https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/517/1906-06-01-The-Author-16-9.pdf 28aa7669937f83e7cd21ea1aac6aa478 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) 1906-06-01 Volume 16 Issue 9 Pages Page range in volume 249–276 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19060601 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT. Vou. X VI.—No. 9. JUNE Ist, 1906. [Prick SIxPENCE. TELEPHONE NUMBER : 374 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS : AUTORIDAD, LONDON. ee ee NOTICES. —_—— + OR the opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion of the Committee unless such is especially stated to be the case. Tue Editor begs to inform members of the Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author that the cases which are from time to time quoted in The Author are cases that have come before the notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the Society, and that those members of the Society who desire to have the names of the publishers concerned can obtain them on application. ae List of Members. THE List of Members of the Society of Authors published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be obtained at the offices of the Society. They will be sold to members or associates of the Society only. All farther elections have been chronicled from month to month in these pages. ee The Pension Fund of the Society. Tue Trustees of the Pension Fund met at the Society’s Offices, March 5th, 1906, and having gone carefully into the accounts of the fund, decided to invest a further sum. ‘They have now pur- chased £200 Cape of Good Hope 34 per cent. Inscribed Stock, bringing the investments of the fund to the figures set out below. VoL, XVI. This is a statement of the actual stock; the money value can be easily worked out at the current price of the market :— Console 24%. 2... ess te £1000 0 0 Local Goans - 3.2.6 ee, 500 0 0 Victorian Government 38 % Consoli- dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11 War lnoan 2262. 201. 9 3 London and North Western 3 % Deben- ture SUCK 8 250 0 0 Egyptian Government Irrigation Trust 4 % Certificates ............... 200 0 0 Cape of Good Hope 34% Inscribed StOCK es 200 0 0 Potal = 18s: £2,643 9 2 Subscriptions, 1905. £8. a: July 13, Dunsany, the Pee Hon. the Lord : 0.5 0 Oct. 12, Halford, B M. 0 5 0 Oct. 12, Thorburn, W. M. 010 0 Nov. 9, ‘“ Francis Daveen ”’ 0 5 0 Nov. 9, Adair, Joseph Tf 0 Nov. 21, Thurston, Mrs. 1126 Dec. 18, Browne, F. M. 0 5 6 1906. March 7, Sinclair, Miss May Lot 0 March 7, Forrest, G. W. 2 2.00 March 8, Simpson, W. J. 0 50 March 8, Browne, F. M. 0 5 0 April 12, Pryor, Francis 20° 25,0; Donations, 1905. Nov. 6, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred. Tt 0 Nov. 9, Wingfield, H. 010 6 Nov. 17, Nash, T. A. 1 1.0 Dec. 1, Gibbs, F. L. A 010 6 Dec. 6, Finch, Madame 118 6 Dec. 15, Egbert, Henry G0 5 0 Dec. 15, Muir, Ward . : 1 1 0 Dec. 15, Sherwood, Mrs. A. . 010 0 Dee. 18, Bde ALL. 010 6 Dec. 18, 8. F. G. 010 0  250 1906. £ 8. d. Jan. 2, Jacobs, W. W. : : . db 2 Oo Jan. 6, Wilkins, W. H. (Legacy) 50 0.0 Jan. 10, Middlemas, Commander A. C. 9 10 0 Feb. 5, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt 0 5 0 Feb. 5, Yeats, Jack B. : 010 O Feb. 12, White, Mrs. Caroline 010 0 Feb. 13, Bolton, Miss Anna 0 5 0 Feb. 28, Weyman, Stanley B15 0 March 7, Hardy, Harold 010 0 March 12, Harvey, Mrs. : 1 0 0 March 27, Williams, Mrs. E. L. 1 1.0 April 15, Caine, William r 2 : eel April 15, Steel, Mrs. F. A. i COMMITTEE NOTES. —1— HE monthly meeting of the managing com- a mittee of the society was held on May 7th, at 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W., at four o’clock. The minutes of the last meeting were read and signed, and then the new members were elected. The numbers were satisfactorily maintained. In all, 22 were elected, bringing the total for the current year up to 98. The list of agenda was not so heavy as at the April meeting, but various cases were discussed. One, referring to a contract with a publisher, the committee regretted they were unable to sup- port, as the point in dispute was not of a purely literary character. Another question arose out of a dispute on a contract between a member and a publisher in the United States. The opinion of the society’s United States lawyer had come to hand during the past month, and was laid before the committee and fully considered. They decided to take the matter up in the United States Courts under an arrangement with the member, should he so desire. It is possible, however, and the com- mittee trust, that the question may be settled without legal action. In another case in which the committee authorised the taking of counsel’s opinion, the opinion was considered by them, and the secretary was instructed to forward a copy to the member concerned. As the opinion was adverse, the committee decided it was impossible to take legal action, but were willing, if necessary, to negotiate with the publisher on the member’s behalf. Another case dealt with a point of artistic copy- right on which the committee had already taken counsel’s opinion. This opinion had been referred back to counsel for elucidation on one or two points. Here again, as the opinion—that of an eminent K.C.—was against the member, the com- mittee regretted their inability to proceed to legal THB AUTHOR. action. The opinion was forwarded to the member for his consideration. A question between a member and one of the most important publishing houses in the kingdom, arising out of a half-profit agreement and the accounts rendered under it, was next considered by the committee. The accountant’s report had been submitted to the April meeting and considered, but other questions arising out of the report had to be put to the pub- lishers dealing with certain items in the accounts. These questions had been duly put by the accountant, but information had been refused. In consequence, the committee decided to take the matter up, and, as the agreement contained an arbitration clause, to submit it to arbitration. The result will be of considerable importance to all those members who deal with these publishers. One other question, an infringement of copyright, was considered. he infringer had communicated with the society’s solicitors. He acknowledged the infringement, and stated that it had been an unconscious plagiarism on his part. The infringer has agreed to write a letter to the member of the society which he may use in any way he thinks fit, and it is hoped that the matter will be satisfactorily arranged in the course of a few weeks without the need of taking action. ——— 1+ — Cases. Since the last issue of 7'’ze Author ten cases have passed through the secretary's hands. The first refers to an infringement of copyright in Austria- Hungary. Some time must elapse before this case is finally adjusted, but the society is in communi- cation with a solicitor in Budapest. Six cases have occurred in which money was withheld from authors on one excuse or another. Of these, three have been satisfactorily concluded ; the other three, as they came into the secretary’s hands late in the month, are still in the course of negotiation. There is one agency case for the settlement of accounts, and this will be carefully investigated and most probably arranged before the next issue. ‘A similar case has occurred with a publisher where the secretary is also in satisfactory negotiation with the responsible party. Six cases still remain open since the last issue. Four out of the six are bound to remain open a little longer, as the dates of settlement have been postponed, but, on the dates which have been fixed, the questions will be terminated satisfactorily. The other two cases, we regret to say, have been con- siderably impeded, owing to the reluctance of the authors, for some reason or other, to take legal proceedings against the parties concerned. As has been pointed out, not only in The Author, but by  7 Monro, Harold : ; Snow, Miss Lilian Mabel THE AUTHOR. the committee, this is a very serious position : for the publisher or agent who thinks the society is not in earnest in its applications on behalf of its members may possibly become difficult to deal with on subsequent occasions. Unfortunately, this position often happens in the case of those pub- lishers and agents who ought especially to be kept to their legal contracts. This means, in other words, that the more unbusinesslike the party the more necessary it is that he should feel the weight of the society’s action. ———+ May Elections. Bramley - Moore, Rev. 26, Russell Square, William, M.A. . W.C. Coleridge, the Hon. Mrs. 11, Roland Gardens, Gilbert : : S.W. Davies, Mrs. Goodwyns, Cosham, Hants. DuDeney, Thomas, 78, Hillfield Road, L.R.A.N. Hampstead, N.W. Dowding, Miss Margaret The Market Place, Keith (M.K.D.) . Duff, Miss Lily Grant Chippenham, Wilts. 11, Chelsea Embank- ment, S.W. Westbourne, 64, Kloof Road, Cape Town. Rosemary Cottage, Hast Sheen, Surrey. Ford, Sydney Y. Frankland, George Graham Fergus : Hamilton A. Kirkham 68, Frederick Street, (Arthur Kirkham) Gray’s Inn Road, W.C. Hamilton, Miss Myra 14, Hanover Square, W. Kennaway, Miss Ethel St. Helens, ‘Teign- mouth, S. Devon. 162, Westbourne Ter- race, W. 19, Lichfield Road, Cricklewood, N.W. 43, Connaught Square, W. 294, Essex Road, Is- lington, N. Westbury Lodge, Fare- ham, Hants. Levy, Miss Margaret Lucas, Clarence Robinson, M. J. mye. hl Straus, Ralph 58, Bassett Road, North Kensington, W. Tweedale, Mrs. Violet Balquholly, Turriff, N.B. Wise, Charles ; . Weekley, Kettering. Wroughton, Miss Cicely. 77, Chester Square, S.W.; Creaton Lodge, Northamp- ton, 251 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. —_-—>—+—_ Cn the following list we do not propose to give more than the titles, prices, publishers, etc., of the books enumerated, with, in special cases, such particulars as may serve to explain the scope and purpose of the work, Members are requested to forward information which will enable the Editor to supply particulars. ) AGRICULTURE. RuRAL ENGLAND. By H. Riper HaGGarp. Two Volumes. New Edition. With a New Preface. 9 x 6, 584 and 623 pp. Longmans. 12s. n. ART. MODERN BOOKBINDINGS : THEIR DESIGN AND DECORA- TION. By 8. I. PRIDEAUX. 82 x 5}. 131 pp. Constable. 10s, 6d. n. THE VALUES OF OLD ENGLISH SILVER AND SHEFFIELD PLATE. From the XVth to the XIXth Centuries. By J. W. CALDicoTrT. 123 x 103. 293 pp. Bemrose. 42s. n, THE ReD LINE GUIDE TO THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, SouTH KENSINGTON. (Art Collections Main Building). 93 x 74.66 pp. Kelih. 6d. BIOGRAPHY, MIRABEAU AND GAMBETTA, FRIENDS OF OLD ENGLAND. With some account of Jacques Bonhomme. By ARTHUR PAVITT and BARON ALBERT YVELIN Dg BEVILLE. Complete Edition. With Talleyrand’s “ Entente Cor- diale,” 1792. 74 x 5. 216 pp. E. Wilson. 2s, 6d. WALTER PATER. By A. C. BENSON. (English Men of Letters). 74 x 5. 226 pp. Macmillan. 2s. n, BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG, THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC. By ANDREW LANG. 6 x 43. 119 pp. T. C. and E.C. Jack. Is, 6d. n. COOKERY. Tur New Cookery OF UNPROPRIETARY Foops. By EUsTAcE MILES. 7 x 4%. 128 pp. Partridge. Is. n. EDUCATIONAL. FRENCH ABBREVIATIONS. Commercial, Financial, and General. Explained and Translated by E. LATHAM, 64 x 41. 255 pp. London: EH. Wilson. Paris ; Boyveau & Chevillet. 2s, 6d. n. A GRAMMAR OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. By G. H. CLARKEand C. J. Murray. 72 x 54. 404 pp. Cam- bridge University Press. 6s. n. THE COMPLETE ANGLER. By IZAAK WALTON. 120 pp. ENGLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. By RAPHAEL HOLINSHED. 128 pp. CAPTAIN COOK’S SECOND VOYAGE, 128 pp. ENGLISH SCHOOL TExtTs. Edited by W. H. D. Rouse, (Litt. D.) 6} x 44. Blackie. 6d. each. FICTION. RinG IN THE New. By RICHARD WHITEING. 309 pp. Hutchinson. 6s. THE PREY OF THE STRONGEST. TE x 6. By Mor.Ley ROBERTS. 7% x 51. 325 pp. Hurst and Blackett. 6s. A TrAmp CAMP. By BART KENNEDY. 7% x 5}. 338pp. Cassell. 6s. THe ENeMY IN OvR Mipst. By WALTER Woop, 72 x 5. 320 pp. J. Long. 6s. PARSON BRAND, AND OTHER VOYAGERS’ TALES. By L. CopE CoRNFORD. 7% x 5}. 352 pp. E. Grant Richards. 6s. FENWICK’S CAREER. By Mrs. HUMPHRY WARD. 7} x 5, 468 pp, Smith Elder, 6s.  252 Henry NORTHCOTE. By J. C. SNAITH. 7h x 5. 342 pp- Constable. 6s. Tar GREY DOMINO. CRESPIGNY. 7% x 5. Rep Recorps. By ALICE PERRIN. Chatto and Windus. 6s. A BENEDICK IN ARCADY. By HALLIWELL SUTCLIFFE. 74 x 5. 343 pp. Murray. 6s. Tus ARENA. By HAROLD SPENDER. Constable. 6s. WoMEN AND CrrcuMSTANCE. By Netra SYRETT. 7k x 5. 349 pp. Chapman and Hall. 6s. Hrart’s DevieHt. By LovIS Tracy. 73 x 5. 336 pp. Ward Lock. 6s. By Wit or Woman. By A.W. Marcumont. 73 x 5. 317 pp. Ward Lock. 6s. A Younc MAN FROM THE Country. By MADAME By Mrs. PHILIP CHAMPION DE 341 pp. Nash 6s. 73 x 5. 306 pp. 73 x 5. 381 pp. ALBANESI. 8 X 5} 343 pp- Hurst & Blackett. 6s. Tue BuAcK MoTOR Car. By Harris BURLAND. > 7% x 54. 364 pp. B. Grant Richards. 6s. THE LOsT.EARL OF ELLAN. A Story of Australian Life. By Mrs, CAMPBELL PRAED. 74x 5. 398 pp. Chatto & Windus. 6s. THe UNDYING Past. Translated by BEATRICE MARSHALL, Lane. 6s. THE REVELATIONS OF INSPECTOR Moregan. By OSWALD CRAWFURD, O.M.G. 74 x 5. 319 pp. Chapman and Hall. 6s. QUEEN OF THE RUSHES. 331 pp. Hutchinson. 6s. Two LONDON Farris. By G. R. Sims. 7} x 5. 222pp. Greening. 3s. 6d. Tiny LUTTRELL. By E. W. HORNUNG. Cheap Edition. 88 x 54. 149 pp. Cassell 6d. GEOGRAPHY. No Man’s Lanp. A History of Spitzbergen from its discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scien- tific Exploration of the Country. By Sra MARTIN Conway. 9% x 63. 377 pp. Cambridge University Press, 10s. 6d. n. By HERMANN SUDERMANN. Tk x 5. 382 pp. By ALLEN RAINE. 7% x «5. GEOMETRY. THE ELEMENTS OF GEOMETRY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. Part I. By A. EH. PIERPOINT, B. Sc. 73} x 5. 156 pp. Longmans. 2s. HISTORY. ON THE SPANISH Man. By JOHN MASEFIELD. 9 x 5h. 344 pp. Methuen. 10s. 6d. n. Tyr CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS. Being an outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003. By THE Rev. W. H. Horton. (The Church Universal, Vol. Ill.) 71 x 5. 228pp. Rivingtons. 8s. 6d. LAW. A Digest of ENGLISH Civit Law. By EDWARD JENKS (Editor). Book II. Part. I. LAW oF CONTRACT (General). By R. W. Les. 10 x 63. 74 and 25 pp. Butterworth. INTRODUCTION AND NoTES TO SIR HENRY MAINg#’S “ ANCIENT LAW.” By SiR FREDERICK POLLOCK, BART., LL.D. 9 x 53. 62pp. Murray. 2s. 6d. n. LITERARY. From A CoLLEGE Winpow. By A. C, BENSON. 84 x 54. 326 pp. SMITH ELDER. 7s. 6d. n. MONOGRAPHS : GARRICK, MACREADY, RACHEL and BARON SrockmMaR. By Sir THEODORE Marrin, K.C.B., K.C.V.0. 9 x 5%. 841 pp. Murray. 12s. n. FRANcOISE. Tolstoy’s Adaptation of a Story by GUY DE - MAUPASSANT. With Introductory Remarks by AYLMER MAupE, 6 x 4%. 28pp. C.W. Daniel. 3d.n. THE AUTHOR. MUSIC. Eia@ar. By E. Newman. (The Music of the Masters), 64 x 44. 188pp. Lane. 2s. 6d. n. NAVAL. A DEATHLESS STORY; OR, THE BIRKENHEAD AND ITS Heroes. By A. C. ADDISON and W. H. MATTHEWs. 83 x 5g. 318 pp. Hutchinson. 6s. POETRY. A PoMPEIAN EPISODE. 46 pp. THInTy RHYMES. 55 pp. By ARTHUR LEWIS. 63 x 4}. Elkin Mathews. 1s. n. each. A CuristMAs REVERIE, By ARTHUR E. CALEB. 5 x 4, Smith. 6d. n. POLITICAL. Sipz LIGHTS ON THE Home RuLE MovEMENT. By Sir RoBERT ANDERSON, K.C.B., LL.D. 9 x 53. 233 pp. Murray. 9s. 0. REPRINTS. THe Works oF JoHN RuskIN (Library Edition Vol. XXIII). Edited by E. T. Cook and A. WEDDERBURN- 10 x 63. 479 pp. Allen. 21s. net. DocUMENTS ILLUSTRATING ELIZABETHAN POETRY. By Sir PHILIP SIDNEY, GEORGE PUTTENHAM and W. Werpse. Edited by Laurin Macnus. 6% x 4. 221 pp. Routledge. 2s. 6d. WALDEN ; OR, LIFE IN THE WOODS. By H. D. THOREAU. With an Introduction by THEODORE WatTs-DUNTON. 299 pp. Frowde. TWENTY-THREE TALES. By TOLSTOY. Translated by L. and A. MAUDE. 271 pp. Frowde 1s. n. Tue WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCHR. Vol. Ill. The Canterbury Tales. From the Text of PROFESSOR SKBAT. 595 pp. Frowde. 1s. 6d. n. TRAVEL. Tur Wortp or To-Day. Vol. V. By A. R. Hope Moncrierr. 102 x 7}. 266 pp. The Gresham Publishing Co. In Tuscany. By MONTGOMERY CARMICHAEL. Third Edition. (With New Preface). 8 x 54. 353 pp. Burns and Oates. 6s. 2. PICTURES FROM THE BALKANS. By JOHN FOSTER Fraser. 7% x 5. 298 pp. Cassell. 6s. Tue LAND OF PARDONS. By ANATOLE LE BRAZ. Translated by FRANCES M. GOSTLING. 9 x 58. 296 pp. Methuen. 7s. 6d. n. LHASA AND ITs MYSTERIES. With a Record of the Expedition of 1903-4. By L. A. WADDELL. Third and Cheaper Edition. 93 X 5g. 530 pp. Methuen. 7s. 6d. D. TOPOGRAPHY. Tue SILVERY THAMES. Described by WALTER JERBOLD. Illustrated by E. W. HASLEHUST. 10 x 138. 124 pp. Leeds and London: Alf. Cooke. 21s. n. Tur HARROGATE TOURIST CENTRE. Historic Glories. By J. BAKER. Simpkin Marshall. 2s. n. 8 x 10. 