thomas Bailey Aldrich,
has given fresh delight to the reading public by
his quaintly - named “Ponkapog Papers”; and
Mark Twain has republished in a revised form
that ancient favourite “The Jumping Frog.”
Mr. Clemens has also been turning his attention
to those tiresome people, the votaries of “ Christian
Science.”
‘A new science, called “ Anthropo-Geography,”
would seem to have arisen, and its first American
exponent is Miss Ellen Semple in her “ American
History and its Geographic Conditions.”
In the purely historical field we have had two
new books on the Civil War, the one by Mr. Birk-
beck Wood and Colonel Edwards, the other by Dr.
Guy Carleton Lee, in addition to E. Benjamin
Andrews’s supplement to his “ History of the last
Quarter Century.”
A highly interesting work, which takes us some
considerable way further back, is Thomas A. Jan-
vier’s “The Dutch Founding of New York.”
Reuben Gold Thwaites has done good service
by his careful editing of a reprint of Father Louis
Hennequin’s “ New Discovery” (1698) ; and he is
now engaged upon an edition of the “ Original
Journals of Lewis and Clark.” He has also pub-
lished a volume of historical essays in western
history. a.
Three new volumes of the extensive work of
Emma Helen Blair and James Alex Robertson
upon the “Philippine Islands” have appeared ;
and Arthur Howard Noll has written more upon
the history of Mexico. Mr. Francis Johnson’s
compilation, “ Famous Assassinations of History,”
ranges from Philip of Macedon to the late King
and Queen of Servia, and is a veritable bath of
international gore. -
Among curious nondescript works I notice the
anonymous “ Wanted—A Wife,” by “ A Bachelor,”
just issued by Daniel V. Wien, of New York.”
It is not surprising to learn that two editions of
this were quickly disposed of.
The Poe revival still continues. The latest
evidence is Mr. Sherwin Cody’s critical edition
executed for A. C. McClurg & Co.
Some unpublished extracts from Emerson’s
private journals are to see the light in the
Atlantic Monthly during next year. They will be
welcome, though one has heard a great deal of the
philosopher-poet of late. But it is really to be
hoped that the last has now been heard of Mistress
Margaret Fuller and her egregious love-letters.
Two meritorious contributions to philosophical
THE AUTHOR.
study have appeared in America during the past
year. Dr. William Turner’s “History of Philo-
sophy” comes from Boston; Mr. Arthur Stone
Dewing’s more popular “ Introduction to the History
of Modern Philosophy ” from Philadelphia. Pro-
fessor J. Laurence Laughlin has issued a first
instalment of the extensive work which he con-
templates upon the “Principles of Money.” He
is a strenuous upholder of the policy of adherence
to a gold standard. He has evolved a new theory-
of credit. Other economical works which may
be of interest to students are Miss Breckridge’s
“Legal Tender” and Professor William A. Scott’s
“Money and Banking.”
Photogravure portraits of the Presidents adorn
the new edition which Messrs. Harper are bringing
out of President Woodrow Wilson’s ‘‘ History of
the American People.”
Our obituary list is neither long nor important.
It contains the names of Colonel Richard Henry
Savage, best known as the author of “ My Official
Wife,” who just lived to see in print his last book,
“Monte Christo in Khaki”; of Mrs. Elizabeth
Cherry Waltz, a hard-working journalist who wrote
the humorous “ Pa Gladden” stories; of General
Edward McGrady, the historian of South Carolina ;
and of James Robert Gilmore, founder of the Con-
tinental Monthly, editor of the ‘Cyclopedia of
American Biography,” and author of several novels
of Southern life published under the pseudonym
“ Edmund Kirke.” The last was a personal friend
of Lincoln and Greeley, as well as the intimate of
Longfellow and Holmes.
PARIS NOTES.
1
HE Academy prizes were distributed at the
fe annual meeting at the close of the year. A
prize for his poem on “ Victor Hugo ” was
awarded to M. Depont. The Toirac prize fell to
M. Donnay for his play, “L’Autre Danger.”
Madame Bentzon received the Née prize, and M.
Boissier spoke in the highest terms of her work,
and at the same time indulged in a side-thrust at
certain novels which have recently been published.
“On ge souvient,’’ he said, “ que sa réputation a
commence par des romans qui ont eu ce privilege
rare d’obtenir un grand succés, sans rien cotter a
la dignité de son caractere. . . . Le prix Née, que
nous donnons 2 Mme. Béntzon, nous |’avions
décerné, il y a deux ans, 8 Mme. Arvéde Barine.
L’ Académie a tenu a rapprocher ces deux poms: ils
sont l’honneur des femmes de France. Ils mon-
THE AUTHOR.
trent, une fois de plus, qu en littérature il n’y a
pas de privilége pour un sexe, et qu’une femme,
quia du talent, n’a pas besoin de se mettre en
révolte, de former des ligues et de s’armer en
guerre contre la société pour obtenir la renommée,
quand elle la mérite.”
M. Boissier spoke highly of the novels by Henry
Bordeaux, Claude Ferval, Plessis, Yunga, Moreau,
and de Comminges. He then mentioned the
authors of various works of education, history and
biography, terminating with M. Pierre de Nolhac,
who received the Gobert prize for his admirable
series of works on Versailles and its historical
personages.
France is the country par excellence where art
and literature are appreciated and encouraged.
After the Academy prizes came those awarded
annually by the Société des Gens de Lettres to
talented writers.
Among the names of the authors to whom this
year’s prizes have been given are: MM. Camille
Lemonnier, Georges d’Esparbes, Louis de Robert,
Junka, Dalsem, Champol and Pascal. Women
writers also come in for their share of the awards.
Mme. Brada, Mme. de Peyrebrune, Mlle. Maugeret
and Mme Lafon, have received prizes varying from
£20 to £12.
Some excellent articles have appeared in many
of the French reviews and papers on Herbert
Spencer, who was greatly appreciated in France.
In a book recently published by M. Gabriel
Compayré there are some interesting pages on the
life and works of Spencer.
A French journalist in London, writing to one
of the principal papers here, was struck with the
evident lack of appreciation of the great philosopher
in England. He says that ninety-nine out of
every hundred of Herbert Spencer’s compatriots
ignore not only the works of the great man who
has just passed away, but even his name. He
goes on to say that it is one of the characteristics
of the English people that they are not attracted
by the works of their greatest writers, their greatest
thinkers and their greatest savants.
The first book published by M. René Bazin,
since his election to the Academy, is entitled
“Récits de la Plaine et de la Montagne.” Itis a
most charming description of travels in various
countries, with anecdotes and stories which add
greatly to the interest of the volume. There are
chapters entitled : “Journal de Route au bord du
Rhone” ; “Une Excursion de Chasse en Hol-
lande”; “Histoire de Dindons”; “ Dans la
banlieue de Londres”; “ Le Palefrenier du Prince
de Galles” ; “ Un Village de Savoie” ; “ La Forét
de Méria”; “La Vallée d’Aoste” and “Le
Registre d’un Ouré.”
A book by M. André Fontaine, entitled “ Con-
95
férences inédites de |’ Académie Royale de Pein-
ture et de Sculpture,” is well worth reading. In
the days of Colbert, lectures were given by the
French Academicians on the merits and faults of
celebrated pictures. Discussions were held on
subjects connected with art, for the benefit of the
students of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the other
Academicians and artists generally.
M. Fontaine has collected some of these lectures
and published a volume of them. The most
interesting are those by de Champaigne and Le
Brun, on the question of the primary importance
of drawing or colour in a picture.
There are others on the merits and faults of
many celebrated pictures by Raphael, Titien,
Poussin and other artists.
“ Mélanges de Littérature et d’Histoire ” is the
title of a most entertaining book by M. A. Gazier,
on various subjects. Among other articles there
is one on Pascal and Mile. de Roannés, another on
the Abbé de Prades, and a letter from Voltaire
giving some interesting details about his sojourn
and his private affairs at Potsdam. There is also
an account, which reads like a novel, of an
extraordinary woman who lived alone for several
years in the mountains of the Pyrenees. She
belonged to a noble family, but at the age of
fifteen, to avoid marrying, escaped from her own
people and lived as a servant.
There are other interesting studies in the volume
on the subject of Moliére, and the probability that
the Prince de Conti served as the model for
“Tartuffe.”
Among the new books are “ Le Second Rang
du Collier,’ by Mme. Judith Gautier; “ Caglios-
tro,” by M. d’Alméras ; “ Propos Littéraires,” by
M. Faguet ; “ L’Empire du Milieu,” by Elisée et
Onésime Reclus, and among the illustrated books
specially intended for New Year’s gifts are
“T’Epopée Biblique,” with fifty engravings from
Gustave Doré’s works; “ La Lune Rousse,” by
Champol ; “ L’Année frangaise: Un héros par
jour,” by Ponsonailhe ; “ Aux pays de la Priére,”
by Henri Guerlin, and “La vieille France qui
s’en va,” by Charles Géniaux.
A book which should be specially interesting to
the English has just been written by M. Henry
d’Allemagne. ‘The title is “Sports et Jeux
d’adresse,” and all games and sports are traced to
their origin, with a series of coloured illustrations
to show the modifications our present games have
undergone.
The question is once more being raised whether
actors shall be admitted as Academicians to the
Institute of France.
M. Mounet Sully, by presenting himself for
election, opens a debate which will be followed
everywhere with the keenest interest.
96
“Le Retour de Jérusalem” is one of the finest
pieces that M. Maurice Donnay has written. The
idea upon which the play appears to be based is
that there exists between the Jewish and the
Aryan races a gulf which cannot be bridged over,
and that any attempt to unite them must prove a
failure. oe
In this play Michel Aubier is a Christian, and
Judith de Chouzay a Jewess, who has adopted the
Catholic religion in order to marry the Viscount
de Chouzay. Michel, too, is married, but imagin-
ing that they are in love with each other, he and
Judith leave their respective homes in order to
unite their destinies. They discover, when too
late, their mistake. Their ideas, their principles
and their habits are so totally different that in the
end they decide to separate. Such in brief is the
piece, which as a psychological study is most
fascinating. The dialogue is brilliant, as in all
M. Donnay’s plays, and the character of Michel an
excellent portrait of the modern Frenchman.
Mme. Le Bargy, M. Dumény, and Mlle. Mégard
interpret their réles to perfection.
The first night of M. Sardou’s new play “La
Sorciére,’ has been one of the great theatrical
events of the month. At the close of the dress
rehearsal, Madame Sarah Bernhardt received an
ovation, and many of the principal artistes and
dramatic authors came forward to offer their
congratulations.
It is with the greatest pleasure that everyone
sees M. Bour at last in a suitable theatre. The
piece he is now giving, “Cadet Roussel,” by
M. Jacques Richepin, is, thanks to his excellent
interpretation, so great a success that M. Bour has
been compelled to move to the Porte St. Martin.
Some two years ago, in the famous play
“ Alleluia,” M. Bour made his mark, and with a
small company of artistes started the International
Thédtre for the production of plays from all
languages.
In every piece M. Bour had great success, and
his removal to a larger theatre, on the Boulevards,
will probably make him a formidable rival for M.
Antoine.
La Renaissance Latine has some very interesting
articles in the December number. Among others:
“« Les Idées littéraires de Nietzsche,” by M. Emile
Faguet ; some letters to the “Bon Ange,” from
Mirabeau; “ L’Esprit romain et l’Art francais,” by
M. Mauclair, and “La Crise méridionale en
Italie.”
Anys HALLARD.
THE AUTHOR.
THE CONTRACT OF BAILMENT. ©
—
TYNHE point which “ G. H. T.” has raised, under
the above heading, in the December number
of The Author, is of great practical interest
to authors, editors, and publishers; and it is
eminently desirable that it should be settled.
“G. H.T.” has put the author’s view. Leaving
the publisher to speak for himself, I propose to say
a word on behalf of the editor, merely premising
that, being myself, in a humble way, also a writer,
I have no bias against the author’s just claims.
“q. H. T.’s” arguments are cautiously worded,
as becomes one in his responsible position. But I
think it fair to assume, that he regards an editor to
whom unsolicited MSS. are sent, in the course of
post or by mere messenger, as responsible for
the safety, perhaps even for the return, of the MSS. ;
and this, whether or not the editor has given
public notice disclaiming such responsibility. In
the nature of things, such notice must be indirect ;
it is clearly impossible for an editor to serve per-
sonal notice on every inhabitant of the British
Isles, nor would it, I think, be contended, by any
serious advocate, that he is bound to spend money
in advertising his intentions in the Press.
It seems to me that “G. H. T.’s” argument is,
to begin with, seriously damaged by the very title
with which he heads his article. As he justly
asserts, bailment is, or at least implies, a contract.
Now a contract, in every system of law with which
I am acquainted —certainly in English law—
requires the co-operation of at least two persons.
One person cannot make a contract ; there must
be the mutual consent of two minds. If I throw
a book in at a man’s window, my act may be
a trespass ; it certainly cannot, of itself, constitute
a contract—of bailment or anything else. The
most favourable interpretation that can be put
upon it is, that it is an offer to sell or lend the
book, which the person into whose house it is
thrown may or may not accept, at his option.
This construction has been put by Courts of Justice,
over and over again, on the act of leaving unsolicited
goods at a house ; and scathing remarks have been
made by judges upon those enterprising persons
who have tried to found a legal claim on such
proceedings.
“GQ, H. T.” seems, therefore, to me, to miss a
vital point when he says that the question is: “Is
an MS. sent in for the benefit of both parties or
not?” It is not sufficient that the MS. should be
sent for the benefit of both parties; it must also be
accepted for the benefit of both parties.
And I think that “G@. H. T.” would not care to
argue, that the mere fact of opening an envelope
containing an MS. is an acceptance. How can the
person to whom a sealed envelope is addressed
THE AUTHOR.
possibly tell the nature of its contents, until he
opens it? It may contain an article which he has
commissioned, and is anxiously expecting. The
difference between mere receipt and acceptance is
well known to all lawyers, certainly to “G. H. ie
himself.
But I gather that “G. H. T.” proposes to get
over this difficulty by the bold argument, that the
mere founding of a periodical constitutes, in law,
an offer to accept for consideration any article
which any one may choose to send in. Some
editors do, undoubtedly, make this offer, in express
terms, qualified, however, as a rule, by a disavowal
of liability. Whether such a disavowal would be
deemed legally inconsistent with the general offer,
is a point which I do not care to argue. My point
is, that when no such offer is made by an editor,
& fortiori, when an_ editor expressly warns con-
tributors against sending him their MSS. without
previous communication, no such offer can be
implied from the mere founding of the periodical.
An impresario who opens a theatre does not, surely,
undertake to give every actor who offers his services
a trial ; the proprietor of a private picture gallery
does not offer to admit, or even to examine, the
work of every artist who chooses to send in a
picture. If the theatre or the gallery were public
property, maintained by the State or by public
subscription, the case might be different.
Ifthe claim of contract be untenable, “G. HLT s?
argument comes to this : that there is a duty upon
an editor, simply as such, or, as the jurist would
say, a duty m rem, to accept for consideration
every MS. sent to him. This is also a startling
argument. Duties in rem are familiar to our law ;
but it is a well-known principle, that such duties
are of a negative character only—v.e., they are
duties to abstain from doing acts which may result
in harm or damage to the public or one’s neigh-
pours. Duties in rem of a positive character—
ie., to do some act at the request of all and sundry,
or at peril of responsibility, arise only from the
express provisions of statute law; and I do not
recollect any Act of Parliament which imposes upon
editors the duty of reading and returning, or of
safeguarding, unsolicited MSS.
The only exception to this rule which is known
to me, is the duty cast upon a man who harbours
dangerous substances, or embarks upon an under-
* taking peculiarly likely to cause harm, to take all
precautions against the happening of such harm.
But I do not think that “G. H. T.” would be
cynic enough to urge that the founding of a
periodical was an undertaking of such a nature,
To descend from purely legal argument to the
argument from common sense. Ts it unreasonable
to expect that an author, or his literary agent,
should make himself personally acquainted. with
97
the contents of a periodical to which he proposes
to contribute? If he neglects to do so, how can
he possibly tell whether his proposed contribution
is likely to be at all suitable in matter, style, or
length ? Is not an editor entitled to resent such
neglect as savouring of contempt, or, at least, of
laziness, and indifference to the claims upon his
time? Is he bound to pay a clerk for the express
purpose of returning MSS. which are utterly unsuit-
able for his pages? What would be thought of
the man who wrote to the curator of a library:
“ Herewith I send you a highly intelligent monkey.
If he is not suitable for your shelves, kindly give
him a carefully selected meal, and despatch him by
the 9.55 to Norwich, carriage paid” ? Would
not the librarian be entitled to regard the sender
of the monkey as a troublesome lunatic? If the
author, and, still more, the literary agent—who is
supposed to be a man of business—does not take
the trouble to acquaint himself with the conditions
on which alone the editor has expressed himself as
willing to treat, he has but himself to thank if the
busy editor regards him as a nuisance.
In conclusion, I may venture to doubt whether
the periodical which is fed entirely, or almost
entirely, by commissioned articles, is not already
more common than “G. H. T.” is inclined to
allow, and whether it is not likely to be still more
common in the future. An organ founded for a
definite purpose, (widely announced in the Press),
drawing its financial support from people interested
in that purpose, and relying on an organised staff,
can hardly win success by any other means. Nor
am I prepared to admit, that such an organ is any
less worthy a product of the Republic of Letters
than the miscellany which aims merely at the
amusement of the leisure hour,
An EDITOR.
———__+ +
LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL
PROPERTY.
+
English “Serials” in the American Market.
CORRESPONDENT tells us that “serials”
which have appeared in England, and are
copyright both in England and the United
States, even in the journals generally conceded to
buy the best class of serial fiction, do not command
good prices in the United States market. £50 is
a very outside price, and £30 is considered a price
above the average, the general price being £15 to
£20 for the serial use of from 80,000 to 100,000
words, The truth is that the market is severely
limited, owing to the fact that most of the United
States publishers, who go in for this kind of work,
98
prefer to furbish up and bring up to date, with the
aid of cheap literary hacks, serials which appeared
years ago, and present them, thus “ modernised,” as
new stories to their readers. If this processshould
continue, in the year 2000 the curious may be able
to discover in United States fiction ‘“ Ivanhoe,”
“Vanity Fair,” or “Oliver Twist,” in distorted
form, altered and arranged to suit the decadent
palate of the future American. Comment on this
sort of action is superfluous.
a So oe.
MAGAZINE CONTENTS.
——+~<— —
BLACKWOOD’s MAGAZINE.
John Chilcote, M.P. By Katherine Cecil Thurston.
A Nation at Play: The Peril of Games.
Silk o’ the Kine: A Tale of the Isles. By Alfred Noyes.
The Trader of Last Notch. By Perceval Gibbon.
To. the “Whole Hog”: An Allegorical Ode. By
Dum-Dum.
Some Big Lost Norway Salmon. By Gilfrid W. Hartley.
“Sally”: A Study. By Hugh Clifford, C.M.G.
Heraldry.
The Appearances at the Black Knoll.
Herbert Spencer : A Portrait.
A Turkish Farm.
The Military Book-shelf.
Richard Cobden.
Musings without Method.
The Earl of Stair.
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE.
The Sea-Born Man. By Mrs. Woods.
The Truants (Chapters i.—iii.). By A. E. W. Mason.
Charles Dickens and the Guild of Literature and Art.
By the late Sir John R. Robinson.
Colonial Memories: Old New Zealand, Il. By Lady
Broome.
No. 10 Downing Street. By the Right Hon. Sir
Algernon West, G.C.B.
Blackstick Papers, No, 8. By Mrs, Richmond Ritchie.
Alms for Oblivion. By Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D.
Theodore Hook. By Viscount St. Cyres.
In a Viceregal City. By Mrs, Archibald Little,
Historical Mysteries (1.). The Mystery of Kaspar
Hauser, the Child of Europe. By Andrew Lang.
A Nineteenth Century Philosopher. By F. J. H.
Darton.
The Young Fisher. By Stephen Gwynn.
The Ingenuity of Mr. Clinton Bathurst. By T. Baron
Russell.
LONGMAN’S MAGAZINE,
Nature’s Comedian :(Chapters xiii., xiv.). By W. E.
Norris.
Marine Steam Turbines. By Robert Cromie.
The King’s Nose. By Margaret Armour.
Some Scouts—but not Scouting. By Captain A. 0,
‘Vaughan.
Lament for Fionavar. By Eva Gore-Booth.
Humours of Eastern Travel. By Louisa Jebb.
The Brown Puppy. By Ellen Ada Smith.
Rahel Varnhagen : The German Sibyl of the Nineteenth
Century. By Mary Hargrave.
At the Sign of the Ship. By Andrew Lang.
THE AUTHOR.
PALL MALL MAGAZINE,
The Children of the Potteries. By the Duchess of
Sutherland.
The Sensations and Emotions of Aerial Navigation. By
A. Santos Dumont.
The Guest of the Admiral: The Mediterranean Fleet at
Home. By Arnold White.
An Episode in a Country House: A Story. By
Frances Harrod (Frances Forbes Robertson).
A Song. By Lady Lily Greene.
On the Trail of the Opal. By P. F. 8. Spence (Alex-
ander Macdonald).
The Lady and the Property: A Story. ByMarie van Vorst.
Literary Geography : The Bronté Country. By William
Sharp.
A Matter of Honour: A Story. By R. Neish.
The Queen’s Quair: Book II., Chapters V., VI. By
Maurice Hewlett.
Master Workers : X. Sir Oliver Lodge. With portraits.
By Harold Begbie.
Captives: A Poem. By V. V.
The Wilderness: A Story. By H. B. Marriott-Watson.
The Vineyard: Chapters XVIII, XIX. By John
Oliver Hobbes (Mrs. Craigie).
Benjamin’s Mess: A Story. By Eden Phillpotts.
Sunrise: A Poem. By E, Nesbit.
The Round Table :—A Famous Doctor and his Friends.
By Ernest Rhys. Nursery Pictures: ‘Little Jack
Horner.” By S. H. Sime. A Critic Criticised: Mr,
Sidney Lee and the Baconians. By G. Stronach.
The Month in Caricature. By G. R. H.
THE WORLD’S WorRK.
The March of Events: An Illustrated Editorial Record
and Comment.
The Old Year.
The Fiscal Battlefield,
A Step in Civilisation.
Another Little War ? ;
Radium and the Beginnings of Matter.
The Fiscal Issue Joined. By J. St. Loe Strachey (Editor
of the Spectator).
Motorists under the New Act. By Henry Norman, M.P.
A British Industry Really Ruined. By Edwin Sharpe
Grew.
Producing a Pantomime. (Illustrated.)
A Modern London, Office Building. (illustrated.)
Milking Cows by Electricity. (Illustrated.)
The Steam Turbine. (Illustrated.) By Robert Cromie
and Frederick E. Rebbeck,
The. Pressing Question of our Canals. By Edwin
Clements.
The Working of a London Bank. By J. E. Woolacott.
The Lady Chef.
The Wonders of Modern Surgery. (illustrated.) By
C. W. Saleeby, M.B., Ch. B.
Three New Schools. (Illustrated.) By Eustace Miles, M.A.
Scientific Pheasant Farming. (lllustrated.) By W.
Bovill.
The Work of a Japanese Craftsman, (lllustrated.) By .
Herbert G. Ponting.
Municipal Loans for Small Investors. (Illustrated.). By
Edouard Charles.
British Trade with France.
The Derwent Valley Waterworks.
The Making of an American Newspaper.
The World of Women’s Work.
_ Fresh Eggs and Poultry. illustrated.) “Home
Counties.”
The Work of the Book World.
Among the World’s Workers : A Record of Industry.
THE AUTHOR.
WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS
OF BOOKS.
—— +
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be
oltained. But the transaction should be managed by a
competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of
the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
Ill. The Royalty System.
This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form
of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It isnow
possible for an author to ascertain approximately the
truth. From time to time very important figures connected
with royalties are published in Zhe Author.
IY. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author,
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
‘the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
fo the author. We are advised that this is a right. in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
(3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.
————_+—~>»
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
———9
“AT EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority,
2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager,
99
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays
in three or more acts :—
(a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This
is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into
such a contract should stipulate in the contract
for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publicatioa of his name on the
play-bills.
(4.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of percentages on
gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5
and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of royalties (i.c., fixed
nightly fees). This method should be always
avoided except in cases where the fees are
likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case,
4. Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10. An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, those authors desirous of further information
are referred to the Secretary of the Society.
oe
WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.
to
ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the
assistance of producers of books and dramatic
authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as
a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical
composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-
cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic
property. The musical composer has very often the two
rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He
100
should be especially careful therefore when entering into
an agreement, and should take into particular consideration
the warnings stated above.
