17 20 545 https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/299/1897-02-01-The-Author-7-9.pdf a24ad1b8be095c33513559172b0f998e 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) 1897-02-01 Volume 7 Issue 9 Pages Page range in volume 209–236 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Uhc Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PACE PAO« Notices, &c 209 Is there an American Literature? 226 Literary Properly— Book Talk 217 I. Editor and Author 211 Correspondence.—1. The I.S A. as Publishers. 2. Educational 2. Cost of Production 212 Criticism. 3. A Want. 4. The County Contributor. 5. A 3. Notes on Agreements 213 Voice from Chili. 6. Facetious Reviewing. 7. The Fiction ot 4. Publishing on Commission 214 the Future. 8. Thirteen Copies as Twelve. 9. Presentation 5. Publications of the International Bureau 214 Copies. 10. Reviewing. 11. Reviewing or Puffing? 221) The Battle of Books in the Eariy Fifties 215 1 Mr. Herbert Spencer's Portrait 288 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 220 'Literature in the Periodicals Obitusry 284 NoteB and News. By the Editor 222 234 The Byron Papers 225 1 The Books of the Month 23C PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Eeport. That for January 1896 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., io«. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., HI., and IV., 8s. 6cl. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigoe, late Secretary to the Society, i*. 5. The Cost Of Production. In this -work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreemoats. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 188§ jg 2j I4.. 3. The Contract of Publication ia „ „ Aust™ Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. is. 6d. WmS&J* A"slna> a 5  ## p. 208 (#256) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^i)e goctefg of Jluf^ors (§ncotporafe5). Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. Alfred Austin. J. M. Barrik A. W. a Beckett. F. E. Beddard, F.R S. Robert Batekan. Sib Henbt Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Besant. augustine blrrell, m.p. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.B.S. Eight Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burghclere, P.C. Hall Cains. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. PRESIDENT. GEOBGE MEEEDITH COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. Austin Dobson. a. conan dotle, m.d A. W. Dubourg. Pbof. Michael Foster, F.B.S. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankesteb, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbright. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Hebries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprioge. J. J. Stevenson. Prof. Jab. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. A.. W. X Beckett. Sib Walter Besant Egerton Castle. W. Morrib Colles. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Q.C COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Henry Norman. S. Squire Sprigge. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conway. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. -j . ., ( Messrs. Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. i G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portngal-street, W.C. Secretary—G. Herbert Thrino, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. -A.. IP. WATT &c sonsr, LITERARY AGENTS,. Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. WINDSOR HOUSE PRINTING WORKS, BREAM'S BTTILZDIILSra-S, E.G. Offices of "The Field," "The Queen," "The Law Times," &e. Mr. HORACE COX, Printer to the Authors' Society, takes the opportunity of informing Authors that, having a very large Office, and an extensive Plant of Type of every description, he is in a position to EXECUTE any PRINTING they may entrust to his care. ESTIMATES FORWARDED, AND REASONABLE CHARGES WILL BE FOUND.  ## p. 209 (#257) ############################################ XL he Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY i, 1897. [Peice Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be Bent by registered letter only. ^ Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if Btamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. IT^OK some years it has been the praotice to insert, in J every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obviouB reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended t (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which thn , » ' « duction forms a part. 0 Cost of pro- (2.) Not to give the publisher the power r.» profitu into his own pocket by charging for 'pitting ^e VOL. VII.' in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give np 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 solioitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in the Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngeBt writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great suooess. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may oome. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (t.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge fo advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements; and that all discount*! sha be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest Dretty we^ assured that he is in right hands. At the *.;mn he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he s.gnsxt.  ## p. 210 (#258) ############################################ 2io THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. "T7WERY member has a right to ask for and to receive JQj advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the oondnct of hie bnsinesB or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Bemember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon suoh questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of yonr agree- ments, and the resnlts to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed docnment to tho Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Bemember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that yon are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That tho Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the bnsiness of members of the Society. That it gnbmits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be socured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That overy attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all oases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals: and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any cose of dispute or difficulty. 'It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for the Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in -the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 211 (#259) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 I I or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at J69 4«. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production " for advertising. Of oourse, we have not included any Bums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Editor and Author. I^HE Committee of the Society of Authors have taken the opinion of counsel on the following point. A member of the Society sent a MS. to the editor of a magazine. The MS. was not returned, and on application to the editor by the Secretary of the Society the editor refused to hold himself in any way responsible for the return of MSS., trusting to a notice inserted amongst the advertisements in his magazine, which ran as follows: Unsolicited contributions are not returned nnder any circumstances. In case of acceptance, notification is made within a month from the receipt of the MS. The editor further objected to the intervention of ihe Secretary, who is also Solicitor for members in tluse cases, and as such intervenes as a right. The former point is naturally one of great im- portance to everybody concerned, and counsel's opinion was asked on the matter. In the case for counsel his attention was called especially to the case of magazines as differing from the daily papers. The three questions put were as follows: 1. Whether the editor is responsible when an author has not become cognizant of any notice disclaiming responsibility. If yes, to what extent responsible. 2. Whether an editor would be taken to t>e responsible with reference to + L' xj cular case, as the notice is not • ^ ■ a prominent place in the iuq,^, tinted 111 posing that the author has n^^iiie, sUP" Seen sue11 notice, and that editors under ordinary circumstances are responsible. 3. If the editor who inserts a notice is not responsible unless the notice come to the cognizance of an author, on whom does the burden of proof lie'? Below is counsel's opinion. "Editor and Author. "i.I am of opinion that if a manuscript be sent to the editor of a magazine without any previous request or agreement, the editor is not responsible for its loss while in his possession unless the loss be due to some gross negligence on his part. So long, however, as the manuscript remains in his possession the editor is bound to return it on demand, and the publication in his magazine of a notice that he will not return manuscripts does not, in my opinion, alter his liability in this respecs towards an author who was not cognizant of such notice when he sent in the manuscript. "The editor's responsibility for the manuscript while in his possession is, in my opinion, that of a gratuitous or voluntary bailee, who is answerable for loss through his gross negligence, but not for any ordinary neglect. (See 1 Smith's Leading Cases, 10th edition, pp. 189, et seq.) If the manuscript has been lost, the onus lies upon the author to shew that the loss was caused by the editor's gross negligence, for which alone the editor is answerable. (See Story on Bailments, 9th edit. s. 410, and the cases referred to in the notes there.) "If the manuscript was in the editor's possession when its return was demanded, the editor is liable, in my opinion, to an action of detenue if he refuse to return it. Evidence that the editor received the manuscript would raise a presumption that it was still in his possession when the demand was made. But the editor could rebut that p»esumption by proving that the manu- script was lost prior to the demand. The editor would not escape liability by proving that he had improperly destroyed or wrongfully parted with the manuscript (see Jones v. Dowle, 9 M. & W. 19) or had lost it through his gross negligence (see Eeeve v. Palmer, 5 C.B..N.S. 84). But it would be a good defence for the editor to show that before its return was demanded the manuscript was lost without default on his part (see 5 C.B., N.S. pp. 85-89), or in some manner which could not be ascertained. In the latter cases the editor would not be liable unless the author could adduce affirmative evidence cf gross negligence (see Powell v. Graves, 2 Times L.B. 663; Howard v. Hams, C. & E. 253). "2 I ain °^ °I^n'on *na* m the particular case referred to the author sent his manuscript to tl &toT *Q ^>coraD-ce of the existence of any  ## p. 212 (#260) ############################################ 212 THE AUTHOR. such notice as that -which is in the magazine, then the editor could not successfully rely upon the notice as a defence to any action brought against him. In this case the notice would in my opinion be immaterial, but, of course, the editor might have a complete defence on other grounds, such as those I have already referred to in my answer to the first question. Ef the author saw or knew of the notice before he sent his manuscript, I think he would be held to have sent it on the terms of such notice: (see Parker v. South-Eastern Rail- way Company, 2 C. P. D. 416; Richards v. Rowntree (1894), A. C. 217). The exact part of the magazine in which the notice is inserted is im- material, except in so far as it renders it more or less likely that the author in fact saw or did not see the notice, assuming that he ever saw the magazine. I would point out that there is a reference to the notice on page 27 of the magazine. "3.I am of opinion that the burden of proving that the author was cognizant of the notice would lie upon the editor. "T. Willes Chitty." From the Committee. 6. Herbert Thring. II.—Cost or Production. We are so well accustomed to assurances that it is impossible to get work done at the cost indi- cated by the Society's book, that it is hardly worth while repeating that those figures were arrived at by estimates sent in from different printers. In any case they were only offered as approximate, because a printer's bill is a very elastic document indeed. Here, however, we submit a case which illustrates the amount of belief which is to be placed in those who, con- tinually asking and receiving estimates, declare that our figures are impossibly low. Estimates were asked from three printers of the cost of composition, printing, and binding for a certain MS. The paper was supplied separately. The book was one of 440 pages, each page con- taining twenty-eight lines, and the type was small pica. The binding was to be quite simple, but what is called "handsome." Let us take first the figures given in the "Cost of Production." Very nearly the exact size of page and the type are given on pp. 18 and 19. Our page is slightly larger. 1. Composition at £1 7*. 6d. a sheet of sixteen pages. 2. Printing 1000 copies at 10s. 6d. a sheet; or, 2000 copies (see p. 57) at 16*. a sheet. 3. Paper at 16s. a sheet. 4. Binding at 27*. per 100 volumes, or ^\d. a volume. (But for the last two years an announce- ment has been made regularly in The Author to the effect that binding has gone up 15 per cent. This brings the binding very nearly to 3frf. But this was an estimate for a three-volume novel. The volumes in this form are small. On p. 27 the binding of a single volume is put down at 4<f.) Now for the estimates. I. A town firm, one of the very best printers in London: 1. Composing per sheet of thirty-two pages at £2 lis. per sheet, i.e., £1 5s. bd. the sheet of sixteen pages. 2. Printing 1000 copies at 8.?. Sd. a sheet. 3. Binding 1000 copies, ,£16 u»., i.e., very nearly 3-j"//. a copy. 4. Printing 2000 copies at 14*. 2d. a sheet. 5. Paper at 10s. a sheet. II. —A country firm :— 1. Composing £1 js. a sheet. 2. Printing 1000 at 9s. a sheet. 3. Printing 2000 at 14s. a sheet. III. Another London firm: 1. Composing and printing 1000 copies at £2 3«. 3|</. a sheet. 2. Composing and printing 2000 copies at £2 Ss. Sd. a sheet. 3. Paper at 12*. a sheet. Compare these estimates with our own figures:— Society. 1st Printer. 2nd Pi inter. Composition per theet 1 Printing 1000 per sheet o Paper per sheet o Binding per vol o Printing 2000 copies per sheet) (" Cost of Production," p. 28) j 0 S. d. £ s. 7» 1 5 10 6 o 8 16 o o 10 04 o o 16 2 o 14 d. 6 8 o 3 1 a 2 3rd Printer. £ s. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1 70 2 3 3^ (for o 9 o composing and printing) o 12 o 0140 ( composing and print ing, I 288a sheet.  ## p. 213 (#261) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 213 The figures are actually lower than our ■own all along the line. The estimates are in Mr. Thring's hands. They can be seen by members. It cannot be denied that if instead of one book the printers were asked for an estimate of five-and-twenty books, all these figures would be greatly reduced. III.—Notes on Aoeeements. I. LITERARY. The following agreement has been handed to the secretary of the Society. It has been signed by an author, and, like all the agreements printed in The Author, can be verified by any member of the Society who cares to inquire at the office for full particulars. The outlines of this agreement have been printed in The Author two or three times previously, as the publisher issues the same printed form on nearly every occasion. On this particular occasion the figures of the agreement are perhaps rather more in favour of the publisher than usual, owing to the author's ignorance and to the fact that he obtained no advice before signing the document. It will be seen on perusal that the publisher is to publish " an edition" of a certain work, and to sell it at the published or advertised price of 10.9. 6d. per copy; this edition is to be the pro- perty of the said publisher. There is no state- ment as to how large the edition is to be, so that if the book should prove a success the publisher might, if he chose—there is nothing to pre- vent him—claim the first edition to be one of 3000 or perhaps 5000 copies. Nest, the author is to guarantee at the end of nine months the sale of 450 copies at the price of six shillings, or ,£135. This amount will almost certainly cover all the cost of production, if only a small edition is produced in the first instance, and will also put a certain sum into the publisher's pocket. Keinark, therefore, that it is not to the interest •of the publisher to push the book until the expira- tion of the nine months, because he will then demand the author's money according to the agreement, and afterwards he will put in his own pocket the proceeds of every book sold. If the book is not a success, the publisher is well paid, and the author, inasmuch as he has to purchase three or four hundred copies of his own book, has to take upon himself really the publisher's duty ■of putting these copies upon the market in order to endeavour to recoup his outlay. For writing the book therefore; for paying for the cost of production; and for undertaking to a 1 large extent the publisher's duty, the author obtains nothing whatever; and, further, has very little probability of ever obtaining anything, if, as has been pointed out, there should be practically no limit to the first edition. Memorandum of Agreement made this day of between (publisher) of the one part, and (author) of the other part. The said publisher hereby agrees to produce in tasteful form, and publish in the usual manner at his own expense, an edition of a volume written by the said author and entitled" ," the said volume to consist of 504 pages, crown octavo size, and to be published at ten shillings and sixpence per copy. The said author hereby agrees to be responsible for the Bale of 450 copies of the said volume, and undertakes, at the expiration of nine months from the date of publication, to purchase at the rate of six shillings per copy whatever number of copies, if any, be necessary to make the sales up to the said number of 450 oopios. This edition to be the property of the said publisher, and all proofs of the same to be corrected and returned promptly to the printer by the said author. It is understood that the copyright of the said volume is, and remains, the property of the author. As witness, &c. II. MUSICAL. The following agreement was handed to a composer by one of the best-known musical publishing houses. It was a printed form, and there appears to be no doubt, as one or two other copies of this agreement have been sent to the office, that it is the usual form handed by this firm to composers. It is in the form of a letter to be signed by the composer and to be handed to the publisher, and, like all musical publishers' agreements, which are at present considerably worse for the composer than the literary pub- lishers' for the author, it asks for everything that the composer possibly has to give, and offers the smallest of small royalties in return; the royalty not to increase with the sales if the piece is a success, as very often happens, and only to be paid after the sale of a certain number of copies, the price of which would be almost, if not more than, sufficient to cover the cost of production. On it being pointed out to the publisher that the composer would also like to have a signed copy, it was stated that it was not the custom of the publishing house, and the com- poser finally had to give up this point if he desired to see his music published. By this step, of course, the publisher obtains the whole copy- right, but does not bind himself in any way even to produce the work if he does not feel so inclined. The composer, therefore, has only to rely upon the good faith of the publisher. In this particular case there seems to have been no reason to doubt that good faith, but it is not the proper wav *° conduct a business transaction, and the sooner that musical publishers are brought to s tb>t it is necessary to have a formal contract  ## p. 214 (#262) ############################################ 214 THE AUTHOR. between themselves and the composers on reason- able terms the better. London, To Messrs. I hereby assign to you the whole of my oopyright (includ- ing the right of pnblio performance), for Great Britain and Ireland and the Colonies, in my , entitled "in consideration of your paying me a royalty of pence per copy on all copieB sold of the «ame: thirteen copies to be considered as twelve, and the firBt 2O0 copies not to be subject to royalty. London, To Messrs. I hereby assign to you the whole of my copyright and right of performance for the United States of America, in my , entitled" "in consideration of your paying me a royalty of per cent, on the marked prico of all copies Bold of the same in the said country, or imported from the United States into Canada. The first 200 copies not to be aubject to royalty. IV.—Publishing on Commission. There has been received a circular from a firm hitherto unknown offering terms for publishing on commission. The terms are these: 1. The author to pay the estimated cost before the work goes to press. 2. The publishers allow vouchers and keep open books. 3. They advertise their books in a monthly catalogue which circulates 80,000 a year, or 6666 6 every month. (The repeating decimal is probably a special feature in the circu- lation.) 4. The publishers reserve the right of taking the " usual discount on printing, &c." 5. They acoonnt for all sales at 25 as 24, or at 13 as 12, with S percent off. 6. Copies Bent out of London must have the porterage charged to the author. 7. The publishers take a 10 per cent, commission. Now let us consider. The author pays before- hand, say, £120 to cover all expenses, including advertising. It is assumed that the publishers' statement of the estimate is honest. In fact, this examination of the circular is not an attack upon the bona Jides of the publishers at all. The book perhaps sells 750 copies. About half the number sold are taken by 12 as 12. It will be found that the publishers therefore, by putting down all at 13 as 12, put into their pockets, on a sale of 750 copies, a sum of a little over £3 to which they are not entitled. The 5 per cent, discount on the sale of 750 copies, taking an average of 3«. 6d. a volume, amounts to j£6 i is. 3d., for which no right or reason exists. The publishers need not pay their printers for six months. They have therefore the use of the author's money for that time. And if they are dishonest they may charge the full amount, con- cealing the discount. The charge of 10 per cent, on the sales means ,£13 zs. 6d. Now let us see how the author's account will stand. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payment 120 o o 10 percent commission ... 13 2 6 5 per cent discount on cost of production 3 o o 5 per cent 011 sales 6 11 3 Alleged 13 as 12 3 o o 145 13 9 By sales: 750 copies at 3s. 6d 131 5 o Loss 14 8 9 H5 13 9 The author, then, on a moderate sale of 750 copies, loses .£14 8s. yd. The publishers on the other hand have some- thing pleasant out of the transaction, viz,: £ s. d. Commission 13 2 6 Discount on printing, &c 3 o o 5 per cent on sales 6 11 3 Use of author's money for an average of 9 months at 5 per cent 4 10 o Alleged 13 as 12 3 o o <£3o 3 9 Not a great sum, but these are not great people. Besides, 30 such books in the year would make quite a pretty lit;le income. V. — Publications of the International Bureau. The Berne International Bureau for the Pro- tection of Literary and Artistic Property has re- quested us to mention that—■ The International Bureau for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property replies to requests for information sent to it by its official organ Lc Droit d'Auteur, if the question is one of general interest; by letter, under cover, when the question is of a private nature. The following documents can be procured from the International Bureau. All questions respecting the protection of literary and artistic property are, at the present date, much more generally studied than they have been for the last ten years. Of this fact, which is well known, we have a proof in the great number of requests addressed to us for informa- tion as to where it is possible to obtain the official documents relating to the history of the founda- tion of the Literary and Artistic Union. We believe that we shall be doing a service to all that are interested in these questions, as well as to those journals whose readers are concerned  ## p. 215 (#263) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2'5 about them, by publishing here a list of the docu- ments for sale at our Bureau. These are the following: 1. The "Actes" of the three international diplomatic Conferences held at Berne in the years 1884, 1885, and 1886, to fix the terms of the Berne Union. Three numbers, large paper, stitched, in wrapper. 1884, eighty-nine pages; 1SS5, eighty-one pages; 1886, forty-four pages. 2. Copies of the "Convention d'Union," Sept. 9, 1886; official edition in two languages, German and French. 3. Complete file of Le Droit d'Auteur, each year stitched in wrapper. 4. Conspectus of the wishes expressed by the various Congresses and Assemblies since the foun- dation of the Union, stitched in wrapper. 1896, twenty-three pages. 5. Studies on divers questions connected with the revision of the Berne Convention. Special edition of the principal articles which have appeared on this subject in Le Droit d'Auteur, 1896, seventy pages. In addition the Bureau will send gratis to any- one asking for them the following Studies, which have been separately printed:— 1. The relations existing between the Berne Convention and the Swiss law respecting literary and artistic property on the one hand, and the treaties concluded on the other hand by Switzer- land. A Conference by Professor A. d'Orelli, eight pages. 2. The codification of the laws respecting the protection of author's rights in Great Britain. Twenty-five pages. 3. The fundamental principle of the Berne Convention. Four pages. Hie official documents relative to the recent Paris Diplomatic Conference will not be placed at the disposition of the public until after the ratification of the Acts adopted at Paris, which will take place in the spring of next year. We may add that the Bureau of the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, a bureau which is under the same management as our own, sells the Acts of the Paris Conference, 1880, 1883; Rome, 1886; and Madrid. 1890, at which the Convention of March 20. 1883 was either drawn up or revised; the file of Propriety Indns- tricllc, 1885-1896; and the first volume of the •' Reeueil " of laws and treaties respecting indus- trial property, which has just appeared. VOL. VII. THE BATTLE CF BOOKS IN THE EAELY FIFTIES. TINHERE W'IS a bookselling question fifty I years ago a good deal keener than that of to-day, yet bearing some points of resem- blance to it. An article appeared in the West- minster Review of April 1852, entitled "The Commerce of Literature." The writer, it trans- pired shortly afterwards, was Mr. John Chapman, a young and enterprising publisher and book- seller in the Strand, who was also proprietor and editor of the Westminster Review. The tax upon paper and upon advertisements; the duty on foreign books; our anomalous literary relations with America; and the conditions of book dis- tribution, were all questions which Mr. Chapman passed under lengthy and minute review. Mischievous Profits to Booksellers. The bookseller supplied his customer without commission, and depended for his profit on a discount to be obtained from the publisher. This system was the parent of innumerable con- flicts and trouble. "The nominal discount allowed to the trade," wrote Mr. Chapman, " i.e., by the publisher to the bookseller, is 25 per cent.; more- over, twenty-five copies are charged as twenty- four, and in cases of low-priced books thirteen as twelve, or seven as six and a half." The great publishers also held annual or semi-annual sales —attended by the " select booksellers of London and Westminster "—with the accompaniments of dinners and wine. Provincial booksellers were rigorously excluded; and on these occasions the remainders, or unsold copies of publications which had ceased "to sell" at their original prices, were offered on reduced terms, or sold by auction, while new works, often even before they had been issued, were offered at 10 and 15 per cent, below" the trade price, with the advantage of long credit. These enormous profits—varying from 2: to 40 per cent., besides the twenty-fifth or thirteenth book — tempted enterprising men to offer a portion of this discount to private purchasers in order to increase their connections and the amount of their returns. But to do this was to fly in the face of A Formidable Pha.la.nx op Monopolists. Indolent tradesmen, publishers who wished to add to their vocation that of retail booksellers, and, lastly, the book merchants of Paternoster- row, all had inducements to extinguish competi- tion. These last-named, whose chief source of strength lay in the fact that the partners of the greatest publishing houses in London were also extensive book merchants and retail vendors, B B  ## p. 216 (#264) ############################################ 2 1 6 THE AUTHOR. supplied the literary institutions and libraries— hence the loss of this branch of trade would be more serious to them than to the small book- sellers, who di 1 not purchase on such advan- tageous terms, but whose competition might prove nevertheless injurious. At this point we must turn back to 1774, in order to get the incep- tion of the idea of cheap books and free trade in selling, and by consequence, the beginning of an opposing association to keep up prices. In that year James Lackington began business humbly, with only five pounds, but in a few years his annual sale grew to 100,000 volumes, and he was invited to attend the trade sales. "When first invited to these trade sales," he says in his "Memoirs," "I was very much sur- prised to learn that it was common for such as purchased 'remainders,' to destroy one- half or three-fourths of such books, and to charge the full publication price, or nearly that, for such as they kept on hand; and there was a kind of standing order amongst the trade, that in case anyone was known to sell articles under the publication price, such person was to be excluded from trade sales; so blind were copyright holders to their own interest." Lackington reflected that if some of the books were not worth six shillings, they were worth three or two; and he resolved not to destroy any books that were worth saving, but to sell them off at half or quarter of the publication prices. In spite of strenuous opposition in the trade, his husiness prospered enormously; and the Booksellers' Asso- ciation sprang into being in 1806 to prevent the spread of the practice he had initiated. The operations of this body of monopolists, which saw many ups and downs, had a certain rude thoroughness. About 1830, for instance, they hired spies to discover by what means booksellers on the "black list" succeeded in purchasing through indirect channels those books which were denied to them directly by the publishers. The spies followed such booksellers as pertinaciously as their own shadows. In Aug. 1831 a party of the defaulters" sallied forth, and Mr. Bounds (the secretary of the combination) and his accomplices were immediately on their track. "Cabs were taken to the river, where they embarked, the spies with them, and were carried as far as Calais, where for some days the four travellers took up their quarters at the Hotel de 1'Europe. They then adjourned to the Hotel d'Orleans at Boulogne, where they rested three days, and then took flight again for Dover. Here the booksellers separated in order to perplex their pursuers, one of whom lost his cue by intoxication, while the other on reaching Hythe gave up the chase and returned to London to report his proceedings to the committee, which, it is said, having on this occasion expended <£8o only to be defeated, reluctantly determined to discontinue the costly system." The Laws: Inconsistency and Casuistry. Nearly the whole trade, however, comprising about 2400 persons, signed an agreement to observe the arbitrary laws of the combination, and though a powerful blow was dealt it in Professor Babbage's work "On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures," it rallied, and in 1849 a warning was issued—signed by Longman, Brown, and Co.; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; Whitaker and Co.; and Hamilton, Adams, and Co.—to such booksellers as bad been acting con- trary to the regulations for the guidance of the trade, agreed to at the Albion Tavern, Oct. 3, 1848. This had not much effect, however, and at a general meeting in Exeter Hall, on July 12, 1850, the following declaration was drawn up to be signed by every bookseller residing within twelve miles of the General Post Office, before he could be allowed to trade with the subscribers. It was signed by 1200 booksellers: 1 at. That we will not supply books at trade price, except to those who are in possession of a ticket. Special trades dealing occasionally in books connected with their trade, may be supplied with such books at trade price, at the discretion of each bookseller. 2nd. That, as a general rule, no greater allowance than 10 per cent, for cash be made to private customers uncon- nected with the trade or with publishing. 3rd. That, as a general rule, no greater allowance than 15 per cent, be made to book societies. 4th. That we will not advertise, or ticket, at less than the publication price copyright books, unless bond fide second- hand or unless depreciated by the publisher, or such as are notoriously unsuccessful. We mutually agree that any one systematically acting contrary to these regulations, after remonstrance, shall be no longer considered entitled to the privileges of the trade. But the law-makers failed to keep their own Jaws. The chairman himself (Mr. J. M. Richard- son at that time) admitted that he supplied books to the Society for Promoting Christian Know- ledge, and that the latter re-sold them to its members at cost price. Another prominent member supplied books to one of the colleges at 25 per cent discount. A third supplied the books to form the Bank of England library at a similar discount; and so on. Several Glasgow booksellers would on no account be guilty of selling a hook under its published price, but to be equal with their neighbours who had no such scruples, they fell upon the following expedient:—" If a person asked one of them for a book, published at 2s. 6d. for example, it was offered to him at that price, but if he objected that he could get it at 28. else- where, the vendor at once overcame the difficulty by cutting open a few leaves of the volume, or if  ## p. 217 (#265) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 217 it chanced to be cut when published, by allowing a drop of ink to deface it—the conscientious bibliopole being able to regard it in that condi- tion as 'second-hand,' and therefore holding himself entitled, according to orthodox principles, to sell it at a reduced price!" The Effect upon the Author. Mr. Chapman's contention on the ground of the public interest, was that booksellers were willing to accept less profit than was allowed by the regulations, and therefore to sell books at a cheaper rate. How vitally the author was affected by the system of distribution that pre- vailed, may be seen readily from the single case of Mr. Babbage's book, one of those upon which the writer based his article. The retail price, 68., on 3052 copies, produced =£915 121. Of this sum ,£266 os. 1 id. was paid for printing, paper, and taxes on paper and advertisements; £61 os. lod. was the publisher's commission; and the author received £283 6s. lid., thus leaving the enormous sum of .