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Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1899-03-01 Volume 9 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 217–244 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18990301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ^Tbe Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. IX.—No. i o.] MARCH i, 1899. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Seoretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOB some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices,&e., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of 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. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (I.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- motion forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (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! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, 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." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four 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.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements, and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. A A 2 ## p. 218 (#230) ############################################ 2i8 THE AUTHOR, HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. i. INVERT member has a right to ask for and to receive t,J 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, in the opinion of the Committee and the Solicitors of the Society, the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively bo far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish, ing firm in the oountry. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Sooiety now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and 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. 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 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are> requested not to send them to the Office without previously- communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable- despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding - for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we- have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it- LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Canadian Society of Authors. ASOCIE l'Y of Authors has been founded in Canada. The chairman is the Hon. George William Ross, who has held office as Minister of Education, is a distinguished orator, an LL.D. of St. Andrews, and the author of "The History of the School System of Ontario," and other educational works. II.—Copyright in Holland. As many authors know to their sorrow, Holland declined to accept the provisions of the Berni- Copyright Convention, as a result of which there is a chronic war between that country and Germany. A Dutch publisher, however, has just been neatly scored off by Adolf Streckfuss, the ## p. 219 (#231) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2ig Oerman historian, in connection with his latest book, the "History of the World." No sooner had the first few parts appeared than he became aware that a piratical translation was being sold in Amsterdam. He applied to the publisher for some sort of honorarium, and received in reply a Dutch cheese, with a statement that the sender recognised no moral obligation in the matter. Next week the following advertise- ment appeared in the leading newspapers of Amsterdam: "For sale, the manuscript of the * History of the World' by Streckfuss, a fort- night before the publication of each part in Berlin." Scores of eligible offers came in, and the freebooter had to choose between losing his stock of the first numbers or outbidding his trade rivals. He chose the latter alternative, and the author got a handsome price for his book.—Daily Chronicle, Feb. 2. . III. —Copyright in Russia. The commission which has been engaged for some time past in revising the Russian Civil Code will, it is stated, lay very shortly before the Council of State a scheme for the protection of literary property, which has hitherto received but scant attention from the Legislature. The copy- right in any work will be vested in the author or his heirs and assigns for a period of fifty years. No limitation to the right of translating works published abroad by Russian or foreign writers is recommended, but native writers are secured the exclusive right to translate their own works for ten years from the date of publication, provided that they bring out a translation within the first three years. Very strong provisions are urged against the piracy either of Russian or foreign books, and it is recommended that the courts of justice should be empowered in assess- ing damage to reckon the extreme loss occasioned by such acts of spoliation.—Daily Chronicle, Jan. 19. -a r IV. —"A Curious Question." 1. In last month's Author "A Friendly Critic" discussed " a curious question" on the right of a publisher to claim the repayment of royalty he had paid to an author " on books sold," many of which books, possibly 100, having subsequently been taken back by him from a bookseller on the plea that the sale of the said book had ceased, and it had become dead stock—upon these books so returned the publisher claimed the repayment of the royalty on the ground that the books had not been sold. Let me reverse this order by sketching a picture of an equally lurid tint. I have recently acted on behalf of an author whose book in the market is of high repute and is published for him by an old London firm. Recently a cheap edition was issued, and, " for the convenience of the trade," the said firm took back certain copies of the higher-priced edition, but it gave no indication in the half-yearly statement of desire to be just by returning the amount of the royalty charged and paid on these returned books as "books sold." I therefore claimed the return of the said royalty, but the payment was refused on the plea that "the books had been sold, and had been so accounted for at the time." Upon this reply I at once gave instructions to the publishers that I would not allow another copy to be returned on account of the author; if so taken back it would be at their risk and cost. If authors would thus instruct their publishers, the publishers would be compelled very speedily to change their tacties on questions of royalty. An Author. 11. 8th Feb. 1899. On page 201 of last month's Author I see the following statement commenting on a case I put forward in The Author (page 151) :— "The curious question (and it is aptly called) amounts, then, divested of fatal generalisation, to this: If the book manages to sell again (or not, for that matter), shall the author refund the royalty on those twenty copies?" Those members who care to refer to page 151 will see that this is not at all the question, and never was the question, and that the com- mentator seems entirely to have misunder- stood the facts of the case. The point was not one of refunding the royalties. The author had been paid on copies sold, and as such was entitled to keep the royalties. The point of moral obligation referred to was whether the publisher had a right to sell the books which he himself had purchased back in priority to the books still remaining on which the author was entitled to a royalty. On further consideration of the matter, I am inclined to think that the publisher would have had no right to spoil the author's market for the benefit of his own pocket. Yours truly, G. Herbert Thring. V.—Cataloguing. During a series of years I have published a number of scientific—more or less—books. Possibly because I have striven to make them not "too clever" they have had a very fair measure of success, and I have received a modent ## p. 220 (#232) ############################################ 220 THE AUTHOR. return for my labours. In my early and ignorant days, before the Society of Authors came to the rescue, I was fool enough to believe nearly all that publishers told me, and arranged for several of my books on half-share terms, without any stipulations as to "cost of production/' " adver- tising," "inspection of accounts," &c. The natural result was that these books were con- siderably overweighted, and, in addition to charg- ing an extra 15 per cent. for publishing, my kind friends added two guineas a year on each book for cataloguing. To use a country term, this "stuck in my crop " worse than the other over- charges, and recently, after many expostulations, this charge has been reduced one-half. My object in writing to The Author is to ask if a publisher can legally make a charge for cataloguing r' lie undertakes to sell your books, and he cannot do this without he issues a list of his wares, which is really part of his stock-in-trade. No other tradesman makes a charge for cataloguing what he sells; why, therefore, should "literary wares" be taxed more than any other';' Again, why do some firms charge 15 per cent. commission for publishing, whilst others of superior rank are content with 10 per cent.? Either one must be too little or the other too much. Another question I should like to ask is, Can publishers delay the issuing of a book for their own gain? I arranged with a firm to publish a book for me at a fair royalty, and they kept it on hand some months longer than they should do. On writing to them thereon, their reply was they were canvassing for special advertisements to issue with it. Perhaps they intend sending me part of the proceeds, but perhaps not. Although I am not entirely dependent 011 my pen—a good job, too, my best friends would probably say—I cannot refrain from thanking the Society of Authors for the light they have already let into " Darkest (Literary) Africa " ; and notwithstanding the assaults of the enemy from without, and I am afraid sometimes from within, they will take heart of grace from the good they have done, and keep pegging away till "those poor devils of authors " have succeeded in obtain- ing all they require, and what they intend to have, viz., justice. A Scientist—More or Less. VI.—Autobiography—Sir Arthur Sullivan. "But all this time my mind was set on compo- sition. I was ready to undertake anything that came in my way. Symphonies, overtures, ballets, iinthems, hymn-tunes, songs, part songs, a con- certo for the violoncello, and eventually comic and light operas — nothing came amiss to me; and I gladly accepted what publishers offered me, so long as I could get the things published. I composed six Shakespearean songs for Messrs. Metzler and Co., and got five guineas apiece for them. 'Orpheus with his Lute,' 'The Willow Song,' '0 Mistress Mine,' were amongst them. Then I did 'If Doughty Deeds' and ' A Weary Lot is Thine, Fair Maid,' for Messrs. Chappell. I raised my price for these songs, and sold them outright for ten guineas each. "I was getting on, but by this time I had come to the conclusion that it was a pity for the publishers to have all the profit. My next song, 'Will He Come?' went to Messrs. Boosey, on the understanding that I was to have a royalty on every copy sold. And, oh, the difference to me! I did very well with 'Will He come?' and never sold a song outright afterwards. After that I published 'Sweethearts,' 'Once Again,' 'Looking Back,' 'Let Me Dream Again," and many other songs, and these all brought grist to the mill."—M.A.P., Feb. 4, 1899. VII.—A Commission Book. There was a very simple agreement made by letter only. The author was to be liable for not more than .£30; the book was to be jiublished at 6*. There was to be an edition of no more than 500 copies. The publisher was to give the author 3*. for every copy sold; he was to take 10 per cent. on this sum, and was to pocket the difference between the trade price and the 3*. In other words, then, the average trade price being 3*. 6J., he was to take 6</. on every copy first, and 10 per cent. on 34-. afterwards—in a\\i)id. He was not to spend more than .£15 in advertising. Nothing could be simpler than this agreement. The following, however, was the account rendered: He charged for 750 copies instead of 500; he charged for binding 500 at 5rf., less a small fraction; he charged .£45 for advertising instead of .£15, as agreed upon. The sales were 379. He took his 10 per cent. on this item; he also charged, without agreement, 10 per cent. on the cost of production — the amount set down for which not being audited. On remonstrance he knocked off .£23 from the advertisement bill. What the amount ought to have been, if the bill was honest, was a cost of .£60 and sales of .£53, leaving the author with a loss of .£7. What the account was as stated was a cost of ,£78, against sales of .£53, leaving a loss to author of ,£25. ## p. 221 (#233) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. TEE PEN AND THE BOOK. I.—The "Athen^um." THE following is from the Athenaeum, of Jan. 21: In his new volume, " The Pen and the Book," Sir Walter Besant renews, with more violence than ever, the attack on the publishers to which he seems to devote much of his time. Formerly he used to say there were exceptions, but now he inculcates upon the literary beginner that publishers are thieves. "Thievery," in fact, he prints in capital letters. No doubt the publishers, as we remarked at the time, gave Sir Walter a great advantage when they allowed the committee of their association to issue last summer a series of draft agreements that no sensible author would dream of aooepting; but the abase heaped upon them in the fifth chapter of Sir Walter's book is quite undeserved, and will create in young authors an absurd prejudice against the honourable men of the trade (and they are the vast majority), and it will be bitterly and justly resented by them. It is impossible to argue the general question with Sir Walter, for his notion of reply is to repeat in stronger language what he has already said; but it is really neces- sary to point out, now that he has denounced as thieves most, if not all, publishers, great as well as small, that he ought to give exact details of their thefts, accompanied by the names of the thieves. It is not fair to keep on openly bringing charges without making an effort openly to sub- stantiate them; and much as we believe in Sir Walter's honesty of purpose, we think that unless he will do so, open- minded people who are willing to hear both sides will cease to pay attention to his polemics. The writer says that I "call publishers thieves." He qualifies this statement later on, by saying that I denounce "as thieves, most, if not all, publishers." I have looked into the book for any words that might justify this charge. I can find none. So far as I can discover it is a sheer invention. I say (p. 201) that "many publishers, including someof thegreat houses,have madeit their common practice to take secret percentages." "Many publishers." This is literally and exactly true. The proofs are simple. They are (1) the exami- nation of accounts. (2) The extreme wrath of these gentry at the disclosure of real estimates. (3) The impudent denials of the accuracy of these real estimates. (4) The repeated charge that the estimates have been invented. (5) The fact that the Publishers' Committee in their new draft agreement claim the actual right to charge what has not been spent (!) Now,I have repeatedly laid it down as an axiom, as plain as any in Euclid, that he who tells his partner that he has spent £120 when he has not spent £100, putting the overcharge secretly in his pocket, is a Thief. And everybody agrees with me. 2. The " undeserved abuse'' spoken of in the fifth chapter of this book is the renewed exposure of the claims and pretensions of these "draft agreements," together with certain warnings to the inexperienced. I have looked through the chapter carefully, and find nothing to alter. 