42 pp. —___+——_+—_____—_ LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL NOTES. ee REAT Bowlers and Fielders : their Methode at a Glance,” by G. W. Beldam and C. B. | Fry, is a companion volume to “Great — Batsmen,” by the same’ authors, published last — Like ‘Great Batsmen,” the present work | summer. Its Beauties and Lal it £ 2k ia a ne 7 " 4} J 1 isle e A THE AUTHOR. is founded upon action photography. Included in the work are chapters by Mr. F. R. Spofforth, Mr. B. J. T. Bosanquet, Mr. R. O. Schwarz, and Mr. G. L. Jessop. Messrs. Macmillan & Co. are the publishers. Mr. Edward Latham has just published, through Mr. Effingham Wilson, of 54, Threadneedle Street, E.C., and Boyveau and Chevillet, of 20, Rue de la Banque, Paris, a volume of French Abbreviations, Commercial, Financial and General. In his Pre- face the author expresses the hope that, although the work has been written mainly for students, it may yet be consulted with advantage by those who claim the French language as their native tongue. The Red Line Guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, compiled by Mr. H. P. Mitchell, and published by J. J. Kelih & Co., Limited, is designed to help the visitor to see what he wishes in the most con- venient way. It directs him by a red track on the plan to the leading objects in the various sections of the Museum, and gives short accounts of them of a nature to enable him to understand something of their qualities and histories. “ Ruth,” by Edith Elizabeth Fisher, published by the Broadway Publishing Company, New York, is a story of middle-class life, the scene of which is laid in England. The complications in the tale are due to the fact that elderly people, through a mistaken sense of duty, attempt to interfere with the love affairs of the young. Mr. Alston Rivers will publish in the autumn a children’s story entitled, “ Longlegs, Shortlegs, and Fatty,” by T. Wilson Wilson. “The Censorship of the Church and its Influ- ence upon Production and the Distribution of Literature,” by Geo. Haven Putnam, is a study of the history of the prohibitory and expurgatory indexes, together with some consideration of the effects of State Censorship, and of Censorship by Protestants. The work presents a schedule of the indexes issued by the Church, together with a list of the more important of the decrees, edicts, pro- hibitions, and briefs having to do with the prohibi- tion of specific books from the time of Gelasius I., 567 A.D., to the issue in 1900 of the latest Index of the Church, under Leo XIII. The author presents a section of titles of the more important of the books condemned. He has attempted to indicate the influence exerted by the censorship of the Church on the undertakings of authors, pro- fessors, publishers, and booksellers in each one of the European States in which the regulations of the Index came into force. In the final chapter is presented a summary of the conclusions reached by certain representative Catholics of to-day in regard to the present literary policy of the Church of Rome. “From a College Window,” which has been a 253 feature of The Cornhill for some time past, has been published in book form by Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co. Mr. A. C. Benson is the author of the work. Messrs. Chatto and Windus published in May a new volume of stories by Mrs. Alice Perrin, under the title of “Red Records.” The stories deal mainly with the weird and supernatural in India, in camp and station, as well as in the villages and the jungle. The same publishers are publishing a new edition, at 3s. 6d., of Mrs. Perrin’s earlier stories, “ Kast of Suez.” Mr. Angus Hamilton’s book “ Afghanistan” is an exhaustive account of the conditions of Afghanistan, which Mr. Hamilton visited recently. The domestic life of the Ameer is dealt with, and a description of the Oxus, its fords, trade, and the strategic value of the roads which approach it, is given. Mr. Heinemann is publishing the book, with a map and illustrations, at 16s. nett. The title of Miss Rosa Nouchette Carey’s novel, to be published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. in the autumn, to which we referred in our last issue, is “No Friend like a Sister.” We regret that, in announcing the publication of the eleventh edition of Lieut.-Col. E. Gunter’s “ Officers’ Field Note and Sketch Book,” in the May issue, we placed “Ist 8. C.,” instead of «P.§. C.,” after his name. Mr. John Bloundelle-Burton’s new romance, entitled “Traitor and True,” will be published almost immediately by Mr. John Long. The story, which is laid in the reign of Louis XIV., and, consequently, forms one of the cycle of Bourbon romances written by the author, deals with one of the many plots to which Le Dieudonné was con- tinually exposed during his long reign. ‘This plot is, however, distinct from most of the others, owing to the fact that it was carefully hushed up after justice had been done on the chief conspirator, owing to the exalted rank of himself and his family. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton has fallen in with this deter- mination, and the real name of the traitor remains hidden under another. «The Lake of Wine,” by Bernard Capes, is the new story in ‘The Novelist,” Messrs. Methuen’s series of sixpenny novels. “T’Entente Cordiale (More or Less)” is the title of a work described by its author—Mr. Raymond Needham—as a study in symbolism pro- ductive of a little mild abuse. Acting on the observation of Rochefoucauld that the greatest act of friendship is not to expose one’s faults to a friend, but to show him his, the author has endeavoured to prove his friendship. Messrs. R. A. Everett & Co. are publishing the book at the price of 3s. 6d.  254 Mr. Oswald Crawfurd has written, and Messrs. Chapman and Hall have published, a volume of reve- lations dealing with certain aspects of criminal life considered from the point of the real, not the amateur detective. Its ,title is “The Revelations of Inspector Morgan.” In the “Twenty-three Tales by Tolstoy” newly translated by Mr. and Mrs. Maude, are two stories not contained in any other English edition of Tolstoy’s works. The tales are, for the most part, children’s stories and folk-stories. The stories are published by the Oxford University Press. Another tale adapted by Tolstoy from Guy de Maupassant, translated by Mr. Maude, has been published by Mr. C. W. Daniel as a 3d. booklet. In the preface Mr. Maude compares Bernard Shaw’s «Mrs. Warren’s Profession” with Tolstoy’s “Power of Darkness.” A coincidence is to be noted between the serial story which has been running for some weeks in the Daily Mail, dealing with a German invasion of England, and ‘‘The Enemy in our Midst,” the novel by Walter Wood, which was recently published by Mr. John Long. ‘This also treats entirely with the subject of a German raid on England. “The Enemy in Our Midst” was written for Messrs. C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd., and was published serially by that firm twelve months ago. Early in the autumn Messrs. Cassell & Co., Ltd., will bring out in volume form the first series of “ Survivors’ Tales of Great Events,” which Mr, Wood is writing for ‘“‘ The Royal Magazine.” “ Cyrus the!Great King,” an historical romance by Sir Edward Durand, Bart., C.B., has just been published by Sidney Appleton in London. The price of the book is 10s. 6d. nett. The author in his argument, which acts as a preface, states: “The story is laid during that period of the world’s history when God raised up Cyrus (a chosen instrument to crush idolatry, to restore the People of the Captivity, to rebuild the Temple, and in this sense to prepare the way for the coming of the Christ), having called Him by name some century and a half before His actual advent.” The dramatis persone comprise most of the well-known historical characters of the period. In addition to the volume of Tolstoy’s stories, translated by Mr. Aylmer Maude and noticed above, we have received from the Clarendon Press two very interesting volumes of the World’s Classics, one “The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer,” from the text by Professor Skeat, and the other ‘‘ Walden, or Life in the Woods,” by H. T. Thoreau, with an introduction by Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton. The format of these books is so well known to members that there is no need to comment upon it. The fact tbat, “The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer ” THE AUTHOR. are from the text by Professor Skeat is sufficient to insure the contents of that book being of excel- lent quality. Professor Skeat has long been known as the greatest authority on Chaucer’s works, The other volume may not appeal to so large a public, though nowadays, as Mr. Watts-Dunton says in his preface, when Nature seems to be the fashion, when every newspaper that aspires to be up-to-date sends its own special commissioners to scour the country to interview her in her every changing mood, Thorean will at last come into his own. If the public is limited, lovers of natural history, at any rate, will read the volume with interest. Among the editors of other volumes in prepara- tion are Mr. R. Warwick Bond, Mr. Austin Dobson, Dr. Robertson Nicoll, and Mr. A. Waugh. Mr. Ernest Newlandsmith’s new book, entitled “Art Ideals,” will shortly be published by Mr. ©. W. Daniel. Mr. Newlandsmith will be remem- bered as the author of “The Temple of Art” (Longmans, Green, & Co.), of which latter work a new and revised edition has now been published by the Order of the Golden Age, Paignton. Mr. Lewis Melville is writing a book of histori- cal memoirs, to be entitled “The First Gentleman of Europe.” It deals with the social history of the later Georgian period, and refers to the Prince of Wales who became George IV. It is also a history of his boon companions, and does not over- look the unfortunate Queen Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Williamson’s new book, “Lady Betty Across the Water,” tells of the experiences and adventures of a young English girl who visits America for the first time. The book abounds in contrasts, and sharply compares English and American manners and customs. Messrs. Methuen & Co. are the publishers. The same publishers have issued an English translation by Mrs. Gostling of a book about Brittany, by Monsieur le Braz, the well-known Breton writer. “Gladys’s Repentance ” is the name of Edith ©. Kenyon’s new story for young people which is _ now being illustrated by Mrs. Skinner. This book will be the same size and the same price (2s. 6d.) _ as Miss Kenyon’s stories, ‘A Girl in a Thousand ” and “ Love’s Golden Thread.” — It will be issued in the early autumn by Messrs 8. W. Partridge & Co. Miss Margaret Todd will publish very shortly a new novel entitled “ Growth.” Arrangements are being made for its publication in England and the United States simultaneously. “The Matrimonial Lottery” is the name of a— new novel by Miss O’Conor-Hecles, author of - “ Aliens of the West,” “The Rejuvenation of Miss — Semaphore,” etc., which will soon be published by — Mr. Everleigh Nash. The story is humorous.  “ The Flower of France,” a play by Mr. Justin Huntly McCarthy on the subject of Joan of Are, has been given for copyright purposes at the Scala Theatre. “For Life and After,” an adaptation by Mr. George R. Sims of his novel of the same title, has been produced at Reading. Mr. Bernard Shaw’s play “ Arms and the Man,” was produced at the Theatre Royal, Copenhagen, towards the end of April last. “Olf and the Little Maid,” a one-act play by M. E. Francis, produced at the Haymarket Theatre on May 8th, narrates a man’s love for a maid, and his promise of marriage given on the strength of his success in a lottery. Owing to the lottery proving to be a swindle, and the consequent change in his circumstances, he offers the girl back her freedom, but as her feelings are not affected by the incident, the play terminates happily by her consent to the marriage. Miss Dorothy Minto and Mr. Sydney Valentine are included in the caste. “ Raffles,” by E. W. Hornung and Eugene Presbrey, was produced at the Comedy Theatre on May 12th. The play deals with an incident in the career of Raffles, who combines many good social qualities with a taste for burglary, which he indulges at the expense of those whose hospitality he accepts. The caste includes Mr. Gerald Du Maurier, Miss Jessie Bateman, and Mr. Laurence Irving. Mrs. Henry de la Pasture’s play, ‘‘ The Lonely Millionaires,” produced at the Adelphi Theatre on May 15th, narrates the story of a girl whose father, a retired cotton spinner, is anxious that she should make a good marriage. The daughter, however, foolishly elopes with her Italian drawing master— a married man. From this situation she is rescued by her father’s private secretary, who proves to be a millionaire and a baronet. The play terminates by the girl contracting an alliance such as her father desired, by marrying her rescuer. Mr. Oscar Asche and Miss Lily Brayton are included in the caste. “The Means of Shakespeare’s Imagination,” is the title given by Mrs. Craigie to her lecture delivered, under the auspices of the London Shakespeare League, at the Botanical Theatre, University College, Gower Street, on May 2nd. Mrs. Craigie affirmed that Shakespeare’s inspira- tion was drawn from contemporary French, English, Spanish, and Italian literature and manners, and that he did not influence his own age, but was influenced by it. She incidentally expressed the belief that if we could restore the soliloquy, give patience to the audience to listen to it, and the actor elocution to speak it, a great revival would be seen in the British drama. ? THE AUTHOR. 255 PARIS NOTES. ee LLE. LOUISE READ, the friend and executrix of Barbey d’Aurévilly, has given us two more volumes by the celebrated novelist and critic. “A cdté de l’Histoire * is a collection of about twenty-three articles on the most diverse subjects, some of which, although written so long ago, are astonishingly up-to-date, as they apply to questions of to-day. Writing of the Russian Empire d’Aurévilly says: Mysté- rieuse eb impénetrable puissance, protégée par son climat et aussi par deux Génies au doigt sur la bouche, comme le Silence antique—le Génie de la police et celui de la diplomatie . . . la mystique et schismatique Russie est plus grande encore par Vopinion qu’on a d’elle que par tout ce qu’on fait en réalité les forces vives et cohérentes d’un pays.” Another of these articles is on the ‘“ Chinese Empire” and another on a book entitled ‘“ Chris- tianism in China, Tartary, and Thibet.” The chapter on “ Les Civilisations ” is one of the most remarkable. Among the others are “La Diplo- matie au XVII° siécle,’ ‘“ Deux Diplomates,” * Saint-Simon ” and ‘‘ Royalistes et Républicains.” The “Deuxiéme Memorandum” (1838)f is the title of the second book, recently published. It is a diary in which d’Aurévilly noted down the events and impressions of each day at the begin- ning of his journalistic career. All that he did, the most trivial events of his every-day life, the books that he read, the visits he paid, everything is noted briefly. At the end of the volume are some more notes, dated 1864, and written for the Ange Blane, or the Baronne de B. .. ., during d’Auré- villy’s stay at his father’s home. In these later notes the light, witty, cynical tone has given way to a more serious and more profound way of look- ing at life. The old home is full of memories, the card-table is still there, around which he had seen merry groups, the garden his mother had loved is overgrown with weeds, the silence and the intense melancholy are deeply felt by him. When he leaves he writes: ‘“ Cette ville a de mon coeur sous ses payés et dans les pierres de ses maisons.” Rarely has any author described in so touching and sincere a way the effect of the return after many years to the home of one’s childhood. “Ames Cévenolles,”t byJ.Hudry-Menos, isa. remarkable psychological study in the form of a novel. It is a story which should appeal to English readers, who will recognise in the sturdy conscientious Huguenots of the Cevennes * “A cdte de I’ Histoire” (Lemerre), + “ Deuxiéme Memorandum” (Stock). t “ Ames Cévenolles” (Armand Colin).  