£305 3*. 4c?. to be divided among the wholesale and retail booksellers. The booksellers therefore received £21 16s. 5f/. more for distributing it than the author received for writing it! The Times on the Controversy. The facts of the dispute were placed before the readers of the Times, which immediately followed up Mr. Chapman's article. The great journal could not discover any valid reason for "this anomalous interference with the free course of competition and the natural operation of trade," and did not hesitate to call the methods of the publishers "an organised system of coercion." It had been argued in justification of the existing practice that it commanded the assent of the vast majority of the trade, but the Times dismissed this argument as invalid, because in the face of such absolute powers as the Book- sellers' Association possessed over its members it was plain that the number of those venturing to dissent would be exceedingly few. A great many letters poured into the Times within the next few weeks. Messrs. Longman, Brown, and Co. and Mr. John Murray wrote jointly, saying that the Association was not a publishers' association, and that as publishers they were no further interested in it than so far as it had been supposed to pro- mote the solvency of the trade and the prosperity of literary speculations. Mr. Richard Bentley took quite the contrary view, remarking that a glance at the list of the members of the committee of the Association would show that, with nrobably two exceptions only, it consisted of ]>ub]jshers aU<* the wholesale book merchants of Put,,* , ^ row, vol. vii. trnost«r-r "who are interested in the maintenance of monopoly." Fifteen per cent, quite Sufficient. Mr. Murray stoutly maintained that 25 per cent, was not too much to allow the book- seller. Nevertheless Messrs. Bickers and Bush, Leicester-square, one of the most constant oppo- nents of the Booksellers' Association, promptly proved that as a matter of fact they were con- ducting their business satisfactorily on 15 per cent, discount. Mr. Sydney Williams, Henrietta- street, was one of a number who gave similar testimony. And two months later, after the Times had in one of its articles estimated the discount at 33 per cent., "Parvus Julius," writing from Lincoln's-inn, said that even this was "con- siderably understating" it. He added: Retailers always get twenty-five copies of the larger works at the price of twenty-four copies. Of pamphlets they get thirteen to the dozen. Thns, for 100 books sold over the counter at 10*. each the retailer has only paid 96 times 7«. 6d.; his outlay is JE36, and his return .£50. A profit of ill4 on ^36 is equal exactly to 385 per cent. Energetic Steps taken by Authors. On May 4,1852, a meeting, numerously attended by authors (and a few booksellers who had smuggled themselves in as spies), was held at Mr. Chapman's, 142, Strand. Mr. Charles Dickens took the chair. Amongst the men distin- guished in literature and science who were present were Professors Owen, Newman, and Ansted, Mr. Babbage, Mr. Tom Taylor, Dr. Lankester, Dr. Arnott, and Mr. Crabbe Robinson; and letters concurring in the views of the meeting were read from Mr. Carlyle, Mr. John Stuart Mill, Mr. Gladstone, M.P., Professor de Morgan, Mr. James Wilson, M.P., Mr. Cobdeu, M.P., and others. From this meeting there arose the definite steps taken which ended in abolition of the trade restrictions. Five resolutions were adopted, declaring that free trade ought to be applied to books as to all other articles of com- merce; that the principles of the Booksellers' Association were not only opposed to Free Trade, but were tyrannical and vexatious in their opera- tions, and had the effect of keeping the prices of books much higher than they would otherwise be; and that the retailer, not the publisher, should determine the retail prices. Mr. Gladstone on the Trade. Mr. Gladstone had already denounced the Booksellers' Association as unjust in principle and injurious in practice, and he wrote Mr. Bentley that only feelings of personal regard had restrained him from taking more public steps in the matter. He furnished a practical eomni'Mvt on his own words by supplying certain mn-c m- 11 h i  ## p. 218 (#266) ############################################ 2l8 THE AUTHOR. firming booksellers with his pamphlets on Italy, which his publisher—being a member of the combination—could not sell to those persons. But at length Mr. Gladstone took "more public steps." In his speech in the House of Commons on May 12, 1S52, during the debate on the Paper Duty, he said he did not believe there was any article for which the public were called on to pay a price so high, in comparison with the actual cost of production, as books. The system of the bookselling trade was a disgrace to their state of civilisation. With the exception of the works of certain distinguished authors—with the excep- tion of such cases as Macaulay's "History of England"—new publications in an enormous majority of cases scarcely ever passed the sale of 500 copies. An immense proportion of those that were published did not pay their expenses at all; and he believed the number that passed the sale of 500 copies was certainly not more than some- thing like 5 per cent., or, at any rate, not more than from one-twentieth to one-tenth of the whole number produced. The Government could do a great deal for the removal of the evils; not so individuals. "If a particular person who has a work to publish says, 'I will fix the price of this work at one-half the ordinary charge,' he merely makes a victim of himself without in the slightest degree affecting the state of the market, or without acting sensibly on the demand fur his own book. The book societies and circulating libraries are not sensibly affected by the price of the book being more or less; and consequently the natural healthy play which ought to regulate the price which the books ought to fetch and the price of books in general— the operation of those principles is totally inter- cepted by this system, which has been so long in action." A Symposium of Authors. A circular inviting the opinion of authors was issued on April 30, 1852, by Messrs. John W. Parker and Son, and about a hundred replies, embracing the views of every branch of intellec- tual production, were received and afterwards published. This was the question that was put to them: If a retail bookseller, of ascertained credit and respect- ability, applies to your publisher for copies of any book in which yon are directly or indirectly interested, which he is ready to purchase on the terms at whioh the publisher has offered them to the trade at large, but with the avowed intention of retailing his purchases at a smaller profit than that provided for between the wholesale rate and the retail price fixed for single copies, do you consider the intention to sell at a low rate of profit a good and sufficient reason why the publisher should refuse to supply him with books which he is ready to purchase and to keep in stock at his own risk r The authors almost unanimously replied, " No."" There were only three exceptions, and these were not very pronounced in any direction. The following are a selection of replies: J. S. Mill.—I think that there is no case in which a combination to keep up prices is more injurious than in the sale of books; and I wish success to the [" rebel "] booksellers in their resist- ance to the trade regulations which restrict their liberty of selling books at a low price. Alfred Tennyson.—I am for free-trade in the bookselling question, as in other things. Charles Dickens.—No; most certainly not. Thomas Carlyle.—My answer to this "ques- tion," for my own interests, and for those of the world, so far as I can see them, is decidedly " No,, it is not a sufficient reason "; and, indeed, I can see no issue, of any permanency, to this contro- versy that has now arisen, but absolute free-trade in all branches of book-selling and book-pub- lishing. Goldwin Smith.—The intention to sell at a low- rate of profit does not appear to me a good and sufficient reason why a publisher should refuse to sell a book to a respectable retail dealer. Herbert Spencer (after answering "No," added) :—On the contrary, believing, as he does, that every reduction in the cost of distributing books must inevitably extend their sale, and by so doing increase authors' profits, Mr. Spencer is of opinion that a publisher will best serve authors by giving the underselling retailer every facility. Charles Darwin.—As an author of some scientific works, I beg to express strongly my opinion thai, both for the advantage of authors and the public, booksellers, like other dealers, ought to settle, each for himself, the retail price. Charles Kingsley (having answered " No," added).—The gain deducted from the profits of booksellers by the cheap plan will go—First, to the consumer: and I suppose there can be no doubt that if a book be good and right it is good and right that it be sold as cheap as possible. Next, to the producers—under which term I include, not only authors, but publishers. Professor Newman.—It appears to me trans- parently equitable that a publisher who at all sells books to a second party should allow that party to be the sole judge at what prices the books shall be again sold; and that every attempt to control one another's sales is inconsistent with the nature of property, confounds men's notions of right and wiong, and can lead to nothing but waste of valuable goods, capital, and time, of so serious a nature that evasions and duplicity will be widely used as a partial remedy for so great an evil.  ## p. 219 (#267) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Dr. Lindley.— I am of opinio;! that, the retailers of books should bo free to fix for them- selves the profit they require, and that it is unwise and unjust that publishers should inter- fere in the matter. I believe that it is impossible to name any considerable branch of trade, except bookselling, in which that interferenci is even attempted. Professor Craik.—In so far as the point involved in your "question" rests upon purely economical or commercial grounds, it plainly will not bear arguing. The only thing that a person interested in the sale of any kind of production or commodity can desire or care for, with a view to its pecuniary returns, is that the sale, at a given price, should be as extensive as possible. So long, therefore, as the retail dealer giv ;s me or my publisher our own price for the books which he purchases, we have nothing more to ask. His rate of profit, let it be as low, or, if you will, as inadequate as it may, does not affect ours. Professor Ansted, F.R.S.—I say most dis- tinctly and emphatically No. I cannot distin- guish any difference between the tradi in books and other articles; nor do I see what possible advantage can be gained to authors or the public, nor inde :d to the bookselling trade itself in any branch, by putting restrictions on the mode which any retailer may think the best of dealing with purchases he may have made in the fair way of business. Charles Babbage, F.R.S.—I consider the purchaser of any of my works is fully entitled to sell them at any price he may find most con- venient. The Dean of Hereford (Very Rev. Richard Dawes).—I think every retail bookseller ought to be allowed to sell at any rate of profit he may think proper. Lieut.-Gen. Sir Charles Napier, G.C.B.— No! Dr. L. Schmitz.—No, I do not; I believe that such a retail dealer will increase the sale of the work, and thereby benefit both author and publisher. Dr. Forbes Winslow.—I think the attempt to make the retail bookseller sell at a price previously agreed upon by the large trader is an unjust and tyrannical proceeding, and must, if acted upon, very materially limit the circulation of books, and consequently injure a'l classes of the community. G. Cornewall Lewis, M.P.—It appears to me not desirable that the publishing booksellers should attempt to enforce upon retailers the exaction from their customers of f]j) £UH retail price originally appointed by tbeij^ C! e8f if the retailers ai-e willing- t) sell to the public at a less price. Leigh Hunt (after apologising for delay).— But I was anxious to make myself better acquainted than I was with the details of the "Question," in order that I might add the remarks desired of me, and so give all the strength I could to my approval of that spirit of free trade and cheapness in literature, in which I hid already expressed my hearty concurrence to Mr. Chapman. Archdeacon Hone. — I think that the removal of thi restriction imposed on the book trade by a combination of publishers and retailers would issue in the increased sale of books. The Commission of Inquiry. The resolutions adopted by the afore-mentioned meeting of authors, as well as the re [dies to Messrs. Parkers' question, were placed before a Commission of three gentlemen, to which at length the publishers agreed to submit the issue. This consisted of Lord Campbell, the Dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Miliuau), and Mr. George Grote. Both sides were to state their cases, but a hitch occurred to the original meeting, as only the representatives of the Association appeared. The " undersellers " wrote that they had not had sufficient notice. On May 17, however, both parties came before the Commission at Stratheden House. The following geutlemen were present: "Uxdei!sellers." — Messrs. Bush, Bickers, W. Teg?, and Jjhn Chapman, of London; Mr. Perrin, of the firm of Horge and Perrin, of Manchester; and Mr. Griflin, of Glasgow. Booksellers' Association.—Mr. W. Longman (the Chairman), Mr. Murray, Mr. J. H. Parker (.Ox'ord), Mr. Pickering, Mr. Beilby (Birmingham). Mr. Douglas (Edin- burgh), Mr. Taylor (of Mr. Hatehard's), Mr. R. B. Seeley, Mr. J. J. Miles, Mr. Rivington, Mr. Bohn, and Mr. S. Low (Secretary to the London Association). Mr. Longman, in his speech defending the Association, said its object was to destroy com- petition in the retailing of books, and insinuated its disinterestedness by remarking that those who would most benefit by competition would be the aforesaid "book-merchants," who had big capital and every facility for doing business on a large scale. He was convinced that Lackington's system of underselling was totally different from that of the present day; it was extensively prac- tised in Lackington's time, and met with the approbation of the publishers. Mr. Lackington bought " remainders,"—the copies of unsuccessful books which remained on the publishers' hands— and sold them at a reduced pricii If the Book- sellers' Association ceased to exist, Mr. Longman feared thit not a little confusion and ruin would ensue; but he l.elieved it would be u:ces?ary for  ## p. 220 (#268) ############################################ 220 THE AUTHOR. a time to let events take their natural course. The retail booksellers, unless they speculated, only received 25 per cent. A reduction of the allowance had been recommended, and that appeared to him the best suggestion that had teen made, but it would be attended with very technical difficulties. The Association Condemned. The result of the inquiry was a complete victory for the " free traders." The Commission decided that the regulations were unreasonable and inex- pedient, and contrary to the freedom which ought to prevail in commercial transactions. The consideration that weighed most with the Commission was the peculiar mode in which in the book trade the wares to be disposed of were distributed. They recognised that there was a great advantage to literature in having respectable booksellers' shops in London, Edin- burgh, and Dublin, and all work was thereby made known more efficiently than by advertising. "But," continued the report, " the existence of a larger number of retail establishments than is necessary to supply the commodity to the public has an evident tendency to raise the price to the consumer; and, according to all experience, the demand will increase as the price is diminished (though not perhaps to the extent contemplated by some of the more ardent opponents of the 'regulations')." In accordance with this decision, the Book- sellers' Association was dissolved—for this was the understanding with which its representatives approached the Commission (although the" under- sellers," on the other hand, had distinctly refused to alter their system of business even should the decision of the Commission go against them, while the authors also had taken up the position . that a compromise was impossible). The dissolu- tion took place after a stormy debate on May 28, 1852. On June 19, the Scottish Booksellers' Protective Association followed suit—surlily. Clearing the Air. Immediately afterwards there appeared in Frasers Magazine a remarkably able review of the whole dispute, under the title "The Makers, Sellers, and Buyers of Books." This writer also demonstrated, by facts and figures, that the Association's system was for the benefit not of the retail bookseller, but of the wholesale purchaser. He agreed, too, with Lord Campbell that "the bookselling trade will have the best chance of flourishing without any special regula- tions of any sort." Only after the decision of Lord Campbell and his colleagues did the Athenmim give its opinion, which had been kept in type, but of which it had withheld publication on hearing that the question was to be considered by a conference arranged by the parties themselves. The Athenwum came to the same conclusion as the Commission. Merely to reduce the dis- count, it wrote, would be a waiver of the whole question. "The sole, simple, and safe principle seems to be, in this as in all other cases, leave the buyer and the seller to arrange terms between themselves." Ou June nth the Times repeated the old arguments in favour of free trade, because it assumed from evidences before it that the pub- lishers were extremely ill-satisfied, and more desirous of reviving their system under another name than of acquiescing in the deliberate opinion of their own selected arbitrator. The Tilarm on this score on the part of the Times was, however, unnecessary, for seeing this article, Mr. Bevis E. Green, who had been chairman of a meeting of the principal publishers held on the previous Saturday, at once communicated to the Times the following resolutions proposed at that meeting by Mr. Thomas Longman, and unani- mously passed: 1. That the meeting declare that they have no intention of taking any steps to oontrol the dealings of the retail booksellers with the public. 2. That this meeting consider it probable that it may be expedient before long to rednce the retail prices and trade allowances on some books already published. 3. This meeting are not prepared at present to recom- mend and pat in foroe the second resolution. "I unwillingly intrude myself on the public," Mr. Green added, " and trust that, as the question now appears to be at rest, we may receive that valuable support from the public Press which is so important to all concerned in the publication of books." NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Jan. 15. THE increase in the number, scope, and excellence of the critical journals is one of the most noticeable signs in the literary field just now. A new monthly has just been born, the Month, published by the editors of the Critic, and made up of matter which appears in that weekly. It is reported that the admitted object of the new periodical is to compete directly with the Bookman, which has had great influence in starting up other periodicals since the American edition sprang into being some two years ago. Nothing is said in the Month about the Critic, probably from a realisation of the danger to the circulation of the weekly made by the fact that a reader can now get most of the contents of four numbers of the weekly for  ## p. 221 (#269) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 22 1 10 cents. To-day's mail brings the first number of the new Chap-Booh, in which it enters the field of the critical journals, while keeping its own features. It is no longer noticeable for its smallness, being in its new form about the size of the Saturday Review. Magazine editors in New York treat this little Chicago venture with more consideration than would be expected for a periodical not free from callowness, and the reason they do so is that they realise that it has in it something vital and sincere, although as yet crude. It occupies its new fie'.d alone, and has every promise of success. With these two signs of increased interest in literary criticism should be put the Book Buyer, which has been a mere advertising pamphlet for Charles Scribners' Sons until the last two numbers, have brought it decidedly into the field of the magazines. It adheres more strictly to book subjects than the Boohman, but it has variety, and intends to have more, containing not only criticisms of current works but general literary essays. The last two numbers have had signed reviews by the most prominent literary critics of America. Taking the birth of these periodicals, all of which are practically new, with the increase in the output of literary essays by the publishing houses, one is justified in concluding that the taste for criticism in America is rapidly growing. The literary daily which sprang up here a few weeks ago, called the Daily Tattler, died in a fort- night, partly because it was too flippant, the danger to which many of our newest publications are falling in the desire to escape dryness. The newspapers also show the tendency to give more and more attention to comment on literature. The New York Times, which has had several disastrous years, is, under new management, gaining thousands of subscribers a week, and improving rapidly in all departments. It pub- lishes now a special supplement on Saturday, which is really a separate paper containing book reviews, literary gossip and editorials on purely literary matters ; and the Sunday edition contains an illustrated article on some book. The other papers give more and more space to reviewing, and one of the editors of the most sensational dailies in town said the other day to me that he believed the Times showed a clear foresight of the coming popular demand in its emphasis of literature and art. Opposed to this increase in papers which aim at the interest of culture, however elementary, must be put the ever-growing number of flashy monthlies. Some new; some made °ver out °^ magazines which found respectabi^ and twenty- five cents a failure, and decided ' frV ror ten cents and a larger if lower a ~ce. The inventor of the ten cent system, and the man who carried it out with remarkable ability, Frank A. Munsey, who has kept his magazine in the biggest circulation of any monthly in the country, has just started a new venture somewhat in the field of the Ladies' Home Journal. His success with the public has been so great that his ideas may be worth quoting. In the advertisements of his new venture he asseits very frankly the principles on which he appeals to the reading public. "This house is somewhat noted for doing things quickly. An idea, and, presto, the thing itself! A few days ago the Puritan was a conception ; to-day it is a fact. This is the way we do things. It is dramatic. There is a hum about it that is an inspiration. Hurried work does not show the effect of the polishing stone; but to be alive—a tangible fact—with imperfec- tions, is better than to be a polished idea that has no life, no place. The Puritan is here—this is the concrete fact." "We like to read from pictures—to get the story from pictures. It is quick, easy, dramatic. The salient points are seen instantly; the mind, in a flash, fills in the detail, and the reader has the story—all he desires of it, in these rapid transit days. Picture-reading to the reader is what shorthand is to the stenographer. A note in the December number of The Author about the duties of majazine editors calls to mind the fact that Mr. Alden, the editor of Harjiers Magazine, follows a course directly contrary to that of most of our editors. The others read only those contributions which have passed under the eyes of their assistants. Mr. Alden, in order to keep up more thoroughly with what the people are writing about, and also to form his own judgment on any new note sounded in the work of some unknown writer, has only the purely illiterate contributions sorted out for him, and then glances at all the others, after which he hands the ones which are neither certainly good nor certainly bad to an as>istant to sort out, leaving the final decision for himself on a second reading. In the correspondence which has been pub- lished for some weeks in the Dial of Chicago on the subject of American Literature, there has been a general agreement that when the great American novel appears, the novel which is to have at once general importance and distinct local characteristics, politics will be one of its main themes; a description of that part of American history which consists in the formation of a new political life to harmonise with new social and physical conditions. It is also said by most of the writers on this subject that the novel will be democratic, and ethically representative of  ## p. 222 (#270) ############################################ 222 the a union. a civilisation based upon Puritanism. All the suggestions are of necessity vague, but they all reflect an opinion, widespread among our serious thinkers, that if this country ever has a national literature it will be made out of an original treatment of our .special social and political conditions. Some New York importers fear that the free importation of books devoted to scientific research is in danger at this time of proposed tariff revi- sion, as the lahour unions, not appreciating how small is the sale of these books, the importance of which is mainly to the student, seem to be stirring themselves for an attack on this section of the present law. The following circular was sent out on Nov. 27: "To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs: "The attention of (Xficeiu of the Customs is invited to paragraph 410 of the Act of August 28, 1894, which is as follows: Books, engravings, photographs, bound or unbound, etchings, music, maps, and charts, which thall have been printed more than twenty years at the date of importation, and all bydrographic charts and scientific books and periodicals devoted to original scientific research, and publi- cations issued for their subscribers by scientific and literary associations or academies, or publications of individuals for gratuitous private circulation, and public documents issued by foreign governments. "It has been represented that books aud periodicals not strictly 'devoted to original scientific research' have been admitted to free entry, under too broad a construction of para- graph 4io; the Department accordingly notifies Officers of Customs that the terms of the law must he carefully observed. "The Solicitor of the Treasury advises the Department that, in his opinion, the words 'scientific books and periodicals devoted to original scientific research' relate to new dis- coveries in the field of science, and do not include text-books, compilat ous and discussions of scientific subjects already understood. "This construction of the law is concurred in by this Department. "Charles S. Hamlin, "Assistant Secretary. "1896. Department Circular No. 158. Division of Customs." This circular is generally believed to have been caused by the influence of the typographical unions, and although in itself it is of compara- tively little importance, it shows the activity of an influence which will undoubtedly do all it can during the reconstruction of the tariff to increase the duties on books. Norman Hatgood. NOTES AND NEWS. ri^HE opinion of Mr. Chitty, Q.C., will he read B with considerable interest by editors of magazines and journals. According to this opinion an editor does not protect himself by the usual announcement that lie will not be responsible for the safety or the return of MSS. sent to him. It is, of course, quite clear that some way must be found out of this impasse. My own sympathies are entirely with the editors, l>ecause I know something of the mass of "stuff" that is poured in upon them from all quarters. In the case of journals which have a limited circulation, the return postage of MSS. and the extra clerical expense in sending them back, are a serious con- sideration. The difficulty is this: An editor generally depends to a certain extent on contribu- tions uninvited; out of a hundred things sent in, he finds one that he is aide to accept: the other ninety-nine he has to reject. Shall he throw them into the waste-paper basket, or shall he send them back to the contributor? Generally he does tli3 latter, but demands very proper] v stamps for return postage. Sometimes he announces that he does not ask for outside contributions, and that he will not send them back. And now this opinion informs him that he has no right to take up this position. Fortunately, The Author is a paper whose aims and ruison d'etre are so limited that the editor is not overwhelmed with MSS. We are bound by our Articles of Association to protect and define literary property in every way, and to throw light upon every dark place dis- coverable—these aims do not much encourage the casual outsider. However, as I said above, my own sympathies in this matter of MSS. rejected are entirely witli editors, and I hope that they may find a way out. What right has publisher or editor to alter, add to, or omit any part of an author's manu- script? In my own view, none, if the work is signed. It seems impossible to believe that any Court of Law would hold that he has the right of making changes except in work that is unsigned. If a writer offers an article to a news- paper or journal which is accepted by the editor us an anonymous contribution, or if he writes an anonymous article, say, as a member of the staff, he has no reputation to make or to lose by this piece of work. Moreover, the editor assumes the whole responsibility for the article. The contributor, to put the thing plainly, sends in a piece of work which may be altered or finished, or changed in any way that the respon- sible editor pleases. But when a paper or a book is signed, everything is different. The reputation  ## p. 223 (#271) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 223 of the author is concerned in it; he presents hi-; work as his, all his, and no other's. He sells, or gives, the right of publishing this MS. as his; he does not invite, nor would he accept, the degradation of having his work corrected. This position has been repeatedly taken up in these columns. It is, however, greatly to be desired that the question should be heard in a Court of Law. Meantime, here is a case which happened recently. The author, a well-known novelist, arranged for the serial right of a story in a certain periodical. The story was to appear in the magazine first, anonymou-ly; but in volume form afterwards. The editor had to deal, therefore, with an anony- mous work which might seem to give him the right of alteration. But, as the work was to appear afterwards with the author's name, it was only anonymous for so many months. Therefore the author would have had to explain that the differences between the volume form aud the serial, if any, were due to the editor and not made with her consent; and that she had not invited the editor's corrections, and did not admit his literary superiority or his power of improving her style. Now when the proofs came in, she found that, certain alterations had been made. She refused absolutely to accept them. She said that she had sent in a MS. to be used for a certain purpose, exactly as it left her hands, and that she neither invited, nor would she accept, any "improve- ment " offen d by the editor. She therefore for- bade the publication of the story in its amended form, and took away the MS. to another publisher, who brought it out in his magazine. She might perhaps have insisted on the publication of the story as agreed upon: in that case the matter would have been taken, very usefully, into the Courts. Meantime, novelists are warned against such alterations. The name of the magazine is with Mr. Thring. The following is from the Literary World of Jauuaiy 15:— May I be allowed to put on record, through the columns of your paper, my indignant protest against the alteration by publishers of the text of an author's book without his knowledge or consent 1 There are five editions, dated 1895, of a book which I wrote thirty-two years ago now offered for sale by a certain firm of publishers, in which four outrageous alterations have been made in the text for tho purpose of suiting certain en- gravings introduced into the more expensive editions. On page 207 ten lines are inserted giving Robin the character of a mean and contemptible rascal which is ■entirely at variance with the spirit of my story. Page 334 has had three lines taken out and three inset.j j which confuse the narrative in a ridiculous q,. ' On page 41S an incident has been wholly revereej1 0 ^ what I wrote; while upon page 479 eleven lines have been cut out t> introduce a pi'ture which has nothing what- ever to do with the text. The story H thus twisted altogether from the purpose which I originally designed. The question, never yet decided, is whether a publisher who has bought the copyright of a book has bought the right to publish any part or parts of it, to omit portions, to insert portions— in a word, to alter as he desires. Suppose, for instance, a publisher in possession of the copyright of Shakespeare's sonnets. Would he be allowed to alter the lines; to take out phrases which he disapproved; to add lines which chinged the sonnet into .something non- descript? Suppose a publisher owning the copyright of Tennyson. Would he lie justified in publishing a Tennyson "improved" by a scribe in his own office? The thing is absurd. Why, then, is it less absurd when a lesser than Tennyson is concerned? The principle is the same, whether the author is at the top or the bottom of the ladder. But the question has never been decided in a court of law. Surely it is time to get it decided. Meanwhile, the tempo- rary remedy is for the author to insert a clause in the agreement that the right of publishing means publishing as a whole and without altera- tion or omission of any kind. The reading of tho L?eds people is shown jby the returns of the Free Libraries, Fiction, of course, heads the list. The most popular authors are Marie Corelli, Dora Russell, " Rita," and Mrs. Hungerford, among th 3 factory girls and the middle class of pe q>!e. Coming to the men, who seem numerically of less importance than the women in Leeds, "Trilby," of which twenty copies are on the shelves, is never left on the shelf for ten minutes; Stanley W. ymau and Conan Doyle are the next favourites. Annie S. Swan is a good second to Marie Corelli. Leeds people do not read poetry at all. Crockett and Maclaren and Barrie seem to be under a cloud. It will be only temporary. Hardy's earlier books are in great request. "Ouida" is forgotten. But—to repeat—Marie Corelli leads the .way. "More books of Marie Gondii's a e being lead at this moment than of any oLher novelist, living or dead." -■- It is the part of the complete critic to explain, and to account for. the popularity of a writer. Now the most popular writer of the day, who changes from year to year, is one X. Why? What qualities are those which create such a popularity? Weakness? No. Silliness? No.  ## p. 224 (#272) ############################################ 224 THE AUTHOR. Vulgarity? No. A w.'ak, or silly, or vulgar writer never becomes, therefore, popular. Why, then, is this X. popular \ No critic so far has ever considered the question. It is no answer to fay that people like skimble-skamble stuff; because they do not. They will not have it. Tennyson, Scott, Longfellow, Marryatt, Dickens, have always had an immense hold upon the people. Their work is not skimble-skamble stuff. The critics, when a writer becomes popular, have got to explain why. Then let them tell us what qualities has this X. in common with these writers? I put aside altogether the theory that what the people desire is vulgarity and clap- trap. If that is what they want, why, I repeat, are the authors above-named in such request and popularity? The case lately brought before the courts, which was concluded by Mr. Stead's offer to submit extracts to the publishers, is a really remarkable example of the prevalent belief, not only that literary property does actually belong to the publisher, but that it must belong to him. Now, if he buys it, of course, it belongs to him: but if he administers it on terms agreed upon it ought not, and need not, belong to him. Arbitrarily to assume that property belongs necessarily to a steward or agent—to argue on the assumption that it must belong to him—would be remark- able if it were so treated by a newspaper; it becomes more remarkable still when it is so treated by a judge, by counsel, and by every- body concerned. Besides, apart from the pecu- niary part of the question, has the author nothing to say as to reprinting portions of his own work? Surely the author is the person most concerned. His reputation depends upon the faithful presentation of his work. Yet no one in this case suggested that the author had any- thing whatever to do with the business. One would like to ask the counsel concerned if they think that the publisher really ought to have and to hold, and is entitled to have and to hold, literary property created and originally belonging to the author. The secondhand booksellers not only under- stand their trade, but have also of late introduced a few allurements or temptations for the collector. A favourite dodge is to advertise "first editions." Now one who really collects has no notion of col- lecting for a fall, but for a rise. How many first editions of the present current literature will have the slightest value in twenty years' time 'i One says this without in the least wishing to under- rate the writers of the present day. They now command the ear of the reading world. Do they expect to command the ear of the reading world in twenty years to come? Anthony Trollope was no mean writer in the sixties; he commanded the ear of an enormous circle of readers. Who would care to purchase at a fancy price, as believing that it will run up in value, the original edition of any one of his novels? There are many other names whom it would be cruel to mention, in their day greatly popular, but now subject to that law of selection which takes one or two of our author's works and consigns the rest to oblivion. Nay, these gentlemen still set down in their cata- logues at a hi«hprice first editions of books ten or twenty years old, and now as completely forgotten as if they had never been written. But I sup- pose your genuine collector passes them by. We have on several occasions spoken in these columns on the folly of paying for publication. A correspondent (in the January number of The Author) touches the true reason when he points out the overwhelming desire of a man, who has made a book, to present it to the public. He wants to be heard. He thinks that if he gets a chance, he too will run over the- face of the habitable globe like Du Maurier with "Trilby." It is no use trying to keep him back: he must publish : he will pay. Therefore he pays; but does he publish? Let us consider. A con- sideration of the facts may lead him to understand that he pays: but he certainly does not publish. To publish means not only printing and bindin,g but also offering to the world. How is a book offered to the world? By the booksellers, by the libraries, by the advertisements. There is no other way. If a book is not so- offered it is not published. Now, what happens? A MS. is submitted to publishers to whom as a. class we have always accorded the natural desire- to acquire the right of publishing good work. Three readers, one after the other, decline this- MS. That ought to be enough. Unfortunately it is quite true that readers have been known to- make terrible mistakes; it is understood that they do not at all times understand what people want; perhaps a nvstake has been made over this MS.. Therefore the author listens while a proposal is made to him. He accepts; he pays beforehand, and he pays through a feature not intended for- the process; his book is ready. Then? Then— nothing. The booksellers will not take it; the libraries will not take it; in most cases it is not seriously offered to booksellers; it is not adver- tised: in a word, it is not published. We come to another question; if it is not published, if it is not produced, if it is not offered, if it is not distributed, if it is not circulated; what is. done-  ## p. 225 (#273) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 225 . to it? It is shelved until the pretended publisher writes a curt letter explaining that he cannot have it taking up costly room upon his shelves. Then it is sold as remainder stock at nothing a volume: and thus the end of a dream. But it is no use telling the aspirant these things. He wants a chance; he pays a hundred pounds; and he gets no chance; not the faintest chance. Now I will tell this dreamer how he can get his chance. He must find a printer who will undertake his work at reasonable terms; he must undertake to pay for printing and binding on easv terms — say with six months' credit; he will bind, however, only a few copies to begin with; he must then print a circular describing the work, designed for booksellers; he must offer copies on sale or return on liberal terms; where a country bookseller takes copies the author must advertise ; he must advertise a little, feeling his way as the book goes; he must issue it to the trade from his own house unless he can arrange with his binder; he must send it for review to a chosen list of London and country papers, remembering that the dailies are by far the best friends of literature as regards advertising; and, after a year or so of this amusement, if he is still out of pocket, he will certainly find that he has done a great deal better with his book than if he had paid his hundred pounds down to the man who made him so "favourable" an offer. The note from the Daily Chronicle on the Byron letters serves as a reminder that letters belong to the person who writes them, and not to the person to whom they are written. The latter, of course, may say that the paper is his, and the ink: he may put them away and lock them up: in this way he may prevent their publication. He cannot, however, publish them himself without the consent of the heirs and executors of the writer, nor can he forbid their publication. Let us have patience; in another generation or two there will be less sensitiveness as to private details. Would Shakespeare's great- great-great grandson care very much about that alleged drinking bout which hastened the end of the Stratford Bard? I think not. '• Mr. X." proposes (see the January number) that the leading men and women in letters shall agree to boycott all editors vrh0 do not pay on accepting an article, aurj veep tne author waiting for months or ^ * The first difficulty is that even if ill the > a men and women of letters did agree to such an act of association it would not make the least difference in the world to the editors of magazines, because they can get on pretty well without the leading men and women of letters. Not these—not the historians, poets, novelists, dramatists, who stand in the front rank—keep the magazines supplied, but quite another folk. In fact, these celebrated people are not generally wanted at all. The writers to whom the editor very naturally looks are the experts in the subjects—scientific, political, economical—which are at the moment before the world. Next he looks for travellers who can discourse on the countries at the time most before the world. The things of the day arranged, he has the choice of an immense number of articles offered to him by people who desire, above all, to appear before the world. A great many can write cleverly and attractively within their range. One of our greatest historians, Sir John Robert Seeley, who died a year or two ago, hardly ever wrote in any magazine. One could mention other great names whose record is unconnected with any magazine, or only occasionally connected with one. When these great writers send an article to a magazine it is generally by invitation. They do so in entire ignorance of the character of the editor, who, on the levels on which these scholars write, is not likely to be one of the kind objected to. Boycotting, in fact, is impossible and impracticable, even if it were desirable. My correspondent laments that he is not independent. Then, to speak plainly, he must put up with the consequences of dependence, which involve waiting upon the will and pleasure of the editor. Here, however, is another way. How would it do to inform the editor courteously that the con- tributor is grateful at being accepted, but that 'his circumstances oblige him to offer the editor no more than three or four or five months of delay. If the editor does not see his way to accepting such a limitation of time, he will send back the contribution, with no bad feeling or angry words, or quarrel, on either side at all. If the editor really desires the paper he will accept the limitation or propose another. And this is the only solution of the grievance that seems to me feasible. Walter Besant. THE BYEON_PAPEES. INTEREST has been excited by the announce- ment which comes from the legal repre- sentatives of the Byron family. The effect of it, of course, is that they mean to "exercise their right of controlling the publication" of any new Byron letters or documents. In other words  ## p. 226 (#274) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. they say " yon must not publish anything which Lord ov Lady Byron may have written unless you first have our approval." There have been signs for some time back that we are hastening towards a Byron boom, when any fresh material would be keen reading for the public. It was important to understand the full meaning of the official announcement—what was behind it—and accordingly light has been sought in a quarter likely to be well informed. What was gathered? The executors of Lord Byron were Lord Broughton and Mr. Kinnaird. After their deaths their authority descended to others. The names of the present holders of that authority one did not learn. Similarly, stewardship over any documents Lady Byron may have left is repre- sented to-day. Speaking generally, and taking both Lord Byron and Lady Byron, a variety of material his been in the possession of the family. Other material is known to be scattered about— letters written by the Poet or Lady Byron— and over these it is now proposed to exercise the right of approval so far as publication is con- cerned. That is to say, if a man writes a letter to any person, that person does not secure the least ownership in the contents. What was written remains the writer's, although the paper and the ink are nece'sarily the property of the receiver. So the law was explained; and when the writer of a letter dies his ownership in its con- tents descends to his executors. Here we havo the position in reference to Byron correspondence, and the reason why the legal representatives have made their intimation is simple enough. They wrish to protect the memory of the Byrous from any misapprehensions or misunderstandings—to obviate the publication of unauthorised or unauthenticated Byronia. Since Byron's death, for instance, two distinct sets of forgeries are said to have been palmed off upon the world as true Byron letters. Again, neither Byron nor Lady Byron would have cared, perhaps, to have some of the letters published which they did .write, One sees, therefore, the iutended effects of the announcement, and the line of law upon which it is based. As to the latter, it appears that an instance in point aro.-e only a few years ago in reference to the proposed publication of some Bulwer Lytton letters, and then the rights of the executor were duly upheld. It will be curious to see how the Byron renaissance is affected by what may. perhaps, be describe! as an ultimatum of considerable dimensions.—Daily Chronicle, Jan. 25, 1897. IS THERE AN AMERICAN LITERATURE? rTYHE Dial writer. Mr. Pattee, who pleads J for American literature as distinct from British, or, as he calls it, English litera- ture, seems to me to confuse things. No one, for instance, would claim a great poem written by an American in the United States as belonging in any sense to this country. No one has ever claimed Lowell, Longfellow, Holmes, Emerson, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, or any other great American writer, as belonging to the literary history of this countrv. On the con- trary, we are ready to acknowledge all that Mi-. Pattee claims for them—that they are distinc- tively American; their atmosphere, their con- ditions are American j no Englishman would have written quite in their way: their speech betrayeth them. But what is the language in which they write? It is English, the language that grew up in this island, in the southern part of this island, which is called after the name of that southern part; the language which is spoken by five great Republics and one Kingdom : or, if you please, the language spoken by two great and powerful Confederations. Unless, therefore, one of these Confederations changes its language, its literature will continue to be, first and above all things, that of its language. Cannot American literature be content uot to be tied by apron strings, as Mr. Pattee puts it, to its mother, but to be an independent branch; perhaps destined to be the greater of two branches, perhaps destined to be one of five or six branches of the noble literature which we call English 'i There are no more illustrious ancestors that the American poet can desire than those which he possesses. They do not make him dependent on the place where they flourished: they are his possession, while Byron, Tennyson, Browning,are in no sense his possession, any more than Lowell and Longfellow are the possessions of Swinburne and Austin Dobson. Did not Professor Brander Matthews put the matter plainly and sufficiently when he claimed that English literature covers all that is written in the English language, while that by no means gives English literature to England, whose modern literature is British? There is, in a word, the local and current literature, most of which is ephemeral and fleeting : there are many thousands of books p\iblished every year in this country which never get beyond the narrow seas, and are, indeed, not much wanted within those limits. Good or bad, they make up modern British literature: a very few, which are demanded all over the world by those who speak the common langu<ge, form English literature. R. L.  ## p. 227 (#275) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 2 J EOOK TALK. MR. W. D. HOWELLS says that " there is no American poet who has done so much as James Whitcomb Riley to define the familiar America of most Americans, or to reveal the heart of our common life in terms of such universal import and appeal." Mr. Whitcomb Riley is a poet belonging to the same school as the late Eugene Field, of Chicago, the author of the lovely lyric "Little Boy Blue." Auer his bibliography of Robert Browning's works, which has been appearing in the Atkenieum, Mr. Thomas J. Wise is about to compile those of Lord Tennyson and Robert Louis Stevenson. He make.* an appeal for the loan of material, parti- cularly lists of magazine and newspaper articles by Stevenson. Mr. Wise's address is 15, St. George's-road, Abbey-road, St. John's Wood, Loudon. Mr. Herbert Flowenlew will very shortly pro- duce a satire under the title of " The Tenth Muse" (Fisher Unwin). Later on in the spring lie will bring out a novel, the name of which is not yet advertised, through Mr. John Lane. "The Dreams of Dania," a tale of Irish life, by the Rev. Frederick Langbridge, will be published shortly by Mr. James Bowden. It run last year in the Leisure J/our as a six months' serial. "The Three Daughters of Night" is the title of a new novel by Derek Vane, just published by Messrs. Hutchinson. This is the author's most important work since " The Sin and the Woman," a story that excited a good deal of interest and some controversy on its appearance two or three years ago. A volume of the letters and speeches of the late Farl of Carnarvon is being prepared by Sir George Svdenham Clarke for publication under the title, '•The Defence of the Empire." Miss Marie Corelli's new novel, "Ziska," will appear from Mr. Arrowsmith's on the 15th inst. Mr. Crockett's new novel, "Lad's Love," will In? published a fortnight hence by Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. It has appeared serially in a condensed form, and is spoken of as not having much " dialect," although it is a Galloway story. Mr. A. Hilliard Atteridge, who acted for a London paper as special correspondent with the British forces in the recent Soudan campaign, is about to publish, through Messrs. Innes a book 011 the subject, entitled "Towards IfJ^j-tourn." Maps, portraits, and illustrations f 0rji the author's photographs will be given. 1 There is to be a new volume of detective stories by "Dick Donovan" very soon, entitled "The Chronicles of Michael Danevitch" (who is supposed to belong to the Russian secret police). Messrs. Chatto and Windus are the publishers. The firm of C. Arthur Pearson, Limited, announce that they will greatly extend their book- publishing trade, and among their enterprises will be a series of volumes at 2s., by leading English authors, which will include travels, autobio- graphies, &c, as well as fiction. Mr. G. B. Burgin is to take charge of this development of Messrs. Pearson's business. Mr. Gladstone's complaint of the quality and the cost of modern uookbiuding has been followed up by enquiries made on behalf of the Stationer, Printer, and Fancy Trades Register, which publishes the opinions of Mr. R. Birdsall, North- ampton, Messrs. Kelly and Sons, London, and Mr. J. Rosenbluth, Edinburgh. Mr. Birdsall lays the blame on bad paper rather than bad glue. It would be interesting to know, he says, what proportion, if any, of linen fibre is now to be found in, say, fifty samples of modern printing papers. The only difficulty in so binding a book that it will lie open is the quality and thickness of the paper, some paper being so stiff and thick that no treatment will make the books lie flat. As to the cost, says Mr. Rosenbluth, "if you would ascertain what publishers pay for binding it would no doubt surprise you to know that books can open at all." Messrs. Kelly say that if material is less reliable to-day than it was fifty years ago, the workmanship is better. This trade organ, by the way, in speaking of Smith, Elder, and Co. v. Stead, remarks that reviews may serve three purposes: (1) first, though not foremost, to warn readers from bad books; (2) to excite interest in books, and lead readers of the review to read the book itself; (3) to act as a substitute for the volume under notice. Our contemporary, of course, thinks that the sooner the last course is stopped the better. It expresses, too, the idea which a correspondent originated in The Author some months ago, namely, that "perhaps it would be the best course for the review editor to consult the book publisher or copyright holder before he makes any questionable extracts." A novelette by Richard Wagner, entitled " A Pilgrimage to Beethoven," is being published by the Open Court Publishing Company. Few persons are aware, says the announcement, that Wagner devoted himself to belles let ties. This little volume, selected as a type of his literary productions, is a rare story, and gives, under the  ## p. 228 (#276) ############################################ 22S THE AUTHOR. #uise of a mythical conversation with Beethoven, Wagner's own views of musical art. Dr. Nansen's book is to be called "Farthest North." Captain Sverdrup, who had charge of the Fram after Nansen left her, will supply an appendix to the book. Mr. Louis Becke will is <ue another volume of South Sea stories during the spring. Mr. Brayley Hodgetts has placed with Mr. Macqueen a story entitled "A Russian Wild- flower,'' which will appear soon. Mr. Clark Russell's new story, "The Last Entry," will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. Mr. Russell has been remarking, in connection with the correction of his proofs, that printers can never be trusted with the lan- guage of the sea. Among other announcements of Messrs. Chatto and Windus are " Three Partners," by Mr. Bret Harte, and "A Missing Witness," by Mr. Frank Barrett. Mr. Leonard Merrick's story, entitled "Oue Man's View," will be published by Mr. Grant Richards, a new publisher. Miss Jessie Middleton, a journalist, has in preparation for early publication an edition of the poetical works of James Clarence Mangan, the Irish poet. From the new volume of Mr. J. H. Slater's "Book-Prices Current," we learn that from December, 1895, to November, i8q6, 47,268 lots of books were disposed of, and the amount realised was £80,111. This shows an average of £1 13*. lod. per lot, as compared with £1 11s. 4<Z. in 1895, ,£ 1 8s. 5<7. in 1894, and £1 6s. "jd. per lot in 1893. The reason of the increase, says Mr. Slater, is not that prices were in the aggre- gate much higher, but that a few very extra- ordinary aud extremely valuable books contributed so lavishly to the grand total that it was raised to the extent of several thousand pounds above its proportionate, and therefore normal, level. Amongst these were one imperfect copy of the first edition of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," printed by Caxton about the year 1478, sold for £1020, and another for £1880, which raised the average on the whole year's sales by as much as i*. 2d. Still, Mr. Slater thinks that books of a certain kind are selling rather better than they have done for some time past, and this change is due to the improvement in the state of trade. He points out this year again that among the classes of books which have fallen on evil days are the manufactured "limited editions" of contemporary authors, usually poets and essayists; they have absolutely vanished. Mr. B. Fletcher Robinson, who wrote the volume on " Rugby Football " for Messrs. Innes's Isthmian Library, has undertaken the general editorship of this series of books on sport, resigned, owing to the pressure of other work, by Mr. Max Pemberton. The fund for the Huxley memorial is now about £2900, which has come from all parts of the world. The full-sized model for the statue, on which Mr. Onslow Ford, R.A., is engaged, is well advanced; and the t rustees of the British Museum of Natural History at South Kensington have accepted the offer of the statue itself, which will be in marble. The nature of any additional memorial must largely depend upon the amount still to be subscribed. Professor G. B. Howes, Royal College of Science, South Kensington, S.W. is the hon. secretary. To his numerous contributions to the study of Early and Middle English, Dr. Sweet is adding a " Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon." The head words are given in plain modern English, and brevity and conciseness have been aimed at throughout. The Clarendon Press will publish the work. Two important books about Africa are announced by Messrs. Methuen, namely, by Sir H. H. Johnston on " British Central Africa," and by Captain Sidney Hinde on " The Fall of the Congo Arabs." The latter is au account of the Belgian expedition to the Upper Congo. At a general meeting of the London Library the committee received authority to borrow £25,000 to cover the expenses of reconstructing the library. The number of members has increased in eight years from 1600 to 2380. The death took place recently of Mr. Robert Harrison, who was formerly secretary and libra- rian to the London Library, and in that capacity assisted a great many famous writers—Thackeray, Carlyle, Charles Reade, Kingsley, George Eliot, Lord Lytton. When writing " The Virginians," Thackeray came for a Life of General Wolfe. "I don't want," he said, "an historical account of his career, Lord Mahon's book gives me that, but I want something that will tell me the colour of his breeches." The most conspicuously original man among them was Carlyle, Mr. Harrison told the Librarians'Conference in 1891: He often visited tbe library. His conversation was most amusing, fall of extravagant and exaggerated statements, and always ending with a loud langh, apparently at himself. He need the library books extensively for his later works, and was guilty of the reprehensible praotice of writing on the margins of their books. HW remarks were never meaningless, bnt chiefly consisted of corrections of dates or errors in the text.  ## p. 229 (#277) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 229 COBRESPONDENCE. I.—The I. S. A. as Publishers. IS not the idea contained in the concluding remarks of Julie Sutter's letter feasible and worth close consideration? It seems almost a ■duty for this Society to show the world of letters how a book should be turned out on true business lines, with every detail square and above board, no false parade at the start, no mystifying accounts at the finish. Such a departure could not fail to furnish a most excellent model. And why should not the venture prove lucrative as well? That the opportunity would be welcomed by members, I imagine there can be no manner of doubt. This old bird's eyes are growing a bit filmy. He hopes they may yet be gladdened with a sight of the inscription, I. S. A., upon many a title-page. According to Julie Sutter there are certain valuable hints in respect of literature " made in Germany" which are by no means to be despised. Let us hasten to consider them for our mutual advantage. Old Bird. Authors' Club, S.W., Jan. 9th, 1897. II.—Educational Criticism. As a University graduate, taking almost as great an interest in the cause of education as if I were personally engaged in that profession, I was very glad to read some recent letters in your journal on the subject of educational criticism; for it is difficult to form any idea of the amount of injustice perpetrated in this branch of litera- ture. Some time ago, the Spectator had some sensible letters commenting on the absence of rancour in the English political world; it were much to be desired that we could likewise speak of the absence of rancour in the educational world, but, unfortunately, such is not the case. Just as there is no branch of literature in which so much log-rolling is going on, so there is none in which so much relentless hostility is prevalent. It is true that, as your correspondent, "Fair Play," has pointed out, intelligent people will systematically disbelieve any virulent educational criticism; but, unfortunately, there are still some innocent readers who implicitly believe them, and others who are always inclined to accept the bad rather than the good. But the worst feature of the evil is that the whole department of educational criticism is brought into discredit by the ubiqui- tous educational log-roller, although there are still some honest and impartial educational critics. It is hard to see how the evil is to be eradicated, but the only practical remedy lies in the hands of editors, to whom your first corresjoadent on the subject, signing himself an "Education^ ^uthor," has addressed a sensible warning. If they made a practice of rejecting all acrimonious and person- ally insulting criticism on educational works, they might succeed in putting down an abuse which causes so much mischief, and inflicts so much pain. _^^o__ B.A. (Oxon.) III.—A Want. A correspondent writes :—" S. G." asks in the last number, " Is it not time that we had a good German-English Dictionary?" There is a great probability that the want will be supplied. I have just seen announced that the celebrated Germanist Dr. Daniel Sanders has undertaken to compile the German-English part of Professor Muret's excellent "Encyclopodisches WSrterbuch der Englischen Sprache" (published by Langen- scheidt at Berlin), and that the first Lieferung will be issued by the beginning of this month. Professor Sanders combines profound scholar- ship with the knack of producing thoroughly practical books, and so it may be confidently expected that his German-English dictionary will supply the desideratum. IV.—The Country Contributor. May I call your attention to a want that is greatly felt among contributors to magazines who live in the country and abroad. Supposing we have from fifteen to twenty articles out at a time, we are obliged to buy from fifteen to twenty magazines weekly or monthly, as the case may be, till we see our work in print. Sometimes we are obliged to look out for more than a year before we are rewarded, so you may imagine how little profit remains. Are there none among your readers who for a small fee would undertake to make a weekly visit to a reading-room in town and look up our articles for us? We should be grateful. A Well-wisher. V.—A Voice from Chili. I am too far away, and generally too much in "the wilds," to keep in touch with the Society, but it may interest my fellow members to learn that in this little Republic they have a good precedent for claiming more liberal terms in regard to postage of printed matter. For the encouragement of literature all news- papers, magazines, and pamphlets are posted free in Chili; so that in the most out-of-the-way parts the press of Valparaiso or Santiago can be obtained by arrangement at face value. Letters may equally be re-addressed again and again without extra charge. In the cities letters are posted for 2 centivos, while from one  ## p. 230 (#278) ############################################ THE A UTIIOR. end of Chili to tli<* other they only cost 5 centivos, or little over Jr/. When it is con- sidered that the length of Chili is about 2400 miles, the advantages to the people of the country can be better appreciated. It is true that the working of the system is not equal to the intention. But England can say nothing as to this so long as the penny postage principle has been persistently ignored in practice, and in place of the rich and populous centres paying for the less populous extremities, no facilities— postal or telegraphic—are extended without local guarantees. We may hate given the world the lead, but it has passed us hopelessly in liberal treatment of Press and people. This will remain so long as the country is robbed, by a monopoly, of thrte millions sterling anuually, which belongs to the people for increased facilities. W. Anderson Sjhth. .Coronel de Chili, Dec. 16, 1896. VI.—Facetious Eeviewino. Has not the individual who uses a responsible calling as a vehicle for the advancement of his own facetiousness been somewhat lightly treated by those who have of late propounded their views upon the duties of critics? No one who takes the trouble to follow the methods of latter-day bouk- dissection can be blind to the existence of a school worked upon these offensive lines at the expense of the unfortunate writer. Most of us appreciate genuine humour. When, however, we supply the opportunities for the misplaced efforts of other.-, the relish for it is distinctly bitter. Few, perhaps, will dispute the fact that such notices are, in themselves, clever and amusing. But are they criticisms at all in the accepted sense? To employ the literary scalpel for the selfish purpose of slashing and wounding seems to me an altogether mischievous abuse of power. Yet such is surely only too often the practice of many reviewers of the class I venture to condemn. One experts advice rather than ridicule from the conscientious examiner. When he sacrifices his talents upon the altar of smartness the result is undignified. It is not a pleasant reflection that the stories we are weaving in serious inood may prove mere pegs for the facetious critic's sallies. Authors' Club, S.W. Cecil Clarke. Jan. 19th, 1897. VII.—The Fiction of the Future. As the editor shows himself so ready to throw open the columns of The Author to correspon- dence, I should like to elicit the ideas and opinions of those of our members and others competent to form an opinion on a question which has frequently occurred to me of late, and which seems to me of importance, namely, What is the present position of the English novel and the immediate future of English fiction? That we are in a state of transition and that the end of the nineteenth century brings with it the end of an era in fiction, that we are moving towards something different, appears to me to be the case. But whither are we tending? The long-laboured :md long-winded efforts- in fiction of some of our still most highly respec ed forefathers and foremothers, running into two or three hundred thousand words, and culmi- nating in or gravitating into the old yellow-back which was to be seen in every other reading young lady's hand, as characteristic of the mid- Victorian epoch of fictional literature, has become a thing of the past, and possibly the ancient yellow-back relegated to the retirement of the museums as examples to the young of what their grandfathers and grandmothers once read. The "three-decker," which has had a highly cieditable innings and done good service in its day, is now condemned, and will very soon no more meet modern requirements than Nelson's gallant old ship the Victory, now lying in Portsmouth harbour, will stand by the side of modern fast cruisers and ironclads. I can tell what won't be. I can tell that these forms of fictional literature will be things of the past. But what will take their place? Fiction, in some shape or form, the reading world will hunger for, and will pay for, and will have. The detective story has had its run. The noble red man enthralled the imagination of our schoolboy days, the untrodden wilds of Africa have been tapped of wonderous romance, our own social life has been depicted in all its forms. But what must be the next craze? What form will it take? is what I ask, and what I don't know, unless, if I may hazard a suggestion, we follow on American lines—short, crisp, original, thrilling, tragic, like everything else in the United States. But this would open a wider question than I can hope for a moment to be allowed space to discuss. One thing: it seems to me that the greater and increasing speed at which we live will render impracticable and intolerable to the patience of readers any but shorter or more exciting books, and these, of course, only of one-volume length. That serial publications will continue to absorb vast quantities of fiction there can be no doubt. But what besides? T. W. D. L. VIII.