3. The threatened "resentment" (of the persons concerned in defrauding their partners) may be "bitter." It cannot be more bitter in the future than it has been in the past. Yet we survive. 4. When a society, daily occupied with the administration of literary property, finds it neces- sary to publish such books as " The Methods of Publishing" and the "Cost of Production ": and to expose, month by month, trick after trick, it requires some courage to state, even anony- mously, that the "vast majority " of publishers are "honourable " men. One would like to know on what experience, and on what data, this state- ment is made. It may be that the writer's expe- rience extends over a longer time and a wider area than my own. If this is not the case I prefer my own opinion, which is not that ad- vanced above. 5. He calls for "details of the thefts." What details can be given except those advanced in the publications of the Society? 6. He calls for names. Just so. Does he know what the Law of Libel means? Is he aware that it is not enough to justify a statement. and that damages may be awarded, even when the libel is proved to be perfectly true? If one were a millionaire the luxury of giving names might be afforded occasionally. After all, the Society's method of publishing the exact details answers quite as well, because it instructs the persons concerned, and probably prevents a repetition. The claim for the production of names is, of course, a stale old trick, because the write r must know perfectly well the impossibility of it. II.—" Literature." Thu treatment of the book by Literature is as fair and honourable as that by the Athenxum is one-sided. A long correspondence has been carried on from week to week. Writers on both sides are allowed a fair say and fair space to say it in. It is to be observed that no publisher in the correspondence has hitherto signed his name: that no serious statement has been seriously met: that, especially, the charges of secret profits are either evaded or ridiculed: that the " method of the future " has been shown by perfectly indepen- dent witnesses, two of whom sign their names, to be practicable, and proved to be practicable: and that the first and most violent attack was met with unqualified denials not only by myself, but by Mr. Thring. When I have on my side the great name of Herbert Spencer: when I have the experience of Professor Spiers: when I! find ## p. 222 (#234) ############################################ 222 THE AUTHOR. tribute after tribute to one part or auother of the book: when I cannot find one publisher who is willing to traverse any statements seriously, and with the responsibility of his name and without misrepresentation, I ought to be satisfied with the general opinion. In all these controversies there is always to be found the author who knows nothing of the questions at issue, or who cannot understand them. In this case Mr. Edward Cooper plays this distinguished part. He actually believes that to proclaim his own satisfaction with his treatment by publishers is to settle the question. He has received so much for his last novel: he therefore concludes that he has been fairly treated. I am not for one moment pretending that he has not been fairly treated, but a man who calls his publisher an upright and honour- able man without the least knowledge of what the publisher makes for himself by the transaction, has no right to speak on the question at all Let him content himself with his own satisfaction and his own confidence. They will make him happy, even if his publisher is a Barabbas. III. There was a second part of my letter to Literature which, I submit, should be submitted to all our readers, because it contains a most important corroboration of my statements: "I have consulted Mr. Or. Herbert Thring, secretary and solicitor to the Society, on the above points. He appears to be in accord with me on every one. I subjoin my questions and his answers. I do this because it is a common trick to represent these facts and statements as mine only. They have been, on the contrary, pub- lished in the Society's paper by a responsible committee, by a responsible secretary, and by myself—the Editor of that paper. Also the secretary and the chairman of this committee do obtain a knowledge of the whole field, which no single publisher can arrive at. "These are my questions and Mr. Thring's reply: "I. 'Have you ever seen a profit-sharing agree- ment which contained a clause giving the author the choice of printer and binder, and the printer's estimate?' "Answer: I have never seen such an agreement. "II. 'Is overcharging a notorious practice?' "Answer: I have seen many accounts of the cost of production, in which the amount charged was considerably higher than other estimates from well-known printers. "HI. 'Are charges for advertising in a pub- lisher's own organs common, and could they be defended?' "Answer: In the past I have known them fre- quently made. I am glad to say they are not so common now. Legally, of course, a publisher can only charge the cost of type-setting and paper for advertising in his own organs. "IV. 'Do deferred royalties generally mean greater profits to the publisher than to the author?' "Answer: This is certainly the case. As a general rule, the royalties are deferred until the sale has covered the cost of production, and then a royalty is offered at an exceedingly low rate. "V. 'Are publishers' fees charged on commis- sion agreements?' "Answer: This is a very common practice. "VI. 'Are percentages charged on the items of account?' "Answer: This is also a common practice. "VII. 'Is it the custom for the author to be consulted as to the medium for advertising ? * "Answer: No; in rare exceptions the author is consulted, but I have never seen any clause in the agreement which bound the publisher to consult the author. "VIII. 'Do publishers "care not a rap" for commission business?' "Answer: I know a great many publishers who take up work of this kind. "IX. 'Is a charge for bad debts not un- common?' "Answer: It is not uncommon. I know pub- lishers who do make this charge in their accounts. "(Signed) G. Herbert Thring. "Jan. 16, 1899. "The reader may not understand the objection to 'bad debts.' It is this: The accounts are made up at long intervals, annually or twice a year, long after the books have been paid for. The amount actually realised is set down. The 'bad debts' therefore, if charged separately, may be charged twice over. "The ' Publisher' speaks about possible losses. This is a red herring drawn across the scent. For the author has nothing to do with a pub- lisher's loss. The latter takes up a book at bis own risk—if there is any risk. He need not do it. The best publishers are also the most careful about admitting doubtful books. The author contributes his time: his work: his skill, art, or genius. That is his share. The possible loss is the publisher's. As a fact, there are hundreds of writers scattered over the whole field of literature whose works do not carry any risk at all. "The author has to consider as the chief point in the agreement what will happen to him in case of successs, not of loss. This is a very important point, constantly confused by talk of risk, loss, one book paying for another, and similar stuff. ## p. 223 (#235) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 223 Questions about the figures and the printing, happily, can be dismissed with a very few words: "The ' Publisher' states: "(1) That the size of the book is not given. "Everybody must understand by the number of words to a page, by the type, and by the number of sheets, what size is spoken of. "(2) That printers' and binders' charges vary. "Quite true. I have given a great many estimates for this very reason. "(3) That there is no allowance for correc- tions. "On the contrary. There is a distinct and care- ful explanation of what corrections mean. This passage was submitted to a printer in order to get it stated accurately. "(4) That advertising is not included. "More than two pages (pp. 151 —153) are devoted to an explanation of what advertising meant, an addition to the cost. "(5) He objects to the statement that 'cloth for binding is bought in large quantities' because, he says, publishers do not buy cloth. He says that binders do. Exactly: and if a large order is given a reduction is made. What does it matter whether publishers or binders lay in large quantities so that the reduction is effected? I am sorry to take up the space by answering objections so futile. "(6) The main portion of the letter is an attack upon the figures I have given. "These figures, I have stated plainly and unmis- takably, are not my figures. I do not invent printers' bills: they are more difficult to invent than plots for novels. The figures are estimates —actual estimates—which have been given to me. If they are wrong, it is the printer's business, not mine. But as books are every day printed on these estimates, I am justified in setting them down as working estimates. Let your readers understand clearly that the inability of this writer, or anybody else, to procure estimates so low has nothing whatever to do with my book or the actual estimates given therein. "(7.) He attacks the ' Method of the Future.' "I do not think this excursus into the future —his brief vision of the future—needs much in reply. The 'method' has been followed by some writers for a good long time, quite to their own satisfaction. "I shall have great pleasure in giving you two or three of the better known, but I am not at liberty to publish them. I would remind or inform your readers that the draft agreements of the Publishers' Association last July considered this form of publishing on commission, namely receiving the book bound and ready for distribu- VOL. IX. tion, as one of the methods to be provided for. It is, therefore, not the new thing which your writer would make out." W. B. PARIS NOTES. THE death of Adolphe d'Ennery, at the ripe age of eighty-eight years, has robbed the French melodrama of one of its most popular and prolific dramatists. For six months previous to his death, M. d'Ennery had lived in complete seclusion; but, although he belonged both in style and spirit to an earlier generation, his popularity with the masses remained intact. His more refined and aesthetic confreres of the present day were not always so indulgent; highly-cultured critics of the Theophile Gautier type severely criticised the productions of the favourite dramaturgist of the illiterate public; hriXimxxt fin-du-sibcle reviewers uselessly expended whole bushel loads of sarcasm and counsel on him. D'Ennery invariably turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances, contenting himself with rapidly producing play after play, and reaping a golden harvest thereby. His talent was decidedly not of the highest order, but it was essentially marketable — the Hebrew strain in his blood showing itself forcibly in the " cool-headedness" of all his pecuniary transactions. He wrote for the multitude, not for the cultivated few, his aim being to acquire wealth and fame by pleasing the majority; and the measure of his success may be estimated by the fact that he has given the Parisian theatre upwards of 280 plays, and that he died possessed of a fortune estimated at from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 francs (^320,000 to ^400,000), in addition to an important pottery collection bequeathed to the State. So numerous were his successes, that to mention even the names of the most prominent would mean the citation of over a hundred titles. And this success—to his honour be it said—was legiti- mately obtained; for, during the seventy years in which he untiringly devoted himself to providing a theatrical literature suited to the appreciation of the bulk of his audience, d'Ennery resolutely refrained from pandering to the lower tastes of the multitude. Among the sixty collaborators who aided him at various periods of his career in his Herculean labours may be mentioned Balzac, Emile de Girardin, Alexandre Dumas, Anicet Bourgeois, Plou-ier, Eugene Sue, Frederic Thomas, Bourget, Clairville, Crcmieux, Cadol, Jules Verne, Henri Chabrillat, La Eounat, and Felix Duquesnel. That M. Victorien Sardou's dislike to notoriety does not prevent him from actively protecting his B B ## p. 224 (#236) ############################################ 224 THE AUTHOR. own interests when necessary is shown by the following incident, narrated by the Figaro, h propos of the recent revival of his "La Tosca" (Theatre Sarah Bernhardt). When this famous drama was first performed in 1887 its success was seriously compromised by a morning paper, the Gil Bias, having previously given a full analysis of the piece, thereby materially lessening the eff- ct of certain scenes on which its author had especially counted. M. Sardou immediately sued the paper, and gained his cause a year later, when he had almost forgotten the whole affair. In summing up its decision, the Premiere Chambre du Tribunal (presidedover by President Aubespin), affirmed that no paper had the right to divulge the narrative of a play previous to its first per- formance, since such a proceeding constituted a real damage to the author, in that it might seriously interfere with the success of his work. It is thus to M. Victorien Sardou's prompt action in 1887 that French dramatists are indebted for the legal recognition and protection of the rights they enjoy to-day. M. Jules de Marthold has dramatised M. Coppee's well-known novel "Le Coupable," and its first representation is expected shortly. We are glad to be able to state that M. Coppee's health is now completely re-established, and that his long-promised " Souvenirs de Jeunesse" are really under way and proceeding apace, which fact undoubtedly rejoices the heart of M. Plon. For the latter gentleman, having scrupulously regulated the usual contract of brains versus cash between author and publisher, was naturally anxious to receive his wares as speedily as pos- sible. But the Fates and Muses were both against him. Last July, M. Francois Coppee went to Laugzune, a solitary village on the Breton coast, with the full intention of recording there the greater part, at least, of his youthful memories. But the combined attractions of the bright sun, warm air, and myriad voices of nature, proved too much for the poet; he could not work, and, after a brief interval devoted to dolce far niente and out-door existence, M. Plon was politely informed that the expected volume would not be ready before December. This month found the poet prostrate at Paris, suffering from a relapse of his former malady ; among minor griefs, his favourite cat had died during his absence—and again the "Souvenirs " were delayed. It is to be hoped no further illness, or unforeseen occurrence, will intervene a third time between their final conclu- sion and publishing. The invidious attitude—half nonchalant, half disdainful—of the French public and critics towards female talent is especially noticeable in the various reviews and critiques which followed the appearance of Mme. Jean Bertheroy's new book, "La Danseuse de Pompeii."