256 mountains the same obstinacy and hard, unrelenting narrow-mindedness which animated the most rigid of their Puritan ancestors. The story is based on the conflict of the old and new ideas : a Protestant pastor who expects his son to succeed him in the Church and Presbytery, the education and evolu- tion of this son, his love for a girl who had been brought up in the old belief, the tyranny of the so- called religious parents and a tragic dénouement, all this holds the reader’s attention from the first * page to the last. There is nothing exaggerated, and no attempt to defend one side or the other. It isa simple story simply told, but each character lives, and one feels that the whole story is just one example of the hundreds of similar tragedies enacted constantly in our very midst in the name of religion. The descriptions of the country and of the simple customs of the in- habitants of the Cevennes, together with the ardent patriotism, make the book essentially French, but the characters themselves are s0 human, that they belong to all countries, and make the novel itself one to be read universally. “Le Voile du Temple,” by M. Jean Dornis, is another powerful novel based on religious con- flicts. There are some very fine pages in this book, which from the first chapter to the last is full of ideas. Among recent books are “Le Dernier Condé, ”* by M. Charles Laurent. “Qrezels’t by the Comte de Saint-Aulaire. “Les Pierres d’Oxford,”t by M. G. Grappe. «Esai sur la Poésie anglaise au XIX* siécle,” § by M. G. Grappe. “La Renaissance catholique en Angleterre au XIX° siécle,”|| by M. Thureau-Dangin. “Le Testament volé,’ by J. H. Rosny. A curious book has been written by M. Henri Maassis, entitled “Comment Emile Zola composait ses Romans ’”’** (d’aprés ses notes personelles et inédites). The Prince of Monaco is giving to the French nation an Oceanographic Institute, together with the magnificent Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. The gift is valued at ten million francs. The Osiris prize of £4,000 has been awarded by the five academies to M. Albert Sorel, member of the French Academy, and member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science. * “Le Dernier Condé” (Ollendorff). + “Grezels” (Perrin). t “Les Pierres d’Oxford” (Sansot). § “Essai sur la Poésie anglaise au XIXe. sitcle” (Sansot). || ‘La Renaissance catholique en Angleterre aux XIXe. siécle” (Plon). J “Le Testament volé” (Fontemoing). ** “Comment Emile Zola composait ses romans” (Fasquelle). THE AUTHOR. At the Thédtre Francais “ Paraitre”’ is still being given, and at the Vaudeville “‘ Le Bourgeon.” At the Renaissance “ La Griffe” is having great success, and at the Thédtre Antoine “ Le Canard Sauvage.” The great event in the theatrical world here is the appointment of M. Antoine as director of the second State Theatre, the Odéon. The new direc- tor intends to make various changes in the house itself, both in the lighting arrangements and in the arrangement of the seats. Among the first of the new pieces that he will produce are “ La Maison des Juges,” by M. Gaston Leroux, “La Faute de V’Abbé Mouret,” and Shakespeare’s “ Julius Cesar,” translated by M. de Grammont. M. Gémier is to be director of the Théatre Antoine, which is to retain the name of its founder. Mme. Jane Hading has just started for a tour in England, which is being arranged by M. Frédéric Mayer. Among other pieces she is to play “Le Retour de Jérusalem,” “ La Chate- laine,” and ‘‘ Le Maitre de Forges.” After a tour in the provinces she will play at the Coronet Theatre on the 11th of June. Avyva Havin $$ —_— SPANISH NOTES. — F the gentler sex is the dominant note in my I Spanish report this month the reason is not far to seek, for the advent of our Princess Ena as Queen Victoria of the country cannot be without its influence on the women of all classes in Spain. The enthusiasm for the English Queen has been spontaneously exhibited in the twenty- four short articles and poems from the pens of Spanish ladies, which appear in the Spring number of Zhe Woman's Agricultural Times. Miss Bradley, the editress of the magazine, can therefore be credited with having published the first Anglo-Spanish periodical ; and the biogra- phical notes added to these contributions by Colonel Luis de Figuerola Ferrétti, the initiator of the proceeding, give a most interesting apergu of the advance made by literary women in Spain. At the recent Spanish dinner at the Lyceum Club, honoured by the presence of the Spanish Ambas- sador and his Legation, Martin Hume, the well- known writer on subjects relating to the Peninsula, remarked that the entente cordiale between Spanish and English women could only be the result of the education of woman in Spain ; and this education the eminent author will see is already possessed by the Spanish ladies patriotic enough to publish their hopes for their country in a foreign magazine. To refer to the first of these Spanish collaborators in the “ W.A.T.,” the name of Emilia Pardo de  THE AUTHOR. Bazan is renowned through Spain as that of a novelist, litterateur and dramatist of the highest rank. Then the cap and gown marking the pictures of the Senora doctora Arroyo de Marquez and of the Sefora doctora Sotis de Reyes show that these ladies have taken their places as lady doctors in Madrid, and in both cases they are efficient partners of their husbands in the same profession ; and their addresses to their future Queen plead for her Royal patronage for the project of children’s hospitals in Spain, and for the creation of a Faculty of Medicine exclusively for women. The little poems to the English Queen-elect by Carmen Blanca y Trigueros, Maria del Pilar Contreras de Rodriguez, Carolina de Soto y Coro, and Rosa Equilaz de Parada Santin breathe the poetic spirit peculiar to the country. The cordial hope expressed by Con- cepicon Gimeno de Flaquer that her country- women may find lucrative employment in the “lighter branches of agriculture” is characteristic of the lady, who inaugurated the first meeting on Feminism in Spain, which was held in the Atheneum of Madrid, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Infanta Eulalia. The lines of the Countess del Val are an expressive welcome to her future Queen ; and, like most of the writers in this Spanish Supplement, the Countess is on the executive committee of ladies of the Ibero- American Union, which is so active in all that pertains to the progress of woman’s education ; and when one mentions that some of the other writers, like Matilde del Real, are Inspectors General of girls’ schools, whilst Blanca de les Rios de Lamperez is an authoress, who was accorded by the Royal Academy of Spain a special prize for one of her works, one sees that education has made a decided stride in the circles of these active women. Moreover, when one knows that some of these Spanish contributors to the “ W.A.T.” have posts on the newspapers of their country, one realises the increasing influence of women in Spain. Sefiora Carmen Burgos de Segui’s article gains in importance as we hear that in her commission from the Minister of Education to report upon the Educational Institutes of the Continent she has visited Paris and Rome, and hopes soon to come to London. Her lecture in the Eternal City on Feminism in Spain was a great success. The Anglo-Spanish royal marriage also stimu- lated the editor of the Ganaderia e industrias rurales, the agricultural publication of Valladolid, to tender through Colonel Figuerola Ferretti invitations to Englishwomen interested in the lighter branches of agriculture as employments for woinen to send short articles on the subject to his magazine; and the responses he received must have shown our Spanish sisters that the movement 257 is now a very real one in England. This recent simultaneous expression of English feeling in a Spanish publication and of Spanish sentiment in an English magazine—both publications having similar aims—-mark a great stride in the entente cordiale of Spanish and English women, which, if continued, will be a practical form of the union of Spain and England so sympathetically set forth in the message sent to the Lyceum from our ambassador at Madrid by the voice of his sister, Miss de Bunsen, on the evening of the banquet to the Spanish Legation. The advent of our English princess as Queen in Spain certainly signalises a great awakening of intellectual interest in England. Hitherto, the Peninsula seemed to limit its attention to Paris, now attention is turned to London. Sefiora Cabrera di Iborra writes full of enthusiasm for English works which she is ready to translate, and the success of Maria de Otocha Ossoris y Gallardo in this line has given additional value to her contribution to the “ W.A.T.” ; and the clever arguments laid down in the same magazine for an hygienic education by the Sefiora doctora Concepcion Alexandre show that she is a student of logic as well as medicine. Salome Nufiez y Topete is a capable journalist ; and the address contributed by Consuelo del Rey de Zambuena shows that she is rightly regarded as an expert exponent of advanced views on woman’s education, and in this article (as in that of Mercedes Wehrle) the ideal of that education is seen to be in accordance with the system adopted in England. In fact, the deeper one delves, the more one sees that as “one touch of nature makes the whole world kin,” the note of intelligence when fairly struck resounds in Spain as well as in England, and, as Janotha, the Court pianist, writes to Spain, “the joy and happiness now reigning in that country will send forth melodies like ‘wireless telegraphy all over the world.” RACHEL CHALLICE. a WHY IS AN AGENT? An Answer to “L. J. V.” I. T is an easy, if somewhat useless, achievement to put up a thing and then to knock it down. This, however, has been successfully accom- plished by “L. J. V.,” in three pages of the May Author. In answer to his query “Why is an Agent?” he has clearly proved an incapable and fraudulent literary agent to be both fraudulent and incapable ! One might just as easily argue that because one  258 THER AUTHOR. has met with a fraudulent and incapable lawyer— and who hasn’t ?—therefore the whole legal pro- fession is useless. «J, J. V.” gives as a fair sample of the agent a person who not only keeps books whom nobody can see, who decides on the destination of an MS. haphazard, but who also, when he does happen to place anything—a weak admission on the part of “Z, J. V.,” surely !—either forwards to the author no money at all, or else deducts the larger part of it, over and above his exorbitant commission, to gwell his already swollen banking account. That sharks exist among literary agents—as among other callings—ready to prey upon the oung and foolish, must of course be admitted. But that all agents are the same, I, for one, most emphatically deny. There are literary agents and literary agents, and, given an honourable one and one who knows his business—such are to be found if one is not too lazy to make inquiries—the advan- tages of employing him are obvious. Briefly, a capable agent knows the literary requirements of the different editors and publishers. He knows the length and style of the short stories and articles suitable for such-and-such a periodical, and the style of matter most likely to suit the various publishing firms—exclusive knowledge which only years of ceaseless study can attain. He knows, moreover, which magazines are “full up,” so does not waste valuable time in submitting in that quarter. In the course of business he is bound to be asked by editors for articles and stories, which commissions he naturally passes on to those of his clients most capable to undertake them. Again, a reliable agent not only obtains payment on acceptance—he holding himself responsible for the good faith of his client—but he also, for the most part, does obtain higher prices. This does not necessarily imply that he bargains with editors —a practice which would soon lower his standing— but owing to his knowledge of the pecuniary value of the work he submits, and by refusing all offers until that price is reached. The unknown author is ready to accept the first price that is offered, so long as he gets into print, and editors, it must be admitted, trade upon this fact when they are dealing direct with the unknown author. The publisher, as a rule, offers the lowest price he thinks will be agreed to; he never offers more than he thinks an MS. is worth to him. But between these two prices is a large margin—a margin which the agent, knowing the literary market, is in the position to curtail considerably. Thirdly, a capable agent will not submit to an editor or publisher unsuitable work. Therefore it stands to reason that a publishing firm, knowing this fact, will read and consider very carefully all work submitted by that agent—a course he cannot possibly pursue with the greater part of the MSS. sent in. That he can “induce publishers to buy everything he offers them”? is, of course, only what an agent who knows nothing about his business would tell a prospective client who knew nothing about im. With the literary agent with whom “LL. J. V.” is unfortunately acquainted, we are not here dealing. No honourable agent will expect a client to bind himself to submit all his work through his hands for a fixed pericd. If the client cannot increase his output by employing the agent who can advise him as to the literary market, he should at once cease dealings with that agent. No honourable agent would accept an offer from an editor or publisher for his client’s work without first receiving his client’s consent. In the same way, he would not be in a position to refuse an offer, but he would advise the author as to whether he should accept it. Again, he would always make a point of enclosing the editor’s letter containing the offer when writing on the subject. That an agency of any standing whatever should make false payments when a letter to the publisher would at once expose the fraud, is, on the face of it, a doubtful contingency. Another objection raised by the long-suffering “«Z. J. V.” is the uncanny silence of an agent before he places the MS., for which he does not pay. Would this writer have his agent inform him every time his MS. was returned ? Why disappoint an author in this way? Of what advantage is it to him? And consider, say with a hundred clients, the extra expense and trouble such correspondence would entail. But an honourable agent is always ready to answer all queries concerning MSS., to show his correspondence and books, or to return an MS. when requested. The final query of “L. J. V.” is, Why should an author who has placed his own work employ an agent ? The obvious answer is, Because he wishes to increase his output—a course which an agent who makes it his business to know the require- ments of the six hundred odd periodicals, not to mention publishers, in daily need of literary fuel, is undoubtedly able to bring about. Lastly, do not employ an agent until you have made the most stringent inquiries concerning him. Satisfied as to his integrity and ability, stick to him—as long as he helps to increase your income. But because you do not take the precaution to make inquiries—for which, being members of the Society of Authors, there is no excuse—and as a result place yourself in the hands of a shark, do not promptly label all agents as sharks, and sweepingly assert that they are of no use. GrorGE G. Maanus. cite! EB get af fe a iy iy 1 it bi  THE AUTHOR. II. In the May issue of the Au/hor an interesting article appeared on literary agencies, on which you invited comment. As it seems to me there are two points altogether missed by the article. I should like if possible to draw attention to them if they are not touched upon by some better accredited critic of the article ? Putting aside the financial bearings of the question, it would appear that a writer sends his works to an agent, firstly because he believes the agent has a wider knowledge of the magazines than himself, and is therefore in a position to place his work more quickly than he can do it himself. It surely must often happen that a work fails to be accepted, less because it is wanting in merit, than because it is not fitted by length, or is unsuitable in style or subject to the special magazine to which the writer first sends it, though he very possibly may get it accepted, after many false tries, necessitating much discouragement, as he has so slowly to learn the why and wherefore his MSS. are rejected. The agent should surely be able to give the writer advice as to curtailing or brightening his work, which might ensure its acceptance. The only allusion the writer of the article in the May Author makes to the knowledge an agent ought to possess on the suitability of a writer’s work to certain magazines, is a passing one that an agent will “by haphazard ” place his client’s work in the hands of a publisher or editor whom the writer would have discovered for himself in time. This may perhaps be true of publishers, whose numbers are limited, but a glance at any writers’ year-book, or press guide, shows a multi- plicity of magazines, among which a writer may struggle for years before he finds his feet. Editors generally presume that a writer must read their particular magazines before venturing to send in acontribution. There would be very little time for writing if an author tried to read even a fraction of the magazines which might take his work. Is not this where the superior knowledge of the agent should come in, and save the author’s time ? Saving of time is also the reason I drew attention to the other point I think the writer of the article overlooked. He makes no allusion to the mere clerical work which the author has to undertake, if he is determined to find the right market for his wares. It may take the best part of a morning to get off half-a-dozen MSS. to their different destina- tions, the clerical work comprising not only the mere folding and stamping, but methodical entries in the register, the writing of a fresh letter to each editor, possibly the re-typing or re-covering of the MSS. This is all, of course, the A BC of the writer’s daily task ; but if an agent can save him so many hours of work, it must be an advantage, 259 even if the wear and tear on his nerves entailed by the personal reception of rejected MSS. be not also taken into consideration. I have not written as in any sense holding a brief for literary agencies, for I have not yet tried a competent professional one, a fact which rather inclines me to wonder if I could not have been saved many wearisome hours of clerical work, and many unnecessary discouragements, if I had called in the assistance of a competent agent, and it is from those who have used them that one would be glad to have the reply. Maupe C. Knieut 9 UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT. 1 G. anp C. Merriam Oo. v. THE UNITED Dictionary Co. OLLOWING is the decision rendered April 10th by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the appeal from the Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois in the suit brought by G. and C. Merriam Co. against the United Dictionary Co. to restrain infringement