—Thirteen Copies as Twelve. In the January issue of The Author my old friend Mr. Tuer, who writes on this subject,  ## p. 231 (#279) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 231 appeal's to have misunderstood my letter which was published in your December number. My complaint was that the majority of publishers in rendering an author his royalty accounts pay him no royalty on every thirteenth copy, on the grounds that when a bookseller orders a dozen copies they have to give him a copy in. It is no doubt a fact that while many book- sellers are unable to order a dozun copies of any particular book, they, to put it in bookseller's language, secure the odd copy by sorting up various books; that is, they take a mixed dozen and are given a thirteenth volume of some kind in. At the same time publishers, particularly the smaller firms, undoubtedly sell a certain number of copies in ones, twos, and threes, in which < ase there is no thirteenth copy given away. The author is thus, one might almost say, defrauded of his royalty on a certain number of copies, and there also comes in the very important question whether the publisher is entitled to refuse to pay- royalty in those cases where he "gives away," as he terms it, a thirteenth copy to any person ordering a dozen copies of one book, or of various books. I hope Mr. Tuer, and othars who may have read the letter, will understand that J was not running a tilt against the system of (to use Mr. Tuer's word) "bribing" the bookseller to take a dozen copies by giving hiin an extra one in; and in defending that system he has, if he will forgive me saying it, entirely missed my point. To include a few extra articles in the price (or to sell at a lower price, which is the same thing) when a large quantity is taken, is a common practice in most trades, and there is nothing un- reasonable in it. In the publishing trade the custom of handing to a bookseller thirteen volumes when he pays for twelve, seems to me unobjectionable, except so far as it gives the publisher an opportunity of declining to pay the author one-thirteenth of the royalties to which he is entitled. The arrangement seems to me not only primitive but unbusinesslike. In almost any other trade—that of the baker perhaps excepted— the thirteenth copy would be done away with in favour of increased discount on large orders. The bookseller is not really given a copy; he is sold the books at a lower price in considera- tion of his taking a certain number. I trust I have made it quite clear that both my letter and Mr. Hutchinson's remark referred not to transactions between publisher and bookseller, but between publisher and author, and that I was justified in applauding Messrs. Hutchinson's system of, when rendering royalty accounts, ignoring the fact that they give thirteen copies as twelve to the bookseller, on the grounds that the thirteenth copy is a matter of business between the publisher and bookseller, and does not concern the author. I am glad to know that in this opinion they do not stand alone. The whole subject, I would venture to sug- gest, might with advantage be discussed and settled by the new Association of Publishers and our Society. John Bickerdyke. IX.—Presentation Copies. The following correspondence should be of interest to readers of The Author. Blankton is really one of the wealthier quarters of London. Mr. " X. Y. Z." is strongly of an opinion that to comply with such a request would be not only weak-minded but wrong—his reason appears in his letter: From the Blankton Free Public Library (supported by J'oluntary Contributions) to X. V. Z., Esq. Dear Sib,—I am writing in the name of the committee of the above Institution to ask if you will kindly help us with some of your books, as a free gift. Finding they are asked for, but unfortunately owing to over small subscrip- tion list, being a voluntary library, the funds will not permit ns to purchase. All previous efforts to obtain assistance from the rates have proved unsuccessful. We have over 600 free readers, and could increase our number considerably if we bad more books. As many noted authors like yourself have most generously helped us, I trust that we may not appeal to you in vain to aid us to distribute good literature among the people, who cannot afford to buy books for themselves.—I am, dear Sir, The Librarian. Reply of X. Y. Z., Esq. Dear Sir,—1 have carefully considered your request for books. It seems to me that Blankton people should have the rudimentary public spirit necessary to support a free library adequately. I fail to see why I should atone for the meanness of the local ratepayer. I entirely respect your motivea, but I believe your methods are unsound. The more successful your library the less need (parsimony will say) for assistance from the public funds.—Yours faithfully, ^ X. Y. Z. X.—Reviewing. Unquestionably "Annabel Gray" is right to a certain extent. I know that in certain cases the editor in giving out a book to the reviewer reminds him that the author is a friend, and this ev' 11 when the policy of the paper is a perfectly honest one in matters of notice. There are probably few journals so completely organised that there is entire independence in the respect of reviewing. A journal for which I used at one time to do some reviews, the Nation, of New York, had a rule which was observed as rigidly as possible, never to give a book for review to a member of the staff who was either a friend or an en- my of the author, but it was impossible  ## p. 232 (#280) ############################################ 232 THE AUTHOR. to refuse to raview a book by a friend of the editor, and difficult to prevent this fact from influencing the mind of the reviewer. But if thi friendship involved also the giving of the advertisement to the paper it would be still more difficult to stop the quid pro quo, viz., a shade in the review. The translation of personal friend- ship into interested relation is so easy ihat it is difficult to draw any line of demarcation. The direct praise of a book because of the advertise- ment is, I should think, very rare with any journal of sufficient character to exercise any influence on the public, but there is a fonn of log-rolling in reviewing which is equally dishonest, and which, to my personal knowledge, has been in one eminent case tried with preat success. Several friends of the author, in more or less intimati relations with several hading journals, secured the reviewing of the book, and were provided with early proof-sheets of if, so that th«y had leisure to prepare elaborate reviews before the general public or the Press at large had a sight of it. Their reviews were all printed at the earliest moment possible after the issuing of the book, and before any unfriendly critic had a chance to say a word to stem the torrent of laudation which was set in motion by the clique. The consequence was, naturally, the impression on the public of an unanimity of approval which was far from being the fact. W. XI.—Reviewing ok Puffing? Most persons who care anything about literary criticism, and who reflect upon its condition in England to-day, will agree with your correspondent, Cecil Clarke, that "signed criticism" is desirable if any improvement is to be hoped for. But—and I have some know- ledge of the facts—I believe this change to bi imperative, not because unsigned criticism gives an opportunity for personal spite and malignity on the part of the reviewer, but because the present system of "puffs," by dishonest, incom petent "critics,'" is infinitely more injurious to anything that can be called literature, than the wholesale slashing and slaughter of the critics of yesterday. The argument that signed criticism by Jones or Smith would have no weight, may be disposed of in an instant. At the present moment with whom does the greater mass of reviews have any weight? Not certainly with any person of scholarship, taste, and acquaint- anceship with letters in England, France, Germany, and Italy. This body of readers attaches no more weight to the " notices" of one paper than another, and knows that on an average they are pretty much on the same level. When, as occasionally happens, the name of Professor Dowden, or Professor Hutchinson, or Mr. Hale White is appended to a review, no matter where it appears, the attentive considera- tion of those persons whom the French called lettres, is immediately secured, and the same process takes place when reviews appear unsigned by men of critical judgment and scholarship. This, however, only affects a small section of the reading public; whereas the puffing system carried on by most papers affects the mass of readers, and is no doubt responsible for the national taste in fiction at this moment. Books are puffed, either because the publishers are good advertising customers, or because the authoress meets the editor in society, or because she (or he, as the case may be) is a friend of the critic; or because the eminent Mr. So-and-so (also a friend) has described a volume of mediocre painstaking essays in extravagant language, and the "critic" is too ignorant or too timid to express an honest contrary opinion. For example, a few weeks ago a journal-—I will not say at what period in the day it appears —exhausted language to puff a second-rate cleverish novel. It was a lone: review, nearly a page long. Yet the glaring untruth to life—and what is more important to all artistic propriety?— which is to be found in the figure of a country servant who talks "epigrams" precisely of the same quality and order as the authoress's own, were never even hinted at. Now this review is not taken, as it ought to be, as the expression of opinion on the part of a young gentleman who verv likely had the privilege of talking to the brilliant and possibly handsome authoress the night before at dinner, but as the deliberate record of a paper with some literary reputation and tradition, and, per se, carrying authority and weight. Had the review been signed, it would be easy in future for persons of discernment to know what value to attach to the literary opinions of the critic responsible for it; and to discriminate between the reviews of this individual and those of better-informed and more impersonal members of the staff—a great gain all round. Here is another instance. There has appeared this season an edition of some of Hans Auderseu's stories which, though containing the actual incidents of the original, are, owing to the version in which they are given, nothing but a travesty of the exquisite art of this poet. Now I have taken the trouble to collect the "reviews" that have appeared; and I find amongst some twenty not a single comment upon the production of this version, so remote from the beauty of the real Andersen, but, instead, interjections about its being a "charming gift book " and the like. It  ## p. 233 (#281) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 233 is perfectly clear not only that these critics, attached to highly respectable papers with literary reputations, have never read the German version of the stories, but that they are furthermore unacquainted with the perfect rendering of them by Dr. Dulcken. Now why should persons wholly unacquainted with the elementary knowledge of their crafts- manship be entrusted with the functions of criticising? We cannot all be classical scholars, but surely, at least, the man or woman who gets up to criticise even the most trumpery modern novel should have some standard to which to refer; and how can he (or she) do this without a prolonged and persistent study of the best that has been written, at any rate in English, French, German, and Italian, and with some acquaintanceship, if only gained by translation, of the spirit of classical literature? Why should there not be an examination for the critic upon the book he is going to review with some such questions as these ?— What is bis age? What are his favourite authors? What are his chief studies? Does he ever read any literature prior to the birth of Tolstoi and Ibsen p Does he dine ont with authors and authoresses: and is he on terms of friendship with the fashionable ones? Is he usually honest in the expression of his opinion? F. H. L. MR. HERBERT SPENCER'S PORTRAIT. ALETTER from Mr. F. Howard Collins appeared in the Times on Jan. 6, com- municating the address of congratulation which had been forwarded to Mr. Herbert Spencer, and the reply of the latter to the same. Mr. Collins added: "I am happy to be able to state that Mr. Hubert Herkonier, R.A., has expressed his gratification at being asked by the committee, and has consented to undertake the painting of the portrait. An account, entitled 'The Herbert Spencer Portrait Fund,' has been opened at the western branch of the Bank of England, Burling- ton-gardens, W., to which donations may be sent." The following is the address •.— The Camp, Sunningdale, Dec. 16, 1896. Dear Sib,—We, the undersigned, offer you our cordial congratulations upon the completion of your "System of Synthetic Philosophy." Not all of us agreeing in equal measure with its conclu- sions, we are all at one in our estimate of the great intellectual powers it exhibits, and of the immense effect it has produced in the history of thonght; nor are we less impressed by the high moral qualities which have enabled you to concentrate those powers for so many years upon a purpose worthy of them, and, in spite of all obstacles, to carry out eo vast a design. To the many who, like us, have learned to honour the man while profiting by his writings, it would be a satisfaction to possess an authentic personal likeness of the author. It has therefore occurred to us that the occasion might be appropriately marked by requesting you to permit us to employ some eminent artist to take your portrait with a view to its being deposited in one of our national collections for the benefit of ourselves and of those who come after us. We hope that your health may be benefited by the leisure which you have earned so well, and that you may long continue to enjoy the consciousness of having com- pleted your work. The above address was signed by eighty-two of the leading men and women in the sciences and literature in the Kingdom. Mr. Herbert Spencer replied as follows :— "2, Lewes-crescent, Brighton, Dec. 19, 1896. "My dear Hooker,—If, as may fitly be said, the value of congratulations increases in a geome- trical progression with the eminence of those offering them, I may, indeed, be extremely gratified by the accumulation coming from men standing so high in various spheres. And an accompanying pleasure necessarily results from the good wishes expressed for my health and happiness during my remaining days. "The further honour offered has caused in me some mental conflict. Eight years ago, to the inquiry whether I would sit for a subscription portrait to be painted by Millais, I replied nega- tively, assigning the reasons that the raising of funds to pay the costs of conferring marks of approbation had grown into an abuse; that the moral coercion under which contributions were in many cases obtained was repugnant to me; and that I objected to have my known and unkuown friends asked to tax themselves to the required extent. These reasons survived, and, swayed by them, I recently sent a copy of the letter in which they had been stated to the gentleman with whom the proposal now made originated, thinking thereby to prevent further trouble. I was unaware to how large an extent the proposal had been adopted, and how dis- tinguished were the numerous gentlemen who had given it their support. I now find myself obliged either inconsistently to waive my objec- tion or else rudely to slight the cordially-expressed feelings and wishes of so manv whose positions and achievements command my great respect. Between the alternatives there seems to be practi- cally no choice. I am compelled to yield to the request made in so sympathetic a manner by signatories so eminent, and at the same time must express to them through you my full sense of the honour done me. "I am, my dear Hooker, sincerely yours, "Herbert Spencer."  ## p. 234 (#282) ############################################ 234 THE AUTHOR. OBITUARY. SIR TRAVERS TWISS, Q.C., D.C.L., the eminent jurist, died on Jan. 14, in his eighty-eighth year. His works included "A View of the Progress of Political Economy in Europe since the 16th Century," "The Law of Nations in Time of Peace," "The Law of Nations in Time of War," and " The Black Book of the Admiralty." Mrs. Hungerford died at Bandon, Ireland, on the 24th ult. She was the author of over forty novels, besides numerous short stories and maga- zine articles. Her literary career began when, as a young wife of eighteen years of age, she wrote "Phillis," which Messrs. Smith and Elder pub- lished on the strong recommendation of Mr. James Payn, their reader. "Molly Bawn," the novelist's second venture, had a great success, and all through the subsequent years Mrs. Hungerford had a constant public for her books. Among others, these included " The Duchess," very popu- lar in America, "Portia," " Airy Fairy Lilian," "Rossmoyne," "A Life's Remorse," "Under- currents,'" "A Born Coquette," "Lady Patty," "Nor Wife, nor Maid." Only three weeks ago Mrs. Hungerfcrd's last published book, a col- lection of (ales entitled "An Anxious Moment, &c." appeared; but two finished stories remain which it had been arranged should appear this spring. Mrs. Hungerford, who was twice married, was the daughter of the late Canon Hamilton, rector and vicar choral of St. Fanghnan's Cathe- dral, Ross Carberry, county Cork, one of the oldest churches in Ireland. The cause of death was typhoid. Mr. Frederic John Mouat, M.D., F.R.C.S., LL.D., who died at Kensington, on Jan. I2tb, was president of the Royal Statistical Society from 1890-92, and member of the Senate of Calcutta University. He was the author of " An Atlas of Anatomy, with descriptive letterpress in English and Hindustani," "A Manual of Anatomy," and other works, and was joint author of "Hospital Construction and Management," "Prison Ethics and Prison Labour," &c. A historian of India passed away in Mr. James Talboys Wheeler, whose works included "History of India," in four volumes; "Shorter History of India and the Frontier States," and " India under British Rule." Mr. Wheeler was Assistant- Secretary in the Indian Foreign Office during the Viceroyalty of Lord Lawrence, and afterwards held the post of secretary to the Chief Commis- sioner of British Burma. Mr. Robert Harrison, the Librarian of the London Library, (76), had lived about ten years n Russia in early life, and was well-informed upon Russian literature. He wrote a small book entitled "Nine Years in Russia"; and, in con- junction with the late Mr. Gostwick, " The Out- lines of German Literature." He also edited. Mackenzie's " Universal Dictionary of Biography." Sir Isaac Pitman, the inventor of phonography, died at Bath on the 22nd, aged 84. The Rev. Thomas Arnold, Northampton, (8o), was the author of "Education of Deaf Mutes: A Manual for Teachers." Miss Isabella Blackwood (85) was the eldest daughter of the founder and editor of Maga, and recollected Sir Walter Scott dining at her father's house at Newington. The venerable French geographer, M. Vivien de St. Martin, has died at the age of 94. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Twenty Years of Reviewing. Professor George Saintsbury. Blackwood's Magazine for January. The Question of Reviewing. Opinions of authors in the Westminster Gazette for Jan. 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, and 22; The National Observer for Jan. 19. Non-Literary People. The Spectator for Jan. 16. Victorian Literature. Andrew Lang. Good Words for February. Literary Recollections. Professor F. Max MiiUer. Cormopolis for January. William Morris: The Man and His Work. William Sharp. Atlantic Monthly for Deoember. Thackeray's Haunts and Homes. Eyre Crowe, A.R.A. Scribner's Magazine for January. A Brilliant Irish Novelist (William Carleton). G. Barnett Smith. Fortnightly Review for January. Novels of Irish Life. Macmillan's Magazine for January. Mr. Charles Lamb of the India House. Macmillan's Magazine for January. Hk.n 11 ik Ibsen. R. H. Shcrard. Humanitarian for January. The New Realism. H. D. Traill. Fortnightly Review for January. Coventry Patmore. Arthur Symons. The New Review for January. Professor Saintsbury delivers himself as the Old Reviewing Hand. Except that he once refused a book in Syriac, because he does not know the language, and that he has always declined books on the currency, he has written reviews of all kinds of work. He has had twenty years' experience, but he says that it is only at the end of the journey that a man becomes a really qualified reviewer. It is very fascinating work, and he is as sure that there is an Art of Criticism as he is that there is no Science in it. Specialist knowledge is not, as a rule, necessary or even desirable in the critic. There is at the present moment a little too much reviewing. The individual review, and even the "chorus of  ## p. 235 (#283) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 235 reviewers," indolent or otherwise, has lost some of its old authority. "Reviews come out so thick and so fast that any mark made by a single one on that elastic target the public apprehension is quickly effaced by others." Here is what Professor Saintsbury thinks is demanded at the present day: Fewer reviews; greater concentration of power and authority in those that are given; something like despotism, provided it be vigilant, intelligent, and benevolent on the part of the editor; better training in the history and methods of criticism in general literature and knowledge. The critic's business is in the main that of judging, not the man or the merits of the man so much as the work and the nature, rather than the merits or demerits, of the work. The blame and the praise will occur, but they are rather accidents than essentials of the critic's function. For the rest, Professor Saintsbury regards the mere "account rendered " as the worst review of all; though it is rivalled by the kind which simply makes the book a peg on which to hang the reviewer's own reflections, grave or gay. In all the varieties, however, ignorance, as usual, is more to blame than malice, and not ignorance of fact so much as what may be called ignorance of art. Some rather despairing views of the criticism in vogue have been elicited by the Westminster Gazette. Mr. David Christie Murray, for instance, has come to the conclusion that in the lump the criticism of fiction is hopelessly incom- petent or incurably dishonest. Perhaps a score of journals, he says, offer a real aid to judgment. Hundreds more are quite outside the sphere of sordid influences, but are manned by people who follow the lead of the critical smasher, whose business it is to make false coin pass for U'ue. "Edna Lyall" wishes that the rompte-rendu form of review were abolished, and helpful criticism take its place. Mrs. Sarah Grand has been astonished by the bias, the absence of anything like dispassionate consideration, and the utter want of discrimination shown by most of her critics; and she is sorry to say that she has also been horrified by their want of honesty. On the other hand, Mr. Crockett, Mr. Hall' Caine, and Mr. Blackmore express themselves generally satisfied, the last declaring, however, that the reviewer's first duty is to the public. Mr. Le Gallienne regards log-rolling. <r la Leigh Hunt, as desirable; but he differentiates between this and dishonest reviewing. Mr. Ian Mac- Laren thinks reviewers should be a distinct order in the- profession of letters, and that their reviews should be signed just as a report by a scientific expert is signed. Mr: Lends Hind, Mr. Henry Norman, and Mr. Clement Shorter, as literary editors, pronounce upon the cire which is taken to secure fair reviews and to detect merit. Log-rolling, says Mr. Norman, simply wouldn't pay; editors don't go to sleep in these matters, and if a reviewer of a reputable paper puffs a bad book, he is likely to hear of it very soon from his editor. Mr. Hind, the editor of the Academy, in the same way, is almost inclined to deny the existence of log-rolling altogether. Mr. Shorter, however, says the force of circum- stances is all too strong for us to get quite rid of it. Among ready suggestions of defect which crop up in all these letters, the most notable is that which comes at the same moment from Mr George Gissing and Mrs. Sarah Grand—namely, the reviewer's habit of quoting sentences uttered by a character in a novel as though they came from the author himself. "In one little story of mine," says Mrs. Grand, "a very pompous character talks of a sound having 'penetrated to the inner- most recesses of audition.' One reviewer tore this passage from the text and quoted it as an example of my own execrable style, with a com- ment on the prica which he stated I received for such stuff." Mr. William Archer, unlike most of the other authorities, thinks the practice of pluralism is to be viewed with a certain suspicion; for, as we all have likes and dislikes, it is extremely unfair that the reviewer who has in one paper c.illed a book bad should take advan- tage of his influence to do the like in five or six other papers. Mr. Oswald Crawfurd suggests that reviews should be written from a less superior standpoint—authors being human beings, and reviewers not absolute gods. Mr. George Manville Fenn wishes, for one thing, that the reviewer could grasp the fact that a novel is often written to suit the needs and clientele of some particular magazine, and to appear in serial form. Mr. Max Pember- ton t'e:irs that there is a good deal of dishonest work done in the shadow of anonymity, and suggests that where a review is very bitter it should bear the signature of its author. "A Literary Editor" explains the difficulties of his office. He says that the residue of books—the crowd of novels and poems by altogether un- known people which remain after the others have been divided into their classes of history, science, novels by well-known writers, and so on—are generally dealt with by a more or less haphazard selection being made, the preference being given to the books of well-known publishers or to those which have been well advertised by the puff preliminary. And it. does not pay a reviewer to carry out the ideal of reading a large number of books for no purpose beyond the purely negative  ## p. 236 (#284) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. one of ascertaining that they are not worth reviewing. A writer in the National Observer, finally, upholds the class of reviewers for per- forming well a thankless task, and says they will assure you that they have to read 'so much trash that when a well-written and able book comes their way they are almost reduced to tears of thankfulness. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. UNDER this heading it is proposed to give a monthly return of all the books worthy of being called books published during the month, excluding the little story books, &c., which swell up the enormous total of books returned in the annual list. [December 24 to January 23—135 Books.] Allen, G. Historical Guide to Florence. 3 6 net. Richards. ., Historical Guide to Paris. 3/6 net. Anonymous. Watch-Song of Heabane the WitneBS. 10 fi. Murray. Austin, A. The Conversion of Winckelmann, Ac. 6 - Macmillan. Bax, P. B. J. The Cathedral Church of St. Asaph, ft - net. Stock. Beardslev. Aubrey. A Book of Fifty Drawings. 10 6 net. Smitbers. Benson, E. F. The Babe, B.A. 6 - Putnam. Bewes, W. A. Church Briefs. 18 - net. Black. Bickerstaff, J. B. Philomath Triumphant, 4c. 1 - net. Andrews. Blackmore, E. The British Mercantile Marine. 3 6. Griffin Blaikie,W.G. Thomas Chalmers (Famous Scots Series). 16. Oliphant. Bolt, Ben. Anthony Jasper. 2 - Unwin. Bo wen, H. W. International Law. (/- Putnam. Braddon. Mrs. London Pride. Simpkin. Marshall. Breton, F. The Black Mass. f. - Hutchinson. Burroughs, J. (Selections). A Year In the Fields, t - Smith. Elder. Cartwright, Mrs. E. A Slight Indiscretion. 1- Unwin. Cberbullez.V. With Fortune Made (tr. M. E. Simkins). fi - Hutchinson Colls, W. L. Pictorial Photographs (18 Plates). 21- Kegan Paul. Conder, C. B. Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. 10H9-1291. 71\. Palestine Exploration Fund. Crane. S. The Black Riders, and other Lines. Heinemann. Crawford, J. H. Summer Days for Winter Evenings. Macc(ueen. Croker, B. M. Beyond the Pale. Chatto. Crump. A. Wide Asunder as the Poles. 6 - Longmans. Clodd, E. Pioneers of Evolution. 6 -net. Richards. Collectanea, Third SerieB (Professor Burrows, editor). 21, - Frowde. Craggs, J. U. Heavy Trial Balances Made Easy.'.' 6. Scientific Press. Dawkins. G. H. Present-Day Sires and the Figure System. H. Cox. Diet, of National Biography—xlix. Robinson—Russell. Smith, Elder. Duggan, J. The Life of Christ. 6/- Kegan Paul. Duryea, A. S. P. Sir Knight of the Golden Pathway. 5 - Putnam Dutton. Thos. Obesity. Its Cause and Treatment. It! net. Kimpton. Eales.S.J. Msbillon'B "St. Bernard "—iii..iv. 12- net each. Hodgej. Emerson. P. H. Ca.ibs. the Guerilla Chief. 6 - Nutt. Evans, E. E. Ferdinand Lassalle and Heleue von Donnizes. 1 - Sonnenachein. Eyre-Todd, G.. editor. Scottish Poetry of the 18th Century—v. - Glasgow: Hodge. Fletcher, J. S. God's Failures. S <> net. Lane. Fyne (N'eal). Tbe Land of the Living Dead. 3 6. Drane. Gardner, E. A. Handbook of Greek Sculpture—ii. 5 - Macmilltn. ciibbon. Edward. Autobiographies and Letters. 316. Murray. „ J. C. The Ambassador of Christ. Washbourne. Gissing, A. Tbe 8cholar of Bygate. HutchinBon. Gregor. N. T. History of Armenia. 3/- J. Heywood. Harland, M., and Herrlck, C. T. National Cook Book. 7 fi. Unwin. Harper, A. P. Pioneer Work in Alps of New Zealand. 21 - net. Harria, J.C. Sister Jane. 6,'- Constable. Haycraft, T. W. Executive Powers in Relation to Crime, fi - Bulterworth. Hazlitt, W. C. Four Generations of a Literary Family (The Hazlitts). 31 fi. Redway. Henty, G. A. The Queen's Cup. 15-net. Chatto. Howetson, G. H. The Strike, and Other Poems. 5- Putnam. Higgs, H. The Physiocrats. 3 fi. Macniillan. Hoffman, Professor, editor. Every Boy's Book of Sport. Routledge. Holm, A. History of Greece (from Gorman)—iii. 'I - net. MacTifllan. Hungcrford, Mrs. An AnxiouB Moment, &c. 8(6. Chatto. Hunter. Sir W. W. The Thackerays in India. 2 6 net Frowde. Hutcbeson, J. 0. Young Tom Bowling. 5/- Warne. Ibsen, H. John Gabriel Borkman (tr. W. Archer). Heinemann. James, C. The Finger and the Ring, fi,- Ward and Downey. Johnson, J. C. F. Getting Gold; a Practical Treatise. 8 6. Griffin. Keashey, L. M. The Nicaragua Canal and the Monroe Doctrine. 18.- Putnam, Keightley, S. B. The Last Recruit of Clare's. 6 - Hutchinson. Kingidev. Mary H. Travels in West Africa. 21 - net. Macmillan. Kirby, W. F. A Handbook to Order Lepldoptera—iii. 6/- W.H.Allen. Lang. A. Pickle, the Spy. 18;- Longmans. Langdon, W. E. Application of Electricity to Rail. Workings. Spon. Larchey, L. Narrative of Capt. Colgnet (tr. Mrs. Carey). 3/6. Chatto. Leach, A. F. English Schools at Reformation. 12 - net. Constable, ^eakc, F. Historic Bubbles. Suckling and Galloway, Xentzner, K. Short Hist, of Danish Language. The editor, at Oxford. Lepsius, L. Armenia and Europe (ed. J. R. Harris). fi,- Hodder and Stougbton. Lindsay, J. Recent Advances in Theistlc Philosophy of Religion. 12 6 net. Blackwood. Lorimer. G. C. (ed.). People's Bible History. 20 - Christ. Com. Co. Lowe, C.E. Cyclopaedia of Musicians and Musical Events. 2 - Weekes. Lydekker, R. (editor). The Royal Natural History. Warne. Macalister. R. A. S. Ecclesiastical Vestments. Stock. MacDonagh, M. Bishop Doyle, J.K.L 2 - Unwin. Marmery, J. V. Wit, WiBdom, and Folly. Digby, Long. Martin, Mrs. H. Gentleman George. Hurst and Blacken, Maurier, George du. English Society (Sketches). 12 6. Osgood. Miller, Esther. The Sport of the Gods. 6 - Innes. Morgan, Sir G. O. Eclogues of Virgil in English Hexameter Verse. 4 C net. Frowde. Morrison, W. D. Juvenile Offenders. I',- Unwin. Newton, A. A Dictionary of Birds—Part iv. 7 6 nM. Black. Ogle. W. Tr. of Aristotle on Youth and Old Age, Ac. 7 fi. Longmans. Paullan (L.). The Beggars of Paris (tr. Lady Herschell). Arnold. Peek. H. (editor). The Poetry of Sport. Longmans. Peel. Sir R. A Bit of a Fool. 6 - Downey. Phillpotts, E. Lying Prophets. 6 - Innes. Phillpson, J. The Art and Craft of Coachbuilding. Bell, i'hilpot, Mrs. J. H. The Sacred Tree. 8 6 net. Macmillan. Post, M. D. Strange Scheme* of Randolph Mason. 8 fi. Putnam. Powell, Q. H. Animal Episodes and Studies in Sensation. 3 6 net. Redway. Putnam, G. H. Books and their Makers during the Middle Ages—li. Putnam. Renton. A. W. Law of and Work in Lunacy. Stevens and Haynes. Revnolds, Sir J. Essays and AddiesseB. 12/- net Macmillan. Rideal, S. Water and its Purification. Crosby, Lockwood. Risley, J. S. The Law of War. 12/- Innes. R. V. The Sentimental Vikings. 2 6 net Lone. Roberts, Lord. Forty-t >ne Years in India. 86/- Bentley. Roliettson, J. M. The Saxon and the Celt (Sociology). Univ. Press. Robinson, Percy. Relics of Old Leeds. Batsford. Romanes, G. J. Essays (edited by C. L. Morgan). 6 - Longmans. Rushington. W. L. Shakespeare an Archer. Liverpool. Lee. Sabbab, J. M. Fanti Customary Laws. 21 -net. Clowes. Salkeld-Cooke, H. Reprobatus, or the Journey of Death a - Church Printing Co. Sanders, N. A Comedy of Three. 1, - I'nwin. Sargant, A. Brownie (with music and illustrations). Dtnt. Scholey, H. Electric Tramways and Railways. 2 - Paasmore. SchwartzkopfT, P. Prophecies of Jesus Christ (tr. N". Buchanan*. •> - Edinburgh : Clark. Sen, Sun Yat. Kidnapped in London. 1 - Bristol: Arrowsmith. Sergeant. A. The Idol-Maker. 6/- Hutchinson. Sharp. Win. Madge o' the Pool, and other Tales. 2 6. Constab'e. Shuckburgh, E. S. History of Helvetian War. 1, 6. Clsy. Soldene. E- My Theatrical and Musical Recollections. 10 fi. Downey. Street, G. S. The Wise and the Wayward. 4 6 net. Lane. Stuart-Glennie, J.S., editor. Greek Folk Poesy—ii. IOC. Nutt. Tarliell, F. B. History of Greek Art 6 - Macmillan. Taylor, H. O. Ancient Ideals. W - Putnam. Thompson, N. (}.. and Cannan, F. L. Figure Skating. Longmans. Tirard, N. Diphtheria and Antitoxin. 7 6. Trobridge, O. By a Way They Knew Not. Spiers. Tubeuf, K. Diseases of Plants induced by Cryptogramic Parasites (tr. W. G. Smith). IS - net. Longmans. Tweedale. V. "And They Two ." 3(1 Redway. Tytler. Sarah. Lady Jean's Son. 6/- Jarrold. Underhlll, F. T. Driving for Pleasure. 28/- net. Heinemann. Warriner, John. National Portrait Gallery of British Musicians. 14 - net. Simpson Low. Watson, R. S. Hist, of Lit. and Philos. Soc. of Newcastle. 21 - Scott. Watson. William. The Yoar of Shame. 2.6 net Lane. Watt, W. A. Theory of Contract in its Social Light. 3- Edin : Clark. Wenall. W. With the E-d Eagle. 6/- Chatto. White, u.,.v Strange, E. F. (editors). Canterbury Cathedral. 1 6. Bell. .. Salisbury Cathedral. 1 S. Bell. Wflemann. J. P. Brazilisn Exchange. Wilson. Willis, J. C. Manual and Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns. Clay. Wundt, W. Outlines Psychologv (tr. C. H. Judd). Williams & Norgato.  ## p. 236 (#285) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. iii IR/IE^IDir ABOUT MARCH. THE LITERARY YEAR-ROOK 1897 EDITED BY FREDERICK G. AFLALO, F.R.G.S., &c. An Exhaustive Book of Reference for all Writers and Readers of Books. AMONG THE CHIEF FEATURES ARE :- A Critical resumi of the past year's Literature, by Krnest Rhys. Portraits and Biographical Sketches of a number of Distinguished Authors. The Year's Obituary, with Portraits. A New and Complete Calendar for Literature. Some Account of the Chief Literary and Scientific Clubs, and Learned Societies and Institutions in the Kingdom, with their Addresses. Directories of Authors, Publishers, and Booksellers. A Directory of the chief Free, Public, and Subscription Libraries in Great Britain and Ireland. Pz-actical Information in connection with the Reading Rooms of the British Museum, Bibliothkque Nationale (Paris), and Knnigliche Bibliothek (Berlin). Articles on various Literary matters. Information concerning the Production of Books and the Processes in Illustration. &c, &c, &c. About 300 pages, crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6dm It is hoped that this volume, which deals with every matter of practical interest to the Literary World, will supply a long-felt want. LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN, RUSKIN HOUSE, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, AND OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.  ## p. 236 (#286) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. ♦ ♦ * ♦ LOWEST PRICES IN LONDON. ♦ -A-vrthora* >1SS. correctly and neatly copied ♦ Carbon ^Duplicates G-ENKHAI. COPYING- at lOd. at Id. per iolio per lOOO words. ♦ LEGAL AND ♦ fVe have a skilled and tccll educated staff of operators. Give us a trial, and compare our tcork and prices with those of other ojices. J Note our address- LARGE ORDERS ESTIMATED FOR. : THE ECLIPSE TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND OFFICES, | : 28, FENCHURCH STREET. LONDON, E.C. I ♦ It THE TEMPLE YPE WRITING EXCEPTIONALLY TYPEWRITING OFFICE. ACCURATE. Moderate prices. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 07 Issue 09 (February 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 07 Issue 09 (February 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-02-01-The-Author-7-9 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/300/1897-03-01-The-Author-7-10.pdf 02046037fb6563e2f33655075e4685fb 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) 1897-03-01 Volume 7 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 237–272 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 10.] MARCH i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PAOE Notices. Ac. 237 Prom the Committee 239 Literary Property— 1. An Agreement—With a Heply 2*0 2 Public Performance of a Dramatic Work not Equivalent to Publication 241 ■% The Beginnings of Literary Property 248 Notes from Elsewhere. By R. H. Sherard 244 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 246 The Literary Year Book 247 The Return of MSS 248 Notee and NewB. By the Editor 248 Sunnysiie— the Home of Irving 251 PAGE Theocritus 253 Vilstor Rydberg 253 An Intelligence Department 255 Annual Dinner of the Incorporated Society of Authors 256 The Battle of the Books 2*9 Subjunctive Mood: its Present-day Use 261 Correspondence—1. The I.S.A. as Publisher. 2. Editor and Contributor. 3. Reviewing. 4. Popularity. 5. The House where Byron was Born. 6. Paying for Publication 2«2 Book Talk 267 Literature in the Periodicals ■ ... 269 Obituary 271 The Books of the Month 271 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1896 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., io«. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., HI., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des (Jens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprioge, late Secretary to the Society. I*. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2*. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. (id. 3. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). u. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. Bv Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 236 (#288) ############################################ 11 AD VEIi TISEMENTS. ^t)e gioctefp of Jlutl)ors (gncoTporafeb). 8ir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. i lfred Austin. J. M. Barrix A. W. a Beckett. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Berone, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Bksant. AU0U8TINE BlRRELL, M.P. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, P.R.S. Rioht Hon. James Brtce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burohclere, P.C. Hall Caine. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conway. P. Marion Crawford. PRESIDENT. G-EOEO-E MEEEDITH. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D A. W. Dubouro. Prof. Michael Foster, P.R.S. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome E. Jerome. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. j. c. parkin80n. Right Hon. Lord Pirbriqht. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Spriooe. J. J. Stevenson. Prof. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonoe. Hon. Counsel E. M. A W. a Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Eqerton Castle. W. Morris Colles. Underdown, Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Hon. John Collier Sir W. Martin Conway. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Henry Norman. S. Squire Spriooe. Solicitors— ( Messrs. Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. \ G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street, W.C. Secretary—G. Herbert Thring, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. .A.. IP. WATT &c SOlsT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SdUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND LONDON. W.C. WINDSOR HOUSE PRINTING WORKS. IBIRylE.A.IMI'S BTJILTJIZCsTO-S, lE.C. Offices of "The Field," "The Queen," "The Law Times," &e. Mr. HORACE COX, Printer to the Authors' Sooiety, takes the opportunity of informing Authors that, having a very large Office, and an extensive Plant of Type of every description, he is in a position to EXECUTE any PRINTING they may entrust to his care. ESTIMATES FORWARDED, AND REASONABLE CHARGES WILL BE FOUND.  ## p. 237 (#289) ############################################ XL he Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 10.] MARCH i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London. Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. I7>OB some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in 'every number of The Author, certain " General Con- fiderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on hit business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VH- in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. HI. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It iB now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in the Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohanoe of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points whioh the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2 ) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no oharge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements; and that all disoounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. C C 2  ## p. 238 (#290) ############################################ 238 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. i. I/WERY member has a right to ask for and to receive I'J advice upon hia agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advioe sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Bemember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, Bend the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the trioks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Bemember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of oourse, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be seoured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6«. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for the Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society doeB not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &o. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? 11 they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It iB a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his oonduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 239 (#291) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 239 or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years P Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at J69 4«. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production " for advertising. Of coarse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. I. AT a meeting of the Committee of the Society of Authors, held 011 Wednesday, Jan. 20th, Mr. Ri.ler Haggard was unanimously elected Chairman for the second time. Mr. F. Storr accepted a seat on the Committee of Management. n. At a meeting of the Committee of Management of the Society of Authors, held at the offices of the Society, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, it was decided, with a view of broadening and strengthen- ing the usefulness of the Society, to appoint two permanent affiliated committees to deal with questions arising with regard to the copyright in musical publications and artistic productions. The Honourable John Collier has consented to become chairman of the committee dealing with Art. Other members of the committee are not yet formed, nor have the members of the musical committee yet been settled. m. The court that you keep is the only one open to all. I cannot allow the apology which has lately appeared in the Artist to be printed and published without asserting my right to reply to it. This apology runs as follows (omitting names, which are immaterial for the purposes of this letter) :— On page — of our issue for there appeared an article under the heading of" "commenting upon an advertisement inserted by Messrs. in the ""newspaper of the last. We have referred to this advertisement and find nothing in it to support the statements, or warrant the insinuations made by our contributor, and we very much regret that such an article should have appeared in our columns On the matter being called to our attention, we recalled the issue as far as possible, and cancelled the article, and we now desire to express our regret and offer our Bincere apologies to the proprietors of the" "and to Messrs. for its appearance, and for any annoyance or damage it may have caused them. The so-called article (one of a number of paragraphs) was written by me. Now, permit me to say in reply to what has been said on one side, that in writing it [ was stoutly supported by the parties concerned in the Artist. I submitted to the editor what I had written, and asked him to look to it before decid- ing to publish—an unusual precaution to take. He afterwards reported to me that what I had said was juRt what should have been said; that the proprietors shared his opinion that it was time for the Artist to declare its position, and to make a determined stand; that the impend- ing threat of an action was a matter of no account: that they would adopt my words as their own, and stand by me whatever befel. There was more to the same effect which need not be repeated. He remembers, and cannot deny, that, referring to a particular passage in the article, he even suggested to me that I might have strengthened my case. This, I should say, was said after the number was published, and pending the issue of the negotiations with the parties who claimed to be aggrieved. Now, the editor has informed me, in reply to a pressing question of miue, that these parties have been pacified by an assurance that nothing with my name attached to it should be allowed, for the present at least, to appear in his paper, and I have satisfied myself, as I have every one of my friends, that the proprietors of the Artist, in order to exonerate themselves, have merci- lessly sacrificed their contributor. As if to add insult to injury, they have used, directly referring to me, a very offensive word. They may perhaps say in reply that the word "insinua- tion " as commonly used means less than it does to me, and that they did not suppose it would be taken so seriously. If they are willing to say only so much, and that publicly, they will be understood to have apologised for their apology. I have respectfully submitted the facts and as  ## p. 240 (#292) ############################################ 240 THE AUTHOR. respectfully ask if I have not just cause of complaint? _, 1 Ernest Radford. Hillside, Liverpool-road, Kingston- on-Thames, Feb. 20, 1897. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—An Agreement—With a Reply. ri^HE following notes on this agreement I appeared in The Author of lust month. As a reply has been received from the publisher concerned, the notes and the agree- ment are reprinted, so that readers may be able without reference to the February number to form their own conclusion on the subject. I. NOTES ON AN AGREEMENT. The following agreement has been handed 1o the secretary of the Society. It has been signed by an author, and, like all the agreements printed in The Author, can be verified by any member of the Society who cares to inquire at the office for full particulars. The outlines of this agreement have been printed in The Author two or three times previously, as the publisher issues the same printed form on nearly every occasion. On this panicular occasion the figures of the agreement are perhaps rather more in favour of thepub.isher than usual, owing to the author's ignorance, and to the fact that he obtained no advice before signing the document, It will be seen 011 perusal that the publisher is to publish " an edition" of a certain woik, and to sell it at the published or advertised price of io*. 6d. per copy; this edition is to be the pro- perty of the said publisher. There is no state- ment as to how large the edition is to be, so that if the book should prove a success the publisher might, if he chose—there is nothing to prevent him—claim the first edition to be one of 3000 or perhaps 5000 copies. Next, the author is to guarantee at the end of nine months the sale of 450 copies at the price of six shillings, or ,£135. This amount will almost certainly cover all the cost of production, if only a small edition is produced in the first instance, and will also put a certain sum into the publisher's pocket. Remark, therefore, that it is not to the interest of the publisher to push the book until the expira- tion ot the nine months, because he will then demand the author's money according to the agreement, and afterwards he will put in his own ket the proceeds of every book sold. If the k is not a success, the publisher is well paid, and the author, inasmuch as he has to purchase three or four hundred copies of his own book, has to take upon himself really the publisher's duty of putting these copies upon the market in order to endeavour to recoup his outlay. For writing the book therefore; for paying for the cost of production; and for undertaking to a large extent the publisher's duty, the author obtains nothing whatever; and, further, has very little probability of ever obtaining anything, if, as has been pointed out, there should be practically no limit to the first edition. Memorandum of agreement made this day of between (publisher) of the one part, and (author) of the other part. Tbe said publisher hereby agrees to produce in tasteful form, and publish in the usual manner at his own expense, an edition of u volume written by the said author and entitled" ," the said volume to consist of 504 pages, crown octavo size, and to b« published at ten shillings and sixpence per copy. The said author hereby agrees to be responsible for tbe salo of 450 copies of the said volume, and undertakes, at the expiration of nine months from the date of publication, to purchase at the rate of six shillings per copy whatever number of copies, if any, be necessary to make the sales up to the said number of 450 oopies. This edition to be the property of the said publisher, and all proofs of the same to be corrected and returned promptly to the printer by the said author. It is understood that the copyright of the said volume is, and remains, the property of the author. As witness, Ac. II. THE PUBLISHER'8 ANSWER. In the February number of The Author, on page 213, there is a reference to one of my agree- ments (although my name is not mentioned), on which I should be glad if you will allow me to make some observations. It is stated by the writer of the "Notes " :— 1. "That the publisher is to print an edition of a certain book and sell it at the published or advertised price of 10*. 6d. per copy. 2. "That there is no statement as to how large the edition is to be, so that, if the book should prove a succees, the publisher might, if he chose —there is nothing to prevent him—claim the first edition to be one of 3000, or, perhaps, 5000 copies. 3. "The author is to guarantee at the end of nine months the sale of 450 copies at the price of bs. 4. "It is not in the interest of the publisher to push the book until the expiration of the nine months, because he will then demand the author's money according to the agreement." In answer to No. 1, it is only needful to point out that no publisher could sell copies of a book he issued at the published price. The rate at which the work mentioned in the agreement was sold was 6*. 2d. net. The other points_ had better be answered by a poc boo  ## p. 241 (#293) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 241 statement of what actually took place in regard to the book to which the agreement applied, as actual fact and practical instance are more con- clusive than general speculation :— 2. The number of the edition which it was arranged to print at starting was 750, and this number was actually printed; not "3000 or perhaps 5000." 3. The author does not guarantee the sale of 450 copies, under the agreement, but to take what ever number of copies it may be necessary to briny the sales up to this quantity, should it not have been reached in nine months, from the date of publication; all the sales going towards the 450. As a matter of fact in this case the sales only reached 189, the author was asked to take 261 copies at the agreed price, minus seventy-two which he drew for his own sale among friends, amounting in effect to 199 copies. 4. Whatever the " interest of the publisher " may mean as spoken of by the writer in The Author, in the present instance the book was certainly pushed adequately. It was advertised in twenty- six newspapers and magazines at an outlay of .£20 ; announcements were sent out to the extent of 16,500 to private persons and the trade, by post; and seventy-eight copies were sent for review and presentation. That a book thus worked should have sold so poorly scarcely seems the fault of the publisher. With regard to the agreement itself, it may be well to say that it is not used in the case of books for which a large sale can be certainly expected, and is only employed where it is needful, either because of the subject of the book in hand, or because the author is unknown. It is a via media between the author taking the risk upon himself, and the publisher purchasing the copy- right. For the instances it is applicable to, the agree- ment is an equitable one; at all events, it cannot be a very bad one, for it has been used in the case of many members of the Society of Authors; and one of the best known members of its Council has had two books brought out under its conditions quite recently. The Publisher Concerned. iii. rejoinder. The price of the book has nothing to do with the case. The actual treatment of the book in question has nothing to do with the case, which turns on the wording of the agreement. The objections to the agreement are left abso- lutely untouched, viz.: The publisher may make his edition consist of any number that he pleases. The author certainly does guarantee the sale of 450 copies. The words of the agreement are "agrees to be responsible for the sale of 450 copies." He guarantees, therefore, so much money as represents that sale. It certainly is not to the interest of the pub- lisher to push the book till after nine months, when the whole edition becomes his. The actual sale of the book in question: the management of the book by the publisher: the cost of adver- tising: these things have nothing to do with the wording of the agreement, or with the powers which it gives the publisher. That members of the Society or its Council have accepted the agreement is to be lamented, but the fact does not make it a good agreement, nor does it deprive the agreement of the objec- tions pointed out last month. II.—Public Performance of a Dramatic Work not Equivalent to Publication. That the public performance of a dramatic work under certain statutory regulations is equivalent to its publication, has become generally accepted in England as a kind of axiom. It is therefore at least interesting, if not instructive, to find this opinion treated by a legal tribunal not only as no axiom at all, but also as a view distinctly con- trary to fact. This has recently happened in Italy, and full reports of the case, and of an application for leave to appeal (which was immediately refused), are contained in the official organ of the Italian Society of Authors, which the secretary of the Society has been so courteous as to send us. These reports, of some length, contain a number of particulars of a very interesting kind, which we omit here, in order to give as briefly as possible the main facts of the case. These are as follows. In the year 1883 Meilhac and Grille produced in Paris a comedy entitled "Ma Camarade," and a few days after the first representation ceded the Italian rights to Teodoro Michaelis. These rights subsequently changed hands several times. (The Italian "Society for the Acquisition, Protec- tion, and Encouragement of Dramatic Works" bought them for 4000 francs, and sold them again for 4250.) But in 1895 the Marchese Theoduli was the sole proprietor of all the Italian rights. In 1894 (nine years after the production of the piece) the Parisian publisher, Caiman Levi, printed " Ma Camarade" and offered it for sale in Paris, after having duly complied with the requirements of the French law by depositing two copies of the work at the Ministry of the Interior, on March 3, 1894. In the year 1895, Luigi Raspantini, manager  ## p. 242 (#294) ############################################ 242 THE AUTHOR. of an Italian dramatic company, "La Compagnia Pia Marchi, Maggi, e Soci," having procured a copy of the printed work, had a free translation of it made by Giuseppe Brignone, and with the consent of Giuseppe Pietriboni (director of the company), the play was performed at thePaganini Theatre at Genoa in May 1895, and the following June at the Politeama of Livorno, without the consent of the Marchese Theoduli having been either obtained or even sought. Hereupon the Marchese took legal proceedings against Raspantini, Pietriboni, Brignone, and Pia Marchi. The defendants failed in an attempt to dispute the Marchese's rights, which were easily estab- lished; but they pleaded that "Ma Camarade" having been performed for the first time in 1883, the right to translate had become public property after Dec. 31, 1893, in accordance with the terms of the Berne Convention. Bv the terms of the Berne Convention the author has the exclusive right of making or authorising translations fur a period of ten years, dating from the publication of the original work. On this point all parties were agreed. But the question arose, "At what date was 'Ma Camarade' published?" The defendants con- tended that the play was published at the date of its first performance in Paris in 1883. The Marchese Theoduli, on the contrary, maintained that the work was not published until Caiman Levi offered it for sale in 1894. And the court decided in favour of the Marchese, affirming that the ten years during which the author held the right of translation dated from March 3, 1894. The reasons given for this verdict are deserving of attention. "The publication of a work," it was said, "does not consist in any kind of production, by which it is made known to a larger or smaller number of persons. The author him- self, or any other person, by his authority, may make known the subject of the work, or the work itself, by acquainting others, and that even in public, with the manuscript, or design, or rough draft, or by reading the work, or by causing it to be represented, or by delivering a speech, without thereby publishing his work, or prejudicing his rights. "In short, publication is not the same thing as publicity. Publication is a complex act, by virtue of which a work, or its subject, is not merely communicated to the public in some way or another, but also is, so to say, placed at the common disposal of the whole of the public. So long as a dramatic work has been only represented, it cannot be said to be published; because by representation it has acquired only a more or less extended publicity; and it still remains within the power of the author to with- draw the work from the stage, or absolutely to destroy it. But when a work intended for dramatic representation is disseminated in a printed form, it may then be really said to be published, because everyone is at liberty to j>rovide himself with a copy and to make any use of it which he pleases." And, in support of the decision that represen- tation is not publication the following passage was quoted from the Italian code: "In the declarations concerning musical works and compositions, intended for dramatic repre- sentation, it should be explicitly stated whether they have been or have not been performed pre- viously to their publication." The defendants were sentenced to pay an augmented fine. In the terms of the sentence, "inasmuch as the law respecting the author's rights has been violated on various occasions, with an identical criminal intention, so that the offence assumes the character of a repeated mis- demeanour, the ordinary fine is increased by one- sixth." The translator was subjected to the same penalties as the director, the manager, and Pia Marchi, and the question of damages remained to be settled elsewhere. Subsequently the defendants applied for leave to appeal. By no means the least interesting feature of this application was a document of considerable length laid before the court by the Advocates Coen and Trincheri, in which they discuss, with much learning and acumen, the whole question of the relations of public represen- tation and publication. Leave to appeal was refused on the ground that the case was not one for appeal, seeing that the law was perfectly plain. But the court at the same time expressed itself in terms even stronger than those used at the trial. "Representation and publication are two terms absolutely opposed to each other, and without a point in common. The publication of a work is the permanent dissemination of the work itself, which passes into the hands of the public and remains there, so that the sphere of its action is limited neither by time nor by locality. The work can be procured and used everywhere. Representation, on the other hand, is of a tempo- rary character. The form which the work assumes in representation depends upon the kind and variety of the interpretation given to it by those who perform it, upon the exigencies of the theatre, and the ability of the actors. And the work is not placed at the disposal of the spec- tators." In commenting upon this interesting case, the  ## p. 243 (#295) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 243 Droit d'Auteur, whilst applauding the sentence of the Italian tribunal, aptly draws attention to a "declaration " made at the Paris Conference on the May 4, 1896:— "By published works (oeuvres publiies) must be understood works that hare been published {iditees) in one of the countries of the Union. Consequently the representation of a dramatic, or an operatic work, or the performance of a musical work, or the exhibition of a work of art, does not consti- tute publication." It is true that the Italian court took no notice of this declaration. And it has not yet, indeed, been ratified by the countries represented at the Paris Conference. But it will be seen that the declaration exactly accords with the view taken by the Italian law. It also suggests a very natural question: Why should the performance of a drama be equivalent to publication, when the exhibition of a picture is not? A picture exhibited at the Royal Academy must be placed before a very much larger section of the public than a play which has a short run. Still the legislatures of Great Britain and the United States of America, that is to say, the laws by which almost the whole of the profits of English dramatic authors are secured to them, hold that the play is published. Probably that opinion is also so engrained into the minds of most English- men that the advocates of a reform of the copy- right laws would hardly think of modifying a principle so universally accepted as that "public representation of a play is publication." But this view can no longer be considered incontestible. Even in the present state of the law it seems possible for the view taken by the Italian Legis- lature to be of importance to English dramatic authors. Popular English plays are reproduced abroad, in countries belonging to the Berne Union as well as in countries outside it. The English dramatic author seldom publishes, as the Italian law defines publication. What would happen if, finding that ten years after the production of his play in London a "free translation" of it was running on the continent, he were to print and publish r It is evident that in Italy, at any rate, he would have created himself ten years of dramatic rights. III.—The Beginnings op Literary Property. The second and last volume of Mr. George Haven Putnam's work on "Books and Their Makers in the Middle Ages," carries the study of the conditions of the production and distri- bution of literature from 1500 to 1709. Down to the latter year, the conception of literary pro- perty had not yet reached any very advanced VOL. VII. stage of development; but students of the whole question of book-production will follow with interest Mr. Putnam's narrative of the gradual change in the direction ultimately of making property in an intellectual creation fully analo- gous to property in a material creation. In the section devoted to this part of his subject, he shows that during the first two centuries after printing, the conditions in England had very little influence upon the development of any European system for controlling literary produc- tion. The work of the earlier English printers was addressed much more to the tastes of the local public than to the requirements of the scholars of Europe, and while a certain propor- tion of books in Latin were printed here, this proportion was small compared with the under- takings of the contemporary publishers of Holland, Prance, and Germany. In the two latter countries the State followed Italy's policy towards literary production, namely, of legisla- tion upon a system of privileges for short terms and limited territory; while Holland differed only in being the first of the European States to issue privileges without conditions depending upon censorship. The English system appears to have taken shape without any reference to Continental precedents. It grew up in connec- tion with the monopoly of printing in the United Kingdom given by charter in 1556 to the Stationers' Company, an organisation which differed from the book trade association of Paris in that it had no direct connection with either of the two Universities, and held its authority from the Crown. The regulations of this Company became the law for the control of the book trade, and for the control also of the literary property (the property in "copy ") that was from year to year increasing in importance. The basis of the authority of the Stationers' Company was the theory that all printing was the preroga- tive of the King, who asserted direct ownership and monopoly in the most remunerative of the earlier productions of the English Press, namely, prayer-books, editions of the Bible, year- books, Acts of State, &c. Mr. Putnam shows, however, how the later effect of this royal absolutism was, curiously enough, to secure an earlier and more definite recognition in England than was reached in any other country for pro- perty in literary production, and for the right of literary producers to control and to enjoy the results of their labours. It was the general understanding at the close of the seventeenth century that authors possessed in their produc- tions a perpetual right of property, and that this right could be assigned. Had the practice con- tinued of retaining one literary language for D D  ## p. 244 (#296) ############################################ 244 THE AUTHOR. Europe, the possibility of securing one system for controlling and protecting literary production throughout Europe, Mr. Putnam thinks, would have been much furthered, and the date of inter- State European copyright probably advanced by a century or more. Finally, the conclusion Mr. Putnam has arrived at upon the copyright legislation of the present day is that a compact between the author and the State is not only equitable but logical, and that it secures a satis- factory solution for the vexed question concerning copyright in perpetuity. "The author," he con- cludes, " asks for a larger measure of protective service from the State than that required by the owner of property like a house (or, for that matter, of any other class of property), and he is willing in return for such special service, if the results of his labours may, by adequate legisla- tion, be assured for his immediate descendants, to surrender to the community the property-right in perpetuity, which under his inherent right and at common law was as fully vested in him, as is the title of a house in the man who has pro- duced it." NOTES FROM ELSEWHERE. IT may interest some of my readers to know that I have taken steps that a full and complete inquiry be held into the facts in dispute between Dr. Ibsen and myself. In the meanwhile I will say nothing more as to the newspapers which treated me, as I consider, with gross unfairness; one was a paper to which I have contributed since its foundation. There is little solidarity amongst English journalists. In Paris an editor sticks to his contributors, and the contributors stick to one another, as long as no mala fides has been proved in any one of them. It is a pity that there is not more of that spirit elsewhere. I am writing this particular letter from St. Ives, in Cornwall, where I am taking a writer's holiday, which means that I am writing here harder than ever. It is a pretty place, and the people are interesting, and the walks in the lanes, with the primroses on the banks on either side, or on the cliffs, with the Atlantic, and so on; but I fear there is little of literary interest to chronicle in this place, so that I should have difficulty in complying with the request of a member of the Authors' Club, who writes to me saying, "Write us letters from Cornwall, and give France a rest." The people seem great readers—of penny novelettes; except the artists, v?ho subscribe to White's lending library or to Smith's bookstall. We get our London papers at six in the evening, and never get a sight of the evening papers, and on Sundays we are altogether without news of the remote world. The most popular book in St. Ives at present, that is to say the book which is most asked for at the lending library, is Guy Boothby's "The Beautiful White Devil." I have heard it much discussed. There are two or three literary people here, amongst others a young Swede named Carl Olson, who writes excellent English, and has high ideals. He lives amongst the fishermen and dresses in corduroys, and will do well yet. One real literary trouvaille which I have made here is in the person of Mr. Anthony, the post- master of St. Ives, an old gentleman who knows Cornwall and the Cornish an fond, and writes about them in a highly entertaining manner. He has read me several of his manuscripts, poetry and prose (for he has published little, and that little only in the local papers), and I was really interested. There are fine turns in the Cornish dialect, and a particular humour which has a savour of its own. I told Mr. Anthony to send some of his papers up to the London magazines, but he will not believe that anyone would care to print his writings, much less to pay for them. I am endeavouring to induce him to try the experi- ment. Our literature is sadly deficient in pict ures of provincial English life. Cornwall should be at least as interesting to English readers as the Kail-yard, and far more understandable. Halestown, near here, was once the home of Sir Henry Irving, as a lad, for some years. • I have seen the dame's school where he was first taught, and the little chapel—it is the chapel of the Halestown Bible Christians—where, as a boy of eleven, he gave his first recitation. He has always kept a soft place in his heart for Halestown and St. Ives. It is not, I hope, impertinent to add that he paid the old lady's rent up to her death, and that she was buried at his expense. Further, that he interests himself in local charities in his well-known manner. Some people here remember him as a lad, but do not seem to realise to what an eminence he has raised himself. For the rest, "play-acting" is for the most part looked on with holy horror in this pious and dissenting land, and one old man has been heard to say, when told of Sir Henry's great success on the stage, "Nay, nay, he's never come to that, surely," meaning to defend him against a supposed calumny. Bravo, Rodenbach! I say bravo, Eodenbach, because George Rodenbach has put his heel on a scandal which was being fanned into bright flame by certain scandal-mongers in Paris, and, I hope, crushed and extinguished it. I refer to the scandal about the Victor Hugo mhiage and  ## p. 245 (#297) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 245 Sainte-Beuve. Sainte-Beuve's doubtful morality has been already alluded to in these pages, and in his " Livre d'Amour," originally published in 1843, he made certain insinuations which give some appearance of truth to things which the boulevard scandal-mongers are saying of her of whom her husband wrote in 1834: C'est elle, la vertu but ma tfte penchee, La figure d'alb&tre en ma maison caohtte. I knew the Victor Hugos a quarter of a century ago, and have remained on friendly terms with the family ever since. Indeed, the very last signature which Victor Hugo wrote was in a certain birthday book which I had taken to his house for the purpose. I may, therefore, with some authority, echo George Rodenbach's " Lie!" and I do so here. This raking-up of scandals about the dead is the work of literary hyaenas and jackals, and should be severely condemned. Those who think as I do were disgusted with the Georges Sand-Musset expose, because we admire and love both Georges Sand and Alfred de Musset, and respect their memories. We were delighted that the Censor prohibited the produc- tion of a play which was intended to spread the scandal still wider. As I wrote once in these pages, there was in Sainte-Beuve a Jekyll and a Hyde. He was Jekyll till noon, and Hyde till 5 a.m. He was Jekyll in all his writings, except in this fatuous "Livre dAmour," in which he was emphatically Hyde. Hugo turned the Hyde out of the house, for all that he admired the Jekyll, and the follow- ing lines were left by him "to be published in case the libel (" Le Livre d'Amour," which was withdrawn almost immediately after publication, by Sainte-Beuve) appears, otherwise let this ugly wraith be spared." As the scandal-mongers are republishing here and there, in suggestive frag- ments, the " Livre d'Amour" libel, Hugo's answer, his posthumous defence of his honour and of the honour of his descendants, has now been made public. This is a copy of it: A S...