— ee
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
+
a. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. The
Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any
special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the
Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they
deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion. All this
without any cost to the member.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-
ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use
the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, Before signing any agreement whatever, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5, 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 your calling in promoting
the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work
can be obtained in the Prospectus.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to
them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit
them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary
of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so
do some publishers. Members can make their own
deductions and act accordingly.
10. The subscription to the Society is £1 1s. per
annum, or £10 10s. for life membership.
THE AUTHOR.
THE READING BRANCH.
— ++
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term
MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry
and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
+ 2 ——_—_
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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, §.W., and 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 mot, are invited to
communicate to the Editor any points connected with their
work which it would be advisable in the general interest to
publish.
————_+ + —_
Communications and letters are invited by the
Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
—
The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be —
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent ©
by registered letter only.
———__+—_+—__—_
THE LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
ot
N offer has been made of a special scheme of.
Endowment and Whole Life Assurance,
admitting of a material reduction off the
ordinary premiums to members of the Society
Full information can be obtained from J. P. Blake,
5
158, Leadenhall Street, E.C.
Leval and General Insurance Society (City Branch), —
ae a
ne
THE AUTHOR.
AUTHORITIES.
—————
WE see in an extract from the Westminsier
Gazette that the Société des Gens de Lettres has
recently inherited two legacies, one of them
valued at 35,000 francs, and the other, consisting
of real property, estimated to produce 18,000 francs
when realised. Both these legacies will go to sup-
port the Pension Fund of the Société.
The Société des Gens de Lettres is a wealthy
society owing to the fact that it has certain rights
over the works of members who belong to it, and
can obtain financial support from the sale of these -
rights.
An arrangement of this kind would, of course, be
impossible under the constitution of our Society,
but no doubt, as time goes on, the capital at the
back of the Society will be increased by grateful
members either during their lifetime by donations
or after their death by legacies, till the time
will at length come when neither the Society
nor the Society’s Pension Fund will need further
assistance.
The Société des Gens de Lettres, it is stated,
has at the present time 145 pensioners, but the
value of the pensions are only £12 a year, and are
awarded as a matter of right to the members of
the Société in order of seniority whenever funds
permit. Many of the more wealthy authors who
are members waive their rights to the pensions to
which they are entitled.
Mr. J. R. Kewry, of “ The London Directory,”
has been interviewed by a correspondent of a daily
paper. He made one point referring to copyright
which was amusing as well as instructive.
Infringement of copyright in a directory is
often exceedingly hard to prove, as the facts con-
tained in its pages are, as a rule, open to all
parties ; and as long as anyone acting bond fide
goes to the original source for information so long
may he make use of that information in any way
that seems fit to him.
We do not refer to the question of the peculiar
form in which the information may be conveyed to
the public, this is another and difficult branch of
copyright ; for instance, in the case of the “A. B. C.
Railway Guide,” there is a certain copyright, not
in the matter, but in the form.
Mr. Kelly tells how on one occasion a certain
merchant came to his office and said he had been
asked to advertise in a new directory that was
guaranteed a circulation of 15,000 copies. Mr.
Kelly was naturally interested, and looked at the
Copy which the merchant brought with him.
101
He referred to one name in the directory, and
seeing the manner in which it had been spelt he
was at once aware that the contents had been
stolen from his own book, as he had himself in-
vented the name and inserted it. Mr. Kelly’s
firm started a prosecution and won the day, and
all copies of the pirated book were ordered to be
destroyed.
We quote Mr. Kelly’s own words.
“TI shall never forget the ferocious question put
to me in cross-examination by the defendant’s
counsel. ‘ What,’ he cried, ‘do you stand there,
Mr. Kelly, and confess that you, a gentleman of
honour and position, were actually laying a trap ?’
‘You have to lay traps to catch vermin,’ I took
the liberty of replying.”
The counsel, no doubt, felt the rebuke.
This calls to mind another story of copyright
infringement, where the result was equally satis-
factory to the real owner. We believe it occurred
to Mr. Gambier Boulton, the well-known photo-
grapher of wild animals, but cannot at the moment
verify the statement. The hero of the story,
whoever he was, had, with considerable difficulty,
after watching for many days, photographed one
of the lions at the Zoological Gardens in the act of
yawning. On this photograph great time and
trouble had been expended, and he was, in conse-
quence, very proud of the result. Not long after-
wards he found the photograph reproduced in a
magazine, and brought an action for infringement.
The magazine contributor defended the case, and
stated that the photograph was original and was
not a copy. The reply from the plaintiff was
conclusive.
“It is a curious point,” he said, “that both
lions we have photographed should have had a
cancer on their tongues.”
The Court gave a verdict for the plaintiff.
THE Nobel Prize for literature has this year
been assigned to the great Norwegian author,
Bjornstjerne Bjornson.
There was a report current that this would be
- the case, and we think the Stockholm Committee
amply justified in their selection. Mr. Bjornson
was born on the 8th of December, 1832, and is,
therefore, now in his seventy-second year.
Though a constant traveller, he spends most of
his summer on a little farm which he has purchased
in the heart of Norway.
His works are well known in this and all
English-speaking countries, and many of them
have been translated. He is not only a novelist,
but a dramatist and a poet.
2,
102
«Tye Amalgamated Press,” Limited, according
to the papers which have given reports of the
annual meeting, is in a flourishing condition.
Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth stated that the
company, after writing off £25,000 for depreciation,
had £266,000 to divide as dividends, and further
if this is not aslip of the pen) had made a nett
profit of £180,000 out of “With the Flag to
Pretoria.”
These figures are exceedingly interesting to all
members of the profession of authorship.
If the publishers have made these enormous
profits, no doubt the authors employed have
received their fair and just remuneration at the
same time. We have much pleasure, therefore, in
congratulating the author of “ With the Flag to
Pretoria”? on the small fortune which he must
have acquired.
—————
On December 10th, in the Guildhall Library,
the bust of Geoffrey Chaucer was unveiled. It
was presented by Sir Recinald Hanson, and was
the work of Mr. George Frampton, R.A.
Many distinguished men were present, either
writers or those who take an interest in literature.
The ceremony of unveiling was undertaken by
Dr. Furnivall, the Chaucer scholar and founder of
the Chaucer Society.
Mr. Alfred Austin, the Poet Laureate, seconded
a resolution thanking Sir Reginald Hanson for the
gift.
That the work should have been placed in the
Guildhall Library has a point of interest beyond
the literary. Chaucer was not only a poet, but a
commercial man and a diplomatist. He was
despatched to Genoa in 1372 as the representative
of England in order to bring about a commercial
treaty with that city. The members of the Corpora-
tion have therefore every reason to look upon him
as one of themselves.
We have much pleasure in printing on another
page a_ short article referring to the sale of
the MS. of “Paradise Lost,” and Mr. Sidney
Lee’s letter which appeared in The Times of
December 14th.
‘A matter so important to all lovers of literature
cannot be too often placed before the public. It is
hoped, with the help of Mr. Lee and many others
who prize English literature and its connections,
that it will be possible to save the MS. from being
taken out of England.
We feel sure that any National movement for
its purchase will obtain the ready support of all
Members of the Society.
THE AUTHOR.
SHOULD WELL-KNOWN WRITERS
“FARM OUT” FICTION ?
———
From THE COMMITTEE.
L the first of the notices which are regularly
inserted on the first page of Zhe Author it is
announced that “ For the opinions expressed
in the papers that are signed or initialled the
authors alone are responsible. None of the papers
or paragraphs must be taken as expressing the
opinion of the Committee, unless such is especially
stated to be the case.”
The Committee had considered, and their atten-
tion has now been called by more than one
member of the Society to, an article on pages
80 and 81 of the December number, signed
“Proxy,” and entitled, “Should Well-known
Writers ‘Farm-out’ Fiction ?”
The correspondents appear to assume, Or to
imagine that others might assume, that the pub-
lication of this article may, in the absence of
editorial comment, be taken to imply that the
Committee think the view put forward in it is
worthy to be taken seriously.
By many readers of Zhe Author the article
was regarded as an ironical jew @esprit, but it
has been accepted by others as a bond fide de-
fence of an existing practice, and it is undoubtedly
open to this interpretation.
The Committee, therefore, to avoid possible
misunderstanding, feel it their duty to say that,
in their opinion, such practices as are described
and defended by “Proxy” are gravely discredit-
able to those concerned, and constitute a gross
fraud both on the publisher and the public.
In thus expressing their opinion on the points
raised in “ Proxy’s” article, the Committee, it may
be well to add, must not be understood to condemn
such forms of co-operation as are frequently
resorted to in works involving extensive research,
or where, in other branches of literature, the
co-operation is acknowledged in such a manner
that no purchaser can reasonably complain of
having been misled.
Tur Editor has received from Members of the
Society a number of letters which would more
than fill the space reserved for correspondence in
the present number, commenting on “ Proxy’s”
article. Having before their receipt been in-
structed to insert the note from the Committee
printed above, which meets most of the points
raised by his correspondents, he has, with the
Commitiee’s approval, refrained from publishing
any selection from these letters in the current
number.
aeuneey
THE AUTHOR.
HERBERT SPENCER, 1820—1903.
an ep
. HE suns go swiftly out, and I see no suns to
follow; nothing but a universal twilight
of the semi-divinities.” So wrote Robert
Louis Stevenson, apropos of the deaths of Renan,
Browning, and Tennyson, and his plaint has echo
among those who have sat at the feet of departed
masters in scienceand philosophy—Darwin, Huxley,
Spencer. For thoughts of a vanished day rather
than of a coming dawn are uppermost ; thoughts
restrained only by the knowledge that the influence
of these teachers, men of lofty aims and unsullied
life, is a part of our imperishable heritage, and
that, consciously or not, we are swayed by it to
further, as at our poor best we may, their high
emprise.
The obituary notices of Herbert Spencer have
familiarised us with the outlines of his career. No
eventful one, such as comes to men of action, yet
full of incident in struggle bordering on the heroic,
in unflinching purpose and large accomplishment.
Son of a Derby schoolmaster, he was educated
partly at home, partly by an uncle; then came
nine years of civil engineering, with little heart in
the work, and, ultimately, escape into journalism.
In 1850, while sub-editing the Hconomist, Spencer
published “ Social Statics,” wherein ‘“ the conditions
essential to human happiness are specified, and the
relation of them to a general law of development
indicated.” In this last phrase the keynote of his
life-work is struck. One chapter of the book
contains hints of the great doctrine with which
Spencer’s name is associated for all time, while
throughout the book there is present the feeling
that, in the words of Hume, “all sciences have a
relation, greater or less, to man.”
Neither in the moral nor the material sphere is
their special creation. All that has been achieved,
whether in discovery, invention, or speculation
which research has confirmed, is the fruitage of the
unhasting, unresting past. And the conception
of the universe, as in some way the product of
mechanical processes, is not modern. Ages before
Spencer made clear to us the unity of the cosmos,
there had been approaches to that supremely
ennobling conception. But, save through a voice
crying here and there as in a wilderness, the spirit
of enquiry, born in Ionia five centuries before
Christ, was stifled for two thousand years by creeds
that would brook no rival and permit no ques-
tioning. As late as the middle of the eighteenth
century, Buffon, covertly hinting at a possible
common ancestor of the horse and ass, and of the
ape and man, adds, with an eye on the Sorbonne,
that since scripture teaches the contrary, the thing
cannot be. But the timid suggestion bore fruit in
103
the bravely enounced theories of Lamarck and
Darwin’s distinguished grandfather, the poetical
Lichfield doctor. A succession of workers in the
fields of geology, palzeontology and biology brought
a body of evidence in support of those theories
which ultimately demolished the tenacious belief
in the fixity of species. Among these there can in
this brief paper be reference only to Von Baer, the
formulator of the “ Law of Development ” manifest
in the fundamental likenesses between the embryos
of the higher animals and man, because Spencer
tells us that, becoming acquainted with this ‘ Law ”
in 1852, he at once saw its bearing on the theory
adumbrated in “Social Statics.’ So far as organic
evolution was concerned, the master-key to the
causes of the origin of the millions of species of
plants and animals was lacking, but this was to be
supplied six years later by Darwin and Wallace.
Thus were all things being made ready for the
advent of a man with the penetrating insight of
genius, and with the saving and indispensable
sense of relation, who should, by his skill in syn-
thesis, demonstrate the interaction, unity and con-
tinuity of all phenomena, and their subservience
to one process which, if it operates anywhere,
operates everywhere—the process known as Evolu-
tion. In the fulness of time he came. He had
bad health ; he was poor ; he was almost unknown,
therefore little heeded. In January, 1858, six
months before the meeting of the Linnean Society
at which Darwin and Wallace’s memorable paper
“On the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by
Natural Selection” was read, Spencer wrote out
his scheme of the ‘Synthetic Philosophy ” which,
it is interesting to note, was submitted to his father
for comment. In 1860 the prospectus of the pro-
posed series of volumes was issued, and secured a
sufficient response from friends to warrant a venture
whose risks Spencer could not afford to run unaided.
Not till he was forty did he sce the inception
of a plan which he had nurtured when writing
in his twenty-second year a series of letters on
“The Proper Sphere of Government’”’ in the
Nonconformist.
The Synthetic Philosophy comprehended all
phenomena in this formula: ‘ Evolution is an
integration of matter and concomitant dissipation
of motion during which the matter passes from an
indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite,
coherent heterogeneity, and during which the
retained motion undergoes a parallel transforma-
tion.” The method followed is the inductive, the
established premise being the “persistence of
force ” involving endless cycles of ceaseless change,
resulting in redistribution of matter and motion,
whereby adyance is made from the like to the
unlike, from the simple to the complex; for
example, the vapours and unstable stuff of the
104
universe slowly condensing into sun and solar
systems, life emerging on our planet (of which
alone we have knowledge) along physical and
psychical stages till the transcendent genius of
man appears. Postulating the inscrutableness of
the Power which underlies all phenomena, and
ever quickening the sense of wonder begotten by
the stupendous spectacle of evolution and dissolu-
tion, Spencer advanced along the lines of his great
argument, from statements of the general in
«First Principles” to application of the special
in the “ Principles of Biology,” with its details of
development of plants and animals ; in the
“Principles of Psychology,” wherein the story
passes from life to mind in the development of
gelf-consciousness from blurred, undetermined feel-
ing in the lowest responsive organism ; and finally,
in the “ Principles of Sociology,” wherein is traced
the evolution of family, tribal and allied relations,
of religion and its ceremonies, of politics and
institutions—in brief, of all the apparatus of
human life, individual and collective, with large
insistence on the basis of ethics as not supernatural,
but social. So we have, first, the imorgantc, or
evolution of the not-living ; second, the organic,
or evolution of the living ; (Spencer sees in mind
and matter only “two phases of one cosmical pro-
cess”); and third, the superorganic, or evolution
into social groups, with their institutions, beliefs,
and customs. No break in the series is recognised ;
the keynotes of evolution are unity and continuity.
Science knows no finality ; but, recognising that
revisions here and there will be needed as know-
ledge advances, it is difficult to believe that the
main structure raised by the genius of Spencer
will not abide. It was his rare privilege to see in
old age the fulfilment of the plan of his early
manhood, and whatever of impermanence may
attach to his work, his place as one of the greatest
of the world’s master-builders in the intellectual
and spiritual domain is secure. A concluding word
or two about Spencer’s style and personality. The
one has been called cumbersome, lacking in ease
and grace ; but massive thought demands dignified,
masculine diction, and the careful reader will
quickly find that in clearness and definiteness the
style is perfectly adapted to the subject-matter.
In some of the minor works, notably those on
“Education” and the delightful “Study of
Sociology,” we find abundance of felicitous and
familiar illustration. As for the man, his carefully-
guarded health led to some degree of fussiness and
fidgetiness, while a certain aloofness kept company
with a frigid manner under which, nevertheless,
there beat a kindly heart, ever moved by the needs
and troubles of his friends.
Tt was in 1894 that our Society had the dis-
tinction of adding to its member-roll the name of
THE AUTHOR.
a man to whom all titular dignities were repellent,
and whose adhesion to any movement was never
given without deliberation.
EDWARD CLODD.
<> —______
THE MS. OF MILTON’S “ PARADISE LOST.”
——>——
R. SIDNEY LEE sent to The Times a
letter on this subject which appeared on
Dec. 14. We reprint his communication
with some slight changes and omissions which we
have his authority for making.
Mr. Lee wrote :—“ It is to be hoped that every
one who has the reputation of this country at heart
and is in a position to bring influence to bear on
its rulers will take note of Mr. Churton Collins’
warning and spare no endeavour to prevent the
passing into ownership beyond the seas of the
original MS. press copy of the First Book of
Milton’s ‘ Paradise Lost.’ The peril is very real.
Unless strenuous efforts be made, the chances
against the keeping of the document at home are
overwhelming. If no public pressure be exerted,
there is an obvious likelihood that this literary
treasure will follow the recent fortunes of the only
known copies of the original edition of Malory’s
‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ and of many another of our
early literary masterpieces, and henceforth adorn
the private library of some American citizen of
wealth and enterprise.”
“The occasion demands exceptional exertion. The
nation’s prestige owes an immense debt to its
literary achievements, and to no literary achieve-
ment (save to Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies) does
it owe more than to Milton’s ‘ Paradise Lost.’
No autograph MS. of the poem has ever existed,
for Milton in his blindness was not able to write,
but the copy which he sent to the licenser for the
press with his own characteristic corrections of the
spelling is the nearest possible approach to his
original MS. This MS. of a portion of Milton’s
epic is, in effect, one of the nation’s title-deeds to
poetic and intellectual renown. Is it unreasonable
to expect that the Government will recognise its
obligation, now that the opportunity presents itself,
to convert this national title-deed to fame into a
national heirloom, and secure it in perpetuity for
the British Museum ?”
“ Experience does not admit of doubt as to the
answer that, were similar circumstances to arise in
foreign countries, this question would receive from
foreign Governments. It is difficult to believe
that, with so potent an incentive to action as is
offered by the forthcoming sale, the Treasury will
hesitate to provide the necessary increase of grant
THE AUTHOR.
whereby the national library may become the final
home of Milton’s MS.”
“The sale is announced to take place ‘early in
the spring.’ Apparently, no precise day has yet
been fixed. The Trustees of the British Museum
and other public bodies will thus have time
wherein to approach the Government, and learn
their intentions. Probably, to meet all eventu-
alities, it would be safest at once to form privately
a guarantee fund, whose members would undertake,
in the case of the failure of an application to the
Government, to defray the cost of securing the MS.
for the British Museum. Disclosure of details as
to the amount likely to be required would defeat
the purpose of the fund.”
The owner of the MS. has just announced
through the auctioneers that he will dispose of it
to the highest bidder at public auction on January
25th.
A scholarly account of the textual interest
attaching to the MS. appeared in The Times
Literary Supplement of Dec. 18th. Some news-
paper correspondents may have attached an unduly
high value to the MS., but the opposing statement
made by Dr. Furnivall in The Times of Dec.
19th, that it is a valueless scrivener’s copy, is
incorrect. No extravagant sum ought to be
offered for the document, because it is not an
author’s autograph MS. But it is eminently
desirable that every attempt should be made to
secure it for the national collection. We should be
glad to hear from any who would co-operate in
efforts in that direction.
——————
A NEW BOOK ON COPYRIGHT.
—_—
E have read with interest a little book just
V published by A. H. Bullen, entitled
“ Copyright Law,” by Henry A. Hinkson.
The book is a very small one to deal with so
large and difficult a subject. In this point lies its
main fault, It is written clearly and plainly with-
out any unnecessary legal argument, and is mainly
a statement of the facts and the results of the
working of the law.
So far the book is admirable. The faults are
very few and far between and the blunders slight.
It is a matter of some doubt whether a little
knowledge is not in the case of copyright a
dangerous thing, and whether a text book for the
young author and young writer is not more likely
to lead him into difficulties than to improve his
knowledge of how to deal with his property.
We must, however, thank Mr. Hinkson for his
well-endeavoured effort and congratulate him on
the result.
105
Without desiring to be hypercritical, it is
necessary to draw attention to one or two small
errors.
For instance, on page 49, when dealing with
the 18th Section—that most difficult of all Sections
—the author states that after twenty-eight years
the copyright reverts to the author. This state-
ment is, of course, incorrect, the words of the Act
being “the right of publishing in separate form
shall revert to the author.” Now the right of
publication and the copyright are two distinct
things, and the legal distinction cannot be too
accurately maintained or too frequently insisted
upon.
When dealing with International Copyright he
includes Montenegro among the Signatories to the
Berne Convention. Though Montenegro was origin-
ally a Signatory, she has since withdrawn.
With regard to Artistic Copyright he again falls
into error. He states: “‘ Before publication the pro-
prietor has a common law right in his picture
engraving or drawing,” and seems to draw the
deduction that copyright runs from the publica-
tion of the “picture engraving or drawing.”
If he studies the Act more closely and the
books which have been written endeavouring to
explain that Act, he will see that the copyright
in a “picture engraving or drawing” begins on
the making thereof and not from the publication.
This is one of the difficult points in the Artistic
as distinct from the Literary Copyright Law.
However, the book is accurately and carefully
written, and so far as it is possible for any legal
copyright amateur to gain satisfaction from a small
work, so far will he be able to derive assistance
from Mr. Hinkson’s “Copyright Law.”
A NOVELIST ON HIS ART.*
—_
T is always a melancholy task to criticise the
i work of a man of great talent who has died
before the full fruition of his gift, and the
melancholy is deepened when the work in question
is not of such a kind as to deserve unrestricted
praise. No one, I think, even of those to whom
his peculiar powers make the least appeal, will deny
that in “ The Octopus ” and “ McTeague ” the late
Mr. Frank Norris manifested extraordinary promise
and discovered fresh territory ; no one, again, of
his most fervent worshippers could honestly affirm
that his work is faultless. A rough and careless
* «The Responsibilities of the Novelist,’ by Frank
Norris. (Grant Richards.)
106
style, sometimes effective, often wounding, is the least
delightful characteristic of “The Responsibilities
of the Novelist.” Its author allowed the force of his
convictions to express itself in noise ; he was so
certain of the truth of his theories that he forgot
what a traitor to truth didacticism may prove
unless it is allied with subtle restraint. He has
none of the fine shades of persuasion.
Yet if the style is marred by such redundant
expressions as “I tell you ” and such elementary
errors as “Macbeth and Tamerlane réswmé the
whole spirit of the Elizabethan age,” and “ Violet le
Due’s ‘ Dictionaire du Mobilier,’” there are, at any
rate, many fine and honest, if not hugely original,
judgments on the art of the novelist. Mr. Norris
realised that the artistic temperament is not a
thing that one can put on and take off, like a hat
or an air of virtue, but that it is the very spring
and essence of life.
“You must be something more than a novelist if you
ean, something more than just a writer. There must be
that nameless sixth sense in you... . the thing that
does not enter into the work, but that is back of it; the
thing that would make of you a good man as well as a
good novelist.”
Something of this kind has been said before, but
Mr. Norris was an independent thinker, and that
he should have come to the same conclusion as his
predecessors is a great tribute to their common
theory. Sincerity is the watchword of his essays
which deal most intimately with the novelist’s art;
he denounces the vulgar trick of cramming the
public with garbage that has neither life nor
beauty, and reiterates the importance of studying
the ordinary aspects of existence, aspects as full of
romantic possibility as any age when men loved
and fought in doublet and hose. This truth he
illustrates from American history. But here, too,
he rushes wildly where a more careful thinker
would pause. He is wonderfully optimistic con-
cerning the public taste, and believes that in the
end the plain people, the burgesses, the grocers,
will prefer “Walter Scott to G. P. R. James,
Shakespeare to Marlowe, Flaubert to Goncourt.”
Why, in the name of logic, Shakespeare to Marlowe?
A damning comparison of the “ Aigina Marbles”
with the frieze of Pheidias would be about as
pertinent. Did Mr. Norris really imagine that
Marlowe was the G. P. R. James of the Elizabethan
era, just as a recent writer on Sicily termed one of
the three greatest Attic dramatists the Henry
Arthur Jones of Greece? Faults of taste of this
kind mar the excellence of his book, which will
nevertheless have a value as containing the sincere
if hasty conclusions of one whose premature
death is mourned by all who care for honesty in
literature.
Sr. J. Le
THE AUTHOR.
G. P. v. SPECIALIST.
a
HAVE noticed recently a recrudescence of the
old discussion as to whether specialists or
general practitioners should be called in to
express opinions on the corpus vile of fiction,
whether experts or ordinary readers are the proper
persons to review books in the Press ; and, on the
principle, perhaps, that fools may hit when wiser
men may miss, I venture to shoot my bolt with my
betters, protesting in advance that common sense
has before now been known to be covered by the
cap and bells, and that responsibility is more
frequently an obstacle to the utterance of truth
than irresponsibility.