* Though a well-known critic affirms that the former refusal to take anything a woman did au serieu-x may now be ranked among the prejudices of the past, his own article bears evidence of a secret reluc- tance to praise unstintedly a woman's work underlying his conscious recognition and admira- tion of an undoubtedly good production. But, in the end, his sense of justice triumphs over his reluctance; and in summing up the " Danseuse de Pompei" as "a feminine work written in a masterly style," he hits the right nail on the head, for what is this dual alliance save one of the recognised attributes of genius? Delicately feminine in its fine observation, poetical render- ing of minor details, and close knowledge of the subtleties of a woman's heart, it is essentially masculine in its concise, nervous style and breadth of imagination, allied with marvellous historical accuracy. In depicting the young dancer Nonia vowed from her earliest years to vice, and awakened by the passion for Hyacinthe, the young neophyte vowed to Apollo, to a con- sciousness of the sacrednes and purity of true love, Mme. Bertheroy has chostn no new theme; but her treatment of the subject is so masterly, her style so pure and classic, that, despite our- selves, our imagination and heart are captivated by the pathetic and simple romance of the little Pompeian dancer. That the times are troublous, that party polemics are increasing in virulence, and that cir- cumstances largely influence men, is probably the threefold reason of M. Alcanter de Brahm's resolution to publish shortly a book entitled "L'Ostensoir des Ironies." The announcement of his intention, however, would have received scant attention but for an ingenious advertisement. He has discovered (stand abashed, oh! ye shades of great grammarians) that our modern punctuation is lacking in a. most necessary adjunct, viz., the "point d'ironie." His book is to be adorned with this newly-invented period, which is reported to bear a vague resemblance to a tiny whip—the whip of satire, one journal terms it. Its origi- nator affirms that this period is as necessary as the interrogation mark, since many a barbed arrow misses its goal through inattention on the part of the reader. Personally, we have not found the Parisians lacking in a vivid appreciation of the mildest form of sarcasm, especially the sarcasms printed in their neighbours' news- papers, and the result has not always been par- ticularly agreeable to the English residents in * Erroneously given in onr last article as " La Dame ce Pompeii." ## p. 225 (#237) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 225 Paris. We have not yet been informed whether, in the event of a duel arising from a sarcasm which might have passed unnoticed if unmarked by the "point d'ironie," M. de Brahm considers the combatants should be armed with whips in lieu of pistols. Among the publications of the month, two books stand apart — the one by virtue of its quaintness, the other by its pithy, senten- tious wisdom. The first, "La Chanson des Choses," by M. Jerome Doucet (ed. Henri May) is a volume of poems; but what poems! Surely never before has poet inclined his ear to listen so closely and appreciatively to the voices of such a vast assemblage of inanimate lifeless objects. He endows each article with a clearly defined existence and personality; the absinth which takes a malicious joy in recounting the ills it occasions; the subtly-distilled perfume which daintily vaunts its own ethereal, impalpable essence; the mandoline whose cords vibrate with anger at seeing the singer receive the homage it deems its due; the jovial pot-au-feu agreeably conscious of its own importance at social functions, the plaintive weathercock, " sad perch' for the black raven," lamenting its own wearing away; the ponderous pendulum moving to and fro in regular order like two brave soldiers of the line; the caustic mirror, the humble pavement, and a numerous array of similar articles, each in turn are presented to the reader, and acquaint him with their rhythmic joys and griefs. In addition to its intrinsic merits, the various artists whose society M. Doucet affects have rendered the work a true Edition de luxe in illustrating and illuminating it with original drawings, etchings, and water-colour sketches, reproduced in every imaginable fashion. Among the artistic corps therein represented, we find the names of MM. Maurice Leloir, Edouard Detaille, Puvis de Chavannes, Mme. Madeleine Lemaire, Jules Lefebre, Jean-Paul Laurens, and a host of other fin-du-siecle celebrities. The second book, above alluded to, is " Nuances morales" (ed. Lemerre) by M. Valyere. A delicate fineness of observation and terse originality of thought make themselves felt in the apt concise phrases in which the author has chosen to garb his ideas. We open the book at random and straightway fall on such pithy reflections as the following: "Aimer, c'est montrer a la douleur ou elle peut f rapper.—L'homme coupe et dechire. La femme decoud, en enlevant jusqu'a la trace des points.—Arriver a propos, c'est une chance; s'en aller a propos, c'est un art.—Les gens froids ont l'avantage de ne pas varier comme les autres: au moral, comme au physique, la glace conserve.—II faut etre Ires jeune pour prctendre dire des choses VOL. IX. definitives.—On n'aime vraiment bien que les amis dont on est fier." We make no attempt to translate these and similar phrases well worthy of notice, having no desire to incur the censure of the irascible critic who likened the generality of translators to clumsy bunglers who drew the stopper from the wine-bin, thereby permitting the finer aroma and flavour of its contents to evapo- rate in the vain attempt to appreciate the liquor. M. Paul Meurice is now busily engaged in correcting his new volume, " Choses vues," which is expected to appear in March. Among other interesting matter, it contains the staple of Victor Hugo's daily conversations with Louis-Philippe in the "forties," at the epoch when the great French writer, then "pair de France," assidu- ously frequented the Tuileries. It is from the ample notes left by the latter that these dialogues are compiled. By a curious anomaly, all memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies con- nected with the Royalties of the nineteenth century have a ready sale in Republican France, as—to cite two instances among many—the popu- larity of M. Maurice Leudet's "GuiJlaume II. intime " and (more recently) " Nicolas II. intime" testifies. The literature relating to the Napoleonic era is, likewise, largely patronised. The national adoration of the great French conqueror is now an established cult; and amongst the most talented of the writers who celebrate the glories of that heroic age may be mentioned M. Georges d'Espartes, recently nominated chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur—of whom a compatriot re- marked, "Ce n'est pas un homme, c'est une epopee." M. d'Espartes boasts, in addition, the unenviable distinction of being the smallest man in his native province of Gascony. The committee of the cite Rougemont (Doubs), presided over by the well-known Academician M. Henri Houssaye, has decided to found a new lite- rary society, entitled " l'Encyclopedie de la Societe des gens de lettres." All knotty questions, proble- matic phrases, words or terms requiring explana- tion, &c., will be brought before the society, whose members will then mark the subjects they desire to undertake. Should more than one member elect to elucidate a given subject, the committee will decide on whom the duty shall devolve. The "Encyclopedic de la Societe des gens de lettres" already numbers eight hundred prospective members, each of whom has a speci- ality, being either poet, novelist, philologist, teacher, philosopher, military writer, historian, or savant; and every article written for the society will be printed under the signature of its author, who alone will be held responsible for its contents. The benefits of such an association are self-evident; it will probably be eminentlv suc- B B 2 ## p. 226 (#238) ############################################ 2 26 THE AUTHOR. cessful, since it recognises and provides for a long-felt want. M. Pierre Loti's eastern trip his not vet come off. The latest news received of him is that he has returned to Rochefort, rue Saint-Pierre, where his family have dwelt for generations. He intends to embark shortly on one of the mail steamers of the Extreme-Orient line, but declares himself unable to decide his ultimate destination. He will go whither the fates and the caprice of the moment lead him—" to Persia, perhaps; if not, elsewhere." At one time it was reported on good authority that M. Loti intended to land on the shores of the Indus, remain several weeks at Cabul, and from thence proceed to Teheran; and this is probably still his intention, if no adverse current or fair face intervene to lure him from his destined route. At any rate, the ques- tion will be satisfactorily solved when he gives us his promised volume of Eastern impressions. The " Femmes Nouvelles " and " Les Troncons du Glaive" of the brothers Margueritte have not yet been given to the public. Domestic cares, in- cluding the refusal of the Seine tribunal to grant the divorce demanded by M. Paul Margueritte, are accountable for this delay. The two brothers are now travelling in Italy with the children of the elder, and are reported to be busily engaged in pushing forward the works above cited. Differing entirely in outward appearance and character, the affection existing between the two Marguerittes is most touching, and truly " passeth the love of women." If the quality of the Dreyfus literature were on a par with its multiplicity, it would merit more than a passing notice; but, unfortunately, such is not the case. And now party polemics and journalism are likely to be more virulent than ever, owing to the changes brought about by the new election to the Presidency of the French Republic. Dakracotte Dene. FROM THE AMERICAN PAPERS. THE proposal to issue sixpenny novels in England has evoked an interesting com- mentary from a Boston correspondent of the New York Times. Contrary to the view entertained by the firm of publishers who are about to introduce the system, this writer states that any bookseller of even moderate experience knows that the sale of the more costly edition of a book will be diminished by the appearance of a cheap edition of the same book. An excellent American house publishes cloth and paper editions almost simultaneously, charging 4*. for one and 2s. for the other. There are a few persons who dislike paper covers, but their number diminishes yearly, most buyers preferring the economical course which allows them to buy two books in paper covers for the price of one in cloth. Moreover, they want paper-covered editions of everything, from the classics down to the newest copyrighted novel. Concerning this, however, it will be obsei ved that while the American writer speaks of books published at 4s. and 2s., the proposal of Messrs. Methuen is to issue novels simultaneously in 6s. and 6d. editions; and it is obvious that so far as quality of paper, binding, and appearance go, there must be a greater difference between the two latter than between the two former. He proceeds to state that, although the number of books sold has increased immensely both in the United States and in Great Britain, the average price and the average profit were never so small as now, and both grow smaller. "There are still readers who value books more than money, and pay for them wi lingly; there are still superbly honest, honour- able publishers who resist all temptations to descend to the newest devices for obtaining the thirty pieces of silver without seeming to betray and abandon all Christian teaching, but nobody encourages either the honest reader or the honest publisher. The dishonest reader calls the first a fool and the second a miser. The dishonest publisher hates the first, and does his best to ruin the second. The evil of which both are victims has its sources beyond and below litera- ture and the trade in literary products. Its name is avarice." The writer publishes the following conversations—which are not manu- factured, but "are transcribed from notes made in an excellent shop "—to illustrate the demand for the " paper-cover" in America: 1. Customer.—Have you " Isabel Carnaby "f Salesman. — "Concerning Isabel Carnaby "? Yes, Madam. Seventy-five cents. C.—Oh! I don't—want—that! Doesn't it come in paper? S.—Yes, Madam; there it is. C.—I suppose it's jnat the same as the other? (Suspi- ciously.) Is it just the same? Do you know that it is just the same? S.—Yes, Madam. C.—Then why is it cheaper? But I'll take it. I'm not going to pay seventy-five cents for a book! (Exit with the air of one who teaches valuable lessons to young men.) 11. (Time, early in 1897.) Customer.—Have you " Quo Vadis" in paper covers? Salesman.—No, Sir. C.—Great mistake! Book ought to be within reach of everybody. What is the price of the cheap edition? S—There is no cheap edition. C.—No cheap edition? (Exit, speechless.) ## p. 227 (#239) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 227 in. Customer (wearing the best of English clothes and worth, watch and jewellery included, at least 800 dollars as he stands. He addresses the salesman confidentially)—Er— when is Lord Roberts's book going to appear in paper? Ten dollars is too much for one book! Salesman (not confidentially, but cheerfully, being young and fancying that he is doing a favour).—There is a cheap edition now, T50 dollars; cost you 1 '88 dollars. Customer.- -Can't waste money, yon know! I'll wait for the paper! (Departs to join the band waiting for paper " Bismarcks," "Forbidden Lands," and" Ave Romas.") IV. Charitable Dame.—Is this the Prayer Book and Hymnal counter? Salesman.—Yes, Madam. (He surveys an array of about two hundred styles, and wonders what counter she thought it was.) C.—Well, you see, I have a olass of po-oo-or boys in Sunday school. (Pauses.) S.—Yes, Madam. "C.—It's a ve-ry poor class! S.—Yes, Madam. Er-very-er-kind of you! C. (rapidly).—And I thought as I shall want a large quantity—there are five of the boys—you may give me a special discount on tbe paper-covered editions. It's for charity you know and Christmas and at this blessed season we all want to do something. S.