of copyright in their ‘ Webster’s High School Dictionary ” :— This is an appeal from a final decree of the United States Circuit Court for the Northern Dis- trict of Illinois dismissing the bill of complaint of the appellant for want of equity, the case having been heard upon the pleadings and an agreed statement of facts. The bill was filed to restrain infringement of copyright in the book entitled “ Webster’s High School Dictionary.” The facts briefly stated are as follows :— Appellant, before the publication in this or any foreign country, was the owner of the literary pro- perty in and the right to copyright the book “Webster's High School Dictionary,” and on August 9th, 1892, published and copyrighted the same simultaneously in Great Britain and the United States. Thereafter appellant continued to publish and sell this book in the United States, complying with all the requirements of the statutes and printing the statutory notice of copyright in every copy published or sold in this country. The book, under the name ‘“ Webster’s Brief Inter- national Dictionary,” was subsequently published commercially in England under an agreement be- tween appellant and George Bell and Sons, entered into on July 18th, 1894. ‘This contract expressly provides that George Bell and Sons will net either directly or indirectly sell in or import the book into the United States, or sell to others for the purpose of importation, and George Bell and Sons agree to use all reasonable means to prevent such 260 THE AUTHOR. importation by others. Under this contract the book has been published and sold in England. The copies so published and sold in England by George Bell and Sons have not borne the notice of the American copyright, but have been in full com- pliance with all the provisions of the English copy- right law, and appellant has in England a valid and subsisting copyright in the book. No copies of the English book have ever been imported into or sold in the United States either by appellant or George Bell and Sons, or anyone acting for or on behalf of either. The appellee, United Dictionary Company, is an Illinois corporation, organised June, 1904, with a capital stock of 1,500 dollars. George W. Ogilvie, who was the organiser of defendant corporation in January, 1905, caused a newsdealer in Chicago to cable to England and procure for him a copy of “ Webster's Brief Inter- national Dictionary.” This book was received in due course and turned over to Ogilvie. This and another copy subsequently imported by Ogilvie are the only copies of “ Webster’s Brief Inter- national Dictionary,” as far as the record shows, that ever came into thiscountry. Upon receipt of the first copy the appellee, United Dictionary Com- pany, of which Ogilvie is director and principal stockholder, had the pages of ‘“ Webster’s Brief International Dictionary ” photographed and repro- duced verbatim, and had plates made which com- pletely reproduced that book, and which also reproduced ‘‘ Webster’s High School Dictionary,” except the first three and the last thirty-four pages, the remainder of the two books being identical, This reproduction was with full knowledge of the American copyright and of the identity of the books. It is expressly stipulated that “said Ogilvie obtained said copy of said ‘ Webster’s Brief Inter- national Dictionary,’ not for the purpose of selling said individual copy, but for the purpose and intent of having the United Dictionary Company reprint and republish said book without the consent of either complainant or George Bell and Sons.” Appellee advertised the intended publication of its book in The Publishers’ Weekly, and has circu- lated pamphlets and printed matter in which this announcement is made. The book has not yet been published, but will be unless its publication is restrained ; and if published, will constitute an infringement of appellant’s copyright in the book ““Webster’s High School Dictionary,” if that copyright be valid. The question chiefly argued in this court is, whether the failure, under the circumstances of this case, to insert in the books published in Eng- land the copyright notice required by the United States copyright law works a forfeiture of the United States copyright, notwithstanding an exact and literal compliance with the United States statute in regard to all books published or circulated by or with the consent of appellant in the United States. Wright, District Judge, delivered the opinion of the court : Appellant’s copyright of ‘Webster’s High School Dictionary” was in strict conformity to law, and is unassailable in the United States unless the publication in Great Britain omitting notice of copyright as required by Section 4,962, Revised Statutes, deprives it of the right tomaintain an action for infringement. Appellee imported two copies of the British publication of the book for its use ; that is, to re- print and republish it in this country for sale. The importation and publication is sought to be justi- fied by appellee because the publication in Eng- land was printed from type set or plates made within the limits of the United States, and more particularly appellee’s insistence is that the publi- cation is justified because of the failure of appellant to insert in the books published in England the copyright notice required by the United States copyright law. In support of these contentions it is argued that the only prohibition contained in the law is against the importation of books not made from plates from type set in the United States during the life of the copyright, and that the books in question having been made from plates from type set in the United States, there exists no law against the importation of them, and having been lawfully im- ported, and being thus properly in the United States, and containing no notice therein of a United States copyright, they were legally subject to be produced by reprint or publication by any person, notwithstanding the copyright of the United States edition of the book. The prohibition against importation found in Section 4,956, Revised Statutes, we think was not intended to do more than its plain terms import, considered with the context of the whole section. Manifestly the object of that prohibition is to pre- vent from being done abroad the work of producing copyright books designed for sale in the United States. The prohibition of that section has no application to the facts in this sale in the United States. Appellant had already provided another edition of the book for sale in the United States by obtaining copyright according to law, which was duly protected thereby. However, in the ulti- mate view we entertain of the question involved we do not consider the absence of a specific prohi- bition in the statute against the importation of a book in the situation of appellant’s English publi- cation as of controlling effect. The vital question is whether protection can be afforded against  THE AUTHOR. infringement of the copyright appellant obtained from the United States, or whether the facts stated constitute an infringement. If the importations of the British book were in large numbers designed for sale in the United States in competition with the domestic copyright, then the question would be not only of illegal importation, but of infringement of the domestic copyright, as well as the same now is of infringe- ment by reproducing in this country the foreign publication. It has been argued with force that because Sec- tion 4,956, Revised Statutes, provides that no person shall be entitled to a copyright unless he shall, on or before the day of publication in this or any foreign country, deliver to the Librarian of Congress a printed copy of the title of the book, and also two copies of the book not later than the day of publication thereof in this or any foreign country, that therefore the publication of the book being, as contended, thereby authorised, the pro- vision in Section 4,963 for the insertion of the copyright notice in the several copies of every edition published has reference to the several copies of every edition, wherever published, in this or any foreign country. Appellant did comply with these requirements in obtaining its domestic copyright. The law does not require this to be done in both countries, the requirement being that the copies be delivered before or on the day of publication in this or any foreign country. Appellant having fulfilled this requirement before the day of publication in this country, it had done all the law demanded in this regard. Other than this the provisions of this sec- tion relative to the deposit of copies of a publica- tion in a foreign country, the demand for copies to be delivered to the librarian is but supplementary to the provisions of Section 4,953, and should be limited to the purposes of that section, which enables authors or proprietors of a book in a foreign language to obtain copyright in this country. No provision is made in that section for a case like the one we are considering. The only reference in that section to a case like this is con- tained in the proviso: “That this Act shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation when such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the United States of America the benefit. of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens.” By other legislation it is provided that existence of the conditions de- scribed in the proviso shall be determined by the President of the United States by proclamation from time to time as the purposes of the law may require. So, in the case of a domestic owner of a literary production, which is also of domestic origin and in 261 our own language, which is the case of appellant, we find no special provision in the law for copy- right abroad, but do find in the proviso quoted that such a case has been anticipated by legislative recognition or sanction, confirmed by executive proclamation, thus pointing out the way, if not creating the right, to citizens of the United States to obtain from foreign nations copyright benefits. Congress did not assume to give to citizens of this country the right to a foreign copyright, but doubtless did all they could do, encouraged foreign nations, who alone could grant the benefits, to do so, and in legal effect authorised citizens of this country to seek copyright benefits in foreign countries upon the conditions provided for them. Under these circumstances appellant obtained from Great Britain a copyright of the book in ques- tion, and was thus induced to publish it in Eng- land, which enabled appellee to obtain a copy for its use. So far as appears, the copyright granted by the English Government was in strict con- formity to the laws of that nation. Indeed, ifat all, it had to be as prescribed by the law of England, for Congress had no authority to define the con- ditions upon which a copyright might be granted by a foreign nation. The Congress by their legis- lation did not assume such authority, but merely as an act of amity provided that when a foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the United States the benefits of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens, then a citizen or subject of such foreign state or nation should have the privileges relative to copyright as con- ferred by law upon citizens of this country. The law of England does permit to citizens of this country the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own subjects, as evidenced by the proclamation of the President of the United States. It is true that the book so copyrighted and pub- lished in the foreign country contains no notice that a copyright exists in the United States. The law of England does not require that it should contain such a notice of its own copyright. The English copyright is valid in that country. It was obtained by appellant, a citizen of the United States, with both the legislative and executive invi- tation and sanction of its own country. Shall it now be held by the courts of the United States that because of such invitation and sanction appellant was induced to and did obtain a valid copyright in a foreign nation, it thereby invalidated the one it had obtained in its own country. We do not believe the Congress intended to have their enactments interpreted to au absurdity such as that would be. It was never intended that the notice of copyright in this country should be inserted in foreign copyright editions of the same book not designed  262 for sale in the United States. In the case of Eng- land, if such conditions were held to have been imposed, the effect would be to burden citizens of the United States with conditions that nation had not cast on its own subjects, and this would be inconsistent with the terms of the proviso of the statute hereinbefore quoted, by means of which these reciprocal rights were effected, to the purpose that if foreign nations should permit citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on sub- stantially the same basis as its own citizens, then the latter should have like benefits in this country. If appellant had inserted a notice of the American copyright in the English editions of the book, would it have been true? It is plain that it would not. There can be no just pretence that the identical matter of the English edition had ever been submitted to the forms of law essential to a copyright in the United States. The title and the first three and last thirty-four pages of the English edition were different from the domestic edition. This being true, is it not evident that to have in- serted such a notice would have been a violation of Section 4,963, Revised Statutes, subjecting the offender to a penalty of 100 dollars ? It is not to be imagined the law demanded a violation of itself. An infringement may result in the wrongful use of a part as well as the whole of a publication pro- tected by copyright. Appellant rightfully published its book in England in conformity to the laws of that country, with the approval of the law of its own sovereignty, at the same time having a copy- right in the United States entitled to the protec- tion of its laws from illegal infringement. The publication by appellee of the book imported from England would be an infringement of appellant’s copyright, and should be enjoined. The decree of the Circuit Court is reversed, and the cause remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with the views herein expressed. ———1 << —___—_— MAGAZINE CONTENTS. —— BLACKWOOD’S. The Early Royal Academy: The Story of Its Founda- tion, and The Romances of Some Original Members. Drake: An English Epic. Book III. By Alfred Noyes. Grammar to the Wolves. By P. A. Wright Henderson. Musings Without Method: Paris in the Seventeenth Century : An Amateur of the Arts. BOOKMAN, Sir Richard Burton. By Thomas Lloyd. Swinburne’s Tragedies. By Alfred Noyes. Book MONTHLY. A Great Unknown. Special Peeps at Mudie and His World of Readers. By James Milne. THB AUTHOR. Treasure Trove : Some Unpublished Verse of Our English Poet Crabbe. By M. Jourdain. Wanted Humourists: Has The Triumphant Woman Novelist Killed Them All? By C. E. Lawrence. CONTEMPORARY. China and The West. By Dr. Timothy Richard. The Moral Consciousness of Jesus. By Wm. Douglas Mackenzie. In The Footsteps of Ramon Lull. By Havelock Ellis, Pre-Raphaelitism and The Present. By L. March Phillipps. CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL. Other Times, Other Manners. By Percy Fitzgerald. English Antiquities, Genuine and Spurious. By George Clinch. CORNHILL. The Spring Call: A Poem. By Thomas Hardy. A French Traveller in Charles II.’s England. From an Unpublished MS. By D. K. Broster. FORTNIGHTLY. Heinrich Heine. By H. B. Samuel. The English Stage in the Eighteenth Century. Part I. By H. B. Irving. Mr. J. M. Barrie’s Dramatic and Social Influence. By Edith A. Browne. The Cradle of Modern British Art. By Julius M. Price. INDEPENDENT REVIEW. Darwin and Mendel. By L. Doncaster. The Shadow and The Substance : Two French Plays. Archbishop Temple. By The Rev. Hastings Rashdall. The Poetry of Blake. By G. L. Strachey. MACMILLAN’S. Religious Drama. By Robb Lawson. Some Types of Modern France. Rhythm and Rhyme. By Geo. Bourne. Henry Sidgwick. By Prof. James Sully. MONTH. Science and Religion. By J. G. The English Pope and His Irish Bull, 1. By The Rev. Herbert Thurston. A Child Queen of Spain. By The Comtesse de Courson. Reality in Teaching. By R. Smythe. MonTHLY REVIEW. Spiritualism. By Isabella Blackwood. Accursed Races. By Frederick Boyle. NATIONAL REVIEW. The Genesis of Italian Unity. By The Right Hon. Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, Bart. The Value of a Public School Education. By Reginald Lucas. A Century of Children’s Books. By Eveline C. Godley. NINETEENTH CENTURY. The Future of Shakesperean Research. By Sidney Lee. Eugenics and St. Valentine. By Havelock Ellis. The Vocation of the Journalist. By D. C. Banks. The Lighter Side of Hannah More. By Norman Pearson. The Individual versus The Crowd. By Sir Martin Conway. PALL MALL MAGAZINE. To The Artist: A Poem. By Eden Phillpotts. TEMPLE BAR. Honoré de Balzac: A Sketch. By Mary F. Sandars. Balzac by Himself: A New Translation of a Letter to Madame Hanska.  