I wish that in these conversational debates the
disputants would take the preliminary trouble to
define their terms ; even if they did, there would
be small likelihood of their bringing their argu-
ments to aconclusion, but without such preliminary
labour there is no possibility of their doing so.
What is an expert? Let it be observed that I do
not ask who is an expert: to do so would be to
represent myself as unfamiliar with “ Who’s who ?”
at this instant reflecting my blushes, due to my not
being mentioned therein ; but what do these leaders
of light and learning mean by experts, and reviews,
and half-a-hundred other things which they
discuss so frequently and at such length? What
distinction do they make between a criticism and a
review, and for whose benefit do they contend that
books are reviewed in the Press at all? The
looseness with which they employ the terms is
surely the reason of half the pother.
Literature is an art, not a profession, and the
author has discharged his primary function when
he has brought his work to perfection and knows
that he can do no more with it: that, so far as he
can make it so, it is a finished thing. But from
another point of view that is only the end of the
beginning. In due course the book is made public,
and then it is the publisher who is immediately
concerned, and trade considerations properly come
into the matter. He advertises the fact that he
has a book to sell; if he is clever he advertises it
in a variety of ways, but generally, of course, by
the simple expedient of inserting notices of it
in newspapers, in consequence of seeing which
people may be induced to buy. The publisher's
primary business is to make money for himself,
and he would not be a business man if on the one
hand he did not spend money with the object
of making more, and if on the other he did not
seek to get some advertisement of his wares for
next to nothing. In the former case he spends
upon advertising as much as he thinks the book
will bear, and to the latter end he sends out
ile
THE AUTHOR. 107
“review copies,” asking for the favour of an
editorial notice, a notice, or a review, and for a
copy of the issue of the paper containing any such
notice. I never remember having seen the word
‘criticism ” used by any publisher on any such
occasion; at the present moment twenty-seven
volumes await attention from me, and the word
“criticism” does not occur in one of the accom-
panying printed slips from the publishers; it is
notice, not criticism, they desire.
The editor again does not desire to procure it as
a general rule. Times are such that he consults
the wishes of his readers by giving them reviews
instead of criticism, and for that purpose he
employs reviewers and not critics, general prac-
titioners not specialists ; and this not only because
they are less expensive and more easily come by,
but because they are the better men for the job. In
all this part of the matter, art is not even being
considered : it is business pure and simple between
the publisher, the editor, and the public. The first
wants the cheap advertisement ; the second wants
copy dealing with one of the myriad subjects
interesting some of his regular readers and wants
cheap copy—let those who deny that reviewing is
poorly paid work quote figures ; the third want—
what ?—notice or criticism ?
So far as fiction is concerned I am convinced
they do not want criticism. They want to know
what a book is about, and only one thing more—
whether it is interesting. One may prate about
art until the ceiling falls. That a book is interest-
ing is the first, the middle, and the last point of
importance to the great public: it is the one thing
the publisher’s reader watches for, the editor
watches for, the publisher watches for. A novelist
may write a story the plot of which is moth eaten,
the characters in which are conventional almost to
the point of absurdity, the style of which is faulty
and, from the point of view of art, deplorable ; if
it is interesting the publisher’s reader would forfeit
his appointment by declining it, the editor would
be confronted with a similar possibility by commit-
ting a similar blunder, and the publisher would
rage furiously at losing a good thing. Immortality
is an abstraction, but temporal supremacy is practi-
cal politics ; but the mind that is set upon things
above is commonly indifferent, if not actually
blind, to things below. The analogy has point.
Criticism has been defined as the exercise of
judgment in the province of art and literature, and
the critic as a person who is possessed of the
knowledge necessary to enable him to pronounce
right judgments upon the merit or worth of such
works as come within this province. Matter,
manner, and the quality of giving pleasure, or in
other words: the power of appealing to the imagina-
tion, are the three characteristic qualities of
literature—the principles; construction of plot,
metre, diction, and such other lesser elements as
are governed by canons, are the rules ; and criticism
tends in an increasing degree to disregard rules
and concentrate its attention upon principles.
The expert critic cannot, however, be expected to
do other than act as a resistant force to this
tendency ; it is his function to maintain a high
standard of merit in performance, and to insist
upon the importance of the rules: he is the champion
of art, and the artist’s well-greaved friend ; but the
training and scholarship which make him what he
is are obstacles in the way of his being a practically
useful reviewer of fiction for the daily, or even
weekly, Press. A dissertation upon principles and
rules in the “literary column” of a daily paper,
with a considered judgment upon the merits of a
novel as tested thereby, is not wanted by anybody
except the author. The expert critic’s knowledge
and reverence for principles and rules make him
intolerant of any work where they are not observed
and incapable of finding anything interesting in it :
his place is the quarterly reviews : the daily papers
have no use for him.
Is that a matter for regret to authors? Only
in part, it seems to me. At that stage in his
development what he needs is notice, as wide as
possible, in order that his books may sell ; utili-
tarian considerations legitimately affect him too.
Moreover, if what he has produced be art, in
the true sense of the word, he must know that
everything is very well as it is. No interesting
book has ever yet been written that has failed
to find its way to the world: that is one truth ;
another is that fame has never yet been withheld
when it has been deserved. With the author who
cannot comfort himself with the belief that if he
deserves fame he will win it, and who finds a griev-
ance in the thought that it may be posthumous, it
is not easy to be patient. If he is of such
comparative importance that he is made the subject
of considered criticism as distinct from mere
review, he must still remember that contemporary
criticism can only be provisional: appeal to
posterity, by whom the judgment may be reversed,
is not only permissible, but inevitable. It is with
posterity only that the final judgment lics. What
matters most to the author in the present is
review.
It is of fiction that I have spoken because it
is in connection with fiction that the old discussion
has been revived; and so far as fiction is con-
cerned, let me record my vote by plumping in
favour of the general practitioner. Consideration
of the question in connection with other depart-
ments of literature may be left to another time
and to another mind.
V. E. M.
108
THE UNVEILING OF THE MEMORIAL TO
SIR WALTER BESANT.
oo
HE memorial to our late chairman and
founder, Sir Walter Besant, was unveiled
in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral by
Lord Monkswell on December 11th. It will be
remembered by many members of the Society that
the memorial, arelief in bronze, admirably executed
by George Frampton, R.A., was commissioned and
mainly subscribed for by the members of the
Society, and that it was hung in the sculpture-
room at Burlington House last May. The position
of the memorial is now in the crypt of St. Paul’s,
on the wall, between that to the memory of Charles
Reade and the brass of John M. Smith. On the
tablet, beneath the portrait, is this inscription :
NovEListT,
HisToRIAN OF LoNnpDoN,
SECRETARY OF THE PALESTINE Exploration FUND
ORIGINATOR OF THE PEOPLE’S PALACE,
AND
FouUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS.
Tuts MoNUMENT IS ERECTED
BY
His GRATEFUL BRETHREN IN LITERATURE.
Born 14th August, 1836; Died 9th June, 1901.
The ceremony of unveiling was short. Mr.
Douglas Freshfield, the Chairman of the Com-
mittee of the Society, regretted that Mr. George
Meredith, our President, was too ill to appear.
Hence it fell upon him to call upon Lord Monks-
well to unveil the memorial. Many Members had
already seen the memorial in the Academy, and
approved it. To them the act of unveiling was
but a formality. No better man could have been
asked to unveil the memorial than Lord Monks-
well, the Chairman of the London County Council ;
and, perhaps, here, in the quiet corner of the
crypt beneath the Cathedral of London, and
London’s roar, was the best place for a lasting
monument to one who had given the best years of
his life to London and to London’s good. He did
his best to enlighten the darkness of the lives of the
masses, entered keenly into a thorough investiga-
tion of the sweating system, and gave the people
new sources of intellectual or, at any rate,
intelligent recreation.
Dean Gregory and Canon Newbolt read a short
dedication service, and Lord Monkswell unveiled
the memorial. Certainly, it looks infinitely better
in its present position than it did in Burlington
THE AUTHOR.
House. The sombre light, the grey walls, the
impressive silence of the great crypt, seeming to
stretch away in an endless vista of arched halls
and chambers and echoing passages, are in quiet
harmony with the soft-toned bronze of the relief.
Lord Monkswell, unveiling the memorial, spoke
of Sir Walter Besant as one who, though a
foreigner to London by birth, and largely by
education, yet knew London and loved it, as no
one else in the world knew London. Its streets
and its lanes, its docks and its river were to him
an open book. He was a social reformer, a man
of ideas, sound feasible ideas, and no mere
dreamer. With this side of him, the County
Council thoroughly sympathised. Like Dickens,
Besant preached social reform. But Dickens was
a destructive element. His giant pen seized upon
the demons of wickedness and thrust their names
and their fames into the mouths of all. Besant
sought the same demons, but his craft was to do
more than to show them up. It was to destroy
them and replace them by other organisations in
which the demoniac spirit was absent. And in
part he was successful. From his ideas—romantic
ideas in “All Sorts and Conditions of Men,” an
impossible story—Besant’s own criticism—sprung
the People’s Palace, situate in the heart of White-
chapel, the centre of the working life of thousands
and tens of thousands of Londoners.
Besant was not a vain man. He was not a
jealous man. But his admiration was for all that
was good, that was healthy. His sympathies were
thorough-going and cosmopolitan. One of his
last acts was to join himself to the Atlantic Union,
a union to entertain Americans and Canadians
and Colonials who visited England. He was a
good man if ever there was a good man; a lovable
man if ever there was one.
The greater part of the organic work of this
Atlantic Union is, by the way, now in the hands
of Miss Celia Besant.
Among those present at the ceremony were
Lady Besant, her two daughters, Misses Celia and
Ailie Besant, her second son—her eldest son,
Captain Eustace Besant, is still serving in South
Africa—Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Chairman of the
Managing Committee of the Society, Mr. Edgar
Besant, Sir Walter’s youngest brother, to whom,
by the way, we owe the origin of “The Golden
Butterfly,” Prof. Bonney, Mr. Hall Caine, Sir
Martin Conway, Mr. George Frampton, R.A., Mr.
A. H. Hawkins, Colonel Lamb, of the Salvation
Army, in which Sir Walter Besant was greatly
interested, and many others.
SaaS AE_cith Se
®
THE AUTHOR. 109
. THE SAMUEL PEPYS CLUB.
ee a
HIS new Literary Club was founded on May
26th, 1903, in commemoration of the two-
hundredth anniversary of the death of its
patron—saint or sinner, shall we say, or merely style
him the father-confessor of our frail humanity, and
the elub’s pater benignus, Samuel Pepys ?
The founders were Mr. Henry B. Wheatley, Sir
Frederick Bridge, Mr. D’Arcy Power, and Mr. George
Whale, who, on the aforesaid anniversary, after the
manner of Englishmen with a great project in hand,
did solemnly dine together, and initiate the club.
A general meeting was duly held on July 8th, when
the number of members was fixed at seventy. This
number came rapidly together by a kind of rare
chemical affinity, and there are already many can-
didate atoms that feel the potent attraction, and
only await a vacant place in the new body cor-
porate. The objects of the club, besides that of
doing honour to the author of the most human of
human documents, are: First, to dine together,
with or without guests, three times a year, on or
about the anniversaries of certain important events
in the life of Samuel Pepys ; and, secondly, to read
and discuss papers concerning Pepys and his time,
with power to add to such objects as occasion may
arise.
The inaugural dinner was held on Tuesday,
December 3rd, 1903, in the Hall of the Cloth-
workers’ Company, of which Pepys was Master in
1677, Mr. Henry B. Wheatley, editor of the most
complete edition of the Diary, and the club’s first
President, occupying the chair, with the Master of
the Clothworkers, Mr. Snow, on his right hand;
while behind them shone the historic plate of the
Company. Among the valuable pieces there dis-
played the most interesting to the club and its
guests were the cup and cover of silver gilt, and
the gilt ewer and basin, or rose-water dish, pre-
sented to the Company by Pepys during his Master-
ship. ‘The members of the club assembled in force
on this occasion, and brought many distinguished
guests.
The toasts proposed from the chair, after the
usual ones of ‘The King” and “ The Queen and
Royal Family,” were “The Immortal Memory of
Samuel Pepys” and “The Clothworkers’ Company,”
the latter responded to by the Master.
The toast of “Our Visitors” was proposed by
Mr. George Whale, and responded to by Sir
William Collins.
“The Club” was proposed by Viscount Dillon,
and responded to by Mr. Edmund Gosse.
Sir Alexander Binnie afterwards, in a most
interesting speech, directed the attention of the
club to some localities in London either mentioned
by Pepys or suggesting memories of him. Indeed,
the speeches, taken all round, were singularly
interesting in substance, and well - delivered.
Perhaps the note most frequently sounded was
that of homage to Pepys’s many-sided humanity,
his immense aptitude for work, and happy energy
in both work and play. This was but a just
tribute to the man, whose sterling qualities are
even now scarcely appreciated as they deserve by
the general public. Anyone who is in a position
to estimate the actual work he did as Clerk of the
Acts, and Secretary to the Admiralty, can hardly
fail to give him a place among the great English-
men of his day. He brought his common-sense,
love of mastering details, and loyal fidelity to the
duties of his office to bear upon many abuses ; and
he left the Navy, his chief care, in a much more
efficient condition than that in which he found it.
Any sympathetic student of his Diary, moreover,
must feel the charm of his personality: his child-like
delight in life ; his easy-going love of his wife and
friends, and of those rough-notes of contemporary
history that we call gossip and scandal, but which
add a spice to the historic plum-pudding ; his
eager curiosity about everything that came in his
way, and divine lust after precise information on all
possible subjects ; and withal his genuine religion.
For Pepys, in spite of his sensuous temperament,
and the not uncommon weaknesses, follies, and
unchastened appetites, he has so frankly chronicled,
was a religious man in that irreligious age; living
his particoloured life with a feeling that the eye of
God was upon him. It is no doubt true that the
God he worshipped was not the stern and wrathful
Deity of the Puritans, but more akin to that good-
natured Creator of all flesh of whom Beranger
sings :
“Le verre en main, gaiement je me confie
Au Dieu des bonnes gens !”
But Pepys’s faith was not only more grave and
decorous than that of Béranger seems to have been,
but deeper and more abiding.
After dinner there was a pleasant ‘ Concert of
Musick,” under the direction of Sir Frederick
Bridge. Pepys’s own favourite song, “ Beauty,
Retire,” composed by himself, was the first vocal
piece given, and it was followed by other songs,
and a duet for a male and a female voice, by com-
posers of the period; some of the songs either
having been sung by Pepys or mentioned in his
Diary. Of one of them, “The Larke,” he says:
«Thence to Change, where Wife did a little busi-
ness, while Mercer and I staid in the Coach ; and
in a quarter of an hour I taught her the whole
Larke’s Song perfectly.” This was creditable to
both master and pupil, as the song, by Milton’s
friend, Henry Lawes, is a difficult one.
110
Besides the vocal music, the Rev. Mr. Galpin,
a clever amateur musician who collects old instru-
ments, gave the company a sample of that “ wind
musique ” which so ravished Pepys’s soul that it
“made him sick,” and, as he characteristically
adds, “ makes me resolve to practise wind-musique,
and to make my wife do the like.” This was
represented by a couple of airs on the flageolet,
one, I think, composed by Pepys; both of which
the little pipe was made to warble very daintily.
There were also two pieces for that “ Recorder ”
mentioned by Hamlet—a long and stfaight wood-
instrument, with a certain resemblance to a large
bassoon, but blown from a mouthpiece at the
upper end. It must be difficult to “govern the
stops” perfectly, as it seems to have a trick of
suddenly jumping from a lower octave to a higher
in a rather whimsical manner ; yet the notes are
mellov. A third instrument, the “Trumpet
Marine,” which Pepys heard played by a French-
man, and was, as usual, “ mightily pleased with,”
is not a wind-instrument, as the name might
suggest, but a kind of emaciated viol, with a pigmy
body and enormously long neck for the key-board.
It has what Pepys calls an “ echo,” produced, as
he suspected, by concealed sympathetic strings,
which respond to the notes played by the bow.
Altogether the evening was a pleasant one, and
the Samuel Pepys’Club may claim the right to
take its place as a going concern.
JoHN TODHUNTER.
Or —_—
THE FIRE DESCENDS!
———
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A CERTAIN SORT
OF FOOL IN PARADISE.
T has come straight down, from Heaven or
nowhere, an original and glorious Idea!
There is nothing in that. Ideas strike me
very often, and they are always original and
glorious—at first. They are all, too, equally un-
expected and startling, hitting me between the
eyes, hard as a cricket ball at point, and knocking
all the common-sense out of me. Sometimes they
seem to arise out of facts, a paragraph in a news-
paper, a look of secret history on a face, a phrase
in a letter; but frequently they spring from no
source more definite than the churning of unrelated
thoughts when I pretend to compose myself for
sleep at night.
This, my last Idea, has, however, come to me
under somewhat unusual conditions. It seems to
be connected with a forgotten dream, having no
conscious antecedent, but taking possession of me
as I awoke, at the time when we are least given to
THE AUTHOR.
fantasy, most under sway of the senses. I have
had to rise, to dress, to eat my breakfast with the
others, to avoid showing any glimmer of inward
fire. When addressed I have had to answer in a
matter-of-fact and off-hand manner, as if I knew,
or cared to know, anything about the weather, or
the household, or the dull doings of men in Parlia-
ment. These things smote upon my ears like the
distant sound of drums, tuneless and void. They
were unreal compared with my Idea.
At last I was able to sneak away by myself, out
of the house and into the garden, which has ever
been my dearest friend and confidant. All my life
I have wandered in waking dreams about its
winding paths: as a little child, when I told myself
stories of fairies and goblins; in my Scott days,
when I revelled in knights and fair ladies ; and,
later on, in throes of modern sentiment—chewing,
as I went along, the fragrant buds of fruit bushes, or
“bread and cheese” from the hedges. To-day I
slipped first to the greenhouse, where no eye from
the windows might see me, for I wanted to be out
of sight with my Idea, to blend it with the scent of
flowers, to exult over it, and shape it prayerfully,
lest it turn into a thing without wings. An Idea,
like a sunset, cannot be painted in a few strokes of
the brush by a careless hand. Its beauty lies in
its vague possibilities and suggestions of imeffable
glories beyond; in the mystery that it makes
about us. And to express this, even faintly, needs
all the concentrated power of heart and brain, art
and will. One must be prepared for weary travail
and heart-breaking doubts; because these ever
attend an act of creation—if we may dare to call
our reproduction and imitations “creation.” So,
before my Idea can be valued at all, it must be
taken into the solitudes of thought and every in-
fluence of what I call my soul must be brought to
bear upon it.
How am I to give it form? Rhymeand rhythm
cramp me; in writing an essay I am always
tempted to become didactic, if not garrulous.
There seems to be only one way open—the way of
the prose idyll ; in which a filmy veil of fiction is
thrown over a dimly seen figure. For to have the
nude shape of my Idea too definitely visible would
be fatal to its suggestiveness and charm.
I gathered in the greenhouse a spray of oak-
leafed geranium and a long stalk bearing three
little cups of the freesia, splashed with gold and
filled with orange and honey, to keep a hold on my
Idea in the rush of everyday things. Then I was
summoned in from the garden, and all the hateful,
stifling tangibilities of life fell upon me. There is
always this to be finished, that to be looked
through, while letters demanding acknowledgment
gape at me, a herd of time-devourers. The
morning flew away on bluebottle wings—nothing
t
ia
&
THE AUTHOR.
faster into the world—and all the while my giorious
Idea burned like a rosy flame before my dazzled
eyes.
* Visitors swallowed the afternoon with vapid talk
of personalities ; and, when they had gone, I was
more exhausted than if I had been studying
logarithms for twelve hours! If there be any-
thing more paralysing to the brain than the
animated conversation of the average person on
matters of local or general interest I have yet to
discover it! Dead tired, I had to fasten upon a
sleepy old gardening book and read the fog out of
my mind.
Then to bed; and at last I am alone with my
glorious Idea! 1 grow warm, and thrill deliciously
as I proceed to fashion it into a shape of my
liking. This is worth living—worth dying for!
‘And it is mine, all mine, this exquisite thing, this
flower of fire from the high heavens. No one can
tuke it from me; no one even knows of its exist-
ence. Yet it does exist, and it shall do so, not
only in me but in the material world. It shall not
be still-born. To-morrow I will give it form and
life—to-morrow—I am falling asleep.
Tuesday.—\ have not written a word to-day.
There was a meet of the Woodland Pytchley this
morning, and I could not resist the temptation to
go. Then I was tired out with the exercise and
fresh air. Have done nothing but yawn ever
since. My Idea has haunted me through the
music of horns and baying of hounds, the thud of
hoofs on the spongy turf and all the shouting.
The sprig of rosemary I wore in my buttonhole
seemed to make the atmosphere about me aromatic
and flip me with suggestions. There is certainly a
relationship between rosemary and hunting; no
morbid thought can exist with them. Night finds
me, as usual, full of vague aspirations and creative
optimism ; but I am too weary to write. J must
sleep.
Wednesday.—Having neglected everything to
follow the hounds yesterday, I found a great deal
to do this morning. ‘The end of it was a worried
headache, such as women are wont to bring upon
themselves by trying to do several things at once.
I spent the afternoon in nursing it. The day is
wet, warm and muggy. My mind is sluggish. I
have physicked it with an exciting novel and have
sat up late to finish it. My Idea has faded a little
during the day; but now, at night, it revives to
keep me awake.
_ Lhursday.—How one dreads the first plunge
into expression! I have gazed for hours at the
white paper which seems to stare back at me
fatuously. Even my pen, usually so sympathetic,
gives no help. I feel as if I were engaged in an
imbecile attempt to catch the sunshine and colour
of a summer day in a butterfly net ! How did the
iti
monstrous Arabian genie get into the vase? And
shall I ever be able to pour my luminous Idea into
the mould of words? It seems impossible. It
always does—when one begins. There is a shirk-
ing, a skimming round, a coy shrinking from the
brazen display and indelicacy of language. Then
—the time has gone—no more to day.
A week later.—At last the moment has arrived
when I can attack my Idea and shape it out on
paper ! There is a bright sunshine to help me, and
the song of birds. The air is of such intoxicating
clearness that I feel light of limb, and heart, and
brain. How cold the paper looks before me ! How
tame and utterly inept the words I put upon it ! If
something does not happen, all the rapturous
glory of my Idea will be quenched into mere
prose, it will be like a soap bubble that has
collapsed into suds! But something is happening.
I feel a glow stealing through me. ‘The fire is
here again, in the cold veins ; the thing starts to
live. It is not so beautiful as it was—oh, of
course not—but it may gain yet, it has the power
to grow into a work of art. I have been sitting
three hours over it now; I shall be with it again
this afternoon, and at night. It holds me firmly
and will not let me go. No more shirking, shrink-
ing, dreaming, but work—work—work !
‘Next day.—I have re-written my Idea twice.
It is half the length it was at first. I finish in an
ecstasy! It is a wonderful, lovely thing. My feet
do not touch the ground. Everybody remarks
how curiously amiable I am to-day. I feel in love
with all my fellow-creatures, including the worms
and weeds! The very air is rose-colour! I laugh
idiotically at nothing, and go to bed so excited
that I do not expect to sleep till the first thrush
cries, “I come to see you—I come to see you,”
outside my window in the morning.
Next day.—I have just re-written my Idea again
and sent it to be typed.
Three days later.—My manuscript has come back
from the typist. I began to read it with despair,
but ended in a mild, only a mild, very mild
triumph. It is not the marvel I thought it, but L
love it and am thankfal. After receiving the final
touches, it will pass, I think, among those who can
have no notion of its first inspired glory.
A month later—I sent my Idea forth into the
world, and the world, represented by one discern-
ing editor, has welcomed it graciously. I ought
to be happy. Many of my precious brain children
have had to become wandering outcasts, turned
from door to door, to die in the dust ; but this one
is taken by the hand and kindly treated. Oh,
yes, I ought to feel relieved, gratified, even
delighted.