—Yes, Madam. Delighted, if we could, Madam, but we don't carry paper-covered Prayer Books and Hymnals, Madam. Might try and 's. They have 'em —if any one does! (Customer goes.) Charity! The American newspaper publishers have pre- sented to the American members of the Joint High Commission and to Congress a statement asking that a policy be adopted which shall protect American forests by securing a revocation .of the present duty on print paper and pulp from Canada. This memorial, which is presented officially through the American Newspaper Pub- lishers' Association, discloses a somewhat striking condition of the paper trade which will be inte- resting to England, as the paper-makers of England have lately passed through a period of critical competition against cheap paper from America. The memorialists state that the honest intentions which originally induced the estab- lishment of the tariff duty on paper and pulp have been perverted to further the purposes of a recently formed corporation, the International Paper Company, and that every newspaper publication in the country east of the Rocky Mountains has been placed at the mercy of that corporation. The statement, which was pre- sented on Jan. 30, continues :— Within the last week we are advised that the Inter- national Paper Company has acquired fourteen additional mills, representing the plants of three large concerns, and that it is negotiating for three other properties, which represent all the output from the independent mills in the territory east of Michigan. In view of the fact that the International Paper Company is. selling its surplus paper in England, Australia, and Japan, in successful competition with Canadian, German, and Swedish manufacturers, and in view of the important point that the International Paper Company is protected by reason of its proximity to its customers to the extent of an average of 1 °6o dollars per ton, and by reason of its ability to obtain cheaper and better supplies of coal and chemicals, we fail to see the occasion for giving sanction to its abuse of governmental protection. The International Paper Company is a combination of twenty-four mills (sinoe expanded to thirty) which has been capitalised at 55,ooo,ooo dollars. The entire product of this large combination could be duplicated with modern and better machinery at less cost per pound upon a capi- talisation of 15,ooo,ooo dollars. In gathering together its assortment of mills the paper company acquired every available spruce tract where cheap timber could be had and every large water power, with one exoeption, where substantial competition might otherwise be established. This object was easily attained, because our spruce supply is being exhausted at the rate of 17,000 square miles per annum. The memorial then points out that no suc- cessful competition with the International Paper Company is possible in the United States under existing circumstances, the trust having acquired all the possible facilities of paper production. "A tax on newspapers," they remark in con- clusion, " operates indirectly, as did the stamp tax of Europe, to suppress newspapers. It is a tax of 2,000,000 dollars per annum on in- telligence, a tax on popular education and on political knowledge." The whole episode is another illustration of the power and extent of the trust system in the United States. A good deal of attention has lately been given to the work of a new American humourist, entitled "Mr. Dooley in Peace and War." In this book Martin Dooley, saloon-keeper, Chicago, talks in a quaint dialect and most amusing fashion of such subjects as the recent war, the police, labouring men, and ward polities. The author of the work is Mr. F. P. Dunne, a Chicago journalist. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Joke Market in America appears to be in a condition of great prosperity. According to the Writer of Boston, jokes are in large demand. Those who supply jokes profes- sionally are increasing in numbers and in wealth. There are between 150 and 200 writers of good jokes in the States. As regards the character of the demand, it is interesting to read that " two- line jokes sell best: the short, crisp dialogue is in fashion: 'printed' paragraphs can always command a price: puns are not wanted." A regular method is pursued by the Worshipful ## p. 228 (#240) ############################################ 228 THE AUTHOR. Company of Joke-makers. It is described as follows: Professional joke-writers bave a regular system for offer- ing their jokes to editors. A good way is to send out the jokes in packets of ten or a dozen at a time, typewritten on slips—perhaps three inches wide and eight inches long— which are bound together by brass paper fasteners at the left-hand side, and perforated about an inch from the left- hand margin, so that any joke may be easily torn out. Sheets of ordinary typewriter paper should be kept on hand, perforated, ready for use. The jokes should be type- written on these sheets, which should afterwards be cut into slips and made into a little coupon book by using brass fasteners. Only one joke should be written on any slip, and the writer should put his name and address on each slip, preferably with a small rubber stamp. Two brass binders should be used, one at the top and one at the bottom. When jokes are offered in this way, the editor can easily tear out what he wants and send back the rest. The jokes returned may be made up into a new book and sent to another editor, and so on, until all are sold or proved un- saleable. Care must be taken not to offer the same joke twioe to any editor. A great many letters have been received charging editors in general terms with neglecting to return MSS. or to answer letters. I have already more than once stated the case briefly for editors. I do not believe that this special charge can be fairly made against the general body. I should like to impress upon those who complain, that editors, particularly of the more popular magazines, are literally overwhelmed with MSS.: that it is difficult to cope with the great mass of MSS. that are sent in; that delays, therefore, must be expected. It seems to me that general experience points to the fact that most editors, especially of respectable magazines, are courteous in their replies and as prompt as can be expected in their judgments. I would call attention to the tribute of recognition paid in these columns to certain papers who pay on acceptance. 1 think that if proprietors or editors of magazines understood the enormous boon they would confer on accepted contributors by forwarding a cheque at once, the practice would become widely extended. As it is, when payment is only made on publication the editor is tempted unconsciously to accept more than he is able to use, while the contributor waits, hoping against hope, till he is heartsick at the delay. It is announced in another column that a Canadian Society of Authors has been founded. This should be good news if the Society take, as may be expected of them, a right view of the situation and its requirements. By far the most important point to keep before our eyes is the maintenance of an International Copyright, especially, and above all, between the nations of the Anglo-Saxon race. There are now six nations of the race. It is imperative in the interests, pre- sent and future, of these nations that they should have their current literature, as they have their past literature, in common. A return to the villainous old system of protection and piracy is certain to work infinite mischief to all these nations. We want a free and open publication of books and papers written by natives of all these countries: we want freedom of production everywhere: it is in the highest interests of literature that this freedom should exist: it is also in their commercial interests. If, for instance, Canada were to repudiate her share in Inter- national Copyright, it would undoubtedly lead to the ruin of her own authors, who are small in numbers, however good in quality. Piracy, when it was legally possible, ruined American authors. Piracy would ruin Canadians. We trust that this new Society will be a great and active influence in the maintenance of the true interests of literature. "We are informed that the Publishers' Association invited the Society of Authors to confer with it on the draft agreements it drew up last summer; but the Society declined the invitation. We do not at all like the agree- ments, but the Society should not have declined to discuss them in a friendly spirit. Perhaps it would have converted the Association to our view." This paragraph appeared in the Athenseum of Jan. 28, and the statement was repeated in the number for Feb. 18. I referred the matter to Mr. Or. H. Thring, and have received the follow- ing reply: "It has been stated in the Athenseiim on two occasions—on the latter in its issue of Feb. 18—• that the Society of Authors refused to confer with the Publishers' Association regarding the agree- ments published by that body. It is impossible to let such a statement go before the public with- out a direct denial. When the Society heard that the publishers were about to advance these agree- ments, the secretary wrote asking if they would kindly forward them to the Society's offices for criticism in The Author. The agreements were forwarded in due course, as no doubt the Associa- tion knew that they must come to the office in a very short time. No overture was made by the publishers either before or during the settlement of the agreements or afterwards, when they were sent to the Authors' Society, asking the Society to confer with the Publishers' Association on the subject. It wasonly after my criticisms and your own had appeared that one of the members of the Association in an unofficial manner regretted that such overtures had not been taken, but stated that " he though it was now too late." Whether or not the Society would have accepted such overtures is an entirely different matter, the settle- ## p. 229 (#241) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 229 meat of which must have rested with the com- mittee; but one point is quite clear, namely, that the statement made in the Athenaeum, from whatever source obtained, is without foundation." Observe, that this attack upon the Society follows close upon the attack on my book, in which there is nothing that has not been already advanced or sanctioned by the Society. One naturally asks whether a paper, called by some the "leading" literary journal, should, in common decency, take a side against those who work in the interests of literature. One asks whether literature really means advertisements. And one asks, besides, whether it is the author or the pub- lisher who creates the literature which is adver- tised. I have long been of opinion, and am now much more decidedly of opinion, that authors must claim and demand a voice as to advertisements. In a profit-sharing agreement they should have a voice both as to the amount to be spent and the organs in which the advertisements should appear. In a royalty agreement or in a sale outright they should have a veto only. In the same way they should have a veto in the sending out of press copies. The veto and the voice could be rele- gated to the Society, where a list of papers could be kept in which a book should be advertised, and of papers to which it should be sent for review. It is needless to point out that this simple assumption of power would at one step enormously raise and strengthen the position of the author. They would choose between literary papers for advertisement and for review. And that step would certainly make literary journals more careful about attacking the interests of literature and more guarded in depreciating and misrepresenting societies or writers who maintain and defend their interests. I shall begin at once to ventilate this question, and I invite members of the Society, and authors generally, to consider this question and to favour us with their views. "The Pen and the Rook" was not sent out for review. My intention was that members of the Society should have the first opportunity of reading it, and that, before sending it to the press, I should have the benefit of their private opinions and criticisms. Now, as the Athenaeum has noticed it without having a copy sent, the question arises whether it is necessary to send review copies of any book to a paper which evidently does not want them. Other papers make a condition of having a book sent to them. There- fore if we want tht-ir reviews we must send copies of the book. But the Athenaeum kindly notices the book without having a copy at all. Therefore —I call attention especially to this point—it seems mere waste to present a copy of any book to this paper. If 6000 books are published every year at an average trade price of 4*. each, that means ;£i200 a year thrown away and wasted. This is a large sum of money, which might j ust as well have been saved and the books themselves sold to the public. Walter Besant. FEUILLETON. A SECOND-CLASS NOVEL. ENERAL GRAYLE was a hard, resolute, I nr sensible man, and he was a disciplinarian by inclination and training. He had a family of four sons and three daughters; and William Grayle, who was the youngest son, and the cleverest lad, was articled to a solicitor when he was seventeen. William detested the solicitor and the office and the Law, but none of the young Grayles thought seriously of gainsaying the General, so William cast about in his mind for a means of proving to his father that he could make money without the law's aid, and to this end" Dennis O'Hara "—who was William Grayle now out of his teens and commencing his twenties—wrote a novel. He bestowed a great deal of pains upon it, but when it had been rejected by four leading firms of publishers he was very much discouraged, and put the manu- script aside. By this time he was out of his articles. Then General Grayle caught a heavy cold, which developed into bronchitis, and, as he angrily refused to "coddle," he died after a week's illness, and four months later his sons received .£6000 each from the executors appointed by his will. William asked himself anxiously what he was to do with the money. It was his ambition to live in the country and hunt; but there was no possibility of doing so on the interest which .£6000 would safely bring in, and to spend the capital would be madness. He could not con- quer his aversion to the Law as a profession, so there was nothing for it but to put his capital and his energies into some business which might bring in big profits rapidly. And then an idea occurred to William Grayle. Why should he not enter a publishing firm, and learn what sort of books really do sell, and why a mysterious, insuperable obstacle seemed to stand between hard-working Dennis O'Hara and publication, which was Dennis's only means of advancement? So Mr. William Grayle attended smoking con- certs assiduously and was introduced in due course to half-a-dozen journalists and a couple ## p. 230 (#242) ############################################ 230 THE AUTHOR. of novelists, and he asked questions in a quiet way when he saw his opportunity. As the result he confided his purpose to a literary agent, but requested him not to reveal the identity of Dennis O'Hara and William Grayle. Four months later William became the junior partner of Mr. Albert Guddle, who had recently severed his connection with the well-known firm of Gunning, Guddle, and Hooker, and had estab- lished an independent publishing business. Grayle learned a great deal—a very great deal —in the course of the next three months, and then Dennis O'Hara sat down in his club one night and wrote a short letter to Messrs. Guddle and Grayle, to whom he despatched his manu- script novel by parcel post the same evening. On the following morning when Mr. William Grayle entered the senior partner's room to talk over various matters of business he found Mr. Guddle listlessly turning over the pages of O'Hara's manuscript. "I say, Grayle," Mr. Guddle began in a dis- contented voice, " Belfer's ill, or says he is" (Mr. Belfer " read" for the firm of Guddle and Grayle) "and here are half-a-score of manuscripts. It's a waste of time to keep them hanging about. Seven or eight of 'em have been all round the trade already, as I can see by the edges. You might just glance at the first few pages and the last chapter, Grayle, if you can find time, and then keep 'em a week or ten days and send 'em back with a form unless you see something that strikes you as very extraordinary. But here are a couple that may be worth something. Here's a Christmassy kind of yarn by Miss Bookham. Rather short and trucky, and it's been serialised, and no doubt it was built for a girls' serial, but it might do for one of our Christmas books. Good aunts, you know, give her stories to their nieces. And she's