THE AUTHOR. WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS OF BOOKS. ot ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an agreement. There are four methods of dealing with literary property :— I. Selling it Outright. This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (@ 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 ! III. The Royalty System. This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately the truth. From time to time very important figures connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author. IV. A Commission Agreement. The main points are :— (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production. (2.) Keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book. General. All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four above mentioned. Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author. Never sign any agreement without competent advice from the Secretary of the Society. Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp. Avoid agreements by letter if possible. The main points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are :— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong tothe author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright. a WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. —_-——9 — 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. 263 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays in three or more acts :— (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into such a contract should stipulate in the contract for production of the piece by a certain date and for proper publication of his name on the play-bills. (b.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to perform on the basis of percentages on gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts in preference to the American system. Should obtain a sum inadvance of percentages. A fixed date on or before which the play should be performed. (c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to perform on the basis of royalties (i.¢., fixed nightly fees). This method should be always avoided except in cases where the fees are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply also in this case. 4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved. 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and time. This is most important. 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is of great importance. 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words. 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed- ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration. 9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced, 10. An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative : that he rums a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication. As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con- tracts, those authors desirous of further information are referred to the Secretary of the Society. —___—_+-——+ ___—_ WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. ae ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the assistance of producers of books and dramatic authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan- cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic property. The musical composer has very often the two rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He  264 should be especially careful therefore when entering into an agreement, and should take into particular consideration the warnings stated above. —__—_——_-—>__+____——_ HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. —— + 1, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. The Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2, Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the .experi- ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society. 3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4, Before signing any agreement whatever, send the document to the Society for examination. 5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of your calling in promoting the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer. 6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire- proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers: —(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work can be obtained in the Prospectus. 7. No contract should be entered into with a literary agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society. 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. 9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do some publishers. Members can make their own deductions and act accordingly. 10. The subscription to the Society is £1 1s. per annum, or £10 10s. for life membership. THE AUTHOR. TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. ee HE Society undertakes to stamp copies of music on behalf of its members for the fee of 6d. per 100 or part of 100. The members’ stamps are kept in the Society’s safe. The musical publishers communicate direct with the Secretary, and the voucher is then forwarded to the members, who are thus saved much unnecessary trouble, Se THE READING BRANCH. ae 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, 7+ 7 NOTICES. Sg HE Editor of Zhe Author begs to remind members of I the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 5s. 6d. subscription for the year. Communications for “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. Worckstee = 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. Cyerou Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. et 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 te write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered letter only. o> LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. a EENSIONS to commence at any selected age, either with or without Life Assurance, can be obtained from this Society. Be Full particulars can be obtained from the City Branch Manager, Legal and General Life Assurance — Society, 158, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.  THE AUTHOR. GENERAL NOTES. —— — T appears to be a growing habit for certain members of the Society of Authors to use the fact of their membership for purposes entirely «4c outside the scope of the Society’s work. A What the Society does and does not do is fully ~ set forth in the prospectus issued from the office, + and in various other ways from time to time in these pages. But as this misuse has raised some difficulties «and doubts in the minds of other members, it may mo be as well to state that membership of the Society ob does: not give any literary status, and certainly “0D does not give any sovial status. ; That because a man isa member, and can obtain the assistance of the Society as an author, his mem- bership does not necessarily constitute him either a capable literary agent or a capable publisher. That, if he happens to be either an agent or a publisher, the committee strongly deprecate this use of his position as member as a lever to raise his business in either of the above trades. That as far as the committee are able, they restrict his use of the Society’s machinery to the advancement of his interests and to the protection of his property as an author. It is hoped that this statement will be sufficient to lay to rest once and for all the doubts that have arisen. In the May Author an article was printed entitled “Why is an Agent?” The reason for printing it was stated in these columns. It has aroused con- siderable comment from members and others. To some of these we gladly give publicity. Personally, we think, and have often stated, that the agent is absolutely essential. He has done in the past, and will do in the future, excellent work for the profession, but we also have often stated that as the author is dealing on the most con- fidential terms with an agent, terms as confidential ds those that exist between solicitor and client, doctor and patient, so to a greater degree than in ordinary business must he beware that his confidence is not misplaced. We cannot even agree with the dictum of an agent—one of no mean standing—who stated recently that an agent could be of no use to an author until he had found himself. It is true that an author may not be profitable to an agent until he has found himself, but the agent from his full knowledge and his practical ability can be of the - greatest help to all those authors, famous or other- wise, whose talents are either naturally ill adapted for business, or whose temperaments revolt from business worries. 265 The advantages that are derived from the exist- ence of this middleman are too numerous to place the proposition in doubt, and the constant com- plaints are not sufficient to shake our steadfast belief in his powers. For complaints do not show that all agents are unnecessary, but merely that some agents are inefficient. Ture Canadian Magazine for May contains an amusing and cynical article by Stephen Leacock on “The Passing of the Poet.” He endeavours to draw the conclusion that the present lines on which the higher civilisation is run tend to destroy poetry and sentimentality. “It is pleasing to turn,” he says, “from this excessive sentimentality of thought and speech to the practical and concise diction of our time. We have learnt to express ourselves with equal force but greater simplicity. To illustrate this I have gathered from the poets of the earlier generation, and from the prose writers of to-day, parallel passages that may be fairly set in contrast. Here, for example, is a passage from the poet Gray, still familiar to scholars :— ‘Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ; Can honour’s voice invoke the silent dust, Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death ?’ ‘‘Precisely similar in thought, though different in form, is the more modern presentation found in Huxley’s ‘Physiology ’ :— ‘Whether after the moment of death the ventricles of the heart can be again set in movement by the artificial stimulus of oxygen, is a question to which we must impose a decided negative.’ ” This is excellent jesting. Please note the remark « gtill familiar to scholars.” We cannot, however, admit its truth. ‘Poeta nascitur non fit,” and will come to life again some day, however rapid our existence, however practical our methods. True poetry throughout the world’s history has gone through changing periods of life and death, and it cannot be supposed when the human race has advanced to what we are pleased in our present ironical mood to think is its very highest phase, that the genius of poetry has forsaken us never to return. me THE ANNUAL DINNER. —— HE annual dinner of the Incorporated Society of Authors was held on May 9th, at the Criterion Restaurant, instead of the Hotel Cecil, where it has taken place upon recent occasions. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., Chairman of the Com- mittee of Management, presided, having upon his left hand as “the guest of the evening,” Lord Curzon of Kedleston. Altogether about two  266 hundred and fifty members and guests were resent, the latter including, besides Lord Curzon, M. Raoul de Saint Arroman, vice-president of the Société des Gens de Lettres ; Dr. G. R. Parkin, C.M.G.; M. Georges Pettillean, representative of the Société des Gens de Lettres in England ; The President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England ; The Right Hon. Sir Horace Rumbold, P.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G. ; M. Pierre de Sales, member of the Committee of the Société des Gens de Lettres ; The Right Hon. Sir Charles Scott, G.C.B., and many others. After the Chairman had given the healths of “His Majesty the King,” and “ Her Majesty the Queen and Royal Family,” which were drunk with loyal enthusiasm, Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins proposed the toast of “Lord Curzon of Kedleston and Lady Curzon,” opening his speech with an expression of his regret, shared by all present, that Lady Curzon’s health had not permitted her to be present, and with a reference to the serious illness which, before Lady Curzon’s last return to India, had evoked such universal and hearty sympathy throughout the Empire. To Lord Curzon Mr. Hawkins referred as the guest of the society, but not a stranger to it, for he had long been a member, and had occupied a place upon the council. Dr. Johnson had said of Warren Hastings that it was a new thing to find a clerk in the India Office translating poetry —a new thing for a governor of Bengal to patronise learning. We might not compare ourselves with Dr. Johnson, but we might compare Lord Curzon with Warren Hastings. He had marked out for himself'a subject, and had written a most elaborate work, which made that subject his own for years to come. What he had written had foreshadowed what he was going to do, and what he had done was vindicated and illustrated by what he had written. Lord Curzon’s services to the Empire needed no words from him in order to commend the toast to the audience, but he himself from a personal point of view felt much indebted to the chairman for having invited him to propose it. His acquaintance with the high reputation of “Lord Curzon dated from his own first week at Oxford, when he heard him spoken of by all as the most promising undergraduate at the University. Lord Curzon was now resting, and if he were to enjoy a long rest it would be one earned by good work well done, but he predicted that it would not be long before their guest that evening would again be summoned to office, or to what was perhaps even more important—to the exercise of an influence even greater than office (loud cheers). On rising to reply to the toast of his health and that of Lady Curzon, Lord Curzon said that his THB AUTHOR. first word must be one of apology at the unfore- seen, but enforced absence of Lady Curzon, who had not recovered from a severe attack of influenza the first fruits of her return to the dubious ameni- ties of the British climate. He was glad to bea member of the Incorporated Society of Authors, a body of persons joined together in order to protect the fraits of their productive and creative faculties from the frand of the pirate, and the wiles of the oppressor. He did not know whether every- — one present was an author, but he believed himself to be right in assuming that the majority should be so described, and he felt almost appalled at the forces imprisoned beneath the apparently innocent surface of the gathering before him, and he also wondered what would happen if some man with a dynamite bomb secreted beneath the hall were to blow them all into the air (laughter). He had no doubt that there would be no appreciable difference in the intellectual and moral conditions of the race, for the present was an age of such extraordinary fertility of literary production that nearly every- body wrote, and the majority of them wrote remarkably well. He was glad to see that that observation received the endorsement of those present. It was a period of such marvellous versatility that were they all to be suddenly eliminated, a similar number, equally competent would arise to take their places, and the world would roll on tearless and unmoved. There never was a time when the literary faculty was more widely diffused, or when literary actors played so many parts. The president of their society, Mr. George Meredith, had given to the world the noblest prose and the noblest poetry. Mr. Swin- burne in the maturity of his intellect taught them how to write political pamphlets. Mr. Thomas Hardy seemed to have deserted the field of fiction in which he had won such unsurpassed distinction, and now gave to the world reflective and imagina- tive verse of a very high order. There was also the attractive writer who sat on his left (Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins), and who dramatised his own ad- mirable and romantic creations. Mr. Barrie had gone over almost entirely to the stage ; and lastly there was Mr. Rudyard Kipling who wrote every- thing exceedingly well, and who, to judge from his speech delivered a few evenings before at the banquet of the Royal Academy, could distance all competitors in public speaking, if he chose to adopt that as his profession. Referring to his own presence in the assembly of authors, Lord Curzon said that as Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins had remarked, he had written and published books, including that rashest of experi- ments a volume of speeches. He had also written, on one occasion, a book about India, which had 4 been illustrated and prepared for the press—it  THER AUTHOR. had even been printed, for, thanks to the kindly offices of the Incorporated Society of Authors, he had parted with his rights in it for a considerable sum—when just at that moment he became Viceroy of India, and upon his work, like the knife of the guillotine, fell tke fiat of Lord Salisbury, that no present or prospective Viceroy of India ought to do anything so improper as to bring out a book about the country he was about to govern. Asa result, his contract was torn up, his book was with- drawn, and to that day it had never appeared—one of the small, neglected, blessings of mankind. He had escaped from one other danger or com- pliment, as the case might be. All his books had been sold out before the era of the Z%imes book- sale, and he had therefore been spared the pang of seeing a work published at two guineas stand- ing on a bookshelf with a seductive label upon it, offering it to the public for the modest sum of eighteenpence ; indeed, he might count as