But alas! alas! Is it my own fault, or the
world’s fault, or the fault of that great horrible
112
Irony that seems to govern our life, that my beau-
tiful, chaste, dainty Idea has grown suddenly
vulgar and unworthy? It is no longer exquisite,
no longer holy. Earthly fingers have smudged it ;
the fragrance of orange-flower, and lemon geranium,
and rosemary, have ceased to cling about it. Now
it smells only of the mould—not the garden mould
that is sweetened by summer rain, but the dust of
ashes. Someone has come to me and said:
‘“‘ What a pretty little story you have in the Output
this week”? and I have not yet left off inwardly
writhing. My Idea, my glorious conception, kindled
by a flame from heaven—“a pretty little story ”—
ye gods, pity me ! :
What did [ expect ? Ah, that’s the point. One
does not expect ; one feels, and loves, and works,
and hopes—all in a phrensy, without a definite
desire. But passion seems destined to end this way,
in art as in—other things.
Well, in years to come, perhaps, I shall take
out my poor shrivelled Idyll, look at it fondly,
swell with mother pride again, and thank the
Powers that be there is nobody by to tell me it is
“a pretty little story!” No rapture then; only
the tenderness of the creator will be left. With
all its glamour gone, its faults laid bare to my
critical eyes, its delicious colours faded, it will still
be my own, my dearly-loved. And the old,
sweet fragrance of orange and lemon, of freesia
and oak-leafed geranium, will steal upward to me
from its yellow pages, a faint incense of memory
from the altar of a once adored Idea.
By tHe AuTuHor or “Musk oF Rosss.”
ee oe
CORRESPONDENCE.
Bee
PUBLISHERS’ RIGHTS.
Sr1r,—If a man with no legal training may claim
some lenience in an honest endeavour to understand
the copyright decision lately arrived at by the
Lord Chancellor and his learned brothers, may
J thus venture to interpret their generous apprecia-
tion of the rights of publishers of encyclopedic
literature ? The publisher may, having got out of
them all the use he wants, sell the articles, indi-
vidually or collectively, to newspaper syndicates.
This would have two results. In the first place,
the specialist, who may have spent years and money
in acquiring his expert knowledge, would have the
mortification of reading articles signed by himself in
inferior provincial news-sheets to which he would
never dream of contributing direct. In the second,
his pocket would be hit as well as his vanity, for
there can be no doubt that this cheapening of his
name in country papers would prejudice his chances
of placing new work in more respectable quarters.
THE AUTHOR.
If this is really what Lord Halsbury—am I wrong
in thinking that he occupies the post of President
of the Royal Society of Literature ?—desires to see
authors reduced to, then there is nothing more to
be said, and the only remedy is to alter the law,
and, pending that, for authors to defend themselves
individually by special clauses setting this prece-
dent aside. If, however, he is rather of opinion
that such a position is as unreasonable in respect
of encyclopsedic literature as in the case of articles
contributed to periodicals, then, sir, I submit with
respect that it is a pity he did not make this clear.
I have not hypothecated such a case merely as a
frivolous reductio ad absurdum, but in a wholly
correct spirit of curiosity. May I take this oppor-
tunity of stating that I never claimed any right to
make separate use of the article in question. My
contention was merely that, as it had been com-
missioned for one work, of which I was both the
originator and part-editor, the publishers had no
right, without my permission, to use it in another
work in which I had no direct or indirect interest.
Lord Halsbury and his learned colleagues have
thought otherwise, but I hope, given a reasonable
term, to live to see the law, for which I have a
great respect, brought in line with common sense,
for which I have a reverence.
Your obedient servant,
F, G. AFLALO.
Teignmouth, Devon.
a
Tue REMUNERATION OF TRANSLATIONS AND
ORIGINAL WORK COMPARED.
Dear Srr,—In a note that appeared in The
Author, with reference to the remuneration received
by translators for Messrs. Methuen’s Dumas series,
you mention that the average remuneration per
1,000 words for translation of French work into
English may be reckoned at about 7s. 6d.
If I may venture to differ from you I should
say that, at all events for fiction, few English
publishers pay more than 5s. per 1,000.
But in connection with Messrs. Methuen’s rates
it is instructive to note that not long ago this firm
offered an author for the writing of one of their
well-known series of topographical monographs a
sum which worked out at a little less than seven
shillings a thousand words, and this was for original,
not translation, work! Not only this, but the
offer was made to an author who is a well-known
authority on the special subject he was asked to
write upon. Further, this princely offer was
handicapped by the work having to be written on
approval.
Yours faithfully,
Ursus Magor. =j
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The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 04 (January 1904)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 04 (January 1904)
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The Author
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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=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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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1904-02-01
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Che Hutbor.
(The Organ of the Incorporated Sociely of Authors. Monthly.)
FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Vou. XIV.—No. 5d.
TELEPHONE NUMBER :
374 VICTORIA.
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS :
AUTORIDAD, LONDON.
oe -
NOTICES.
—1—~— +
OR 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 opinion
of the Committee unless such is especially stated
to be the case.
Tue Editor begs to inform members of the
Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author
that the cases which are from time to time quoted
in The Author are cases that have come before the
notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the
Society, and that those members of the Society
who desire to have the names of the publishers
concerned can obtain them on application.
—+-—>—»
List of Members.
THE List of Members of the Society of Authors
published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and
the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as
a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be
obtained at the offices of the Society.
They will be sold to members or associates of
the Society only.
——
The Pension Fund of the Society.
THE investments of the Pension Fund at
present standing in the names of the Trustees are
as follows.
This is a statement of the actual stock; the
Vou, XIV,
FEBRUARY Ist, 1904.
[PrIcE SIXPENCE.
money value can be easily worked out at the current
price of the market :—
@OnsOls 25 6 £1000 0 0
WioGal OWNS 6.0. 500 0 0
Victorian Government 8 % Consoli-
dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11
War Hoant 201-9 3
Wotal 6. 2. £1,993. 9 2
Subscriptions from October, 1903.
LS. We
Noy. 13, Longe, Miss Julia. : - 0 & 6
Dec. 16, Trevor, Capt. Philip. ~ 07) 0
1904.
Jan. 6, Hills, Mrs. ©. H. . : 0. 5 0
Jan. 6, Crommelin, Miss . ; 010 30
Jan. 8, Stevenson, Mrs. M. E. . 20 55 26
Jan. 16, Kilmarnock, The Lord . 0 107 6
Donations from October, 1903.
Oct. 27, Sturgis, Julian 50 0 O
Nov. 2, Stanton, V. H. : 56 00
Nov. 18, Benecke, Miss Ida. 120. 0
Noy. 23, Harraden, Miss Beatrice oo 0-0
Dec. Miniken, Miss Bertha M. M.. 0 5 0
1904.
Jan. 4, Moncrieff, A. R. Hope . 25-0 0
Jan. 4, Middlemas, Miss Jean . ~ 0 10.0
Jan. 4, Witherby, The Rev. C. . 0 500
Jan. 6, Key, The Rev. S. Whittell . 0 5 0
Jan. 14, Bennett, Rev. W. K., D.D. 015 0
There are in addition other subscribers who do
not desire that either their names or the amount
they are subscribing should be printed.
a aioe
FROM THE COMMITTEE.
eS
HE Committee of the Society met on Monday,
January 11th, at 389, Old Queen Street,
Storey’s Gate, 8.W.
This was the first meeting of the New Year,
which opens satisfactorily, as the Committee had the
pleasure of electing 30 Members and Associates.
114
Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Mr. Francis Storr, and
Mr. Sydney Grundy were re-elected Members of the
Committee.
The other matters discussed were either of
slight importance or were adjourned to the
following meeting.
—+—<—+ —
Cases.
Since the last issue of Ze Author three cases
have been taken in hand. From this it is evident
that during the Christmas holidays the Members
have given little thought to business. Of these
one has been settled and the Secretary is negoti-
ating for the settlement of the other two, on
favourable terms.
Of the cases quoted in the January number
there are still six which have not been concluded.
One deals with a demand in the United States, the
other five with matters at home, and there is every
hope that a satisfactory termination will be arrived
at. One case has been taken into the County
Court with the sanction of the Chairman, and will
be most probably heard in February. Other cases
in the hands of the Society’s Solicitors are pro-
ceeding. In cases of bankruptcy or liquidation the
progress is regrettably slow. This, however, is
not the fault of the Society or its Solicitors but of
the present system.
++
January Elections.
Bennett, The Rev. W. H. 18,
D.D.
Bernard, Henry
Denning Road,
Hampstead, N.W.
The Bath Club, Dover
Street, W.
Brewer, John Francis . 83, St. Quintin’s
Avenue, W.
The Brooms, Baldersby,
8.0., Leeds.
20, Endsleigh Street,
Gordon Square, W.C.
10, Dryden Street, Pil-
ing, Edinburgh.
221, Underhill Road,
Dulwich, 8.E.
Clark, Miss Margery Stan- 6, Esplanade, Seaford,
ley. Sussex.
Dearmer, Mrs. Percy 11, Chalcot Gardens,
England’s Lane, 8.
Hampstead,
Koniggratzer Strasse,
Berlin.
Ely,C. J... : . 26, Great Ormond
Street, Russell 8q.,
W.C.
Buckton, Mrs. Robert
Burgess, W. S.
Bryde, Margaretta (Mrs.)
Cassidy, James
Dillon, Dr. E. J.
THE AUTHOR.
Fabeck, Madame de Villa delle Grazie,
Alassio, Liguria,
Italy.
Gosset, Major-General Deadham, Essex.
Hamilion, Angus Authors’ Club, 3,
Whitehall Court,
S.W.
Hassall, John, R.T. 88, Kensington Park
Road, W.
Heath, Dudley ; . 10, Fitzroy Street, W.C.
Hicks, Rev. Edward, St. George’s Vicarage,
D.D. Macclesfield.
Kilmarnock, The Lord . 8, Rue du Taciturne,
Brussels.
Killaha, St. Albans.
c/o Messrs. Bemrose
& Sons, 4, Snow
Knight, Maude C. (Mrs.)
Mendis, M. . : :
Hill, E.C.
Pretor, Alfred Wyke, Weymouth.
Reynard, F. H. Camp Hill, Bedale,
Yorkshire.
Sackville, Lady Margaret Inchmery, Exbury,
Southampton.
Stidston, E. A. Dale View, Beech Alton,
Hants.
Trevor, Captain Philip
(“ Dux”).
Thackeray, Lance .
83, Mount Ararat Road,
Richmond, Surrey.
42, Linden Gardens,
W.
75, Clancarty Road,
Fulham, 8.W.
Workman, Mrs... . c/o Messrs. Brown,
Shipley & Co., 123,
Pall Mall, S.W.
Clarendon Road, Leeds,
Yorkshire.
Wood, Starr .
“Margaret Wilton ”
————_——_o—<——_e—___——_
OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.
—+——+ —
R. ‘Thomas Hardy’s “The Dynasts ” (Part L,
Macmillan) is just out.
nineteen acts; one hundred and thirty scenes.
“The Dynasts” is concerned, Mr. Hardy tells us, —
with the Great Historical Calamity or Clash of —
Peoples, artificially brought about some hundred
years ago. This chronicle-piece, is a kind of
panoramic show,
performance, and not for the stage.
dramas, other than that of contemporary OF
frivolous life.
some hundreds, exclusive of crowds and armies, —
and Phantom Intelligences are introduced as —
spectators of the terrestrial drama. .
It isa Drama of ©
the Napoleonic Wars in three parts; —
a play intended for mental :
Mr. Hardy —
raises the question whether mental performance —
alone may not eventually be the fate of all —
The dramatis persone number —
3 ai
fl
THE AUTHOR. 115
Mr. I. Zangwill, who will not return to England
for some months, is at present busily engaged on
acomedy in four acts, entitled ‘‘ The Serio-Comic
Governess,” based on his story of the same name.
Miss Norman Lorimer has just finished a novel
dealing with the brigands of Etna. In it the
scenery and life of the people are depicted, and
much information about the brigands and the
Mafia is interwoven. Between three and four
thousand copies of Miss Lorimer’s novel ‘“ By the
Waters of Sicily’ have been sold.
A new poetic drama entitled “ Philip of Macedon ”
by Frederick Winbolt, author of ‘“ Messalina,”
“Frithrof the Bold” etc., will very shortly be
issued by the De la More Press.
Miss Rosaline Masson is writing the letter-press
of “Edinburgh” for Messrs. A. & C. Black. The
illustrations are the work of Mr. Fullylove.
Major F. C. Ormsby-Johnson has written a novel
which is now in the hands of the publishers. He
has also nearly completed a tale some eighty-five
thousand words in length.
“Christian Thal,” the latest published work of
M. E. Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell) deals
entirely with musical life. The interest chiefly
centres round the Leschetzki School of Music at
Vienna, which city figures in the book under the
name of Stattingen. Mrs. Blundell has recently
finished a romance of the days of Queen Anne
entitled “ Lychgate Hall,” which after running its
serial course in the Weekly Edition of the Times,
will be published in England and America by
Messrs. Longman.
A one act play from her pen in collaboration
with Mr. Sydney Valentine entitled “The Widow
Woos,” was successfully produced at the Hay-
market Theatre on the afternoon of January 9th.
Dramatic versions of two of Mrs. Blundell’s
recent romances are in course of preparation.
Mr. Charles Marriott has just completed a novel,
“‘Genevra,” which will be published by Messrs.
Methuen in the autumn of this year. The story is
an attempt at a study of feminine temperament,
and the scene is a farm in a valley in the Land’s
End district of Cornwall. Mr. Marriott is now
engaged upon two novels, one romantic, the other
realistic ; both dealing with the present day.
Mr. Robert Aitken has nearly completed a
volume of sea sketches which he hopes to issue
very shortly. That will be followed by a novel
which is already half finished.
Miss May Crommelin, whose novel “ Partners
Three” (John Long) has sold well, is at present
writing short stories for Zhe World. Having
spent a considerable portion of last year in
Palestine and Norway, Miss Crommelin is thinking
of studying Sicily, and writing a serial there.
Mr. Marmaduke W. Pickthall’s new novel,
entitled “ Enid,” is to be published early this year
by Messrs. Constable. The heroine, daughter of a
rich parvenu, marries a poet, to her discomfort and
his destruction. That is the main thread of the
story-design ; but there are others all contributing
to a view of the transition state of Society to-day.
Mr. Pickthall is now at work on another piece
of fiction, which will probably not see the light
until the Spring of 1905. Messrs. Methuen & Co.
have bespoken it.
Mr. M. H. Spielmann’s “Charles Keene:
Etcher”’ is out. The price of the best edition is
fifty guineas. The other edition can be bought for
thirty guineas. Both editions are strictly limited.
Mrs. M. H. Spielmann’s “ Littledown Castle ”
has gone into a second edition, and is being
translated into French.
Mr. W. L. St. John Lucas has just published a
book of short stories called “The Vintage of
Dreams” (Elkin Matthews), and Messrs. Constable
& Co. are bringing out his book of poems in the
early spring. Besides this Mr. St. John Lucas is
writing a weekly literary causerie for Zhe World;
he is about to begin a new novel.
Owing to pressure on space, we omitted to
mention that Mr. Clive Holland has a Japanese
novel partly written ; also, a story dealing with art
student life in the Quartier Jatin.
Messrs. Jarrold & Sons will issue this month
the second edition of Dr. Panter’s “ Granuaile,
a Queen of the West.”
Mrs. J. K. M. Iliffe’s “Tales Told at Twilight”
has been brought out in New York by Mr. H. W.
Bell. The Tales are in verse, being founded on
German and French folk-lore. It is appropriately
illustrated by Mr. Percy Billinghurst.
Mr. Laurence Binyon, whose new volume of poems,
entitled “ ‘The Death of Adam and other Poems,”
was issued quite recently by Messrs. Methuen at
3s. 6d. nett, has contributed an introductory note
to the first number of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.’s
new Art periodical, “The Artist Engraver,” a
periodical to be devoted entirely to original work.
Miss Nellie K. Blissett’s novel, ‘‘ The Bindweed,”
will be published shortly by Messrs. Constable & Co.
Her romance, “The Winning of Douce,” is running
as a serial in Zhe Free Lance.
Mr. Walter Del Mar has published through
Messrs. A. & C. Black a fully illustrated volume
entitled “Around the World Through Japan.”
Intending travellers will find his final chapter,
“Suggestions to Tourists,” particularly useful.
There is a good index.
In connection with the revival of the Book-
producing Trades of Ireland, Mr. ©. I. Jacobi
has been delivering a lecture on the “Art and
Craft of Printing” at Dublin, Cork, Limerick,
and Belfast, under the auspices of the Department
116
of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for
Ireland. The lecture is illustrated by lantern
slides, and by the exhibition of specimens. Mr.
Jacobi is the author of various technical works on
printing.
Mr. Francis H. Gribble, author of “ Early Moun-
taineers,” &c., has written “The Story of Alpine
Climbing” for the Library of Useful Stories,
issued by Messrs. George Newnes, Ltd., at 1s.
This little book is well illustrated, and is some-
thing more than a mere Tourist’s Guide.
Mr. A. R. Hope Moncrieff’s “ Around London”
is a Guide to the environs for twenty miles round.
Tt is issued in three parts, in paper covers, at 6d.
each. The three parts, bound together in one
yolume, can be had for 2s. 6d. (A. & C. Black).
Each section contains maps of the district dealt
with ; there is a list of railways and stations ; a
table of distances for cyclists, and an index of
places.
“Beyond the Northern Lights” is a tale of
adventure in unknown seas, by Mr. Reginald Wray,
author of “Tales of the Empire,” ‘ Adventures on
Land and Sea,” &c. This story for boys and girls
is published by Mr. T. Burleigh, and is No. 1 of
the Reginald Wray Adventure Series.
A story of world travel, by the Hon. Mrs. E. A.
Gordon, entitled “ Clear Round,” is now in a third
edition, revised and enlarged, with illustrations,
maps, and an introductory letter from the late
Professor Max Miiller. Mrs. Gordon has dedicated
this book to her children. Not long ago this
authoress published, through Messrs. Kegan Paul,
at 15s., “The Temples of the Orient and Their
Message.”
The first two volumes of Mr. Herbert Paul’s
“History of Modern England” are to be published
immediately by Messrs. Macmillan & Co, The
author takes as his starting point the fall of Sir
Robert Peel’s Cabinet in 1846. Though the work
will present a picture of England under Free
Trade, the book is not a mere history of politics,
but passes under review the whole life of the
nation as manifested also in science, literature,
and art.
The first of the two volumes of “ Modern
England” carries the story down to 1855; the
second begins with the Treaty of Paris, signed
after the Fall of Kars, and terminates with the
close of the Palmerstonian era in 1865.
Mr. W. M. Rossetti contributes a preface, a
memoir of his sister, notes and appendices, to
the new edition, in one volume, of “The Poetical
Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti,” which
Messrs. Macmillan will issue at once.
Lord Avebury’s new volume of “Essays and
Addresses, 1900—1903” (Macmillan), covers a
wide field. Among others, there are papers on
THE AUTHOR.
Our Fiscal Policy; Bank Holidays and Early
Closing ; Richard Jefferies and Macaulay; and
there is the first Memorial Lecture delivered at
the Anthropological Institute on Huxley’s Life
and Work.
Mr. G. 8. Layard’s novel, “ Dolly’s Governess.”
is to be published in April by Messrs. Isbister &
Co.
The February issue of The Monthly Review will
contain an article by Mr. Robert Machray on the
Eastern Question.
“Letty” reached its one hundredth perform-
ance at the Duke of York’s Theatre on Thursday,
January 14th. The next production at this theatre
will be “ Captain Dieppe,” the three-act comedy by
Anthony Hope and Harrison Rhoades.
“A Chinese Honeymoon” celebrated its 932nd
performance at the Strand Theatre on Wednesday,
January 20th, thus breaking the record as regards
musical plays.
“A Country Girl” celebrated its second anni-
versary at Daly’s Theatre on January 18th.
Mr. Beerbohm Tree will start two companies on
tour this month. One will play “The Darling
of the Gods”; the other will play a series of
Shakespearean dramas. In “The Darling of the
Gods”? Mr. Robert Pateman will take Mr, Tree’s
part of Zakkuri. In the Shakespearean plays,
Miss Constance Collier, Mr. Oscar Asche, and Mr.
Lionel Brough will appear.
At the Haymarket Theatre, on the evening of
January 19th, a brilliant comedy in three acts, by
Mr. H. A. Jones, was presented with marked success.
It is entitled “Joseph Entangled.” Mr. Cyril Maude,
Mr. Sam Waring, Mr. Sam Sothern, Miss Ellis
Jeffreys, Miss Winifred Arthur Jones, and Miss
Beatrice Ferrar are in the cast. At the end
of the play, Mr. H. A. Jones was called before
the curtain and received an ovation from the
appreciative audience.
———_—<\_+—<—__+____——
PARIS NOTES.
—+——
" E Pays natal,” by M. Henry Bordeaux, has
recently been published in a new edition, —
and, as this author is now in high favour,
everyone is glad to have the opportunity of reading
his first novel. There is nothing about it to suggest
that it is a first novel, and one can only conclude
that the author had very wisely waited until the
right time before sending out any of his work into
the world. -
“Le Pays natal,” like all the later books by M. -
Bordeaux, is remarkable for its simplicity and
od
ifs
THE AUTHOR.
absolute sincerity. There is no seeking for effect,
neither are there any wild stretches of the imagina-
tion. It is just a simple story simply told, but
with a whole world of meaning for those who care
to think.
It touches on a subject that has been much dis-
cussed of late years in France: decentralisation
and the individual responsibility of landowners.
The story opens with the return of Lucien
Halande, at the age of thirty, to his pays natal,
Savoy.
Since the death of his parents he has been
living in Paris, and his intention is to sell the
estate he has inherited and return to the capital
for the rest of his days.
This is not as easy as he had imagined it would
be. As he sets foot once more in the old home he
finds that it is full of old memories, and he also
wakes up to the fact that for the last ten years he
has been selfishly shirking his duties as a land-
owner. There is a romance, too, running through
the story from this point. Lucien meets again his
old playfellow, Annie Mérans, and if only he had
come back a few years earlier would certainly
have married her. He has returned too late, and
is only in time now to be a witness to the good
fortune of another man and a man who is quite
unworthy of Annie. Lucien settles down in his
old home and is tortured by all that he sees, and
by the thought that things might have been so
different had he not wasted ten years of his life.
The chief interest of the story commences with
Annie’s wedding, and never flags to the end of the
book. M. Bordeaux is too true and conscientious a
novelist to avoid all that is unpleasant when telling
his story, but he never lingers over unpleasant
things and does not drag in unnecessary details.
There is a wholesomeness about his books which
is as refreshing as that mountain air of his beloved
Savoy which seems to pervade most of his volumes.
“Terres de Soleil et de Brouillard,” by Brada,
is a most delightful volume, consisting of sketches
of Italian and English life. The description of
Tuscany and its people is most interesting, and
the explanation of many things connected with
Rome very instructive. When the author touches
on England and her people we are glad to see our-
selves for a time as others see us, but though we
agree with very much that is said about us, we
certainly think that there is something else to add
to these chapters on the “land of fog.”
Five books by the Abbé Loisy are prohibited by
the Catholic Church. The titles of these works are,
“Autour d’un petit livre,” ‘“L’Hvangile et
L’Eglise,” “ Etudes Evangeliques,” “ La Religion
d’Israé#l,” and “L’Evangile de St. Jean.” The
Abbé has distinctly advanced ideas.
Among other books published recently here are ;
117
“Les Etapes du socialisme”? by Paul Louis ;
“Les Amitiés francaises,” by M. Maurice Barrés ;
“‘ Mediterranée,” by Mlle. Lucie Felix Faure ;
“Tes Epées de fer,’ by Maurice Montégut ; “La
Jungle de Paris,’ by Jean Rameau ; “ Impres-
sions Africaines,” by Bonnafos; “ L’dme et
Lévolution de la littérature,” by Georges Dumes-
nil; ‘ Les Fiaacailles d’ Yvonne,” by J. H. Rosny ;
“Tes Arts et les Lettres,” by M. Leon Riotor ;
“T’Aube du théitre romantique,”’ by Albert Je
Roy.
The Goncouré Academy prize was awarded to
M. John Antoine Nau for his novel, ‘ Force
ennemie.”
Madame Arvéde Barine has just received the
decoration of Chevalier de la Légion d’ Honneur
for her literary work.
Madame Barine and Madame Daniel Lesueur
are the only two women writers in France who
have been awarded this distinction. Madame
Barine’s works are the following : ‘“ Portraits de
Femmes,” ‘“ Essais et Fantaisies,” ‘* Princesses et
Grandes Dames,” “ Bourgeois et Gens de Peu,”
“ Névrosés,’ ‘* Bernardin de Saint Pierre,”
“ Alfred de Musset,” “Francois d’Assise et la
Légende des Trois Compagnons,” “ La Jeunesse de
la Grande Mademoiselle.”
At the Comédie-Frangaise, M. Hervieu’s piece
“Te Dédale” is still being played, and at the
Odéon “ L’Absent.” The French version of “The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray” is soon to be given at
this theatre. At the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre
“ La Sorciére”’ still draws a full house.
