https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/527/1913-04-01-The-Author-23-7.pdf 68ce8e7ed9d051b0bd63b9017facc3e9 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) 1913-04-01 Volume 23 Issue 7 Pages Page range in volume 187–218 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19130401 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che HMuthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT. j Vor. XXIII.—No. 7. APRIL 1, 1913. [Price SIXPENCE. TELEPHONE NUMBER: 374 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: AUTORIDAD, LONDON. —__—__—_.——e____—__ NOTICES. ——_—+—~+—— | | aoe the opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or eq paragraphs must be taken as expressing the ige opinion of the Committee unless such is 28 especially stated to be the case. Tue Editor begs to inform members of the Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author that the cases which are 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. y= eeanterre ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. Tue Editor of The Author begs to remind 4 members of the Society that, although the | paper is sent to them free of cost, its production “7 would be a very heavy charge on the resources ‘9 of the Society if a great many members did not 1 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, 1, Cen- “) tral Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, “2 §.W., and should reach the Editor not later ‘than the 21st of each month. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all literary matters treated from Vou. XXIII. the standpoint of art or business, but on no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. ADVERTISEMENTS. As there seems to be an impression among readers of The Author that the Committee are personally responsible for the bona fides of the advertisers, the Committee desire it to be stated that this is not, and could not possibly be, the case. Although care is exercised that no undesirable advertisements be inserted, they do not accept, and never have accepted, any liability. Members should apply to the Secretary for advice if special information is desired. og Oe re THE SOCIETY’S FUNDS. —_+—<— + ROM time to time members of the Society desire to make donations to its funds in recognition of work that has been done for them. The Committee, acting on the suggestion of one of these members, have decided to place this permanent paragraph in The Author in order that members may be cognisant of those funds to which these con- tributions may be paid. The funds suitable for this purpose are: (1) The Capital Fund. This fund is kept in reserve in case it is necessary for the Society to incur heavy expenditure, either in fighting a question of principle, or in assisting to obtain copyright reform, or in dealing with any other matter closely connected with the work of the Society. (2) The Pension Fund, This fund is slowly increasing, and it is hoped will, in time, cover the needs of all the members of the Society. "2 188 THE PENSION FUND. So - NFJanuary, the secretary of the Society laid before the trustees of the Pension Fund the accounts for the year 1912, as settled by the accountants. After giving the matter full consideration, the trustees in- structed the secretary to invest a sum of £800 in the purchase of Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway 4% Extension Shares, 1914, £10 fully paid. The number of shares pur- chased at the current price was twenty-five and the amount invested £296 1s. 1ld. The trustees are also purchasing three more Central Argentine Railway New Shares at par, on which as holders of the Ordinary Stock they have an option. The trustees desire to thank the members of the Society for the continued support which they have given to the Pension Fund. The nominal value of the investments held on behalf of the Pension Fund now amounts to £4,764 6s., details of which are fully set out in the following schedule :-— Nominal Value. £8: a. Local Loans .......----eeeeees 500 0 0 Victoria Government 3% Consoli- dated Inscribed Stock ........ 291 19 11 London and North-Western 3% Debenture Stock ..........-- 250 0 0 Egyptian Government Irrigation Trust 4% Certificates ........ 200 0 0 Cape of Good Hope 84% Inscribed Stock 220.5255 + 2.35.5 ee 200 0 90 Glasgow and South-Western Rail- way 4% Preference Stock .... 228 0 0 New Zealand 34% Stock........ 247 9 6 Irish Land 23% Guaranteed Stock 258 0 0 Corporation of London 23% Stock, 1997—57....:.-..-.5... 488 2 4 Jamaica 84% Stock, 1919-49 1382 18 6 Mauritius 4% 1987 Stock ...... 120 12 1 Dominion of Canada, C.P.R. 33% Land Grant Stock, 1988 ...... 198 3 8 Antofagasta and Bolivian Railway 5% Preferred Stock .......... 237 0 0 Central Argentine Railway Or- dinary Stock ........ fue sk oe 232 0 0 $2,000 Consolidated Gas and Electric Company of Baltimore 44%, Gold Bonds ............ 400 0 6 250 Edward Lloyd, Ltd., £1 5% Preference Shares .......... 250 0 0 55 Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway 4% Extension Shares, 1914 (fully paid) ............ 550 0 0 THE AUTHOR. Nominal V alue. £ 3.24 8 Central Argentine Railway £10 Preference Shares, New Issue.. 380 0 QO Total. vince. £4,764 6 0 i PENSION FUND. a a ae Tue list printed below includes all fresh dona- tions and subscriptions (i.e., donations and subscriptions not hitherto acknowledged) received by, or promised to, the fund from October 1, 1912. It does not include either donations given prior to October, nor does it include sub- scriptions paid in compliance with promises made before it. Subscriptions. 3 mooooooooooascececoco: 1912. Oct. 2, Todhunter, Dr. John. . Oct. 10, Escott, T. H. S. : : Oct. 10, Henderson, R. W. Wright Oct. 10, Knowles, Miss M. W. : Oct. 11, Buckley, Reginald . Oct. 12, Walshe, Douglas Oct. 12, “‘ Penmark”’ . c Oct. 15, Sinclair Miss Edith . Oct. 16, Markino, Yoshio Oct. 20, Fiamingo, Carlo Oct. 29, Henley, Mrs. . Nov. 8, Jane, L. Cecil . Nov. 14, Gibb, W. Dec. 4, De Brath, S. . : Dec. 4, Sephton, The Rev. J. Dec. 4, Cooper, Miss Marjorie Dec. 7, MacRitchie, David Dec. 11, Fagan, James B. Dec. 27, Dawson Forbes 1913. Jan. 3, Toynbee, William (in addi- tion to his present sub- scription). .- ; : Jan. 9, Gibson, Frank . ‘ Jan. 29, Blackley, Miss E. L. Jan. 31, Annesley, Miss Maude Feb. 6, Rothenstein, Albert . Feb. 10, Bradshaw, Percy V. ‘ tt et HKOooomuanno? Cr oocooooororoooOooCooorFnh ~~ _ SONS Or Or OU Ot et Or coooo? Donations. 1912. Oct. 2, Stuart, James . : Oct. 14, Dibblee, G. Binney . . Oct. 14, Michell, The Right Hon. Sir Lewis, C.V.O. ; a of _ o- ao Or AHRHASSS Bes pti!  TH. -t9@ Oct. 17, Ord, H.W. . ‘ ‘ »Jo0 Oct. 20, Yorke-Smith, Mrs. . vow Nov. io Nov. 9G Dec. vo Dec. 4 Dec. o@ Dee. 9 Dec. 90 Dec. wo Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. 1913. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. ia) Jan. 2, d3 3 re: | tap is rf 8G aL . Jan. , Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. ‘Feb. 10, Hood, Francis 20, Kennard, Mrs. N. H. 5 4, McEwan, Miss M. S. . ‘ 4, Kennedy, E. B. ‘ 11, Begarnie, George . : 11, Tanner, James T. 11, Toplis, Miss Grace . : 14, Watson, Mrs. Herbert A.. 14, French, Mrs. Warner : 17, Smith, Miss Sheila Kaye . 17, Marras, Mowbray 27, Edwards, Percy J. 1, Risque, W. H. 1, Rankin, Mrs. F. M. 2, Short, Miss L. M. 2, Mackenzie, Miss J. Webling, Miss Peggy 8, Harris, Mrs. E. H. . 8, Church, Sir Arthur, K.C.V.O., ete. . 4, Douglas, James A. . 4, Grant, Lady Sybil . 6, Haultain, Arnold . 6, Beveridge, Mrs. : . 6, Clark, The Rev. Henry . 6, Ralli, C. Searamanja . . 6, Lathbury, Miss Eva . . 6, Pryce, Richard . 7, Gibson Miss L. S. : 10, Use . . 10, Ford, Miss May : 12, Greenstreet, W. J. .14, Anon . . 15, Maude Aylmer . 16, Price, Miss Eleanor . : 17, Blouet, Madame 220, PH. and MLK... . 22, Smith, Herbert W. . 25, Anon. . : . 27, Vernede, R. E. ‘ . 29, Plowman, Miss Mary . . 29, Todd, Miss Margaret, M.D. . Bl, Jacobs, W. W. ; Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 1, Davy, Mrs.E.M. . 3, Abraham, J. J. ; 4, Gibbs, F. L. A. A, Buckrose, J. i. 4, Balme, Mrs. Nettleton . 6, Coleridge, The Hon. Gilbert 6, Machen, Arthur : 6, Romane-James, Mrs. ‘ 6, Weston, Miss Lydia ‘ ‘ 14, Saies, Mrs. F. H. (in addi- tion to her subscription) o CORP H OH OH ONHFOOCOCOOBH OH OCOOCOOCOROWOORNWH eooooco Cr oooOoOMoOoOoUNCO Oh Bb p= | Om ok Ow ono Oo Wk © pat pont Or Or Or Or Or © _ bt — _ = > Anke KOH OH ONE NBROOBEK OFM OOS Oe Or AUTHOR. = wo; db oe ec sescooonaseacooaoanaccooocoocoocosoosoocoooeoecsese ecooooco ecoocooooo eo ooaone 189 iv} BOF OANOSO: Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Mar, 14, O’Higgins, H. J. . : 15, Stephens, Dr. Ricardo 15, Jones, Miss KE. H. 17, Whibley, Charles 22, Probert, W. S. 24, S. F. G. : 27, XX. Pen Club 7, Keating, The Lloyd . 7, Tharp, Robert C. 10, Hall, H. Fielding 18, Moffatt, Miss Beatrice 14, Bennett, Arnold. 17, Michell, The Right Hon. Sir Lewis, K. C.V.0: . 17, Travers, Miss Rosalind i COrroooOoO® Rev. 5 : Mar. : Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. aoc oo SO Or Or Or SS0C0OSD SCOOKAOMAAOe oe or ee oo Mar. ah a COMMITTEE NOTES. — +e HE Committee of Management held their third meeting of the year at 13, Queen Anne’s Gate, S.W., on March 3. The business was carried through in the usual order. Following the signing of the minutes of the previous meeting, the elections were proceeded with. A full list appears on another page. Twenty members in all were added to the list, making the total for the current year up to eighty-seven. The Committee accepted, with regret, sixteen resignations, but they are glad to report that the number is considerably smaller than during the corresponding period last year. * The solicitor then reported the cases during the past month. The first was an action for accounts and money against a publisher. The accounts had been delivered, an arrangement for settlement by two instalments had been made. One of the instalments had been paid, and the solicitor had no doubt that the second instalment on May 1 would be met in due course. Against another publisher the Society has four cases. It has been necessary to issue summonses in two of these, and in the other two, if the sums due under the accounts obtained are not paid, action will also be taken. The Society has three claims against a travelling actor, and in all three writs have been issued. In one of these, part of the sum due in royalties has been paid, but in none has a proper account been rendered.  190 The solicitors received instructions to carry the matter through. There were two small cases against a paper for unpaid contributions. The proprietor has declared himself unable to pay. In one case the summons has been issued, and the. solicitor was instructed to proceed to judgment and then determine what action should be. taken in the second case. The solicitor reported, with regret, the loss of a County Court action during the past month. There was a direct conflict of evidence between the plaintiff and the defendant, but as the onus rested on the plaintiff to make out the contract, the Judge considered this onus had not been discharged. There was no written agreement to produce in evidence. In two other small claims the debts have been paid after the writs had been issued. The solicitor next reported that one of the members of the Society having entrusted the original MS. of one of his published works to an agent for sale for a fixed sum, the agent had sold the MS. for a quarter of the amount. However, under pressure brought to bear by the Society, the MS. had been restored to the author, and the money to the purchaser. Another case was quoted by the solicitor where it was impossible to obtain the return of a MS. from the editor of a magazine. After a writ had been issued, the MS. was promptly returned. Then followed two dramatic cases. The first referred to the infringement of the work of a member of the Society by the roduction in the music halls of a sketch. The defendant put forward in defence that the play produced is a condensed version of a play written by himself prior to the publica- tion of the member’s book, but it does not appear that the original MS. is forthcoming. The second case was brought to the Society by a member, with the recommendation of the Dramatic Sub-Committee. The alleged infringer is also a member of the Society. After consideration of the evidence, the solicitor came to the conclusion that if any action was taken it should be rather for breach of confidence than for infringement of copyright. In both these cases the committee decided to carry forward the matter on behalf of the complainants. The next case related to an infringement of a member’s copyright, by the publication of a story in a penny weekly. It was decided to take the matter up. The next case related to an infringement of copyright in Canada, and here, also, the committee decided to support the author, but subject to the latter being responsible for a portion of the costs. A case of a demand made by a THE AUTHOR. publisher against an author under a contract between them, was also reported by the solicitor, and the committee decided to a defend any action brought against the author by the publisher. The secretary. then reported a complaint made against him by a member of the Society, in a case where he had acted as arbitrator. The secretary read the correspondence, and it was decided to write to the member on the subject. The secretary mentioned, also, to the committee a dispute arising between a member and his publisher on various points of accounts and the interpretation of clauses in the agreement. The committee authorised that counsel’s opinion should be taken, and if this opinion was favourable stated that they would support the member by legal action if necessary. After the cases had been disposed of, the — secretary laid before the committee the letters . he had received from editors, dealing with — the question of payment to contributors of — accepted contributions. It was decided, in — accordance with suggestions from important editors, to invite a formal conference at an . early date. The committee hope that a large : number of editors may agree to some definite — and uniform arrangement being established. — The next matter discussed was the practice of the proprietors of certain magazines who send receipts to contributors for their : signature, and, in some cases, cheques with e a receipt printed at the back, purporting to convey copyright to the magazine, although — no contract for such a transfer had previously — been made. The secretary was instructed — to deal with the whole subject in The Author. : The committee discussed at length the question to be placed before the General Meeting and the Council in regard to the — commission to be charged by the Society om all sums collected by members through the intervention of the solicitors in whatever country action were taken. The committee decided to support a proposal that in all eases where the member did not employ the Collection Bureau the commission should be 10%, as against 5% which the Bureau charges — its members for carrying through the same matter. At the suggestion of the Composers’ Sub- Committee, an article had been written dealing with an agreement from a music publisher. This article was laid before the committee and assed, and appears elsewhere in this number of The Author.  THE AUTHOR. ComposERS’ SuB-COMMITTEE. ‘T . Tuts sub-committee held their March mect- ging at the new offices of the Society, No. 1, ‘a9 Central Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, ¥7.S.W., on Saturday, March 8. After the aiiminutes of the previous meeting had been seeread and signed, the secretary reported that , an article referring to Messrs. Curwen & Sons’ “mg agreement, had been passed by the Committee / tof Management for publication in The Author. o/ The secretary then placed before the sub-com- jipmittee the papers of The Genossenschaft Deut- oscher Tonkunstler, and received instructions 26 to send out a copy of their contract to all the “emembers of the sub-committee, and to place o) the matter on the agenda for the next meeting. 11The secretary reported, also, that the circular ‘to. settled at the previous meeting of the sub- ‘i: committee had been sent out to the members | 1 of the Society of British Composers, and that _s he had obtained a further list of composers, to ts whom it would be sent in due course. The ‘fs answers would be laid before the sub-committee 4: at their next meeting. L The question cf mechanical rights was i) discussed, and a suggestion made that com- ‘oc posers should deal with these separately, and ‘0; not in conjunction with the sale of their sheet j@ music. The secretary was instructed to take i steps to get into touch with the mechanical reproducers with a view to coming to some “1 arrangement. F, A question relating to the manufacture of ‘ai stamps for the mechanical reproductions of “o compositions was discussed, and it was decided, ’ a in those cases where it would not pay individual “9 composers to purchase large quantities of »} stamps, that the Society should manufacture J stamps which could be endorsed with the “© initials of the composer. os Cases. Durine the past month there have been “44 twenty cases in the hands of the secretary. ‘1 The list is rather a curious list. Usually the claims for money exceed other cases, but in the past month claims for MSS. head the list. There have been seven claims under + this heading and three have been successful, the MSS. have been returned and forwarded to the authors. One failed owing to the fact that although the agent to whom the MSS, had been sent had tried to find them, the author had no evidence that they had actually reached the agent’s office. Itis possible, there- fore, that they may have been lost in transit. 