not an agency woman, so I daresay we can get her cheap. And then there's this thing by a man called O'Hara—never heard of him. He writes a fist rather like your own," Mr. Guddle continued, pointing to the manuscript, "so perhaps you can read it; for I can't get on very well with it. I wish these unknown authors would get their stuff typewritten. Anyhow, the manuscript is clean and looks pretty new, and it would be a pity to let a good thing slip." "I'll read it with pleasure," said William Grayle. Ten days later he presented to Mr. Guddle a report on O'Hara's novel. It was a favourable report on the whole, but Grayle believed that it was just; for he was a proud young man and •onscientious in his way, and he would have pre- ferred to remain unheard all his life rather than obtain a hearing by unduly vaunting his work. With the report he handed the manuscript to Mr. Guddle. The senior partner read the report attentively. "H'm, not bad," he remarked, and then he raised the manuscript in one hand and judged its weight. "It's rather a slab," he said. And then he began to speak of other matters, and did not revert to the subject of O'Hara's novel at that season. But a month later, when Mr. Belfer had been at work again for some little time, Mr. Guddle mentioned the matter once more. "Belfer's had a look at O'Hara's novel," said the senior partner to Mr. Grayle, " and his report is more favourable than yours. He likes the stuff. You mustn't think, you know, Grayle, that I don't rely on your judgment, but you aren't in the writing line yourself, and you haven't had anything like Belfer's experience. I've read a good deal of the yarn myself. It's g- .! solid work, though I'm not inclined to think it will set the Thames on fire. However, it's safe, and I'm disposed to take it as a second-class novel." "What's that?" asked Mr. William Grayle, with genuine interest. "Well, you see," replied Mr. Guddle, "I do about twenty of 'em in the year, and they go to pay salaries, and postage, and so on. There are the books you push and boom if you can. Those are the first-class novels. There's and there's ; as you know, we publish for both. Some- times there's a lot of money in it, as you've seen; but they're both big pots and both agency men, and of course the agents know pretty well what's in a book to a fraction, and they see that the author gets a jolly big suck at the orange. That's their interest. I don't blame the agents, as men of business; naturally they want a big turn- over to take their commission on and a paying clientele, and they're quite right to get both if they can. But agency is death on the grand old profits that there used to be for us, Grayle, and it's a fact that out of three books I published for , I lost over one. A thumping advance, you know, on account of a 25 per cent. royalty rising to 275 per cent., and only the English volume rights. Well, the second of tbe books was overweighted, and I lost—not much, but still I lost. So it's a speculation, and publishing for the big men means hard work and anxious work sometimes; and you've got to make the small fry help to pay staff expenses and bring in sums that are more or less trifling but certain— no risk, no worry, and no hard work. Now, O'Hara is just that man. And he's not an agency man, so if we offer him a deferred royalty after, say, 500 copies, the chances are he'll take it. ## p. 231 (#243) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 231 "I don't quite understand," said Grayle. "Surely if a book's go,,d enough to publish it's worth pushing." "Oh, certainly, to the extent of 75001' 1000 copies," replied Mr. Guddle, "but not beyond, unless it's a safe sale from the very first. And, taking them in the lump, it would mean a loss to push these minor works beyond that. Every now and then, in the lump, you get a book that has a much bigger sale in it, if it were pushed; but ordinarily, if you were ti put .£20 or .£30 extra into advertising a minor work and a lot of time and energy into shoving it along—well, you wouldn't do what I call really satisfactory busi- with two out of three. So the best thing is to clump 'em in altogether, regard 'em as safeties, and deal with 'em all in the same way. The quality of this yarn of O'Hara's will get it an easy sale of 750 copies in England. I never stint my second-class books unduly, and I'll spend .£10 in advertising—I'll spend that in cash. I'll have 1000 copies printed, and I'll bind 250 at once and the rest as needed. I may sell a few to the colonies and a small edition to America. But no expense, mind me, after the first 1000; no taking moulds—it's wise but strict economy that does it with second-class novels, Grayle. Liberate the type and go on to the next. The book will cost me from .£80 to .£85 all told, and it will bring in .£120 or £125; I can make sure of that, Now, if I had to pay the author a royalty of a shilling a copy on the published price of the six shilling edition, and to account to him for 750 copies, it would cost me £37 10s. to settle up with the author, and where should I be unless I pushed the book? And then it wouldn't be a safe second-class novel. But if I pay him 10 per cent. on the published price—and mind you, Grayle, that's generous; it's the published price, not the price to the trade; and he must be told it's generous, for we might like to see his next—well, if I pay him 10 per cent. after 500 copies, and pay him on 250 or thereabouts, he'll get about .£7 j0s., and I shall do very well indeed. And it'll be better for him," added Mr. Guddle with a .chuckle and a wink; "won't lead him into extra- vagance, or make him think he can live by author- ship, and if he comes here with another book, he'll come in a proper frame of mind. Why, some smallish firms live entirely by publishing second-class books in this way." "But isn't it just a tiny bit hard on the author?" asked William Grayle dryly, "to be oondemned to a kind olfiasco beforehand?" "My dear Grayle," said Mr. Guddle, " I set up in business as a commercial man, not as a philan- thropist or art-patron. I carry on my trade on the usual business principles; I make as much money as I can, where I can, and how I can. I give an author as little for a book as he'll take. Hang it all, if a man wanted to sell you houses or horses or dogs, you'd get 'em as cheap as you could, wouldn't you Y It's the vendor's look-out; if he's got any sense he knows how business men deal. And it's a competitive world, Grayle, and either you can make a fortune in this business as a commercial man, or leave it alone and drop out and see others do it. Well, we're giving a lot of time to a second-class novel. Will you write to this man O'Hara and offer him 10 per cent. on the published price after 500 copies have been sold?" "Oh yes, of course I'll make the offer," answered William Grayle. "Oh—and look here, Grayle," Mr. Guddle resumed, "Belfer thinks there may really be something big in the novel, so we'll just snap up the copyright under a clause of the agree- ment. Every now and then you get hold of a book that booms itself. So instead of making it a licence to us to publish and reserving the copyright to the author, we'll make the cession of the copyright to us the consideration for which we pay the 10 percent. Twig? O'Hara won't understand the wording. Perhaps it's a woman; let's hope so. And if he or she con- sents to that I'll change my mind and we'll speculate to the extent of having moulds taken. The book may prove a property, and it's as well to look all round the deal. But I'll dictate the form of agreement. And now let's go on to something bigger." When Mr. William Grayle had left the senior partner's room and closed the door behind him, . he stood still for a moment, then he shook his head and sighed sadly. Two days later Mr. Dennis O'Hara declined with thanks the offer of Messrs. Guddle and Grayle, and the manuscript was returned to the author. "There are always plenty of second-class novels about,"' said Mr. Guddle. "We'll wait for the next. I expect O'Hara has been talking to some agent." "Perhaps he has," said William Grayle. Molecule. THE LITERARY AGENT. OWING to the increase in the value of literary property, and the universal dis- trust of publishers as a class, a second middleman, in addition to the publisher, has sprung up of late years, namely, the literary agent. And as the literary agent is supposed to ## p. 232 (#244) ############################################ 232 THE AUTHOR. be doing well, there threatens to be a run upon the profession. With the influx of new men will follow certain dangers against which it is well to warn our readers. That the literary agent fills a useful place, and in many cases is absolutely essential, cannot be denied by anybody who has property to be administered. In the same way as people who have large estates are forced to employ agents to manage them properly, agents who understand all the business connected with such property, so the author with a property, large or small, has also the need of his agent. Many and necessary are the warnings which have been given in The Author as to the dealings of authors with publishers. It is necessary, now that the authors' agent is rapidly multiplying, that some precautions should be observed with regard to the dealings of authors with the managers of their property. No author, to begin with, should employ an agent without having thoroughly reliable informa- tion as to his honesty and as to his capacity in placing authors' MSS. before editors and publishers. Such information can only be obtained either from a friend who has had jiersonal experience, or from the Society of Authors. If an author then decides to employ an agent, he should be as careful in entering into an agreement with him as he would be in entering into an agreement with a publisher. In fact, as the relation between an author and his agent is exceedingly confidential, an author should be even more careful as to his agreement. It should be further pointed out that, although an agent may have had considerable legal experience in the matter of drafting publishers' contracts, yet an agent is not, as a rule, a lawyer, and that, there- fore, it is not advisable for an author to accept an arrangement put before him by an agent without some further advice as to the desirability of the terms contained in the contract. It has been stated that certain agents take money from publishers in return for placing books with them. No proof of this allegation has yet been discovered, and one hopes that the thing is the invention of an enemy. It is needless to say that such a practice would be the most flagrant breach of trust. It would be exactly as if a solicitor was to take money from his client's adversary as well as his client. It is possible, again, that a case such as the fol- lowing might occur: An agent is exceedingly busy with the works of many authors. It is important that he should get some of them settled and off his hands at the earliest possible opportunity. He therefore in a moment of carelessness advises an author to accept such terms as would not be on the whole satisfactory in their result to the author. This is an exceptional case, and is one which is not likely to occur frequently; but the point still remains that the author cannot be too careful about what agreement he enters into, whether such agreement is put before him by the publisher, or by the publisher through his own agent. The mere question of the financial terms of an agreement is by no means the only one which should be looked into. In some cases the control of the property is even of more importance to the author than the financial question. The warning must therefore be repeated that an author cannot be too circumspect as to the agent he deals with, and as to the contract he has with that agent. The following letter is published because it illus- trates the necessity of an agreement, if only to escape misunderstandings: "Your remarks concerning the possibility of disagreement between author and agent suggest to me the propriety of offering myself to your ridicule or your sympathy by a brief relation of my own conduct. "An agent is no more to be trusted than a publisher, and to suppose that any agency — necessarily having its own axe to grind—can take the place of the Authors' Society is manifestly absurd. "My own case, briefly stated, is as follows: I had an agent, and I trusted him implicitly. I say 'he' as a matter of convenience, but there were several of him, and some of him were clever and kind, but one of him was something unbusi- nesslike. In my first interview I asked what were my agent's terms. The answer was ' 10 per cent. on all sales effected by us.' This seemed all right, and I thought an angel and an agent were the same, so I did not consult the Authors' Society, as I should have done, and consequently no written agreement was signed by my agent and me. "My agent sold a few things advantageously, but he muddled my affairs in one or two ways. Thus, a religious story was ordered of me by an American journal for young people, and at the same time I was asked to write a story for a lively London journal. My agent sent my pious tale to the lively journal and my society story to the Young People's Magazine. Both stories were of course rejected, and by the time the mistake was rectified it was too late. Since then I have had no orders from either paper. "At the end of the year I found that I had lost considerably by the agency, so I decided to sever the connection. My agent agreed to this. Then he sent in his account. I found to my dismay that he had not only charged the i 0 per cent. as well as out-of-pocket expenses, but had made a charge — and a rather high one — for ## p. 233 (#245) ############################################ THE AUTHOli. 233 unsuccessful efforts to place other stories, a thing never mentioned between us, and in itself a con- tradiction of our agreement as to payment by results. I protested; but he was able to enforce his charges because he had in hand certain moneys of mine. "Also I found that I had pledged myself to pay a percentage, not on a year's profits, such as is charged by house agents and the like, nor on the profits of any number of years, but on all receipts accruing through time and eternity from MSS. placed by my agent. So that, however good or however bad may be the sale of those books, my agents have for ever a charge on my profits of 10 per cent. "I hope all this is clear. It will be seen from my weak trust in a verbal agreement that I am no business man. But there must be other authors not more discerning, more crafty, than I. To t,uch I would say: (1) Engage no agent without the Society's advice; (2) engage no agent without a written agreement; (3) sign no agreement without consulting the Society; (4) remember that a literary agent is just like a publisher in that he makes his living out of authors; therefore be sure that you know exactly what he means to take, and whether it is also what vou mean him to have." Z. This letter reads like a comment on the pre- ceding remarks. All the difficulties, in fact, arose from the absence of a written agreement. Had there been a written agreement the author would have understood that, in taking over the management of the book the agent undertook to make the best of it, taking the commission as the money came in, as long as there was anything to be made out of it. Also he would have understood that the agent did not profess—it is not usual for an agent to profess — to hawk about literary wares from house to house unsuccessfully for nothing. It is quite common for an agent to charge at the outset a certain fee, which is returned in the case of success. As for the mistake between the lively and the religious papers it was tragic, but one would like to hear the other side before accepting it as a proof of muddling. Did the author make it quite clear, on the outside, because agents do not read MSS., which was intended for the lively, and which for the serious, paper? The moral of the letter is that without a written agreement these misunderstandings are inevitable. With an agreement they should be difficult, if not impossible. BE ONE AND NOTHING ELSE. IWAS immensely astonished, on reading the January Author through from end to end— a thing I invariably do when it manages to reach me—to see, just on the last page, myself quoted as an instructor of literary youth. I never imagined that anyone would come across my obscure "confession." The advice, "If you can beg, borrow, or steal as much as .