M. Antoine continues to give us a three-play
bill and to put on new pieces with astonishing
rapidity. At the Vaudeville, since the departure
of Mme. Réjane, M. Porel appears to be trying an
experiment, which certainly deserves reward. He
has sent round a letter in which he states that since
‘Mme. Sans Gene” no piece has been given in his
theatre to which parents could take their daughters,
and he adds that the play he has now put ‘on,
“Frere Jacques,” is at the same time “ultra
Parisian ” and a “ piece de famille.”
At the Gymnase, “ Le Retour de Jérusalem,” and
at the Renaissance, “ L’Adversaire,” appear to be
greatly appreciated, so that altogether Parisians
cannot complain this season of any dearth of
excellent plays.
M. Bour has put on, at the Théatre Victor Hugo,
a somewhat daring piece entitled “Le Droit des
Vierges.” The author is M. Paul Hyacinthe
Loyson, son of the celebrated Pere Hyacinthe, and
the play is written with a distinct purpose. Inan
unpublished version of it which M. Loyson gave
me some time ago to read, there is a preface by
Bjérnstjerne Bjornson and a short explanation by
the author of “ Le Droit des Vierges,” in which he
118
tells us that the idea of this piece is founded on an
episode of which he was once a witness. M. Paul
Loyson has taken up a delicate mission most
courageously, just as his father did before him
many years ago.
M. Bour has staged this piece admirably, and
lays his own part to perfection.
The Weekly Critical Review published on the
92nd of January a double number in honour of
its anniversary. A special article was written for
it by the Viscount Melchior de Vogiié, whose book,
“Te Maitre de la Mer,” has been such a success
this season. The subject of this article is “ Joseph
Chamberlain,” and it is published in French and
English.
Other articles of interest in this number are
“Tes Décadents,” by M. Rémy de Gourmont ;
“ Le Retour au Paysage Historique,” by M. Frantz;
“Discovery of a Michel An gelo in Paris,” “ Bimini,”
by John Gurdon; ‘‘Le Roman Contemporain ;”’
“Moscow,” by Arthur Symons; and an exquisite
poem entitled “ Hymn to Earth,” by Arthur Symons.
This review has recently published several excellent
poems, among others “ ‘The Great Idea,” by George
Cabot Lodge, whose verses we have only seen,
hitherto, in Seribner’s Magazine. In these days
when poetry worthy of the name is so rare in
England, one is glad to see exceptional work of
this kind in the magazines.
The death of George Gissing has not passed
unnoticed here. By the deep regret expressed by
all who knew his works or who had met him since
his residence in France, one realises how thoroughly
he was appreciated.
That, in England, his success should have been
so tardy seems absolutely incomprehensible. The
first book of Gissing’s which was translated into
French drew attention to him here. After the publi-
cation of the second in serial form, in a daily paper,
he was spoken of as “the English Balzac.” The
French have undoubtedly the gift of discrimination
in literature, and one can only regret now that a
translation of each of Gissing’s books was not
brought out here soon after the publication of the
work in England.
Both “New Grub Street” and “ Eve’s Ransom”
have been used in French as serials and afterwards
published in volume form, The translation of
these two works is admirable. In some English
paper it was stated that Gissing translated “ New
Grub Street” himself, but this isa mistake. He
certainly had a thorough knowledge of the French
language, and another translator, who was then
at work on “The Whirlpool,” expressed great
surprise that Gissing did not write his books in
French as well as in English. “In the Year of
Jubilee” is to appear shortly in French as a serial
in a daily paper. “The Odd Women,” too, is
THE AUTHOR.
translated, and “The Paying Guest” and “The
Town Traveller ” are arranged for.
Personally, too, Gissing was highly esteemed
here. Exclusive as the French are, they were
more than willing to open their doors to him.
Shortly after his death I received a letter contain-
ing the following lines, bearing the signature of
one of the best known names in France: “ On
me dit que la mort de M. Gissing a été annoncée
dans le journal Ze Temps. Pouvez-vous me dire
si cette nouvelle est exacte, vous savez tout
Vintérét que je portais & cet homme de talent, de
coeur et d’ un caractére adorable.” Everyone who
had met him here speaks with genuine sorrow of
his death.
Auys HALLARD.
i
THE NOBEL PRIZE.
ee
MEETING of the Committee for the Nobel
prize for literature was held on Thursday,
January 14th, at the offices of the Incor-
porated Society of Authors, 39, Old Queen Street,
Storey’s Gate,S. W.,Mr. Rdmund Gosse in the chair.
The purpose of the meeting was to receive the
votes collected in answer to the circular sent out
last November by the Committee, and to authorise
their transmission to Stockholm. :
These votes will now be sent to the Committee wid
of the Swedish Academy, as an indication of the tee
wishes of those in England qualified under the
regulations of the Nobel Bequest, to express an
opinion. The award will be made in the autumn ig
of the present year, by the Committee of the Wa
Swedish Academy constituted for that purpose, |
with which Committee alone the power of decision
rests. The votes from the English contingent this
year are numerous, including in their list the names
of most of the eminent writers of the day.
———_—_?—<—_2—____-
SWEDEN AND THE BERNE
CONVENTION.
INCE Denmark has joined the Berne Conven-
tion the partisans of a similar step in Sweden
have recovered courage and are now making
new exertions to bring their country out of the isola-
tion which begins to press doubly hard upon them.
As early as the 12th October, 1894, the Swedish
Society of Authors (Sveriges Forfatterforening)
addressed to the king an address, strongly supported
by documentary evidence (an analysis of which
will be found in Le Droit d’ Auteur, 1896, p. 159,
etc.), in favour of the extension of international
protection of authors, and more particularly in
favour of a more liberal solution of the question of
if
wo
8 LD: pera
THE AUTHOR.
the rights of translation.
ber last the same Society presented a new petition
to the Swedish Government praying that a pro-
position for such a modification of the present
legislation as may enable Sweden to follow the
example of Denmark may be presented to the
Riksday. This petition was signed by MM. Karl
Warburg, Verner von Heidenstam, George Nor-
densvam, Gustaf af Geyerstam, F. U. Wrangel,
Axel Raphael, Knut Michaelson, Per Hallstrém,
Hellen Lindgren.
On the 19th of September M. Ossian Berger,
Minister of Justice, forwarded this petition to the
two societies of Swedish publishers, the Svenska
Bokforliggare-Foreningen and the Nya Bokforldg-
gare-Foreningen, as well as to the Society of Swedish
Journalists, in order to obtain their opinions on
the question. The first of the above-named
Societies has already arrived at a decision entirely
favourable to the desires of the authors. The
society also goes further and formally unites its
request with that presented in the petition ; and
this is the more remarkable seeing that the same
society in 1895 dissuaded the Swedish Govern-
ment from joining the Berne Convention. The
Swedish Parliament meets on the 15th of Janu-
ary ; and the friends of the Union firmly hope
that the Riksdag may be authorised to proceed to
a revision of the Swedish internal law of copyright,
and that so Sweden may in the course of the year
become one of the countries of the Union.
This hope has now been confirmed. The Society,
which has for some time been endeavouring to
obtain a special copyright agreement between
Sweden and the United Kingdom, has heard from
His Majesty’s Foreign Office that “ there will be
no need to proceed further in the matter as His
Majesty's Minister at Sweden reports that the
Swedish Government intend shortly to submit to
the Diet a proposal for the accession of Sweden to
the Berne Convention.”
or
THE CONTRACT OF BAILMENT.
Se
“ H. T.,” in the December Author, and
“An Editor” in The Author for
January, have treated the question of
the editor’s responsibility for the safety of
unsolicited manuscripts from different points
of view, and at first sight appear to hold
different opinions as to the principles which should
govern the question of his liability. Perhaps,
however, in considering concrete instances they
would frequently arrive at the same conclusions,
although sometimes their “ findings of fact” would
not be the same, and their deductions as to the
legal position would differ in corresponding degree.
119
On the 14th of Septem They would differ sometimes (and so would most
people having interests at stake, and being, there-
fore, to some extent, “ prejudiced”) as to what
constitutes or implies an invitation to strangers
to contribute to a periodical, and as to whether a
certain state of facts exists “for the benefit” of
both parties.
Let me quote the notice to would-be contri-
butors which appears in the Free Lance, a
weekly penny periodical probably known to some
if not to all of the readers of The Author :-—
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS.
While declining responsibility for the safety of MSS.
submitted to us, every possible care will be taken.
All MSS. must have the author's name and address
written legibly on the title page. When payment is
desired the price must also appear on the title page.
Every manuscript must be accompanied by a stamped
and addressed envelope for return in case of unsuitability.
In future all rejected manuscripts not accompanied by
stamped and addressed envelopes will be destroyed.
What is the position of the editor of the Free
Lance, assuming that his notice is brought under
the observation of his contributor? It is true
that he does not in terms invite anybody to write
for him, and that he “declines responsibility ” for
the MS. submitted to him at the commencement
of his notice ; but does not the whole notice,
including even the last two lines, constitute an invi-
tation to the author to submit MSS. to the editor,
and does it not thus establish a system of bailment
for the mutual advantage of both? In such cir-
cumstances is not the editor bound to take good
care of and to return any MS. which he may not
make use of ? I do not suggest that he is obliged
to convey it or even to post it to the sender (except
in those cases in which he gives a direct or implied
undertaking to do so), but I do not see why he
should not, at law, be responsible for it during a
reasonable time and be bound to hand it back to
the contributor who calls and asks for it. Has he
any right to treat it more carelessly than those
which he has accepted and will in due course make
use of to his own profit ? Can he lose it if he is
reasonably careful? In the notice quoted the
editor lays down acondition with regard to sending
stamped and addressed envelopes, which implies an
undertaking to return all MSS. accompanied by
these useful receptacles. The receptacle prepared
by him for the MS. not so accompanied is,
apparently, the waste-paper basket or the fire.
The editor deliberately warns his correspondents
of this, and the would-be contributor who reads
the notice will probably comply with it. Let us
suppose, however, that he does not do so either
(1) deliberately or (2) through temporary forget-
fulness. With regard to (1), would “ An Editor,”
who evidently has the advantage of a legal training,
venture to advise a client that he might invite the
120
deposit of valuable property upon his premises for
his inspection for the mutual good of the depositor
and himself, that he might couple with this invita-
tion a condition easily fulfilled, but at the same
time easily omitted, and that upon a failure to
comply with the condition he might safely destroy
the property so deposited? ‘An Editor” will
perhaps consider that I have overstated the case,
and that the “notice to contributors” which I
have quoted goes beyond anything which he con-
templated. I am inclined to doubt, however,
whether the editor of the Free Lance (except
in the fact that his notice affords evidence of his
position) is more liable to his contributors than
any other editor who selects from MSS. sent to
him unsolicited by strangers such as are suitable
for his paper, publishes and pays for them. If the
editor of a periodical never reads any unordered
MSS., and still more if he also puts a notice in his
paper to that effect, he occupies a very strong
position with regard to any unsolicited MSS. which
may find their way into his letter-box.
{ hazard the suggestion, however, that in fact
no such MSS. would ever reach his office except
through a mistaken idea on the part of the sender
as to the attitude of the editor. I may hate alcohol
with all the energy of the keenest prohibitionist,
and someone may send me a consignment of old
port of peculiar quality and rarity under the
impression that I am a connoisseur who will
jump at the chance of purchasing it. The mis-
take may be due to the grossest carelessness, the
most reckless want of inquiry, but I doubt if I
should therefore be justified in throwing that old
port into the sewer ; particularly if I knew the
name of the consignor, and had every reason to
believe that he would like to have it back and
would some day apply for its return, should I not
accept his offer. I have put the case (2) of tem-
porary forgetfulness where such a notice as that
of the editor of the Free Lance is concerned ; but
T am not sure that on principle temporary forget-
fulness on the part of the sender makes very much
difference to the position of the recipient who wilfully
destroys the thing sent. What is the position then
of the person who receives avaluable article, whether
a MS. article or a case of ’47 port or anything
else, without having asked for it either in terms or
by implication ? Would “G. H. T.” argue (to
quote from his last paragraph) that the articles are in
such a case “sent for the benefit of both parties,”
and that “ under these circumstances” the recipient
“ig more than a mere gratuitous bailee, and would
be responsible accordingly ?”” I should hardly agree
with him if he put his case so high as that. I
should say that the receiver had no right to destroy
the goods sent, or to refuse to give them up if
within a reasonable time a proper request were
THE AUTHOR.
made for them, but that beyond this the sender
would have little, if any, claim upon him, even if
he did not treat them as carefully as he would
have treated his own property. I should also say,
however, that a little want of tolerance and courtesy
on the part of either or both might land them in
litigation, of which the issue would be doubtful, and
would depend upon the particular facts proved.
This applies, no doubt, to many cases where
publishers or editors, and authors are concerned.
A little good sense and care on the part of the
author, as “ An Editor” very ably explains in_his
last paragraph but one, is of considerable aid in
avoiding difficulties. He should gain some super-
ficial acquaintance (say, by glancing at the cover
or index) with the magazine to which he sends his
work, or with the books of the publisher (say, by
glancing at his advertisements). He might in the
case of periodicals look for and read the “ notices
to contributors,” although this might prevent him
from some day denying on oath that he had seen
them. He would get a general idea of what was
in the editor's mind even from a notice such as
that in the Free Lance, although he might not be
able to grasp at once all the possible contingencies
which might follow upon non-compliance with the
conditions laid down. What, for example, is the
position of the editor of the Free Lance where a
contributor has written his name and address on
the back of his MS. instead of on the “ title page,”
or where he has given his address on the MS. and
has enclosed stamps for its return (a common
method with which many editors are quite satis-
fied), but has not sent a stamped and addressed
envelope? Surely*G. H. T.” and “ An Editor ”
might meet and confer upon the possibilities
suggested by the latter state of affairs.
editor in the circumstances suggested burn the
MS. and keep the stamps? If he may do this,
may he use the stamps for his private corre-
spondence ? If so, may he, should he prefer it,
burn the stamps and keep the MS., also for his
private use, such as to paper the walls of his office,
or in order to write his own copy on the back of
it? Or may he use for his own ends (other than
those intended by the author) both MS. and stamps?
All these questions suggest themselves and more
also, and in any case the particular facts must be |
known before an opinion can be worth much, and
T am not aware thata good typical case of the loss
or destruction of the unsolicited MS. has ever been
fairly tested. Perhaps this is partly because editors /
are not all quite as black sheep as some unlucky or:
imprudent authors would have us believe. I have
had MSS. lost myself. In one instance at least I
have been compensated, but then as far as I
remember, I had kept a copy and only asked
for the price of retyping it, which was all the
May the ~
THE
damage I had suffered. I am not at all sure, how-
ever, that I did not once receive the price of the
story after it was lost and before I had found my
copy, and forwarded it. In any case I have often
(I regret it from my personal point of view only)
received back unsolicited MSS. with which I had
enclosed neither envelope nor stamps.
HK, A. A,
—_—___e— > —____
AN ESTIMATE OF THE COST OF
PRODUCTION.
—+->-+—_
HEN the “Cost of Production” was first
issued by the Society there was an outcry
from some publishers and printers that it
was impossible to print on the terms set forth in
its pages.
Nevertheless, frequent proofs came to the
Society’s office that the figures were not only
reasonable, but in many cases in excess of the
estimates sent in by thoroughly responsible printing
houses who had their works in the country. It
was only in the case of some of the old established
London houses that the estimates were in excess of
those given in the “ Cost of Production,” and even
in these cases the difference was only a small one—
a matter of some 5 per cent.
The “Cost of Production” is out of print ; but
from time to time, as examples have come to the
office, specimens of estimates for book production
have been printed, and Sir Walter Besant in his
work “The Pen and the Book” wrote a chapter
under this heading.
Since the time when the “ Cost of Production ”
sold out, and since the date of the issue of
“The Pen and the Book,” prices have altered con-
siderably, and work is being done more cheaply.
In order to show this by definite example, the
cost of production, received through a publisher
from a firm in the country, of 1,000 copies of a
book, is printed for comparison with the cost of pro-
duction of a similar book, taken from the Society’s
former work.
The book is one of nine sheets of thirty-two pages
with about 250 words to a page, crown octavo.
The estimate is for 1,000 copies.
The estimate received this year is as follows :—
8.1.
Composition, 9 sheets of 32 pages at
38s. : : ; : ; » 17 2.0
Presswork, 9 sheets of 82 pagesat 16s. 7 4 0
Paper, 11 reams at 15s. : 12880
Binding, say in two colours on board
at per copy 4d. 16 13-4
£49 4 4
AUTHOR.
121
The figures for the same book, published in the
Society’s “ Cost of Production ” :—
& 8, a.
Composition, 9 sheets of 32 pages at
£2 15s. . ; : : . 2415 0
Presswork, 9 sheets of 32 pages at
Sits, ; : ; : 090
Paper, 9 sheets of 82 pages at £115s. 15 15 0
Binding, say at 4d. : : » 16 18 4
£66 12 4
It will be seen from a comparison of the two
sets of figures that the cost of composition is con-
siderably less ; that the cost of printing is about
the same, and the cost of paper enormously reduced,
and that these figures huld generally may be taken
as an accepted fact.
As a proof of this statement another estimate is
printed where the number of words on a page was
fewer, and the type in which the book was set up
was larger, the pages of the book being slightly
smaller than those in the book referred to in the
previous estimate.
Printing 1,000 Copies. £ sa.
Setting types, per 32 pages, say 9
sheets, 26s. . : : 1 14
Printing, 1,000 copies per 32 pages,
9 sheets, at 15s. 6d. : 619° 6
Paper (say)... ; : : - 1 100
Binding, 1,000 copies at 43/7. = 181540
£144 18 6
——————1——>—o—__
THE COPYRIGHT LAW OF THE UNITED
STATES AND THE AUTHORS OF THE
CONTINENT.
—_—
1 the Senate of the United States, December
8th, 1903, Mr. Platt, of Connecticut, intro-
duced the following Bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Patents.
A Birt To AMEND CHAPTER Forty-NINE HUNDRED
AND Firty-T'wo oF THE REVISED STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That section forty-nine
hundred and fifty-two of the Revised Statutes be,
and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as
follows :
“Sec. 4952. The author, inventor, designer, or
proprietor of any book, map, chart, dramatic or
musical composition, engraving, cut, print, or
photograph or negative thereof, or of a painting,
drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, and of models
or designs intended to be perfected as works of the
122
fine arts, and the executors, administrators, or
assigns of any such persons shall, upon complying
with the provisions of this chapter, have the sole
liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing, com-
pleting, copying, executing finishing, and vending
the same, and in the case of a dramatic composi-
tion of publicly performing or representing it or
causing it to be performed or represented by others ;
and authors or their assigns shall have exclusive
right to dramatize and translate any of their works
for which copyright shall have been obtained under
the laws of the United States.”
“ Whenever the author or proprietor of a book
in a foreign language, which shall be published in
a foreign country before the day of publication in
this country, or his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall, within the twelve months after the
first publication of such book in a foreign country,
obtain a copyright for a translation of such book
in the English language, which shall be the first
copyright in this country for a translation of such
book, he and they shall have, during the term of
such copyright, the sole liberty of printing,
reprinting, publishing, vending, translating, and
dramatizing the said book, and in the case of a
dramatic composition, of publicly performing the
same, or of causing it to be performed or represented
by others.”
—<_?
In March, 1891, certain amendments were
inserted as part of the Copyright statute which
had for their purpose the bringing the United
States into copyright relations with the other
literature-producing nations of the world. The
several European States had, from an early
period in the century (1880—1834) entered into
individual treaties with each other under which
their authors (and artists) secured for their pro-
ductions reciprocal protection ; and in 1887 these
States came together, under the Berne Convention,
jn an association the regulations of which secure
copyright recognition throughout nearly the entire
territory of Europe (Holland, Austria-Hungary,
and Russia are still outside) and also in Tunis,
Liberia, and Japan. :
It had for many years been a ground for mortifi-
cation to citizens who were jealous for the good
name of their country, that the United States had
refused, in regard to the recognition of property
in literature, to enter into the comity of nations.
As far back as 1837, an association had been
organized (of which the late George P. Putnam
was secretary) to bring about an international
copyright, but a contest of more than half a
century was required before it proved practicable
to interest and to educate public opinion, and to
secure from Congress favourable action for a bill
THE AUTHOR.
securing property rights for foreign authors, and
(under reciprocity arrangements) protection across
the Atlantic for the productions of American
authors. Before the Act of 1891, copyright could
be secured in this country only for the productions
of citizens of the United States or of those who
could be classed as permanent residents. Under
the new law, the protection of the statute is made
to cover the works of authors whether resident or
non-resident, with the condition that for the non-
resident author the country of which he is a
citizen shall concede to American authors copyright
privileges substantially equal to those conceded by
such foreign State to its own authors. It is also
a condition (applying both to resident and non-
resident authors) that the book securing American
copyright shall be published in the United States
not later than the date of its publication in any
other country. It is a farther condition of such
copyright for all authors, whether resident or non-
resident, that all the editions of the work so copy-
righted must be printed “ from type set within the
limits of the United States or from plates made
therefrom.” This provision was instituted in the
new act at the instance of the Typographical
Unions and was insisted upon by them as essential.
The unions were under the apprehension that if
international copyright should be established with-
out such condition of American manufacture, a
large portion of the book manufacturing now done
in this country would be transferred across the
Atlantic, to the injury of American type-setters
and printers and of the other trades employed in
the making of books.
The provisions of the Act as finally passed were
not a little confused by amendments inserted
hastily during the last weeks of the session, amend-
ments which had not been planned in connection
with the original drafts of the bill and which pre-
sented certain new conditions more or less incongru-
ous with the general purpose of the bill and likely
to produce difficulties in the consistent working of
the law. These amendments were submitted for
the most part on behalf of the various interests
having to do with the manufacturing of books and
of reproductions of works of art, and were accepted
by Congress as in line with the general protective
policy of the country. The changes in the text of
the bill as originally drafted were accepted by those
who had been for many years working for inter-
national copyright, because if they had not been
accepted it would have been impossible to bring into
enactment any international copyright measure
whatsoever. It seemed better, for the cause of the
recognition of literary property irrespective of
political boundaries, to place upon the statute book
a law more or less imperfect and incongruous than
to leave the United States for a
further indefinite
THE AUTHOR.
term alone among civilized nations in its failure
to recognize the just claims of foreign authors and
artists. It was also increasingly important to
secure a recognition on the other side of the
Atlantic for the property rights of American
literary producers whose productions were securing
from year to year increasing attention from English
and continental readers.
It is proper to state that the law has, in many
respects, worked more smoothly than was antici-
pated. Attention has, however, been called by
more than one Attorney-General and also by the
present Librarian of Congress and by his assistant,
the Registrar in charge of the Bureau of Copy-
rights, to the material defects in the wording of the
statute. Fear has been expressed that these
defects would sooner or later stand in the way of
securing consistent action in the courts for the
adequate protection of the rights of literary pro-
ducers. It isthe case, however, that comparatively
few issues have as yet arisen in the courts under
which these unsatisfactory provisions of the law
could be tested.
The law has had the effect of securing from
year to year for an increasing number of British
authors very satisfactory returns from the sales in
the United States of their copyrighted property ;
and under the reciprocity arrangement, which came
into effect with Great Britain in July, 1891,
American authors are each year securing larger
returns from their readers in the British Empire,
returns which are bound to increase proportionately
with the development of American literature.
English authors have found some inconvenience
in connection with the requirement for simultaneous
publication (a requirement which also obtains
under the British law) and the further require-
ment for the manufacturing of the copyrighted
book within the territory of the United States,
but there has been no substantial difficulty, under
the arrangements that have come into force between
the publishers on either side of the Atlantic and
their respective circles of authors, in meeting these
two requirements for books originating in the
English language.
It is the case, however, that very serious and
well-founded criticisms of the law have come from
the authors of France, Germany, and Italy, who
find that, under the requirements of American
manufacture and simultaneous publication, the
difficulties are almost insuperable in the way of
securing American copyright for books which have
to be translated before they are available for the
use of American readers. In Germany, the dis-
appointment and annoyance at what are held to be
the inequitable restrictions of the American statute
have been so considerable that steps have been
taken on the part of authors and publishers to
123
secure the abrogation of the Convention entered
into in 1893 between Germany and the United
States. ‘he defenders of the Convention have
thus far succeeded in preventing it from being set
aside, but it is their report that they will not be
able to maintain this Convention for many years to
come unless the grievances complained of by German
authors shall receive satisfactory consideration.