191 Two are still in the course of negotiation. In one case the claim is in Hungary and the other in the United States. Sufficient time has not elapsed for a reply to be forth- coming to the secretary’s demand. The last case has only recently come into the office. There have been six claims for accounts from publishers, and all these have been settled. The accounts have been delivered, and where money was due, the money has been paid. Three questions have arisen out of author’s agreements. Here again two are in foreign countries, both being in the United States of America ; in one case the author is an American citizen, and in the other case the publisher. Sufficient time has not as yet expired in order to obtain a reply, but no doubt before the May issue these cases will have been closed. The third case is one of a dispute between the author and a publisher as to the charge for corrections. These cases are always very difficult to deal with, but if the publisher can show the proper vouchers, the author will have to meet the claim; at present the vouchers have not been produced. There were four cases of claims for money, two of which have been settled and the money has been paid. The third is in the course of favourable negotiation, and the fourth has only recently come to the office. There are still three cases open from last month, and two cases which have had to be placed in the hands of the Society’s solicitors. The work of the Society’s solicitors and the law work of the Society is fully detailed in the Committee Notes. ++ Elections. 50, Hans Place, S.W. “The Knoll,” Kid- more Road, Caver- sham, Reading. ** Gleneairn,’? Cam- bridge Road, Bournemouth. ‘** Homesfield,” near Sheffield. Broadbent, D. R. Campbell, Mrs. Perugini ‘anning, Ethel , Carpenter, Edward Fish, W. Wilfred Blair (‘‘ Wilfred Blair ’’) Grantham, Mrs. Frederick (‘ Alexan- dra von Herden”’’). , Ireland, John. : Beelcigh Abbey, Maldon, Essex. 4, Elm Park Mansions, Chelsea, S.W. 5  192 Keating, The Rev. John ‘“ Ariston,” New Lloyd, M.A. Church Road, Hove. Kindersley, Mrs. D. Y... 15, Gwydyr Man- sions, Hove, Sussex. ** Derrymore,”’ Park- stone, Dorset. 4, Bertram Road, Hendon, N.W. Savage Club, W.C. Southborough Com- mon, Kent. King’s House, Tower of London, Law, Hamilton Martin, Geoffrey : Merrick, Leonard ; Oyler, Leslie Mary Pipon, Miss Geraldine M. E.C. — St. John, Christopher 31, Bedford Street, Marie. Strand, W.C. Sawrey, Miss Fannie H. 22, Earl’s Court Square, S.W. Sholl, Margaret, V. (‘‘ Margaret Heriot Hallam ’’). Tharp, Robert C. . 86, Ladbroke Grove, WwW Turquet, Madame 59, Loxley Road, André (“ G. Turquet- Wandsworth Com- Milnes ’’). mon, S.W. Wigley, H. (‘“ Lincoln Green ’’). ee ele BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS. — While every effort is made by the compilers to keep this list as accurate and exhaustive as poumble, they have some difficulty in attaining this object owing to the fact that many of the books mentioned are not sent to the office by the members. In consequence, it is necessary to rely largely upon lists of books which appear in literary and other papers. It is hoped, however, that members will co-operate in the compiling of this list, and, by sending particulars of their works, help to make it substantially accurate. BIOGRAPHY. Lirtte JENNINGS AND Ficutine Dick Tatsot: A Lire oF THE Duxr anp DvucuEess or TyRconNEL. By Parr W.Sererant. 2vols. 674pp. 17 illustrations. Hutchinson. 24s. n. BOOKS OF REFERENCE. CassELL’s Dictionary oF Practica, GARDENING. Edited by W. P. Wricut. PartI. 103 x 74. 48 pp. Cassell. 7d. n. InpDEXES TO THE ANCIENT TESTAMENTARY RECORDS OF Westminster. By A. M. Burks, F.S.A, 11} x 7}. 104 pp. Eyre & Spottiswoode. 12s. 6d. n. DRAMA [AND ELOCUTION. Quen Tana. By Darrent Fiaais. 6% x 5. 92 pp. Dent. Ils. n, THE AUTHOR. Towarps 4 New Tuxarre. Forty Designs for Stage Scenes, with critical notes by the Inventor, Epwarp Gorpon Craig. 13 X 114. 90 pp. 40 Plates. Dent, 21s. n. Four Prays. By Gmpert Cannan. 74 X 5. 84 Pp. Sidgwick & Jackson. 2s. 6d. n. FICTION. Tue Souttor A Man. By Durex Vanz. Holding Hardingham. 6s. Tue Matine or Lypia. By Mrs. Humpury Warp, 72 x 5. 462 pp. Smith, Elder. 6s. Srupizs In Love anp IN TEeRRoR. By Mrs. BEL1o Lownpzes. 74 x 5. 299 pp. Methuen. 6s. THe Riaut HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN, Norris. 74 x 5. 315 pp. Constable. 6s. SieEpine Waters. By Joun TREVENA. pp. Constable. 6s. THE Two CaRNATIONS. 280 pp. Cassell. 6s. Mrs. Pratt or Parapise Farm. By KatTHarine Tynan, 7% x 5. 310 pp. Smith, Elder. 6s. Aunt OLIVE IN Bonemisa. OR THE INTRUSIONS OF A Farry GopmotHEer. By Les~rz Moorn. 74 x 4h Alston Rivers. 6s. Natuatia. By Frep WnuisHaw. 7} xX 5. 320 pp. By Mansoriz BowEn. 72 X J. Long. 6s. A“ Youne Lavy.” A Study in Selectness. By H. W.C, Newrtr. 74 x 5. 393 pp. Chatto & Windus, 6s. Ir rr Pieasz You. By Ricwarp Marsu. 7 X 316 pp. Methuen. 6s. Lovz’s Sotprer. By Oxive Curistran Macxrrpy (Mrs. Archibald Mackirdy). 7x 5. 336pp. Cassell. 62. Porson. By Aice and CLaupE ASKEW. 74 X 290 pp. Nash. 3s. 6d. n. Tue SicN or Four. By A. Conan Doyir. 6} X 286 pp. (The Nelson Library.) Nelson. 7d. n. Tue CatrisH. By Cuar“es Marriorr. 8 x 5. 352 p Hurst & Blackett. 6s. THE ComBrneD Mazz. By May Sincuar. 7} X 336 pp. Hutchinson. 6s. Tue Strotiine Sart. By Rarant SABATINI. 7} X By Una L. SmperraD. 74 X 328 pp. Stanley Paul. 6s, 383 pp. Constable. 6s. 7% x 5. 298 pi Karen or LowsBore. Lirrep Curtains. By E. Nosie. Constable. 6s. Tue Beacon WatcHEers. By Viotet A.Smreson 7} 43. 366 pp. Chapman & Hall. 6s. Requirat. By Mrs. J. 0. Annotp. 72 xX 5. 301 p Methuen. 6s. Everyman’s Desire. By Mary Gaunt. 73 X 4% 341 pp. Werner Laurie. 6s. Wars Mottry. By Max Pumperton. 72 x 5. 3! pp. Cassell. 6s. Guioomy Fanny AnD OTHER [FouR] Stories. By Morte: Rozserts. 74 x 5. 259pp. Nash. 6s. Tur RETURN OF THE Perticoat. By WARwick DEEPIN 811 pp. (Revised Edition.) Cassell. 1s. n. HISTORY. Tue Passinc of THE TURKISH Empire IN EUROPE. Captain B. GRANVILLE Baker. 9 X 5}. 335 pi Seeley Service. 16s. n. LITERARY. Tous or THE Spratt. A Book of Thoughts. By Aue SrrmnpBerG. With an Introduction by A. BaBILLoT! Translated by CuauD Fienp. 7$ x 65. 286 Allen. 5s. n.  THE AUTHOR. ©; Atone THE Roap. By ArTuuR CHRISTOPHER BENSON. Le 8} x 5). x. xX 383 pp. Nesbit. 7s. 6d. n. = Dr. JoHNson anp His Crrctz. By JouNn Batney. : 256 pp. Tue Victortan AcE IN Literature. By G. K. Cuesterton. 256 pp. THe Nrewsparer. By G. Bryyzy Drpster. 256 pp. 63 x 44. (Home ee Library.) Williams &,; Norgate. ls.j n. each. MEDICAL. 1 1A Hosprran mw THe Maxine. A history of the National H Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic (Albany Memorial), 1859—1901. By B. Burrorp RawLines. 74x 5. 271 pp. SirIsaac Pitman. 5s.n. MISCELLANEOUS. d= PERSONALITY AND TELEPATHY. By F. C. CoNnsTaBLe. a Kegan Paul. 7s. 6d. n. i Tue Mystic Way: A PsycHonocican Stupy IN Caris- T gran Ortcins. By Evetyn Unperuiy. J. M. Dent % & Sons. 12s. 6d. n. MUSIC. i ‘THe Sun’ Worsnrpper. Words by PETRONELLA ) O’DonnELL. Music by the Rev. M. T. Coatzs. Bristol: i Ernest Crichton. 1s. 6d. oM Moon anp Sua. Words by PrrronetntaA O'DONNELL. £ Music by the Rev. M. F. Coarzs. Bristol: Ernest ) Crichton. Is. 6d. NATURAL HISTORY. 2 British Brrps’ Nests. How, Where, and When to Find and Identify Them. By R. Kearton, F.Z.S8. 9} x 6. 520 pp. Cassell. 14s. n. mE Tue Crectine Year. By W.P. WesTett, D.Sc. Part I, { Rambles in Spring. Part Il., Rambles in Summer. i Part ITI., Rambles in Autumn. 9% x 74. Nelson. PHILOSOPHY. “£ AnIntropuction To Metapnysics. By Henri Bercson. Authorized translation. By T. E. Hutmg. 8 x 5. 79 pp. Macmillan. 2s. n. POLITICAL, From THE Near East, 1909—1912. By 74 x 5. 187 pp. Smith, Elder a2 Lurrers Maurice Barine. 3s. 6d. n. 27 Panama AND WHatit Means. By Joun Foster Fraser. 7k < 5.291 pp. Cassell. 6s. SOCIOLOGY. “W WaySrtations. By Eximaseru Rosrs. Hodder & Stoughton. 6s. n. THEOLOGY. ©) Conressions of A ConvERT. By Roperr Huan Benson. : 8 x 54. 164pp. Longmans. 3s. 6d. n. 4 RELIGION AND THE Crisis. By Harotp Brecair. 7} Xx 4%. 126 pp. Cassell. Is. n. Oo On THE INFLUENCE oF RELIGION anp Upon TrUTH- FruuNess. By F. H. Prrrycosrn, B.Sc. 73? x 5. 324 pp. Watts. 45s n 8x 5. 352 pp. TRAVEL. 9 ‘Qursec: THe LAvRENTIAN PRovINcE. f Wittson. 9 x 5h. xii. 10s. 6d. n. By Brcxizs x 271 pp. Constable. 193 LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL NOTES. ee T the annual meeting of the Royal Literary Fund, on March 12, Mr. Rowland E. Protheroe, who presided, said the amount raised by the dinner was the largest with two exceptions in the history of the fund. He wished, however, that they could secure a more permanent and _ less fluctuating source of income to rely upon, and an increase in membership. They had at present some 700 members, and it would be a very good thing if they could raise their mem- bership to 1,000. The annual dinner was fixed for May 27; Lord Curzon would preside, and the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Morley would be among the speakers. The annual report, which showed that the income of the fund (including a balance from the previous year) was £5,487, and that during the year £3,020 was voted in grants to forty applicants, as compared with £2,125 to thirty-eight applicants in the previous year, was adopted. The president, vice-presidents, and members of the council were re-elected, with the addition of Viscount Haldane of Cloan as vice-president, and Mr. Reginald J. Smith, K.C., as a member of the council. Mr. Eden Phillpotts’s new novel, “‘ Wide- combe Fair,’”’ has been published by Mr. John Murray. It is a study of the varied life and interests of a sequestered West Country village. ‘‘ The Joy of Youth,” Mr. Phillpotts’s story which is running serially in the Fortnightly Review, reached its twelfth chapter in the March issue. “The Mating of Lydia” is the title of Mrs. Humphry Ward’s new novel, published last month by Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. Mr. Henry Arthur Jones has issued, through Messrs. Chapman & Hall, ‘‘ The Foundations of a National Drama,”’ a collection of lectures, essays, and speeches of the years 1896—1912, revised and added to. Mr. Jones dedicates his work to “ Brander Matthews, Professor of Dramatic Literature in Columbia Univer- sity,’’ whom (he says) he has so often quoted, that he is “ urged by duty, no less than by friendship and sympathy,” to make the dedication. The book is embellished by a photogravure of Mr. Robert J. Aitken’s bust of the author. The price is 7s. 6d. net. Mr. Frankfort Moore’s new book, ‘‘ Fanny’s First Novel,” published by Messrs. Hutchinson, has reached its second edition. In it Mr. Moore returns to his favourite period. The “Fanny ” is, of course, Fanny Burney. 194 Mr. Jeffery Farnol’s ‘‘ The Amateur Gentle- man’? was published by Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston & Co. on March 8. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons announce a new and cheaper (5s.) edition of Mrs. Ellis H. Chadwick’s ‘‘ Mrs. Gaskell: Haunts, Homes and Stories,” of which the original 16s. edition appeared in September, 1910. The new matter includes what is stated to be a strikingly beautiful portrait of Mrs. Gaskell before her matriage. The same publishers have brought out Mr. B. Burford Rawlings’s ‘“‘ A Hospital in the Making,” which is a history of the National Hospital for the paralysed and_ epileptic (Albany Memorial) between the years 1859 and 1901. The price is 5s. net. In ‘The Romance of an Elderly Poet” (Messrs. Stanley Paul & Co., 10s. 6d. net), Messrs. A. M. Broadley and Walter Jerrold collaborate on “‘A hitherto unknown chapter in the life of George Crabbe,” based upon a series of letters written by Crabbe in 1815—25 to Miss Elizabeth Charter. Much information is given in them concerning life in Bath and its neighbourhood at the period. Messrs. Stanley Paul announce two new Napoleon books, ** Napoleon in Exile at Elba, 1814—1815,” and “Napoleon in Exile at St. Helena, 1815—1821,”’ both by Mr. Norwood Young, and both containing a chapter on the iconography of Napoleon at the time, by Mr. A. M. Broadley. The first-named work is priced at 21s., the second at 82s. net. Messrs. Stanley Paul are also the publishers of ‘‘The Life of James Hinton,” by Mrs. Havelock Ellis, a biography drawn largely from private papers and the assistance of intimate friends; of ‘‘ The White Slave Market ” by Mrs. Archibald Mackirdy (Olive Christian Malvery) ; of “‘ Samphire,”’ a volume of essays by Lady Sybil Grant, daughter of Lord Rosebery; of ‘‘ Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition,” by Rafael Sabatini ; and of a new edition (the sixth, 5s. net.) of Mr. J. F. Nisbet’s ‘“‘ The Insanity of Genius.” Mr. Albany F. Major has written, and the Rev. C. W. Whistler has edited, a book entitled ““The Early Wars of Wessex: Studies from England’s First School of Arms in the West Country.”’ This deals with the warfare of the pre-Norman period in Western England and particularly with the Danish invasions. There are to be maps, plans, and diagrams, and the volume is to be published by the Cambridge University Press, at 10s. 6d. net, but sub- scribers before April 80 will be entitled to purchase at 7s. 6d. THE AUTHOR. In “‘ The Lawyer, Our Old Man of the Sea ” (Messrs. Kegan Paul, 7s. 6d. net), Mr. William Durran criticises the legal systems of England, India, and America, and gives a warning of the dangers threatening this country if legal . reforms are not soon introduced. A foreword is contributed by Sir Robert Fulton, M.A., © LL.D. Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. are the publishers of ‘‘ English Local Government : The Story of the King’s Highway,” by Sidney ~ and Beatrice Webb; of ‘‘ Confessions of a Con- — vert’’ and ‘‘ The Paradoxes of Catholicism,’ both by Monsignor R. H. Benson; and — of “ Levia-Pondera: an Essay Book,” by Mr. John Ayscough. They have added to their Silver Library a new edition of Sir. H Rider Haggard’s ** Rural Denmark and it Lessons.” Mr. Cecil Headlam is the author of the volume on France in Messrs. A. & C. Black’s ‘* Making of the Nations ”’ series. Thirty-two full-page and sixteen smaller illustrations — decorate the book, of which the price is 7s. 6d. net. Three new medical works from the same | firm are ‘“‘ The Handbook of Medical Treat ment ”’ (8s. 6d.), ‘* The Pocket Clinical Guide ” © (1s. 6d.), and ‘‘The Pocket Prescriber ”’ (1s.), all by Mr. James Burnet, M.A., M.D. M.R.C.P.E. Mr. John Foster Fraser’s “‘ Panama and What It Means ’’ was published at the begin- | ning of last month by Messrs. Cassell, at 6s. It is the fruit of a special visit to the Canal zone. Messrs. John Long last month published a — novel entitled ‘“‘ A Girl of No Importance ” by Olivia Ramsey, author of “The Other Wife,” ‘‘ Two Men and a Governess,”’ etc. © The story depicts some love episodes in the life story of a young peer, the scenes being — laid alternately in London and in the heart of © the country. Messrs. John Long are also the publishers. of a new novel, ‘‘ Nathalia,”’ by Fred Whishaw, | author of ‘‘ The Revolt of Beatrix,” ete. The scene is laid at Moscow in the period which — just preceded the birth of Peter the Great, whose parentage was from the first a matter” of mystery and controversy in Court circles. — Mr. Whishaw extracts his romance out of the: life of the beautiful Nathalia Narystkin, — mother of Peter. Messrs. Watts & Co. have published, on behalf of the Rationalist Press Association, a — volume by Mr. F. H. Perrycoste entitled ‘‘ The: Influence of Religion upon Truthfulness.”  otk jem ork THE AUTHOR, ‘1) This volume comprises two more chapters of the author’s magnum opus, of which a first instalment appeared three years ago under the title of ‘‘ Religion, Faith, and Morals.” «| In a prefatory note to the new volume the JHE 200 LE ic ey Fob aid ish the rig EG AT od to : off soe 10f He iREE fio ve Be HE Mt A A ME if ee Lie author expresses the hope that it may be possible anon for him to do justice to himself and his critics alike by publishing the chapters of his Prolegomena, in which the scope and method of the whole work are explained in detail, and the philosophical foundations for his historical enquiry are laid. “Celestial Fire,” a Seventeenth Century devotional book, re-edited by E. M. Green, with a preface by the Rev. George Congreve, gives in its introduction the story of what is probably a unique experience in publishing. The editor acknowledges the most acceptable help, in unravelling the tangle, of the Society of Authors. The Rev. James Eckersley edits ‘‘ The Responsive Psalter,’ which, as the sub-title states, contains “‘the psalms set to chant- forms in accordance with the parallelisms of Hebrew poetry, and designed to conduce to a natural and expressive rendering of the words on the part of both choir and congregation.” The publishers are Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. “The Celibacy of Maurice Kane” is a novel by V. Conway-Gordon, published by Messrs. Holden & Hardingham. In “Where Education Fails” (Messrs. Ralph, Holland & Co., 1s. net) Mr. Preston Weir attempts to find the explanation of the non-success of the modern educational system in England compared with the hopes of its promoters. Lord Sheffield contributes an introduction. Miss Jeannette Marks publishes her “* Gallant Little Wales’ through the Houghton Mifflin Co., of New York and Boston. The book is illustrated from old prints, and is sold at a _ dollar and a quarter. Mr. F. Cullen Gouldsbury’s ‘“‘ Songs out of Exile (Rhodesian Rhymes) ”’ is published by Mr. T. Fisher Unwin at 3s. 6d. net. The same publisher is bringing out a play entitled “‘ This Generation ” by Mr. S. M. Fox. This play (which has not yet been acted), though not professing to give a picture of contemporary Socialism, has for its hero a _ socialist who is in conflict with his environ- ment. Some months ago a prize of 5,000 francs was offered for the best French novel published in 1911, in the judgment of a number of Parisian society celebrities. The prize was 195 carried off by a story by M. Louis de Robert, which is now to make its appearance in English under the title “‘ Life’s Last Gift.’ It deals with a young man stricken down with ill- health and seeking to requite a passion which comes to him in his last months of life. The English publishers are Messrs. Stanley Paul & Co., who will also add the book to their Colonial Library. ** Shepherds of Britain,” by Miss Adelaide L. J. Gosset (Messrs. Constable & Co., 7s. 6d. net), is a prose anthology of literature dealing with shepherds and sheep, including contribu- tions from the pen of the editor herself. A companion volume is her ‘Shepherd Songs of Elizabethan England” (same _ publishers, 5s. net). EK. Newton Bungey’s ‘‘ The Fordington Twins”? (Lynwood & Co.) deals with twin children brought up in poor circumstances, who unexpectedly inherit large property and have to own it jointly, as no one knows which is the elder. The book, which is mainly on humorous lines, will be out at the end of April or the beginning of May. About the same time a 2s. edition of the same author’s previous novel, “‘ Corn in Egypt,”’ will be issued. Mr. Stephen Knott’s new novel “ Once Round,” a story of Military life, will be pub- lished on April 2, by Messrs. Murray & Evenden. A short story by John Hasleth Vahey will appear shortly in the Pall Mall Magazine, and a new novel by the same writer, to be called ‘‘The Shadow of Salvador,’ with Messrs. Heath, Cranton and Ouseley, is also expected this spring. Mr. Vahey’s last novel, “<The Mesh,” appeared through Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. Mr. J. Stanley Little’s address delivered at Farnham on “ Thomas Hardy: Our Greatest Prose Poet,” is to be published shortly. ‘““The Green Powder,’ a new novel by Miss Lillias Campbell Davidson, has just been published serially in the pages of the Daily News. Messrs. Partridge & Co. announce an immediate issue of a third edition of the same writer’s, ‘‘ A Girl’s Battle.” A booklet which has just been issued, under the suggestive title of ‘“‘ More Light on the Woman Question,” contains a record of the proceedings of the first Congress of the Men’s International Alliance for Woman Suffrage, held in London in October last, and gives the salient points from the numerous speeches made on the occasion by the English repre- sentatives and foreign delegates. There are two illustrations—a portrait of Sir John 196 Cockburn, K.C.M.G., the President of the International Alliance, and a photographic group of the delegates and associates of the Congress. Mr. Jaakoff Prelooker, editor of The Anglo-Russian, is responsible for the literary part of the record, which is issued from the headquarters of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage, price 2d. : Mr. Philip W. Sergeant’s new two-volume biography, ‘‘ Little Jennings and Fighting Dick Talbot,’ was published by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. at the beginning of March. Mr. Perriton Maxwell announces his retire- ment as manager and editor of Nash’s Magazine, and is returning to the United States to take charge of Hearst’s Magazine. Mr. Stanley Paul, of 31, Essex Street, Strand, has acquired the business of Messrs. Greening & Co., Ltd. The firm of Greening & Co. will be continued under its own name ; and as there are some 800 titles on its list, Mr. Stanley Paul, who will conduct both businesses from his office in Essex Street, will by this arrangement control the management of upwards of 1,300 current books. The firm of Greening & Co. was founded sixteen years ago by Mr. Arthur Greening. The Lotus Library of foreign classics in trans- lations is one of the firm’s most valuable properties, containing stories by Anatole France, Daudet, Zola, Flaubert, Dumas, de Maupassant, Gaborian, Gautier, and de Musset. Mr. Paul intends to add a large number of more serious volumes to balance the fiction library in the list, and among the first books are announced a series of ‘“‘ Memoirs of Secret History,” concerning the French Revolution, the ‘‘ Recollections of an Officer in Napoleon’s Army,” and a volume on Madame de Pompadour in the Court Series of ‘‘ French Memoirs.” Mr. Arthur Beckett’s book, ‘“‘ The Wonderful Weald, and the Quest of the Crock of Gold,” is shortly to be republished in a 6s. edition by Messrs. Mills and Boon. In addition to the twenty illustrations in colour by Mr. E. F. Marillier, the new edition will contain a novel map in which the most romantic places in the Weald of Sussex will be shown in symbolic form. DRAMATIC. The notable run of “ Little Miss Llewellyn,” at the Vaudeville Theatre, has been followed by a revival of Sir Arthur Pinero’s farce ““The Schoolmistress,’’ which was first seen at the Court twenty-seven years ago, and attained its 292nd performance there. The THE AUTHOR. cast at the Vaudeville includes Miss Hilda Trevelyan as Peggy Hesslerigge, Mr. Edmund Gwenn as Admiral Rankling, and Mr. Dion Boucicault as Vere Queckett. A new one-act play—or domestic episode, as we understand it is called—by Sir Arthur Pinero is in rehearsal at the St. James’s Theatre. Its title is ‘‘ Playgoers,” and it is to be played in conjunction with Mr. A. E. W. Mason’s *“‘ Open Windows,”’ of which the first performance took place on March 11, with Mr. George Alexander and Miss Irene Vanbrugh in the leading parts. Miss Cicely Hamilton’s dramatic version of Mr. Edgar Jepson’s ‘“‘ Lady Noggs, Peeress,” is to be transferred from the evening bill at the Comedy Theatre to the afternoon, during Mr. Kenneth Douglas’s season, which com- mences at the Comedy early this month. March 4 saw the production at the Aldwych Theatre of ‘‘ Her Side of the House,” a three- act comedy by Mr. Lechmere Worrall and Miss Atté Hall. On March 20 ‘‘ The Greatest Wish,’’ Mr. E. Temple Thurston’s dramatisation of his own novel, was produced by Mr. Arthur Bourchier at the Garrick Theatre, succeeding Mr. Stanley Houghton’s “‘ Trust the People.” ‘The Morning Post,” a one-act play by Mr. Morley Roberts and ‘“‘ Henry Seton,” was. seen at Miss Esmé Beringer’s matinée at the Court Theatre on March 11, and subsequently was put into the evening bill at the Strand, as a curtain-raiser to ‘‘ The Woman in the Case.” On Easter Monday “ The Happy Island,” Mr. J. B. Fagan’s adaptation of the Hungarian dramatist, Melchior Longyel’s “* The Prophet,” was the play chosen by Sir Herbert Tree for his reappearance at His Majesty’s Theatre. The title first announced was “A White Man’s Burden,” but ‘‘ The Happy Island” was what was finally decided upon. At the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, on February 25, there was seen a new poetic tragedy in three acts—** Queen Tara,” by Mr. Darrell Figgis. The play has been pub- lished in book form by Messrs. Dent, at 2s. cloth, and 1s. paper. The Stockport Garrick Society recently performed a play in three acts and a prologue, entitled ‘‘Jephthah’s Daughter,” by the author, whose pseudonym is X.Y.Z. At the Théitre Mboliére, Paris, on February 28, “‘ Une Adventure du Capitaine Lebrun ” was played for the first time. The author of this was Mrs. Irene Osgood, who has since the production been elected a member of the Society of Dramatic Authors in Paris.  Nel RS + et. Pipe See ge tos 3M THE AUTHOR. An organisation has been established for the representation of French plays in London, with Mr. J. T. Grein as chairman of the Executive Committee. The name of “‘ The Little French Theatre’? has been selected, and a West End house is to be secured, for Sunday performances in the winter, and week-day performances in the summer. The prospectus points out that, as the productions will be private, all the recently successful plays in Paris will be open to inclu- sion in the repertory. The regular company will be recruited from the considerable body of French actors in London. The annual subscription to the society will be 10s. 6d., which will entitle members to a certain number of seats. Further particulars can be obtained from Mr. Philip Carr, who is the ‘ adminis- trator ”’ of the Executive Committee. The Masque, “‘ Love and the Dryad,” com- posed by Agnes H. Lambert (Mrs. Heygate Lambert), will be given, under the direction of the composer, at the King’s Hall Theatre, Covent Garden, on April 29, at 3 p.m. There will be a full orchestra, conducted by Mr. Eugene Goussens. The dances have been arranged for the stage by Miss Ruby Gernier, who will play the part of the Dryad. The caste includes Miss Evangeline Florence, Mr. Herbert Bromilow, Mr. Ernest Groom and others. The Masque will be followed by a dramatic scene ‘‘ Pan and the Woodnymph,” written and composed by Mr. Harrison Frewen, in which Miss Evangeline Florence will take the principal part. Tickets may be obtained from Messrs. Chappell & Co., and Messrs Keith, Prowse & Co., Bond Street. At the production of prize plays in the Lyceum Club competition at the special matinée, King’s Hall, Covent Garden, on March 12, one of the plays acted was Mrs. Steuart Erskine’s ‘‘ John Anderson’s Chance,” the scene of which is laid in “‘ the dining-room of a small house at Hampstead” at the present day. Mr. James A. Douglas, the author of ‘“‘ The Outcome of Agitation,” produced at the Kingsway Theatre, and another four-act play, just secured by a prominent London manager, has a story of the North West Territory, entitled ‘‘ The Lovers of the West,” in the Canadian News. MUSICAL. Mr. William Wallace, on January 1, delivered an address on ‘“‘ The Musician and Personal Responsibility,” to the Incorporated Society of Musicians, then in annual conference at Bir- mingham. This address has now been printed. 197 PARIS NOTES. — > A Colline inspirée,” by Maurice Barres, h after appearing as a serial in the Revue hebdomadaire, is lished in volume form. ‘** La Comédie de celui qui épousa une femme muette,”’ a two-act play, by Anatole France, has also appeared, and is in great demand. “Vers les Humbles,” by Madame René Waltz, is an extremely delicate psycho- logical study, written in the form of a diary. It is the history of a girl’s disillusions and of her moral evolution, told in the same simple, natural way as this author’s previous book, ‘‘La Vie intérieure,” which won for her an Academy prize. ‘** Les Contes de Minnie ”’ (Histoire de bétes, d’enfants, de fées et de bonnes gens), is another of the charming series of books by M. André Lichtenberger, stories of children for grown-up people. Madame Marguerite Poradowska gives us a strong novel, under the title of “Hors du Foyer.” “La Poursuite du Bonheur,” by B. Van Vorst, is interesting and instructive, coming, as it does, from the pen of an American woman. ‘La Famille Impériale 4 Saint-Cloud et a Biarritz,” by Dr. Barthez, is a volume con- sisting of a series of letters written by the doctor to his family. He gives an account of the everyday life of the Imperial family from the year 1856, when he was appointed medical adviser for the little prince, then only three months old. The letters continue until the year 1863. The last two volumes of the important work by Georges Goyau, entitled “‘ Bismarck et VEglise: Le Culturkampf,” have now been published. The first two volumes comprised the years 1870 to 1887, and the two which have just appeared continue up to the year 1890. The subject is treated very thoroughly and, thanks to the various anecdotes which the author gives, it is by no means a dull book. The account of the journey to Berlin, under- taken by the future Cardinal, Galimberti, is most interesting. Louis XIII. wished to sound Bismarck as to his attitude with regard to Italy and his ideas about the European situation. His messenger was to find out whether the intervention of the Pope was likely to be required on the Alsace-Lorraine question. After the lapse of so many years, it is most curious to return to that period of European history and to read details which have probably never been known by the now pub- 198 majority of people. It is a work which must have required a very great amount of docu- mentation, and only an extremely conscientious historian could have given us the valuable work which M. Goyau has just terminated. The Marquis de Ségur has now published the second volume of his work entitled, “ Au Couchant de la Monarchie.”” The first volume was on “Louis XVI. et Turgot,’’ and the second is on “ Louis XVI. and Necker ”’ (1776— 1781). Among the memoirs and studies of historical characters, a book which will be read with great interest is the volume on Mirabeau, by M. Louis Barthou. It is curious to read an appreciation of a politician like Mirabeau by so well known a statesman as M. Barthou. The last volume of articles and lectures by Henri Poincaré is entitled ‘‘ Derniéres Pensées.” He was preparing it himself, up to the time of his death, as the fourth volume of his works for the ‘‘ Bibliotheque de Philosophie scienti- fique.’ Among the subjects treated in it are the following: ‘‘L’Evolution des Lois,” “‘ L’Espace et le Temps,”‘ “ Pourquoi l’Espace a trois dimensions,” ‘La Logique de l’Infini,” ‘‘Les Rapports de la Matiére et de l’Ether,” “‘La Morale et la Science.” M. Henri Poin- caré was considered to be the most remarkable mathematician in France, and he was also one of the most eminent philosophers. ““La Science moderne et |’Anarchie,”’ by Pierre Kropotkine, comes at a very opportune moment. The chapters which the author devotes to modern warfare, its financial origin and its atrocity are most instructive. A little weekly publication, in the form of a small review, commenced in the month of March, entitled Le Fait de la Semaine. The idea of the founders of this little publication is to take up the chief subject of public interest every week and study it from different aspects. The first number was devoted to the question of the military service of three years, the second number was entitled “Le Renouveau de la Presidence,’’ and the third is on the subject of ‘Les Drogues qui grisent.” The idea is an excellent one, as, thanks to this little weekly messenger, we shall be able to hear more than one side to a question. In the Revue de Paris (Nos. 4 and 5), M. Emile Boutroux has written an excellent article on Henri Poincaré, and in No. 5 there is also an instructive article entitled ‘* La Crise de notre Organisation militaire,”’ by Baiberti. The Revue hebdomadaire continues to publish the excellent series of lectures organised by the Société des Conférences. Among the THE AUTHOR. lectures published in recent numbers are those of Emile Faguet on ‘‘ La Fontaine,” and a series entitled ‘Mes Souvenirs,” by Jean Richepin, Gaston Deschamps, Maurice Donnay and Maurice Sabatier. Pierre de Quirielle also writes, in the same review, an article on Paul Thureau-Dangin, the late Sécretaire perpetuel of the French Academy, whose death is a great loss to the French literary world. The theatres have been more than usually active this year. The number of new plays and the quantity of small theatres must tend to make the task of the dramatic critic for the daily papers no easy one. At the Comédie- Marigny, M. Maurice Donnay’s four-act play ‘‘ Les Kclaireuses,’”’ has been, and still is, a great success. The feminist question is very much discussed in France, and M. Donnay has made it the theme of his play. i At the Thédtre Sarah Bernhardt, Henri Lavedan’s two-act play, ‘‘Servir,” is excellently played by Guitry, M. Capellani and Mme. Gilda Darthy. At the Vaudeville, M. Alfred Capus is having his usual success with his five-act play, ““Héléne Ardouin,’ and at the Bouffes- Parisiens, M. Henry Bernstein, with his new piece, ‘‘ Le Secret.” Atys HAuarp. ‘La Colline inspirée.”” (Emile Paul.) “La Comédie de celui qui épousa une femme muette.” (Calmann-Lévy.) ‘Vers les Humbles.”” (Calmann-Lévy.) “Les Contes de Minnie.” (Plon.) ** Hors du Foyer.’ (Editions du Temps present.) “La Poursuite du Bonheur.’ (Hachette.) “La Famille Impériale & Saint-Cloud et 4 Biarritz.” (Calmann-Lévy.) “ Bismarck et ?Eglise: Le Culturkampf.” (Perrin.) * Au Couchant de la Monarchie.’’ (Calmann-Levy.) **Mirabeau.” (Hachette.) “< Derniéres Pensées.”” (Hachette.) “La Science moderne et l’Anarchie.”’ (Stock.) a THE CANADIAN BOOK MARKET. —+—~>— + — HE article in the January issue of The Author, entitled ‘‘ The Book Market in Canada,” contains some _ interesting generalisations on the conditions existing there, especially those relating to the close proximity of the United States. There is no doubt that the representatives of United States publishers find the Dominion a favourable selling ground and an agreeable addition to their own exten- sive market. So do the representatives of  ae) Pet Reet te ES ee arian, Nas Sehr Naga? SGD ) a ‘THE AUTHOR. British publishers, while at the same time the publishing houses of strictly Canadian origin, which are chiefly located in Toronto and Mon- treal, are doing a satisfactory and increasing business. The latter are probably making more extensive sales in Canada to retail book- sellers than either their American or their British rivals. As book-buyers, Canadians are, as a rule, better customers than Americans. An instance corroborating this statement is found in a recent declaration by a publisher’s salesman familiar with both markets. He said that Canadian cities—he instanced Lon- don, Ontario and Vancouver, 3B.C.—were worth for business purposes more than Ameri- can cities of double their population. The Canadians are free book-buyers, and while their purchases in this line run chiefly to fiction, they will compare favourably with the book- buyers of the United States in respect to the more serious departments of literature. The writer of the article referred to sketches very fairly the influence of the United States on Canada in reference to clothes and food. He might also have mentioned boots and shoes, since Canadians are not slow to take advantage of the fact that the Americans are the best makers of footgear in the world. He is also right in saying that a flood of ephemeral American literature is poured into Canada. The magazines of the United States are legion, and there is a great market for them in Canada, not only in the cities, but in all places where men are subduing the earth, either as agricul- turists, miners or prospectors. It may be suggested, however, that the large sale of these publications is rather in spite of their specially American characteristics than be- cause of them. McClure’s Magazine sells in Canada, not because it exploits the Standard Oil or other scandals, not because it deals in a trenchant way with other purely American sub- jects, but because it. prints stirring stories and articles of general interest. In like manner it will be found that the alleged strong influence of the United States will not sell a book in Canada which is, to use a phrase in common use in publishing circles, “too distinctly American.” The sale of a book depends on a complexity of causes, but so far as fiction is concerned, these are its human interest—apart from locality—and the possession of those characteristics which go to make up what is called the “ story element.” “David Harum” was turned down by one Canadian publisher because he thought it was “too American.’ But its subsequent large sale in Canada proved that its humour and its 199 story, though redolent of the United States, were of universal appeal. In like manner the novels of ‘‘ Ralph Connor,’ whatever may be thought of their literary quality, have sold as well in the United States as in Canada, the land of their production, or in England. On the other hand, American topographical and Civil War novels do not have a large sale in Canada, and it is not likely that they ever will. While, therefore, the author of the excellent article on ‘“‘ The Book Market in Canada ”’ is right in most of his conclusions, it may be submitted that he pushes too far the notion that the readers of Canada are controlled by American influences. A very large proportion of the books in the public libraries of Canada are of British origin, and in the reading rooms of those institutions the copies of the English reviews and magazines are always eagerly read. Canada welcomes good literature from every source, but the note of Canadian life is dis- tinctly British. The ideals of Imperial unity have an increasing hold on the people. Those ideals are fostered by Canada’s educational system, by her churches, by the boy scout and cadet movement, and by the provisions of the Canadian Militia Act. They are also stimu- lated by the annual migration of Canadian visitors to England. BernarpD McEvoy. —_____+—>—+___—_ THE AGREEMENT OF MESSRS. JOHN CURWEN & SONS WITH MUSICAL COMPOSERS. —_ ++ — ‘'N the July number of The Author last year an article was published under the heading ‘‘ Composers’ Agreements.” In that article, an agreement issuing from the offices of Messrs. John Curwen & Sons was printed, with the approval of the Committee of Management, and with sundry favourable comments. Since that date, owing to the change in the Law of Copyright, Messrs. Curwen & Sons have issued another agreement, which was brought to the notice of the Com- posers’ Sub-Committee of the Society. The fresh agreement has some important clauses inserted in it, and, owing to the insertion of these clauses, the sub-committee and the Committee of Management find it impossible to approve the agreement in its present form. Members are referred to the agreement as printed in The Author of July, 1912. In the first clause an important alteration has been 200 made. The original agreement was limited to publication in ‘‘ Great Britain and Ireland, its Colonies and Dependencies’; in the new agreement the publishers have added, “ and in foreign countries.” They have also added a clause dealing with performing rights, which runs as follows :— “That in consideration of an undertaking hereby given by the publishers that no charge shall be made for permission for performances of the work, and subject to the clauses hereinafter mentioned, the composer hereby agrees to sell and assign to the publishers the exclusive rights of performance during the whole period of the copy- right of the work.” and a clause dealing with the licence for mechanical reproduction, which runs as follows :— “That in consideration of the payments and subject to the clauses hereinafter mentioned, the composer hereby agrees to sell and assign to the publishers the exclusive licence for the mechanical reproduction of the work.” The Composers’ Sub-Committee wrote to Messrs. Curwen & Sons in the following terms :— “The Composers’ Sub-Committee of this Society con- sidered your letter of the 18th ult. at their meeting on the 8th inst. They regret you do not see your way to accept the suggestion put forward by them. They desire to point out that under the Act of 1911 copyright includes the performing right and the right of mechanical reproduction, and they have always made it a point in these agreements that the composer should not give away either the right of performance or the right of mechanical reproduction, and that no agreement demanding such control as suggested by yourselves on behalf of the publisher could be approved by them as acting for the composer. The sub-committee see no necessity, even granting that the publisher shares in these rights, for the sole control to remain in his hands. In making this statement, the sub-committee do not allow that the publisher has any claim to either of these rights, or to a share of these rights which they do not make any attempt to market. “As your agreement was printed in The Author as receiving the approval of the Composers’ Sub-Committee, I am asked to say that it will be necessary to give in that magazine the same publicity to the view of our sub- committee on the present agreement you have put forward.” In answer to that letter the publishers have replied as follows :— “In reply to your letter of ... we shall have no objection to your printing our agreement in The Author with your comments, provided you make it clear that the agreement is one that is used in cases where it is agreed that no charge is to be made for the performing right, and that the rights of mechanical reproduction are to be shared. Where this is not the case our agreement would not, of course, contain these clauses.” While the meaning of the publishers’ letter is clear, we do not understand the reason of the statement, ‘‘ the agreement is. one that is used in cases where it is agreed that no charge is to be made for the performing right.” If THE AUTHOR. * no charge is to be made, and the composer is willing to endorse this statement—no doubt there are certain forms of music on which it would be very inadvisable for a composer to make any charge for the performing right— there seems to be no reason whatever why, in order to accomplish this, the composer should sell and assign the exclusive right of perform- ance to the publisher. It is just as easy to agree to make no charge on the performing right if that right is still held by the composer, as if it was held by the publisher, with this additional security to the composer that he would still have the control of his own property, and would know how to act in case of any infringements of his right. It cannot be too often repeated that it is most important in the question of performing rights that the com- poser should retain the control and should have the power to act on his own judgment. The latter part of the letter refers to another alteration in the agreement which we have not as yet quoted. Clause 10 runs :— ‘The publishers shall pay the composer, his heirs, executors or assigns the sum of... of all moneys received by them in consideration of permission for the mechanical reproduction of the work, and shall make such payment within one calendar month from the time such moneys are received.” This says that some portion-—not men- tioned—of the mechanical reproduction rights is to be handed over to the publisher. If the composer is unbusinesslike enough to allow the publisher to take a certain portion of the rights of reproduction on mechanical instru- ments (several articles have been written in The Author dealing with this point), there is no reason why these reproduction rights should be transferred to the music publisher. It is just as easy for the composer to retain control of these rights, and allow the publisher to have a certain portion of them, as it is to convey them all to the publisher, who would then have the absolute control. Indeed, it is much more important that the composer should have this control, for it may be that he does not desire his work to be reproduced on. mechanical instruments at all; or it may be that he wants to sell them for a sum of money out and out; or it may be—which is much more probable—that he does not want the publisher to have any share in that pro- perty which does not belong to him. It is on account of these very serious and important alterations that the Committee of Management have been forced to withdraw their approval of the agreement in its modified form.  THE AUTHOR. THE COMMON-SENSE OF FREE-LANCING. 1 By an Eprror. (A Repty To “THE Sorrows OF A FREE- Lance” in “ Tae Autuor,”’ Marcu 1). OME time ago I read in one of the morning papers the account of a bank clerk who gave up his situation (he was earning £3 a week, and living at home), and came to London to try free-lance journalism. He began idiotically by taking a room in Holborn at a rental of a sovereign a week, and finished by writing advertisements for whatever stray shillings he could obtain. I have been wondering, since reading the article by ‘A Free-Lance’’ in the March Author, whether the writer of that lugubrious and misleading story is any better equipped in the item of common-sense than the poor clerk. To begin with, the very best way to gain an editor’s attention is to post articles to him; when ‘‘ Free-Lance’”’? mentions the “ fearful postage expense to the author,” he simply shows that he was never intended by nature for any situation save one, where the plums drop straight into his mouth. If he cares to read my personal experience it may be of interest to him. I came from the West country, having for twelve months made a few extra guineas by verse and short story work. On the day of my arrival I took a room within a twopenny "bus ride of the City, at a rent of 10s. per week, including fires— for it was winter. And then I wrote. What hours of effort, of grim despondency, of glorious exhilaration, that little ‘‘ bed-sitter’? knew! And what teas, when the young artist, who lived in the room below, came upstairs to exchange chatter and to tussle with me at chess; what chaff, when a chance friend, a reporter (now a well-known sub-editor) called to tell me of his escapades, and to charm me back to good cheer ‘with his irresistible stories ; what conversations with the kindred spirits who loved Keats, Meredith, Francis Thompson, who held opinions on Shaw, Chesterton, Henry James, and everything under the sun, and ex- pressed them pithily and sometimes profanely ! Soon, pace ‘“‘ A Free Lance,” without once interviewing a single editor, or sending any preliminary letters, and with not one intro- duction, I began to have a fair number of items accepted. The grave and_ benign Spectator honoured me several times by taking an article, and once by commissioning an essay : the Academy, the Outlook, Punch, the World, the Pall Mail and Westminster, opened their 201 f columns tome. Two or three papers wrote asking me tocall. On one occasion the editor of an old-established weekly telegraphed to know if I could let him have a sonnet ona national event by three o’clock the same afternoon. It was in the printers’ hands by the hour mentioned ; but I sincerely trust that never again shall I have to write a sonnet, a really respectable sonnet, against time. For three years this true friend—a dear, courtly old man, who died not long ago—took topical humorous verse from me almost every week, beside very many stories. Then came review- ing, plenty of it, without asking. In journalism, perhaps more than in any other profession, one thing leads to another ; the unfamiliar name, seen with a strong article or story, becomes talked about in the offices. Let a free-lance once give way to depression, and he might as well finish with his work. Let him worry over “ fearful postal expense,’’ and he may resign; one of my articles was refused by nineteen papers and accepted by the twentieth—the Spectator ; of course, it had been retyped several times. This brings me to the purchase of my type- writer, which saved me at once five or six shillings a week—for I never sent a hand- written article out on any consideration ; excepting, naturally, an urgent immediate commissioned one. That machine paid for itself several times over; it “did” a couple of novels without a pennyworth of repairs ; and both the novels were published at the publisher’s expense. Now, by a turn of the wheel, I read other people’s contributions instead of writing my own—though to all editors comes the task of an occasional article or review. And I read these piles of essays and poems, typed or scribbled, all the more sympathetically because I know exactly what some of their writers are going through in the way of hope deferred. Hundreds of them had better be tinkers, tailors, soldiers, sailors—especially the “poets ’?; but everything is read. It has been said a thousand times (yet no free-lance believes it!) that editors are on the look-out for good, original stuff; and it is perfectly true; at the same time, let the free-lance remember that there are a dozen reasons why his article may come back to him. Many papers, for example, have verse enough accepted for ten or twelve weeks ahead, or readable ‘“‘ middles”” have reached a goodly pile; then the editor, however, sympathetic he be, must relentlessly send back everything since his paper is not elastic. 202 The one charmingly sane remark of “A Free Lance’? concerns the interviewing of editors. The visiting contributor is nearly always a bore; sometimes he—or she—is a lunatic, apparently. Only a few weeks ago a lady passed, by guile, into my office, and began unpacking a small portmanteau; its sole contents were poems, neatly confined in scores or dozens, by elastic bands. Another time a soiled gentleman penetrated to the sanctum with a brown paper parcel under his arm that suggested the week’s washing; it also contained innumerable sheets of poetry. According to him it was poetry; according to the critical standard it was not. People who bring articles, generally omit to leave a stamped envelope, and write pathetically a few weeks after, wondering why they have not received a cheque. No editor cares to read a contribution while the writer waits. Person- ally, if an essay seems near the mark, but uncertain, I set it aside and read it again after the lapse of a day or two; I know many editors, and they are all, without exception, conscientious in reading everything that reaches them. With regard to the observations of ‘‘ A Free Lance’ on the difficulty of obtaining pay- ment, and the period that may elapse before publication, does he expect his editors to enquire solicitously when he would like his contribution to appear? They have some- thing better to do. Certain papers are risky ; they are well known, and contributions are in any case sent ‘“‘at owner’s risk.” With the good papers publication is a sufficient guarantee of payment. Let ‘“‘ A Free Lance ” amend his ways, and his sorrows, dear man, will dwindle to vanishing-point. +> —_____ BRITISH COPYRIGHT IN CANADA. —_—+—> + — [Reprinted from the “* Musical Times” by kind permission of the Editor. | AN INJUNCTION GRANTED TO RESTRAIN THE ImporTATION INTO CANADA OF BRITISH CopyricnHt Music REPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES. A judgment of far-reaching consequences was delivered on February 14 ult. by the Honour- able Mr. Justice Middleton in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Ontario. The plaintiff was Mr. Oliver Hawkes, of the well-known London firm of Hawkes & Son, and the defendants were a prominent Toronto firm of music dealers and publishers. The THE AUTHOR. complaint was that the defendants had in- fringed the plaintiff's copyright by importing into Canada an American reprint of one of the plaintiff's publications, which—although it enjoyed no copyright in the United States of America—was nevertheless protected in Canada by virtue of the provisions of the British Copyright Acts. Under the British Copyright Law everything that is copyright in Great Britain is ipso facto copyright in Canada. It was therefore origin- ally unlawful for anyone to import into Canada a foreign reprint of a work first published in Great Britain. But by a British Act passed in the year 1847, the British Colonies were enabled to import such foreign reprints on condition that they passed a local law designed, to compensate the British proprietor of the copyright. Canada in 1850 duly passed such a law, fixing the duty to be levied on the imported copies at 124 per cent. ad valorem for the benefit of the British owner, and by Orders in Council of December 12, 1847, and of July 7, 1868, the clauses in the British Acts against importation of foreign reprints were suspended as regards Canada. In consequence of a clause in the British North America Act (1867), which conferred upon Canada the right to legislate in Canada on the subject of copyright, serious disputes arose between the Mother Country and the Colony as to the nature and extent of that right. The Canadian Government maintained that Canada was entitled to legislate for its own territory, even to the exclusion of the British Copyright Acts. Consequently Canada, having in 1875 passed a local Act which conferred Canadian copyright only on condition that the work was printed and published in Canada, claimed that unless British works were so printed and published, they lost all their rights in Canada, and that foreign reprints might be imported from the United States without restriction. The British contention had always been that the British North America Act had only enabled Canada to legislate for the copyright of works of Canadian origin, and that Canadian copyright legislation could have no effect on any British work first published outside Canada. The point was finally settled against Canada in the Canadian case of Smiles v. Belford. More recently another attempt was made to get round the decision in Smiles v. Belford. There is a provision in the British Customs. Consolidation Act of 1876 that the importa- tion of foreign reprints into British Colonies: can only be restrained when the Colonial  THER AUTHOR. 