one of the proudest moments of his literary life, an occasion when he had been compelled to buy for ten pounds, at a second-hand book shop, a work which had been originally published at the modest price of two pounds. Turning to the question of India and of native Indian literature, Lord Curzon observed that it was difficult to speak in general terms of litera- ture in connection with a country such as India, having a population of three hundred millions, of whom only about fourteen and a half million men and one million women could read and write at all, while of these, not more than one million men and one hundred thousand women could read and write the English language. This meant that literary development in India was circumscribed in area. He had himself, however, done what he could to encourage and to patronise literary effort in India, having as Governor-General opportunities for so doing, by conferring long and high-sounding titles, accompanied by artistic badges worn on the person—a power which he wished the chairman of the Society of Authors might enjoy in England. He regretted that the achievements of Indians writing in English should be regarded in England largely as matters of amusement, and that only the amusing eccentricities of what was known as Babu English should be cited as examples. These were quoted in newspapers and unfair inferences were drawn. He himself had indeed been addressed in a petition as “ Your Orpulent and Predominant Excellency,” and had wondered whether the intention of the petitioner would best be served by inserting a C. or by omitting an R. Another had written of himself with relation to the Viceroy, “as a baby waiting to receive his mother’s milk ” ; and yet another had compared himself and his request to “a peacock looking towards the sky to 267 quench his thirst.” It was, however, a style which at times might reflect a sly gift of humour, as upon the occasion when he had been out upon a shooting expedition, and the telegram had reached Caleutta “ Viceroy in camp, another Rajah killed.” To him, however, when he considered the differ- ence between the two languages, the noteworthy feature consisted not in the absurdity of the mis- takes, but in the brilliancy of the successes obtained. He found it difficult to explain the facility and the ability with which the educated natives of India acquired and spoke in this foreign tongue, for such English was to them, a facility and brilliancy which distinguished them in public speaking, where many would not lose by com- parison with eloquent members of the British Houses of Parliament, in pursuing the profession of barrister, and in presiding in the courts as judges. This facility, in his opinion, was greater in them than in any Anglo-Saxon race. It might not be widely diffused, but he would ask the Society of Authors to appreciate the fact that the English language was finding a bome in India, and that the educated people there were so eager in acquiring it, that the time might well come when an English literature would grow up in India, written by Indian writers, and an Incorporated Society of English Authors of Indian birth might hold its session in Calcutta. With regard to what Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins had said as to Dr. Johnson’s opinion of the clerk in the Indian office translating poetry, he would refer to the Govern- ment office as the official nursery of literature of high quality. The India office had given us Mill and Charles Lamb ; the Board of Education, Matthew Arnold; the Inland Revenue Office, W. M. Rossetti ; the Record Office, Mr. Maurice Hewlett ; the War Office, Mr. Frank Marzials ; the Post Office, Anthony Trollope and Mr. W. W. Jacobs. Indeed, it seemed to him that the Civil Service was in reality an Incorporated Society of Authors. In conclusion, he again thanked those present for their reception of the toast of Lady Curzon and himself. Sir Henry Bergne then proposed the toast of “The Society,” quoting at the outset the words of Mark Twain, when upon a similar occasion he proposed “ Literature,” saying, ‘I approach this toast with feelings of profound melancholy ; Shakespeare is dead—Milton is no more—I myself am feeling far from well.” He himself, he said, in the same way, but in a more chastened spirit, felt depressed on account of the duty imposed by custom upon him as chairman to propose the toast of a great literary society, although not him- self a distinguished author. Consolation, however, lay in the fact that the reply would be in the hands of one having every right and title to speak 268 to it.* Sir Henry Bergne hoped that here it would be recognised as a sign of saving grace that the toast had been so ordered as to preserve the proper relative positions of Man and Super-man. Man might propose the toast, Super-man would win approving glances from every bright eye in making the full and appropriate response. He recalled the passage : “| sometimes think that never blows so red The rose, as where some buried Czesar bled ; That every hyacinth the garden wears . Dropped in her lap from some once lovely head. And suggested that the annual festival of the Society might be regarded as a sacrificial rite, where, out of the agonies of distinguished authors and authoresses, or of undistinguished chairmen compelled to make speeches, there might some day rise the blossoms of a more perfect and glorious English literature. He would quote another verse from the same poem, so well known as to be almost hackneyed : ‘A book of verses underneath the bough, A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou Beside me singing in the wilderness. Oh | Wilderness were Paradise enow.” From this his hearers might appreciate Old Omar’s idea of the proper way to celebrate a festival, in contrast with those of the present day— a big dinner, followed by speeches in a hot room on a fine evening in May. “What a blessing,” Sir Henry ejaculated, “to live in an age of progress.” Turning to the affairs of the Society, he enlarged upon its continued prosperity. Its finances were in a sound condition, its numbers increasing, so that he hoped before long it would be able to count 2,000 members. On its list of members were to be found almost all the most distinguished names in contemporary English literature ; and not only so, but there could be reckoned among them many of high distinction, not only in letters, but in the greater field of the world’s action. Of such there could not be a more brilliant example than Lord Curzon, to whose eloquent and admirable speech those present had listened with so much pleasure. Two other names in this connection he would also mention, that of Major-General Baden-Powell, whose name not long ago resounded throughout the world, and that of Mr. Douglas Freshfield, who, in addition to great gifts as a writer, had shown his personal grit and determina- tion in difficult and dangerous feats of mountain exploration. In conclusion, the Chairman reminded the Society that its special work lay in securing for the author throughout the world due recognition * Mr. Bernard Shaw. THRE AUTHOR. of his right in his own intellectual property, and he claimed for the committee that it was their endeavour to tread humbly but steadfastly in the footsteps so firmly planted by their honoured founder, Sir Walter Besant. ‘“ Festina lente’ was sometimes a good motto, and it was his own conviction that by patient and persistent action on the part of the Society, the goal would surely in the end be reached. He gave accordingly the © toast of “ The Society,’’ coupled with the name of Mr. Bernard Shaw. | Mr. George Bernard Shaw said that in acknow- "edging the toast of The Society of Authors he was practically acknowledging the toast of the profes- sion of literaturein England. Thatprofession, asthe public saw it, had many aspects. It had the philo- sophic aspect that they who belonged to it were really the creators of the mind of the country. He did not know whether the country was aware of how largely it was dependent for its ideas on what it read. This creation of mind was the chief and great function of authorship, and it was the con- sciousness of that function which gave the pro- fession its dignity and themselves their self-respect and courage. No author who lacked that con- sciousness had either self-respect or courage. Then, they had another aspect of it, an aspect which presented itself that evening, the aspect of a brilliant, distinguished, flattered, and envied pro- fession. “But,” he went on to say, “‘there is a third aspect which we, as a Society of Authors, are never able to lose sight of. Literature is also, unfortu- nately, a sweated trade. That is one ofthe reasons for the existence of our Society. If we had literary property recognised to the fullest extent, we should still have almost all our work to do. “ Those of you who, like myself, have studied sweating as an industrial phenomenon, are aware that it occurs at its very worst in those trades where the employer, instead of having the work done in his own factory, gives it out to workers who do it in their own homes. You can get at the factory through your factory inspector and your Factory Acts, but you cannot get at the private home. Now this giving out of work to be done at home is the universal practice in our literary industry, and it results in such sweating that I have often said that the greatest service anyone could render to our profession would be the dis- covery of a method of writing books with the aid of a steam engine of several hundred horse-power, because that would lead to books being written in factories, where the unfortunate author would have the protection now enjoyed by the factory opera- tive. ‘There is another condition characteristic of the worst sweating, and that condition also, I am sorry a Se ae ivig pie a cite ie H } THE AUTHOR. to say, exists in our profession. I mean the com- petition of subsidized labour. You must have noticed how delicately Lord Curzon in his speech touched for a moment on the sore subject of the civil servant who, with a State-guaranteed income and pension at his back—an income to which, by the way,-the author as taxpayer has to contribute— fills up his spare time when public business is slack by reviewing and writing for the magazines. However, I do not complain of the competition of the civil servant. I suspect that his tendency is to raise prices rather than to lower them, because in his beanfed financial security he is able to make a compliment of writing, and to stand out for good terms with a bumptiousness which is beyond the daring of those of us who must take what is offered or starve. No, the really terrible competi- tion that we have to face is the subsidized compe- tition of the married woman. Many ladies, the wives of professional or city men, have a graceful talent for literature which they turn to account, not to save themselves from starvation, but to gain the special social consideration which comes with a little literary reputation, and to add a few luxuries and a certain profuseness of pocket money to a household already provided with necessities by the husband. Now if any of the ladies present are in this position, I cannot too earnestly implore them never to accept a cheque for a piece of literary work without asking themselves whether, if they were single women, with nothing but their pens between them and starvation, or worse still, widows with children depending on them, the sum would be sufficient to support them in reasonable decency during the time occupied by the work. In fact, reasonable decency is hardly sufficient : we poor authors are expected to keep up, not merely a respectable appearance, but a romantic one (assent and laughter). «Tam afraid that we authors are not always as clubbable—not as public spirited—not even as professionally spirited as we ought to be. We are often shamefully deficient in social conscience. You see, our profession does not bring us into daily collision with other people and other in- terests, as political and business occupations would. For instance, our distinguished guest, Lord Curzon, who has governed India and who has written books, could tell you that governing India is a very different thing from writing a book about India. As an author, he could shut himself up in his own study, invent an India solely to please his own imagination, invent its history, invent its politics, its philosophy, its religion, in short, invent a whole world without being pulled up by contact with a single real person or a single actual emergency. He might come out of his study, after dazzling literary and imaginative feats, an 269 ignorant, an unsocial, and consequently a most inconsiderate man. But ten days of governing India must either have killed him, or made him a man of the real world, with an instinctive habit of never acting or even thinking without reference to the opinions and welfare of millions of other men. That is the habit and that is the spirit which the Society of Authors is striving to foster and create in the relatively small circle of our profession. Av ithout union and collective action we are helpless. When we begin working, we are so poor and so busy that we have neither the time nor the means to defend ourselves against the commercial organisations which exploit us. When we become famous, we become famous sud- denly, passing at one bound from the state in which we are, as I have said, too poor to fight our own battles, to a state in which our time is so valuable that it is not worth our while wasting any of it on lawsuits and bad debts. We all, eminent and obscure alike, need the Authors’ Society. We all owe it a share of our time, our means, our influence. /It is of even greater service to those who never make any direct use of it than it is to — those unlucky members whose cases, have to be taken up and contested for them/by our | indefatigable secretary, Mr. Thring ; for it is just the knowledge that Mr, Thring is there, ready to pounce on the evildoer, that prevents cases arising. I am proud to say that the committee work of the Society is done, as it ought to be done, by men who, like our honoured chairman, Sir Henry Bergne, have nothing to fear for them- selves personally from the chicanery, the commer- cial oppression, and I am afraid I must even say, the contumely against which they are defending their less fortunate colleagues. And yet even eminent literary men seem still capable of astonish- ingly unprofessional conduct. Not long ago I received an application for an article at the not | unreasonable price of one hundred guineas. Need EY say that it came from America? I replied that I had not time to write it. The answer was that that did not matter at all: the article would be written for me: all that was wanted was my name. So you see, ladies and gentlemen, that many nameless members of our profession enjoy the privilege of writing brilliant and highly-priced articles, though the price does not go into their own pockets. However, that is not the point of my story. It happened that Mr. Thring at that moment commanded me, whether I had time or not, to write a review for our paper, Tur AUTHOR, of a book entitled ‘The Confessions of a Pub- lisher. I obeyed Mr. Thring meekly, as I always do ; and I did my best to make that publisher wish he had never been born; but I naturally felt aglow of professional virtue at having 80 nobly  270 devoted to my profession the time I might have spent in earning one hundred guineas. Fancy my feelings when an eminent man of letters, who is actually a member of the Society, took the opportunity to write a whole column in the Morning Post, making fun, not of the publisher, but of me and the Society of Authors. I have often wondered since what that eminent literary man did with the money that he got for that article. As it is a matter of public knowledge that he did not fling it at the feet of his editor and then go into the nearest field and hang him- self, and as I can assure you that he did not send it as a donation to the Society, I can only conclude that it never struck him that his action was in any way unprofessional. But what would have been said to a doctor, to a lawyer, to an officer in the army, or to a clergyman who should have behaved in that way? ‘That is the sort of thing we still have to fight against. The literary skill, the satire, the special pleading that belong in all honour to us are wantonly placed at the service of our commercial antagonists ; and beginners in literature are taught by the leaders whom they admire and imitate, that it is amusing, clever, and fashionable to sneer at the attempts of your own profession to organise itself as all other honourable professions are organised. “Organisation ought not to be difficult to us, because we have one great advantage over the other professions. We have the great advantage of being loved in our professional capacity. No man wants to see his doctor professionally, though he may delight in his company as a private man. Our lawyer is never welcome when his business is law. Our clergyman—but here I perceive I am getting into difficulties ; so let me hasten to make my real point, which is, that the public is always delighted to spend day after day in our company professionally, however soon private intercourse with us might pall. There is really no excuse for us if we remain only partially organised. We are a poor profession—many