The disappointment and the criticism on the part
of the authors of France are no less bitter. It is
only the fact that certain substantial advantages
have been secured under the law to continental
artists, and the expectation that the American
people will not long remain satisfied with granting
international copyright in form while refusing it
in fact, that prevent organised attacks not only in
Paris and Berlin, but also in Rome, upon the
present international arrangements.
I myself had occasion while attending, in June,
1901, the convention held at Leipsic of the Inter-
national Association of Publishers, to listen to a
memorial which had been prepared by the Associa-
tion of German Authors, and which was submitted
for the approval of the assembly of German pub-
lishers, which memorial had for its purpose the
abrogation of the Convention between Germany
and the United States. I succeeded at that time
in securing a decision on the part of the publishers
to lay upon the table a resolution approving this
memorial of the authors, and the authors them-
selves later also agreed to defer action. I reported
to the representatives of the continental publishers
and authors that, at the instance of the American
Publishers’ Copyright League, an amendment to
our statute had been drafted which had for its pur-
pose the remedying asfaras might now be practicable
these grievances of the authors of the continent.
I promised that nothing should be neglected on
the part of the American publishers, American
authors, and others interested in international
copyright and in maintaining the copyright rela-
tions of the United States with Europe, to secure
favourable attention from Congress for the amend-
ment in question. It has, however, proved more
difficult than was anticipated two years back to
secure such attention on the part of the legislators
in Washington. Other matters have intervened
in each session which seemed both to Representa-
tives and Senators of much more importance than
the question of copyright. Apart from the usual
delays on the ground of lack of interest in Con-
gressional committees in such a subject, the
representatives of the Publishers’ Copyright League
found that they had again to give consideration
to objections on the part of the typographical
unions. :
The amendment as first drafted provided that
the European author of a book originating in a
124
language other than English should be allowed a
term of twelve months (or, as later suggested, of
not less than six months), within which to secure
arrangements for an American edition of his book
and to have completed the required translation.
The American edition which was to have the pro-
tection of copyright was of course to be “printed
from type set within the limits of the United
States.” During this interregnum term of six
months, importation into the United States of
copies of the work as issued in the original text
could be made and the owner of the copyright was
rotected against any unauthorised appropriation
of his production. This provision was worded
with the purpose of avoiding the expense that
under present conditions must be incurred of
putting into type in this country an edition of
the work printed in the language of origin. There
is, as a rule, not sufficient demand from American
buyers, even in the case of an author of repute, for
a book originating in French or in German, to
make the American publication of such work,
printed in the original language, a satisfactory
business undertaking. It is, on the other hand,
as a rule, not practicable to have a translation
produced in time to enable the American edition
as translated to be issued in the United States
“not later than the date of publication” in the
country of origin. The French or German pub-
lisher is generally not willing to agree with his
author to lose a season’s sale of his edition of the
book for the chance of securing for such author
the advantage of an American edition.
The typographers objected to the amendment as
worded on the ground that it gave copyright pro-
tection for a term of, say, six months to a book in
an edition which had not been printed in the
United States. It was pointed out by the pub-
lishers (many of them themselves printers and all
of them interested in the production of American
editions) that no book could, under such amend-
ment, secure the final protection of the law unless
an American edition was produced. It was
emphasized further that, under the present con-
ditions, the publishers were not willing to make
investments in American editions of continental
works which were well suited for the requirements
of American readers, but that if the publishers
could, as would be possible under this amendment,
secure the copyright control of such editions, a
number of books would be put into print in the
United States which would not otherwise have been
taken up, and from the manufacturing of which the
printing and allied trades would secure business
advantage.
It did not prove practicable, however, to con-
vince the typographers that there might not be
some risk of disadvantage to their trade in the
THE AUTHOR.
proposition, The amendment was therefore re-
shaped so as to meet their objections. Under
the amendment as now worded, a work originating
in language other than English is left open to
“ appropriation” unless an authorised American
edition shall have been produced within the term
of twelve months after the first publication of the
book in the country of origin and unless such
edition shall have been produced and duly pro-
tected by copyright in advance of any unauthorised
edition. In case, however, within such term of
twelve months, the book shall be brought into
print in the United States in an edition which
shall comply with the other requirements of the —
law, the author of such book, or his assign, shall
enjoy for the term of copyright the full protection
of the law, not merely for such English version,
but for the entire text in any version. Under the
working of the present statute, the producer of an
English version (whether authorised or unautho-
rised) of a continental work secures the protection
of the law only for his own version. In case this
first version secures a success, there is always the
risk that other versions may be produced by
unauthorised reprinters desiring to take advantage
of the literary judgment and of the advertising of
the publishers producing the unauthorised version,
Such appropriation of the text of the original will
be impracticable when the pending amendment has
become a part of the statute.
The typographers have given their approval to
the amendment as now worded, realising that it
ought to have the effect of increasing the pro-
auction of American editions of continental works.
While it is an advantage that the continental book
should be open to “ appropriation” for a term of
twelve months (or less) and that should unautho-
rised editions have once been issued no copyright
control can be secured for the work through the
publication of an unauthorised edition, it is
believed that under actual business conditions
this advantage may not prove serious. It is the
fact that the unauthorised reprinters prefer, as a
rule, to follow the literary judgment of the pub- —
lishers who act us the representatives of the authors.
The “ piracy” firms find it “better business” in
the selection of works by continental authors to
appropriate a work which has secured the approval
of a leading publishing house than to risk ventures
based upon their individual judgments. :
The amendment in question has been introduced
into the Senate by Senator O. H. Platt, of Con- —
necticut, who is an old-time friend of international —
copyright, and whose service in connection with —
the Act of 1891 was of the greatest importance. —
The bill (which bears the number “ Senate 849 "oe
has been referred to the Committee on Patents, —
and its supporters hope to be able to secure —
THE
favourable action on it early in the regular session.
The amendment has also been introduced into the
House (House No. 2229) by Mr. Currier. It is of
essential importance, if the copyright relations of
the United States with France, Germany, and Italy
are to be preserved, that no further delay should
be incurred in remedying the very serious injustice
to which the authors of the continent are now
exposed. It would also be a serious mortification
for Americans who have at heart the good name
of their country to have these international copy-
right conventions cancelled on the ground that
the American Government had failed to carry out
in good faith the reciprocity conditions of the Act
of 1891 on the strength of which conditions the
States of Europe have extended to American
authors the full protection of their own copyright
laws.
TEORGE HavEN PUTNAM.
——_____—_—_e———__e—___—_
THE UNITED STATES PUBLISHING
CONTRACT.
_—~>—+ —_
HE contract of publication in the United
States is one that must with increasing
frequency be placed before writers in Eng-
land. Perhaps therefore a few notes on a form of
contract put forward by a United States publisher
may be of service to Members.
The difficulty of making alterations in such a
contract on account of the length of time that
must elapse between one mail and the answer to
that mail, is evident.
There are very few United States publishers
who have agents in London whose authority will
permit them to settle contracts on behalf of their
principals. Many authors, therefore, enter into
bad contracts in order that their books may be
produced simultaneously ; and others, wearying of a
lengthened and desultory correspondence, embrace
the same fault. The two remedies for this position
are that, firstly, the author should deal in full
time with the United States rights, and secondly,
should be careful to deal with the best United
States publishers. Then what they may lose on
some of the minor points in the contract, which
they have been unable for one reason or another to
settle satisfactorily, they may gain from the reputa-
tion and position of the publishing house with
which they are dealing.
As a rule the contracts from United States
publishers are voluminous, verbose, and even then
incomplete. They demand too much from the
author, and give insufficient security that the work
willbe carried out on the best lines. If, of course,
the author deals with a first-class house, the latter
mistake corrects itself.
AUTHOR.
125
It should be added that some of the latercontracts
received from the other side of the water, like some
of the later contracts received from English
publishers, contain considerably better terms, and
are drafted on a much more satisfactory basis for
the author, than those which were in existence five
or ten yearsago, An example of the United States
contract is printed here :—
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
between and
laws of the State of
Said being the author and proprietor of a work
entitled “ ” in consideration of the covenant and
stipulations hereinafter contained, agreed to be performed
by the said publishers, grants and guarantees to the
publishers the exclusive right to publish said work during
terms of copyright and renewals thereof, hereby covenant-
ing with said publishers that he is the sole author and
proprietor of said work.
Said author further guarantees to said publishers that
the said work is in no way whatever a violation of any
copyright belonging to any other party, and that it con-
tains nothing of a scandalous or libellous character and
that he and his legal representatives will hold harmless the
said publishers from all suits and all manner of claims and
proceedings which may be taken on the ground that said
work is such violation, or contains anything scandalous or
libellous ; and he further hereby authorises said publishers
to defend at law any and all suits and proceedings which
may be taken or had against publishers for infringement of
any other copyright, or for libel, scandal, or any other
injurious or hurtful matter or thing contained in or alleged
or claimed to be contained in or caused by said work, and
to pay to said publishers such reasonable costs, disburse-
ments, expenses and counsel fees as they may incur in
such defences.
Said publishers in consideration of the right herein
granted, and of the guarantees aforesaid, agree to publish
said work at their own expense, in such style and manner
as they may deem expedient, and to pay said author or his
legal representatives a royalty of per cent. on the retail
price of the first five thousand copies sold, and per cent.
thereafter.
Provided, nevertheless, that no percentage whatever
shall be paid on any copies destroyed by fire or water, or
sold at or below cost, or given away for the purpose of
aiding thesale of said work ; and provided further, that on
all copies of said work sold for export, whether sold in
sheets or bound, the amount of royalty to be paid on such
copies shall not exceed per cent. of the net price
received for such sales :—and in case the said publishers
are able to dispose of duplicate plates for export, there
shall be paid to the author a sum not to exceed per
cent. of the amount received for such sale.
Any expense incurred for alterations or additions made
by author after manuscript has been put into type,
exceeding ten per cent, of cost of composition and stereo-
typing or electrotyping said work, is to be charged to the
author’s account.
Statements to be rendered annually in the month of
February, and settlements to be made in cash within two
months after date of statement. The first statement shall
not be rendered until six months after date of publication.
If, on the expiration of five years from date of publica-
tion, or at any time thereafter, the demand for such work
should not, in the opinion of the said publishers be sufficient.
to render its publication profitable, then this contract shall
cease and terminate, and thereupon said author shall have
the right, at his option, to take from said publishers at not
made this day of
a corporation chartered under the
126
exceeding actual cost of manufacture the stereotype or
electrotype plates and engravings (if any) of said work,
and whatever copies, bound or in sheets, they may then
have on hand, or failing to take said plates and copies at
cost, then said publishers shall have the right to dispose of
the copies on hand as they may deem fit, free of any per-
centage or royalty, to melt up the plates, and to cancel this
contract.
In consideration of the mutuality of this contract, the
aforesaid parties agree to all its provisions for themselves,
their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, and in testimony
thereof affix their signatures and seals.
Twelve complimentary copies to author.
Additional copies at best trade rates.
This document, although drawn in more concise
language than most agreements, yet contains many
faults which may, as suggested, be rectified by
dealing with a satisfactory house. For instance,
the style, manner, and date of publication appear
to be left in the hands of the publisher. It may
be a serious matter to omit any definite arrange-
ment on these points if the author does not happen
to be of the same opinion as the firm with which
he is contracting. The clause referring to libel and
infringement of copyright gives too wide a scope
to the publisher, although his power is somewhat
limited by the word ‘‘ reasonable ” at the end of the
clause, though “ reasonable costs, disbursements,
expenses and counsel fees” is a very indefinite
phrase. The main object of a contract is finality.
The proviso at the end of the second clause is
also unsatisfactory; and the account clause is bad.
There is no doubt that statements of account
should be rendered semi-annually, and this is
the arrangement which, by degrees, is becoming
universal in publishing houses. Annual accounts
may often leave the author’s money for an incon-
veniently long time in the publisher’s possession.
The clause dealing with the termination of the
contract is, on the whole, sound, the author having
the option of taking over the stock. In many of
the contracts with English publishers this clause is
very unsatisfactory. This is especially so in the
agreements drafted by the Publishers’ Association.
The worst point of the whole contract is that there
is no mention whatever of an arrangement to
secure copyright in Great Britain, her Colonies,
and Dependencies. There is no clause which binds
the publisher to produce by a certain date in order
to meet the requirements of the Act. It may, of
course, be argued that this is a United States con-
tract, but in answer to this, it should be stated
that this special contract was for the procuration
of the copyright in the United States of a book
that was to be published in England. Therefore,
such a clause should have been inserted.
In another United States contract, which is a
typical example of draftsmanship—who does under-
take to draw these contracts? Can the United
States Publishers’ Association explain ?—there is
THE AUTHOR.
an interesting clause with regard to simultaneous
publication. It runs as follows :—
“In order to fulfil the requirements of the revised
Statutes of the United States for securing copyright the
Author shall place in the hands of the Publishers, the
manuscript or fair typewritten copy, or advanced printed
sheets, of said work in ample time to allow the Publishers
to do the typesetting, electrotyping, presswork, and
binding, so that they may be able to publish their edition
simultaneously with any other edition of the said work, or
of any translation thereof, published in Great Britain or
elsewhere. The publication of any edition of the said
work, or of any translation thereof, other than that
published by the Publishers shall be made at such time
only as will enable them to make the publication of their
edition simultaneous therewith. They, on their part, agree
not to anticipate the authorised foreign publication of the
said work, and not to publish their edition until the day
mutually agreed upon by them and the Author. It is
further understood and agreed that if, by any act or
omission in the publication or edition of the said work
in any foreign country or in any way or manner without
the fault of the Publishers the copyright in and to the said
work within and for the United States of America shall be
lost or rendered nugatory, then the Author shall be respon-
sible to the Publishers for any loss or damage which they
may suffer thereby, and the Publishers may then, at their
option, terminate this Agreement, and in that event they
shall not thereafter be obliged to perform any of the acts
herein provided for.”
This clause in its verbosity is an example of the
rest of this agreement and needs no comment.
Should any members of the Society, from time
to time, have interesting forms of copyright agree-
ments with publishers in the United States, the
Secretary would be glad to see them. As a rule
the agreements run to fourteen or fifteen clauses.
The difficulty of dealing satisfactorily with them,
in a correspondence which may last for three or
four months, is considerably increased.
—_+-——_e_—__
RESUME OF THE NUMBER OF BOOKS
PUBLISHED IN THE PAST YEAR.
jo
REPRINTED FROM THE Publishers’ Circular BY
Krinp PERMISSION OF THE EDITOR.
HE total number of books recorded in 1903
is about a hundred below 1889 and 1898,
four hundred below 1897, and a thousand
above 1902; but there is an increase recorded in
Miscellaneous of about five hundred, and most of
these are pamphlets at a few pence each ; while
there were about three hundred sixpenny novels
during the year, most of them, of course, ‘new
editions,” not new books. The total of Fiction is
about a hundred more than in the previous year.
Theology, Educational, Politics, and Commerce are
up in number; Arts and Sciences and Law are
down ; History and Biography, Voyages and
Travels, about the same; Medicine, Year-Books,
Belles-Lettres, and Poetry and the Drama slightly
up.
THER AUTHOR. 127
| |
| | B 8 EB
Bo 2 eS SS
Subjects. e a S - : : 2 z 3 a l=
2 & |= < = 5 5 4 R Se | 2 A
So ae |
REG CRA Toe eee, \ { |
a (|a36| 42| 49] 63] 55] 51| 25] 431 42] 70| 86] 87 | 639
1. Theology, Sermons, Biblical ... 1|o 3 9 8 4 2 5 5 7) 3 2 <1 ie
| | | = 702
D Mincensl «Classical, and {| 2 61| 66| 70 | 86 | 65| 62| 83) 47| 51] 51| 65) 53 | 650
est—st—i | et} | 6] 4] 7) 9} 18| i6| 10] 98
748
3. Juvenile Works and Tales,|| ~ 97 | 98 | 150| 87/135] 98] 94] 155 | 169 | 296 | 347 | 133 1859
Novels, Tales, and other ;| 4, 98| 50| 67| 94] 85| 64] 50| 44| 52] 102] 108] 57/ 801
Fiction ) 2650
{la 7 5 8 3 4 6 3 3 i 1 5 ii 57
4. Law, Jurisprudence, &c. ib 2 3 8 5 5 ees 1 7 uf 6 30
87
5. Political and Social Economy, )| @ 42 43 |} 50) 34 51 37 82 | 46 | 29) 41 54 50 | 509
ee it 4] | o5| 12] 8] 7] wt] | 12] 2} 100
, —- 609
BF oad Wists 1 2 27 |) 26 | 82] 26) 88] 50] 17| 24) 85] 21) 46 | 71 | 413
ee ee Boel s | Ge 1) t| 2 1) 2) 8 kb 32
ee o us
Be be, ed Geo | 1 | | 9] 16] 18) 10) 15] 12) 6) 7) BF) 17
graphical Research ... fe 2 2 1 3 2 2 4 5 9; —| 34 ace
: (| @ 40 42 31 27 8 35 33 38 18 42 60 98 | 482
8. History, Biography, &c. wb 7) 18 8 5 9 4 4 4 6 5 6] 20] 91
— 573
(| @ 28 12 36 30 21 24 10 16 26 30 37 33 | 303
9. Poetry and the Drama 118 6 7 6 5 2 3 3 4 3 161 18 15 | 88
| 391
10, Year-Books and Serials in}|786| 35| 20| 23| 24) 24| 15) 15) 31 | 44| 55| 85 | 457
Volumes <... ee Re ee ee | ae me ae Fo ee
| | —— 457
as (ois) 91 te) ig) ib | 20 | 16) 28) 6. 18) 18 | 25 | 187
11. Medicine, Surgery, &c. sale 8 7 9 7 1 D Ge alt 13 | 14 1 95
| | 282
cs Mone || 2 10 | 81 28) 9 | oT) BL] AL] 19) 20) 39| 46) 33} 284
graphs, om : eee 1 2 7 2 | 2 : . Le 8 2 : 2) 31
: | 315
13. Miscellaneous, includin a@58| 66) 46) 65 3 o£) 67) 62) 71 48 | 50 | 32 | 687
Pamphlets, not Sermons Z b 6 8 | 26} 30 22 28 14) 29 16 10 | 18 12 | 219
| | oe
591 | 585 | 708 | 583 | 708 | 645 | 466 | 622 | 638 | 887 | 1089} 859 | 8381
a New Books; b New Editions.
The Analytical Table is divided into 13 Classes; also New Books and New Editions.
a | 1902. 1903. e
Divisions. | New Books. New Editions. New Books. New Editions.
Theology, Sermons, Biblical, &e. : oP ae eo 567 8] 639 63
Educational, Classical, and Philological | 504 68 650 98
Novels, Tales, and Juvenile Works | 1,743 lO 1,859 801
Law, Jurisprudence, &e. 88 46 57 30
Political and Social Economy, Trade and Commerce 463 130 509 100
Arts, Science, and Illustrated Works 420 44 413 32
Voyages, Travels, and Geographical Resear ch. 162 38 172 34
History, Biography, &c. . ie 480 57 482 91
Poetry and the Drama . 272 76 303 88
Year-Books and Serials in Volumes os see a 408 ao 457 —_
Medicine, Surgery, &c. . a oe bes 153 84 187 95
Belles-Lettres, Essays, Monographs, ee. ah 227 44 284 31
Miscellaneous, including Pamphlets, not Ser mons ... 352 Q 17 GSt | 219
1 | 5,839 1,542 | 6,699 1,682
5888 | 6,699
Z | 7,381 _ | 8,381
MAGAZINE CONTENTS.
—>—+—
BLACKWOOD’s MAGAZINE,
John Chilcote, M.P. By Katherine Cecil Thurston.
Three Gambits.
Scolopaxiana: Dogs. By Scolopax.
One Night’s Experiences in Thibet. By C. H. Lepper.
Old Galway Life: Random Recollections.
“Sally”: A Study. By Hugh Clifford, C.M.G.
The Siege of Arrah : An Incident of the Indian Mutiny.
By E. John Salano.
The Birds of Hawaii. By J. A Owen.
‘A Statesman-Adventurer of the Pacific.
Musings Without Method.—The Lost Influence and
Dignity of the Daily Press—The Speeches of an Emperor—
The Psalms of David in Daily Life.
‘A Fiscal Solution : For Commonplace Minds. By Selim.
Zussia and Japan : The Naval Outlook. By Active List.
Foreign Trade Fallacies.
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE.
The Truants (Chapters iv.—vi.). 3y A. E. W. Mason.
Some Empty Chairs. By Henry W. Lucy.
Macedonia—And After?
‘A Grandmother's Budget. By Mrs. Frederic Harrison.
Historical Mysteries. I, The Campden Mystery. By
Andrew Lang.
Among Japanese Hills. By Ernest Foxwell.
The Welsh in London. By J. HK. Vincent.
Han and Kawan, By Laurence Housman.
The Motion of the Solar System through Space. By
Frank Watson Dyson, F.R.S.
The Improvement of Westminster. By Thomas Fairman
Ordish, F.S.A.
Theodor Mommsen. By Professor Tout.
Provincial Letters. XIV. From Beaconsfield. By
Urbanus Sylvan.
The Visits of an Editor. By Leonard Husley,
THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW,
What can be done to Help the British Stage? An
Appeal. With a List of Signatures.
First Principles in the Far East. By “ Calchas.”
The Financial and Economic Situation in Japan. By
W. Petrie Watson.
English History in Napoleon’s Notebooks. By Henry
Foljambe Hall, F.R.Hist.s.
George Gissing. By Arthur Waugh.
On Some French Novels of To-day. By Le Comte de
Ségur.
The State Discouragement of Literature, By William
Watson.
The Problem of High Asia. By Demetrius C. Boulger.
The Life of a Song. By Stephen Gwynn.
President Roosevelt. By Sydney Brooks.
The Protectionist Ideal of Foreign Trade. By W. M.
Lightbody.
The Royalist Movement in France. By Normannus.
Leonaine: An Unpublished Poem by H. A. Poe. By
Alfred R. Wallace.
Eugene Sue. By Francis Gribble.
Theophano. Chaps. x.and xi. By Frederic Harrison.
Correspondence :—The Known and the Unknown in Mr.
Chamberlain’s Policy.—A Correction. By A, C. Pigou.
LONGMAN’S MAGAZINE.
Nature’s Comedian (Chapters xv., xvi), By w. E.
Norris.
Sikhim, The Land where the Rhododendrons Grow. By
M. C. Paget.
THE AUTHOR.
Astrida’s Lover. By F. Whishaw.
The Swimming Powers of Animals. By Paul Fountain.
Miss Fenella. By May Kendall.
A Gateway of Empire. By Esther Hallam Moorhouse.
At the Sign of the Ship. By Andrew Lang.
MACMILLAN’S MAGAZINE.
The Court of Sacharissa. By Hugh Sheringham and
Nevill Meakin. Chapters vii.—ix.
The Training of Teachers. By Miss Hodgson.
Ten Years in a Prohibition Town. By John Davidson.
La Rata Encoronada. By W. Spotswood Green,
The Football Fever. By H. F. Abell.
The President of Mexico. By Andrew Marshall.
Studies in Shakespeare's History. By J. L, Etty.
VII. Antony and Cleopatra. :
Imperial Purposes and their Cost. By T. B. Browning.
THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE.
The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at Devonshire
House.
Dr. Sven Hedin at Home. By Georg Brochner.
Master Worker: George Frederick Watts, O.M. By
Harold Begbie.
Pictures and the Public. By E. Rimbault Dibdin.
How and Why Animals are Coloured. By R. J. Pocock.
Literary Geography : Thackeray. By William Sharp.
Stories by Maurice Hewlett, Mrs. Craigie ( John Oliver
Hobbes”), H. Fielding Hall, W. H. Pollock, U. L. Silberrad,
Charles Marriott.
THE WORLD’s WoRK.
The March of Events—An Illustrated Editorial Record
and Comment :
A New Political Era.
The Far East.
The Future of Medical Science in London.
Our Commercial Advantage in France.
The Sale of Artificial Pearls.
India and Free Trade. By Sir Edgar Vincent, K.C.M.G
MP,
Crossing the Channel by Railway. By George Cerbelaud
The Pope's Secretary of State: Cardinal Merry Del Val.
The Conflict in the Far East. By Alfred Stead.
The Walking Wheel.
The St. Louis Exposition.
Colombia and the New Republic of Panama, By
Theodore 8. Alexander.
The Mosely Education Commission. By Alfred Mosely,
C.M.G.
The New Discovery Concerning Cancer. By E. 8. Grew.
The Potato Harvest and the Boom. By Toye Vise.
The British Tradesman Abroad. By U. P. R.
A Modern Hot-air Balloon. By Edward J. Forster.
Food-Frauds in France. By Frederic Lees.
