https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/481/1903-03-01-The-Author-13-6.pdf 0d6196311e83a623dfb65fd97a954a2d PDF Text Text ���������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1903-03-01 Volume 13 Issue 6 Pages Page range in volume 133–160 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19030301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che Muthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. FOUNDED BY SIR Monthly.) WALTER BESANT. Vou. XITI.—No. 6. Marcu 1st, 1903. [PRrIcE SIXPENCE. THE TELEPHONE. t The Telephone connection has now been estab- lei lished, and the Society’s number is— 374 VICTORIA. Se NOTICES. — 1+ c OR the opinions expressed in papers that are 4 signed or initialled the authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- epgraphs must be taken as expressing the opinion tof the Committee unless such is especially stated ' 0 to be the case. THE Editor begs to inform members of the u# Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author ‘that the cases which are from time to time quoted fin The Author are cases that have come before the ‘oi notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the ‘902 Society, and that those members of the Society djwho desire to have the names of the publishers 19: concerned can obtain them on application. a List of Members. Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors ‘can now be obtained at the offices of the Society, ~ at the price of 6d. net. _ It will be sold to the members of the Society ing py —_+-—~<— + The Pension Fund of the Society. _ THE investments of the Pension Fund at eee present standing in the names of the Trustees are 2 as follows. _ This is a statement of the actual stock ; ¢ Vou, XIII. the money value can be easily worked out at the current price of the market :— MES BD ois beni iecrtnees an ctaes £816 5 6 docs: sodns:... 404 10 0 Victorian Government 3 % Con- solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11 War loan 3. ee. 201. 9 3 otal ee. £1,714 4 § SPECIAL APPEAL. Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com- mittee has been very successful. The total amount of subscriptions and donations up to Dec. 1st is:—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.; donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to either list are set out below. Subscriplions. Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . 50 0. 0 Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia 010 0 Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . 010 6 re Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 0 6 » Brinton, Selwyn OF a) 0 Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie : 7 0 5 0 Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the Duchess of : 2.2 0 Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace . 0 5 0 Dec. 22, Anonymous 010 0 Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W. 0 5:0 a Pike Clement, E. 0 5 0 1903. Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6 » Deane, Rev. A.C. . 010 0 Jan. 4, Anonymous 0 5 0 » Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0 » Russell, G. H. : 1 ft 6 Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0 5b 0 ,, Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 0 Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5 0 Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice : 0 5 0 Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M. 10 0 Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : . 010 0 134 Feb. 8, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 720 5 0 Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . : ; +0. 5 0 Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 0 » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0 Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 0 5 0 Donations. Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0 », Smith, G. C. Moore 1.0 0 Dec. 2, ‘'revor-Battye, Aubyn Lt 0 » Marks, Mrs. . : 010 0 Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0 Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0 » “Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 0 » Hellier, H. George. 11.0 Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 05 0 », Panting, J. Harwood. 010 O » Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0 Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0 Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. - 010 0 Dec. 28, A.S. . : : 751 12 0 » Bateman Stringer . : - 010 O Dec. 31, Cholmondely, Miss Mary -10 0 0 1903. Jan. 38, Wheelright, Miss EH. : » Middlemass, Miss Jean . : Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon. The Lord . ; : : » Gribble, Francis. : Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston . » Miller, Miss E. T. . Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . : Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . |; Ord, Hubert H. . Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor » Carlile, Rev. J. C.. Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. The following members have also made subscrip- tions or donations :— Meredith, George, President of the Society. Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S. Rashdall, The Rev. H. Guthrie, Anstey. Robertson, C. B. There are in addition other subscribers who do not desire that either their names or the amount they are subscribing should be printed. SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS. Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for THE AUTHOR. qaocoorcooocorcon oo or SOceaco Sa Coon oOo S So on five years, if nine other members of the Society will promise the same contribution before 31gt — March, 1903. We sincerely hope that sufficient members of the Society will be found to come forward and meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that before the time expires we may be able to print in the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten subscribers of the required amount. ecooeceo Subscriptions. Hawkins, A. Hope £10 0 Barrie, J. M. . : ; : - 10 0 Drummond, Hamilton : : ; 10 0 Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 90 Gilbert, W.8. . . : : - 10-0 Sturges, Julian . ; : ; « 10 90 ee Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund. THE amount standing to the credit - of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6 There are a few promised subscriptions still — outstanding. The total of these is, roughly, about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st — to the date of issue are given below :— Patterson, A. . i . ‘ . £1 19 Salwey, Reginald EH. 010 0 Gidley, Miss E. C. 010 0 Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0 7.6 Dill, Miss Bessie 0. 5 @ Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0 Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6 Clarke, Miss B. 0 5 0 —_—_——— 2 —_____— FROM THE COMMITTEE. ——~>— 2+ HE second Committee Meeting of the year was held on Monday, the 2nd day of February, at 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate. Mr. Douglas Freshfield was unanimously elected Chairman for 1903. ‘There is no need to recall to. the members of the Society Mr. Freshfield’s literary — attainments. He was elected a member of the Committee and a member of the Council of the Society in January, 1897. He has been a constant attendant at the meetings from the date of his election, and has — been a strong supporter of the Pension Fund and other objects of the Society. At the present time he acts as one of the Pension Fund Trustees. A warm vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman  THE AUTHOR. - ey — was proposed by Mr. Sydney Grundy and seconded yi by Mr. Lely. Mr. Grundy, in a few words, thanked i) Mr. Hawkins for his constant and untiring labours on behalf of the Society, and for the zeal and patience which he had shown in conducting the many difficult cases and negotiations. The vote was passed with enthusiasm and unanimity. The members of the Society, we are sure, will cordially endorse the oe action of the Committee. The General Meeting of the Society was fixed oe! for Thursday the 5th of March. Members of the o0@ Society will already have received the formal vom notice. He Eleven members were elected, making the elections for the current year 42. There were three cases before the Committee in «ty which members’ interests were involved. On the first case—a dispute with regard to a dj theatrical agreement—the Committee decided to si take counsel’s opinion on behalf of the member. The second case was one in which the publisher sd had refused to carry out his contract. With the 09 consent of the member it was decided to commence 98 action in the matter. ‘ The third case the Committee adjourned to a sisl later meeting, in order that they might have fuller 1178 evidence before them. if There was also a dispute between two members io of the Society. The Committee hope that the )19 Chairman, acting as an unofficial arbitrator, may ‘sod be able to arrange the matter amicably. — + Record of Cases. lg Stnce the beginning of the year the Secretary ced has dealt with twenty-five cases. Of these sixteen # have come to a termination. : Six of the latter were for the return of MSS. In i five cases the MSS. were duly returned to the us authors concerned. In the sixth the author had @ no evidence that the MS. had ever reached the ‘0 office, and the editor, although willing to give every assistance in his power, could find no 2%) trace of its arrival. _ Two cases were for the settlement and arrange- _ ment of difficulties under contracts. These were negotiated successfully. There were four cases of _ accounts, and on demand they were promptly rendered. One involved a rather complicated issue, as the author had been in the habit of supplying “copy” to a paper, and the amount of copy supplied was in dispute. In this case also the matter was satisfactorily settled. The remaining four cases were money demands. In three of these cheques have been sent, and the fourth is in the hands of the Society’s solicitors. There are nine cases as yet unsettled. In twoof 135 these for money due cash has been promised. If it is not paid no doubt a summons will have to be issued to enforce the members’ just rights, or the name of the paper will have to be exposed. It is hoped that the other matters will be satisfactorily closed before the next issue of 7’he Author. ———+—__ Elections, February, 1908. Addison, A. C. 13, Skirbeck Road, Bos- ton, Lincs. Blyth, James Gidley, A. J. C. (Jean Courtenay) Davies, Nathaniel Owen 1, St. Mark’s Hill, Sur- biton, Surrey. 73, Alford Street, Roath, Cardiff. 13, Dennington Park Road, Hampstead, N.W. Fletcher, Miss Ciceley . Hudson, Herbert. Kennedy, Mrs. William E. (Aubrey Lee) Sharam Rectory, Manor Cunningham, R.8.0., co. Donegal. 12, Embankment Gar- dens, Chelsea, S.W. Goring-on-Thames. Westfield Old Hall, East Dereham. Maud, Miss C. E.. Pitt, PW. . : Savory, Miss Isabe Vaughan, The Right Archbishop’s House, Rey. Monsignor John Westminster, 8.W. S > —___—_ LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL PROPERTY. —— + — Obituary Notices. HOSE who engage in journalistic work know that every newspaper office has a series of obituary notices ready to hand, written sometimes many years before the deaths of the illustrious individuals to whom they refer. When at last death comes, no matter how suddenly, the editor is prepared. The notices are brought up to date and published. From the author’s or journalist’s point of view one interesting fact should be noted. The editors of one or two papers—those by no means the least in the land—have endeavoured to establish a system of not paying for these biographies until the person about whom they are written pays the debt due to Nature. Should it chance to occur, therefore, that a journalist has undertaken to write the life of a person plagued with the curse of longevity, it may not infrequently happen that the writer dies before his study, and his personal 136 representatives, if they chance to be aware of the matter, are the only ones to benefit by his labour. It is evident that such a position is untenable from a strictly business point of view, unless packed by a contract in black and white, made and signed by the author prior to writing the article. In such circumstances the author is not an° object for pity, but for derision ; but the written contract on most occasions is wanting. Then, as often happens when the terms of a contract are wanting or indefinite, the editor endeavours to interpret the arrangement from his own point of view, and not from the point of view of equity or of the author. On one or two occasions authors have appealed to the Society to enforce their evident rights. The result has been in every way satis- factory. On one or two occasions authors them- selves, by taking a firm stand, have succeeded in obtaining the just reward for their labours when the work has been done ; but there are still many who lie quiet under this form of injustice, and prefer to bear the burden of their misery rather than to make an outcry. Sometimes because they are regularly employed by the editor of the paper, and do not wish to run the risk of losing their salary in order to obtain a few more pounds ; sometimes because the obituary notice may be unexpected work from a big paper, and they do not want to lose even the prospect of further work. Or, again, because they do not care whether they obtain the money or not. Whatever may be the reason that prompts the action, the editor’s point of view is, at any rate, impossible. Legally, the work must be paid for on delivery, if it is up to standard and satisfactory to the editor; unless an arrangement has been made with the author before he commences the work, that he is not to receive payment until the death of the subject. If any authors or journalists—it is common knowledge that there are such—have not been able to obtain their money under the above circumstances, and yet desire to do so, their best plan will be to put the matter before the Committee of the Society of Authors. — oe A Question of Title. Suit or “Le THeATRE,’ OF Paris, AGAINST “Tur THEATRE,’ oF New York, LOST BY Foreign PuBLIcATION. The Paris tribunal has just rendered judgment in the suit brought by the publishers of the French magazine Le Theatre against The Theatre, of New York. The result is a victory for the American publication, its French contemporary having failed THE AUTHOR. to obtain satisfaction in any single one of the charges contained in the complaint. The suit was brought some time ago by the Paris firm of Manzi, Joyant & Co., publishers of the French periodical known as Le Thédtre. It was charged by the complainants, among other things, that Zhe Theatre was a wilful imitation of the French periodical, and that its publication injured the sale of the French periodical, since many persons purchased Zhe T'heatre, mistaking it for the French magazine. Messrs. Meyer Brothers & Co., in their answer, denied that The Theatre had ever been misrepresented by them as being an American edition of Le Thédtre. They pointed out that The Theatre is printed in the English language, and deals almost exclusively with the American stage, whereas Le Thédire is printed in the French language, and deals almost exclusively with the French stage. ——»——_ The Retail Price of Books. Justice LEVENTRITT has declined to grant the application made to him on behalf of the plaintiff in the suit of Straus against the American Pub- lishers’ Association, for a temporary injunction restraining the defendant from interfering with the book-selling business of Macy & Co. The American Publishers’ Association is an organisation of publishers who have banded themselves together to maintain for one year the retail prices of copyright books, and within certain limits to govern the maximum discount to be allowed on certain other books.’ The association’s members bind themselves not to sell to any book dealer known to cut prices, or to any wholesaler who will sell to such a cut-price dealer. Plaintiff alleges that this agreement of the publishers is a combination in restraint of trade, and as such is in violation of the statutes of the State and of the Federal laws, and he asks for $100,000 damages, as well as for a permanent injunction forbidding the defendants from pur- suing the terms of their agreement against Macy & Co. The temporary injunction just denied was asked for in connection with this suit, which now take its place for trial in the regular order. The American Booksellers’ Association, an organisation of retailers reaching throughout the country in connection with the American Pub- lishers’ Association, is made a co-defendant in the suit. The plaintiff sets forth that bookselling is a part of the regular business of Macy & Co., who have developed it profitably by selling at a small per- centage of profit for cash only and not at all on credit, and alleges that publishers have habitually  THE AUTHOR. fixed a list price for books which as a matter of fact only the uninitiated purchasers have been com- pelled to pay; and the statement is made that the defendant associations have interfered with the plaintiff’s business by discriminating against the plaintiff and forcing plaintiff to resort to secret and cumbrous methods to procure the books whose prices it is desired to protect. The defendants deny that their organisation is in restraint of trade or is in any sense in control of the fixing of prices. On the contrary they assert that there is the keenest competition among the various publishers in the association; that each publisher fixes for himself the retail price at which his copyright books shall be sold; that the association does not even attempt to fix the price which may be made at wholesale ; and that the association is merely the expression of the joint effort of the publishers to assist each other in establishing the retail prices at which their own books shall be sold. This right of protection has been upheld in the Appellate Division in a suit brought by a drug firm against the Wholesale Druggists’ Associa- tion, and Justice Leventritt, in denying the appli- cation for a temporary injunction, says that his own views of the legality of the defendants’ acts, as they find support in the very persuasive opinion of the Supreme Court of Georgia in the case of Brown against the Jacobs Pharmacy Company, must yield to the controlling law of this Depart- ment as expressed in the suit of J. D. Park & Sons against the National Wholesale Druggists’ Association. He adds that there is no substantial distinction in principle between that case and dé this. The contest between the Publishers’ Association, which extends throughout the United States in its : operations, and Macy & Co. has gone on during the two years of the Association’s existence, and now : awaits the determination of the present suit. It is said on behalf of the Association that the pub- lishers are convinced that the Messrs. Straus are contending for a principle ; the rejoinder is made that so are the publishers. —+—~—+ —— A Hard Case. Atjthe February Sessions at the Old Bailey an author and journalist was put upon his trial upon the charge of having robbed his agents, or rather, a firm who seem to have described themselves as “The Clarke and Hyde Press Agency,” by obtain- ing from them certain payments under false pretences. We hasten to say that the gentleman In question was acquitted without his counsel, Mr. H. C. Biron, being called upon to address the 137 jury, and that there was no evidence that he had Gas otherwise than as a perfectly honourable The facts of the case exhibit a phase of literary agency that will be new to many of our readers, and will serve as a warning to them as to the dangers that may follow if they embark upon financial engagements without caution. The de- fendant is a contributor to magazines and popular publications upon general and popular subjects. He entered into an agreement with the prosecutors Charles John Lavington Clarke and Bernard John Hyde, under which he placed his own work, while it was agreed that whenever he had an article of his authorship accepted he should be paid by Clarke and Hyde at once the price that he had agreed to receive for the article upon its appearance in print, less a commission of 20 percent. He also agreed to hand over the full price upon receiving it from the editor or publisher, while he bound himself to take all possible steps to recover it, and further agreed to allow sums not recovered and paid over to Clarke and Hyde to be deducted from future payments due from them to him. In these circumstances it might have been thought that the firm of “agents” were sufficiently protected in their dealings, for the author bound himself to adhere to this agree- ment for all his work. It so happened, however, that after the agreement had been carried out without any hitch for some time the anthor drew payment from them in respect of literary matter which, though accepted in advance, had not been yet written, and in respect of an article with regard to which some misunderstanding apparently took place between the editor and himself—a misunder- standing easily explained. With regard to an article agreed for beforehand, there was some delay owing to a collaborator being ill, and with regard to other matters some difficulty or delay arose in the obtaining of photographs for illustrative pur- poses. In these circumstances the firm with whom he had agreed for advances of his payments, and who had made him advances on the strength of his statements that the articles were accepted, appear to have conceived the idea that he had robbed them and obtained the money under false’ pre- tences. Some statement by an editor or a pub- lisher may have been misunderstood by them ; we are not in a position to criticise their conduct fully. They did, however, in fact, instead of resorting to their obvious civil remedy or repaying themselves under their agreement, adopt criminal proceedings. The author was prosecuted criminally, he was actually indicted and tried at the Old Bailey, and was acquitted, as we have stated, without any blame for his conduct resting upon him. It is a strange story, a terribly sad one to those who appreciate the shock, the anxiety, the 138 sorrow and the loss, to the gentleman who through no fault of his own was involved in it, and to all personally connected with him. Those who read of it will see that at the bottom of the whole matter lies the practice of editors or proprietors of perio- dical literature to accept articles, to keep them for indefinite periods of time, and to pay for them only upon publication. The author may be a poor man wholly dependent upon his pen. If he be, he may be lured into entering upon such an agreement as we have described with persons who will treat him as the prosecutors treated the defendant. Their agreement was one sufficiently profitable to themselves for them to have lost nothing by forbearance, if in fact they considered themselves in any way wronged. Many articles accepted are published and paid for within three months, and the author in this instance agreed to abide by the prescribed terms for all his work. T'wenty per cent. in such cases of payment within three months would show a profit at the rate of not less than eighty per cent. per annum. In the same way articles paid for within six months would mean forty per cent. ; and even when work was only paid for after a delay of four years, the money-lenders (for a transaction such as this, in fact, is one of money lending) would realise five per cent. per annum interest, which most people are glad to be able to obtain with moderate security. It is the old story of the weak and the strong, the weak being the author in need of money, and without enough fame to constitute strength, and the strong the persons able to meet his pecuniary requirements. It will be seen that the weak for- feited twenty per cent. of his income as the penalty of his weakness. It must not be supposed that we condemn in all cases the withholding of money from contributors until the article has been sub- mitted to the public. To pay altogether unknown contributors in advance might open the door to frauds upon editors more widely than it is open already, for editors cannot be omniscient, and may -at any time be offered matter already published by some idle thief who has stolen it from an old magazine or newspaper. ‘The article, however, should be submitted to the public within a reason- able time from the date of acceptance, and not retained for one, two, or three yeurs, as is not unfrequently the case. With authors known to the editor there is no reason why the transaction should not be completed at once by payment. In existing circumstances, it is, ay a rule, advis- able that an author should make a definite contract that the money should be paid by a fixed date or on publication, whichever event may first occur. Many editors do their business on these lines already. be eg een og: See THE AUTHOR. BOOK AND PLAY TALK. —1—>—+—_ N the important and very widely read interview with our President, Mr. George Meredith, published in a recent issue of the Manchester Guardian, he made a most interesting personal statement. ‘I suppose,’ he said, “I should regard myself as getting old—I am seventy-four. But I do not feel to be growing old either in heart or mind. [I still look on life with a young man’s eye. I have always hoped I should not grow old as some do—with a palsied intellect, living back- wards, regarding other people as anachronisms because they themselves have lived on into othe times and left their sympathies behind them with their years.” With regard to Imperial politics, Mr. Meredith asks, “ Do our people know what Imperial prin ciples are?” He considers that we have yet to be instructed in them. He goes on to say :— “We call ourselves Imperial, and we believe that we are allied to the Australians and Canadians, but apparently there is no parliamentary notion, or even any publi recognition of what forces and principles animate an move these colonial democracies. They are moying ahead of us in certain directions, and can we, if we are to main tain a close relation with them, remain as we are? I Australia, for instance, they have given the suffrage to women. Are we going to do the same here? I cannot see how we are to keep united in a great Imperial system unless there is a very close agreement between our separat political systems.” Mr. H. Rider Haggard’s “Rural England Being an account of Agricultural and Socia. Researches carried out in the Years 1901 and ~ 1902,” has been very widely reviewed. It i certainly a book to buy for one’s library. A writer in the Contemporary Review truly says 0 jt: “ As a faithful and, within its limits, complet picture of rural England at the close of the nine teenth century, I think it will live for man generations to come.” Rural England is in two” volumes (36s. nett), and contains twenty-three agricultural maps and seventy-five illustrations — from photographs. Professor Edward Dowden is the able editor o the “ Cymbeline” in Messrs. Methuen’s edition o the “ Arden” Shakespeare, which is being issued — under the general editorship of Mr. W. J. Craig. “ Cymbeline” is nearly ready for publication. Lieut.-Colonel Newnham Davis has in hand book to be called “The Gourmet’s Guide to- Europe.” Mr. Algernon Bastard is collaborating — with him in this. It is to be published next month by Mr. Grant Richards, and it deals wit the cuisine of all the countries of Europe and th chief restaurants of the capitals, sea-ports, an “ show ” towns, where there is anything interestin from a gourmet’s point of view to be found.  f _ This unique book is to be free from any suspicion xt te of the trail of the advertiser, as no advertisement uote of any kind will be allowed in it. There will be sods about 260 pages in the volume, and its price will 2 8@ be either 3s. 6d. or 5s. ve —sMrrs. Hinkson (‘ Katharine Tynan”) has just ‘oyee} issued through Mr. Eveleigh Nash a novel entitled 1 A* “ A Red Red Rose.” In the autumn of this year evel! Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. will publish another feyon novel of hers, “The Honourable Nollys.” Besides eyed: these Mrs. Hinkson has just completed another soyo8 novel, and is now busy finishing a book for girls. ~~ Messrs. Blackie are publishing volume by ~\lo9 volume the ‘‘Cabinet of Irish Literature,” the new ibe edition of which Mrs. Hinkson edited for them. ei She has been finishing the proofs of the fourth uploy volume. _ Mrs. Marie Connor-Leighton is at present writing * ow) two long serial stories which are appearing con- “ide currently in Answers. She is also writing a serial ‘a0 for the London Magazine, which started in last 08 month’s number, and is called “ Was She Worth iit?” and there will appear very shortly (Grant ci91 Richards) a story entitled, “In God’s Good ‘afi Time,” by this prolific authoress. wf _ All work announced as by the author or authors »* Tof “Convict 99” and “Michael Dred” is now “di wholly Mrs. Connor-Leighton’s own. Indeed, all sd that she has written during the past five years, “mf amounting on an average to close upon nine “me hundred thousand words a year, is entirely her we Own. ‘| ‘Mrs. Fred Reynolds’ latest novel, “The Man i with the Wooden Face,” will be published very 9 soon by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. The scene is 18 laid in North Wales. The interest centres round * ai the figure of a music teacher, who passes her ' “#8 first holiday, after many years’ drudgery, amongst » ie other paying guests, in a romantic country house in the beautiful valley of Llanartro. About iy si one of the guests, “The man with the wooden face,” there is a certain amount of mystery ; and, @) as is usually the case in idle holidays spent amongst ~ mountains, woods, and babbling streams, the little % god Cupid plays a busy part. | Mrs. Albanesi’s novel, “ Love and Louisa,” is F running well through a second edition. It has ! 8 been published by Lippincott & Co., in America, ‘{ \m@ and is selling very well over there. _ Rita’s new novel, “ Souls,” will be published “shortly by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. It is a 408 stinging satire on certain follies and vices of one ’ 4% of the many sets of present-day society. We have been asked to mention the fact that he article entitled “Ink Drunkards,” in our last THE AUTHOR. 139 issue, was written by Mr. L. Harlingford North. We have much pleasure in doing so, as the article has created some stir. There was a full leader devoted to it in the Morning Post. Mr. Richard Marsh’s new long novel, “The Magnetic Girl,” is to be issued immediately by Mr. John Long. The novel is an amusing one, and very readable. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton’s new story of to-day, “ \ Branded Name,” has finished its serial course, and will be published in volume form by Methuen & Co. on the 19th inst. -The mystery of the novel, although told in the form of fiction, has a solid foundation in fact, and will, to many persons in London society, recall some incidents in the lives of two well-known beautiful women which were much discussed some few years ago without becoming matter of public gossip. Miss Evelyn Sharp is to produce a series of readers for children. Of these there are to be three. The first, now ready, has no words longer than two syllables, and the stories and verses about children are all very short. In the second the words and the stories grow a little longer, and so in the third. Most of the stories are illustrated by pictures taken from photographs of real children. Messrs. Macmillan publish the series. “Little Entertainments,” by Barry Pain (1s., Fisher Unwin), contains 134 pages of amusing reading. ‘The Collector” makes a special appeal to us. We quote the opening, and refer our readers to the little volume for the rest of it :— “The critics speak “Tt may be so,’ said the stranger. sut he is very highly of his Academy pictures this year. not an artist. The point is beyond doubt.” “Why ?” “ Because I know for a fact that he understands—really understands—rates and taxes.” We are sorry to say we have room for only one quotation from “John Bull’s Year Book” for 1908 (1s., John Bull Press, 5, Henrietta Street, W.C.) :-— “Toe ART OF WRITING BOOKS. “ One could not advise the aspiring author to do what a certain publisher is reported to have done, namely, to secure a coyer and write a book to fit it. But it would certainly save trouble if one secured a really good title first and then wrote a book around it. “Two more observations in conclusion, which will not be believed by the worshipper before the shrine of the implacable Geddess of Letters, but which must be made nevertheless. The verses of unknown poets are never accepted for book publication, And there is such a limited market for books of short stories that the publisher will not issue them unless they are the products of genius. Young writers, therefore, should never commence with poems or short stories in approaching the book publisher. The better, nobler, and more satisfactory way is to refrain from writing altogether.”  