-B... Que dit-on? on m'annonee nn libelle poethume De toi. C'est bien. Ta fange est faite d'amertnme; Rien de toi ne mY'tonne, 6 fourbe tortaenx. Je n'ai point oublio ton regard monstmenx, Le jour oil je to mis hors de chez moi, vil drole, Et qne, snr l'esoalier te ponasant par l'epaule, Je te dis: "N'entrez pins, monsieur, dans ma maison!" Je vis luire en tee yeux toute la trahison, J'apercus ta fureur dans ta penr, 0 coupable, Et je oompris de qnoi pouvait ctre capable Ta lucbett! changoe en baine, le dugout Qu'a d'elle-m<?me une ame oil s'amasse un egout, Et ce que mtfditait ta laideur dcdaignee; Car on pressent la toile en voyant l'araignee! A subscription has been started in Paris for the erection of a statue to Paul Verlaine, and. vol. VII. already <£6o has been collected. The committee expects to have the necessary amount in a short time. Subscriptions are coming in from all parts, especially from Belgium. To think that poor Verlaine has been gone from us for more than a year! Great complaints are being made about the want of room in the Bibliotheque Nationale. The distracted librarians do not know where to store the books and papers which come pouring in every day. Seventeen years ago a fine piece of land at the corner of the Rue Colbert and the Rue de Richelieu was bought by the Government for =£280,000 for the purpose of extending the buildings of the National Library, but no use has been made of this land except as a cabbage field. A few lop-eared rabbits have also been reared upon it by a bucolic sub-librarian. I suppose that the money cannot be spared. Yet France spends one thousand francs a minute on her army. "Messidor," a lyrical drama, libretto by Zola, and music by Alfred Bruneau, was performed on Saturday night, for the first time, at the Opera. I hear it was a great success. The work is pub- lished by Fasquelle. The sale of Edmond de Goncourt's pictures alone has realised upwards of ,£20,000. An attempt was made last century by a worthy citizen of the town of Caen to found an academy bearing his name. He bequeathed his house, library, and a sum of money for this purpose. His heirs-at-law, however, refused to carry out his wishes, and nobody seemed to think it worth while to sue them. Goncourt's relations seem to take the same view of the matter , and there are good times in store for the Parisian lawyers. All authors are interested in newsagents, who for the most part, especially in the country, are booksellers also, and this being so, any influence which we possess as a society should, I think, be used in furtherance of an amendment of the law on libel, which, as it stands at present, bears heavily and with great injustice on newsagents, who, as distributors of the paper or book con- taining the alleged libel can be sued as co-defen- dants. A case came recently before Justice Vaughan Williams at the Bodmin Assizes, in which Mr. White, bookseller and newsagent in this town, was sued as co-defendant in an action for damages (.£5000 was claimed) for an alleged libel which had appeared in one of the papers which Mr. White keeps in stock. The judge from the very first refused to admit that the newsagent was in any way liable, and the whole case was eventually dismissed, each party having to pay its own costs. The unfortunate newsagen had accordingly to pay his solicitor and counsel, D D 2  ## p. 246 (#298) ############################################ 246 THE AUTHOR. was put to other expense, suffered great anxiety, was forced to waste a whole week hanging about the Assize Court at Bodmin waiting for the case to come on, and all this because he had sold a few copies of the paper containing the passages complained of. The matter is being taken up in Parliament, and it is to be hoped that the law may speedily be amended. As it stands, it exemplifies admirably the " Summum jus, aumma injuria" of the Romans. Robert H. Sherard. St. Ives, Cornwall. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Feb. 15, 1807. ABOOK of four short stories to be published in March by the Century Company has, among many points of interest, the suggestion of a very individual note of the treat- ment of East-side life in fiction. Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, after gaining a high reputation as a critic of art and a writer and worker for political and social improvement, has recently taken to making sketches of several parts of New York life. The four stories in this volume have already appeared in magazines. The first two published dealt with the poor quarters which in common parlance are called "the East Side," although a large part of the west side has exactly the same nature. Of the other two, the first, from which the book bears its name, "One Man Who Was Happy," has no special local significance, but as a piece of strong intimate analysis of personal character, it is the most remarkable piece of writing in the book. The other, "Mary," is a slight sketch, graceful and complete in form, suggesting the mode of exis- tence of an old lady of the former generation in prosperous circumstances, who has outlived all the elements of her former world. The two stories which tell of the slums are "Corinna's Fiametta" and "The Lustigs." They are not especially skilful in construction, for Mrs. Van Rensselaer has not yet fully mastered the narrative art, but they throw7 an interesting light on the question so much discussed here of how this part of the city ought to be treated in fiction. After a life crowded with experiences and successes of many kinds, Mrs. Van Rensselaer finds actual work with the simple poor, without sentimentality— pure friendship in short—as interesting a thing as there is in the town. The majority of our writers about these districts look only for local colour and put it on by the pailful. Mrs. Van Rensselaer knows her East-side friends intimately enough to keep her perspective, to see that the larger, more important elements of human nature are the same up town and down, and so in showing the peculiarities, the especial conditions and problems of their existence, she keeps her sense of proportion. This accurate striking of the right note makes many of her readers hope she may give more time to fiction, in which her mixture of strong understanding, experience, humour, and seriousness find a field where these qualities are needed. Two publishers have given informally, in con- versation within the past week, their ideas on this subject. One of them, speaking to a young man. J. L. Steffens, for whom he had sent an account of the new spirit shown in his newspaper sketches of East-side daily happenings, said that most of the fiction that has been made out of the poor quarters of New York had marked faults of scope and manner. Stephen Crane, for instance, sought always either the horrible or the picturesque episode, and his stories did not include the essen- tial conditions of that part of the city, did not give to the various elements their proper relative importance. Cahn, the last writer to gain notice, a young Jew, knew the life intimately, but did not have an adequate command of the language. What the publisher hoped that Mr. Steffens might furnish in a novel was what he has been giving in his newspaper sketches, a perfectly cold, objec- tive, half humorous account of scenes which he sees in his experience as a police reporter. Another publisher also said last week that this is especially demanded as a re-action from the emphatically picturesque and sentimental. Still he would be a rash person who would undertake to say what the best manner is for the treatment of this subject. Some go so far as to say we shall never make literature out of it by any device. Most observers, however, believe that the public want to know more about it, and that the man who strikes the right vein will have unlimited appreciation. A young critic remarked the other day that he believed the fortunate man would be either a Baudelaire or a Kipling, a man who would treat it for the pictures it offered, and not bother about any significance but the pic- turesque; or a man who would get hold of the dramatic human elements and idealise them in the artistic, although not in the ethical, sense, represent them rather than copy them, and make good literature by making good narrative. "Any good story is good literature," said Charles Dudley Warner a couple of weeks ago. Another decidedly individual book will come out of Chicago in a month or two. For some years Peter Dunne, an Irish-American, not yet  ## p. 247 (#299) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 247 thirty, has been writing sketches in the Chicago Evening Post and the Chicago Times-Herald, telling the opinions of a philosophical saloon- keeper named Dooley, upon the events of the day. They were uneven, naturally, as they were turned out every week, but undoubtedly the collection will include the shrewdest and wittiest, and if it does it will be one of the pleasantest manifestations of Chicago literary activity that have appeared for a long time. Dooley repre- sents at his best, as well as anyone, the spirit and attitude of the Irishman whose experience has been gained in America. Mr. Dunne himself began as a boy selling newspapers, was a reporter in his earliest teens, then an editorial writer, and now has an important editorial position on the Times-Herald. Way and Williams are the publishers of the sketches. Leaving the books about people for the books by them, one notices as the most conspicuous produc- tion of the last month a volume of sea stories by a labouring man, called " On Many Seas," published by the Macmillan Company. The writer, who has always been an engineer, sometimes on the elevated railroad, sometimes running a standing engine, calls himself Frederick Benton Williams, but his real name is Herbert E. Hamblen. He never got higher, in spite of his intelligence, on account of his lack of tact, and the same spirit has been brought out strongly by his literary success. A friend of his, an Englishman named William S. Booth, now acting as librarian for the East Side House, used to hear him tell these stories and finally induced him to write them down. After very slight corrections, mainly in punctuation and in capitals, Mr. Booth had them published, and the first edition of 1700 was exhausted on Saturday. S. S. McClure and Co. immediately asked for a series of similar stories. The narration in the novel had been simple and strong, absolutely without literary affectation, but the author has had his head turned a little, and now he is producing high sounding phrases which McClure and Co. cannot use. They ask in vain for stories like "On Many Seas." Mr. Hamblen has become literary, and tells them he will write as he chooses. In noticing recent fiction, mention should be made of "Old Dorset; or, Chronicles of a New York Country Side," by Robert Cameron Rogers, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons. He is the author of "The Wind in the Clearing," a volume of poems, and" Will-o'-the-Wisp," a sea story of the war of 1812. The new volume treats of a part of the country less written about than New England and the west and the south, but central New York, although it has perhaps less striking characteristics than many States, is yet worth picturing. Mr. Rogers has done it simply, with enough accuracy of observation and pleasantness of feeling to make the book worth reading by anyone who is interested in keeping up with that part of our literature which relies especially on the interest in certain localities. A piece of news is just now finding its way among the magazine men, and will soon be public. Two years ago Mr. A. F. Jaccaci left McClure's Magazine, tempted by an attractive offer to become the art editor of Scribner's Magazine. His success in two years has been so great that, when the McClures felt able to make him an offer to return, the Scribners offered him a salary just about twice the size of the one with which they originally tempted him. In spite of that Mr. McClure has been able to secure him, and he will go, as soon as his place at Scribner's can be filled. He not only becomes the art editor, but has a certain part in the literary editing of the magazine. The stock of that periodical is now worth 200 per cent. The circulation is about 300,000. It has just reached the stage where it pays for itself, as it has been in existence just about three years, and the owners are full of unlimited confidence in its future. Norman Hapgood. THE LITERARY YEAR BOOK. ACOPY of the "Literary Year Book" for 1897, edited by F. G. Aflalo and published by Mr. George Allen, has been received by the Editor. The book must be judged, not as though it was one of a long series, but as the first of a new series. A literary Year Book has long been wanted. The Committee of the Authors' Society considered last year a project for starting such an annual themselves, but abandoned it when it was dis- covered that a serious attempt to supply the want was being undertaken by Mr. George Allen. The book contains a literary causerie; the law and university terms; an account of public libraries and of literary clubs; certain articles on literary subjects; a conspectus of books published within the last six years; notes on copyright, printing, and magazine articles; the correction of proofs; a Directory of Authors, another of publishers, and a third of booksellers; with many other points. The literary causerie with which the book opens is pleasantly written. One would, however, point out that in a literary year-book we do not want criticism or even praise. The work should be  ## p. 248 (#300) ############################################ 248 THE AUTHOR. strictly practical. There are a good many portraits, about which one would also remark that the selection, year by year, of Authors for such repre- sentation, is perhaps calculated to displease those who are not selected. Some of the addresses are absurd, as, for instance, the address of Mr. James Bryce, which is given as the "Society of Authors." The Directory of Authors is defective; but this was to be expected in a first beginning. A list of Authors can hardly be called exhaus- tive, when a very brief examination proves the omission of the following names, among others :— Marie Corelli, Maxwell Gray, Justin H. Mc- Carthy, W. E. Henley, Gilbert Parker, Mrs. Clifford, F. Wedmore, Walter Crane, W. Prothero, Canon Knox Little, Louis Becke, Guy Boothby, Sarah Tytler, Florence Warden, Helen Mather, Mary A. Dickens, William Archer, Joseph Knight, Dean Farrar, Beatrice Whitby, Mrs. Molesworth, George Macdonald, Edna Lyall, J. E. Muddock, L. T. Meade, Rhoda Broughton. The same objection holds as to the list of booksellers. In short, the book is useful as it stands, but incomplete. It begins on right lines. We are quite prepared to believe that the points we have noted, with others not noted, will be rectified before the next edition. THE RETURN OF MSS. WITH reference to the opinion given in the last number of The Author as to the law on the subject of MSS. offered to a magazine or paper, the editor of the Bookman publishes in the February number opinions from many other editors on the subject. The general opinion and practice seem to be: (1) that the return of uninvited MSS. is not guaranteed: (2) that MSS. are returned when stamps are sent in: (3) that it would be unjust to make editors responsible for uninvited MSS. All these points are simply stated by the editor of the Pall Mall Magazine. The editor of the Windsor states that last year he received 1500MSS., out of which he accepted thirty-five, i.e., less than 3 per cent. The editor of the English Illustrated will not guarantee the safe return of MSS., yet does his best to return them. The editor of the Westminster Gazette will not hold himself respon- sible, and gives advice to contributors, which they would do well to read and to remember. The editor of Cassell's Magazine says that he con- siders himself free from liability if he announces that opinion beforehand. The editor of Temple Bar sends back everything he can. The editor of the St. James's Gazette does not guarantee return, but does in practice return MSS. The editor of the Idler follows the same practice. The editor of Macmillan's Magazine relies on a long standing notice in his journal, but does not state what it is. The editor of the Woman at Home will not promise to return unsolicited MSS., but, in fact, does do so in every case. This lady also points out the fast increasing practice of choosing beforehand the writers and the subjects for a magazine so that an editor does not any longer depend upon the casual post. These letters are very satisfactory, so far as they go. That is to say, practice seems everything while opinion matters little. "You shall have your MSS. back," say the editors in effect; "most of them are awful rubbish; we can only use about 3 per cent.; they would be better in the basket; you shall have them back however, only we do not hold ourselves responsible." To all of which the opinion of Mr. Chitty, contained in The Author last month, remains unanswered. He says, in effect, "Gentlemen, whether you hold yourselves responsible or not; whether you announce your refusal to guarantee return or not; you are in the eyes of the law, under certain conditions, which I have set forth, respon- sible for the safety of authors' MSS." So that these letters in the Bookman do not seem to answer the question at all, which is one of law, not of opinion. As for the courtesy and the patience of long- suffering editors struggling with piles of MSS., mostly rubbish, most of us have experienced these qualities, and are ready to recognise them fully. Having done so, the question of respon- sibility remains, and we still await an answer to, or a criticism upon, the opinion of Mr. Chitty. NOTES AND NEWS. ANOTE will be found in "Book Talk" of this month which illustrates the great and growing difficulty of finding a title not already used. There are few writers of novels, . plays, poems, or essays who have not experienced this difficulty. Twice have I changed my title: twice have I been permitted to keep a title although it had been used before. I remember reading once how Miss Braddon had to change her title three times. This is especially an Authors' question, and I would suggest that our members should them- selves consider and suggest how it can be met. To begin with, it is rare indeed to select a title already used by any well-known writer—though in the case referred to above this has been done.  ## p. 249 (#301) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 249 We may assume that the rights invaded are, as a rule, only nominal. But we cannot narrow our case to this single point. We must assume that the possession of the title is literary property. What should be done, in case of infraction by another writer, either to protect property or to get possession of the title? On another page will be found an extract from a New York paper called the Progress of the World, containing an account of Washington Irving's house " Sunnyside." It is now proposed to buy up the house and preserve it as a national monument. There are many of our readers who, like myself, cherish the greatest affection for the memory of Washington Irving. If any reader of this paper would wish to communicate his sympathy with this intention, or would wish to be allowed to contribute, I shall be very glad to send his name to the American Committee, as soon as it is formed, for the purchase of the house. . I beg to thank my correspondent, "Author and Editor," for his letter on the rights of correction. It is a pity that it is unsigned, because his name would carry even greater weight than his very sensible remarks. He says in effect: (1.) Signed papers by known writers must not be altered without their consent. (2.) In case of errors of language, fact, or taste, interference must be made by the editor, always, as a rule, with the approval of the writer. In other words, we lay down a principle; but in practice we allow a certain amount of infrac- tion. We say to an editor, "No. Tou shall not alter my work which is signed." And we add, "Yes, you were quite right to put that date right, and to put that fact more correctly." Yet the principle remains. It is like a weapon, only to be used in case of necessity. We trust our editors, as a rule, implicitly in such matters. It is only in such cases as that referred to last month, where the editor chose to alter, against the author's wish, a work of imagination, that the principle must be asserted, the weapon drawn. ... I hare received a letter on writers and reviewers-, which is signed. I do not, therefore, feel myself at liberty to cut it about or to omit passages. Yet I must either omit passages or refuse to print the letter. Will correspondents understand that this is not a paper for "slashing" paragraphs about individual writers or classes of writers? Several other letters have reached me on the subject, about which enough has for the moment been said. It is quite wide of the mark to say that there is excellent criticism to be found. Nobody denies it. Also it is quite untrue to say that reviewers never read books; are always incompetent; are log-rollers; and so forth. Yet it is true that there exist such persons who in some quarters are allowed to write what they call reviews. I hope that out of this corre- spondence, which has been falsely called an attack upon critics, there has emerged a general feeling that a book is not advanced in the esteem of the ublic by an off-hand, vague notice among a ateh; but that a serious review by a writer who knows the subject and has read the book, is, and must be, of the greatest advantage to that book. Therefore, that such a review is a gift—a most important gift—in the hands of the editor. I learn by a paragraph in the St. James's Gazette that Mr. Charles Dudley Warner is about to edit, in thirty volumes only, the whole of the best literature of the world, from the stone records of Assyria and Egypt down to our own times. Picture the pride at finding your own pro- ductions in this collection! Imagine yourself one-thirtieth of humanity, so to speak, of the whole of humanity as represented by its litera- ture. The best literature in the world in thirty volumes. Let us see. We must leave one volume to the stone records of Assyria and Egypt, at least . Homer will want a place, and — but let us draw up a list:—Homer, JSschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Pindar, Plato, Aristotle, Theocritus, Virgil, Horace, Terence, Catullus, Plautus, Ovid, Livy, Caesar—we cannot spare one of these, and no doubt there are many others. China will send Confucius. I omit the sacred books of the world. Then England will contribute Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Fielding, Keats, Byron, Wordsworth, Browning, Tennyson, Scott—say a round dozen. France will be represented by Moliere, Eabelais, Montaigne, Boileau, Voltaire, Hugo, say but six; Spain by Cervantes and Calderon; Portugal by Camoens; Germany by Goethe and Schiller— and here we stop, for we have got forty Masters already, without counting the quantities of "best" literature produced by the "second best" writers when at their " best." A stupendous task, indeed! "Maxwell Gray " has placed in my hands the following appeal:— "When Christina Rossetti died, more than two years as;o, there was a chorus of appreciation of her work from the Press. Not only great, but the greatest woman-poet of the age, she was called. It may not be generally known that a memorial has long been planned in the shape of a, reredos in Christchurch, Woburn-square, the P 1)  ## p. 250 (#302) ############################################ 25° THE AUTHOR. church she regularly attended. Sir Edward Burne-Jones has kindly consented to design a series of paintings for this when the necessary funds for its erection in the church are found, ▼iz., ,£150. Of this, I believe only about £70 or .£80 has been subscribed. In the printed list before me I find only eight names known in literature, including that of Mr. Swinburne. "Of the thousands who delight in Christina Eossetti's poems, both in England and in America, there must at least T>e hundreds who would be glad to contribute some small sum to this modest and beautiful memorial of one of the greatest ri, Colville Houses, W.; Rev. J. J. Glendinning Nash, 92, Gower-street, W.C., Incumbent of Christchurch, Woburn-square." The following amounts have been received by Miss Ellen T. Masters for Mrs. Eliza Warren since the publication of the last list. The total now reached is £62. 18*. id.: £. e. d. £. x. ,i. "Alpha" 1 o o "Jessie" o 1 o "Anon" o 3 o N. C. W o 2 o Cooke-Taylor, Mrs. 050 Robins, The Misses o 10 o Gooddy, Mibb o 1 o 8UNNYSIDE. poets and writers of the age; while her brothers and sisters in letters, poor though the majority must be, should feel it a stigma upon them that the work is still waiting for want of so pitiful a sum. "I therefore beg of your courtesy space for this letter calling attention to the proposed memorial. It has the sanction of Mr. Rossetti, whose sub- scription heads the list. Donations may be sent to the Rossetti Memorial Account in the Bank of England, or to—W. M. .Rossetti, Esq., 3, St. Edmund's-terrace, N.W.; R. W. Dibdin, Esq., 17, Russell square, W.C.; G. A. A. Nelson, Esq., Mrs. Warren is suffering mich from dropsy, and is in a distressing condition of weakness which keeps her now entirely confined to her room. Her mental powers have retained their vigour throughout, and her strength of character is but little impaired. Mrs. Warren expresses much gratitude to all those who have so kindly responded to Miss Masters' appeal on her behalf. Walter Besant.  ## p. 251 (#303) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 25" SPNNYSIDE-THB HOME OF IRVING. ABOUT five and twenty miles from the ancient and renowned city of Manhattan, formerly called New Amsterdam, and vulgarly New York, on the eastern hank of the expansion of the Hudson, known among the Dutch mariners of yore as the Tappan Zee, being, in fact, the great Mediterranean Sea of the New Netherlands, stands a little old-fashioned stone mansion all made up of gable ends, and as hill of angles and corners as an old cocked-hat. It is willows, we come to the famous old Dutch cottage covered with a tangled maze of ivy, wisteria, and other vines. Beyond rolls the Hudson, its broad expanse dotted with sails, and its distant views terminating in rocky headlands and wooded hills. High up on the gable end looking toward the Hudson, fastened securely to the wall, are the figures in iron—1656. Of course this does not mean that the building, as it is, was finished at that early date. It merely marks the date when the beginning was made from which the present structure has been evolved. said, in fact, to have been modelled after the cocked-hat of Peter the Headstrong, as the Escurial was modelled after the gridiron of the blessed St. Lawrence." Such is the description which Washington Irving gives of Sunnyside—the home in which this pioneer of American letters rounded out a mellow and beautiful old age. Turning west from the old post road, which skirts the eastern bank of the Hudson, down the winding lane, which follows the course of Willow Brook, deeply shaded by elms, chestnuts, and. VOL VII. Irving, in "Wolfert's Roost," and in other sketches, has invested the old Dutch cottage with a unique legendary history. In the famous days of Peter Stuyvesant, as Irving relates it, there lived an intrepid Dutch burgher of no mean repu- tation, Wolfert Acker, who gathered up his valuables, and, with his household, sought the unmolested solitude of the wilderness. He built him a house on the banks of the stream which his own countrymen had introduced into the geographies of the world. He took possession uf thi8 new home in the eventful year 1656.  ## p. 252 (#304) ############################################ 252 THE AUTHOR. Bidding farewell to the world of conflict, he determined henceforth to claim the deeper joys of peace and prosperity. In token of this fixed purpose he inscribed over his door his favourite Dutch motto, "Lust in Rust" (pleasure in quiet). The mansion was henceforth called Wolfert's Rust (Wolfert's Rest), but by the uneducated, "Wolfert's Roost," probably from its quaint cockloft look, and from its having a weathercock perched on every gable. The drowsy days of the seventeenth century rolled on, and Wolfert Acker slept with his fathers—not altogether peacefully, it seems, for among the old gray, moss-grown trees of his apple orchard behind the house—the only remaining relic of his labours—may be seen, according to the popular legend, his restless ghost stealing pensively along of a bright moonlight night. Jacob Van Tassel, with his " great goose-gun," next appears on the scene, whose patriotic exploits in the Revolutionary war brought down the wrath and the guns of the British on his devoted head. The venerable walls and gables were shattered, the creaking weather-cocks were brought low. The valiant defender fled, leaving behind shapeless ruins. Years of conflict ensued. In the meantime the Roost remained a melan- choly ruin, its stone walls and brick chimneys alone standing, the resort of bats and owls. Superstitious notions prevailed about it. None of the country-folk would venture alone at night down the rambling lane which led to it, over-hung with trees and crossed here and there by a wild wandering brook. The story went that one of the victims of Jacob Van Tassel's great goose- gun had been buried here in unconsecrated ground. But during the peace that followed the Revolu- tion, Jacob Van Tassel returned and again made the wilderness to blossom as the rose. Once more he put up the glittering weather-cocks and hung his great goose-gun over the fireplace. Here the venerable Diedrich Knickerbocker found him tilling his broad acres and smoking his pipe contentedly in the chimney corner. His last days were lighted up by the golden visions of the past, and his great Dutch heart beat its last patriotic beat beside the river of his fathers. In the spring of 1835, on his return from his tour on the prairies, Irving spent a few days with a relative at Tarrytown, and it was during this visit that he decided to settle down in some snug retreat, and shortly chose the location of the old Dutch cottage on the present site of Sunnyside. The deed of purchase was signed June 7, 1835. Irving began remodelling the old house at once, and frequent reference is made in his letters of the year to the work which received so much of his attention. The next month after the deed was drawn he writes to his brother Peter: "You have been told, no doubt, of the purchase I have made of ten acres, lying at the foot of Oscar's farm, on the river bank. It is a beautiful spot, capable of being made a little paradise. There is a small stone Dutch cottage on it, built about a century since, and inhabited by one of the Van Tassels. I have had an architect up there, and shall build up the old mansion this summer. My idea is to make it a little nookery in the Dutch style, quaint, but unpretending. It will be of stone." He seems to have torn down the old cottage nearly to the ground, for in a letter written early in October of the same year he writes: "It has risen from the foundations since my previous visit, and promises to be a quaint, picturesque little pile." Toward the close of the same month he again writes: "The porch is carried up and the workmen are in want of the inscription stone, previous to removing the scaffolding." A month later he says that " like all meddling with stone and mortar the plan has extended as I built, until it lias ended in a complete, though moderate- sized family residence. It is solidly built of stone, so that it will last for generations." The cottage was completed, furnished, and Irving first made it his home in October, 1836—fifteen months after he had purchased the property. Later a wing was added to the cottage and eight adjoining acres to the estate. For nearly a quarter of a century Sunnyside was the home of Irving. The interior of Sunnyside, as one would suspect from the outward view, is full of corners and crannies. The dining room, sitting room, and library take up nearly all of the first floor. The library, a "workshop" as Irving called it, is a cosy little room at the south-east corner. With- out and within the cottage is practically unchanged since Irving's death. The library, containing chiefly choice editions of authors whom he personally knew, remains intact as he left it. The study table presented to him by his publishers stands in the centre of the room; scattered through the house are interesting pictures, among which are several choice portraits of the author, repre- senting him at the various stages of his career, with here and there many mementoes which Irving brought back from his long residence in Europe. As the Progress of the World said last month, "the time is not a long way off when Sunnyside can be purchased." The letters which we print herewith, and addit ional ones which space will not permit publication this month, but will appear next, indicate howr enthusiastically the country would respond to a well-directed effort to pur- chase and preserve this great literary landmark. —From the Progress of the World, New York.  ## p. 253 (#305) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 253 THEOCRITUS. I reached a wood of olives grey, Beneath whose boughs yon saw the sea, Bright pastures fringed the sunny bay, There at one tall tree's foot he lay, Theocritus of Sioily. The Bunshafts nickering through the shade Fell on his brow ; a pipe had he Whereon a lovely strain he played, (Babbled a brook, the branches swayed), Theocritus of Sicily. "Sweet is the murmur of the pine, And sweet the streamlet's melody. Nor Ibbs the goat-herd's song divine;" (Ab, sweet indeed that pipe of thine, Theocritus of Sioily !) "Begin, dear Muse, the pastoral strain, Sing wild Simaetha'B agony, Sing PolyphemnB1 love-sick pain, And Daphnis dead,"—(oh, Bweet refrain, Theocritus of Sicily!) It is thy very voioe I hear! Sundered by many a century, The bee hums round, the nooks browse near, Thy form before me rises clear, Theocritus of Sioily. For we who love the grassy shade, The woodland's tranced mystery, Still hear thy piping faintly played, And see thee 'neath the olive laid, Theocritus of Sioily! Emma Gubney Salter. VILSTOR RYDBERG. A SWEDISH AUTHOR. THE man who bore the above name has been dead more than a year. But that name will remain, and its fame will no doubt increase the more the life and works of its owner will be known. Maybe his name will be one of the standard names, not only in literature, but even in the history of humanity and Christianism. As it is now in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, that is in all countries where the Scandinavian tongue is spoken and understood, there is but one opinion about ViUtor Rydberg—that of admiration and respect. Literary men from the most radical to the most conservative agree in honouring his memory, though it is true that until now he is wholly understood only by a few, and very likely will remain so for many and many a year. And the reason is that he is quite single, stands entirely alone in the Scandinavian literature. He never belonged to any party, he never, like Bjornson and partly Ibsen, and many others followed the literary paths which superficj„n Danish critics pointed out to Scandinavian authors. He never became common or vulgar, but always went his own way. Above the level of the parties, as well as above the level of modern times, he seems to be a man of the future. And that is, perhaps, the more the case, as his occupation as an author was nearly con- nected with that of a philosopher. Few poets ever understood to dress their thoughts of the mysteries of life in such a harmony and beauty. In philosophic or religious matters h»- wrote the most upon the topics of the doctrines of the Bible. Among such works are to be noticed "The Genealogy of the Patriarchs in the Genesis" and "The Doctrine of the Bible, con- sidering the Last Times." He took the position of a critic, not exactly against the Bible itself, but rather against the orthodox views of the Church, and he tried and succeeded in putting the doctrines of the Bible in a clearer and more satisfying light. It is only too natural that his books should excite a storm on the part of the orthodox clergy, but Rydberg was determined to fight the battle out, and he did it in a glorious way. The greatest excitement and opposition was erected by his book, "The Doctrine of the Bible about Christ," a standard work of religious philosophy, where the author holds quite a new opinion as to the doctrine of the Bible about the person of Christ. He says that the Bible never taught that Christ was God, and he proves it not only by the words of the New Testament, but also by showing the views of the Hebrews in the Old Testament upon the matter. But according to the Bible, Christ is not an ordinary man either. He is the first man in spirit as Adam was the first man in the flesh, he is th« first-born of the Eternal, and therefore able to save the lost mankind. Man- kind is an integrity, Christ is the ideal of man kind as well as its "heart," and mankind never can be happy until all are united in Christ. So he takes the same views upon the doctrines of the Bible about "the last times," as the Rev. Dr. Farrar; but Rydberg proves his point of view strongly and irresistibly only from sentences in the Bible i self. The Church, of course, has not changed views upon the matter, but there are thousands and thousands of men and women who have adopted Viktor Rydberg's views upon those important questions. Vilstor Rydberg must be regarded as a founder of a novel view of life. His own views do not quite clearly appear in his critical essays. But these views he exhibits more in his literary works of prose and poetry. The philosopher and the poet melt into one in his artistic novels and j,j9 beautiful rhymes. His first novel, "Friby-  ## p. 254 (#306) ############################################ 254 THE AUTHOR. taren i Ostersjon" (" The Pirate in the Babic Sea") was not of very great value. His most important novel, "Den siste Athenaren" (" The last Athenian "), a story from the fourth century, treating the fights between the Athanasian and Arian creeds, must be regarded as a classical work of the highest standard. It is a work historically true as well as perfect in composition form—the best historical novel that has ever been written in the Scandinavian language His last novel," Vapensmeden " (" The Armourer"), a tale of the time of the Reformation in Sweden, is a story full of clever thought, but more a praise of beauty and fullness in life than an exactly true description of the existence of man in the sixteenth century. In all his works Vilstor Rydberg preaches a new, and still an old, gospel: the necessity of art in literature, the necessity of showing thu essence of life, not its mere surface. He pro- claims the right of beauty against the rising spirit of materialism, the spirit of engines and business, a spirit that already possesses a whole part of the world, and now, under the name of "Americanism," is going to make everything base, mean, common, and vulgar in the old world, and until yet almost seems to have con- quered the French literature. In a preface to the Swedish translation of Benjamin Kidd's boot "The Social Evolution," Vilstor Rydberg has expressed his thoughts about the danger that threatens the white race on the part of the yellow one, and that danger is the god that rules the present time: the all conquering money, the industrialism, the sin-flood of engines and busi- ness upon earth. In his religious books he puts down rather the true doctrines of the Bible than his own thoughts. His own views upon matters of life and death and of the whole existence, are, as has been already said, expressed in his poems in the most clever and convincing way. There are three collections of these. The outward form is perfect, but their contents are such that they fill up the form ; form and idea are one. In the first collection there are among the most charming and playful poems, as forinstance,"DeCadandeCarnen" ("The Bathing Children "), some of grand power and wild despair. But behind the deepest despair, there shimmer rays of consolation and hope for mankind. Such is "Den Flygande Hollandaren" (" The Flying Dutchman"), where the author makes the ghostly captain meet with the wandering Jew. Such is even his "Oro" (" Restlessness "), and many others. "Dexippos." is a song of the most classic value. "Prometheus and Ahasoerus" is, perhaps, the most important and epoch-making of his first collection. Here Noah tells his children how the gods threw Prometheus from Heaven and fettered him in an abyss of the Caucasus, because he had stolen the light from Heaven for the benefit of the poor chil- dren of the earth who dwelt in darkness. And he will be free if he subjects to the Zens, the " god of time." But then mankind again will be imprisoned in darkness. The old Greek tale makes him free through Herlailes. Rydberg makes him still dwell there in the abyss of the Caucasus. To Prometheus comes here the wandering Jew, who often appears in Rydberg's poems. He is the practical man, the business man, a kind of representative of Americans, the man who accommodates himself to the struggle for life and money, who bows to the " god of time," and tries to persuade Prometheus to submission. But there lies Prometheus still fighting against the "Olympus," against the "god of time," aud counselling the sons of men to despise the "god of time" and worship the God of Eternity. But Prometheus will never submit; he waits for the hour of his salvation, when he will be free and throw down 'the god of time from hiu throne. But now he lies there in fetters and the vulture tears his breast. Vilstor Rydberg's first collection contains a wonderful translation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." It might be said that the trans- lation even gives more than the original. The third collection contains another translation from the same author, that of "The Bells." This third collection marks the highest point of Vilstor Rydberg's development. It is his last work, crowning his attainment in life. It con- tains among others the poem "Grottekvarnen" ("The Mill of Grotte"), one of the finest and most striking poems ever written in the new or t he old age. The giant women Feuja and Meuja threw two rocks on the surface of " Midgard." Of those two were made two millstones, which were given to the king Frode Fridleifsson in Switiod. In a war he succeeded in taking prisoners the two giant women, and he let them turn the stones in the Mill of Grotte. First they produced gold and gave safety to the king and his people. But the king's heart was hardened by the craving for gold, and he refused the giant women sufficient rest, and so they let the mill go at such a speed that the millstones burst, and there came fire and death to destroy the king and his people. But in reality King Frode is not yet dead, and the Mill of Grotte still works with might and main. The mill is immense. It is as big as the world. Its middle pillar is the axis of the world, around which the heavens are revolving. The mill is revolving more and more wildly round its  ## p. 255 (#307) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 255 axis; this mill of industrialism and money craves more and more people for its destroying work, and the wandering jew, the old Ahasverus, tells its story to the author, as he heard it already in the first century. King Frode is sitting on his throne, and his first chancellor, the Mammonspriest, comes. He wants more people for the Grotte mill; the men are too few, he wants all the women, young and old, all the "serf-women," to work the damned work of Grotte. He gets them. But Grotte is not satisfied. The Mammonspriest therefore wants all the little children to grind in the Mill of Grotte. He gets even them. But the Mammonspriest invents still more effective means of doubling the production of Grotte. This means is competition, and now the Mill of Grotte is a power of the world. All men, women, aud children work and labour for their life, not to he trampled down in the struggle round the pole of Grotte or to be whipped to death by the drivers of the priests of Mammon. The priests of Mammon make a feast every year, and they paint the colours of joy on the withered faces of the tormented slaves of Grotte. But from thousands and thousands of throats there arises a roar and cry of agony, mixed with curses over the god Mammon and prayers to the Lord Eternal to crush the priests of Mammon and save Mankind. Now follows a song from one of the serfs, an almost heaven-storming protest and cry for vengeance over the spirit of money and engines that puts its stamp upon all the best in the world, upon the work and mind of men. The serf is trampled down and killed, but he dies with a triumphing security of coming vengeance and deliberation. The Mill of Grotte stands still. But the poem ends with a sermon by the high priest of Mammon—a bloody satire upon American utili- tarianism—where he preaches the gospel of money and egotism against the gospel of humanity and Christianism. And he ends his sermon with the words: Yes, our realistic politics is successful and glorious, And more than Adonai and Oden, Zeus and Ammon, la glorious and fall of grace Oar Mammon. "The Mill of Grotte" is the last great work Vilstor Rydberg left to posterity. It might be called his will. It is impossible to give a complete picture of this very remarkable poem. It would require a translation of the whole work, because almost every line contains a treasure. But in a few words it will suffice to say that this work, like Vilstor Rydberg's others, is a fight against ugliness, commonness, and plainness in life, art and literature, a fight fought with weapons of beauty and genius. The writer of these lines was once fortunate enough to see the famous author in his home. Vilstor Rydberg owned a pretty villa by the sea, looking upon the beautiful islands near Stock- holm. Here in the midst of a fine scenery I had the opportunity of seeing and speaking to him. He was a thorough gentleman of an almost supernatural calmness, and though I only saw and talked to him for a little while, I got the impression of a high, powerful spirit, of an influ- ence that will outlive material destruction and death. His gospel of beauty and human love, contrast- ing against the spirit of industrialism and ugli- ness, has not be^n preached in vain. There are signs that the fruits of his work will ripen in some of the best and noblest of the young Scandinavian authors who have thrown off the "Grotte-yoke" of French literature and Danish criticism, which long has put its superficial stamp on Scandinavian literature. Vilstor Rydberg has kept up the standard of beauty in Sweden. Tliis standard has after his death been taken up by two young Swedish authors, and those two must now be regarded as the first poets of the north. W. Hermanson AN INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. ACORRESPONDENT "A Well Wisher" has called atteution to the existence of a want felt especially by authors who reside at a distance from London or any other central fount of literary information, or who reside abroad. Your correspondent has, however, only touched in his note upon the fringe of wider question. Take the example of an author who spends some months of his year in London and some months in the country or abroad. I estimate that the amount of literary work tint I can do in the country is four or five times what I can get done in London, as the calls upon one's time and attention in London are so constant and so many. The advantages of foreign residence or foreign travel to a writer are inestimable, esp cially so I think in the United States. But there is this drawback: the English or London author far away from his reference libraries, such as the London Library or the British Museum, is very much it the same disadvantage as a mechanic 0(11(1 be who goes to a distant " job" without his  ## p. 256 (#308) ############################################ 256 THE AUTHOR. tools ; only the position of the author is rather the worse. For an author to carry a reference library in his portmanteau or box is impossible or impractic- able, even if he own the books. At any rate he is pretty sure not to get far on with his work without experiencing the want of some item of information which he is equally sure not to have at hand. It has occurred to me that a department or adjunct to the Society of Authors—call it if you will the "Intelligence Department"—might be established with but little trouble, and be made perhaps a source of some profit even to the parent Society, rather than of any expense. I would venture to suggest that this depart- ment be placed in charge of a gentleman of some literary acquirements, and that he be made responsible to the Committee of Management and be under its control; his duties to be to make such references and researches at the libraries on behalf of members, and to make such extracts, as may be desired. I do not of course suggest that members or others (for others might employ the department as well) should be allowed the advantages of this "Intelligence Department " for quite the value of a "footless stocking without a leg," but I think no member desiring the services of such would object to a subscription of say 5*. a year (or non-members, say, 10*. 6c?.). At this rate 800 subscribers would produce an income of =£200 a year or more with which to pay the expenses of management and working, and might leave some balance of profit towards the funds. The "Intel- ligence Department" would of course have a small beginning like many things besides, but might like all things be hoped to grow. I merely put my suggestion forward in the rough for what it is worth, and trust that, if practicable, it may be thrashed into better shape, and that other members may express their views. I would also suggest that part of the duties of the department be the supplying of subscribers thereto with new or secondhand or library books on such special subjects as they might desire, which would be an additional source of revenue or profit, although, of course, I cannot go into details here. T. W. D. L. ANNUAL DINNER OP THE INCORPORATED SOCIETY OP AUTHORS. rl!HE Right Honourable Sir John Lubbock, I Bart., M.P., presided at the annual dinner of the Society of Authors, held on Wed- nesday, Feb. 10, at the Holborn Restaurant. The following members and guests were present:— His Excellency the Italian Ambassador, Mr. A. W. a Beckett, the Eev. Dr. H. Adler, Mr. Grant Allen, Mrs. Grant Allen, Sir Arthur Arnold, Lady Besant, Sir Walter Besaut, the Rev. Pro- fessor T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., Ac., Lady Colin Campbell, Mr. Egerton Castle, Mr. Edward Clodd, the Hon. John Collier, Sir Martin Conway. Dr. Moncure D. Conway, Mr. Conan Doyie, Mr. R. Garnett, C.B., Mr. Kenneth Grahame, Miss Clo. Graves, Sir W. J. Grove, Mr. H. Rider Haggard, Mr. A. Hope Hawkins, Mr. Holman Hunt, Mr. R. Le Gallienne, Mr. J. M. Lely, Sir James Linton, Mrs. Lynn Linton, Mr. J. N. Maclean (President Institute of Journalists), Miss Florence Marryat, the Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, Mr. Felix Moscheles, Mr. Henry Norman, Mr. Joseph Pennell, Mrs. Steel, Mr. J. Ashby Sterry, Air. J. J. Stevenson, Mr. Samuel Wilks, M.D., F.R.S. (President Royal College of Physicians), Mr. C. T. Hagberg Wright, Mrs. Abrahall, Mr. J. R. Adam- son, Mr. Percy Ames, Mr. A. Armstrong, Mrs. Armstrong, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, Mr. James Baker, Mr. E. A. Barron, Mr. Louis Becke, Mrs. Bchenna, Mr. Mackenzie Bell, Mrs. Oscar Beringer, Mr. P. Besant, Mr. J. A. Blaikie, Mr. C. F. Clifford Borrer, Mr. J. S. Cowley Brown, Mr. Bernard Bussy, Lieut-Col. J. R. Campbell, Miss Beatrice Chambers, Miss E. R. Chapman, Mr. A. Chatto, Sir W. T. Charley, Q.C., Mr. E. T. Cook, Mrs. G. Corbett, Mrs. Craigie, Mrs. Cuthell, Mrs. Dambrill Davis, Mr. Edward Dicey, C.B., the Rev. J. Meldrum Dryerre, Miss Doyle, Mrs. E. M. Edmonds, Mr. E. M. Edmonds, Mr. Charles Edwardes, Mr. T. Mullett Ellis, Mr. E. J. Garwood, Mr. C. Goi-e, Mrs. Aylmer Gowing, Mr. R. Greene, Mr. H. G. Groser, Captain E. A. Haggard, Mr. Bernard Hamilton, Colonel Har- court, Mrs. Haweis, Mr. Clive Holland, Mr. Percy Hulburd, the Rev. Prebendary Harry Jones, Mr. Kennedy Jones, Mr. C. A. Kelly, Miss A. Kenealy, the Rev. S. Kinns, D.D., Miss Knight, Miss Augusta Larner, Miss Lefroy, the Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, Lady William Lennox, Mr. Stanley Little, Mrs. Stanley Little, Mr. Algernon Locker, Mr. J. Louis, Mr. Sidney Low, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, General Macdonald, Mr. J. De Courcy Macdonell, Mrs. Marillier, Mr. H. W. Massingham, Mr. S. B. G. McKinney, Mr. H. Morrah, Mr. A. P. Murphy, Mrs. Orpen, Miss Emma Phipson, Mr. L. Owen Pike, Mr. J. Prelooker, Mr. John Rae, Mr. F. A. R. Russell, Mr. Owen Seaman, Mr. R. Sisley, Mr. Douglas Sladen, Mrs. Burnett Smith, Mr. R. K. Spender, Mrs. Spender, Mr. M. H. Spielmann, Mrs. Sprigge, Mr. S. S. Sprigge, Mr. Malcom Stark, Miss Steel, Mr. A. S. Stevenson, D.L., Mr. W. G. Thorpe. Mr G. H. Thring, Mrs. Thring, Mr. H. Thornhill  ## p. 257 (#309) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 257 Tiinmins, Miss Grace Toplis, Mr. T. S. Townend, Mr. Andrew Tuer, the Rev. Charles Vovsey, Mr. A. P. Watt, Mrs. Woolaston White, Mr. W. H. Wilkins, and Mrs. Yonge. A part of the following report, is taken from the Daily News. The translation of the Italian Ambassador's speech is special for the Society. The toast of "The Queen" having been pro- posed, The Chairman gave " The Incorporated Society of Authors." He said he had been looking through the accounts of some previous dinners of the Society, and he had studied what his dis- tinguished predecessors in the chair had said in proposing that toast. What was his surprise and almost indignation to find that they had said already, but more eloquently, what he had in- tended to say himself. He thought he had just reason to complain. What could have come, feebly perhaps, but appropriately, from him was mere affectation from them. (Laughter.) It was useless for him now to repeat, with more reason, no doubt, but less skill, what they had so well said—so well, indeed, that they ought ob- viously never to have said it at all. (Laughter.) They had been told on high authority that no wise man should ever read a new book. But while he yielded to no one in his admiration for the masterpieces of antiquity we must remember that they were now but thinly spread over the past. In the first place there was no such thing as a really old book. Mr. Gladstone wrote a book on Homer, and called it " Juventus Mundi." He (Sir John Lubbock) could not help thinking that a very misleading title. In the history of the world—-he did not mean the physical universe —but even in the history of the world of man, the siege of Troy was an affair of yesterday. And yet few, if any, books went back even that little way. Take Homer as having written three thousand years ago — had there been down to the present time one book in ten years which could be called a masterpiece from a literary point of view? Indeed, until quite recently there were no novels, there were no children's books. The Romans had a saying that a child should learn nothing that he could not learn on his feet. (Laughter.) The devo- tional works of mediaeval times, with some few exceptions, were no doubt works of art, and full of lovely pictures, but as for the meaning, they might apply what the school child said, of a parable—that it was a heavenly story with no earthly meaning. (Laughter.) When they came to this century—and even omitting living writers, of whom they could not judge fairly—the case was surely different. It had produced in England alone Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliut Kingsley, Macaulay, Carlyle, Grote, Tennyson, Browning, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keble, Byron, Darwin, Tyndall, Huxley, and many others. (Cheers.) Moieover, the progress had been steady and gradual. Even thirty years ago edu- cation was at a low ebb. At that time there were several hundred schoolmasters and school- mistresses — mainly, he believed, the latter— who could not write. (Laughter.) So that we had not only, as Lord Sherbrooke said, to educate our masters, but even to educate our schoolmasters. (Laughter.) The Queen's reign had been remarkable in many respects, but in nothing more than the extraordinary develop- ment of English literature. Moreover, if books had increased, readers also had, happily for authors, multiplied at least in proportion. During the present reign more schools, and colleges, and polytechnics had been founded in the British Empire than in all its previous history. Every town and even every village had an efficient elementary school. All these spread a love of reading; perhaps, however, not so much as they might. Then there were the public libraries. For his part, however, he was disposed to think that anything which developed the love of read- ing must in the long run enhance the demand for books. (Hear, hear.) It was often said that the number of works of fiction read far outnumbered those on science or art; but it must be remem- bered that they took a much shorter time to read. It was generally assumed that every educated person knew how to read. That was one of the many popular delusions. Some books should be skipped through. Those which deserved to be read carefully required not only attention, but imagina- tion, and from that point of view the University Extension Society and the Home Reading Union were doing valuable service. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion, Sir John Lubbock said he wished to express what he knew was the appreciation which scientific men had for literature. Scientific men looked upon the works of authors with feelings not indeed of envy, but of congratulation. In some respects authors had the advantage of scien- tific men. Who now read Kepler, or Galileo, or Buffon, or Cuvier? Science was so progressive that even the works of the greatest observers and discoverers were soon out of date. With literature it was very different, and in proposing the health of the authors and their society he would say that hardly any company could be brought together which had contributed, and was contributing more, to brighten the lives of our countrymen. (Applause.) With the toast Sir John Lubbock coupled the name of Mrs. Steel, regarding whom he remarked that her works had done much to increase our understanding of  ## p. 258 (#310) ############################################ 258 THE A UTHOR. India, and therefore to promote the maintenance of our rule in that country. (Applause.) Mrs. Steel, in rising to reply, was loudly cheered. She spoke with complete self-possession, and in a voice which was well heard throughout the room. That the hearing or making of speeches—especially after a good dinner—coidd be anything but disagreeable to any sane and healthy man or woman she could not believe. In India upon such occasions they always called upon the youngest member present to speak, and he was called the sacrificial lamb. (Laughter.) She could lay no claim to youth, but as she had been asked to make the sacrifice she did it gladly. She paid a tribute to the reception which women writers met with in England. It was true that a captious critic might think that the composition of the Council of the Authors' Society, which consisted of fifty-six men and four women, was not quite what it should be. However, it was ever thus. She remembered visiting a prison in India, over whose portals was inscribed, " Room for 700 men and six women." (Laughter.) What a tribute, she thought, to female virtue! But her guide corrected her; it was evidence, he said, only of the superior cleverness of women. (Laughter.) Passing to deal with the work of the Authors' Society, Mrs. Steel referred to the fact that in seventeen years the membership of the Society had increased from thirteen to 1300, and she mentioned its efforts with regard to pro- te' ting authors' interests in regard to copyright. The ambition of the Society was to become the recognised headquarters of the literary profession, just us the Royal Academy was recognised as the headquarters of the artistic profession. This aim would never be attained unless the members of the Society cultivated esprit de corps. She had been much struck in reading Lord Roberts's auto- biography, with his account of a fight in which soldiers of the East and of the West, of white skin and of dark, of the Crown and of the Crescent, were alike engaged, and the record of their victory was t his :—" Taken in the name of the 2nd Ghoorkas." That was the spirit in which Mrs. Steel desired to see the authors win their victories. Let their hits be made " in the name of the Society of Authors." (Cheers.) Mrs. Steel, it may be added, had occasion incidentally to " refer to the Prince of Darkness. He figured as the author (I should sav the publisher) of all evil." The toast of "The Guests" was proposed by Sir Martin Conway. Mr. Justin McCarthy had lieen put down to propose this toast, but he was not present, so Sir Martin Conway at short notice waa called upon. Referring to Mrs. Steel's speech, Sir Martin said he was not the sacrificial lamb, but the scapegoat. Then he made a sort of an apology to Mr. Holman Hunt, and the company, including Mr. Hunt, laughed heartily. Then Sir Martin looked over to Sir Walter Besant, who had not got to speak, and said the latter was digesting his dinner as comfortably as he (Sir Martin) ought to have been doing. Another good joke, and there was more laughter. Then Sir Martin chaffed the editors of London daily newspapers who had been amongst the company, but who, of course, had long ago left to discharge their arduous duties (we will not mention names, but most seemed to have delayed going to Fleet-street long enough to hear Sir Martin's speech), and then he spoke of the literary and art work of the Italian masters, and coupled with the toast the name of General Ferrero, the Italian Ambassador. The Italian Ambassador responded to the toast in French. The following is a translation of his speec h: Monsieur le President, Mesdames, Messieurs,— I fully appreciate the importance of an invitation which procures me the honour of finding myself in the midst of so many thinkers of a great country. I wish to express my gratitude for the kind reception I have found among you. I am particularly touched by the sympathetic discourse of the speaker I have just heard. He has referred to my country's literature in a manner which few Italian men of letters could equal. I cannot attempt to compete with his courtesy and eloquence by putting into words my admiration for the literature of England. But it will not, I believe, be inappropriate to this occasion to advert to some of the broad impressions which the thinking man of a foreign land experiences when contem- plating the manifestations of the intellectual life of your great country. There is no need to con- sult bibliographies in order to form an idea of the enormous wealth of your literature in every conceivable branch of learning. Indeed, the only cause for wonder would be were it otherwise. In a nation which extends its dominions over a large portion of the globe, in a nation which occupies by far the highest place in commerce and industry, in a nation the triumphs of which are mainly due to the influence of some of the finest inventive and and creative intelligencies o the world; in such a nation, I say, we must find at the same time the cause and the effect of the highest literary and scientific develop- ment. I have spoken of the wealth of your literature; allow me to speak of a quality which strikes us strangers more especially—I mean the measure, the soundness, the healthiness of thought which preponderates in it. An essen- tially practical people, endowed with a degree of mental calmness rarely met elsewhere, a people  ## p. 259 (#311) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 259 that ever checks its thought by fact, that is ever absorbed in great enterprise, could not allow itself to be attracted by a literature devoid of a practical, or, as the phrase goes, of common sense. It is true that phantasy and imagination have their place, and a great one too, in intellectual manifestation, but, in this atmo- sphere they are not allowed to fly away beyond the pale of reason. A palpable proof of this is to be found in philosophical literature. Among the thinkers of the world, English philosophers, in my opinion, occupy the very first rank, chiefly, be it said, on account of the intellectual equilibrium which is one of their most distinguishing cha- racteristics. In your philosophical literature we find no sign of nebulosity on the one hand, of hard "doctrinarianism " on the other. English literature at large seems indeed to cany with it an atmosphere of its own, the healthiness of which the foreign reader breathes with a new delight; it alway bears a special stamp, immediately recognisable. This originality is no doubt due to the exceptional position of the country, and to the mental character of a nation geographically so situated. In such a country a dislike for the majority of ideas proceeding from outside is almost an affair of instinct. A comparative study of the mutual borrowings, of the reciprocal infiltrations, as one might say, of the literature of different countries would doubtless be highly instructive. It would certainly prove that the literature of England remains that which is the least indebted to the others—and happily so; she lias thus been saved from the contagion of the doctrinal ideas which have brought so much harm to other countries. There can, however, be nothing absolutely hard and fast in a statement of this kind, and I shall, therefore, allow myself a passing allusion to the inspirations which English literature has found from time to time in that of Italy. My country owes to yours a debt of gratitude for the profound study which you have devoted to its glories of old, artistic and literary, and for the appreciative sympathy you have always displayed in that quarter. And here I owe an expression of thanks, cordially given, to the gentleman who has proposed the health of your guests, for his courteous and warm-hearted remarks on this subject. One of the observations which the foreigner cannot fail to make concerning men of letters and men of science, is that here, more than anywhere else, they play an important part in the political life of their country. Of such we have not a few illustrious examples in this very gathering to- night. England is essentially the land of freedom. Many other nations, of course, possess institu- tions similar to yours, but the habit of freedom dates in this country from an older period; all the trials, the ordeals that a people has to go through when it has only just lately conquered its liberty, are long since past with you. Freedom asserts itself even more by the manner of thought than by laws. Now this freedom, which is to human thought what pure air is to the lungs, is the main cause of the glorious soaring, not only of the literature, but also of every display of the intellectual life of Great Britain. It is to this honest conception of the meaning of freedom, among other things, that we must attribute the qualities which more particularly distinguish English journalism. Monsieur le President, Mesdames et Messieurs,—Among the virtues which more specially belong to your nation, one of the greatest is the gratitude with which you reserve the memory of the men who have made er glorious. When I visited for the first time this vast metropolis, I felt immediately drawn towards Westminster Abbey. The sight of so many monuments dedicated to the memory of men who have brought honour to humanity, evoked before my mind a magnificent ideal picture of this country's greatness. Never shall I forget the impression made upon me by the stone which covers the ashes of Newton, whereon are inscribed these noble and simple words: "Quod mortale erat Isaaci Newton." When, in so vivid a manner, almost tangible I might say, we see before us so many men who have been an honour to mankind, there surges in our heart a feeling of gratitude for the fatherland of those illustrious dead; and it is impossible to resist a feeling of sincere affection for a nation which has done so much for the progress of human intel- lect. The countries that gave birth to Dante and Shakespeare, to Galileo and Newton, have cer- tainly an intellectual kinship, and it is by you, thinking men and women, that this kinship will best be understood. Mr. Rider Haggard then proposed the health of the Chairman, and the proceedings terminated. A reception was subsequently held. THE BATTLE OP THE BOOES. I. E paper with this title in last month's Author will have been published in vain if it does not lead to the consideration of the present position. In 1852 all the men of letters spoke without hesitation in favour of free trade. Would they do so at the present day? This remains to be ascertained. P h  ## p. 260 (#312) ############################################ 26o THE AUTHOR. Let me remark that in 1852 the publishers had not yet arrogated to themselves the complete con- trol of the circulation of literature. A certain defe- rence was still paid to those who produce the literary wares—the creators of literary property. Their opinion was actually asked. Some deference was also paid to the booksellers. At the present moment the creators and the owners of literary property are contemptuously thrust aside. The recent proposal to sell books at a net price—fixed—without discount—has been made without the least recognition of the right of authors to have any voice in the management of their own affairs. Now the practice at the present moment is this: All retail bookshops have to take off 2 5 per cent. The railway stalls do not take off this discount. The 25 per cent, off is now so much an esta- blished reduction that if a net price were imposed the public would not buy the book until the discount was allowed. To speak, therefore, of a 6*. book is to speak of a 4*. 