The Girl Gardener: Is she Going to be a Success ?
«“ Home Counties.”
A New View of the Home. By Lady Mclaren.
How to Adopt the Metric System. By Thomas Parker.
‘A Revolution in Milk-Supply. By C. W. Saleeby.
Chair-Leg Turners at Work. By W. Bovill.
The Work of the Book World.
Among the World’s Workers—A Record of Industry :
«A British Industry Really Ruined.”
How Fast can a Horse go in Harness ?
Young Men as Irrigation Engineers.
A Floating Theatre.
A New Air Condenser.
Foreign Beer in the United Kingdom.
An Electrical Canal-‘owage System.
How London’s Tube Railways are made.
Geary
THE AUTHOR.
WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS
OF BOOKS.
oe
ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an
agreement. There are four methods of dealing
with literary property :—
I. Selling it Outright.
This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be
obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a
competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of
the Society.
II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of
agreement).
In this case the following rules should be attended to:
(1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-
duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements
in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-
ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.
(8.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”
unless the same allowance is made to the author.
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental
rights.
(.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or
doctor !
III. The Royalty System.
This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form
of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now
possible for an author to ascertain approximately the
truth. From time to time very important figures connected
with royalties are published in The Author.
1Y. A Commission Agreement.
The main points are :—
(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.
(2.) Keep control of the advertisements.
(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.
General.
All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four
above mentioned.
Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author,
Never sign any agreement without competent advice from
the Secretary of the Society.
Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.
The main points which the Society has always demanded
from the outset are :—
C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement
means.
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or
withheld.
(3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.
eg ees
WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
Lo.
EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the
Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-
petent legal authority.
2. [t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for
the production of a play with anyone except an established
manager.
129
3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays
in three or more acts :—
(a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This
is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into
such a contract should stipulate in the contract
for production of the piece by a certain date
and for proper publication of his name on the
play-bills.
(%.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of percentages on
gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5
and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a
percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts
in preference to the American system. Should
obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed
date on or before which the play should be
performed.
(¢c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to
perform on the basis of royalties (i.c.. fixed
nightly fees). This method should be always
avoided except in cases where the fees are
likely to be small or difficult to collect. The
other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply
also in this case.
4. Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is
better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum
paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely
important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should
be reserved.
5. Authors should remember that performing rights can
be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and
time. This is most important.
6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but
should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is
of great importance.
7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a
play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager
holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot
print the book of the words.
8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-
ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English
agreements without the author obtaining a substantial
consideration.
9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully
drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.
10, An author should remember that production of a play
is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of
delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.
He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in
the beginning.
11. An author must remember that the dramatic market
is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object
is to obtain adequate publication.
As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on
account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-
tracts, those authors desirous of further information
are referred to the Secretary of the Society.®
—_—_———
WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.
——>+
ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the
assistance of producers of books and dramatic
authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as
a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical
composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-
cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic
property. The musical composer has very often the two
rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He
130
should be especially careful therefore when entering into
an agreement, and should take into particular consideration
the warnings stated above.
fo a
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.
——
1. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive
advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-
lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his
business or the administration of his property. The
Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any
special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the
Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they
deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion. All this
without any cost to the member.
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright
and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-
ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use
the Society.
3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past
accounts, with a copy of the book represented. 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, Before signing any agreement whatever, send
the document to the Society for examination.
5. 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 your calling in promoting
the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.
6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception
of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-
proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as
confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,
who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :
—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give
advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements
in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep
agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to
agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work
can be obtained in the Prospectus.
7. No contract should be entered into with a literary
agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.
Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful
consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to
them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit
them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary
of the Society.
8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements This
must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The
Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.
9. Some agents endeayour to prevent authors from
referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so
do some publishers. Members can make their own
deductions and act accordingly.
10. The subscription to the Society is £4 ds. per
annum, or £10 10s for life membership.
THE AUTHOR.
THE READING BRANCH.
— +
EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this
branch of its work by informing young writers
of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and
treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term
MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry
and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under
special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The
Readers are writers of competence and experience. The
fee is one guinea.
_____¢——e —___—_
NOTICES.
—_+-—<—+-_—_
HE Editor of Zhe 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
5s. 6d. subscription for the year.
Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to
the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s
Gate, §.W., and should reach the Editor not later than
the 24st 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.
a
Communications and letters are invited by the
Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on
no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to
return articles which cannot be accepted.
——
The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice
that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,
and he requests members who do not receive an
answer to important communications within two days to
write to him without delay. All remittances should be
crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent
by registered letter only.
—_—__——_e —>—_+___—_
THE LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
——
N offer has been made of a special scheme of
Endowment and Whole Life Assurance,
admitting of a material reduction off the
ordinary premiums to members of the Society.
Full information can be obtained from J. P. Blake,
Legal and General Insurance Society (City Branch),
158, Leadenhall Street, E.C.
én
THE AUTHOR.
AUTHORITIES.
~+—<— —
N pursuance of the intention expressed in our
I January number, we print under Corre-
spondence the letters on “ Should Well-known
Writers ‘Farm-out’ Fiction,” held over from the
last issue by order of the Committee. The writers
have had, and have in several cases availed them-
selves of, the opportunity of revising their com-
munications after perusal of the Committee’s note
on “ Proxy’s”’ letter.
THERE is no need to add anything to the appre-
ciation of Mr. George Gissing, from the pen of
Mr. E. W. Hornung, except to state that Mr.
Gissing had been a member of the Society since
1894, and, with Mr. Justin McCarthy, was elected
a member of the Council in March of last year.
It is with great regret that we must add one more
to the distinguished list of members of the Society
who have died during the past six months.
We print elsewhere a copy of a proposed Bill
brought forward for the purpose of amending the
existing United States Copyright Law, followed
by an article from the pen of Mr. George Haven
Putnam, which appeared in the New York Critic.
In the “ English Bookman” there was a short
reference to this Bill, stating that it upset the
copyright as existing between the United States
and Great Britain, and calling the Society’s atten-
tion to the point. We thank the editor for his
courtesy, but fear he must have been misinformed,
as the present Bill does not alter the effect of the
section as far as Great Britain is concerned.
GEORGE GISSING.
—1+—<——
HE death of George Gissing came as a
complete shock to most of us who mourn
him. Delicate he had been for years, but
in no such degree as to alarm his friends, who
were under the impression that he had derived
great benefit from his protracted sojourn at St.
Jean de Luz. Only a few days before Christmas
one heard with delight that there was just a chance
of his coming back to live in England. He must
have been upon his death-bed at the time. He
had been working very hard. Hard work with
131
Gissing meant as much writing in a day and a
half as most men accomplish in a week. His book
was his life while it lasted; often it had almost
been his death, for he scorned to spare himself till
the last page was written. His last book was
never finished. It was one that he had carried
in his mind for many years ; it is said that he was
within sight of the end; the irony might have
have been his own. Pneumonia struck him down ;
in three weeks he was dead.
It is hard to write of a dead man and his living
-work, especially when one knew the man better
than the work, and cared for him infinitely more.
There are many who speak of Gissing and his
work as though the two were warp and weft.
Those who knew him best will be the last to
accept that view. The man was one of the most
lovable ; the work was hardly that. The man had
abundant humour ; there is little humour in the
bulk of his books. He had a glorious laugh—a
laugh inconceivable to those who have only read
him. There was an appreciative sympathy, a
cordial humanity, which it would be difficult to
deduce from his writings. His serious view of
life may have been acrid and even savage, but he
was certainly not in the habit of obtruding his
serious view of life. This, of course, is only to
speak of the man as one had the privilege of
knowing him ; it is not to pretend to have known
the whole man, or to have plumbed his depths, but
only to have found him all unlike his books,
humorous, human, and humane.
On the other hand, there can be no denying that
much of his own personality and many of his
own experiences found or forced their way into
his fiction. Too fine a nature to sit down
deliberately to “make copy” of his joys and
sorrows, he was too true an artist not to dip his
en into his own cup as his inspiration urged.
At first sight it would appear that his knowledge
of life was entirely first-hand, his poverty of mere
imagination only compensated by the depth and
truth of his extraordinary insight into the secrets
of the heart. Yet there is more imagination in
“ New Grub Street” alone than is ever likely to
meet the ordinary eye. It was written in the days
when George Gissing frequented the Reading Room
at the British Museum. He made that the chief
scene of his story, likened the Readers in the wheel
of radiating desks to the flies in a spider’s web, and
drew their imaginary lives. There was, I believe,
in the author’s mind at least, a flesh-and-blood
original of every literary person in the book; and
some of them are Readers to this day. Written
as the book was, on Gissing’s own showing, in six
weeks to pay the rent, one of the characters,
Reardon, is depicted in that self-same plight ;
and when, in a candid criticism of Reardon’s
132
work, it is claimed for him that his best pages
were instinct with a certain “ intellectual glow,”
the self-portrait seems complete. There could be
no fitter phrase for the peculiar literary quality
which distinguishes the characteristic pages of
George Gissing. But the contrasting type, the
cynically successful young man of letters, is at
least as justly realised, as strongly drawn. And it
is difficult to believe that Gissing ever fraternised
with such a one in all his literary life.
During the last few years he had made a second
reputation for himself as a sane and illuminating
critic of Charles Dickens.
were discussed with equal sympathy and acumen
in a monograph and in the introductions to the
Rochester edition in course of publication by
Messrs. Methuen. It is greatly to be hoped that
all the introductions, so honest alike in. their
strictures and their enthusiasm, have long been in
the publishers’ hands. “I don’t relish this critical
writing,” he wrote with the task in hand; but it
is to be doubted if he ever did anything very much
better; for that beautiful veiled autobiography,
“The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft,” brilliantly
written as it is, and touchingly eloquent of the
man, is in many places marred for his friends
by an alien misanthropy and an almost morose
erversity of view.
Notable novelist as he was, with a vogue among
his peers indubitably dearer to his fine soul than
the plaudits of the crowd, there are those who
knew George Gissing through and through, and
who hold that novel-writing was not his true
vocation. ‘They say he was a greater scholar than
could possibly be gathered from his books, and that
he would have been truly great as a scholar pure
and simple. He had indeed a passion for the
classics, and the very temperament to have taken
kindly to a cloistered life; but it is futile to
pursue the thought. He spent his life in writing
the most modern novels imaginable, in a miscro-
scopic hand (a thousand words to the sheet of
sermon paper) in keeping with his microscopi¢
observation; and he has left behind him more
than one that may well survive as uncompromising
transcripts of their time. And a vivid memory of
the man, of his fine face, his noble head, his winning
kindness, will endure as long as the last of those
who knew him. That he retained his great personal
charm through all the storms of his inner life, is not
more extraordinary than the fact that he remained
to the last the most acutely sensitive of men. Into
the secret of those storms, as into the entire peace
cof his last years abroad, he admitted only his chosen
few ; for the rest of us it is enough to know that
the storms had long abated, and that the last years
swere the happiest of his life.
E. W. Hornune.
2 THE AUTHOR.
‘he immortal works ©
HENRY SETON MERRIMAN.
—1——+
HE many lovers of high-class fiction begin
this year with an irreparable loss. Two of
our leading novelists have fallen out of the
ranks, both in the prime of life and at the height
of their powers. Mr. G. Gissing is spoken of
elsewhere. He wrote under his own name. Mr.
Hl. S. Merriman did not. His name, no doubt
familiar to all readers of “ The Author,” was Hugh
Stowell Scott. He was a north-countryman, a
Tynesider, whose father, a successful self-made
man, wished his sons to adopt business as a
career. Though he knew the leaning of one
of his sons towards literature he did not desire to
encourage it. :
One day taking up a book that had interested
him, called “ Young Mistley,’ he said, “If you
could write like this I should not object to your
following a literary career.” As a matter of fact
Hugh Stowell Scott “could write like that,” for he
was its author. But he did not divulge the fact
at the time.
The writing both of Mr. Gissing and Mr. Merri-
man was close and intimate, charged with refine-
ment. But the advantage in subject was probably
Merriman’s. Merriman was so early a traveller as
to lay the story of “ Young Mistley” in India.
His characters were people of position. He was
able to write with as much realistic accuracy of
Paris and of peasant and noble in Russia in “‘ The
Sowers,” as he had done of India and of life on a
P. and O. boat in “ The Grey Lady,” and was to do
of Dantzic in “ Barlasch.” This last work was
perhaps the finest effort of his genius, and the
investment of his subject with local colour showed
the work of a great writer. He possessed at the
same time a marvellous faculty for creating character
to accord withit. All is bitten in with the clearness
of an etching, and one feels his thorough command
of idea and pen. The book is permeated with
historical atmosphere ; and while he presents an
immense background dominated by Napoleon, he
achieves the vital success of projecting into the
foreground all sorts and degrees of men with per-
sonalities equally strong. Here as ever he wrote
with convincing assimilation of, the incidents
moulding the lives he created. Alas! never again
can we say “A new novel by Merriman!” In
bidding adieu to Barlasch we bade adieu to his
maker. The one is as real to us as the other.
And each must have passed with the same supreme
satisfaction in good work accomplished.
, Mary Enz. Stevenson,
Author of “ A Maid of the Moor,” ete.
THE AUTHOR.
MEDICAL LITERATURE IN PUBLIC
LIBRARIES.
—_— eS
By A MepicaL AUTHOR.
HAVE just had placed in my hands the first
of a series of “ Special Bulletins” which has
been ordered by the Public Libraries Com-
mittee of Birkenhead to be printed and circulated
for the information of those interested. It is my
idea that all members of a society like the Society
of Authors should be interested in Public Libraries,
for every day, I think, brings us nearer to the time
when libraries, whether municipally conducted, or
founded by private munificence, or run on business
lines, will be the chief customers of the author.
These “Special Bulletins” form a sort of sub-
catalogues to the general catalogue of the six
Public Libraries at Birkenhead, and are issued to
show how the libraries provide for different sections
of the ratepayers of the town. The first of the
series is a classified list of books on medicine and
kindred subjects, contained either in the Central
Library or the Reference Library, and when I had
read it I was certain that a good many books got
into public libraries that are not in themselves of
much use and the perusal of which might do
considerable harm. I will take the sense of
readers of 7’he Author on these points.
The classified list is arranged alphabetically, and
under the head of “‘ Anatomy and Physiology ” we
have thirty-two works. Of these several are com-
pletely obsolete, while others owe their interest
more to their historical position than to their
actual advancement of modern learning. Under
the head of “ Bacteriology” we have nine works,
of which one at least is a completely worthless
book, while three are shown by their dates to be
more or jess obsolete. Under the head of “The
Brain” we have seventeen books which are fairly
well selected ; two of them, however, are distinctly
not standard works, and one—exactly the one that
I can imagine the lay public being most anxious
to obtain—is a distinctly unsound work. Under
the head of “ Diseases of Children” there are
sixteen books, largely of the advice-to-mother
order. Of these books two are never heard of
among medical men, and two were published
twenty years ago and have not, as far as I know,
been republished. They were, however, at their
date of issue good text-books, and if editions have
been issued since 1885 it might be worth while
for a public library to obtain them. Of the seven
books intended to form medico-domestic guides to
young mothers this much may be said—such
books are useful if they are intelligently used, and
mischievous if they are not. ‘I'he twelve books on
“The Eye” are on the whole well chosen, though
133
the teaching of two must be obsolete. ‘Twenty-six
books are arranged under the heading of “ Food,”
and they form a curious medley, for four are
obsolete ; one seems to be a cookery-book; two
are completely unknown to scientific students of
dietetics ; and several others cover identical ground.
Then follow seven books on ‘The Hand,” four
books on chiromancy being catalogued in company
with such genuinely scientific works as that of
Galton on Finger-Prints, that of the late Professor
Humphry on the Human Foot and Hand, and
Sir David Wilson’s disquisition on Right and
Left-handedness. Next come five books on
Hydrophobia, of which three are obsolete.
Then we have eighty-four books on Hygiene
and Public Health, which are on the whole well
chosen. Of: these thirty-two are made up by
the Transactions of the International Congress of
Hygiene and Demography of 1891 and of the
International Health Exhibition of 1884. Such
transactions have a proper place in a reference
library. Several of the other books are obsolete,
and of one or two I have no knowledge even by
hearsay. The remainder are thoroughly well-
chosen works. ‘The next eight volumes deal with
Hypnotism and Mesmerism, the best known book
on the subject not being included among them,
while the Transactions of the Psychical Society and
the works of the leaders of that Society are also
absent. Then come seventy-one books headed
*‘ Medicine and Health.” This is a heterogeneous
collection ranging from well-known manuals and
text-books, through household medicines and
popular guides, to such works as a dissertation on
a particular mineral-water, an indictment of vac-
cination, a seventeenth-century epitome of The
Secrets of Surgery, an eighteenth-century Her-
barium, an essay on Dress in its Relation to
Health, a Student’s Guide to the Medical Pro-
fession dated before the passage of the Acts of
Parliament by which the medical profession is now
regulated, and a Girls’ Book of Health and Beauty.
Then we have twenty-two books upon “ Nursing,”
among which are some of the more valuable treatises.
Under the head of “Physical Culture” we have
seventeen works of varying value and scope. On
the whole the works in this section are good, but
Sir Frederick Treves, Mr. Eugene Sandow, and
the late R. A. Proctor can hardly before have ,
found themselves in the same special class of a
library catalogue. Under the head of “Surgery ”
are included works on surgical anatomy and ambu-
lance lectures. The two best manuals of surgery
are in this list—a comparatively short one, consist-
ing of twenty-four works only. Works on Throat
and Voice and on Vivisection are followed by a
heading called “Miscellaneous ””—and miscella-
neous it is—for under it fall a work on scientific
134
dressmaking, a herbalists’ manual, a work on
artificial limbs dated fifty years ago, a note on
hydropathy, a highly scientific work by the late
Professor Tyndall, and a note on scent by a
well-known perfumer.
It will be seen from this rough and ready
analysis that the ratepayers of Birkenhead are in
possession of a fairly good medical library, not
sufficiently modern or comprehensive to be of any
use to medical men engaged in research work or
scientific literary pursuits, but including more
standard works than anyone not a medical man is
likely to want to consult, or to be benefited by
reading. I am not sure what purpose Free
Libraries are meant to serve, but it seems to me
that the collection of works in the Special Bulletin
No. 1 of the Birkenhead Public Libraries caters
for no one. It is not a scientific collection and it
is not a popular collection. As far as scientific
workers are concerned, Free Libraries can never be
of much good in the more progressive branches of
science, for the ratepayers cannot be expected to
provide new and expensive works on bacteriology
or physiology every year, yeb every year brings
some new discovery which ought to be recorded.
As regards the needs of the general public such
works are not of much use, unless the practical
application of their teaching to the needs of every-
day life is well brought out. This is the case in
only a small proportion of the books in the Special
Bulletin ; but just where the public are mostly in
want of instruction—that is to say, in matters
relating to food and general hygiene—it is gratify-
ing to point out that the Birkenhead Free Libraries
supply sound literature.
I wonder if members of the Society of Authors,
whose special knowledge lies in different directions
to my own, have any experience of the contents of
the large Free Libraries as far as their own
pursuits are concerned. Is law, is theology, is
engineering similarly served? Are the works
dealing with these branches of learning, supplied to
the public out of the ratepayers’ money, either not
scientific enough or modern enough for the
purposes of the serious student, or too abstruse for
the general reader? Because if so, Free Libraries
would seem somewhat to fail in their aims. As far
as medical books are concerned, I am quite sure
that the Committees that manage Free Libraries
ought to pursue one policy. They should save the
ratepayers’ money by buying only a few standard
medical works, renewing these when their advisers
in the matter warn them that new editions are
necessary. Special care should be taken that the
medical works put into general circulation are
sound and authoritative, while works on palmistry,
cookery, and district nursing should not be
catalogued as medical. Preference also should be
THE AUTHOR.
given to books of general instruction, books
containing general principles, dictionaries and
works of reference. Manuals for students should
not be bought. There is never any particular
reason for purchasing one special treatise more
than another, while the premises of Free Libraries
are not intended to shelter genuine medical
students for whom other provision is always made.
With regard to amateur medical students, it is
important that medical books should be inspected
from the point of view of the wholesomeness of
their contents before they are put into circulation.
Some medical books make dangerous public reading.
The composition of our Free Libraries is a
matter of national importance. Too many people
think that when they have voted for a library-rate
they have done their duty, and that a well-chosen
collection of books will immediately occur. This
need not be the case, at any rate if general con-
clusions may be drawn from the special cireum-
stances to which I have alluded.
gee 9
A PLEA FOR PEDANTRY.
—1 >
“ (P\HAT ain’t sense!” a well-known member
[ of the House of Commons is reported to
have remarked after the reading of an
amendment; and the ejaculation, both in its
matter and its manner, is characteristic of the
age. How often the dignity of sense suffers in
the expression of it! “There is a good deal of
sense in that article,” remarks pater familias,
buttoning his overcoat before starting for the
City; and his eldest son, “fresh from the
beauty and the bliss” of Balliol, takes up the
paper and reads, “The Liberals are clamouring
and Mr. Balfour obdurately silent ’—and all he
notices is that the writer is ungrammatical,
because, great man though the Prime Minister
be, he can claim only the singular verb like any
ordinary mortal. Sense may be the dish; but
style is the cookery: and the palate of the purist
receives many a rude shock. In these modern
days of newspapers full of paragraphs “ written
up” by a jaded journalist overnight, and hastily
scanned by an equally jaded reader in the stifling
“Tube” next morning ; of letters spoken into a
phonograph and typed off in duplicate ;—yea, of
novels produced in the same fashion at the rate of
three or four a year; of political pamphlets and
books of biography and of travel hastily put
together and rushed through the printing press
in order to catch an ephemeral market ;—in these
modern days, what chance has our stately and
beautiful language, with all its history behind it ?
THE AUTHOR.
Then let us welcome the pedant and the purist, for
_ they have their uses.
The lack of leisure, in literature as elsewhere, is
accountable for much, since many errors are due to
the habit of condensing. ‘You must try to love
me as you have your parents ” is ungrammatical,
yet harmless ; but how about the assertion that
“He loathed sausages as much as his wife” ?
What a picture is given of domestic disquietude !
__whereas the reality, fatally obscured by the omis-
sion of the little word “did,” was a distinctly
harmonious breakfast-table. It is painful to read
that “when the chemical students had given in
the results of their researches, they were sealed up
in test-tubes and set aside to be analysed by the
professor.” What a fiscal problem is presented by
this sentence: ‘He spent two guineas a week on
cigars which he might have given to the poor ”!
Many errors are due, not to condensing, but to
bad arrangement :—“ Tennyson’s ‘ May Queen ’ is
a poem about a girl divided into three parts.”
And, “opposite stretch the long lines of blanched
walls, where now live the King of United Italy
and his fair Queen Margherita of Savoy, some-
what plain-faced and bald, and descending whole
streets in their enormous length and breadth of
circuit.’ The words only, merely, and not are
pitfalls in this respect, and the Post Office authori-
ties fell headlong into one of them when they
informed the public “The address only. to be
written on this side.” ‘To the purist, this conveys
that the address is only to be written, not, for
example, typed.
When once the habit of noting errors becomes a
hobby, they seem to crop up everywhere—in news-
papers, sermons, speeches, books, letters, advertise-
ments. How often we hear of “a house on the
left side going down the street,” or “a cab-stand
coming up the road.” “Each of us have” and
“neither of them were’’ are sadly familiar, even
within bookcovers. When there are two brothers,
is not the elder invariably the eldest ? And of
two apples, is not the bigger always the biggest ?
“This is one of the commonest errors that has
crept into the language,” one is told. “Has
they?” the pedant answers mildly. “ Strictly
speaking, there was no necessity ”__noor participle,
without a relation to support it !
Often pronouns are the cause of woe. What
can be made of this: “He told me his brother
had a friend and he wished him to emigrate ; but
he had said he ought to wait till he saw if his
uncle would help him, as he told him he would if
he approved of him.” Then there is the fatal
impersonal pronoun “one,” that no Briton can
handle with safety. The British are less successful
than the French with verbs also. How often the
novelist, in the midst of a narrative, leaps from
135
the past tense to the present and back again !
And how hopelessly muddled the reporter becomes
during three columns of indirect quotation ! And,
most familiar of all, “ Mr. Jones will have much
pleasure in accepting Mrs. Smith’s kind invitation.”