9 (Customs have been duly notified that a copy- of right, in any given case, exists. There is, 4 however, an exception in the Act which renders such notification unnecessary in cases where a » Colony has made entire provision for the : management and regulation of its own Customs. i In the important case of Adam & Charles } Black v. The Imperial Book Company it was , decided that Canada had made such a pro- 211 vision, and that consequently importations of rch British copyright works from the United -~* States into Canada could be restrained without “any previous notification to the Canadian a) Customs that a copyright existed. Eventually + im 1894, Canada passed a Customs Act under ‘+ which she formally declined to collect the ef 123 per cent. duty, which in 1850 she had FAs aindertaken to collect for the benefit of the sce British owner, but which in fact she had never ») troubled to collect. The question then became a simple one. 4° The British owner was no longer fettered by ied the British Act of 1847 and the Orders in ‘oD Council thereunder; for Canada had repu- => diated her obligation to collect the duty. ‘ ‘And the case of Adam & Charles Black v. The eet L Imperial Book Company had decided that ©: importation of reprints of British copyrights . could be restrained without any notice to the s) Canadian Customs. The field was therefore j thrown open for a test action such as that of if ‘Hawkes v. Whaley, Royce & Company. In sald that case the contention of the British copy- ») right holder has been completely vindicated, and the decision is of such importance to all it who are interested in the protection of British » copyright property, that we print the Order of /) ithe Court in full, with the object of giving it ‘48 additional publicity. In THE SUPREME CouRT OF ONTARIO. Hicu Court Division. Tur HoNouURABLE Friday, the Four- “Mr. JusticE MIDDLETON teenth day of February, 1913. “BETWEEN : Oliver Hawkes, Plaintiff. and Whaley, Royce & Company, Limited, Defendants. Upon motion made unto this Court this day ‘by counsel for the plaintiff in the presence of counsel for the defendants, and upon hearing read the Writ of Summons herein and the ‘notice of motion served, and the affidavit of ‘Frederick Harris filed in support of the motion, and the affidavit of Eri Whaley in answer, and vupon hearing what was alleged and counsel 208 f for both parties consenting that this motion be turned into a motion for judgment and that judgment be entered as_ hereinafter provided, 1. Tus Court poTH ORDER AND ADJUDGE that the defendants, their officers, servants and agents, be and they are hereby perpetually restrained until after the expiry of the plain- tiff’s copyright in and for the British Do- minions now existing in the musical book or publication known as ‘Otto Langley’s Tutor for the Violin,’ from printing or causing to be printed, or importing for sale or selling, publishing or exposing for sale or hire or causing to be sold, published or exposed for sale or hire, or from having in their possession for sale or hire without the consent of the plaintiff any copy or copies of reprints of the plaintiff's said publication published by one Carl Fischer of the City of New York in infringement of the plaintiff's said copyright, under the title of ‘Otto Langley’s New and Revised Edition of Celebrated Tutor to Violin,’ or any other reprints or copies of plaintiff's said copyright. 2, ANpD TuIS COURT DOTH FURTHER ORDER AND ApJuDGE that the defendants do pay to the plaintiff his costs of this action, including costs of this motion, forthwith after taxation thereof. Judgment signed this 14th day of February, 1913. ——___—_—>—e_<_ MAGAZINE CONTENTS. eg British REVIEW. Munchausen: The German Comic Giant. George. The Poetry of Alice Meynell. By Albert A. Cock. ENGLISH. Poem: Aphrodite at Leatherhead. By John Helston, Synge. By Lady Gregory. The Brain Thief. By Haldane McFall. The Commercial Side of Music. By G. Herbert Thring. Ragtime: The New Tarantism. By Francis Toye. NATIONAL, The Post Impressionist. By W. L. SCALE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. ema [ALLOWANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 20 PER CENT.] Frout Page £4 0 0 Other Pages a ee 0. Half of a Page ... a hes tee ive as es vee ke a8 Quarter of a Page ies ese ver ie ca in ac 0 15-6 Highth of a Page is soi re sie 0°70 Single Column Advertisements 6 0 Reduction of 20 per cent. made for a Series of Six and of 25 per cent. for Twelve Insertions. All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to J. F. BeLMont & Co., 29, Paternoster Square, London, E.c. per inch 0 204 HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. — 1 —<—4$-—— 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 without any cost to the member. Moreover, where counsel’s opinion is favourable, and the sanction of the Committee is obtained, action will be taken on behalf of the aggrieved member, and all costs borne by the Society. 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. 8. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the document to the Society for examination. 4. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no direct 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. 5. The Committee have 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 stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (2) To keep agreements. (3) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Fuller particu- lars of the Society’s work can be obtained in the Prospectus. 6. 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. 7, Many agents neglect to stamp agreements, must be done within fourteen days of first execution. Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. This The 8. 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. 9. The subscription to the Society is £1 1s. per annum, or £10 10s. for life membership. a Se coh SaeeeeEemmneee! WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS OF BOOKS. <1 ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an agreement, There are four methods of dealing with literary property :— I. Selling it Outright. This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be THE AUTHOR. . doctor ! obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society. II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of agreement), In this case the following rules should be attended to: C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part without the strictest investigation. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise- ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements, (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”’ unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or 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. IY. A Commission Agreement. The main points are :— : (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production. (2.) Keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book. General. All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four above mentioned. Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author, Never sign any agreement without competent advice from the Secretary of the Society. Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp. Avoid agreements by letter if possible. The main points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are :— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld, (3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright. ——_——__+———__- —_____—_ WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. —+— + EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com- petent legal authority. 2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with any one except an established manager. 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays in three or more acts :— : (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters inte 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,  THE AUTHOR. (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 seale 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 (‘.c., fixed nightly fees). This method should be always avoided except in cases where the fees are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The other safeguards set out under heading (3.) apply also in this case. 4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved. 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and time. This is most important. 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is of great importance, 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words. 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed- ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration. 9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced. 10, An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication. As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con- tracts, those authors desirous of further information are referred to the Secretary of the Society. 2 gg REGISTRATION OF SCENARIOS AND ORIGINAL PLAYS. —— $< CENARIOS, typewritten in duplicate on foolscap paper forwarded to the offices of the Society, together with a registration fee of two shillings and sixpence, will be carefully compared by the Secretary or a qualified assis- tant. One copy will be stamped and returned to theauthor and the other filed in the register of the Society. Copies of the scenario thus filed may be obtained at any time by the author only at a small charge to cover cost of typing. Original Plays may also be filed subject to the same rules, with the exception that a play will be charged for at the price of 2s. 6d. per act. 205 DRAMATIC AUTHORS AND~ AGENTS. —_+-—~<9—+ RAMATIC authors should seek the advice of the Society before putting plays into the hands of agents. As the law stands at present, an agent who has once had a play in his hands may acquire a perpetual elaim to a percentage on the author’s fees from it. As far as the placing of plays is concerned, it may be taken as a general rule that there are only very few agents who can do anything for an author that he cannot, under the guidance of the Society, do equally well or better for himself. The collection of fees is also a matter in which in many cases no intermediary is required. For certain purposes, such as the collection of fees on amateur performances, and in general the trans- action of frequent petty authorisations with different individuals, and also for the collection of fees in foreign countries, almost all dramatic authors employ agents; and in these ways the services of agents are real and valuable. But the Society warns authors against agents who profess to have influence with managers in the placing of plays, or who propose to act as principals by offering to purchase the author's rights. In any case, in the present state of the law, an agent should not be employed under any circumstances without an agreement approved of by the Society. = WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the T. 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 should be especially careful therefore when entering into an agreement, and should take into particular consideration the warnings stated above. ——————— STAMPING MUSIC. The 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. —_—___+——+-—____— THE READING BRANCH. a gc 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, i REMITTANCES. So The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, All remittances should be crossed Union of London and Smiths Bank, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered | letter only. 206 COLLECTION BUREAU. —t+~< + HE Society undertakes to collect accounts and moneys j due to authors, composers and dramatists. 1. Under contracts for the publication of their works. 2. Under contracts for the performance of their works and amateur fees. 3. Under the Compulsory Licence Clauses of the Copy- right Act, i.e., Clause 3, governing compulsory licences for books, and Clause 19, referring to mechanical instrument records. The Bureau is divided into three departments :— 1. Literary. 2. Dramatic. 3. Musical. The Society does not desire to make a profit from the collection of fees, but will charge a commission to cover expenses. If, owing to the amount passing through the office, the expenses are more than covered, the Committee of Management will discuss the possibility of reducing the commission. For full particulars of the terms of collection, application must be made to the Collection Bureau of the Society. The Bureau is in no sense a literary or dramatic agency for the placing of books or plays. CHANGE OF ADDRESS. ere From March 1, the Society’s Offices will be at No. 1, Central Buildings, Tothill Street, ‘Westminster, S.W. GENERAL NOTES, Tue AUSTRALIAN CopyricHT Act. WE have to thank the Colonial Office for its courtesy in supplying the Society with a copy of the Australian Copyright Act. We endea- voured to obtain it in other directions, but this is the first copy that has come to hand. We have pleasure in laying it before members in the form of a supplement. The careful perusal of the Act will show that on the whole it is satisfactory. The schedule referred to has been omitted, as the British Copyright Act was printed as a supplement to the July number (1912) of The Author. The Clauses referring to summary proceedings need the careful attention of all members of the Society. It will be seen on comparison with the Clauses in the English Act that they give a much wider protection. This is satisfactory, for the Clauses referring to summary pro- THE AUTHOR. ceedings in the British Act were ruthlessly, and in many cases quite unwarrantably, cut down, leaving a very poor chance of recovery for infringement ; but members must also note that these Clauses in the Australian Act cannot be enforced unless the literary work or dramatic piece has been duly registered in Australia. This has its disadvantages, but also its advantages. Its disadvantages arise owing to the trouble necessary to carry through the registration, though the matter is not very complicated. Its advantages are that such registration affords prima facie evidence in the Australian Courts that the author is the owner of the copyright, and it will not, therefore, be necessary for him to prove his title in the Australian Courts. It might be a matter of considerable difficulty to prove a titleif it was necessary, as it is necessary when summary proceedings are taken, to carry the matter through rapidly. Tue AMERICAN PRINTING TRADE. From the March number of Chicago Dial, we quote a very interesting passage referring to the increase of papers in the United States and Canada. We wonder how these statistics compare with the statistics in Great Britain. It seems extraordinary that in a great in- dustrial nation like the United States the printing and publishing industry is exceeded in number of employees and value of product by only four other industries. “The growth of the periodical press seems to keep pace with the growth of the world’s population. In the United States and Canada, for example, there was in 1912 a birth- rate of newspapers and periodicals amounting to more than five each week day ; that is, 1686 new publications started into being. But the death-rate was so nearly equal to the birth-rate that the net increase for the year was only thirty-six, about equally divided between this country and our northern neighbour, and chiefly confined to the field of daily journalism. So largely are we Americans a nation of readers that the printing and publishing industry is exceeded, in number of employees and value of product, by only four other industries—or so the statisticians assure us. In the last ten years the value of the annual output of printed matter in America has increased by more than eighty-six per cent. Nearly every trade and industry has its one or more periodicals, and the whole mass of periodical publications is divided into 208 classes, with the weekly issues of all sorts in a large majority. A study of the ‘American Newspaper Annual and Directory’ impresses one with the magnitude of the industry that supplies to thousands of energetic Americans practically all the reading matter they ever avail themselves of.” ————  THE AUTHOR. UNITED STATES NOTES. —— T the joint session last December of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters (the body from which the Academi- cians are chosen) the president, Dr. Henry Van Dyke, deprecated the idea that the company present was one of “ self-appointed inheritors of mortal celebrity ’”’—all members of either society being chosen by the votes of their competitors and rivals. It was natural and proper that such a disclaimer should be made in an assembly of this kind, for no one knows better than literary men how divergent are the judgments of the day and of posterity respectively upon books and their writers. How many of to-day’s geniuses—or, to put the matter on a lower plane, to-day’s best-sellers— will be found hereafter in the list of the real, not the academic, immortals ? Only a publisher or a second-rate critic can, with any appearance of confidence, hail a work as “‘ the greatest novel ” (or whatever it may be) since this or that masterpiece, as “a book that is destined to live,” and so on. Perhaps posterity will preserve some of those volumes to which allusion has now to be made, but here it only falls to my lot to record their names and their authors. Fiction, as usual, comprises by far the largest section. Two dead writers are repre- sented in David Graham Phillips’s ‘‘ George Helm” and Myrtle Read’s ‘“‘The White Shield ’—the latter a collection of short tales. Robert W. Chambers has two works to his name, “‘ Blue Bird Weather” and “ The Gay Rebellion,” a skit on the suffragettes. L. J. Vance’s new book is “‘ The Day of Days” ; Booth Tarkington’s, “The Flirt” ; Edith Wharton’s, “The Reef’; Charles Egbert Craddock’s, ‘* The Ordeal”’; Margaret Deland’s, “The Voice’; Payne Erskine’s, “ Joyful Heatherby’”’?; Gouverneur Morris’s, ‘‘ The Penalty’’; Randall Parrish’s, ‘‘ Gordon Craig, Soldier of Fortune.” Hallie Erminie Rives had brought out ‘“‘ The Valiants of Virginia,” Ridgwell Cullum ‘‘ The Night Riders,” Mary Thompson Daviess ‘‘ Andrew the Glad,” H. S. Harrison (author of Queed) ‘“ V. V.’s Eyes,” John Fox, jun., ‘‘ The Heart of the Hills,’ Montagu Glass ‘‘ Elkan Lubliner, American,” and Will Irwin ‘‘ Where the Heart is. With ‘“‘ The Lady and Sada San,” Frances Little jumped into the envied list of best sellers before the end of 1912, though too late 207 to be mentioned in the last issue of these Notes. Theodore Dreiser’s “*The Financier” and H. L. Wilson’s ‘“ Bunker Bean,” are two novels, very different in kind, that have attracted a lot of attention. Nor must notice. be omitted of the following :—‘** Paul Rundel,”’ by W.N. Harben, ‘‘ A Jewel of the Seas,” by Jessie Kaufman, ‘‘ The Olympian,” by James. Oppenheim, “ The Harbor of Love,” by R. H. Barbour, *“* A Living Legacy,.”” by Ruth Under- wood, ‘** Concerning Sally,”’ by W. J. Hopkins, “Madison Hood,” by Hamilton Drane, ‘*‘ Which One?” by R. A. Bennet, “The Locusts’ Years,” by Mary H. Fee, “ Jack Lorimer, Freshman,” by W. L. Sawyer, ‘‘ Miss Jimmy,” by Laura Richards, “Sally Castleton, Southerner,” by Crittenden Mariott, ‘‘ The Shadow,” by A. Stringer, and ‘‘ Everbreeze,”’ by Mrs. S. P. McLean. “The Lost Million ” is a sensational tale by Winthrop Alder—which is stated to be the pseudonym of a well-known author. Two collections of short stories are J. R. Scott’s ‘‘ The First Hurdle and Others,” and Mrs. L. B. Van Slyke’s ‘“ Eve’s Other Children.’ Lastly, if it is to be classed under Fiction, George Ade’s latest is “‘ Knocking the Neighbours.” As this goes to the printers I have time to include in my list three more novels, published early in March :—‘ Pollyanna,” by Eleanor H. Porter; ‘‘ The Case of Jennie Brice,” by Mary Roberts Rinehart ; and ‘‘ The Poisoned Pen,” by Arthur B. Reeve. In comparison with the swarm of novels, the list of biographical works is very small, even. if it be made to cover personal reminiscences. John Van de Zee Sears has published ‘‘ My Friends at Brook Farm.” J. K. Hosmer’s “The Last Leaf,” and Hubert Howe Bancroft’s ‘“‘ Retrospection ” are both the results of the life-long observation of two old and respected Americans. The title of George Iles’s ‘‘ Leading American Inventors ”’ sufficiently explains the book. Of the ‘“ Writings of John Quincy Adams,” edited by W. C. Ford, the first volume has just appeared. In “Lincoln’s Own Stories”? Anthony Goss illustrates Abraham Lincoln’s life by means of authentic stories told by and of him. Under History we find ‘The History of Plymouth Plantations, 1620—1647,” by Governor William Bradford ; ‘‘ The Sunset of the Confederacy,” by Morris Scaff; ‘* The Elmira Prison Camp,” by C. W. Holmes ; and “The Unseen Empire,” by Dr. D. S. Jordan, who characterises his work in his sub-title as “a study of the plight of nations that do not pay their debts.” 208 Description and Travel have a longer list, among which may be noted the following : “The Beginnings of San Francisco,” by Z. S. Eldridge, and ‘‘ San Francisco as it was, as it is, and how to see it,” by Helen Purdy ; “The Colonial Homes of Philadelphia and its Neighbourhood,” by H. D. Eberlein and H. M. Lippincott ; “* Boston, New and Old,” by T. R. Sullivan; ‘‘ Panama,” by C. W. Burris, and “Panama Canal: What it is, What it Means,” by John Barrett; ‘“* The Awakening of the Desert,” by J. C. Birge ;_ and “Seeing Europe on Sixty Dollars,” by W. F. Fauley. ‘‘ Old Chinatown ”’ is a collection of ninety-two pictures by Arnold Genthe, with an accompanying letterpress by Will Irwin. In ‘“‘ Myths of the Modoes,” Jeremiah Curtin deals with an Indian tribe in California and Oregon. The former state is treated more generally in the late Bradford Torrey’s “Field Days in California.” ‘A Mexican Journey,” by E. H. Blichfeldt, is decidedly topical just now. Of books on social subjects first place may be given to President Woodrow Wilson’s “ The New Freedom.” Bishop C. B. Brewster writes of “ The Kingdom of God in American Life.” In “ The End of Strife : Nature’s Laws applied to Incomes,” J. W. Batdorf proposes a federal income tax to meet the problem of the con- comitant rise of prices and decrease of income. “‘ Industrial Combinations and Trusts” is by Dr. W. S. Stevens, of Columbia University. ‘‘The Temper of the American People” is the title of a work by G. T. Smart; and in “« American Social and Religious Conditions ” the Rev. Charles Stelzle attacks a similar subject. ‘* Americans and Others ” (Agnes Repplier) and “‘The American Mind” (Bliss Perry) resemble the last two books in their titles, but are cast in the form of Essays. Under this head may be placed John Burroughs’s “ Time and Change”; Irving Babbitt’s “ Masters of Modern French Criticism’’; Brander Matthews’s ‘‘ Gateways to Literature’’; and Mrs. L. C. Pickett’s ‘* Literary Hearth-Stones of Dixie,’ though this is semi-biographical. Two learned works are “ Tiglath Pileser III.,” by Professor A. S. Anspacher (Columbia University), and ‘‘ The Inner Life and the Tao-Teh-King,’ by C. H. A. Bjerregoard, Librarian of the New York Public Library. Learned in a different way from either of these is ‘‘The Birds of Eastern North America,” by C. A. Reed, with illustrations in colour of every bird common to the United States and Canada. THE AUTHOR. There are always some new books by women on the feminist movement in every season’s list in the States nowadays. Two may be singled out here among recent publications, “* Why Women are So,”’ by Mrs. M. E. Coolidge, and ‘‘ The Business of being a Woman,” by Ida M. Tarbell. A male writer who handles the subject is Professor E. T. Devine, occupant of the chair of social economy at Columbia University. ‘‘ The Family and Social Work ” is the style of his volume. At the above-mentioned joint session of the Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Dr. Van Dyke lamented the literary and artistic losses of the past year, including numerous members of the two societies. Death continues to make inroads upon the ranks of American writers. Too late to include in the obituary section of these notes last January were the losses of Whitelaw Reid (of whom it is superfluous for me to say anything now); of Will Carleton, the poet, who had attained to the age of sixty-seven years when he succumbed to illness last December ; and of Mrs. Laura Case Collins, who was eighty-six and had become but a name to modern readers. Right at the end of the year died General Theophilus Francis Roden- bough, who wrote a number of books and edited an American military journal. In January Mrs. Julia Ripley Dorr, a poetess and a friend of Emerson, Longfellow, Holmes and Lowell, died at the age of eighty-eight. The February obituary includes Anne Warner French, in England, on the 1st of the month ; Mrs. Irene Benson, a writer of juvenile books, on the 6th; Charles Major, author of ** When Knighthood was in Flower,” on the 18th; Cincinnatus Heine (‘“‘ Joaquin ’’) Miller, univer- sally known as the ‘“ Poet of the Sierras,”” on the 17th; and about the same time William de Lancey Ellwanger, another poet. It is a curious fact with regard to many of those whose decease is recorded here that they lived so long. Two octogenarians have been mentioned, and Joaquin Miller was seventy- one. In comparison Major and Ellwanger were young at fifty-six and fifty-seven. Pirie WALSH. $< ——__ THE AGENT LITERARY AND DRAMATIC. —— + 5 ua literary agent must enjoy towards the author a position of great confi- dence and great responsibility. He is responsible not merely for protecting the  THE AUTHOR. author adequately from the publisher, the editor or the manager, should such protection be necessary, but he has also to see that in all his own dealings the author is kept fully informed ; it is necessary that the position of great confidence is not betrayed—it is not merely a negative honesty, but a positive virtue that is looked for. The value of the agent is much discussed, but in many cases his services are useful, and in some quite valuable; but from information received by the Society of Authors it would seem that he should be sometimes protected against himself. First he should, before commencing to work for an author, make a fair and reasonable agreement. The question immediately arises, ‘What is a fair and reasonable agreement ? ” If a solicitor is employed to draft a contract, he is paid a fixed fee for the work done. Ifa land-agent or house-agent is employed to let a property, he also is paid a fixed percentage on the first year’s rent obtained for his client. To a certain extent the literary agent combines the two positions, that of the man who finds a market, and that of the man who draws up the contract. If he is a good literary agent, he ought to have the necessary knowledge to a greater extent than the ordinary solicitor. The legal principles are not so much in question as the practical details. The literary agent, however, does not claim a fixed fee, and he does not claim a commission over a fixed term of years. In marketing and drafting a licence for the publication of 4 work, or for the production of a drama, he claims a percentage on the returns, during the legal term of copyright, that is the life of the author and for fifty years afterwards. The | question naturally arises, “ Is this a fair and reasonable contract?” It may be in some cases, in others it is distinctly unreasonable. The Dramatic Sub-Committee of the Society of Authors and a specially selected Sub-Com- mittee each drafted a contract with agents. The first was a contract for the placing of a drama, and the second a contract for the placing of a book. Both of these sub- committees came to the conclusion that a fixed percentage, until the amount reached a settled sum, was the only fair and reasonable agreement with the literary agent for the double work of finding a market and drawing up a contract. The members of the Society are strongly advised to keep this opinion before them. The question is one of great importance, because in some cases an author, ignorant of 209 literary agents’ fees and methods, is advised to go to an agent and is disappointed when he finds that, contrary to the usual arrangement in other businesses, he would have, most probably, to pay the agent 10% during the whole term of copyright, in the absence of a special agree- ment. It is, therefore, clearly a matter of no little moment that the agent should make a fair and reasonable agreement before he begins negotiations, and should place the whole facts of the position candidly before the author. If he does this and a contract is signed, there can be no dispute subsequently. If the author finds the agent is thoroughly trustworthy, he no doubt will allow him, when the total fee decided upon has been collected, to continue to collect the royalties, subject to a reasonable and reduced percentage. The sub-committees referred to considered that 5° was reasonable for the mere collection of monies and checking of accounts. Of course, where a work is sold for a sum down—for instance, the first serial use or the magazine rights in stories, or the licence to produce a play for a year—then the agent would naturally be paid a commission at a fixed rate for the one transaction, as would a house-agent or lawyer for letting a property or settling a contract. The preliminaries then, having been fixed, the agent proceeds to market the work, and from the moment the agreement is signed, the position of the closest confidence ought to exist between the agent and the author. As soon as an offer is made, and, subject to the willingness of the author or the dramatist to accept the financial side, the agent, acting in his capacity of expert adviser—in which sometimes he is by no means an expert—drafts a contract for the signature of the author. If he is a satisfactory agent, he will explain at every turn in the negotiations the disadvantages that may acrue to the author if he accepts some of the terms put forward by the publisher, or if he fails to insist upon some of the terms suggested for his own protection. In many cases the agent is quite clear on these points, and the author goes away with a full knowledge of what he may get and of what he must part with. In some cases that have come to the ken of the Society of Authors, the agent has advised the author to give away rights—thus weakening the contract—not necessarily with a view to the author’s benefit, but because the agent desires, in the rush of business, to get rid of one transaction in order to make way for others that are waiting. In so advising, the agent does not merely damage the individual author, but the whole profession of authorship. 210 He allows abuses to pass into currency until they can almost be defended as trade customs. This point might be dealt with much more fully, but I do not propose to enter into greater detail in the present article. There are many difficult positions in the present marketing of books, dramas, and all sorts of literary produc- tion, which have apparently been brought about by the agent’s neglect of the importance of standing firm on behalf of authors and dramatists. Having made all the points in the publisher’s agreement quite clear to the author (or not, as the case may be, and usually is), the agent then proceeds to insert a clause in the agree- ment, two examples of which are printed herewith :— (1) That the author hereby authorises and empowers his agent to collect and receive all sums of money payable to the author under the terms of this agreement, and declares that the agent’s receipt shall be a good and valid dis- charge to the publishers. The author hereby also authorises and empowers the publishers to treat with the agent on his behalf and in all matters concerning this agreement in any way whatsoever. Or (2) All sums due under this agreement shall be paid to the author’s representatives, whose receipt alone shall be a full and sufficient discharge of the obligation, and the said representatives are hereby authorised by the author to conduct all negotiations with the publishers in respect of the said work. From all the evidence that it has been possible to collect in the office of the Society it does not appear that the agent ever explains to the author the difficulties and dangers which may result when this clause in either form is inserted. That is to say, that on the first point, where the agent’s action touches his own position as confidential adviser, he very generally allows the author blindfold to sign an agreement with a clause inserted that may work mischief for his client. Attention has already been drawn to the difficulties that arise owing to the agent allowing the author to give way to certain of the publisher’s demands, but these can hardly be classed in the same list as the neglect to inform the author of the dangers of the clause referred to. If an author suffers, by the operation of this clause, he is the victim of what I consider to be indistinguish- able from a breach of trust. The first serious fault of which the author should be made aware, is that this clause is technically called “‘an authority coupled with an interest to a third party,” and is irrevocable as between the two parties who sign the agreement. No doubt the agent desires to protect his own interests. He is right to do so, but he must protect them in some other way—in any case THE AUTHOR. he must not abuse his confidential position. It is very easy, should the author desire the agent to collect his monies, to give the agent a separate and formal authority which could be handed to the publisher, and which could be cancelled at any time the author might desire; but even then, it is doubtful if the authority the author should give should be as wide as the irrevocable authority given in the clauses quoted. In clause 1 -and in clause 2 the agent’s receipt shall be a valid discharge to the publishers. In clause 2, indeed, the agent’s receipt “‘ alone’ shall be a valid discharge. Now a further legal point arises. A Court will not allow a statement of accounts to be re-opened when the accounts have once been closed by a formal receipt being given for the money paid, unless it can be shown at a subsequent date that the accounts are not being paid in accordance with the contract, and that there are clearly mistakes in them. If the agent carefully checked the accounts to see they were rendered in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and were correct as compared with the accounts that had already been rendered, even then the power of giving a valid receipt might put great temptation in his way; but on many occasions, from the study of publishers’ accounts that have passed through agents’ hands, it is quite clear that the agents have received accounts and cheques, have forwarded the receipt, and without going into the details have passed them on to the author unchecked. This brings about a very serious position for the author, and there is nothing in_ the clause to make the agent liable for such omission. He does not undertake to check the accounts, although he is permitted to give the valid receipt. These powers, then, in the agent’s hands, might make it difficult for the author to move actively and success- fully in the matter. Another point arises when the author empowers the publishers to negotiate with the agent on his behalf ‘‘in all matters con- cerning his agreement,’ and, as the first clause adds, ‘‘in any way whatsoever.” The author, then, has first irrevocably, during the continuance of the agreement, appointed the agent to collect his monies; . secondly, he has irrevocably appointed him to give a valid receipt; and, thirdly, he has irrevocably appointed him to deal with the publishers in all questions concerning the agreement. If the agent got into any financial difficulties (agents have been known to pass_ through financial crises) the publisher would still be  THE AUTHOR. OUR DILATORY METHODS. bound to hand over the author’s money to the agent, and it is possible that when the final crash of bankruptcy came, the agent might have collected considerable sums on behalf of his authors, and the authors would only be entitled to a dividend as creditors in the bankruptcy. If, however, the author