of our members are absent from this modest banquet quite simply because they cannot afford it—but there is no reason why we should not be a strong and united profession. You will excuse me, I am sure, for having devoted my speech with some seriousness to this issue, instead .of entertaining you in the lighter vein which is considered appropriate—I don’t know why—to after dinner oratory.” Major-General Baden-Powell, rising to propose the toast of the guests, said that early in the evening his neighbour, a lady, had asked him a pertinent question. She had inquired why he joined the Society. To this he had answered that he had once written a book, and had found that if he had only the financial success of his THE AUTHOR. literary ventures to depend upon it might be wise to establish a claim upon the pension fund. The finances of the Society were in good order, and he thought it might be able to afford him at least a small tombstone. He had tried writing another book, and had found, through joining the Society and after seeking the advice of its secretary, that there was brotherly sympathy between all in the profession of writing. He reminded those present who had had the pleasure of dining with the Sette of Odde Volumes, of the inquiry addressed by custom to each member in turn, “ Who are your guests to-night?” and “ For what reason did you ask them here ?” and pro- ceeding to refer to those present as guests, and to their claims to honour at the hands of the Society of Authors, he mentioned that one of them, M. Georges Petilleau, had nearly had written upon his tombstone that he tried to teach him (General Baden-Powell) French. He concluded by referring to the other distinguished guests present, to the representatives of the Société des Gens de J.ettres and to Dr. Parkin,—men whom the Society knew by their works, whom they desired to meet face to face and honour. M. Raoul de Saint Arroman, vice president of Société des Gens de Lettres replied as follows : ‘“‘Monsieur le Président, Mesdames, Messieurs: J’ai pour premier devoir de vous exprimer les vifs regrets du président de la Société des gens de lettres, Monsieur Victor Margueritte, que des obligations impérieuses retiennent 4 Paris. Il m’a confié la mission a la fois trés agréable et trés lourde de le représenter & ce magnifique et con- fraternel banquet, ou l’autorité de son talent et le charme de sa parole lui eussent conquis, j’en suis certain, toutes les sympathies. “Tl regrettera d’autant plus de n’y avoir point assisté que, fils d’un général héroique de Parmée francaise, il était beaucoup mieux qualifié que moi pour répondre au toast gracieux que vient de nous porter le major général Baden Powell, un des héros de Parmée anglaise. “Si je n’avais, tout pres de moi, mon ami le romancier Pierre de Sales, qui me contait ce matin sa joie de se retrouver 4 Londres ou il passa quel- ques mois de son adolescence et ou il etit le bonheur d’apprendre votre admirable langue, je serais bien plus confus de ne pas la savoir et de ne pouvoir répondre en anglais aux choses si éloquentes et si pleines d’humeur qui viennent d’étre dites. J’ai pour excuse, qu’au temps déja lointain de ma jeunesse, nous ne nous souciions que trés peu de Pétude des langues vivantes. Cela a changé depuis, fort heureusement. En tout cas, si je ne sais pas anglais, je ne l’admire pas moins. Je professe pour votre langue une admiration profonde parce qu’elle constitue un systéme complet de pensée et  THE AUTHOR. Wexpression, qu’elle resserre les formes de la parole et qu’elle est une langue d'action bréve et signi- ficative. Elle va droit, vite et loin. Tout ce qui n’est pas indispensable, vous ne vous en embarrassez pas ; vous le supprimez purement et simplement et est merveille de vous voir sous entendre une foule de choses. Seuls, parmi les grands peuples de VEurope, vous osez vous affranchir de l’usage encombrant des terminaisons du verbe. «(est ainsi que vous avez créé une langue quasi- monosyllabique, originale, en un mot pratique et positive comme le peuple anglais lui méme. “Ft c’est avec une maitrise admirable que se servent de cet incomparable instrument vos écrivains, poétes, romanciers, dramaturges que nous lisons assidiiment et dont nous aimons les géncreux, puissants et délicats talents. “ Mais si j’ai le chagrin de ne pas savoir l’anglais, jai du moins la satisfaction de voir autour de mot se développer l’amour de cette langue et j’ai le droit de vous assurer que la jeunesse francaise Vétudie assez énergiquement pour espérer qu'un jour viendra ot elle parlera anglais aussi correcte- ment que la jeunesse anglaise parle le francais. Et ce ne sera pas l’une des moindres garanties de la pérennité d’une entente cordiale que les événements se plaisent 4 rendre de plus en plus parfaite. “ Je ne pense pas altérer la yérité en constatant que cette entente, dont nos deux nations se sont réjouies, présentait a /’origine un caractére surtout politique et commercial. Laissez-moi souhaiter qu’elle s’étende aux questions littéraires et artisti- ques qui méritent, elles aussi, toute notre sollicitude. D’ailleurs serions-nous trop audacieux en nous en attribuant les prémisses ? Et ne nous est-il pas permis de supposer que nous en avons, nous gens de lettres des deux cétés du détroit, jeté les bases, lorsque, en septembre 1893—et si je commets une erreur de date, mon compatriote et confrére Georges Petilleau rectifiera, puisqu’il était mélé A cette manifestation—vous avez accueilli et fété un groupe de littérateurs de France, dont notamment Emile Zola, Aurélien Scholl et Francis Magnard faisaient partie ? “Nous ne Pavons pas oublié. Aussi bien le monde des lettres de France a-t-il vu avec une extréme satisfaction renaitre, se développer et s’affermir nos communes sympathies. “ Permettez-moi donc de souhaiter que cette ére nouvelle, si féconde pour nos deux grands pays en résultats politiques et économiques nous conduise 4 une solidarité nécessaire pour la protection de nos communs intéréts artistiques et littéraires. “Tl semble qu’ un jour donné, plus ou moins prochain, des questions comme celle du copy-right et du domaine public pourraient tenter votre esprit. Ne serait-il point fort intéressant, en effet, d’examiner, par exemple, s'il ne serait pas équit- 271, able que la propriété d'une ceuvre ne s’éteignit plus 42 ans aprés la date de la publication ? alors qu’en France elle ne s’éteint que 50 ans aprés la mort de Vauteur, | Cette question importante mérite, je crois, d’étre soumise aux délibérations de votre illustre compagnie ov j’ai le plaisir de rencontrer, comme secrétaire, l’avoué honoraire de la Société des gens de lettres de France, M. Georges Herbert Thring, que je saisis occasion de remercier ici de ses bons offices. “ Monsieur le Président, Mesdames, Messieurs, en terminant je puis vous assurer que je rapporterai fidilement I’écho de l’inoubliable accueil que vous avez réservé aux représentants de la société des gens de lettres. “(est de tout mon coeur que jen remercie la société des auteurs anglais en exprimant le voeu tres ardent que nos relations se multiplient et quils nous rendent bientot a Paris la visite que nous avons été si honorés de leur faire A Londres.” M. Pierre Sales, speaking in English, expressed his warm satisfaction at revisiting England, where he had at one time resided, and where he had then had the opportunity of acquiring the English language. In the study of each other’s literature the two countries had a bond of union which would increase in strength with the wider cultiva- tion by each of the knowledge of its neighbour’s language, and would form a lasting tie between them. He expressed his pleasure at the reception accorded to those representing the Société des Gens de Lettres by the members of the Incor- porated Society of Authors, and in graceful terms thanked those present for the enthusiastic manner in which the toast of the guests, coupled with the names of himself and his colleagues had been received. Dr. Parkin, also replying on behalf of the guests, expressed his great pleasure in being present as one of them, and in being one of those asked to respond for them. Unable to reflect. the senti- ments of all, he desired to confine himself to his own special point of view with regard to the Society of Authors and its work. Dr. Parkin said: “It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening as the guest of the Authors’ Society, and I consider it a great honour to be one of those asked to respond, on behalf of the guests, to the toast so gracefully proposed by General Baden-Powell, and so cordially received by this large gathering. It would be quite impossible for me, in replying, to reflect the sentiments of all the distinguished visitors whom your Chairman has mentioned as present here this evening, 80 perhaps I shall be wise if I do not even make the attempt, but confine the few words I have to say to my own special point of view in regard to the Society of Authors and their work.  272 “Tt has been my business to study, in many parts of the world, the forces which have held this great Empire of ours together in the past, and are likely to hold it together in the future. Amongst the strongest of these, if not the very strongest, is, [ am convinced, our common literature—that literature which it is your daily task to create. I need not speak of what the verse of Shakespeare, Milton or Spenser, the prose of Bacon and others, has meant in the growth of our English nation- ality. As our race has spread to the remote corners of the world, a common language and common study of the best work of our greatest minds has constantly held us firmly linked to- gether in thought, in spite of distance. And so through all the centuries since those earlier times down to these days, this country has been inter- preted to her children abroad by the work of her authors. And if Shakespeare reflected the spirit that made England great in his own time, when he said :— ‘ Come the three corners of the world in arms And we shall shock them—nought can make us rue, If England to herself do rest but true,’ So our latest great poet, Kipling, has equally interpreted—one may say crystallized—far better than all the politicians can do, the true relation of the great colonies of the Empire to the Mother- land when he describes Canada as ‘ A daughter in her mother’s house, But mistress in her own.’ “The future which our English literature has before it in thus interpreting each part of the Empire to all the others is immense. In verse and prose, in history and fiction, every side of English life is studied by your offspring abroad. Gradually, as a literature grows up in the colonies, they will be equally understood here. This is a part of your work as authors, and it is a binding force which I trust much more than the work of politicians, which sometimes seems to me to tend more to disruption than to union of sympathy or of national life. ““T cannot but think, too, that the growth of a great reading public on the distant continents where the English language prevails, offers the greatest hope that English authors have of ultimately securing the fullest material reward for their work, and the widest range of influence for their thought. The conditions of securing for the author this constantly expanding market are not what they should be, as you well know, and no doubt it is a considerable part of your work as a society to endeavour gradually to improve these conditions, by securing better copyright laws and by other means, which bring the author and the reader together on fair terms. THE AUTHOR. “But I know of few considerations that should be a higher inspiration to you than the conscious- ness that you are influencing the springs of national life. On Canadian prairies, in the Australian bush, and on the veldt of South Africa, what you write is shaping the thought of our race. It is with a deep sense of the dignity and importance of your work, and of its far-reaching national character, that we, who are your guests, acknowledge the honour you have done us in asking us here to-night. I have to thank you most warmly for the way in which this toast has been received.” In proposing the health of “ The Chairman,” Mr. Oscar Browning referred to the work of the society in connection with Canadian copyright, and to the need for its efforts. He concluded a humorous speech with an eloquent recognition of the work on behalf of the society done by Sir Henry Bergne, whose health, he proposed. After Sir Henry Bergne had replied, thanking those present for the manner in which the toast of his health had been received, the guests rose, and the customary adjournment to coffee and a “‘conversazione” in the adjoining room brought to an end the annual dinner of 1906. ee SOME PROVINCIAL LITERARY SOCIETIES. —— + RROGANCE is. an offence against perfect A virtue of which the average man is not greatly ashamed of being accused. It is not contemptible like vanity, nor odious like con- ceit. The accusation, indeed, is almost tantamount to an acknowledgment of his possession of other qualities generally conceded to be desirable, or at any rate useful, and he meets it with half-hearted deprecation rather than with indignant denial. Arrogance is most common in the intellectual domain. After all, publication of the written word does establish a primd facie case for its writer’s qualification to theorise or dogmatise, and it would be counsel of perfection to suggest that a journalist should proclaim that he was not in reality an authority on the subject of his own copy. Journalists being a numerous folk in London, arrogance very likely is a salient charac- teristic of the metropolitan press ; it is said to be by a good many thinking people who live else- where, and their charge may well make the subject of a desultory enquiry into the strength of its foundation. A country parson, paying a brief visit to town lately, declared that London journalists had a great deal to Jearn from their provincial brothers; he maintained that the art of writing leading articles was a lost art in the  THRE AUTHOR. capital, and that the high value of that feature of a newspaper was not perceived by Londoners ; but it was against the writers of the “ literary pages” of the daily papers in town that his ire was roused in particular. He declared that their arrogance was unjustifiable and intolerable, and that more solid information, more attractively presented, was given in the reports of the proceedings of provincial literary and debating societies than is given in all the London literary papers put together. The remark was suggestive and we have since looked with interest at these reports, or at such of them as we have had an opportunity of collecting, with a wish to find out what sort of literary matters engaged the attention of dwellers in provincial towns and country villages. It is satisfactory to observe the general diffusion of intellectual activity. No township seems to be too small to harbour a literary and debating society, and the secretaries’ reports of the attend- ance at the meetings prove that the societies fill areal want. It is unfortunate that our attention has been directed to the matter at the close of the winter session, for the concluding meetings seem to be generally devoted to frivolous amusement, or at any rate, to informal debates on matters not literary. Thus at Bacup and some other places the breach of promise action in Pickwick was played ; at Croydon recitations and songs sup- planted essays; at Clapton a mock parliament assembled ; at Doncaster a mock election was held ; and at Carnbee a cinematograph was operated. At Prestwick a debate was held to discuss the question whether Scotsmen of to-day are better than Scotsmen of a century ago, the meeting deciding that intellectually they were, although physically they had degenerated. At Motherwell the relations of landlord and tenant were debated ; Bournemouth discussed commercial morality, which it decided showed no tendency to decline, and on another occasion debated the taxation of land values. At Enfield high finance was con- sidered, one member of the society presenting ‘an ideal budget,” which deserves the consideration of many more people than have yet had an oppor- tunity of studying it. Kelso discussed socialism ; Lymington taxation of ground values ; Kenilworth home rule for Ireland; Alvechurch vegetarianism, which it preferred to animal food; Amble the feeding by the State of underfed school-children ; Savoch of Deer character and talent, a majority thinking that the latter was more desirable than the former ; Grimsby the reasons why the man in the street does not become the man in the church. From the reports of all these debates it is manifest that they are made the reason for careful study of the questions at issue, and that their primary purpose is to acquire and diffuse 273 information, practice in oratory being regarded as subsidiary. Lectures on travel and papers on topographical interest are another frequent feature of the pro- vincial literary societies. At Perth, Canon Cooke compared the condition of Alsace-Lorraine before and after the war of 1870 ; Twrgwyn mentally took a tour in North Wales, and papers were read on the literature and romance of Yarrow at Selkirk, on “the mill stream” at Cardiff—a particularly interesting essay following the course ofa particular stream and describing its beauties, with views, and its service to man; on a trip