“ What ought you to say instead of ‘I shall have
much pleasure in accepting’ ?” a teacher asked his
class. “I will have much pleasure!” cried an
eager Scot. Folk north of the Tweed have to
submit to much quizzing for their use of shall
and will and for other Scotticisms ; but there are
not a few colloquialisms peculiar to the dwellers
south of that river. It strikes the Scottish ear at
once when someone says “ different to” instead of
“ different from,” or “differ with” instead of
“differ from.” It was perhaps a rash and
carping pedantry that prompted someone to
demand of a renowned barrister that he should
say “disagree from.” He listened to the logic
and courteously announced himself convinced ; but
presently he was heard to mutter below his breath,
“] disagree from you, my lord,—my lord, i
disagree from you. No,no! Couldn’t! Couldn’t
possibly!” The English seem prone to the use of
“lay” instead of “lie”—Byron and Shelley are
both defaulters—“ There let it lay” : and to the
substitution of “like” for “as”—‘ Like I did.”
But perhaps the Englishism most noticeable to
the stranger is to be heard in the addition of
the letter 7 after the vowel a—‘ the sofar is,”
_“the idear of it!’”—“ Mariar ought.” This is
now as prevalent as the inserted 4, and among a
more cultured class. As with the h, the r is not
only inserted where it ought not to be, but is left
out where it owght to occur, and hence that horror,
the “ Cockney rhyme ”—“ palm—harm,” and “ Oh
Mamma, See the star!”
It is pleasant to find the Chronicle entering the
lists as a purist. A few days ago it called atten-
tion to “a common error,” and cited examples
culled from its own pages :—“‘ Mr. A. B. Walkeley
writes to Mr. Bourchier: “I could not go to a
theatre from which I had been excluded without
that exclusion being publicly apologised for 47
“Pardon me saying” and “ Forgive me coming y
are simpler forms of the same.
“ Fyom May to December, inclusive,” or ‘‘ From
G. to N., inclusive,” is universal ; but is it sense ?
“To and from Regent Street and City, 37.” meets the
eye of many literary people on their way befween
fashion and Grub Street : does it vex their souls ?
As to “Bespoke Bootmaker” and “ Practical
Chimneysweep,” they are beneath notice.
Once we enter the realms of pure pedantry, there
is much to engage our attention. The dainty
disused subjunctive meets us reproachfully. The
rival claims of the pronouns that and which wait,
as they have waited since the Elizabethan age, to
136
be settled. The doubtful grammar of “these
kind” and “those sort” has to be seriously con-
sidered. The poor word demean demands a
knight-errant to rescue her from the clutches of
mean, to whom she owes no allegiance, and
restore her to her proper relation demeanour.
And in the train of demean come many mis-
used words—mutual and aggravate, replace and
appreciate, the debased awful, fallen from her
high estate, and all the rest. There is also the
phrase “and which ”—a phrase that, it is alleged,
a certain weekly in its palmy days used to keep a
special proof-reader to delete. There is “fine
day” when the day is only fair; and there is
“infinitely less,” when the comparison is between
things necessarily finite. ‘A sentence should
never have a preposition to end up with” was the
remark of someone who taught better by precept
than by example. But purists go further, and, not
content with objecting to “quite perfect” and
“quite better,” even question the propriety of
“more true.” But this last contention seems to
step beyond the realms of literary criticism alto-
gether, and to land one in the hazy atmosphere of
philosophy.
The errors that have been enumerated are only
a few of the most common, but will help to recall
many others to the mind, and may perhaps
persuade some readers to own that, though the
pedant be a fractious and annoying member of
any society—most of all of the Society of Authors
—he is not altogether without his uses, nor yet
altogether without his excuses.
ROSALINE Masson.
Oa
THE ARTIST AS CRITIC.*
+
HE Editor’s note to this, the twelfth,
volume of Messrs. Macmillan’s edition of
Thackeray’s Works explains that for the
first time the “Critical Papers in Literature ” are
brought together in one volume and arranged in
chronological order instead of being scattered
throughout the various volumes of the editions.
The advantages of such a plan are obvious, but it
does not appear from this preface what was the
compelling cause to make any exceptions; the
exceptions, however, are carefully noted, and
reference is given to the other volumes in which the
papers severally appear. Thus the first review
known to have been written by Thackeray, on
* “Critical Papers in Literature,’ by William Makepeace
Thackeray. London: Macmillan & Co., Limited, 1904.
Crown 8yo., 3s. 6d,
THE AUTHOR.
Robert Montgomery’s poem, ‘ Woman : The Angel
of Life,” was published in 7'e National Standard
dated the 15th of June, 1833, and is now reprinted
in vol. ix. of this edition; in the same volume
appears his review of Victor Hugo’s “ Etude sur
Mirabeau ” ; other literary papers entitled respec-
tively, “Madame Sand and the New Apocalypse,”
“Qn some French Fashionable Novels: With a
Plea for Romances in General,” and “ French
Dramas and Melodramas” are reprinted in vol.
vii. of this edition; finally a note of importance
will be found in vol. xi., covering the question of
other reviews supposed to have been contributed by
Thackeray to Fraser’s Magazine, some of which
have been positively identified and are reprinted in
that volume.
Of the twenty-nine papers included in the present
volume, six are reprinted for the first time, four are
reprinted for the first time in England, and twenty-
one are for the first time included in an edition of
Thackeray’s Works. The most important “find ”’
from the bibliographer’s point of view is an invoice
sent by Thackeray to 7%e Times for contributions
during November, 1838; this “ find” was made by
Mr. Moberly Bell, who sent a copy of the letter
and invoice to Messrs. Macmillan; reference to a
file of The Times disclosed articles entitled “The
Annuals,” Tyler’s “Life of Henry V.,” Fraser’s
“Winter Journey to Persia,’ Count Valerian
Krasinski’s “History of the Reformation in Poland,”
all of which are now reprinted for the first time,
and a couple of paragraphs entitled “ Steam Navi-
gation in the Pacific,’ which are omitted as not
coming within the scope of the volume. The two
other articles now first reprinted are a review of
the “Memoirs of Joseph Holt, General of the Irish
Rebels in 1798,” which appeared in Zhe Times for
the 31st of January, 1838, and Thackeray’s sole
contribution to The Edinburgh Review, which was
published in October, 1845, ridiculing N, P. F.
Willis’s “ Dashes at Life with a Free Pencil.”
Of the other fifteen papers now first included in
an edition of Thackeray’s Works the most interest-
ing, regarded as Critical Papers, are the ‘ Duchess
of Marlborough’s Private Correspondence,” “ Eros
and Anteros, or ‘Love’,” “A Diary Relative to
George IV. and Queen Caroline,” “The Poetical
Works of Dr. Southey,” “ Fielding’s Works,” “ Mr.
Macaulay’s Essays,” and “Coningsby, or the New
Generation.” These, with the more familiar papers
on Carlyle’s “French Revolution,” “Grant in
Paris,” ‘Dickens in France,” and ‘Jerome
Paturot,” enable one to arrive at a definite opinion
of Thackeray’s claim to consideration as judge of
other people’s work, and to assess the worth of the
artist in his other réle of critic.
His own opinion of the function of the critic is
recorded in this volume. An eminent artist had
as
THE AUTHOR.
suggested that it was the writer's duty only to speak
of pictures particularly when one could speak in
terms of praise ; not, of course, to praise unjustly,
but to be discreetly silent when there was no
opportunity. “Itis a fine maxim,” says Thackeray
in his genial way, ‘“‘and should be universally
adopted—across a table. Why should not Medi-
ocrity be content, and fancy itself Genius? Why
should not Vanity go home, and be a little more
vain? If you tell the truth, ten to one that
Dulness only grows angry, and is not a whit
less dull than before—such being itsnature. But
when I becomes we—sitting in judgment, and
delivering solemn opinions—ie must tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ;
for then there is a third party concerned—the
public—between whom andthe writer, or painter, the
critic has to arbitrate, and he is bound to show no
favour. What is kindness to the one, is injustice to
the other, who looks for an honest judgment, and
is by far the most important party of the three ;
the two others being, the one the public’s servant,
the other the public’s appraiser, sworn to value, to
the best of his power, the article that is for sale.
The critic does not value rightly, it is true, once in
a thousand times ; but if he do not deal honestly,
wo be to him! The hulks are too pleasant for
him, transportation too light. For ourselves, our
honesty is known ; every man of the band of critics
(that awful, unknown Vehmgericht, that sits in
judgment in the halls of ReGrna) is gentle, though
miserable, loving, though stern, just above all. As
fathers, we have for our dutiful children the most
tender yearning and love; but we are, everyone of
us, Brutuses, and at the sad intelligence of our
children’s treason we weep—the father will ; dwt
we chop their heads off.”
Indeed they do. And where decapitation of the
culprit seems to be the proper end, Thackeray sees
to it that the capital penalty is preceded by
scourging more or less severe. Sometimes his
whip has but a single thong. In “ Eros and
Anteros, or ‘Love,’” for instance, he deprecates
any claim to being regarded as omniscient with a
parenthesis that disarms hostility. Lady Charlotte
Bury wrote a novel in which all the figures are
exclusives, fashionables, or lords; the silly things
they severally do are best left in the oblivion to
which they have sunk, but the critic challenges
the accuracy of the picture. “Thank Heaven,”
he says, “the world (unless in the most exclusive
circles) does not do this.” In that admission of
the possibility of his own ignorance there is brine
in which the thong is soaked. Sometimes his
whip has double thongs: Lady Charlotte Bury
felt it, owing to her responsibility for the “ Diary
Relative to George LV. and Queen Caroline.” “ We
never met with a book more pernicious or mean.”
137
Phrase after phrase of bitterly scornful denuncia-
tion falls from the curling lip of the judge to
culminate in an almost savage peroration. ‘There
is no need now to be loyal to your prince or tender
to his memory. Take his bounty while living,
share his purse and his table, gain his confidence,
and learn his secrets, flatter him, cringe to him,
vow to him an unbounded fidelity—and when he
is dead, write a diary and betray him!”
Jules Janin felt it, too, and it is noteworthy
that it was on behalf of Dickens that Thackeray
seized his double thonged whip and laid about the
shoulders of the French critic. ‘“ Dickens in
France” the article is called, and it will repay
study as an example of culminative scorn: as an
example, too, of the justice on which he prided
himself, for it is by textual quotation of the
culprit’s own words and of passages from his own
paper that he establishes his case.
Naturally, several of the longer essays are
expository rather than critical, but they are admir-
ably written: the article on Tyler’s “ Life of
Henry V.” is Thackeray’s own precis of the story
as told by the old chroniclers; that on Count
Valerian Krasinski’s “ History of the Reformation
in Poland” is little more than one long quotation
from the book itself; those on Holt’s “ Memoirs,”
Fraser’s “ Winter Journey to Persia,” and Willis’s
« Dashes at Life” are little more than summaries
enlivened by comment characteristic of Thackeray,
and, especially in the case of the last book, relieved
by not unkindly banter. Willis, indeed, seems to
have been treated too leniently.
It is in the estimates formed of Carlyle’s “ History
of the French Revolution,” of Macaulay’s * Essays,”
of “Coningsby,” of Fielding’s Works and of
Southey’s collected poems that Thackeray’s right to
be deemed a sound critic may most fairly be tested,
and for our own part we think it has been estab-
lished by general consent. Carlyle’s opinion of
Thackeray’s opinion of him is recorded in the
preface : “ His article is rather like him, and, I
suppose; calculated to do the book good’’: rather
grudging perhaps, but surely the best possible
tribute to the quality of the criticism, which ought
to be as much the expression of the critic’s indi-
vidual self as the book should be of the author’s.
It is pleasant to recognise the man’s alacrity to
recognise merit in his contemporaries ;_ the
courteous, almost deferential, respect he has for
Macaulay’s attainments, the singular aptness of
the epithets he applies to Disraeli’s ‘« Coningsby,”
and the acumen and sanity of his judgment of
Southey’s Poems. The whole-hearted, generous
enthusiasm he cherishes for Fielding, communi-
cates a glow, and we welcome an edition of
Thackeray containing this essay. Altogether, this
book has given us a great deal of pleasure already,
138
and we are glad to record, in addition to our love
for Thackeray the artist, our respect for Thackeray
the critic. V. E. M.
_—-—_»
CORRESPONDENCE.
—1~>—-
/ SHOULD WELL-KNOWN WRITERS
“FARM-OUT” FICTION ?
AN,
Sir,—In your December number appears a
contribution from “ Proxy,” entitled, ‘Should well-
known writers ‘farm-out’ fiction ?” in which he
attempts to justify popular authors in palming off,
as their own original work, novels and tales written
by “ghosts” in their employ. - “ Proxy ” supports
his theory that such an act is perfectly justifiable
by the argument “ whether Blank himself actually
writes the books or whether he employs someone
to write them for him is really of no great con-
sequence as far as the reader is concerned.”
To the grocer who takes half-a-crown across
the counter, it is of no great consequence whether
the coin has been stolen or honestly earned, but
pocket- picking is a felony nevertheless.
By the way, I find in this article an allusion to
“poor Gilbert’s inimitable humour.” J am much
obliged to the writer for his sympathetic reference
to me, but why “poor?” If he means that I am
in embarrassed circumstances, I have much pleasure
in assuring him that I still contrive to keep my
head above water. If he is under the impression
that I am a helpless invalid, it gratifies me to
inform him that I am in robust health. If he
supposes me to be disembodied, I am pleased to
say that I am not even an author’s ghost.
Yours faithfully,
W.S. GILBERT. -
ah ae ae a
Il.
Srr,—After reading the article with the above
title, signed ‘“‘ Proxy,” in the December issue of
The Author, one has to ask oneself whether it is
intended to be taken seriously or as a joke. It
seems hardly possible to believe that it is serious,
or else the writer must be one who can see no
wrong in defrauding nor in being defrauded.
It makes no difference to the case whether the
author is well-known or not, although, of course,
the circumstances could not apply to an obscure
one. The writer of this article compares an author
who employs a proxy with a person carrying on
THER AUTHOR.
the business of a manufacturer or storekeeper
under some other name than his or her own, and
seems to think that there is no difference. In
buying at a certain store, whether a piece of
furniture, a gun, a watch, a garment or any other
thing, no one supposes that the head of the firm
makes every article sold there, neither does he put
them forward as his individual handicraft ; it is
work made or sold under his auspices and for
which he takes the responsibility. It is the
publisher who should be compared with such a
person, not the writer of a work. The publisher isa
dealer in books (which he may get written or pro-
duced to order), and each work is put before the
public as his publication, but not as his composition.
One does not buy a book for the sake of the
publisher, but for the sake of the matter or of the
writer ; the composition is set forth as being by
such and such a person, as being that person’s
original work, for which reason that person takes
the name of author ; and, if the supposed author’s
name is on the title-page and the work is not his or
her composition, then is fraud being committed.
If an “author” employs a proxy, then it should be
stated that the work is produced for or under the
auspices of that “well-known writer,” otherwise
the publisher is put in the same position as a
picture-dealer who sells the work of one artist as
that of another.
This practice in favour of which “ Proxy ”
writes is causing money to be obtained under faise —
pretences, and is deliberate fraud by the supposed
author and the proxy on the publisher and the
public, and also by the proxy on him or herself.
Doubtless some member of the Society of
Authors is acquainted with a work written by a
proxy or “ ghost ’? and put forward as that of some
well-known writer ; if so, I should very much like
to see the Society instigate, on behalf of a member
purchasing a copy of such a work, a prosecution for
fraud of the supposed author whore name appears
on the title-page, or else see a publisher undertake
the prosecution of such a supposed author.
HvuBert HAEs.
<>
III.
Sir,—A writer calling himself “ Proxy” has
detailed to us, in the December number of The
Author, the sophistries with which he, and, of
course, his principal before him, have succeeded in
drugging conscience. He offers those arguments
to us as an excellent prescription, as if we too
must be anxious to get rid of that tiresome voice
which urges probity !
‘To begin with, his claim to authority on the
THE AUTHOR.
subject of “ ghosting,” as being himself a “ ghost,”
is hardly valid. It could not logically be allowed
without conceding the same high standpoint to all
who profit by malpractices, wherever found. The
law of the land, judge and jury, would then count
for nothing. We should appeal to the receiver of
stolen goods for an anonymous verdict.
But why does “ Proxy” stand forth at all?
We have no personal quarrel with him or his tribe.
What we wish to see stopped is the practice, said
to be widespread, of flourishing authors choking
the market, filling space valuable to others, with
work not their own. ‘The selfishness is only made
possible by a downright, fraudulent lie ; for, I take
it, most authors regard their name or pseudonym
appended to work as nearer to an affidavit than “a
sort of trade-mark.” “Proxy” may be simply an
honest man in reduced circumstances. “ Blank,”
his employer, is, frankly, a scoundrel.
The reference to modern business methods as
the standard of honesty is downright funny.
Indeed, ‘“ Proxy’s” whole article has the ring of
fine satire, making one scent a hoax.
“T may say, to begin with, that the writers for
whom I act as proxy know me sufficiently well to
be aware that I am not likely ever to blackmail
them, and in selecting a proxy this is of course an
extremely important consideration.”
Shade of Mistress Quickly! ... Is not this
pure satire? Or can “ Proxy,” after writing that,
still really wonder at members of the Authors’
Society agreeing “ that the practice is reprehensible
in the extreme”?
Just one more quotation. This is one of the dire
alternatives presented to “the writer of popular
fiction”? who receives applications for work in
excess of his output:— He must decline to
undertake to get through more than a compara-
tively small amount of work, and thus, in the
language of the box-office, ‘turn good money
away.’” In other words, he must decline to get
money by dishonest means, degrading to himself,
defrauding to others, and unfair even to the
“ghost” who is robbed of personality. Isn’t it
hard on the poor devil ?
That there are among “ghosts” men keenly
alive to a debasement into which real want has
fcrced them, we are fain to believe. Mr. Leonard
Merrick’s “ Cynthia” contains a convincing picture
of such an one. [If all were as cynically content in
their background as “ Proxy ” pretends to be, pity
would be wasted on them. But contempt is by
no means wasted on their employers. Like other
cheats they deserve nothing but the cold shoulder,
and will get it, sure enough, when discovered.
But the job is to catch them.
MARMADUKE PICKTHALL.
139
IV.
Str,—You have now published in The Author
three letters and one article dealing with the inte-
resting process which the writers thereof describe,
according to their differing opinions upon the
subject, either by the airy name of “ ghosting,”
or the more solid and uncompromising term,
“ fraud.”
One has heard before, generally in fiction, of the
literary vampire who sucks the brains of the un-
fortunate hack; and I do not think that one has
felt much inclined to believe in his existence out-
side the pages of romance. The recent corres-
pondence in Zhe Author, however, seems to prove
that the vampire is a very actual personage indeed
—on the testimony of no less a person than the
hack himself, who certainly ought to know, and
who appears quite willing to take us into his
(strictly anonymous) confidence, in spite of the
vows of silence and secrecy which he has sworn to
the vampire whom he serves.
Of course, if the hack chooses, or is forced by
circumstances, to earn his living by writing for the
vampire, that is nobody’s business but his own.
Of the two parties concerned in a dirty business,
the hack should have the clearer conscience. But
it certainly has struck me as singular that three
out of the four communications published have
unblushingly tried to whitewash this ghosting
affair. Indeed, *‘ Proxy,” in his article, reaches a
point beyond even the whitewash pot. He boldly
sets himself to prove that the ghosting system is
perfectly fair and honest, and tells us that he looks
upon the vampire as “a Heaven-sent being, and
not, as some appear (!) to consider him, a species
of imposter.” “ Proxy’s” idea of a “ Heaven-sent
being” seems rather dangerously original, to say the
least of it—but let that pass. He goes on to make
a statement which one cannot let pass so easily.
“ Whether Blank himself actually writes the books,
or whether he employs someone to write them for
him,” he declares, “is really of no great conse-
quence so far as the general reader is concerned.
The general reader looks upon Blank’s name as @
sort of trade mark—nothing more.”
Now, in the name of the general reader, I protest
against this statement of * Proxy’s.” I, for one,
do not look upon Blank’s name upon the novel
which he offers to the public as his own as “a sort
of trade mark.” When I order a book purporting
to be written by Blauk, I do not expect to geb a
novel which “Proxy ” has written for Blank to sign
—-andsell. I want Blank, I order Blank, I expect to
get Blank ; and if [ get “ Proxy ” instead of Blank
I maintain that I have as good a right to consider
myself cheated as though I had asked for—and
paid for—butter, and received margarine. I am
140
not depreciating ‘‘ Proxy’s”’ work—it may be as good
as, or even better than Blank’s; but that argument
has nothing to do with the case.
I cannot help thinking that this is the view the
general reader will take, in spite of ‘‘ Proxy’s” com-
fortable conscience—salving sophistries to the con-
trary. The public undoubtedly buys Blank’s book,
and orders it at the libraries, on the strength of
the position Blank has already achieved in fiction ;
if it finds out that such a system as “ Proxy” reveals,
and upholds, is in vogue, it is not difficult to foresee
that, however unsatisfactory the sale of novels
may be at present, it will soon become infinitely
worse.
We have heard a good deal about the iniquities
of the publisher, but if the state of things described
by “Proxy” and others really exists, then it seems to
me that the virtuous, long-suffering author stands
in a glass house in which he will find it exceed-
ingly difficult to throw stones at his natural enemy.
Meanwhile, as a consequence of these interesting
revelations by “ Proxy” & Co., the literary profes-
sion stands practically under the imputation of com-
mitting a wholesale and comprehensive fraud upon
an unsuspecting public. Three successive numbers
of your periodical have reiterated the accusation ;
and so far not one novelist of prominence has come
forward to deny, in his own name at least, this
shameful charge. “ Proxy” and his fellows have
flung down the gauntlet—is there no writer who
dare lift it, for the honour of the art he serves ?
Or is it indeed true that we are all a set of dis-
honest hucksters, cheating the public and lying
amongst ourselves, thinking only of our price per
thousand, and not caring by what fraudulent methods
it is obtained ?
CHALLENGER.
P.S.—Since the above was written, the Com-
mittee has issued a note in The Author, very
properly recording its opinion of the practice
which “ Proxy” defends as “a gross fraud both
on the publisher and the public.” So far, so
good ; but is it not possible to go a little further
—to take steps to discover and publish the names
of the culprits? In Mr. Ascher’s letter on the
subject in the October number he speaks of
instances of “ ghosting” which have fallen under
his own notice. Surely if he or any member of
the Society possesses proof of a case of this kind,
he owes it to the whole literary profession to make
it public. It may be very difficult, for many
reasons, to stop “ghosting” altogether; but
exposure seems to me to be the first and most
powerful weapon against it. No condemnation
of the system, as a system, will effect much good
unless the actual individual concerned can be
shown up. It is almost impossible to believe that
THE AUTHOR.
popular and well-paid writers can carry on this
fraud for any great length of time with impunity,
and one can only hope that the first proven case of
the kind which comes to the knowledge of the
Society will mect with the public disgrace which it
so richly deserves.
ig
V.
DEAR Srr,—The defence in your December
number of farming out literary work, whether
real or fictitious, certainly shows that for a poor
“ohost”” half a loaf is better than no bread, and
it also illustrates the increasing difficulty of getting
good work accepted on its merits. A great many
modern magazine editors and publishers are quite
incapable of judging for themselves as to the
quality of work submitted to them. Tell a story is
by some well-known writer, and at once they read
merit into it. This is what gives the farmer his
chance. He depends upon their lack of critical
faculty, and power of distinguishing between one
man’s style and another’s. They want names, and
names only. Very often, too, in the lower walks
of fiction the difference between the work of one
man’s and another's is that between Tweedledum
and Tweedledee, but the fact that one of the two
has succeeded by a fluke gives him a certain market
value. Farming out work and taking pay from
publishers at rates that would not be given if the
publishers knew the truth, is simply a form of
swindling, and the authors who do such things
may justly fear blackmail, and wish to be quite
sure of their partner. For the poor accomplice,
unknown to fame, despairing of ever attaining it,
and driven by necessity, one can have little save
pity. At any rate he honestly does the work for
which he takes pay, and if he does not object
to letting another get the credit, no third party
need revile him; but what are we to say of the
man who employs him? An instance has recently
come to my knowledge of a poor gentleman, fallen
on evil days, a scholar and a linguist, who for about
£30 did the translation of a long and highly
technical work that bears on its cover the name of
a popular author as the translator. ‘The “ ghost”
did not complain. It was not from him, or with
his knowledge, I heard of this flagrant case. I
believe he had hopes the popular author would
recommend him to publishers to undertake other
translations. How likely! When I read the
favourable comments of the Press on the book in
question, of the skill shown by Mr. So-and-so in
turning it into English, it “makes me tired,” if
you will pardon the Americanism.
Yours faithfully,
INCOGNITO.
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The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 05 (February 1904)
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<em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 05 (February 1904)
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1904-02-01-The-Author-14-5
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The Author