gives authority to the agent to collect his monies, that is revocable, a power to give a valid receipt that is revocable, and a power to deal with the publishers concerning the agreement that is revocable, then, if he sees that it is probable that his agentis in difficulties, he can revoke the authority, collect his own royalties, and pay to the agent in due course the commission due to him for placing the book or the drama with which the agreement is concerned; he can give his own valid receipt to the publishers ; and, finally, in any case where a dispute arises under the agree- ment and he prefers to conduct it himself, he can do so, and could most probably settle the matter in a more satisfactory way than the agent, or failing settlement could, if necessary, employ a lawyer to settle on his behalf. There are two points, then, to which attention should be specially drawn, first, the amount of remuneration an agent is receiving for the work he does, and, secondly, the limited power alone which should be entrusted to the agent for carrying out the work which he is able to undertake. It must be repeated that as the position between the agent and author is one of a specially confidential nature, it is all the more incumbent upon the agent to keep that position undefiled! He should explain all the difficulties of the publisher’s agreement, and while advising the author, he must let him settle for himself what he will give up, what he will reserve, and what risks he will take. He should explain the difficulties and dangers inherent in the clauses quoted, and allow the author to act, after appreciating them. For the same reason that the author employs an agent to negotiate his business and market his works, he would most probably desire the agent to collect the monies and to discuss all the difficulties that arise; but in no circumstances should the authority be irrevocable and unlimited, and it is certain that these vast discretions would never be given to agents if the authors understood rightly the various positions which might arise under their agreements. ‘These positions it is the agent’s positive duty to explain to his principal, clearly, correctly and frankly. G. H. T. 211 OME years ago an American organisation in London wrote, asking me to call. I called. At once I was shown in. A great literary work in many volumes was to be produced. Would I like to take part in its production ? I replied “‘ Yes.” Then would I quote my terms ? I suggested that the director I was address- ing should quote a price. He did so. I refused it and quoted as much again. He offered me half as much again as the additional sum I had named, and I closed with the offer. ““ When could I start work ? ” was his next question. I suggested the following Monday. “ Could I start to-morrow ? ”’ I said, ‘‘ Yes—to-morrow.”’ “Then why not start right now ?” he said. “There is a table there that you can use. I will tell you what to do.” Within ten minutes of the time I had entered the room I was engaged and actually at work. Forty other men were engaged in the same way. Sixty shorthand-typists were engaged inside an hour. Recently an English firm wrote tome. They made a tentative proposal. They didn’t want—this was clear—to “ give themselves away.” Would I be prepared to assist in the production of a literary work .. . supposing that my qualifications . . . supposing they could see their way . . . supposing my terms : Would I “ write in’? and say what I thought about it ? I “ wrote in.” Three days passed. Then came a printed form acknowledging my letter. I waited. I waited a week. Then I ‘‘ wrote in ”’ again. Two days passed. Then a typed letter— “My communication was under consideration . . . I should hear in due course.” A fortnight passed. Thinking the “ due course”? must have elapsed, I “wrote in” again. Two days passed. Then a letter: ‘My communication would be brought up at the General Mecting on the following Thursday.” Four days passed. Then a letter—* Would T call at three on Tuesday ? ” 212 I called at three on Tuesday. Mr. was extremely busy. Would I send in my card ? And what was the nature of my business ? Half-an-hour’s wait. Ushered into the presence of the Grand Llama. The Grand Llama most solemn. “ My proposal had been placed before his Board. The Board were favourably disposed, but . . they could not decide at once . . . there were points to be considered . . . my terms seemed rather high... they must take inquiries as to qualifications... had I ‘eredentials’’ I could show . . . what would be my very lowest terms... had I ever done work of this kind before... .?” I named my bedrock terms. The Grand Llama raised his eyebrows. ‘He really didn’t know... he didn’t think . . . con- sidering the enormous expenses the Company would be put to in the mechanical production of so vast a work... it was, of course, extremely speculative . There would be a Board Meeting in a fortnight’s time. He would try then to let me know : . .” Sixteen days passed. Then a letter—‘‘ The Board favourably disposed. Would I call at three on Friday ? ” I rang up. ‘“* The Grand Llama too busy to answer the telephone. What did I want to say to him ? Could the clerk give him a message? No? Then would I please ‘ write in’ making an appointment ? ”’ Appointment made—and kept. Fifteen minutes’ wait. The Grand Llama quite cordial. ‘* Yes, they would want me to do this work. A letter of confirmation would be sent in due course.” Three days. Letter of confirmation re- ceived. “ Would I start work on the following Monday ? ” Total period of delay—two months and two days. And this is not fiction. It is truth. Basiu Tozer. oie ea a ee BRITISH WRITERS AND JOURNALISTS IN PORTUGAL. + By James Baker, F.R.G.S. OR some years past a wish had been expressed by members of the Sociedade _._ Propaganda de Portugal that the British International Association of Journalists THE AUTHOR. should pay a visit to the little country on the Western Ocean, but political events had delayed matters. This year, however, a cordial invitation was accepted by the Presi- dent of the Journalists’ Association, Sir James Yoxall, M.P., and in February a score of men and women journalists sailed by the R.M.S. Hilary of the Booth Line for Oporto. Mr. J. R. Fisher, of the Belfast Northern Whig, was elected chairman of the expedi- tion, as the President was prevented from travelling by Parliamentary pressure. Before reaching Portugal the party received a hearty greeting at Vigo from the representatives of the old friends of Galicia, Senors Oya and Barreras. At Oporto we saw at once an example of the warmth and cordiality of the reception that all Portugal was to give to us. A crowded programme had been prepared by the Sociedade de Propaganda, and Senors Wissmann and Roldan, the chief organisers, both of whom spoke excellent English, with Senor Vasconceles, accompanied us through- out the tour. This programme was added to by every town in their anxiety to give us a hearty welcome. The party included many specialists; and arrangements were made that they should have opportunities for seeing those matters of special interest such as schools, hospitals, prisons, factories with special machinery, and historical and archeological subjects. At Oporto the representatives of the town and of the port of Leixdes, with the chief of the Press, Senor Bernardo Lucas, met us; and a journey by special electric cars was made to the Exchange, where the Maire of Oporto gave us welcome. The birthhouse of Henry the Navigator and his statute told us of Portugal’s early maritime adventures; and a visit to the atelier and artistic home of Senor Antonio Teixeira Lopes, the great sculptor, gave us a delightful introduction to the modern art of Portugal. By kindly forethought, Senor Benoliel, a most expert photographer, was attached to our expedition; with orders to take pictures of any special scene or object for which our members wished. Senor Almeida, M.V.O., who for four years had been second secretary of the Portuguese Legation in London, gave us also great assistance. A reception in the Moorish Salon of the Town Hall brought the day in Oporto to a close. At 6 a.m. on the following morning we were astir for the journey to Braga and Bom Jesus. The architectural glories of these spots are  THE AUTHOR. world famous, but added to these we had the walks through the groves: bright with the blooms of camelias, and of the varied mimosa trees. Then we clambered up to Mount Sameiro for the view over a gigantic “ Dart- moor,” then on to the village of Briteiros to visit the Gallo-Celtic ruins of Citania—a vast prehistoric settlement on a high mountain ; with huts and houses and towers and graves and roads. After leaving Citania we journeyed on to Coimbra, where excited crowds received us. The students in long cloaks in true .student turbulency followed us up to the University ; there we had the help and guidance of Dr. Simoes de Castro, the veteran historian. The sequestered retreat of the Quinta das Lacrimas was visited, and the old and new cathedrals. Late at night, in motor cars, we ascended through the silent cedar forest of Bussaco, and by the light of the full moon arrived at the fairy-like Moorish Palace hotel, being greeted by showers of camelias and other flowers. None of the party will ever forget the glorious day spent at Bussaco, in the wild forests, and by the quaint little shrines beneath the cedars, towering to a 100 feet, the glorious views, and the climb up to the grim ridge where Wellington gave the first fieree check to Napoleon’s victorious army. The curious church and cloisters are all that is left of the monastery, and near by is the olive tree, whereto, tradition says, Wellington tied up his charger. But we had to quit this sylvan retreat for an arduous day’s motoring to Batalha, whose cathedral stands out as an _ architectural wonder, with its lofty nave and delicate light pillars. Then from Batalha_ through Leiria, with its finely situated castle, on to Thomar; all this day, Dr. Vierra Guimaraes, who is steeped in the lore of the district, gave us the advantage of his presence and _ his learning. The reception at Thomar was over- whelming. Cavalry escort, many bands, enormous crowds, rockets and showers of flowers; and in the great church of the Knights of Christ, famous for its wonderful “Sea”? window, the school children sang ** God save the King.” After a most interest- ing dinner, we motored to the railway, and at 10 p.m. travelled to Lisbon, arriving at midnight. In the capital our reception was as cordial as in the country districts. Here we went over the latest schools, and the great “‘ Peni- tenciary”” the principal prison; hospitals, -markets and public dining halls, parks and 213 golf links{were visited, as well as Lisbon’s historic buildings, the famous Artillery Museum with the Hall of Henry the Navigator ; and the church of St. Vincent, where lie the Braganzas. A wish had been expressed that our members should meet the President of the Republic, and while in the Museum below the Palace at Belem, where now the President lives, a message was brought that he would receive us. Ushered into his rooms, we had an interesting conversation. He had been in London twice, and found that many English knew the history of Portugal better than the Portuguese themselves. In the evening a banquet by the city of Lisbon was given, presided over by the President of the Council. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, our own Ambassador, Sir Arthur Hardinge, K.C.B., G.C.M.G.; our Consul, P. A. Somers Cocks, C.M.G., and a brilliant company were present. Sir Arthur Hardinge and the Portuguese Minister gave important speeches in French. The present writer replied to the toast of the Journalists, and Mr. Fisher proposed the prosperity of the Sociedade de Propaganda. On the morrow, in motors, we visited Cintra and Monserrat, where General Sartorius received the visitors; Pena and Estorial, where Sir Clement Markham was called upon ; and finally Cascaes. In the evening a special reception was given by the Portuguese Geo- graphical Society. The next day was given up to special work, and the new agricultural school at Queluz was inspected. At 10 p.m. we crossed the Tagus in the only rainstorm we had, and in a special wagon-lit train ran all night down to the famous southern pro- vince of the Algarve. At Villa Nova, at 6.30 a.m., the sun broke through, and we motored to Portima&o and Praia da Rocha, a glorious spot on the Pheenician sea, with sands and worn rocks of lovely hues and strange shapes. We could well have lingered here for days, but our relentless guides, Senors Roldan and Wissmann motored us off to the mountains of Monchique, and then to Lagos, where the whole town was en féte, and a luncheon was served in a flower-bedecked balcony over- looking the glorious bay ; then to the great headland of Piedade, whence a good view was had of Sagres point, where Henry the Navigator thought out his schemes of ex- ploration. : Space forbids description of mule rides upon precipitous heights, receptions in quaint towns -and in peasants’ homes, and the scenes in this prosperous, highly cultivated province, where fig vine and almond and corn _ thrive amazingly. Our last day here was packed with interest, a run through Portimao, with a visit to its great Sardine Factory, and on to Faro, where people and students in their hot hospitality, headed by the Governor of the Province and notables, tried hard to hold us all day, but we ran away to the wonderful Roman ruins of Stoy; Tower and Forum and pavements all untouched; then on in the evening to the strange old Moorish town of Olhao, a veritable Tangiers in Portugal, with quaint arched bazaar-like streets, and Mosque; and here, not far from the Spanish frontier, we ended our tour in Portugal, our special train taking us back to Lisbon in the night, and the next day, after many adieux to our hospitable friends, we embarked on the R.M.S. Lanfrane for England, having proved how wonderful and delightful a country is Portugal in the early spring. The two things most needed in Portugal are roads (including additional railroads) and schools. It is a marvellously rich country, full of immense possibilities. Surely it has a great future before it. ++ ____ THE LETTERS OF AN ORDINARY AUTHOR. — Collected and edited by JouN HASLETTE. III. Mains CoTraGE, SANTOLLER, Bucks. To Messrs. Back and Bleak. Publishers. Dear Sirs,—I have to acknowledge your letter of the 9th inst., and note with pleasure that your reader reports favourably on my novel entitled ‘‘ The Topmost Bough.” It is always agreeable to find one’s work approved by a critic ; still more to have that verdict emphasised by a firm who combine literary taste with business acumen. Person- ally, of course, I think that the book will “ go.” If I had not thought so I should not have troubled to write it, or asked you to savour it with a view to its ultimate appearance in six shilling form. You will forgive me now if I leave the question of literature aside, and deal with that portion of your letter referring to the terms upon which you will agree to publish my novel. You say, and I agree with you, that a first. THE AUTHOR. novel is a difficult proposition ; that the public has an eye for old favourites, and does not always care to wade through many first attempts in an endeavour to provide itself with recreative reading. But, even with that in mind, you will admit that no author has tempted fortune in the first place with a second novel, only an Irishman with the cleverness of Sir Boyle Roche’s famous bird could accomplish the feat. Every novelist has been guilty of a first novel, and many of them have been published by firms like H—— and M——, and even by D—— and M n. You hint (very delicately) that the printing, publishing and pushing of a novel, for a small edition of one thousand copies, costs £100. I have heard this before. I have also heard that it costs £120 or £150, and occasionally £160. Of course, the printers are old-fashioned people, and do not quote close prices. That must be the reason why some estimate the cost of production at 1s. per copy, some at 1s. 3d., and some at 1s. 9d., while the old-established firms of publishers can get a large edition done at about 8d. It occurs to me that your firm might employ the printer favoured by M—— or H , and save money by having your books printed at the cheaper rates. I notice that I am to pay you the sum of £70, and to receive in return the sum of Is. 6d. a copy royalty. Other editions, if any, are to be published by you, free of further cost to me. I am grateful for this generous provision. Your method of reasoning, if I follow it correctly, is something like this : One thousand copies of the novel are brought forth, and of this number you send out one hundred for review, etc. This leaves 900 copies on hand. These 900 copies will bring me, in royalties, some sixty-seven pounds. But, you say, if 900 copies are sold, it will be a sign that there is a good demand, and that a second edition © will be called for, while I shall only be £3 to the bad. This is cheering news. I follow up the idea, and suppose that a second thousand are printed at your expense. Take it that 500 copies are sold. Then my loss of £8 is wiped out, and I am in pocket to the tune of £34 10s. This, as you justly remark, is a profit to me of more than 50 per cent. on my original invest- ment ! When I came to this passage in your letter, I must confess that I was puzzled. It pea to me that I was doing very well indeed. But my horridly logical mind cried out that there was a flaw in the reasoning. After all, I am not an investor, but an author. I did not set out to invest £70 in a publishing house’;, I  THE AUTHOR. wrote a novel, and expected to get a return on the capital represented by my brains. When the investor buys stock in a railway company he does not give six months of his time to that company in addition to the solid cash he pays for the stock. Again, there was another point (presented by my wretched mercenary sense) ; so long as you have to sell your goods to make a profit it is certain that you will work hard to effect sales. But, if you are paid for the stuff before- hand, your zeal will languish, you will say to yourself, * Does it really matter if this novel Sells or not? Has not the author already paid for it 1” No, gentlemen—if you will send me a pro- spectus of your company, I may think of invest- ing money in it, but a novel will not be thrown in, like a coupon prize with pounds of tea. I fear much that “ The Topmost Bough ” must venture again upon its lonely pilgrimage. Glad would have been the day that saw your imprint upon the novel—free of charge. But I am not in the literary line for my health. I have none of the vanity of the man who must see himself in print or die. If I could draw a cheque off-hand for £70, it is a question if novel- writing would interest me so much as it does. I regret that your reader and your good selves should have laboured in vain, but so must it be. The novel may fail of other takers ; it may return like the cat of fable, until I am moved to make of it a burnt offering; but you may rest assured that, while I am unable to accept your offer, your words of praise and cheer will brighten many lonely moments of my life. I will keep your letter, and refer to it in moments of depression. I remain, Dear Sirs, Yours truly, “Plenry WYVERN. P.S.