£50 a year, cut yourself off from everything and write," has rather a reckless and immoral ring about it, and I should like to correct or justify it a little. For it is an advice to parents and guardians as much as to debutants and debutantes. The desire to be an author is as palpable an itch as the desire to run away to sea. It can be nipped in the bud sometimes, but the advisa- bility of doing so is always a moot question. Vagabonds and authors are born and not made, "and like the merlin cheated by a gleam," as your New Zealand correspondent beautifully and appositely puts it, they will soar into the fierce light sooner or later. Their wings may be of wax, in which case they will have a heavy fall; but the fall itself will be the best blight to a wrong ambition. My opinion is, give them their head—both of them. My own original impulse as a boy was to go to sea; I was actually appren- ticed, when my parents opposed, and I went into the Civil Service instead. But what is the result? I have become both a vagabond and an author after all. There is a story in the Christmas number of the Sketch, by Dr. Macdonald, which also illustrates the matter; the young man had a hard time, but Dr. Macdonald became an author. In trying to be an author a young man or woman will find their level, and even if they fail, their efforts will probably have been as good as any other beginning in showing them the way, and giving the opportunities, to adapt themselves to a more suitable profession. On the other hand, as you point out in your preface of „ The Pen and the Book," authorship is now just as good and respectable a profession as the Church or Medicine, and worth having a try at. In the first place, then, to parents, I give this advice. If your son or daughter wants to write, allow them JE50 a year and three years to try in. You cannot apprentice them to any other profession for less, and they will learn a lot about the world which will serve them in good stead if they fail in literature. They may become editors or pub- lishers, for instance, a business as good as shop- keeping; or literary journalists, which you may be sure they will not do if they are fitted for more active pursuits. ## p. 234 (#246) ############################################ 234 THE AUTHOR. Secondly, to young men between twenty and thirty, who, after being put in the wrong grooves at the start, think they can be authors. If you have got no money or rich relatives, you have no choice; but if you have got either, I repeat, chuck up everything and write. .£100 can be made to last you two years, and that will be long enough if you are already a man. Mr. Le Gallienne once talked about "the paltry .£250 a year" which a millionaire could so easily spare to patronise a poet. If a man feels he needs this income for writing he probably has mistaken the profession of literature for the profession of society. .£50 a year is enough; £100 a year is comfort. You only want a little attic at .£ 12 a year, and tea and bread and bacon at is. a day, or say £20 a year, and one old suit of clothes and an overcoat. This still leaves you £10 for tobacco and the gallery of a theatre and a penny paper. When I said "cut yourself off from everything " I was thinking particularly of society. The society which requires a clean shirt and a tall hat will not benefit your work. I presume, of course, that you have had enough "experiences," have seen enough "colour," to provide you with copy for your trial. If not, you must earn your living in some more usual way until you /tare " copy." Believing that you can write implies that you have something to write about; that you have been in love or seen the world. This is your wealth; the rent and food money is merely the broker's commission on your investment. You mean to speculate on your brain-wealth; then do it thoroughly. Precept without example is nothing; the only example a man knows is himself, and since I have already, when I thought I had done with literature, made a humiliating exhibition of my- self, I shall do so again. Hereby I convey my first maxim: never go back on yourself. If you commit a folly, bluff it out; it is your follies which mark your character, and by your cha- racter you must stand or fall. Never act; never try to be other than you are. Practise self- control, especially in writing to publishers and papers; but when you have made a mistake do not repine, do not think that you have irretriev- ably belittled yourself, but let your dead blunders be incentives, be stepping stones to things of better fame. In the same way with your work; teach yourself by failure. Keep before you unceasingly the ambition of success, and never allow the disgrace of an idiotic or con- temptible book to deter you from wiping out its shame by a better. There is room in the world, and time in life, for many blunders, and in litera- ture, as in business and in war, one victory con- dones a thousand defeats. Here I am using myself as example—I hope an encouraging example. I have made a notorious exhibition of myself both in politics, in literature, and in society; but I cast these follies behind me and present myself again, determined to retrieve them. Besides the blunders of conceit there stands before most of us the damnable crevice of poverty. I again offer myself as an example of persistence. I will no longer go back on myself and ape, as I have long done, the secure suffi- ciency of a man of means. My sufficiency is myself now, and it is better than money. Six years ago I embarked on literature with a capital of .£15, and managed to place four books. Twice I was driven into slavery by need, and I have calculated that exactly three years out of five were taken up with the sordid troubles of mere living. A year ago I could stand it no longer, and left England, believing myself finally defeated. After six months of vagabondage, with a capital of £5, I came back as near to the market as I could beat, and wrote another book. I did not seek work; I practised my gospel of living on my capital and writing. The capital being small the living had to be exiguous and the writing hard. I spread the 25 dollars over two months, and wrote my book in that time, fiuishing almost to the miuute on Christmas day. You see, then, that if you have fifty pounds and "copy " you are a millionaire; lucky, indeed, if you have an allowance of .£50 a year for three years. And yet it means at a maximum but a capital of .£200 to save a man from three years of absolutely barren and heart-breaking waste and experiences which render his work morbid, pessimistic, detrimental! Here am I, at the age of thirty, after publishing several books and stories, stranded high and dry in ruined health, trying to hold together till the tide turns and floats me again, through no vice, inaptitude, or lack of diligence I swear, but simply because I have never been able to get two consecutive years of assured living. I repudiate any suspicion that I am asking for help; 1 have stood by myself long enough to stand by myself to the end. But I know the reason of my poverty has from the beginning been the contempt of my relatives for the profession I have adopted, and I give myself as a warning to other parents who obstinately condemn their sons and daughters to go through a similar experience. Although I am averse to logrolling, and have never had a " paragraph " in The Author during a membership of some years, I shall take the liberty of referring you to a second instalment of my "confessions" in the January number of the New Century Review. ## p. 235 (#247) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 235 It shows how the writing itch prevails over all resolutions of abandonment, and gives also, I think, a good hint how to isolate yourself and seek health and copy at the same time. In conclusion, I will say this. Whether I shall turn the corner this time remains to be seen; but for the encouragement of the faltering I declare that, although my noviciate of hardship has been prolonged beyond the two and beyond the live years, I am still perfectly happy, and confident, if my precarious health lasts out, of ultimate success, and more assured to-day than ever that if I had been able to " stick to writing and nothing else " from the beginning I should by this time have been earning a "respectable living." On the other hand, always supposing I live long enough, I shall probably rejoice in my disap- pointments later on; for I have this to add—and it is a sort of warning also—that whereas six years ago I thought I knew everything, was a full-grown man, I only now begin to see how little of life I know. But if any of you should happen to have read my book " Max," which I wrote just four years ago, you will see a marked difference between my despair then and my con- fidence now. You will discover that your own literary ambition is far more tough and tenacious than you think. If you have got it in you, you will get there—never fear. At the same time, it is foolish to waste your youth in bitterness if you can go straight forward from the start, and cruel of parents to force j on to. Julian Croskey. P.O. Ottawa, Canada, Jan. 30, 1899. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. (See The Author Feb. 1899). I. IBEG leave to recommend the " Cyclopaedia of Practical Quotations," by Hoyt and Ward. According to that work, p. 87, the lines alluded to run thus: Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, Bat why did yon kick me down stairs '< The reference is given to J. P. Kemble," The Panel," act i., sc. 1. Walter W. Skeat. The lines quoted by Mr. J. M. Lely may be found in at least three places, and, apparently, without any interchange of acknowledgment. They appear in Debrett's "Asylum for Fugitive Pieces," Vol. I., p. 15; and in John Philip Kemble's play " The Panel," act i., sc. i., Kemble has clearly borrowed and altered the lines from what may be claimed as the original source, Isaac Bickerstaff's comedy, "'Tis Well it's no Worse." They form part of a song, and the full quatrain, as usually given, runs: "When late I attempted your pity to move Why seemed yon so deaf to my prayers? Perhaps it was right to dissemble yonr love, Bnt why did you kiok me down stairs?" James M. Graham. [Edith Charlton Anne and E. C. Ricketts also- send replies, which are in similar terms to the above.—Ed,] I am strongly reminded of some lines of Heinrich Heine: Das Schworen in der Ordnung war, Das Beissen war iiberfliissig. This passage is quoted by George Meredith in chap. iv. of "The Tragic Comedians," where we find a most eloquent dialogue between hero and heroine—Alvan and Clotilde. The chapter bristles with fine thought, and of these special lines repeated by Alvan to the lady Mr. M- calls them " a verse that speaks of the superfluous- ness of a faithless lady's vowing bite," translating them thus: The kisses were in the course of things, The " bite" was a needless addition. JX—"Who Am I Like?" . The verb " to be " governs the nominative case; thus, "who am I like ?" is correct, the "am I" being present tense of the verb "to be." Most verbs govern the accusative, thus, anolher rendering of the question could be "whom do I resemble?" Next question—" Whomsoever he may be " is wrong ; it should be " whosoever," the " may bo" being the subjunctive mood of the verb "to be." _ Grammar. III.—Wanted, Instructions. 1. "Forbears" is frequently used when "forebears "—i.e., forebe-ers—is evidently meant, and that even in literary journals. No doubt the printer is in fault. 2. Some educated people are in the habit of using the verb "infer" in the place of "imply." Surely, to "infer" means to draw an inference. You infer from what I said something which I did not mean to imply. 3. Will someone of authority lay down the law on the subject of the "false genitive," abhorred of Mr. Gladstone? Tastes no doubt differ, but to some ears such a locution as "I object to him coming to me " is simply hideous, though intelligible. But when one reads, "I ## p. 236 (#248) ############################################ 236 THE AUTHOR. remember the Prince coming to our town to lay the first stone," one is in doubt. It is one thing to remember the fact of the Prince's coming, quite another to remember the Prince himself. "There is, I think, no fear of you making such an exhibition of yourself." Gram- matically, this surely means, "There is no fear of you who are, or when you are, making such an exhibition of yourself." For, if " making " is not a present participle, agreeing with "you," it must be a substantive, in which case, how is the sentence to be analysed ?" He relied on this man leaving the country before the disclosure was made." Now this does not mean that he relied on the man, who was leaving the country; far from it; he trusted him so little that he wanted him out af the way. In other words, he relied on the man's withdrawal. If " leaving "is a verbal substantive, why should man receive different treatment when conjoined with "leav- ing" than that accorded to it when conjoined with withdrawal? The old rule, that when two substantives come together one must be in the genitive, would seem to be enough, but the increasing frequency of the false genitive, and that in the writings of literary persons, indicates the need for some authoritative pronouncement on the subject. "I defy any one to read a page of the poem without it getting hopelessly on his nerves," is a sentence which it would be interesting to see analysed. 4. '.'Umbrellas repaired while waiting" is an announcement at which one smiles. Similar, and even worse sentences are continually meeting one in the daily Press; e.g., "While stationed at X an incident occurred." One would like to be made acquainted with that stationary incident. S. G. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Books for Review. IN Tlie Author, Feb. 1,1899, p. 203,1 find the follewing assertion: "Every unknown book gets from thirty to fifty notices in the English Press; every book by a known author, from fifty to one hundred." I beg leave to say that such is not my experi- ence. I have frequently been surprised at the utter silence of many of the critics with regard to some of my books which have nevertheless done well. Out of so many copies sent for review about one-half are quietly appropriated, and no sign is given that they have ever been received. Other critics merely acknowledge the receipt of the volume, and there leave it. It is one of the author's grievances that the sending of a copy to, let us say, The Omniscient Review by no means secures the insertion of a notice of it, however well known the author may be. I also venture to say that the unknown author is more injured by this practice of silence than the known one, and it is to him at least a cruel hardship. The next time I publish a book I propose to collect and publish in The Author (if my pub- lishers approve of it) a list of the reviews that receive copies, with a note as to whether a notice was inserted or not, allowing six months for the notice to appear. If some others would do the like we should learn much that concerns us all. Walter W. Skeat. II.