140 Dr. Emil Reich’s “New Students’ Atlas of English History” is designed to aid the student in comprehending the leading historical facts and movements. It is specially intended as comple- mentary to Green’s “ History of the English People.” In each map only strictly relevant details are admitted. When the maps illustrate the progress of events, or campaigns, a brief chronological summary is given on the page facing the map. There are fifty-five maps in all. The first shows, by arrow-headed lines, the migrations of the German and Celtic peoples into and in Great Britain and Ireland ; while the last show British Africa (three maps), the British Empire as it is to-day ; and finally, by a geographical arrangement of statistics, the distribution of British genius for the various counties in the three kingdoms. The Rev. Charles Voysey has just issued through Messrs. Longmans a book called “ Religion for all Mankind: Based on Facts which are Never in Dispute.” The author tells us in his short preface that “ ‘The following pages are written for the help and comfort of all my fellow-men, and chiefly for those who have doubted and discarded the Christian religion, and in consequence have become Agnostics and Pessimists.” Mr. Voysey offers his book at a price (2s. 6d. nett) which will barely cover the expense of production, that it may be within reach of all, and at the same time give proof that the work has not been done with mercenary aims. Among the illustrated editions which Messrs. Macmillan are including in their Prize Library is Sir Walter Besant’s “ Life of Captain Cook.” We have received a little book entitled “ Arriére Pensées,” by Mr. W. P. Peters (Clark & Co., Paris). It is full of epigrammatic sayings and mottoes, some of which have a touch of humour in addition to the sting. We quote one or two examples :— “Many gather nuts, but few crack them.” “ Every dog has his day, and every cat her night.” “We may take the world as we find it, but we never leave it so.” Geraldine Kemp, the author of “ Ingram,” and an industrious writer of short stories, has contri- buted to a recent number of the “ British Realm” a lever de rideau which she calls “A Comedietta.” It is a bright, crisp piece of writing. Graham Hope’s new novel, “The Triumph of Count Ostermann,” is to be published by Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. on the 9thinst. Peter the Great is one of the chief characters of the story, which begins in 1724. Among recently published novels written by members of the Society “The Little White Bird,” by Mr. J. M. Barrie; “Paul Kelver,” by Mr. Jerome K. Jerome; “The Four Feathers,” by THE AUTHOR. Mr. A. E. W. Mason ; and ‘‘ Fuel of Fire,” by Mi E. T. Fowler, are doing remarkably well, Mr Edward Kennard’s ‘‘ The Motor Maniac ” is sellin well also. Mr. George Cecil has just accepted the editor ship of the Piano Journal, a monthly paper which has been known to the musical public fo many years. It is an excellent little periodica chiefly intended for makers and dealers, and published by William Rider & Son, 164, Aldersga Street, H.C. Mr. W. 8. Walker (“Coo-ee”?) has published through Mr. John Long two interesting stories, They are entitled “ Zealandia’s Guerdon”’ and “ In the Blood.” The latter has sixteen illustrations by John Williamson. Both tales are very read- able; ‘Coo-ee” so evidently writes from & thorough personal knowledge of Australian char- acter and Bush life ; he shows, too, in ‘ Zealandia’s Guerdon” that New Zealand is familiar to him, Mr. W. Somerset Maugham’s new play “ A Man of Honour” is issued as a literary supplement to the March number of the Fortnightly Review. It was one of the two plays produced by the Stage Society at the opening of its fourth season. Sir A. Conan Doyle, Mr. W. Gillette, and Mr, Charles Frohman have now had the interim ~ injunction made perpetual against Mr. H. S| Dacre restraining him from using the title “Sherlock Holmes” without printing after tha title “ Not the Lyceum Version.” We understand that Mr, Henry Arthur Jones — new three-act comedy of modern life will b produced at the Garrick on March 2nd. Mr. ‘Arthur Bourchier, Miss Violet Vanbrugh, Mr, Sau Sothern, and Miss E. Arthur Jones will be amon those appearing in the caste. Mrs. Hodgson Burnett’s play ‘“ The Littl Princess” has made quite a hit at its matinee performances in New York. “Resurrection,” a dramatised version of Tolstoy great novel, by Henry Bataille and Michael Mortol was produced at His Majesty’s Theatre on the evening of February 13th. The play is admirably staged. There are some fifty dramatis person. The plot of the drama does not, of covrse, kee close in every detail to that of the nov.!. Mr. Tree takes the part of Prince Dimitry Ne aludoff,, and Miss Lena Ashwell is a charming and at th game time life-like Katusha. She hada deservedly enthusiastic reception. Mr. Oscar Ashe was able Simonson. Mr. Lionel Brough played admu ably the part of the merciful merchant in #l jury scene.  THE AUTHOR. r= “The Marriage of Kitty” reached its 200th seq performance on the evening of February 16th. - «90 Our readers will remember that this popular play esy was produced at the Duke of York’s Theatre on joo8 August 19th, 1902, and was transferred some » sa" weeks later to Wyndham’s Theatre to make room / for Mr. J. M. Barrie’s “ The Admirable Crichton.” of We understand that Miss Hilda Spong is to play «9d the réle of the Duchess of Quinton in “The Bishop’s 9volf Move ” when it is produced in New York. r The Feuilleton of the Narodni Listz, one of the joie chief journals of Prague in the Czech language, eey was lately devoted to the work of Mr. James Baker, ‘ ody who has made the Bohemian folk, their land and | ei) its history essentially, his own subject amongst ‘og English writers. The article that is by A. L, salel Jelen is headed “ Our English Friend.” It gives ‘la 8 a sketch of the books and articles Mr. Baker has ‘ivy written dealing with Bohemia and Bohemian life ' bas and history. His two historical novels, ‘The ibis Cardinal’s Page” and “The Gleaming Dawn,” oe adj the scenes of which alternate between England and s.fo@ Bohemia in the fifteenth century, and “ Mark Jif Tillotson,” a modern novel, are about to appear “3 gi in the Bohemian tongue.” +> PARIS NOTES. —+-—<>— + NE of the great events of the month of February in the French literary world was the publication of Zola’s posthumous novel “ Verité.” “f -'This book is the third volume of the series » entitled “ Quatre Evangiles.” The first two were > “Fécondité” and “Travail,” and the last volume ~ of the series, “ Justice,” was not even commenced at the time of the author’s death. It requires a certain amount of courage to com- © mence this book, which is nearly seven hundred - and fifty pages long and very closely written. Had ) the author been spared, he would undoubtedly have - eut it down considerably, as the descriptions are 6! long, there is a certain amount of repetition, and i the story itself is greatly hampered by the excess © of detail. Of course it is evident from the first chapter #) that the author in planning this book was thinking + of the Dreyfus case. The plot is quite different, © bnt the victim, the man who is wrongfully accused, is a Jew. When the sentence is pronounced, we have the description of the state of mind of the friend who has taken up the cause of the unfortu- nate man. It seems as though Zola must have noted down his own impressions during the Dreyfus trial and his desire for the truth. 141 He touches on the attitude of members of various classes of society. We have the bourgeois, the working-man, the wealthy Jewish banker, and the ruined aristocrat who has married the banker’s daughter, There are also priests, bigoted women, Government officials, and, indeed, representatives of most of the prominent types of modern French society. The chief idea of the book seems to be to prove how difficult it is for truth to come out victorious, fettered as it is by the ignorance and prejudices found in every rank of life. Zola attempts to prove that it is only by the education of the masses that any true progress can be made. At the close of the book we have the key-note. “Non! le bonheur n’avait jamais été dans l’ignor- ance il était dans la connaissance, qui allait changer l’affreux champ de la misére matérielle et morale en une vaste terre féconde, dont la culture, d’année en année, décuplerait les richesses. . . . Et, apres la Famille enfantée, aprés la Cité fondée, la Nation se trouvait constituce, du jour ou, par instruction intégrale de tous les citoyens, elle était devenue capable de vérité et de justice.” A most interesting book by Henri D’Alméras, entitled ‘Avant la Gloire,’ was published quite recently. It is the story of the literary career of many of the French modern writers in the days before they were known to the public, and the perusal of the two volumes might be encouraging to many literary aspirants. Among the authors mentioned are: Dumas fils, Goncourt, Daudet, Maupassant, Verlaine, Coppée, Sardou, Halévy, Anatole France, Bourget, Loti, Ohnet, Jules Verne, Margueritte, Charles Foley, and Brulat. Among historical works lately published is the fifth volume of M. Albert Sorel’s ‘‘ L’Europe et la Révolution.” ‘This volume is entitled ‘‘ Bonaparte et le Directoire.” Another historical work is by M. le Comte Fleury, “Les Fantémes et Silhouettes.” In this volume we have studies of the two Princesses de Condé, Lauzun and Madame de Stainville, du Barry, Marie Antoinette, Despreaux, the husband of La Guimard and Madame de Custine. “Le Paradis de Homme,” by Mare Andiol, is a most curious book. It is supposed to be a romance of the future, and the opening chapter is dated 2003 and written from the New-Eden. Several books have already been published anticipating the time when the progress of science and socialism shall have worked wonders for mankind. M. Andiol, however, proves that even in this New-Eden the inhabitants do not find perfect happiness. And a wise old peasant woman declares: “It’s no use expecting from this earth what it does not give.”  142 As regards magazines and reviews, there have been several fresh ventures recently here in the way of Anglo-French publications. it is now about a year ago since Miss Nina Estabrook started an illustrated paper called Paris- World. It is a monthly review containing short articles and sketches on Parisian topics. The early numbers would appeal, perhaps, more to ‘Americans than to an English public on account of the illustrated interviews and the “ writing up” of people whose fame is merely social. The last numbers of this paper are greatly improved, some of the illustrations are excellent, and if only certain pages could be replaced by a few literary articles the little magazine would do great credit to its editor. It has hitherto been chiefly cir- culated in Paris and America, but the idea now is to make it an organ of Parisian news for London and for the American and English colonies in all the European capitals. Another periodical which has appeared here within the last few weeks is The Weekly Critical Review, a sixpenny journal devoted to literature, music, and the fine arts. It is edited by M. Arthur Bles, and among its long list of contributors are names such as MM. Jules Claretie, Francois Coppée, Gustave Larroumet, Paul Bourget, Auguste Rodin, Jules Verne, Coquelin cadet, Huysmans, etc. It contains articles in English and French, and, judging by the way in which it is being taken up, it appears to have supplied a need. There are numbers of people who read French and English with equal facility, and for them it is most interesting to find a paper publishing the thoughts and ideas of literary men, artists and musicians either in English or French, as the case may be. There is no vulgarity whatever about this new review, and in these days this certainly is refreshing. There is a portrait of some celebrity given away with each number, but there are no other illus- trations. Still another periodical has commenced here in two languages, English and French, but in this case the articles are all translated and given in both languages. The International Theatre is the title of this new venture, and the only wonder is that dramatic authors and theatrical people generally should have existed so long without such a magazine. It is published monthly, and contains an account of theatrical events in all parts of the world. A monthly report in French and English is given of the plays produced in Paris, Vienna, London, Berlin, Rome, St. Petersburg, New York, etc. Through the medium of this paper authors can follow the career of their plays round the world. There seems no doubt whatever but that this review will have immense success, There are THE AUTHOR. excellent photos of artistes and dramatic authors of every country, and some most interesting articles written specially for the paper by celebrities in the theatrical world. The February number contains an interview with M. Sardou on the subject of the play ‘ Dante,” which he has written with M. Moreau for Sir Henry Irving. There is also an article on the “Dickens Theatre,” by John Hollingshead. The editor of the International Theatre is M. Gaston Mayer, son of the well-known impressario who has, for the last thirty years, managed the French plays in London. M. de Beer acts as manager of the new magazine, which is published in Paris. There seems to be great enterprise this year with regard to English publications in Paris. The new edition of English books brought out by Mr. Fisher Unwin for Continental circulation is a great boon to the English-speaking colony in European countries. Hitherto we have had to put up with the Tauchnitz edition, which is so badly bound in its paper cover that it comes to pieces in the hand. If only other English publishers would supply @ similar edition to the “Unwin Library,” the Tauchnitz firm would have to improve their edition or retire. Mr. Calmann Levy supplies the “ Unwin Library” in Paris. There is to be a great treat for art-lovers at the beginning of April. The two hundred and forty-five original draw- ings by Maurice Leloir, for Alexandre Dumas’ “ Dame de Monsoreau,” are to be sold, and there is to be a private exhibition of them in the Galerie des Artistes Modernes on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of April. There is an illustrated catalogue of the draw- ings, some of which are most quaint. ‘At the theatres one of the excitements has been Madame Sarah Bernhardt’s new interpretation of Hermione in Racine’s “‘ Andromaque.” M. Saint- Saens wrote some music for it to give foree to the most exciting passages. The International Theatre has just given us a German play, “ Jeunesse,” by Max Halbe, trans- lated into French by Myriam Harry. M. Bour was excellent as the German student, and M. Bauer very fine as the idiot. There are two priests in the play, and this is probably why there was so much excitement about it when it was played in Germany. The fine acting carried it through well in Paris. « Bloradora” has been adapted from the English, and is now being played at the Bouffes Parisiens. Auys HALLARD. —_—_——_+-—>—+>—__—_ THE AUTHOR. PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS AND AUTHORS’ RETURNS. —+—> + A Comparison. N the January Author certain facts and figures, intimately connected with nett books and publisher's profits, were put forward for con- sideration. It is more than probable that an endeavour will be made to deny the figures, and to prove the deductions arrived at to be false. Mathematics have never been an exact science in the opinion of an adversary, and a syllogism never anything but a useless figure of speech. Another evident criticism of the article would state that the prices were based on the whole of the edition selling, and that only one book in thirty pays its way, or, as a music publisher asserts, 2 per cent. of the published songs succeed. But there is no need why the author should suffer in order that the publisher may be allowed to gamble. Or in other words, each book should stand by itself, and from the author’s point of view must always do so. To those who do not remember the figures set forth it is as well to repeat them. The cost of production of 1,050 copies of a book of 640 pages, with a fair amount included for advertising, costs £170. The book sells at 12s. 6d. nett. W = the amount per copy of the cost of pro- duction. X = the royalty per copy paid to the author. Y = theamountof the publisher’s profit percopy, Z the amount of bookseller’s profit per copy. W+X+Y+2Z= 12s. 6d. = 150d. In the former article, which contained the detailed particulars of figures and calculations, the equation worked out as follows— 42°94 + 15 + 50°06 + 42 = 150. Or 3s. 6°94d. + 1s. 8d. + 4s. 2-06d. + 3. 6d. = 12s. 6d. Take these figures! Consider them! Turn them about! Look at them under changing lights! They will afford food for thought. The publisher takes the lion’s share. It must be remembered that throughout the calculations care has been taken to state his profits at a low figure, the only advantage that has been given him—let us be quite fair—that the full edition of 950 copies (not 1,050) has sold. The bookseller, who does little beyond purchasing the book at one price and selling it at another, Teceives not +’; of a penny less than the printer, the binder, etc. {who have done all the mechanical work, The author, whose expenditure of time, to say nothing of anything else, hag been the greatest, comes in nowhere. 143 The proportion of profits may be made more clear by stating them in percentages. Thug :— 28°63 + 10 + 33°37 + 28 = 100. So that if 950 copies are sold, and the author Tecelves 10 per cent. royalty, the publisher obtains : 1. The return of the amount he invested. 2. Sufficient to pay the author’s royalty. 