to the Rhine at Ballinling, on the Ober-Ammergau Passion Play of 1900 at Norwood, on the scientific results of Nansen’s arctic expedition at Rochdale, on a journey to the Southern Pacific across the Andes at Lenzie, and on a trip to Bruges at Chatham. Natural history provides another favourite subject for attention ; the instincts of insects were con- sidered at Cowdenbeath, the migration of birds at Penrith, Nature’s protection of insect life at High- gate, animals of bygone days at Cullen, spiders at Highbury, and microbes at Fochabers. Sometimes a literary interest is grafted on to subjects of this sort: ‘the skylark in poetry” formed the subject of a good essay at Manchester, and “a bird evening” of another at Southport. A collection of syllabuses of these provincial societies would be invaluable to many aliterary journalist at a loss for subjects, and an extraordinary range of interests is covered by them. It is impossible to form an accurate judgment of the quality of the papers from some of the reports, but where they are of any considerable length they prove that the men and women who are responsible for them are people of the highest cultivation and generally of trained literary critical ability. We have read with the greatest possible interest and appreciation summaries of essays on Madame de Sevigné, read at Manchester ; «‘ Browning’s Jews ” at Hampstead ; “ Oliver Goldsmith” at Peterhead —an excellent and delightful paper by Dr. Smith ; ‘Women of the Sagas” at Kirkwall ; « Joseph Addison” at Lisburn; ‘ Schiller’s Wallenstein Dramas” at Burnley, “ Ruskin the Seer’ at Coventry, and “ Merejskowsky » at Hull. And it is pertinent to this article to point out that in all these cases the essays are written and read by local people, and are not lectures delivered by lecturers who make this kind of thing their business, and who are engaged by committees through lecture agencies. Among the hundreds of reports which we have read, we have only found four which summarise papers not written in the town at which they were read by the townsman who wrote them ; these four being a lecture on the relation of true bookmen to their books, delivered by Ian Maclaren  274 at Kingston, in Surrey; on “ Literary Life behind the Scenes,” delivered by Coulson Kernahan at Birmingham and at Bangor ; and on “ The Wrong Word,” by E. W. Hornung, at Norwood. The rest are the work of men whose names are not generally known in Fleet Street, and if some Fleet Street men of our acquaintance could read them their arrogance would be diminished. We cannot single out any one for quotation, but it is a pleasure and a benefit to read so thoughtful an essay as that read at Darwen by the local librarian, Mr. J. Pomfret, on “The Modern Novel.” It shows that “ pro- vincialism ” is a state, having nothing to do with the fact that the man who betrays it lives in the provinces ; there is nothing provincial about Mr. Pomfret ; he takes the large view of literature. And that is the arresting thing about these pro- vincial literary and debating societies. _Whenthey turn their attention to literature they show that the grace of God moves them; they take the high standpoint and survey the wide realm with eyes that see and are not dimmed by the shadow of self which, it would seem, always falls between the pro- fessional author and his work. They approach their self-appointed task as a labour of love into which no element of professionalism or thought of gain enters. Perhaps this is why the resultant essays are of such good quality. We acknowledge that our own eyes have been opened by the inquiry on which a chance conversation sent us roaming. Henceforward we have nothing but respect for the smallest village literary society, of which we have probably thought until to-day with a tolerant kindliness born in reality of unjustifiable arrogance. V. E. M. ee ee ge A GUIDE FOR AUTHORS.* ee gg ae HERE have been many guides for authors, good, bad and indifferent—for the most part indifferent. It is doubtful whether authors in general pay much attention to these well-meant efforts. Indeed, it is possible that some might be deterred from any attempt at authorship were they compelled before embarking on a novel to read carefully through some such work as that which lies before us. “The King’s English ” is more serious than most of its fellows. Its aim is primarily to instruct: it mingles amusement with its instruction accidentally rather than of set purpose, as befits a work issued from Oxford and the Clarendon Press. Former books in a similar vein have dealt with authorship in a more desultory fashion, not without an eye to the delectation of the general reader. They have * “The King’s English.” Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906 THE AUTHOR. given humorous advice as to the handling of editors, as to the best modes of dealing with a publisher, as to success (from the popular stand- point) in the field of literature. The anonymous authors of this work despise such extraneous topics : their subject is our noble language, and to that subject they adhere faithfully for some three hundred and sixty closely-printed pages. They attack it from a scientific point of view, and carry out their scheme with commendable thorough- ness, and with many selections from our most admired authors, illustrating literary crimes of every degree of magnitude. Writers of every grade, from the highest to the lowest, are pilloried in these remorseless pages. Thus, while the manual deters the ignorant by the severity of its. criticism, it affords some sort of salve by the number and importance of the authors whom it rebukes. “ After all,” we can imagine the careless or uneducated aspirant saying, “ why should we be at such pains to write correctly when Thackeray and Dickens, George Borrow and Anthony Trollope, so often failed to obey the fundamental rules of syntax.” And certainly some of these great men made surprising lapses on occasion. Seriously, however, this is a book that does most thoroughly deserve to be studied by every- one—man, woman or child—who aims at good writing. We should like to see it adopted as a text-book by the profession. An examination, at any rate on the first part, might well be a com- pulsory step in the career of every journalist and author. As things stand, it is notorious (to quote from the preface) that English writers seldom look into a grammar or composition book. Even in our schools, English is rarely taught, except inci- dentally. The anxious student commonly acquires his knowledge of the language as best he can, by the analogy of Latin (which he probably does learn grammatically) and by the reading of the English classics. It is difficult to understand why he should be expected to acquire a thorough know- ledge of a difficult subject in this haphazard fashion. Is it because the masters themselves— horrid thought !—are afraid to venture into the unknown country? The first part of this book, and especially the chapters dealing with syntax and punctuation, we make bold to recommend to such schoolmasters as take what is called by courtesy ‘‘an English form.” To authors and journalists “The King’s English” should be invaluable —if they would only condescend to study it with the care it deserves. It is tolerably certain, however, that those who most need the information it contains will be those who imagine themselves far beyond instruction in so simple a matter as the writing of their own language. KE. L. W.  THE AUTHOR. THE DINNER OF THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND. —— + PYNHE Dinner of the Royal Literary Fund was held at the Whitehall Rooms of the Hotel Metropole, on May 10th. Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the United States Ambassador, presided, and there was a distinguished company present. After the usual loyal toasts the Chairman pro- posed, “ Prosperity to the Literary Fund.” Dealing with provision in America to meet the same purpose, he had to confess that, however well the experiment had worked in England, no provision was made in the United States—in Franklin’s own country—for broken-down men of letters. Better provision was made for broken-down bricklayers. As for what they did for those men of letters who were not broken down, those to whom they were only in debt, perhaps the less said the better. The first time he ever had the honour to meet the late Mr. Gladstone, he asked him among various other questions, “What does your Republic do to reward distinguished public services from private citizens ?” to which he was compelled to answer, “There are only three things we can do. If they live at the North we can invite them to lecture. If they live at the South we can call them Colonel or General. Wherever they live, in the North or the South, if they can get votes enough, we can send them to Congress and let them take the consequences.” After passing some comments on the literatures of England and the United States the chairman made an eloquent appeal for support for the Fund. The Bishop of Bristol then proposed “ Literature,” and Mr. Sidney Lee made a characteristic speech in response, laying especial stress upon the neglect of education in English literature in the great public schools and universities, and he recommended the suggestion to Mr. Birrell, as he considered a Bill to remedy this evil would receive—what Education Bills do not usually receive—universal approval. Mr. J. ©. Parkinson, Treasurer and Vice- President, announced that the total sum received was £1400. The health of “The Chairman” was drunk and the proceedings terminated. —_——_——___+—__2+—___—__ CONGRESS OF 1906 OF THE INTER- NATIONAL LITERARY AND ARTISTIC ASSOCIATION. —1- HE next congress of the International Literary and Artistic Association will be held at Bucharest from the 20th to the 25th September, on the occasion of the National 275 Exhibition, which will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coronation of the King of Roumania. This congress will be of particular interest, and it is hoped that it may result in the adhesion of the kingdom of Roumania to the Berne Convention, to facilitate which the Roumanian Parliament has already modified the laws respecting Roumanian copyright. For members of the Congress a very considerable reduction of railway fares has been already secured, and further concessions are anticipated. ee ee CORRESPONDENCE. eS Wuy Is AN AGENT? ibe Sir,—With reference to the article in the May number of Zhe Author, “ Why is an Agent ?” may I venture to remark that the great need for an agent, to my mind, appears to arise from the difficulty of collecting the sums due for accepted stories, articles etc. These are usually paid for after publication, and unless application be made for the money it is in many cases not sent ; yet it is often impossible for an author to keep watch in all the papers and magazines to which he may have sent his work. If any of your readers can suggest a means by which this could be satisfactorily managed without the help of an agent, I think the suggestion would be useful to many. HE. H. G. 2 ee dl: Sir,—The truly humorous (and inaccurate) article on literary agents in your May number, signed «T,, J. V.,” merits serious consideration in only one respect—where it gives publicity to the following libel :— “Moreover, if an author thinks at all, he is bound to wonder how much of the publisher’s cheque the agent really retains as his proportion. For the author is invariably kept in the dark, or almost invariably. The publisher sends his cheque to the agent, who returns the receipt over his own signature, and deposits the cheque to his own account. Some six months later the importunate author gets the agent’s personal cheque—if he has been importunate enough.” The implication is abominable, and without a shadow of foundation so far as it is applied to any agent at present in business with whose methods I am acquainted; that it is equally so with refer- ence to the majority, I have little doubt would be testified by any reputable author who is familiar with the methods of the leading agents. Perhaps your correspondent may not realise that, as with authors, there are also two kinds of  276 agents, those who are worth while, and those who are not. Agents who are worth while can hardly afford to spend much time over authors who are not. Whether or not that may have been the reason for “L.J. Vs” fund of inexperience with the methods of the worth-while agent I of course cannot say, but I recommend the idea for him to meditate upon. An AGENT. —_—— + III. Sir,—I feel that perhaps it is due to those of my fellow authors who have placed their feet on a rung or two of the literary ladder, to tell them my experience with regard to “‘ Agents.” I have had experience with one high-class agent. I received all courtesy, kindness, and encourage- ment, and any small cheques due to me were punctually paid. Yet the fact remains that the agent never once placed any of my work except where I myself in one way or another had made the preliminary opening. Not only so, but gradually short stories and other manuscripts were returned to me, and some work that needed rather special experience amongst publishers was declined. Gradually I have gone on by myself, with the’ result that I have placed nearly every short story I have written, also a couple of young people’s stories, one of which the agent would not touch at all, and the other he returned after vain efforts to place. Also a small shilling book found a publisher, not counting two previous novels for which I found the publisher, and the agent made the arrangements. Another point is that when a story goes through an agent the author has no means of revising, and no means of meeting the wishes of editors and publishers as to length, &c. Since I have worked direct with publishers and editors I have learned much as to what they want. I quite admit that possibly an agent will get better prices in the long run, but my own experience goes directly to prove that for an author to get a footing amongst the publishing houses it is best to communicate direct. I live a long distance from London, but I am con- vinced that it is better to pay travelling expenses now and again than agent’s fees.—Faithfully yours, Aw AutHor or THREE NovELS, CHILDREN’S TALES, AND TWELVE SHORT STORIES. ——1—> + — TYPEWRITERS. Str,—There must be many members of the society who, like myself, are in the habit of typing their own work and whose machines from time to time require to be cleaned or to receive some small repairs. May I, through the columns of The Author, inquire whether any such member THER AUTHOR. can furnish me with the address of a competent person who may be trusted with the healing of a typewriter and whose charges are not exorbitant ? The need for such a person’s services is so manifest that I cannot help believing he must exist. Some years ago my machine developed a habit of misprinting certain letters. I carried it to the London office of the makers and it was declared to want cleaning. It was retained for about a fort- night; a charge of sixteen shillings was made ; and its evil ways, though somewhat checked, were not cured. A few months later, at a holiday season, when I was away from town, the disease became acute; a small spring broke and an important letter was paralysed. I took the dis- abled machine to a local watchmaker of repute. He put in four new springs—three others being feeble—and incidentally cleaned the machine throughout. These operations he performed within twenty-four hours, and his charge, fixed by himself as a fair price for the time and skill expended, was eight shillings. Also my machine was completely cured and continued to work well during a prolonged existence. The successor of that first machine is now beginning to suffer from the same infirmity and I should be glad to put it into the hands of some one who would treat it as successfully as the local watchmaker treated its predecessor, but who does not, like that friend in need, dwell fifty miles away from London. Yours faithfully, C. B. ToTEMS FoR AUTHORS. Srr,—Replying to the little note by Mr. Howard Collins in last month’s issue, I may say that I quite appreciate his point. Yet I am afraid that even a signature would prove an unsatisfactory totem, as the only difference protectable between men posses- sing the same name would be the difference of appearance in their signatures, and this difference would not be so readily appreciated by the general public as to make the ‘“‘signature” the best of totems. For instance, take the two Churchills— B. Winston Churchill and 8. Winston Churchill— merely to distinguish by their different initials and the manner in which they signed their names would be a greater task to the memory, than if each printed a small distinctive design beside his name upon the covers of his books. Also, if two men possessing the same name had the unhappy faculty of signing somewhat alike, I imagine it would be impossible to force either to change his style, whereas the copyright office would see to it that no person imitated a registered design such as I advocate. I am, dear sir, yours faithfully. Wiit1am Hope Hopeson. 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. 16 Issue 09 (June 1906) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 16 Issue 09 (June 1906) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1906-06-01-The-Author-16-9 publications The Author