—Please return MS. and oblige. IV. Marys CotTraGE, SANTOLLER, Bucks. To Miss Henrietta Briggs. My Dear Aunt,—Very many thanks for your letter sympathising with me on my ap- arent lack of success in the “ life literary.” t is pleasant to hear that I am not forgotten, and to feel that, at least, one of my relatives encourages me in what you so rightly express as ‘‘ an uphill task.” I have carefully read your hints, and have 215 put them away for future reference. They may assist me to a success like that of Mrs when I make use of them. You say that what is wanted nowadays is a story of “ sweetness and light,” a story which shall wring tears from the reluctant eye ; preferably, a story dealing with a dear child which, by its tender example and loving counsel, reclaims its erring father and mother. Failing this, you suggest that I should abandon my present style of writing, and imitate that of our great master of mystery, Mr. Your first idea strikes me as being very novel, and likely to appeal to a wide circle of readers, but I think it may have been done before—in America. Did not Mr. Dooley once speak of ‘ putting parents in the custody of their own childer.” Only one difficulty pre- sents itself to me in this connection. I have very little experience of children; the only little ones with whom I have lately come in contact being Uncle Tom’s boys. You will remember that I found it impossible to work when staying with Uncle and nearly quarrelled with the dear man in consequence. Sensation is another matter. My friend Maitland has a large selection of the works of the Master; and, no doubt, he will lend some to me, if I ask him. My own style of writing, however, is like an Old Man of the Sea. It clings to me persistently, and I find it extremely hard to imitate the style of other authors. Don’t you think this may be due to the fact that our minds differ ? Yes, it is quite true that a year has passed since I turned to the writing of fiction. It does seem a long time, and I must admit that I have not made a fortune during the twelve months. Talking of making money, I am glad to hear that Cousin Harry enters upon a four-year pupilship to architecture. In the circum- stances, the premium of £400 does not seem extortionate. In four years’ time he may be made an assistant. It is quite true that I am engaged to be married. To you, I know, it seems unwise. But even authors were created in two sexes, and I have hopes of making a decent income within a few years. Thanks for your offer of some excellent plots which I could work into stories. If you will take the trouble to write them out, I shall read them with much pleasure, and treasure them for all time. So many kind friends tell me stories, but they are mostly pointless. Yours, however, will be different. You understand that the fact that a man goes to India, and afterwards returns to marry a lady, with whom he was formerly in love, does not make a story. 216 Editors demand something more original. They cannot be brought to see that the simple recital of everyday events interests millions. I must close now, with love to all at the ** Mount,”’ Your affectionate nephew, Harry. ———+ > —_______ A HISTORY OF ENGLISH PROSE’ RHYTHM.* ee praise the work of a master so excep- tional and so universally regarded as Professor Saintsbury savours of im- pertinence ; to epitomise it effectively would be impossible for any one but its author; and to overlook it is impossible. In such circum- stances a reviewer might becomingly plead for permission to say only, ‘‘ Obtain this book, and make a serious study of its contents ”’ ; adding no more; and having said that would indeed have said what was most pertinent. The scope of the work is exactly described in its title. Building upon a foundation, at first essentially analytical, and always his- torical, and beginning from the earliest extant specimens of the language, Professor Saints- bury advances, through memorable observa- tions, on the effect of the Latin influences, until he is in a position to offer definite evidence of what constitutes agreeable or majestic rhythm in English prose. Thereafter he is in a position to test the rhythmic qualities of the prose of selected authors of high reputation, with results that are among the most noteworthy things contained in the book. When mar- shalled according to their ability to command numbers and to balance sentences, the cele- brated authors change in a very remarkable manner their familiar positions. Milton is found by no means always impeccable. Dryden holds his own as a master without fault. For the author a pertinent question will be whether the results of Professor Saintsbury’s investigations have direct value for profes- sional literary men. It must be answered that they are of the supremest value, and such as not to be overlooked by any one who attempts to write English prose. In these days, when poets (of a kind) have easily persuaded them- selves to disregard quantity, there will be enough of those who will declare, ‘‘ We care nothing about these things!”’—a quite un- necessary protest, seeing how abundant in their works is the evidence of that painful truth. But then there is also a story about a *“ A History of English Prose Rhythm.” By George Saintsbury London: Macmillan & Co. 1912. THE AUTHOR. fox and some grapes. To the authors who, on the other hand, do care how their sentences sound, the book may be recommended in the warmest terms. In it Professor Saintsbury has done for the English language what has never before been done for any language ancient or modern. The originality of the work is at the same time not more epoch-making than its doctrines are of supreme cogency. By way of caution, it may not be out of place to add that any one who does not possess an ear, and has also nothing to say, might by a consistently unintelligent use of the informa- tion contained in the volume, and particularly by “minding” the axioms and suggestions contained in the third appendix, succeed in writing English as pedantic and ridiculous as any that has ever been written. . Those who are familiar with the author’s writings will find inwoven with his teaching no lack of the delicious things that give it piquancy; such, for instance, as a reference to ‘“‘ the specious and half-informed ignorance which has now, for nearly half a century, been diffused among the lower classes by board- schools, and, through the contamination of grammar and public schools, among the middle and upper classes.” It must on no account be supposed that the work is of value to the student of English prose alone. Incidentally it throws startling sidelights upon the nature of prose even most remote from English, suggesting solutions of the puzzling phenomena that it in certain cases presents. But the essential thing to be noted here is that every author should procure the book and acquaint himself with its disclosures. CORRESPONDENCE. —~— UNREVIEWED Books. Str,—Perhaps you will allow me to add something to Mr. Isidore Ascher’s article on unreviewed books in The Author of February. This problem was discussed in the Preface of my “ Britannia Poems,’ 1910, the first time it was discussed seriously anywhere, I think. My Preface contains a complete list of the reviews and newspapers that received a copy of my first book, ‘‘ Home once More,” with a starring of them that noticed the book. I believe this to be the first time again that such a summary was published by any author. In my Preface I wrote :— ** , . . So twenty-one copies were thrown in the proverbial gutter! I want to be quite sensible over this old trouble, and to  ne as THE AUTHOR. be fair to editors and reviewers, . . . yet I have complaints to make in the interests of authors generally. I sent my book out carefully : to good literary papers, promptly on publication, postage paid. ... Why could not these papers return my book when they could not notice it? Why need they keep books, sent in good faith because they review books, and because by _re- viewing books they ask for others? They may say: ‘We did not ask ior your silly book.’ ...I1 reply: ‘Don’t be absurd! You exist as literary organs because you review books.... You cannot review unless books are sent. ... You get hun- dreds of books and notice dozens... .’ These loose habits are wrong, and the Society of Authors ought to do something. A book is sent out on trust, and should be regarded as the property of the sender until a notice has appeared, or it has been re- turned, like a manuscript. Or how would this do: for editors to be asked beforehand whether they are likely to notice a book if sent? I have tried this several times. . . . There I will leave the problem, en- larging it a little by this that the balance of unnoticed copies is a heavy tax on young authors. And this: that the relations among Authors, Publishers, and Critics, are still as unsatisfactory as ever: if any man can solve this problem he will deserve all he gets!” This part of the Preface was discussed in many papers and received all sorts of treat- ment, from low ridicule to high commenda- tion; but Mr. James Milne, of the Daily Chronicle, went beyond all others. The book had been criticised twice in papers under his literary control, and when he found it was not possible to give it a full-dress review in the Daily Chronicle, he wrote me a letter in which, after telling what had been done already, he ended thus: ‘‘ Now I am returning you the book which, I hope you will agree, completes the matter.” His letter is dated February 3, 1911. Is it too much to declare that Mr. Milne has done a new thing and set a precedent that may be of some historic value in the record of relations between authors and reviews? To me, at least, this returning of my book is a matter of considerable interest, and I am keeping the copy so returned as a literary souvenir. But will the Society of Authors consider the problem ? Yours faithfully, HEDLEY V. STOREY. 21, St James’ Avenue, Brighton. 217 ~ Tae UNEXPECTED. Str,—After about twenty years of—not only my own tribulations in connection with publishers (and agents), but of tribulations undertaken on behalf of others, the unexpected has happened : I have been requested, jointly by agent and publisher, to draw up my own contract ! This, after the one drawn up by themselves, had been submitted to your own valuable and judicious criticism. Not only so, but my amended contract has been accepted and signed. The result is, naturally, amicable relationships all round. I ought, perhaps, in fairness, to say that I made no demur to the pecuniary arrangements ; but in fairness, also, I ought to say that I did demur to several clauses, and that many of my objections were, without hesitation, sus- tained. I have myself so often given vent to objur- gatory remarks on the manners and methods of those pene-omnipotent gentlemen whose calling in life it is to transmute manuscripts into books, that I venture to send you this brief palinode. This letter is not a ‘“‘ free ad.’”’ But, with your permission, I would not mind giving the names of the agent and publisher I speak of to any who, for quite legitimate purposes, would like to know them. Yours faithfully, ARNOLD HAULTAIN. Dear Sir,—The Fortnightly Review of March 1 contains an article entitled, “Is Austria really the Disturber? by Count Liitzow.” It is, of course, always disagreeable to a writer that the authorship of anything that is not from his pen should be attributed to him. May I, therefore, as a member of the Society of Authors, beg you in the next number of The Author to state that I am not the author of the article in the Fortnightly Review, and to publish this letter. As I have frequently written in American and English reviews—ineluding the Fortnightly—this mis- take is all the more unpleasant to me. Believe me, Yours faithfully, (Count) Litzow. [Ep.—We print the above letter with pleasure, but understand that the article was signed in the body of the magazine “Henry Lutzow,” and the author was further identified 218 by the designation, “late Austria-Hungarian Ambassador in Rome.” It is a pity that there should have been an error on the cover.] ConceRNING ‘“ Cat ATHLETICS.” Dear Autuor,—Herewith I respond heartily to the views expressed by “ Progress,”’ in the February Author, in the matters of establishing a publishing union for the protection of writers on a professional basis, and an extra fortnightly supplement to The Author to facilitate inter- change of correspondence on matters of vital importance to Society members. An author can exist without publishers. But show me the publisher who exists without authors ? I should like best to know how much, to a ha’penny, writers like H. G. Wells, Arnold Bennett, or G. Bernard Shaw have put out advertising to arrive at their present stage of success ? Wouldn’t it be a good plan to have them, for the benefit of the many, divulge the lump sums they have earned minus their advertising bills ?—and their agents’ charges ? Assuredly it is high time the “ cat ” should be taught the wisdom of “jumping” the author’s way. JUSTICE. ——e Tue Suort Story WRITER. Dear Srr,—I cannot help expressing my appreciation of the article entitled “ The ‘Short Story’ Writer,’? which appeared in the March issue of The Author. Its strong common sense is very refreshing. In regard to the latter part of the article, may I be allowed to quote a few words from Rudyard Kipling’s speech at the 118th Anniversary Banquet of The Royal Literary Fund? They are these: “We might dis- cover cases where the blessed canons of art would seem to have recoiled upon them- selves—puzzling cases where the apparently flagrant pot-boiler had turned a man from destruction, quite as effectually as an angel -with a flaming sword; cases where a piece of unthinking buffoonery had steadied a man through the ten vital minutes of a life’s crisis, where cheap sentiment and rank melodrama had helped to lift some poor soul to humility, or sacrifice, or strength, that he knew not he possessed.”’ I have no doubt that if the hidden springs of all actions could be revealed, thousands of such cases would be recognised. But, in addition, I think an unbiassed judge would admit that hundreds of cheap stories are well written, true to life, and likely to have a far THE AUTHOR. better influence: over the minds of their readers than a considerable percentage of the ordinary 6s. novel. I am proud to admit that, in addition to being a magazine contributor, I am A WRITER OF PENNY STORIES. ae Sir,—The monthly record of elections to the Society, which appears in your columns, shows that its work is becoming increasingly appreciated by writers, dramatists and com- posers. But the progress made by the Society in this direction during recent years, satis- factory as far as it goes, is far short of what it might be. New authors, new dramatists and new composers are constantly appearing. But how to reach them? The various literary, dramatic and musical annuals are, no doubt, of some help; but, in the nature of things, they can be of little use in tracing, as he appears, the new writer, dramatist or composer. And it is the new members of our profession, inexperienced in the methods of publishers, managers and agents, who stand most in need of the Society’s assistance. To appeal to them, care of their publishers, even assuming appeals are forwarded, is to run the risk of your appeals reaching the waste paper basket more often than not. Re-addressed letters are handicapped from the start, and when they obviously contain, as they must if the Society’s aims and objects are to be placed before the potential member, printed matter, the result is almost necessarily a waste of time, postage and labour. What then can be done ? Surely, the solution of the problem lies with the existing members. Donations to the Society’s funds in return for work done for members are constantly being acknowledged by the committee in your columns. That they are so often received affords ample testimony to the members’ appreciation of the Socicty’s efforts. But we are not all able to make this return, however anxious we may be to show our gratitude for the Society's assistance. What, however, we can do, and, I suggest, we should do, is to take every, opportunity which comes to us of recom- mending the Society’s work to our friends. There is scarcely any need to specify the occasions for the ‘word in season.” “ At- Homes,’”’ lunches, dinners, club theatrical performances, creditors’ meetings of bankrupt publishers—to name only a few. Others will readily occur to the enthusiastic recruiter. Yours, etc., Z. A. B. 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. 23 Issue 07 (April 1913) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 23 Issue 07 (April 1913) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1913-04-01-The-Author-23-7 publications The Author