3. Almost a cent. per cent. profit. If the sales take place within one year the result is eminently satisfactory. If within two years, he has made about 50 per cent. If within four years, 25 per cent. The publisher, anxious to join in the debate, at once leaps to his feet, and with much waving of arms, bursts into reply Firstly, that the figures of the cost of production are wrong. Secondly, that the whole edition has sold out— a fact almost unparalleled in the annals of publishing. Thirdly, that the author’s royalty is absurdly understated, as it is well known that authors now- a-days, etc., ete. In answer to the first joinder of issue, let the publisher produce his own figures. If he can show them to be reasonable market prices for printing, paper, and binding, there is nothing to fear. In answer to the second, let us consider the figures alittle further. How many copies must the publisher sell at 9s. to be able to pay for the cost of production and to leave 30d. profit on each copy, so that he may have an equal profit with the author, that is 15d. for himself and 15d. for the author—15d. being 10 per cent. on the published price of the book. 12s. 6d. = 150d. The sum is a very simple one :— 30d. = 5 sixpences. 9s. = 18 sixpences, £170 = 6,800 sixpences. Let X = the number of copies that must be sold. 18 X = 68004+5 X. 13 X = 6800. X= 523°07. The publisher, therefore, who sells 524 copies— surely not an unreasonable sale—receives a fraction over the amount received by the author. But it is of the utmost importance to remember that 10 per cent. on the published price has nothing to do with the percentage on the capital invested. The capital invested is £170. The sum which the publisher receives on each copy is 9s. From this he deducts 1s. 3d. for the author’s royalty, and 3s. 6°94d. represents the capital which he has invested. : The sum, therefore, which he receives for 524 copies is, after deduction of the author’s royalty— 524 x 7s. 9d. = 4,061s. = £208 1s. ; : or, after deducting £170, the cost of production, £33 1s.; and this is the publisher’s profit.  144 In order to express the amount as a percentage, the following statement must be considered : 33°05 170 : 100 2: 33°05: Se 1941. é The publisher’s profit, therefore, exceeds 19 per cent. of his invested capital when only 524 copies are sold in twelve months. Sometimes as many as 524 copies would sell on subscription — that is, when the book is being placed before the trade at the date of, or just prior to, publication. Then with, say, six months’ credit, the publisher would make 38 per cent. Take the darker side: 524 copies only sell in two years, even then the publisher makes 93 per cent.—a not unreasonable investment for his money. If the whole edition—that is, 950 copies—are sold within the twelve months, by a similar process of reasoning—it is unnecessary to work out the figures—the publisher gains £198 2s. 6d. That is, the publisher’s profit on his investment of £170, to express the same in the form of a percentage : 170 : 100 +; 198125 ; 100 x TAS 729 — 316-55; or the publisher makes more than 1164 per cent. per annum on the capital he invests, supposing he sells the edition within the year. If the edition sells in two years, he makes 58% per cent. ; if in three years, over 38 per cent. Tn answer to the last statement, the author’s royalties are what a process of bargaining will make them ; for the well-known writers of fiction 10 per cent. is absurdly low. The book is pub- lished at 6s., and all the figures have been placed before Members on many occasions. But when a book is published at 12s. 6d., it is not infrequently a volume of memoirs, a bio- graphy, or a book of travel, and is the property of the too confiding one-book man. He knows not the price of literary wares. He is ignorant of publishers’ methods ; or, perhaps, as the book is written in leisure moments, he is only too glad to get anything for it, and proceeds all unwittingly to undersell his brethren of the pen. The one-book man is the natural prey of the publisher, who reaps a golden harvest at the rate of 10 per cent. on all copies sold, or at even lower figures, such as 10 per cent. after the sale of 100, 200, or even as high as 500 free of royalty. However, let us give the publisher the benefit of his third and last objection. The sum to be considered is that divided between the author and publisher : 15 + 50°06= 65°06. The publisher receives for the book a sum of money which enables him to pay (1) the cost of THE AUTHOR. production, (2) the author’s royalty, (3) a profit to himself as a percentage on his capital. Now the following table will show that even if the publisher’s objection is sustained, and the whole edition sells within a year at the rate of 30 per cent. to the author on the published price, he reaps 46°71 per cent. on his capital. Publisher’s inte- Author’s Author Publisher rest on capital in- royalty receives receives vested per cent. per cent. per copy. per copy. per annum, 74d. 4s. 9°81d. 134°39 10 1s, 3d. 4s. 2°06d. ... 116°55 12 1s. 6d. ... Ss. 11:U6d. 1.) 10571 15 1s. 10$d.... 38. 6°81d. 99°69 20 25. 6d. ..,, 28. 11060... 81°64 25 38: lad. ... 28. 3°81d. 64°76 30 3s. 9d. ... 18. 8°06d. 46°71 35 4s. 4¢d. ... 1s. 081d. 29°80 40 5s. Od. Os. 506d. 11°78 It is possible that a further objection may be raised. ‘Che publisher will say, “ You have taken the sale of limited numbers of the edition when the author receives 10 per cent.; and, again, you have taken various royalties to the author when the whole edition is sold. But what of the pub- lisher’s profit when the author’s royalty is high and the whole edition does not sell ?” Supposing, then, the author’s royalty is 15 per cent., 20 per cent., 25 per cent., how many copies must the publisher sell to make his profit on each copy equal to that of the author, and what interest per cent. does this in each case represent upon his investment of £170, if the copies are sold within the twelve months ? The problem is how many copies must the pub- lisher sell at 9s. to be able to get back his capital, £170, expended on the cost of production, and to have for himself a sum equal to that which he pays the author. The cost of production is always £170 = 3,400s. = 40,800d. The sum which the publisher receives for each copy is always 9s. = 108d. Let X in each case represent the number of copies which must be sold. Then, in the first case, the author receives & royalty of 15 per cent. =x a. = 22°6d. The publisher must have, to divide equally between himself and author 2 x 225d. = 45d. upon each copy sold. 108 X = 40,800 +45 X. 63 X = 40,800. T= 6176 The publisher must sell 648 copies. To find his THE AUTHOR. profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 = 40,800d., we must write, 100 x 22°5 x 648 . 28 ODA . es As 40,800 : 100 3: 22°5 x 648: oh 22:5 x 648 408 Secondly, when the author’s royalty is 20 per cent., z.e. 30d. The publisher must have, to divide equally between himself and the author, 60d. = 5s. on each copy sold. And the calculation can be made in shillings. 9 X = 3,400 + 5X. 4X = 3,400. X= 650. The publisher must sell 850 copies. To find his profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 = 3,400s., he must write, As 3,400: 100 ::2°5 x 850: 34 It is deserving of remark that the publisher’s gain per cent. creases (in consequence of the larger sale and the larger consequent profit on each copy), although he is giving a larger royalty to the author. But a point exists at which he is no longer able to share equally. Thus: in the third case, when the author’s royalty is 25 per cent., 7.e. 37°5d. per copy. The publisher must have to divide equally between himself and the author 75d. on each copy sold. 108 X = 40,800 + 75 X. 33 X = 40,800. X= 1,236°6. The publisher must sell 1,237 copies. This he cannot do, having only 950 copies for sale. That is to say he cannot give the author a royalty of 25 per cent., and himself reap an equal profit per copy. And this appears also in the table given above, where it is shown that at a royalty of 25 per cent. the publisher’s profit per copy becomes less than the author’s, even if the whole edition is sold, but yet his profit on his capital when paying the author 25 per cent. is substantial. It is 64°76. All possible objections have now been met. It is clear that with a limited sale, and with royalty that to some may appear large, the publisher’s profit is still substantial. If it does not quite = 85°7. 100 x 2°5 x 850 _ 3,400 equal that of the author in some cases, it is no small percentage on the capital invested. Workers in other lines of business would be pleased if they could reckon on such a profit. 145 If publishers grumble about their losses it can only be accounted for by the fact that that vice which is gradually pervading and destroying all legitimate trade has caught them also. They are eng with books, as others with stocks and shares, _ THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS. +4 The Bookseller. HE question of “The Distribution of Books” having been taken up by 7he Author, it is to be hoped that the whole subject may be thoroughly threshed out. Mr. MacLehose has, at the beginning of his interesting article, modestly pleaded that the question deserves more attention than is usually given it. That is putting the point temperately. Any one who contended that the distribution of books is at the present moment the most important of all accessory literary problems would be probably ‘not far from the truth. The facts require to be dragged into day- light, and the whole situation to be made plain. And that any one who can assist in any way to. this end will be doing good service must be the present writer’s excuse for a few remarks upon one aspect of the subject from one who can make no pretence to be either fully acquainted with all its bearings or by any. means so well informed as Mr. Mac- Lehose» The general obscurity and uncertainty at présent existing respecting the methods and complications of the distribution of books exactly resemble those which obtained concerning the cost of production before Sir Walter Besant, in the early years of the Society of Authors, brought the previously carefully concealed facts to light. The cost of production has long ceased to be a secret. And there is no reason why the methods by which books are distributed should remain one, if the interested parties (and they are many) choose to have the facts made plain. If the Society of Authors can assist to this desirable end, a service will be rendered, not to authors only, but also to the reading public, and to the publishers. That sales should increase is as much to be desired by these last as by any one else. That the distributing machinery is unsatisfactory and out of gear is undeniable. Wherever we find simultaneously existing a producer who cannot sell the commodity which he produces and a purchaser desirous of obtaining the same commodity unable to procure it, the method by which the commodity is distributed is evidently faulty. This is at present the case in the book trade. Authors cannot command really popular sales;  146 publishers cannot secure remunerative ones. And at the same time the larger part of the reading public—a public which would be larger than it is if its tastes were not systematically thwarted— cannot procure the books it desires. The outcry of the impossibility of getting books is universal. Every one has heard it in all forms, ranging from the complaint of the subscriber of the circulating library who reads only for amuse- ment (the most laudable, excellent, and improving of all amusements), andsdeclares “ One can never get what one wants,” to the protest of the scholar who knows how small are the number of shops at which he has any chance of procuring the works necessary for his studies—if he can procure them at all. In the suburbs and in the country the people who will have books send to town for them, in some cases take railway journeys to procure them ; the scholar makes laborious extracts at the public libraries of the matter which he requires, because to get the actual works is impossible. But the ordinary reader or purchaser will not, of course, take all this trouble. He simply goes without what is difficult to procure, declines to purchase what he cannot see, and deserts a market .at which his custom is discouraged. -~ On the other side the cry is that the unproduc- tive stock of books, whether new or old, remains on the hands of the publisher and bookseller. To dispose of it is impossible. Yet there is probably not a book in the world which some one would not purchase on the spot if it were placed before him. Mr. MacLehose appears to assign the larger part of the responsibility for this unsatisfactory state of things to the publisher. The present writer has no wish to dispute the conclusions of a man better informed than himself; but he believes that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate the lethargy and incapacity of the ordinary retail bookseller. ‘These retail booksellers are the final link between the author and the public. They are the distributing agents on whose capacity the publishers’ profits largely depend. They are the salesmen whose place it is to encourage the larger outlay of money upon books by the general public. There are, no doubt, booksellers and booksellers. There are booksellers (how few ! ) who if, reversing the discount system, they were to add twenty-five per cent. to the price of the books which they sell, might justly claim that their wares were cheap at the enhanced price. The scholar who has to take up some difficult subject, and is in doubt from which works the new knowledge which he requires can be most rapidly and most surely obtained, if he has a bookseller capable of affording him the information which he wants, able to mention up- to-date books not to be found in encyclopedias and THE AUTHOR. bibliographies, able to state which work stands highest in the estimation of experts, and prompt to furnish information respecting the appearance of new works on a special subject, would gladly pay 25s. instead of 20s. for the advantage of being immediately provided with the very works he wanted. ‘The man whose time is money, in need of some uncommon work, would find it an economy to pay the enhanced price to have a work, of which he stood in immediate need, instantly handed to him across the counter. But the booksellers able to render such services are extremely rare ; and they do not put twenty-five per cent, on to the price of their books. But the vast majority can be called booksellers only on the principle of dwcus a non lucendo. If asked why they do not stock books, they simply reply that they cannot sell them. And in many cases the reason why they cannot sell them is simply that they do not know how to do so. In a recent number of 7he Author figures were given which showed that in the case of the nett book the bookseller’s profit is less only by an insig- nificant fraction than the whole sum paid for pro- duction, the earnings of the paper-maker, com- positor, printer, and binder—in fact, the price of the whole of the mechanical labour. And all that the bookseller does is to procure the book, perhaps paying a trifle for carriage, and to hand it across the counter. Yet he cannot make these severe labours remunerative | That appears at first sight strange. But it is not so very strange if the capacities of the ordinary bookseller are taken into account. As an instance of what these can be, may the writer mention a recent experience ? Happening to require a cheap copy of the poems of Milton for marking, and not being in a hurry for it, he ordered a “Chandos Classics’? Milton from a suburban bookseller. It was never delivered. But at the end of a fortnight the bookseller found energy enough to send a messenger to say that the book could not be procured. When asked for the same afternoon at the shop of one of the cash booksellers in the Strand, it was of course produced at once Whether idleness, ignorance, mere forgetfulness, & disinclination to supply the book, or 4 combination — of all these, led the suburban bookseller to say that the work could not be procured, the Powers above — know. He asserts that bookselling does not pay — —in his case, naturally. Curiosity prompted a different experiment upon the tobacconist who has a shop nearly opposite the able bibliopole, and, like many of his trade, at the same time plies the business of a newsvendor. This time the work was a learned one on Egyptology. “If I give you the title and the publisher's address can you procure it?” ‘JI can procure it at once if  you will give me only the title,” was the immediate reply. And the book arrived the same evening, That a bookseller could, if he chose, procure a book as easily as a tobacconist could is evident. If booksellers of this kind are losing their custom, so much the better. The country would be benefited by the bankruptcy of the whole lot and the transference of their trade to more competent hands. All over the country the case is more or less the same as in the suburbs—rather more than less. In the provinces it is generally known that only the address of an enterprising London cash book- seller is necessary to make the purchase of the books sent by post from town easier, cheaper, more expeditious, and much more likely to result in what is wanted arriving than any dealings with the local bookseller. Often the local bookseller will give only 2d. in the shilling discount, whilst the London house gives 3d. The London house io charges the carriage. But if the book is of any 5 considerable price the difference of the discount more than covers carriage. So the local trader arranges that the purchaser shall not be left with- out a single reason for sending to London. * __ Afterwards he discovers that bookselling does not *{ +=pay—naturally. So far, however, we are dealing with a small part only of the whole question, the supply of books ordered for cash. Here everything that has to be done is so simple that the purchaser can do it for himself as well as or even better than the local bookseller—when the purchaser knows anything about books, what he wants, and how to write for them. But these people are not really numerous. Unfortunately, the local bookseller is, generally speaking, equally useless to all the rest. First of all, tothe considerable number of people who know little about books, but who will read if they can get what they enjoy reading, but go without books because of the hindrances put in the way of buying them. These people require, in the case of the most ordinary books, the same kind of assistance that a student requires in the pur- chase of technical works. Very frequently they are simply in search of something to read, without having any particular work in view. But they want to see what they are going to purchase. But outside these remain a still larger number who have no intention of purchasing, but will purchase if something that attracts them is placed before them. To all these the ordinary bookseller has nothing to show, because he does not stock. He asserts that it does not pay him to stock, But would it ever pay any one to stock, who knew nothing about what he was stocking, and THE AUTHOR. 