—Ladies in Journalism. Your letter on the invasion of journalism by ladies of rank is particularly interesting to me, in that I am one of the sufferers by it. One has only to take up a fashionable paper to see that the greater part of the articles in it are by Lady This or the Countess of T'other. They may be paid or they may not, but the fact remains that their articles crowd out those journalists who would probably otherwise be employed. For years a fashionable lady's newspaper has had articles of mine accepted, but not published for want of room, and, of course, until published they are nothing but waste paper. A few years ago, it was easy to get 3 guineas for a short story, but lately, send- ing one to a well-known magazine, it was accepted, and I received i0*. for it. A Press agent, to whom I offered one, said, "The fact is, Miss A., your story is too good for us. We order them by the dozen, and pay 7*. a piece for them." Now, this state of things could never have come to pass but for the supply being much beyond the demand. Unless for a hewer of wood or drawer of water, living is very difficult, but so long as women can "see themselves in print" and editors can get their articles for nothing, it is useless to hope for better times. _ A Journalist. III. DELAT8. I have read with interest the experiences of some of your correspondents regarding the delay on the part of editors in returning MSS., and also the editorial note on page 188 of The Author. Whether the explanation there suggested is the correct one or not I am unable to say, but my experience with two MSS. submitted to the Strand is that one did not return to me for eight and a half months, and the other not until three months had rolled by. Both the manuscripts were returned in good condition, and I attributed the delay to the enormous number of MSS. submitted to the editor. ## p. 237 (#249) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 237 One of the most cruel cuts I ever received was at the hands of an editor of a magazine that has lately sprung into being. On May 2 last year I submitted an article dealing with one phase of cricket. On Nov. 23 I received it back, with the intimation that it was not seasonable! One more experience. Last October I sub- mitted a MS. to the editor of a reputable sixpenny magazine. A few days ago I received an offer of one guinea for the same, an offer which I enjoyed the luxury of declining. To-day I have received the manuscript back, and it bears the truthful statement, presumably in the editorial handwriting, "4400 w, 5! pp." Surely a MS. considered worth printing in a sixpenny magazine should be worth more than 4*. gd. per 1000 words (or, deducting the cost of typewriting, 3*. 1 id. per 1000) to the author? Perhaps I ought to be thankful that I was not asked to pay the guinea myself for the honour of publication. Associate. IV.—The Vagaries of Criticism. I am puzzled; I am perplexed; I am mystified. Will you, Mr. Editor, kindly clear my thoughts from their burden of doubts? Permit me to explain, and state my case. A novel of mine, called " A Social Upheaval," has been published lately, and up to the present it has evoked thirty-five criticisms. Unfortunately, however, they are in every respect so contradic- tory that I actually cannot form a clear opinion of the merits or demerits of my own book. It has be mercilessly condemned; it has been splendidly eulogised; it has been pronounced interesting and dull, witty and silly; whilst its flaws and defects pointed out by one critic have been con- strued into virtues and beauties by another! Of course, I may be advised to believe the praise and reject the blame; to enjoy the sweets and cast away the bitters. But I value honest criticism too highly to be so puerile as to do this, On the other hand, whom and what am I to believe when I am told " that I write with skill and with a keen appreciation of comic situations"; "that I tire the reader before the end is reached "; that " my book is worth reading on account of its agreeable whimsicality "; that "my satire to be effective must bear some resemblance to the real thing"; that my female characters "are dis- tinct types of womankind "; that my characters lack reality"; that "the language has a terseness and briskness that gives a character of vivacity to the story"; that my novel is "utterly worthless"; that "it is a story in which there is not a dull page, not even a dull line "; that " the writing is more than a trifle crude "; that *' the purpose and method of the work are alike admirable " ; that " the workmanship is in- different," and so on, and so on? What can I make of these amazing contra- dictions? How can I reconcile these extremely opposite opinions? How am I to arrive at the truth? Will you kindly guide me in the matter? Isidore G. Ascher. V.—Illustrations. May I ask you to notice in your paper a form of annoyance authors have sometimes to put up with. A short story of mine was bought from my agents, some months ago, by the editor of a certain paper. This month it appears; but, living far in the country, I knew nothing of the fact till a few days ago, and then had some difficulty in getting a copy. It was bad enough to receive no proofs, and so come in for a few press blunders; but what is most annoying is to find that it has been "illustrated" (save the mark !) in a way that is most offensive. The illustrator has absolutely ignored each incident of the story he pretends to represent, as you may see by the copy inclosed, and the result is that my work is made ridiculous. There ought to be (perhaps there is) some remedy for such an outrage as this, since it mav have a very damaging effect on a beginner in literature such as your correspondent, B. VI.—Payment on Acceptance. 1. The practice is all too rare certainly, but not so restricted as "Penman" seems to suggest. Mr. F. A. Atkins of the Young Man and other journals, for instance, most promptly and con- sistently adopts this course. R. Andom. 11. In answer to " Penman's " letter regarding the Strand, may I remark that he (or she) has not a very wide knowledge of magazine editors. I can name at least four which virtually pay on accep- tance, that is to say, as soon as the hard-driven editor has decided to use any article or story it is paid for. Of course, this may not happen till a considerable time after it is sent. Messrs. Harmsworth, for example, I have found most con- siderate in this way. I cannot say that my own experience of the Strand bears out "Penman's" statements; the only article it ever printed of mine was not paid for till after it had appeared, and they now hold two stories of mine which were submitted twelve months ago at their request, and I cannot get them returned or used. Alan Oscar, hi. If your correspondent had written for the Wide World Magazine he would have discovered ## p. 238 (#250) ############################################ 238 THE AUTHOR. that the Strand is not the only one which pays for articles on acceptance. I am pleased to offer my humble testimony to the extreme courtesy which I have received at the hands of the editor of the Wide World, who invariably—I believe I may say—sends a cheque directly he decides to accept a MS. Edith Charlton Anne. VII.—Typewriting as a Profession. I rejoice to see that The Author is taking up the rights of the private typist versus the type- writing office, an institution which I find it difficult to respect. A friend of mine, "a lady by birth, and want of education," found herself last year under the necessity of earning a living. A relative (who herself had to undertake clerk's work in order to afford it) paid some .£30 to an office for the training of secretaries that her niece might be taught shorthand and typewriting. After work- ing for the benefit of the office for some months she was pronounced proficient, and with much pleasure I hastened to secure for her her first work, the typing of two forthcoming books, good MSS., not technical, at the rate of gd. a thousand. She must first, however, consult the lady who trained her, and returned primed with scorn for such an offer, instructed in various "notions," and told that to undertake the work at anything less than from I*, to is. $d. per thousand was an injustice to herself and other women. After remaining without employment for some time, she finally undertook the task "to oblige." The fact that another woman, brought up in greater luxury, older, and therefore less prepared for change of circumstances than herself, had turned-to and gone to work to pay for her train- ing, did not count for much in the problem. Now and then, the office has sent her stray bits of ill- paid miscellaneous work, such as doing charity accounts, or sending out invitations. Any typing which comes to the office is apparently reserved for students to practise upon, and shorthand does not seem to be in demand. After a year of this sort of work—which was of a kind which led to expenditure of money in smarter clothes than she would have needed at home, and in omnibus fares—she at length obtained a position which, under other circum- stances, we should have described as that of a "companion," but which—in allusion, I suppose, to the training—is called a " secretaryship." The salary is .£40 a year; £50 when non-resident. I represented the facts to the Society for the Employment of Women, but was severely rebuked for offering starvation wages. Next, I took at random from the cover of The Author the address of a typist, who has done my work admirably at orf. a 1000 ever since. She has said nothing about starvation, perhaps because she does not pay rent in Victoria or Berners-street. A. Goodrich Freer. VIII.—On Selling Review Copies. I have read with much interest Sir Walter Besant's paragraph in The Author of Jan. 2 concerning review copies. Would it not be possible to render review books unsaleable by some such process as unused stamps undergo when they are sold to dealers? They are punched. Review copies might have their pages severed horizontally midway by a cut penetrating a third of the page. It would be equivalent to a slight tear of a couple of inches on each page. The reviewer would have no difficulty, but the volume would not stand any wear after such treatment. Fanny Emily Penny. The Garrison Chaplain's Quarters, Fort Saint George, S. India, Jan. 26. IX.—Wanted—A Black List. Seeing that many editors not only refuse to return unsuitable MSS., to answer inquiries respecting them, but even appear to delight in treating uninvited contributors with contemp- tuous and—in my opinion—scandalous indiffer- ence, and this in spite of the letters and com- plaints the Society of Authors and The Author are continually receiving and publishing—I would suggest that the methods of the Society are stiffened. It seems to me that hints, innuendoes, anony- mous indications, and covert references are too mild to touch the case-hardened hides of the fraternity in question. I would, therefore, advocate a black list, to be openly, nay, ostentatiously displayed iu the Society's offices, and kept standing in the columns of The Author. Upon this list let the names of dishonest pub- lishers, unscrupulous editors, literary vultures of every kind, and such sharks as the inexperienced writer needs to shun, figure prominently and persistently. Before placing a name on the list, let the offence committed be stated succinctly. The law of libel is a serious fence to leap, I admit; but surely the Society would have less cause to dread an appearance in court than the mean rascals whose practices would, at worst, be exposed. I believe Truth has on several occasions pilloried a certain publishing firm—unfortunately ## p. 239 (#251) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 239 still existing—without incurring pains or penalties for its service to common honesty. Of one thing I am convinced, however. To treat with consideration the feelings of persons devoid even of business principle, to say nothing of gentlemanly instinct, is futile. A black list would at least warn members of the Society whom to avoid, even though it failed to reach outside stragglers in the literary quagmire. Herbert W. Smith. BOOK TALE. MR. ARTHUR H. BEAVAN has written a memoir of James and Horace Smith, the authors of "The Rejected Addresses." No complete life of the brothers has hitherto appeared, owing to family objections. "The Rejected Addresses" was published in 1812. Murray could have bought the copyright for £20, but refused the offer. Seven years later, after the book had run through sixteen editions and brought its authors jEi000, Murray pur- chased the copyright for .£131. Mr. Beavan's life will contain five portraits, and will be pub- lished by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. Mr. Richard Whitling, author of .' The Island," has written a new work of humorous social satire entitled "No. 5, John-street," which Mr. Grant Richards will publi&h. Mrs. Alfred Sedgwick's (Mrs. Andrew Dean) new novel "Cousin Ivo" will be published this month by Messrs. A. and G. Black. It has been appearing in the weekly edition of the Times. In "The Hooligan Nights" Mr. Clarence Rook gives some studies from personal observation of the notorious class of criminals known of late in London by the generic name " Hooligan." The volume will be published by Mr. Grant Richards. Mr. Morley Roberts calls his new novel "A Son of Empire." The two chief characters in the book are said to be portraits of Sir Richard and Lady Burton, and another a portrait of Mr. Rhodes. The story deals with military life. Carlyle's letters to his sister, Janet Hanning, which appeared in several recent numbers of the Atlantic Monthly, will be published shortly in a volume by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Mrs. Fuller-Maitland and Sir Frederick Pollock are joint authors of the "Etchingham Letters," which have been appearing in the Cornhill Magazine for the last few months. The letters will be published in a volume on an early date by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. A new series of monographs on great painters has been projected by Messrs. Bell. The first volume to appear will be "Raphael," by Mr. H. Strachey," and the others include "Velasquez," by Mr. R. A. M. Stevenson; *' Andrea del Sarto," by Miss H. Guinness; " Michael A ngelo," by Mr. C. Holroyd; "Rembrandt," by Mr. Malcolm Bell; and " Turner," by Mr. C. F. Bell. Sir Edward Grey has written a book of personal experiences as an angler which will form the first volume of the Haddon Library, edited by the Marquis of Granby and Mr. George A. B. Dewar. It will be published by Messrs. Dent this month. Mr. Grant Allen's new story, "Miss Cayley's Adventures," which has been running in the Strand Magazine, will be published in the spring by Mr. Grant Richards. Mr. Hilaire Belloc is the author of a forth- coming " Life of Danton," which is based largely on documents hitherto unknown. The author has been assisted by Danton's family, and also by Dr. Robinet, himself the author of a well-known biography of the great French revolutionary. Mr. Belloc's work will be published immediately by Messrs. Nisbet. Mr. William Archer has been commissioned by the Pall Mall Magazine to proceed to America for the purpose of writing a series of articles on the American stage. He sailed a few days ago. A set of the Kelmscott Press publications, numbering fifty-three, and of an original value of about .