147 nothing about the tastes of his customers to whom the stock was to be sold ? The ordinary local bookseller’s acquaintance with the tastes of his customers is aptly illustrated by a characteristic declaration from the lips of a watering-place belle, speaking for herself and her sisters: “Oh, we never read now. They have changed the girls that used to serve at — s library. The girls they had there béfore spent all their Sundays in reading the novels. In con- sequence they could always tell us what we should like. The new girls don’t read novels ; and Mr. — knows nothing about the books, So we found that we never got anything that amused us, and have dropped our subscriptions.” This was clementary ; still, evidence that to have an idea of the tastes of the customer is worth something, This, on the other hand, is what a country bookseller has actually said on the subject of stocking, no doubt under the impression that he was being witty: “He only stocks books by established authors. He cannot be expected to see genius in the cover of a book.” Then why does he not look inside? Is he equally unable “to see genius” there also? He has not the time? But it is well known that any habitual reader can turn over a pile of twenty books in ten minutes, and be sure of detecting by a few hasty glances the two that will afford him the greatest assistance or entertainment. In the case of fiction he may examine fifty in the same time. Why cannot the bookseller equally easily detect the books which he can sell ? And the publishers’ travellers assert that it is by the cover that the country bookseller selects his stock. Evidently stocking cannot pay so long as the salesman is incompetent to choose his stock. Equally evidently his custom will not increase so long as he does all in his power to drive away his customers. Imagine the hosier whose reply to any demand for gloves was, “We do not stock them. But if you will give us the size, quality, and maker’s name, we can get them for you—in about ten days.” On those terms hosiery would not pay. The nett book is a novelty distinctly advantageous to the retailer; and other steps— those for example mentioned in Mr. MacLehose’s article—may be taken to ameliorate his position. But everything will be in vain unless the retail _bookseller chooses to help himself, and to do something to woo back the custom which he has lost, and is still discouraging. If he is incompetent to do that, the sooner the function of book distributing is transferred to more competent agents the better. The most serious aspect of the present situation  148 is, not that the publisher can command no widely distributed competent sellers—though this is serious for the publisher; nor that the author cannot get at the public—which is serious for the author ; but that simultaneously with a wide, if not particularly intelligent, promotion of education, the reading habit is being all over the country discouraged by the inefficiency of the vast majority of booksellers. ——\_o——_+—____—- THE SHORTHAND SUBSTITUTE. > HAVE no pen in my hand ; there is no short- hand writer in the room worrying me to repeat what I said, and asking the way to spell this or that word ; there is no typewriter in front of me with its odious click, click; and yet this article is being evolved rapidly and without effort. Now and again I press a key, but that is all. When I have dictated to the extent of 800 words, I push aside a little lever, place a wax cylinder in a box, label it No. 1, and have no more care or trouble about the matter until the afternoon, when my amanuensis brings me a neatly-typed article for revision. Thanks to an excellent voice recording and reproducing machine, I have done most of my literary work and correspondence after this fashion for some years. The only serious fault I have to find with the system is that in course of time the phonograph comes to be regarded as almost indis- pensable, and that when away from home without my mechanical assistant, literary work of any kind becomes a grievous toil. Undoubtedly there are writers who could not use the phonograph with advantage. Some cannot dictate. In other cases the voice possesses a somewhat muffled quality, which makes the record of it too indistinct for the amanuensis to understand when phonographically reproduced, and [ may say here that women make by far the clearest record. There are, again, authors who are incapable of understanding and managing the most simple piece of machinery, though they somehow seem to learn to use a pen, which is an infinitely more difficult instrument to manage than a phonograph, and takes much longer in the learning. But there are large numbers of authors and journalists by whom the phonograph would be found as useful as I have found it, and for whose advantage I venture to offer some account of my experiences. I have only heard of two authors who use the phonograph—Mr. Guy Boothby and Mr. Houghton Townley—and the output of these is considerable. A few business men use them in their offices instead of shorthand THE AUTHOR. clerks. One whom I know—Mr. Upcott Gill publisher—has used a phonograph for many years for his correspondence. The first question which an author will naturally ask himself is, “Can I do as good work if I dictate as if I write?” This is very largely a personal matter, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the individual. The author who thinks and writes slowly, and whose literary output rarely exceeds 500 words in a day, should, I think, confine himself to the pen, but those who compose about 2,000 words a day or more are likely to keep up a better average quality of work if they dictate than if they write. The reason I express this opinion is that after about 1,000 words have been written with the pen there is acertain amount of bodily fatigue which affects the mind to a certain extent, and towards the end of the day’s work, the quality of the literary matter is inclined to suffer in consequence of the writer’s bodily weariness. As a general rule the literary man should, during and just before his hours of work, avoid anything which tends either to distract or weary him. The phonograph itself is undoubtedly when first possessed something in the nature of a distraction ; but this feeling passes off, and very soon one’s hand does the slight manipulation which ~ is required without conscious reference to the mind, just as the hands of the piano player work mechanically while the eyes and mind of the player are fixed on the page of music. : This question was one which I considered very anxiously in connection with my own work, and the conclusion I came to was that dictated work was, on the whole, as good as work with pen and ink. I was able in this connection, to compare two novels. The first, “Lady Val’s_ Elope- ment,” was written by me in pencil, and as the revised draft was almost illegible, I dictated it to a shorthand writer, making further alterations as I went. After the shorthand notes had been transcribed, I revised the story for the third time and sent it to press. With this I can compare “ Her Wild Oats,” a novel which was dictated in a very few weeks, though the arrangement and scheme of it required many months of work. I can get no indication of which was the better book from the reviews; but it appears to me (if an author is able to judge his own work) that the wholly-dictated book was the better, and from the publisher’s point of view it was by far the most successful. It is shorter and generally less verbose than the written novel, and the dialogue is more crisp. The bocks are long out of print, so I do not hesitate to mention them by name, in order that others may decide whether my judgment is correct or not on this point which is one of considerable importance.  THE AUTHOR, 149 It is a good many years now since the first phonographs were introduced. A serious mistake was then made by the owners of the patent. It was supposed that pretty well everyone would require a phonograph, and that the invention would come into general use for correspondence, business purposes, etc. Instead of manufacturing the machines at a moderate price and selling them, the company merely hired them out on rather high terms, making an arrangement for the lessees to be visited by an inspector from time to time, who would look over their instruments and keep them in order. This system was an absolute failure. The phonographs were little used, but within the last few years they have come into popular favour in the shape of what I may term musical toys. Talking and music reproducing machines ‘of various kinds are now sold at a low price by quite a number of makers, and at the present day the practical and useful side of the phono- graph seems in danger of being lost sight of. The entertainment phonograph is not suitable for literary work, and an unguided author is likely to get a machine which for his particular purpose is of little use. It is well, perhaps, to explain that the phono- graph consists first of a kind of lathe. On the mandrel is placed a wax cylinder. Set your lathe in motion and the cylinder revolves, A turner would cut any circular design he wanted on the wax while in motion by holding a tool of some kind against it. In the phonograph what has to be cut is a fine thread like that on a screw. The tool which cuts this is a fine sapphire point held in position by an arm which travels slowly down the cylinder during its revolutions. In the enter- tainment phonograph a hundred threads are cut on every inch of cylinder. In the machine used for business purposes and by literary men—where it is important to get as many words on a cylinder as possible—the arm travels at half the speed, the sapphire point is finer, and two hundred threads are cut to every inch. The result is a slight loss of sound, but the recording instrument has been so much improved recently that this loss is more than regained, and an ordinary and fairly clear voice is admirably reproduced. The next question is what connection is there between the reproduction of sound and the threads cut in the wax cylinder ? It will suffice now if I say that the sapphire point which cuts the threads is attached to the centre of a round piece of very thin glass. The trumpet into which one speaks conveys the sound waves to this piece of glass, which vibrates according to the sounds striking it. The vibration is necessarily communicated to the sapphire point, which as it cuts the grooves digs into the wax more or less deeply, and at varying intervals according to the nature of the sound thus making what is termed the “ record,” To reproduce the sounds the sharp point is replaced by a round smooth point. This, as the cylinder revolves, goes over the grooves which have been cut by the sharp point, and the indentations in the grooves or threads cause the smooth point to shake, giving exactly the same vibration to the glass plate above it as the plate attached to the sharp point received when the speaking into the trumpet took place. The yibrations or sound Waves now come out of the trumpet instead of into it, and the recorded sounds are reproduced. I do not give this as a scientific description of the phonograph, but it is a description which I think will assist the proposing owner of one of these marvellous instruments, J] particularly wish to emphasize the point that for an author’s use the phonograph should cut two hundred threads to the inch. Each thread, roughly speaking, represents a word. ‘The cylinder is four inches long,* so that if we get two hundred threads to the inch, we can dictate two hundred words to the inch, or eight hundred words on the four-inch cylinder. If on the other hand the author has one of the ordinary machines in common use, with one hundred words to the inch, he is only able to get four hundred words on to a cylinder, and as cylinders have to be shaved after use, this involves double the amount of shaving, and many more cylinders have to be used, which is another consideration, though a very small one. I only know of one firm which makes these two hundred thread machines—the Edison-Bell Phonograph Company, of Charing Cross Road. I bought one of their ordinary standard machines, costing five guineas, and by altering the gear- ing of the lathe, had it turned into a two hundred thread machine without difficulty and without extra charge. This machine I keep for my type- writer’s use for reproducing the records which I make on a much more expensive machine, It will however, make a very excellent record of its own, and would be quite suitable for all purposes if fitted with a better arrangement for lifting the sapphire point off the wax when dictation ceases for a moment or two, and if it could shave cylinders more satisfactorily. The motive power of the little lathe is a spring, which after being wound up, will run for about two cylinders, but in the course of years the spring naturally gets weak, and will not do its work satisfactorily for more than one cylinder. This can of course be remedied by having a new spring. * The Columbia Phonograph Company, of Oxford Street, make a machine for business and literary men, with a six-inch cylinder. They have also shaving machines which are somewhat costly. I have not experimented with these instruments.—J, B. 150 For my own use—for making the records and shaving them—I had to purchase a machine which now costs £15. It has powerful springs which will run four or five cylinders without atten- tion. On this machine there are two little keys ; one marked “ Off? the other “ On.” If I press down the “Off” key, the point is lifted off the wax; on pressing the “On” key the point drops on to the wax again in its former position. In the cheaper machine there is a little difficulty in getting the sapphire point into exactly the same place after lifting it, but this could be easily remedied, andit is possible the company would make the altera- tion for any person requiring a machine of that class. It is of course necessary for the typewriter to stop the sound of the voice at the end of each sentence or two. This is not done by stopping the revolution of the cylinder but by lifting the sapphire point off it. It is obviously important that the point should be lowered into the groove from which it was raised, otherwise time is wasted. For some reasons, an electric motor is very much better than a spring motor forthe phonograph, and I should recommend it where electricity is available without much trouble. In houses fitted with electric light, it is of course available, the 100 volt system being the best. The 200 volt system is too powerful, and the apparatus involved lends to much waste of electricity. A question which will perplex the purchaser is: whether to have a combined recorder and repro- ducer, or two separate instruments.t I do not find that the combined recorder and reproducer possesses any particular advantage. It is not often during the day that the author wishes to reproduce what he has said, and when this does occur, to change the recorder for the reproducer is a matter of a few seconds only. Before buying a phonograph I made arrangements with the company to have from them various types of phonograph with the option of pur- chase, and it was after a somewhat prolonged trial I found the machines I have mentioned to be the best. The larger one is the most highly finished production of the Edison-Bell Phonograph Com- pany, but as I have already said, the cheaper one would answer every purpose if fitted with an arrangement for lifting the sapphire from the wax and for shaving records satisfactorily. The running expenses of these machines after purchase are comparatively slight, for each cylinder can be shaved at least twenty times (the company say fifty times in their price list), As a cylinder costs a shilling, and contains about 800 words, at least + The recorder consists of a round metal frame about 18 in. in diameter, which holds the glass diaphragm and sharp sapphire point. The reproducer is similar but bears the smooth reproducing point. The two can be combined in one instrument. THE AUTHOR. 16,000 words can be dictated at a cost of one shilling for material. When the cylinders get thin a musical or other interesting or amusing record can be made on them. The shaving of cylinders was at the commence- ment, my greatest difficulty. It is a matter of considerable delicacy with any of the cheaper machines—and requires an extremely well-made machine to do it satisfactorily. I may explain that the shaving is done by what is called a knife, but is in reality a flat piece of sapphire with a sharp, slightly convex edge which can be placed in contact with the cylinder, and travels along it while the machine is put at its highest speed. On the cheaper spring motors, such as that in the five guinea machine, I found that one could not get the necessary speed, and the arm holding the knife did not travel with sufficient accuracy to put a smooth surface on the cylinder. On my large machine I could shave the cylinders very well by using the spring motor, but it was a somewhat tedious operation, and of course shortened the life of thespring. Finally I solved the difficulty by having a handwheel (7% in. diameter) apparatus made by a bicycle maker for my large machine. It is placed on the machine in a couple of minutes by means of two thumbscrews. A piece of round solid rubber, with a hook and eye at the end of it to join it, is placed round the shaft of the lathe and over the wheel, and on the wheel being turned, the lathe works at such a high speed that I can now shave a cylinder in less than forty-five seconds and get a perfect surface. People who use phonographs for music and amusement more often buy records ready made than make them, and even after making a record they rarely want to shave the cylinder. When they do they can send the cylinder to the company and get it shaved for them at the cost ofa few pence. But an author who is using four, five and even more cylinders aday could notconveniently send them to the company. The cost of carriage, loss by breakage, and the trouble involved would be too great. For authors and for business pur- poses there is certainly very great need for the five guinea machines and others of moderate price, to be so constructed that they will shave properly, or for a special shaving apparatus to be sold at a reasonable cost. I should add that when the best quality machines are driven by electricity they can be run at such a speed as to render no handwheels necessary, but I would as soon use a handwheel when shaving on a £15 machine as on one electrically driven. It will be seen that as matters at present stand, one is obliged to buy a very expensive machine, or else send the cylinders to the company to be shaved. It may be that the profit on shaving cylinders is so considerable that the Edison-Bell  1 a | THE AUTHOR. and other companies are not disposed to encourage shaving by their customers, but I am sure the policy is a bad one, for many an author would give five guineas for a machine which would record, reproduce, and shave a cylinder well, who would not be disposed or perhaps be able to give fifteen guineas or so for a machine which was not materially better except that it would shave cylinders. I find it a good plan to have a number of cylinders in use and to shave not less than half- a-dozen at a time, a matter of ten minutes or so. As the five guinea machine weighs 17lb., while the £15 machine weighs 541b., the former is by far the more convenient, particularly when travelling, for the phonograph must never be given up to a railway porter. I find that phonographs have several advantages beyond those which are obvious. In the first place the author and his amanuensis can both be working at the same time, which doubles the time the amanuensis can give to transcription. Secondly the author can work at any time it pleases him. Shorthand writers who have to come up to the .study at eleven o’clock at night will not often be found in a very amiable frame of mind. The author who has a phonograph into which he can dictate at night, can please himself as to his hours. Thirdly, the machine is, I need hardly say, an endless source of amusement to one’s friends, for even those made specially for literary and business purposes will reproduce music, songs, etc., with more or less accuracy, and the friend who is not interested in literary matters is sometimes very much interested in the phonograph. And lastly, where members of an author’s family are anxious to assist him in his labours, they can always do so by shaving the cylinders and by writing out for him anything he may dictate into the phonograph, for obviously no knowledge of shorthand is necessary. One of my delights in my leisure moments is to place my phonograph at the back of the piano, ramble about over the keys, and imagine I am composing. The phonograph makes a record of the resulting sounds and enables me to study them and hear what poor stuff Ihave evolved. The instrument may be therefore recommended as a moderator of vanity. The most pleasant way to hear music, or indeed any sounds, reproduced by the phonograph is through thin, hardrubber tubes, the ends of which are connected with the ears like the modern stethoscope. These fine tubes have the curious property of soften- ing away the grating or hissing noise, which is really the reproduction of the noise of the sapphire cutting into the wax, while at the same time increasing and rendering more faithfully than the trumpet the sounds one desires to hear. When a trumpet is~used objectionable sounds are em- 151 phasised, and there is a good deal of metallic vibration as well. I should explain I am referring to the literary phonograph and not those specially constructed for concert use. When dictating it is best to speak into the metal trumpet provided with the machine. It is perhaps interesting to mention that the foregoing remarks are recorded on exactly three cylinders and a half, and therefore in all probability consist of about 3,600 words. JoHN BICKERDYKE. i) CHARLES DICKENS. eS 2 is with much pleasure that we have to record another celebration in honour of Dickens. In last month’s Author we narrated how the Dickens Fellowship took its first practical step by giving a dinner to the poor children of the East End of London, and now the great writer’s memory is being preserved in the City of Bath by the unveiling of a tablet affixed to the house, at 35, St. James’ Square, where Dickens lived during his residence in that city. Some ten years ago it was the fashion to say that Dickens was not read and in another ten years would be forgotten, but with the progress. of time this great artist’s works have sunk more and more into the hearts of readers, and in the last few years we have seen a great Dickens revival, which, no doubt, will continue. ————__+—_>—_+____—- REFLECTIONS OF A REJECTED MANUSCRIPT. 1 MS. in the publisher’s hand is worth two in the author’s. An editor is known by the MSS. he keeps. —and the stamps. Desperate authors require desperate remedies. A poet and his poem are soon parted. In submitting a MS. he who hesitates is a wonder. All is not gold that glitters . . . on book covers. Faint purse never won fair publisher. A true friend is one who laughs at our jokes. It is a wise author who knows his own MS. after . . . it has been blue pencilled. An author’s royalties are often far from royal. No satirist is hero to his own epigram. “Many Happy Returns of the Day ” applies to. the unsuccessful writer all the year round. Water PULITZER.  GENERAL MEMORANDA. ——1—+— ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an agreement. There are four methods of dealing with literary property :— I. Selling it Outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if @ proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society. IJ. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of agreement). In this case the following rules should be attended to: 1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duetion forms a part without the strictest investigation. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise- ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,” unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor ! Ill. The Royalty System. It is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in Lhe Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the 4‘ Cost of Production.” IV. A Commission Agreement. The main points are :— (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production. (2.) Keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book. General. All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four above mentioned. Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author. Never sign any agreement without competent advice from the Secretary of the Society. Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp. Avoid agreements by letter if possible. ‘The main points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are :— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong tothe author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. —___+—<—_e+____—_——_ WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. ———+— EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com- petent legal authority. 2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with anyone except an established manager. THE AUTHOR. 8. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :— (a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT, This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into such a contract should stipulate in the con- tract for production of the piece by a certain date and for proper publication of his name on the play-bills. (b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES on gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a percentage on the sliding scale of gress receipts in preference to the American system. Should obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed date on or before which the play should be performed. (c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (4¢., fixed nightly fees). This method should be always avoided except in cases where the fees are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply also in this case. 4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved. 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and © time. This is most important. 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform, The legal distinction is of great importance. 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words. 8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed- ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration. 9, Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced. 10. An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of this contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication. As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic cou- tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA- TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. —_+——_—__—_ HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. — 2. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion, All this without any cost to the member. THE AUTHOR. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinarysolicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society. 3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note, The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send the document to the Society for examination. 5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the independence of the writer. 6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire- proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers: —(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. 7. No contract should be entered into with a literary agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter- pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society. This The 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. must be done within fourteen days of first execution. Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. 9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do some publishers. Members can make their own deductions and act accordingly. o> THE READING BRANCH. —1—>— + — EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this branch of its work by informing young writers of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and treated as a composition is treated by a coach. ‘The term MSS. includes NoT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The Readers are writers of competence and experience. The fee is one guinea. 6 ae ge NOTICES. a HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 58. 6d. subscription for the year. 153 Communications for The Author should be addressed to the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W., and should reach the Editor NoT LATER THAN THE 21st OF EACH MONTH. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. i) COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE EDITOoR on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other subjects whatever, Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. 1+ THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and he requests members who do not receive an answer to important communications within two days to write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered letter only. AUTHORITIES. HE New Danish Copyright Law has now passed the Upper House, and was signed by the King on the 19th of December, 1902. It will come into operation on the Ist of July, 1903, after which there will be no further difficulty in Danes entering the Berne Convention. We have to express our regret that the name of Lieut.-Colonel G. F. R. Henderson, C.B., was by an error included in the Report among the list of members who had died in the past year. We have watched with great interest the forma- tion of the Artistic Copyright Society for the protection of all original workers in the Arts. If parts of the Literary Copyright Act are unintelligible the Artistic Copyright Acts are abso- lutely chaotic. In many cases the artistic and literary copyright is very closely connected where books are illustrated. For many years now the holders of literary copyright have been striving to obtain a reasonable law. ‘Two years ago consideration of the question was promised in the King’s Speech, but there is, so far, no fulfilment of this promise. Any combination which may aid in bringing about the desired result, and force the woes of the unprotected authors and artists prominently before the Government and the country is of advantage to those who own copyright property. The names of those interested in the new Copyright Association are sufficient guarantee that  154 the matter will be pushed forward with vigour and influence. : We cut the following paragraph, bearing on the Musical Copyright Act, from the issue of The Author, of October, 1902 :— The Musical (Summary Proceedings) Copyright Act is essentially a publishers’ Act. To a certain extent, however, the Act must benefit all owners of musical copyright, whether composers or publishers. A careful perusal of its scope tends to show that the Act, hurriedly conceived, and as hurriedly pushed through the House, scarcely covers the most important difficulties con- nected with this musical piracy. It is unsatisfactory, and only fills a small space in a wide gap. What are the penalties to be enforced? There is no mention of penalty. Are the cheap piratical printers, the arch offenders, to escape the court of summary jurisdiction? It would appear to be the case. The various proceedings that have come before the magistrates from time to time since the Act came into force, seem clearly to demonstrate that our prophecy has been fulfilled. The Act, drafted for the benefit of the music publishers, and carried hurriedly through, does not deal with the difficulties of the question in an adequate manner. Instead of forcing this piece- meal legislation, it would have been much better if the subject had been viewed from a larger standpoint, and the whole question of musical copyright, as well as that of other branches of literary property, exhaustively dealt with. We desire once more to call the attention of the members to the “Conditional Subscriptions ” towards the Pension Fund of the Society, set forth on page 134 of this number. As every day passes the time for fulfilling the conditions grows shorter. Six subscriptions of £10 a year for five years, in accordance with the list set down, have been promised. Another four are wanted. It is earnestly hoped that some of the wealthier members of the Society will come forward to complete the list. The editor of the American Bookman, who is suffering from the over persistence of a contributor, writes as follows :—“ The correspondent who wrote some time ago, asking for our opinion of ‘ Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ from a moral point of view, has now sent us a personal letter about this matter. He says that he ‘ insists’ upon receiving an opinion from us. He encloses an envelope stamped and addressed, and also a blank sheet of paper, so that we shall have no excuse of declining on the ground of expense. This is a very persistent gentleman, THE AUTHOR. but we are pretty persistent ourselves. We said in a former number of this magazine that if he tells us what he thinks about Tess, we will tell him whether we think that what he thinks is correct. This is the best we can do, and’ we stand by it. Meanwhile we have used his postage stamp and sheet of paper for other purposes.” —>—_ ¢ —_— THE NOBEL PRIZE COMPETITION. —1.