£150, was sold at Sotheby's rooms the other day for .£442 15s. 6d. The same firm were to disperse by auction the valuable collection of historical papers and manuscripts belonging to the Earl of Hardwicke. Shortly before the day fixed for the sale, however, the collection was purchased by the British Museum, much to the satisfaction of students of history. "Contraband of War" is the title of a new work by Mr. M. P. Shiel (author of " The Yellow Danger"), which will be issued by Mr. Grant Richards in the spring. Another novel dealing with theatrical life. This will bo "On the Edge of a Precipice," by Miss Maiy Angela Dickens, which Messrs. Hutchinson will publish shortly. Mr. F. C. Constable has written a humorous story, entitled "Morgan Hailsham," which Mr. Grant Richards will bring out in the spring. A novel of adventure, by Mr. Tom Gallon, author of " Tatterley," will be published shortly by Messrs. Hutchinson, entitled "The Kingdom of Hate." ## p. 240 (#252) ############################################ 240 THE A UTHOR. Two new books by Mr. Le Gallienne will appear shortly. ''Young Lives" is a novel, dealing with a group of young people who have ideals in life. It will be published by Arrowsmith. The second book is a fairy tale embodying a study of the artistic temperament. Mr. Lane will publish it under the title "The Worshipper of the Image." Professor Hereford is translating Ibsen's "Love's Comedy," for publication as a volume in the series of " Modern Plays," edited by Mr. E. Brimley Johnson and Mr. Erichsen, and pub- lished by Messrs. Duckworth. Mr. Erichsen is also translating Strindberg's "Fadren" (" The Father "). In an interview in the New York Outlook, Mr. R. W. Gilder, editor of the Century Magazine, expresses his conviction that people are beginning ta tire of photographic reproductions in maga- zines and periodicals, and that in the future the tendency will be in favour of original artistic work. While the photograph has had a corrective effect, and make illustrators truer to fact, it has on the other hand made them more prosaic; and Mr. Gilder thinks we shall soon witness a new generation of real illustrators. It has been evident for some time to all serious lovers of English poetry, says Mr. Stephen Phillips in an article which appears in the February number of the Dome, that modern verse is suffering from inanition. Perhaps the only wave of emotion lately has been roused by the splendour and the fact of empire; but this song can never be a permanent possession of mankind ; it is the pecan of materialism, restricted, anti-poetic, and is already beginning to pall upon us. Mr. Phillips' article is called "A Field for Modern Verse," and this is the suggestion he makes:— I would venture to suggest, in all humility, a subject for verse which is co-extensive, not merely with a single empire, but with the fate and destiny of all mankind. The revela- tion, then, of the life after death, which is slowly filtering into the intellect and imagination of the modern world is, as it seems to me, filled with tremendous possibilities of vision and melody. . . . The general picture of a world beyond the grave, which is gradually usurping the modern imagination, would seem at first sight to be not far removed from the scheme of Dante. In communications made through trance, or by the governed hand, we are again permitted to view realms of darkness, of ice, of twilight, of glory. But there is this essential and transcen- dent difference between the medieval and the modern con- ception—that whereas Dante imagined a definite place of darkness, or fire, or beauty, to which the soul repaired, we are now shown that the soul creates its own atmosphere, environment, and scenery. Miss Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler has completed a new novel. Joseph Hatton's new story in the bauds of the Tillotson syndicate will appear serially in a select number of weekly journals in England, the Colonies, and America, beginning next month. It is said to be a careful and elaborate study of Old London in the days of Jonathan Wild, whose portraiture is a leading feature of the story. The romance moves on different lines from those adopted by Mr. Hattou in his drama of "Jack Sheppard," opening romantically on " the King's Highway" in the North, Jonathan face to face with two of his own "knights of the road "—for Jonathan was not only the thief-taker, but the thief-employer, the chief of such an organisation of knavery as the world has rarely paralleled, even in the "palmy days of the bandit and the buccaneer." Mr. Hattou has relieved the sordid adventures of Jonathan and his army of adven- turers with a love story that links town and country and the Thames and the sea with inci- dents of a semi-historical character; and the novel is entitled " When Rogues Fall Out." "Loup-Garou!" is the title given by Mr. Eden Philpotts to a new volume of stories deal- ing with West Indian Life, which he is issuing through Messrs. Sands. The Daily Mail is issuing " The Best Hundred Books," and the Daily Telegraph is about to issue "The Best Hundred Novels." The latter selection will include many modern novels. Dean Stubbs is publishing through Unwiu a volume of verse entitled Brihtnoth's Prayer and Other Poems." Brihtnoth was an ealdorman of East Auglia, aud one of the founders of Ely. The poem, says the Dean of Ely, is a rescript and expansion of "that "almost Homeric " ballad, the "Battle of Maldon," and a re-setting of the hero's death cry, " God, I thank Thee for all the joy I have had in life." Mr. T. Sturge Moore is a new poet, whose first book, "The Vinedresser," will be published in a few days by the Unicorn Press. Le Droit cTAuteitr publishes tables showing the production of books in Russia (exclusive of Finland) in the years 1890 to 1895. The total publications in Russian for these years was 42,146, and in foreign languages 12,086. Books on theology outnumbered those of any other class. Dr. Richard Garnett is about to retire from the post of Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum. He has been connected with the Museum for forty-seven years, and, in addition to the large number of lxioks he has written, he edited the British Museum Catalogue from 1881 to 1890. .. • , '.: ,!..,,•'-; ## p. 241 (#253) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 241 During the past month Mr. Ruskin celebrated his eightieth birthday (Feb. 8) and Mr. Meredith his seventy-first (Feb. 12). Mr. Ruskin was made the recipient of an address from a number of distinguished admirers, but a proposal that he should sit to Mr. Holman Hunt for his portrait has been abandoned, as Mr. Ruskin could not endure the fatigue which this would entail. As a bitter evidence of the deterioration of the bookselling business, the writer of "Literary Gossip " in the Globe relates an incident which occurred a few days ago in one of the best known of London book shops. With eveiy circumstance of dignity an old lady was helped from her carriage. The footman hastened to the door of the shop, and she passed majestically in, and was shown into a chair by the principal assistant, a man steeped in the lore of books, prepared at a moment's notice to advise a course of reading in any line whatsoever. The old lady settled her- self in comfort, arranged her flounces, glanced round the teeming shelves, and asked sweetly, "Do you keep pink ham frills?" The sixth International Press Congress will be held at Rome, opening on April 6. "The Cardinal's Page," Mr. James Baker's new historical romance, has quickly gone into a third edition—a fact which speaks for itself. The author was lately elected a member of the Council of the National Home Reading Union. "A Semi-Detached Marriage" is the title of Miss Arabella Kenealy's forthcoming novel—to be issued next month by Messrs. Hutchinson. "Forbidden Banns" is the title of Annabel Gray's new novel, which will be published by Messrs. F. V. White and Co., and appears this month. The story has had a very successful run as a serial in the Daily Mail. It may inte- rest those who are studying the present ritual question. The Religious Tract Society issued on Feb. 24, in the form of the March supplement to the Girl's Own Paper, a story by Miss H. M. Burn- side, entitled "The Deaf Girl Next Door: or, Marjory's Life Work." This story deals with the special difficulties of the deaf and deaf mutes, and i-,f those with whom they associate; and it is hoped, by rousing public interest in this afflicted class, it will aid their cause. The writer is herself deaf. E. Livingston Prescott's new novel, "Helot and Hero," is announced for March 14. It is semi- military, and will form—-though of a more cheer- ful character—a companion volume to "Scarlet and Steel," now in its fourth edition. The scene of the closing chapters is the N.W. frontier of India. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. are the pub- lishers. The marriage chest of the " Father of Angling" has been found in a lumber-room at Warwick- Castle. The information it supplies refers to his first wife (a great-grandniece of Cranmer), and is as follows :— Izaak Walton—Rachael Ploud. Joyned Together in ye Holie Bonde of Wedlocke On ye 27th Daie of Deoembre A 1626 D. We once were two, we two made one; We no more two, through life bee one. A new volume of the late Mr. R. H. Hutton'a "Essays in the Spectator" is about to be published in Messrs. Macmillan's Eversley Series. The essays deal mair ly with ecclesiastical and theo- logical questions, in which the late editor of the Spectator took so keen an interest. Some time ago the Sir Walter Scott West- minster Memorial Committee presented a replica of the bust of Sir Walter Scott to the public library of Boston, U.S.A. In connection therewith Mr. Riclrard Lees, town clerk of the burgh of Galashiels, who is honorary secretary of the memorial committee, was recently waited upon by Mr. Fiske Warren, of Boston, at the request of the library trustees, and presented with an acknowledgment of the bust. In the address to the memorial committee the trustees express their gratefulness to the subscribers for their generosity, and still more for the spirit which prompted the gift. They recognise in this act of international courtesy a mark of the grow- ing harmony of interests between the two leading Powers in the civilisation of the world. The bust will shortly be formally unveiled at the opening of a new lecture hall in the library buildings. In the new edition of his "Democracy and Liberty," published recently by Messrs. Long- mans, Green, and Co., Mr. Lecky deals in detail with the work and character of Mr. Gladstone. Of Gladstone the writer, Mr. Lecky says: Few professed authors have written more or more vari- ously. Pamphlets on Ritualism, on Vaticanism, on Bulgarian Atrocities—elaborate books in defenoe of the Christian religion, a metrical translation of Horace, countless artioles of the most miscellaneous character followed each other in swift succession. Mere expression, whether in writing or speaking, seems to have cob! him nothing, and it was characteristic of him that the book which he called his "Gleanings" extended to some seven or eight volumes. Considering the life he led the literary production of his last years is truly wonderful, thongh it shows a kind of intellect that was much more wonderful in quantity than in quality. Perhaps the nearest modern parallel to his many- sided activity and to his astonishing copiousness of expres- sion is to be found in Henry Brougham, who was once deemed the most extraordinary of Englishmen, though he is now little more than a name. ## p. 242 (#254) ############################################ 242 THE AUTHOR. Mr. Thomas Burleigh is about to publish for Mr. J. C. Bailey a volume of essays dealing with eight of the great English letter writers. Some of them have already appeared in the Quarterly, the Fortnightly, and elsewhere, while others now appear for the first time. The title of the book is "Studies in Some Famous Letters." "Maureen Moore" is the title of an Irish story by Rupert Alexander, the author of " Bally - ronan," &c. It is a romance of "yS, but not altogether fiction. The publisher will be Mr. Thomas Burleigh. Professor Dowden is editing the Arden Shake- speare, and Mr. George Gissing is editing the Rochester Dickens—two new series which Messrs. Methuen are issuing. Mr. John Bickerdyke has just completed a romance entitled " The Passing of Prince Rogan." It is to a certain extent a story of the sea, and will have some interest for yachtsmen, but the author has utilised some of the reve- lations in recent bankruptcy proceedings. It will be published in New York by Messrs. Putnam's Sons, and in London by Mr. Thomas Burleigh. A new higluclass literary and religious weekly, called Saint Andrew — in sympathy with the Church of Scotland—has been started in Glasgow. Emily J. Jenkinson, joint author of "Fiona Mclver: a Romance of the Western Isles," is contributing a serial story entitled "The Twi- light of the Gods: a tale of Ancient Strathclyde." Miss Jenkinson is the daughter of the parish minister of Innellan, Argyllshire, and is a young lady still in her teens. A new edition, in great part re-written, and considerably enlarged (540 pages of text) of Mr. Reynolds-Ball's "Mediterranean Winter Resorts" (Kegan Paul and Co.) price .6*., was published last month. Owing to the great bulk of the book it has also been issued in two volumes, one volume dealing with the resorts of the South of Europe, and the others with those of North Africa and the Mediterranean Islands. Each volume is sold separately at 3*. 6d. Messrs. A. and C. Black have just published a revised .edition of the same author's " Cares of To-Day." THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Jan. 24 to Feb. 22—287 Books.] Aarons, S. J. Golden Rules of Gynecology. 1/- Simpkin. Abbott. L. Life and Letters of Paul the Apostle. 6/- Clarke. About, Edmond (tr. by Lord Newton). Trentc et Quarante. :i/6. Arnold. Alexander, Mrs. Brown, V.C. 6/- Vnwin. Alford, M. Baptism. 2/- Alexander and S. Aide, Hamilton Jane Treachel. 6/- Hurst. All, Ameer Syed. Short History of the Saracens. 7 6 net. Macmillan. Allen, E. H. Edward FitzGerald's Rubai'yat of Omar Khayyam, with original Persian sources, ifce. 7/6. Quaritch. Annand, James. Forgotten Liberalism. 1 - Ma, Fleet-street, E.C. Anonymous. Her Soldier Lover. (Family Story-Teller.) 1'- W. Stevens. Anonymous (author of "The Banks and the Public"). Banks and their Oustomers. 1/- E. Wilson. Anonymous (author of " Lady Windermere's Fan "). The Importance of Being Earnest Smithers. Ansorge, W. J. Under the African Sun. 21/- net. Heinemann. Appleton, G. W. Francois the Valet 6 - Pearson. Arbuthnot, Sir A. J. Lord Clive: The Foundation of British Rule in India. 5/- Unwin. Aston, W. G. History of Japanese Literature. 6/- Heinemann. Atkins, J. B. The War in Cuba. 6 - Smith and E. Atkinson, C. M. The Magistrates' Annual Practice, 1899. Stevens. . Bacon, L. W. History of American Christianity. 10 6. Clarke. Baldwin, J. M. The Story of the Mind. 1- Newnes. Ballinger, J. The Public Libraries and the Schools. School Children in the Public Libraries. 1/6 net. 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