— + —_ N Wednesday, the 14th day of January, the Nobel Prize Committee met, under the chairmanship of Lord Avebury, in order to make arrangements for the despatch of the voting papers which had been duly collected. Mr. G. Herbert Thring, the secretary, was in- structed to forward them to the Nobel Prize Committee of the Swedish Academy, Stockholm. The letter was duly posted on January 26th, and notification has been received that the votes have arrived safely. It has been deemed advisable to strengthen and enlarge the Committee, and the following gentlemen, on the suggestion of the chairman, have been asked and have consented to jom—Sir William Anson, Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, Mr. George Meredith, Sir Leslie Stephen, and Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace. —————_t—< FROM AN EDITOR’S STANDPOINT. oe IKE the late lamented Archbishop of Canter- bury, I ama beast. Unlike him, I am an unjust beast. I treat my correspondents with a gross and a studied discourtesy. I have a morbid craving for postage stamps, which, dis- honestly retained, form the greater part of my income. If ever I return an MS, before sending it back I crumple it up and play football with it for a week or two. This, or something like it, is the portrait of myself which I discern on holding up before me, as a mirror, the correspondence columns of your entertaining journal. For, alas 1 have reached the lowest depth of moral degradation. Would that I had been content with the criminal notoriety of a burglar in a large way of business, a murderer, or even a War Office official! Beneath the level even of the last I have sunk—I have become an editor ; and uniting a brazen shame- lessness to my other vices, I have the hardihood to defend myself, and to hint that perfect courtesy and reasonableness are not found invariably even in a would-be contributor to the periodical Press. Well, I will invite the casual contributor behind  THE AUTHOR. the scenes. Here is the morning’s post-bag, con- taining, at the least, forty or fifty letters and manuscripts. Three of the latter, I see, are in- sufficiently stamped, and surplus postage has had to be paid on them. MHalf-a-dozen are bursting from their covers, having been done up in the flimsiest of envelopes; the result is they are crumpled and soiled, for which J shall get the credit when those MSS. are returned to their senders. Quite a dozen have come in the form of little cylinders ; it will take me ten minutes to undo these without tearing the pages, and to read them is almost impossible—you release your grip of the page for a moment, and in a flash the thing springs back again into a tight roll. But before dealing with the MSS., I study the letters which accompany them, and others which have come separately. Here are a few samples from this morning’s post-bag. From one of four closely-written pages— * DEAR SiR,—In my opinion, there is no magazine worth comparing for a moment with your brilliant and admirable periodical, while, of all its various features, by far the — is the magnificent editorial article which you your- se sractae At this point I make a rule of skipping promptly to the last paragraph. Ah, here it is—as usual— «|, . no blemish at all, beyond this remarkable lack of a series of, articles on ‘ Antarctic Crustaceans’; and such a series I myself am willing to supply. The price (payable in advance) which I would ask is,” ete., ete. ‘* I shall con- fidently await your prompt and favourable reply.” Well, my friend, you are likely to await it for some time. If you wish to offer a series of articles I shall not be the more disposed to accept it because you introduce your proposal with three pages of rancid compliment. Here is another letter— ‘* Str,—In the last instalment of the serial story (by that popular, but grossly over-rated novelist, X. Y.), now appearing in your magazine, my attention was caught by the statement (p. 345) that the heroine ‘ skimmed the grass like a swallow. Such a sentence could have been penned only by one ludicrously ignorant of the actual velocity of the hirundo's flight. Such blunders are inexcusable in a journal of your standing. Unknown to fame as I am, I have written a romance which, at least, is free from such glaring absurdities, I cannot too strongly advise you to drop your present serial, and to substitute my tale, the MS. of which I will forward to-day. To help you out of your difficulty, I shall be content to accept whatever rate of payment you are allowing your present serialist.” Comment, as the older novelists used to say, is needless. Next come two letters in one handwriting— “ StR,—No less than four days ago I sent you a powerful Biblical romance of 15,000 words, entitled ‘The Jilting of Jezebel,’ It is inexcusable of you to keep me waiting so long for a reply. Kindly notify acceptance by return, and oblige,” 155 et SIR,—Since writing to you this morning, I have received back the MS. of ‘ The Jilting of Jezebel,’ I only sent it to you four days ago, and it is ridiculous to pretend that you can have given it really careful consideration in so brief a period. I am, therefore, posting it again to you to-night. P.S.—In order that you may have ample choice I send also ‘The Isolation of Isaac’ and ‘ Rebekah’s Repentance.’ ” The next letter seems familiar. In fact, every day of the week I get one or more closely resem- bling it— “ StR,—The literary merit of the enclosed tale may not be very great, although a dear friend of mine—who is a minor canon, and an extremely good judge—considers it a beautiful story. But I wish to inform you that the walls of our lovely parish church are in a pitiable state. My husband, who is rector here, frequently catches cold owing to the piercing draughts which enter through the cracks. For £5,000, we are told, the building could be put in thorough repair; and it is to this purpose that I shall devote the cheque which, I feel swre,:you will send me for my little effort.” The next correspondent is quite indignant— “*Srr,-~I should be glad if you would explain your invincible prejudice against my writings. In rejecting my former MSS, you told me that ‘they were not in keeping with the character of the magazine.’ Determined that you should have this excuse no longer, I looked at your January number. In this I noticed a paper on ‘The Delhi Durbar. Accordingly, having taken the trouble to ascertain that this subject was congenial to you, I posted, on February 14th, a far better article on ‘The Durbar at Delhi.’ And then you have the effrontery—I can use no other term—to. reject it |” Yet another sample— “ Str,—-The bundle of verse enclosed is not intended for use in your magazine. None of these poems, I know, is in the least suitable for your pages. But I should be grateful if you would send me a full criticism of them, substituting other lines for any which may strike you as faulty. Perhaps also you would not mind giving me a letter of introduction to the editor of another periodical, of rather better class than yours, where they would be likely to gain acceptance.” Has the reader had enough? Would he like to see the letters urging the acceptance of impossible MSS. on the plea that the author has an elderly aunt to support, or that she has contributed to. Chippy Chirps, The Weekly Piffler, and the Christmas Number of Giggles? Or—of these I have had several—on the ground that the writer is “A Member of the Incorporated Society of Authors ” ? Or for the singular reason that she was invited once to a garden-party at Buckingham Palace ? Does he wish to realise to the full the vanity, the imbecility, the petty spitefulness of which literary human nature is capable? If so, the editorial post-bag will gratify his morbid taste. “ Yes,” the reader may remonstrate, “ but then these letters you have pretended to quote are not genuine—they are mere burlesques of your real correspondence.” Would that they were, my friend! Fictitious, in one sense, these extracts.  156 are ; even an editor may have some slight remnant of decency about him, and be loth to transcribe private letters for the public eye. But I can put my hand on my heart and declare that letters no less inane, foolish, and unreasonable than the imaginary ones here cited are dropped into letter-box day by day. Authors have their grievances too, I know ; and for some of them there is a very sufficient basis. Not ignorant of ill I speak ; I, who myself for many years was a casual contributor. ‘There are editors who treat their correspondents with dis- courtesy, there are editors who disfigure MSS., there are editors who are unconscionably slow in acceptance or rejection. To this last failing I can give no pardon. Personally, I think I have never kept an MS. for more than a week unless it was accepted, though I receive sometimes forty or fifty MSS. in a day. Hardly ever does it happen that a rejected MS. is not despatched upon its return journey within two or three days of its receipt. I make no boast of this ; I do it partly out of justice to my correspondents, but partly in my own interests. If I fell into arrears with my work I should be overwhelmed utterly by MSS. Yet if this rule is possible for me, who have many other things to do besides editing a magazine, I maintain that it is more than possible for most of my confreres, who can give the greater part of their working hours to their editorial duties. Occa- sionally one wants to keep a contribution in hand for a while, on the chance of being able to make use of it. In this case a note to the writer, ex- plaining the wish, and offering, should he prefer it, to return the MS. at once, seems not more than what, in common courtesy, is his due. However, to find fault with editors in your columns would be indeed a work of supererogation! The truth which I ask your readers to believe is that they are a sorely-tried race ; that the habits of hundreds of their correspondents are enough to induce a bitter cynicism, and that their grievances are quite as real as those of the contributors who abuse them— though, as a rule, unlike the contributors, they prefer to suffer in grim silence. But, despite the “thorns in the cushion,” the editor has his rewards, which outweigh the troubles and annoyances of the work. One is able some- times to give encouragement, to help a beginner along the right path, to make unseen friends in all parts of the wrld. Letters of kindliness and gratitude come as well as the others—letters, to receive one of which makes the abuse and the spite seem less than nothing. And thus the editor, despite the correspondence columns of The Author, can dream at times that he has laboured not quite in vain. ANTHONY DEANE. THE AUTHOR. THE ACADEMIE GONCOURT. — URING the past three or four months there has been considerable discussion one way or another about Academies. - The British Academy has come into existence. The pages of The Author have been full of letters with regard to the Literary Academy, and lastly the Académie Goncourt has become legalised in France. Owing to the kindness of Mr. Edmund Gosse, we are able to cull some interesting facts from an article of his that appeared in the Daily Chronicle. As it is possible that many members of the Society have not seen the article, and are interested in the subject, the following statement may prove instructive. Monsieur Goncourt left a considerable fortune for the formation of an Academy limited and confined by the strict boundaries set forth in the will. The Council of State has decided that this pro- posed Literary Society is of public utility, and may accept the important legacy of M. Goncourt. Thus, after six years’ struggle, during the course of which no doubt a good deal of the academic capital has been squandered, it comes into active life. Mr. Gosse tells us that M. Goncourt was no lover of the French Academy, so his academy is forbidden to engage in the discussion of grammar, to make any sort of dictionary, to lay down laws of public taste, or to give prizes for the encouragement of virtue. He did not enjoy poetry, and he hated criticism —accordingly there were to be no poets and no critics in the academy. This appears to be the negative side. The positive side is as follows. It is to be composed of ten men—all novelists— each to receive an annual income of 4250, and they were all to combine in offering a prize of £200 every year on a book which shall be a work of real literary merit. Goncourt’s Academy would have been a most distinguished little body if it could have been carried out on the lines which he originally sketched. But Flaubert, the obvious first president, died early, and was followed by Maupassant, while Alphonse Daudet scarcely outlived the founder. Zola apostatised, and went cap in hand to the other academy ; him Edmond de Goncourt angrily struck off the list. He grew discouraged at last, and failed to fill up lacwne ; so that when the academicians held their first solemn meeting (on April 7th, 1900), only seven of them were left. These were MM. Gustave Geoffrey, Leon Hennique, J. K. Huys- mans, Paul Margueritte, Octave Mirbeau, and the brothers Justin Boex and Joseph Henri Boex (who called themselves Rosny). M.. Huysmans, THE AUTHOR. ertainly the best known among these names, was elected president, and M. Paul Margueritte secre- tary. They completed their number by the election of M. Elémir Bourges, M. Lucien Descaves and M. Leon Daudet ; then they were swallowed up again by that litigation from which they are now happily and finally released. With the exception of M. Leon Daudet, these gentlemen are not very young. Few of them will see fifty again, although none have yet seen sixty. We thank Mr. Gosse for his interesting facts. It remains to be seen, as in the case of the British Academy, what vitality there is in this formation. It has been created for no practical purpose, and seems to have no large ideal. It will be interesting to watch its future. Perhaps the fact that it stands without an ideal may be its safe- guard. Academies with large ideals, in that they are human, have in many cases fallen far below the standard they set for themselves. An academy, however, started on the Goncourt basis may rise to a standard far beyond its own imagination. One point is quite clear, and that is the £250 per annum. (a eee A GUIDE TO GRUB STREET. —_— st s HE Literary Year Book ’’* improves by slow degrees, and the volume for 1903 (which, by the way, is the seventh that has been issued) is an advance upon its predecessors. It is still, however, capable of being altered in many respects before it can be regarded as a really necessary addition to the numerous works of refer- ence catering to the requirements of the author or journalist. Much of the information, for example, contained within its pages is to be found in the Postal Directory ; and as to the remainder, much of it is ont of place in a volume that should be practical and nothing else. Included in this latter category are the articles on ‘‘'The Crown and the Author,” “Some Questions of Criticism,” and “Authors and their Societies.” These, although interesting, are polemical. As an instance of the distinctly controversial nature of the compiler’s remarks, the following extract from his account of the Royal Society of Literature is instructive :— “The Royal Society of Literature, as has been pointed out before in this place and elsewhere, is past praying for. Itis an institution which literally blocks the way of the proper representation and encouragement of literature in this country.” * “The Literary Year Book,” edited by Henry Gilbert. London: George Allen, 1903. 157 Very likely it is, but this is not where the question ought to be discussed. As in the last volume, a feature is again made of the Directory of Authors. No doubt this is a difficult section to edit, for it is the one that calls most loudly for improvement. It wants purging of a good deal of the tag-rag and bobtail who therein dub themselves “authors.” The wisdom of setting out at length the various third-rate periodicals in which their effusions have appeared is also open to question. No one, for example (excepting possibly Miss Snooks herself), cares two- pence—much less four shillings and sixpence, the price of this volume—to learn that Miss Snooks has contributed to Cackle and Silly Bits, or that Mr. Somebody Else edited Coronation Chuckles. To be of use, the hospitality of the list should be confined strictly to writers of distinction, and mention should only be made of the books they have published during the year. The practical portion of the volume includes lists of periodicals and their editors (with some explanatory remarks thereon), tables of royalties, and the names and addresses of the best known agents and publishers. With respect to the first of these features, several errors are to be noted. As, however, the life of a magazine is so precarious in these days of fierce competition, this is only to be expected. Among the slips are the mentioning of several defunct journals as though they were alive, and the giving of wrong addresses. Thus, the Candid Friend, Imperial and Colonial, Naval and Military, and Universal magazines are no more, although they are described as being still in exist- ence, while the offices of two or three others are described erroneously. The “ Contributors’ Guide,” describing the policy of the different papers alluded to in the second list, is of distinct value when (as so often happens) the names of the periodicals themselves offer no clue to this. It should at any rate induce budding geniuses in the country to refrain from bombarding the Pilot with articles on shipping. The tables of royalties scarcely seem so helpful as they might, and should, be. Even the most rapacious of publishers would scarcely offer (except by telephone) a royalty of 24 per cent. on a sixteen- shilling volume. Yet the editor of the “ Literary Year Book” apparently thinks that he would, for the necessary calculations on this basis are given here. Then, again, the highest royalty which he takes into account is one of 20 per cent., when it ought to be one of 834 per cent. These, however, are matters which are being dealt with at length in another issue of this journal. H. W. a EDNA LYALL, 1— 1 — E record with deep regret the death of Miss Ada Ellen Bayly, which took place at the house of her sister, Mrs. Jameson, at East- bourne, on Sunday, February 8th. Well known to a large section of the reading public as Edna Lyall, an anagram composed of some of the letters of her real name, Miss Bayly had been a member of the Incorporated Society of Authors since 1887, so that she was one of its oldest members. She did not, however, join it until she had had experience of literary work and to a large extent had made her mark. In her childhood Miss Bayly evinced a taste for writing, and had composed stories before she left the schoolroom, as, indeed, many girls do who afterwards make no attempt to win fame as authors. Beginning early to write with the serious intention of seeing her work published, Miss Bayly had for a time to endure those disappointments which many have to face who begin the literary life better equipped than she. She was, however, persevering as well as industrious. It has been told of her that once she entered St. Paul’s Cathedral dispirited by a fruitless journey to the land of editors and publishers, and took courage at the sight of the monument of one of her kinsmen who had been killed in battle. She resolved to fight on even if she died fighting as he died, but ghe lived to win success and the affectionate esteem of a large circle of readers. These felt themselves personally attached to an author who seemed in ‘a marked manner to infuse her own personality and feelings into her works. ‘‘ Won by Waiting,” her first book, written for girls and published in 1879, had at the time no particular measure of ‘success, financial or otherwise, and if we cannot without giving up confidential information relating to a member of the Society name the precise figure, we are revealing no secret if we state that the copyright in “Donovan,” her second book, pub- lished in 1882, was acquired by a publisher for a um which represented but a small fraction of its ultimate pecuniary value. The success which Donovan enjoyed did not come at first, but rather after “We Two” had attracted many readers among those who like to study religious questions in the form of fiction, and had gained the attention of a wider public still. Miss Bayly’s work was deeply imbued with religious feeling ; but her books, written as they were from a Christian standpoint, were filled with a thoughtful magnanimity not always found in those of men and women as earnestly religious as herself. “We Two” was no doubt inspired by a feeling of sympathy with the difficulties encountered by the late Mr. Bradlaugh, or at all THE AUTHOR. events the struggles in which his views upon religious matters involved the late Member for Northampton suggested possibilities which were embodied in the story. “We Two” was followed by “In the Golden Days,” (1885), a romance of a different type, and the author’s position became well established, so that many who had not read her former works when they were first published did so now. Toa high literary or philosophic standard Edna Lyall did not perhaps attain, but her warmest admirers were among those not keenly critical in such matters. She won sympathy for her characters, and had the power to a very considerable degree of rousing interest in them and in the intellectual and physical difficulties and dangers that beset them. Of her minor works, “The Autobiography of a Slander,” published in 1887, had many readers. Her recent production, “ The Hinderers,” 1902, took a side that was too unpopular at the time to allow its advocates a sympathetic hearing. Miss Bayly was the daughter of the late Mr. Robert Bayly, a barrister of the Inner Temple, and a granddaughter of Mr. Robert Bayly, formerly a bencher, and at one time treasurer of Gray's Inn. Her principal writings include, besides those already named, ‘‘Their Happiest Christmas,” 1886 ; “Knight Errant,” 1887 ; ‘A Hardy Norseman,” 1889 ; Derrick Vaughan, Novelist,” 1889; “ To Right the Wrong,” 1892 ; “ Doreen, The Story of a Singer,” 1894; ‘‘How the Children Raised the Wind,” 1895; “The Autobiograghy of a Truth,” 1896; “ Wayfaring Men,” 1897; “ Hope the Hermit,” 1898 ; “In Spite of All,” 1901. —_————\_1——_ SIR. GAVAN DUFFY. + ITH the death of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy a fine type of fighting Irishman has passed away. His political career— revolutionary and startling—has been fully set forth in the papers. There is no need to repeat facts known to everybody. He was a member of the Society from 1890 till 1899, when he retired owing to increasing age. His literary works were not numerous, but one of his most interesting was, perhaps, his work entitled “Young Ireland.” He assigned the right of publication of this to a Dublin publisher for a given period of years, and to his amazement, some years after the date mentioned in the agreement, found the book was still selling on the market. As he thought it improbable that ‘these copies had been printed in accordance with the terms of the agreement, his suspicions and at the same  THE AUTHOR. time his fighting spirit were roused. He deter- mined to test the matter in the courts. We have before us a copy of the agreed judgment in the action in which he was plaintiff; as the judgment was in his favour his suspicions proved amply justified : a considerable edition had been printed and published after the agreement had expired. In all his political actions in Ireland, in England, and the Colonies, he stood forth a sound example of the Irishman of a past generation, whose high Irish spirit and Irish vigour carried him to an honoured old age. ee ee ee THE AGE OF REASON.* 1 F self-satisfaction, and a placid acquiescence in the order of the universe, and a somewhat lofty contempt for all previous ages, may be considered to constitute happiness, the mid- eighteenth century, as it is rather curiously termed, will be regarded as a period not unworthy of the return of Astrea. That “their lot had been cast in an era of unparalleled enlightenment, that theirs was the last word in the progressive series of human thought and knowledge,” was the fine and futile belief of the Encyclopeedists, the Econo- mists, and of Voltaire himself. For Voltaire, as Mr. Millar has shown us, was not a pessimist. A pessimist is a man who knows no better ; he is an unsuccessful thinker. If Voltaire showed pessi- mism in his attitude towards the theories of others, with regard to his own point of view his optimism was steadfast. He did not dance on his rose-coloured spectacles. Like all true cynics, he reserved them for the contemplation of everything that was the antithesis of what he attacked. Johnson, and the novelists, both French and English, approved of their period for a tamer reason, simply because it was inevitable. Le Sage and Fielding acquiesced in the order of things, not through devotion, not through complacent content, but because their sense of humour, their wide, sane view of life, forbade useless lamentation or rhapsody. But the general “song of pure concent” was not wholly undisturbed. There are always certain thin-lipped persons who console themselves for their own stupidity, or ugliness, or bad manners, by sneering at the wise, the beautiful, and the gracious. These silly people are, as a rule, of even Jess importance in literature than in life ; their denunciations of luxury, which they call effeminacy, * “Periods of European Literature: IX, The Mid- Eighteenth Century,” by J. H. Millar (Blackwood, 1902), 159 and their attitude to art, which reminds one irre- sistibly of a policeman in a museum, are rarely worth notice. Still, on occasions, they acquire, like many quite intolerable things, the merit of usefulness. They are usually indiscriminate in their invectives against the existing order of things —they would attack the age of Pericles, if they lived in it, as cheerfully as they would attack that of Charles I., and so it is just a chance whether their influence is beneficial or not. In a great period they are a nuisance ; in a petty period they are an unpleasant but useful cathartic. They are always with us. They existed in the mid-cighteenth century, but no one took them seriously, until from their ranks arose, portentous, insidious, the form of Jean Jacques Rousseau. He was an Ovid disguised in the mantle of a Bernardin St. Pierre; he was the corrupt champion of a not ignoble revolt. No revolt is ignoble. It is Nature’s protest against inactivity, and dull oppression, and _ intellectual death. But most people who revolt are quite revolting. The craving for realism, which was one of the chief characteristics of the period, found its satis- faction in one form of literature, the novel. It affected the drama, too, but only slightly ; poetry continued its serene, sluggish course of “ classi- cism,” to be lost at last—the weariest river !—in the bright waves of the Romantic revival. A point that Mr. Millar seemed to omit to notice was that Realism actually formed a step from hide-bound, mincing “classicism” to Romanticism. Between the study of man as a piece of intellectual clockwork and the study of the lurid depth and grey mystery of his passions must lie the con- templation of man as a real being, ovre kaxirros ov're mpatos tows, dudAdds d€ tis. . . But probably Mr. Millar was fearful of encroaching on the outskirts of the claim belonging to his neighbour, Professor Vaughan. Mr. Millar’s book has escaped most of the dis- advantages that beset a treatise whose aim is primarily educational. It is well written, with pleasant flashes of humour, and some of the criti- cisms are really very illuminating. But his defence of the period at the end of the volume is an appeal based on the glass-house theory, and I feel certain that after he had written it he rushed from his desk and read Theocritus, or Catullus, or Theo- phile Gautier, or someone else remarkable for grace and delicacy. He has avoided the old, obvious clichés in dealing with the great men; he has given a succinct account of the philosophy of the period which all people who have not read any philosophy could appreciate, and which even a philosopher might sometimes understand. His information is derived from first-hand knowledge. As one thinks 160 of “ Butler’s Analogy,” one experiences all the sweet sensations of sympathy. But at all events, it has not hurt Mr. Millav’s prose style. Mr. Millar regards the drama as extinct. It ended, he says, with “The Critic.” ‘‘ Tragedies have been produced by poets great and small, but they are unplayable, and ought to have remained unplayed.” Did Mr. Millar, I wonder, see “Herod” ? ‘ Melodramas and comedies have run for thousands of nights, yet in print prove obsti- nately unreadable.”’ Has Mr. Millar ever attempted to read any of Oscar Wilde’s plays ? They are not so obstinate. Mr. Millar’s book is too readable, his quotations from Vauvenargues too typical of the man who loves a good phrase, to make me believe that he could fail to understand the ‘‘ Importance of Being Earnest.” He will, perhaps, some day delete with tears the last page of his chapter on the drama. St. Joun Lucas. ee CORRESPONDENCE. St To the Editor of Ton AUTHOR. Srr,—I should much like to know whether or not some folk have any good ground for saying whether or no? Most of us say ‘‘ whether or not,” and surely correctly. I had almost persuaded a certain friend to give up his “no,” when trium- phantly he produced the Authorized Version, John ix., 25! But surely even there “ not” would be grammar, since it means whether he be a sinner or (whether he be) not (a sinner). In fact it is the German nicht and nein. Can The Author settle the point ? Kine’s ENGLIsa. P.S.—I note that the Revisers have discreetly dropped the contested point! Still I keep saying, “‘ Whether it be usage, or not” ; my friend declaring “‘ Whether you think it wrong, or no.” Will The Author arbitrate ? doing so by showing reason, else my friend will never be convinced ! —— 1 — REYIEWS AND REYIEWERS. To the Editor of Tun AUTHOR. Dear Srr,—With reference to the playful ways of reviewers, the enclosed specimen may amuse the author and publisher, who are kind enough to send copies of their works to provincial newspapers. No one really attends to the remarks of the THE AUTHOR. reviewer ; they have long ceased to pretend to any value, other than the price of a few lines of print ; but the question now arises, Is it better to have a string of ignorant or impertinent observations, or a review of a quarter of a column (of which half is quotation from a work other than that under notice) which barely mentions the book at all ? Personally, I prefer the last, judging by the specimen I enclose. I had never seen the verses quoted ; so that I’ve learnt something. T am, etc., L. Corr CORNFORD. Mr. L. Cope Cornford—whose interesting monograph on Stevenson was so successful in catching the very trick of that author’s style—announces a new novel under the romantic title of “The Last Buccaneer.” ‘The title, of course, is not quite original—few titles are, and luckily there is no copyright in them. It was used before by a poet whose work we should like to quote, for it is very little known, although the author’s name is a household word among us. Perhaps those who are in need of a mild amusement might offer their friends a dozen guesses at the author’s name—to be discovered from internal evidence. This is the poem : “The winds were yelling, the waves were swelling, The sky was black and drear, When the crew, with eyes of flame, brought the ship without a name Alongside the last Buccaneer. “¢ Whence flies your sloop full sail, before so fierce a gale, When all others drive bare on the seas ? Say, come ye from the shore of the holy Salvador, Or the gulf of the rich Carribees ?’ “¢From a shore no search hath found, from a gulf no line can sound, Without rudder or needle we steer ; Above, below our bark, dies the sea fowl and the shark, As we fly by the last Buccaneer. ‘“««To-night there shall be heard on the rocks of Cape de Verde A loud crash, and a louder roar ; And to-morrow shall the deep, with a heavy moaning, sweep The corpses and wreck to the shore,’ “The stately ship of Clyde securely now may ride In the breath of the citron shades ; And Severn’s towering mast securely now flies fast Through the sea of the balmy Trades. “From St. Jago’s wealthy port, from Havana’s royal fort The seaman goes forth, without fear ; For since that stormy night not a mortal hath had sight Of the flag of the last Buccaneer.” The modern reader will trace in this poem something of the style of Poe and something of that of Mr. Kipling, though its date makes it highly probable that its author was influenced by neither of these high authorities on buccaneers. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 06 (March 1903) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 06 (March 1903) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1903-03-01-The-Author-13-6 publications The Author