6d. book. The trade of bookselling has long been decay- ing, and is now in a very bad way indeed. It is reported that 70 per cent, of country booksellers have succumbed during the last ten years. Publishers have refused to recognise the fact of the discount. If a 6s. book is ordered, the bookseller has to pay for it 4*. id. in some houses; 4*. in others; with a discount for pay- ment within a certain limited time. If the book- seller can order twelve copies of the book, he receives thirteen for the same price. If he can order twelve copies of other books from the same publisher, he gets thirteen as twelve. If he orders twelve copies from the distributing agency of any books he gets thirteen as twelve. The publisher receives about 3*. 6d. a copy for a 6s. book, in some cases a little more, in some a little less. If the 6s. book is an average size, and has a large circulation, he can most certainly (see the February number, p. 212) produce it for a shilling a copy. If he only prints a thousand copies, each copy would cost him about is. ^d. Here, then, are the data for an average 6s. book with a large circulation: Cost of production is is. a copy. The public pay for each copy, 4s. 6d. There remains the sum of 3s. 6d. to be divided between author, bookseller, and publisher. The question is as to the share to be taken by each. Whenever the question is put publicly, the red-herring crosses the trail. There are two principal red-herrings— I. The risk. The answer to this is (1) that there are hundreds of writers whose works carry no risk whatever; (2) that publishers when they bring out any kind of book generally get it sub- scribed by the London trade before they go to print with it. If they were to obtain no sub- scriptions, I very much doubt whether they would ever publish it. Their real risk, then, is the difference between the actual cost of production and the amount realised by the subscriptions. Thus, if the book costs ,£100 and the subscription list is £99 19s. iod., the risk is twopence. Again, as to risk, what about the bookseller? He has to stock the book. Every book on his shelves means risk; every book that remains on his shelves means failure and loss. And as to the author. The risk to him, apart from that of reputation, is the cost of time and work—his personal expenses and maintenance— in preparing, studying, and writing. Is that no risk? In point of fact, in far the greater number of cases, the respective risk may be stated as—the author's first, the bookseller's next, and the pub- lisher's last and least. II. The second red herring is " office expenses." This is an amazingly daring pretence. Why should the publisher's "office expenses" be con- sidered more than the solicitor's, or the draper's, or the doctor's? Why should his office expenses be considered more than the author's? Why more than the bookseller's? Have not the booksellers their rent to pay; their assistants; their taxes? Now, with these data before us, let us face the question and endeavour to find an answer. We have always, even while exposing the most malig- nant misrepresentations, endeavoured to find such a solution as will safeguard the rights of pub- lishers. We must not forget, however, that jmblishers in most cases and—except when they are editors—are middlemen. Now, no middlemen are absolutely necessary; they are only useful in saving trouble. Their place may be taken any day either by printers, or by papermakers, or by booksellers, or by authors themselves. The Editor. II. The paper on this subject in The Author for February is interesting and instructive. Men of letters, the Commission of Inquiry, and the Times and Athenieum representing the Press, were in favour of the sound principles that a bookseller, having bought a book, ought to be free to sell it at any price which paid him and suited his trade. Free trade in books has been the rule for two generations, much to the advantage of authors and the public. During the last few years some publishers have been introducing the thin end of a harmless- looking wedge into the book trade, which might easily be driven home, and which, ifj[driven home  ## p. 261 (#313) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. would make it necessary for the whole " Battle of Books" to be fought over again in the last years of the century. The name of this harmless- looking wedge is—" net price." John Lascelles. HI. May I bring before your readers another point in the discussion of the conditions of bookselling in the early fifties, not involved in the ground covered by the interesting article in The Author for February. Mr. Chapman pointed out that advertisements formed a terrible item in the cost of a great majority of books. This outlay was caused, first, by the great number of advertising media, in which the publisher must make known his publications if he would reach each class; and secondly, by the fact that the millions, having no literary appetite, had to be tempted by every device that ingenuity could suggest. Were the people generally educated, they would be on the alert for every new product of the Press, and then one adver- tising medium would suffice. "If the publishers were to issue a weekly periodical, containing classified advertisements of all the works pub- lished in Britain during the successive intervals, each contributing towards the cost in proportion to the space his advertisement might occupy, to which should be added an accurate and compre- hensive report, classified with equal care, of all works published abroad, a million copies (or several millions, if found needful) could be distri- buted gratis throughout the country to every literary institution, reading-room, book society, and private individual that would apply for it, at a small expense compared with the enormous aggregate sum now annually lavished on the same object. The result would obviously be a great advantage to authors, publishers, and the public. By the concentration of literary adver- tisements into one medium, a large number of second and third rate periodicals now mainly dependent upon them would fall to the ground, and thus a barrier to sound instruction in the form of the superficial and profitless reading they too often supply, would give way to books of a truly informing and elevating kind." T. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: ITS PRESENT-DAY USE. ""T"TTHETHER she possesses the means of V Y realising it or not," "If it were not for the guarantee of Europe," " If Greece is incapable and unfitted to undertake the task," "If they are unable to maintain an agreement on this point," are four sentences taken from the first leader only in the Times of to-day (Feb. 19), and suggest the heading of this article, for a hundred years ago one of the best of English prose writers would have said, "Whether she possess," "If Greece be incapable," and "If they be unable," and many authors even now would say that the latter was the more elegant form of the two. But which is correct—and why is it so? Will some learned grammarians aid the readers of these pages by expounding the present rule upon this subject, which, when followed, will be acknowledged by authorities, and at the same time be so succinct and clear as to be of practical service in the everyday life of a writer? That brief rules are in existence, and are followed not only by those with a University training, but by those yclept "'Varsity Dons," may be gathered from such remarks as one sometimes hears them make—" Oh! if there's doubt use 'be,' if not use 'is.'" "If you can get 'should' into the sentence, but not without, put 'be.'" That the question at issue is not so simple as may at first appear will be evident on taking a brief glance at its history. In 1819, William Cobbett, in his interesting and readable "Grammar of the English Language," with the curious title- page, " Intended for the use of schools and young persons in general, but more especially for the use of soldiers, sailors, apprentices, and plough- boys," says, in reply to the question " What are the cases in which we ought to use the subjunctive form ?" that " Bishop Lowth, and, on his autho- rity, Mr. Lindley Murray, have said that some conjunctions have a government of verbs; that is to say, make them or force them to be in the subjunctive mode. And then these gentlemen mention particularly the conjunctions if, though, unless, and some others. But (and these gentle- men allow it) the verbs which follow these con- junctions are not always in the subjunctive mode; and the using of that mode must depend, not upon the conjunction, but upon the sense of the whole sentence. How, then, can the conjunctions govern the verb? It is the sense, the meaning of the whol« sentence, which must govern, and of this you will presently see clear proof. 'If it be dark, do not come home. If eating is necessary to man, he ought not to be a glutton.' In the first of these sentences the matter expressed by the verb mag be or mag not be. There exists an uncertainty on the subject. And if the sentence were filled up it would stand thus: 'If it should be dark, do not come home.' But in the second sentence there exists no such uncertainty. We know, and all the world knows, that eating is necessary to man. ^e could not fill up the sentence with should > an<^' therefore, we make use of is. Thus,  ## p. 262 (#314) ############################################ 262 THE AUTHOR. then, the conjunction if, which you see is em- ployed in both cases, has nothing at all to do with the government of the verb. It is the sense which governs. . . . As to instances in which authors have violated the principles of grammar with respect to the use of the modes, I could easily fill a book much larger than this with instances of this kind from Judge Blackstone and Dr. Johnson." How frequently the subjunctive mood—as we now say—was used before, and at the time the foregoing was written, will be evident to all those who remember the works of one whom Sir Walter Scott described in his diary as "That young lady [who] had a talent for describing the involve- ments, feelings, and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I have ever met with. The big bow-wow I can do myself like anyone going; but the exquisite touch, which renders commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description, and the sentiment, is denied to me." He speaks of Jane Austen, whose style has been praised by Southey, Coleridge, and Macaulay. There can, therefore, be no hesitation in saying that a hundred years ago the subjunctive was very much used. What is its position now? Mr. Mason, in the thirty-seventh edition of his " English Grammar," published last year, writes: "In modern English it is getting (unfortunately) more and more common to use the indicative mood in cases where the subjunctive would be more correct. Thus, for 'see that all be in readiness,' many people say ' see that all is in readiness '; for ' if that were to happen' they say 'if that was to happen.'" Professor Meiklejohn, in the fourteenth •edition of his "English Language" (1896) says: "The subjunctive mood has for some years been gradually dying out. Few writers, and still fewer speakers, use it. Good writers are even found to say, 'If he was here I should tell him.'" He goes on to state that "the sub- junctive mood was used—and ought to be used— to express doubt, possibility, supposition, conse- quence (which may or may not happen), or wish, all as moods of the mind of the speaker." His very phrase " ought to be used " leads the reader to doubt whether he quite expects this very com- plex rule to be followed by all good writers, especially as "the subjunctive mood has for some years been gradually dying out." To repeat my question—is there no rule for this mood acknowledged by the authorities, and so succinct and clear as to be of practical service in the everyday life of a writer '( F. Howard Collins. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The I. S. A. as Publisher. In The Author of this month the Editor gives more excellent advice to aspirants after literary fame. But there is one flaw in his suggestions. There will often be an insuperable objection to publishing a book either from the home of the writer or from the house of his bookbinder or printer. Could not the Society of Authors remove this difficulty by establishing an office from which books published at the risk of authors could be issued, copies sent to chosen London and country papers for review, advertisements arranged, and copies offered on sale or return where such a step is desirable. Of course an author would have to make a suitable d-posit to meet out- goings, and to pay a fee that would cover office expenses. Where a book succeeded the office could continue to publish it, and give the writer the whole net profit on its sale. Is not this worth trying? Robert B. Holt. 10, Bedford-place, Russell-square, W.C., Feb. 13. II.—Editor and Contributor. 1. Your remarks on the ethics of editorship can hardly, I think, be accepted beyond a certain point. In the case of signed articles by profes- sional writers of ability, nothing, I admit, should, or need, be touched by the editor, save with the writer's consent. This may be taken as an axiom —in theory. In practice it is not possible: at least, in many magazines. In my ten years' experience, during which many of the most eminent writers in the country have contributed over their names to my pages, I have never but twice received any objection from writers for such editorial interference as I am forced to make, and I am constantly in receipt of letters of acknowledgment and thanks. It is obvious that in a signed article no opinions, nor sense, may be altered, no additions made with- out the author's approval. This rule is absolute; but at times it may be necessary to expunge, if trouble is not to ensue. There are three forms of errors constantly to be dealt with—errors of language, errors of fact, and errors of taste. If the editor is not to be judge in these matters, what is the use of an editor? If these errors are made, where is the " degradation" of having them put right? It would manifestly be objectionable, for several reasons, for me to give examples that would satisfy your readers; but I am convinced that were you, Sir, to glance through the corrected pages that I pass for press, you would acknow-  ## p. 263 (#315) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 263 ledge that your desire to see such errors as those to which I have referred pass uncorrected would tell against the literary quality of the magazine, and against the reputation of the writers them- selves. You may reply that in the case of a magazine devoted to special interests, contributors, even though professional writers, are looked to rather for their knowledge than for their literary style, and that, therefore, some beneficent inter- ference with their text is not to be regarded as objectionable. But it is a matter of principle which you assert, and which in practice is not of universal application. Author and Editor. 11. In your note on Mr. Chitty's opinion as to the liability of editors for the return and safe custody of unasked-for MSS., you say your own sym- pathies are entirely with the editors. I should say most men of sense will agree with you. The whole point in the case is to fix the senders of MSS. with notice of the terms on which they will lie received. The burden of proving that notice was actually received is on the editor. In this an editor is nearly sure to fail, as MSS. are now sent in on approval. An editor can give himself absolute protection in this way. With each number of his magazine he must issue one or more coupons ; each of those coupons containing the terms on which he will receive unsolicited MSS., together with a state- ment that no MS. will be read unless it is accompanied by a coupon signed by the sender. As all persons who send MSS. wish them to be read, the writers of papers would lose no time in acquainting themselves with the rule as to coupons, and in complying with it. The editor would then, in every case, have the most positive evidence that notice of his rules had been received by the sender of a MS., and that the MS. was sent subject to his rules. An editor who did not wish to oblige all his would-be contributors to buy his magazine or beg one of his coupons, might state that either a signed coupon or a signed copy of it must accompany every un- solicited MS. as a condition of its being read. If I were an editor I should give the alternative, so as not to seem to force my magazine upon persons wishing to submit their work for my approval. John Lascelles. hi. One aim of our Society is to raise the tone of all connected with literature, and there is no doubt that it is doing much towards that end. I recently wrote a polite note to the editor of one of our leading "religious" (!) weeklies, offering him an article (gratuitously), but saying before sending it 1 should be obliged if he would say whether (pro- vided, of course, he should approve of it when read) such an article would be acceptable or not. I may add that I have often written articles for that paper, which have been published by a former editor, but for which I have never received one penny of remuneration. I may also say that, being a brother clergyman and a vicar of some standing in London, and an author of several books, I wrote to him not as "Editor," but under his own proper name. He was not courteous enough even to reply; in fact, the offer was rudely snubbed. Further, I sent an article to this same editor some months before, inclosing stamps for its return, and though I begged that, if not accepted, it should be returned, it was never returned, the stamps were kept, and no notice whatever was taken of my note. I am sorry to say I have received similar treatment from other editors. Is this conduct worthy of literature? If an editor has not time just to write "declined," to say nothing of two more words, "with thanks," he might have politeness enough to let one have a MS. back that he must know cost the writer hours of labour. „.„ C. J. III.—Reviewing. 1. May I add my testimony to a point touched on by Mr. George Gissing and Mrs. Sarah Grand on the subject of reviewing; namely, the habit of some reviewers "of quotiug sentences uttered by a character in a novel as though they came from the author himself." I read some years ago in a Church paper of high standing a review of a novel of mine in which the reviewer, after animadverting in unfavourable terms on the persons" of dull religious habits" with whom he suggested that my lot was probably cast, proceeded to comment in the strongest manner on my supposed views respecting the clergy, giving quotations from my book in proof of his assertions. The first of these quota- tions was so much altered for the worse that I did not immediately recognise it. The second was correctly rendered. Both were spoken by cha- racters in the booh, respecting a type of cleric not more worthy of reverence than the well-known "Mr. Slope." The reviewer omitted to mention the cordial praise of another class of clergyman which immediately followed on the same page. M. C. 11. The following is au illustration of the above letter. "Jr. "]Sote by the Author" is Dickens's own note "A n^. * VloBOP^y arises here whether Mr. Peck- eniff b^?^\0tl 0*? ^ good reason to say that he was  ## p. 264 (#316) ############################################ 264 THE AUTHOR. specially patronised and encouraged in his undertakings. All his life long be had been walking up and down the narrow ways and bye-places with a hook in one hand and a crook in the other, scraping all sorts of valuable odds and ends into his pockets. Now, there being a special pro- vidence in the fall of a sparrow, it follows (so Mr. Pecksniff would have reasoned) that there must also be a special providence in the alighting of the stone, or stick, or other substance which is aimed at the sparrow. And Mr. Peck- sniff's hook or crook, having invariably knocked the sparrow on the head and brought him down, that gentleman may have been led to consider himself as specially licensed to bag sparrows, and as being specially seized and pos- sessed of all the birds he had got together. That many undertakings, national as well as individual—but especially the former—are held to be specially brought to a glorious and successful issue, which never could be so regarded on any other process of reasoning, muBt be clear to all men. Therefore the precedents would seem to show that Mr. Pecksniff had good argument for what he said, and might be permitted to say it, and did not say it presumptuously, vainly, or arrogantly, but in a spirit of high faith and great wisdom meriting all praise."—(Excerpt from " Martin Chuzzlewit.") Note by the author.—" The most credulous reader will scarcely believe that Mr. Pecksniff's reasoning was once set upon as the author's!" III. I glean from the opinions recently advanced by some of those whose duty it is to review works of fiction that the avalanche of volumes which at times descends upon the editorial throne is chiefly responsible for the desultory notices complained of. Few will regard this as a sound excuse. If the rush be so great as to endanger the prospects of individual and thorough examination, let the selected few have the l)enefit thereof, the balance being greeted with an acknowledgment only, until such time as the stream runs quieter. If we get ignored, it would be a more pleasant expe- rience than being made the victims of a slovenly verdict against which there is no appeal. In the matter of criticism our forefathers may not have been so smart. They were certainly often more just, courteous, and, above all, careful. Authors' Club, S.W., Cecil Clarke. Feb. 9. IV. I have read with increasing surprise the letters on this subject which have been appearing in The Author. Tour correspondents 6eem to regard reviewing as a religious function, involving I know not what moral responsibilities on the part of the reviewer. In my opinion they expect too much. To begin with, you must not expect a reviewer to be a critic. There are not a hundred critics alive in the whole world at any one time, so there cannot be enough of them to go round. A reviewer is a man who can write rapidly a rough estimate of the kind of opinion of any book likely to be held by the average reader of the journal in which the review appears. It is his business to consider his readers as much as the book reviewed. He has to tell his readers whether the book is the kind of book they, being possibly the fools they are, will like to read. Thus the same reviewer writing in half a dozen journals on the same book will write of it in half a dozen different ways. He may justly praise it in one journal and damn it in another. I will give an instance. There is a book called "Dolomite Strongholds" by J. Sanger Davies. As editor of the Alpine Journal, I inserted in that magazine a strongly condemnatory review. The book was not a good one from the point of view of an expert climber. But I myself reviewed the same book in a popular weekly, and I praised it, for it is quite amusing, and even informing, to non-mountaineering folk, and will give them no false notions of any importance compared with the utterly false conceptions of the whole moun- taineering business which they bring to the reading of it. As to novel reviewing I know nothing, having never read a new novel in my life, but always come to novels long after public opinion on their merits was declared and confirmed by time. Other sorts of reviewing present other kinds of problems. If a book pretends to be a contribu- tion to knowledge, the reviewer's business is to find out whether the facts in it are correct and the research scholarly. If he finds facts inaccu- rate and research slipshod, it is his duty in mercy to studious persons to kill that book if he can. I have killed three books in my time for such reasons, the only three I ever reviewed with open hostility, and I did so over my own name where I was permitted to sign it. Where a book is harm- less, one does one's best to praise what can be found praiseworthy in it. We have all had experience of being reviewed, but our reactions from such experiences seem to be various. I never go out of my way to collect and read reviews of my own works, but a certain number always come under an author's eye, and he naturally reads the earlier ones. Once or twice I have detected the hand of a foe; but seldom. What strikes me most forcibly is the general capacity manifested by the modern journalist, his skill in finding out what a book contains, his facility in setting it out. As a rule I have recognised the justice of a reviewer's condemnation, from his own point of view. A book of mine, which was a catalogue of fifteenth century Dutch prints, was once sent by an editor's oversight (very forgivable surely in the hurry of to-day) to his reviewer of novels, and included in the weekly batch. The man could make nothing of it—of course not; he was reduced to joking about it, and so solved what must have  ## p. 265 (#317) ############################################ THE AUTHOB. 265 been an awkward problem for him. His praise or blame were alike immaterial, and could neither help nor harm the book. A single review has very little effect on a book, for the simple reason that few people read only one journal. Most of us skim a number of journals, and see several reviews of any book. Verbal recommen- dation is what makes the fortune of a book. When a man says, in a club smoking-room, "You should read such a book; I have read it; it is very interesting "—that does a book good. Most reviewers go about town talking of books. They do more good to authors by that means than by their written notices. It is nonsense to rave against the nature of things. Reviewing is a necessity of the day. It has to be done by the writers of the day under the conditions that exist. If you can change the conditions and re-educate the writers you can change the reviews; not otherwise. You might as well rave against the east wind and hope to soften i4, W. Martin Conway. IV.—Popularity. 1. The Editor in last month's Author, asks: What are the qualities which create popularity in a writer? I have thought a good deal on the subject, and have gleaned many opinions from the novel-reading public of a small country town. The conclusion I have arrived at is that the first quality necessary to popularity, and the one cloaking a multitude of literary sins, must be a certain rousing power, the gift of arresting attention and stirring emotion, either by startling plot, exaggeration and caricature, or vivid sensa- tional diction. Of course when this quality is allied to artistic taste we all recognise genius, but the majority knows nothing about art canons, and accepts fustian for force. It is not "silliness, weakness, or vulgarity " that attracts the ordinary reader, but a perfervid emotionalism, and if this be combined with well-established moral senti- ments, so hammered in and driven home that there can be no mistaking the author's meaning, so much the better for the author. Life is a dull thing to most persons, and they like their fiction to supply the lacking colour without shocking or perplexing them. Next to the arresting quality, I would place perfect simplicity, prettiness, and pathos, at- tributes dear because soothing to every one of us. A word in regard to Dickens. From many inquiries I find that, in the provinces at least, it is difficult to make young persons read him at all. And I cannot help thinking the Editor is mistaken in his opinion that Tennyson, Scott, Longfellow, Marryatt, and Dickens have still "an immense hold on the people." New editions are bought by old lovers, and given by parents and guardians to the young, but I believe librarians and booksellers will confirm my view that the youth of to-day does not read these, and others of our best authors, except under compulsion. I should be only too glad to learn that I am wrong in this conclusion. M. L. P. 11. In your paragraph (p. 223) relating to Free Libraries, are you falling into the error of the newspapers, in which one so often sees the con- clusion drawn that the popularity of a work is shown by the frequency of its issue? Is not frequency of issue rather dependent on notoriety—from whatever cause arising? The number of copies of any work in a library being limited, applicants for books really liked will commonly hear that they are "out." The persons who have hold of them may often keep them as long as they are allowed—to read a seeond time, or to pass from hand to hand through a family; whereas books which are only got through by much skipping are soon brought back to the library, where they are ready for reissue to people who are prepared to take what they can get. At the British Museum there is a copy of Tennyson's "In Memoriam," the first pages of which are very dirty, but the latter quite clean, fairly showing, to my mind, the extent to which each portion has been read. Are we to conclude, therefore, that the last part is much less to the public taste than the first? Rather it is to be supposed that the fame of the poem led people to commence its perusal, but that it really afforded them little entertainment. So with books. Before speaking of, say, Martin Tupper as a popular author, one would like to see whether the sold copies of his works have become much soiled, as well as how often they show evidence of being gifts—their notoriety often leading to a purchase, the possessor on experience of their contents being disappointed. As regards taste, a good deal may be learned by examining the edges of the pages of some works in public libraries, e.g., volumes of State Trials. F. R. V.—The House where Byron was Born. Now that we are promised what the newspapers somewhat irreverently term a Byron " boom," it may j±qI Y>e inopportune to mention a fact which will pT0\)ably come as a surPrise to many rea,3ers  ## p. 266 (#318) ############################################ 266 THE AUTHOR. of The Author. When the house, No. 24, Holies- street, Cavendish-square, where the illustrious poet was born, was rebuilt, the tablet notifying the circumstance was taken down. This, I think, was in the spring of 1891. More than once I have agitated through the Press and elsewhere that so suitable a spot should not be allowed to remain without an inscription of some kind. The owners and occupiers, a large firm of haber- dashers, who carry on their business in this and the adjacent houses, promised a long while ago to remedy their neglect. But that promise has never been fulfilled, although Lord Byron's effigy is used by them as a trade-mark. Is not this a case the Byron Society should take up? It is only the site of the original house, but none the less it seems a pity that the record of so noteworthy a birthplace should be allowed to sink out of notice, when its per- petuation could be so easily accomplished. C. VI.—Paying for Publication. I am still rather puzzled by your advice to authors never to pay for publication, unless it is intended to apply only to such books as novels, volumes of essays, and the like. I freely admit, however, that my experience is limited, and that my perplexity may be due to ignorance. But it seems to me that if authors never paid for publi- cation, a large number of really useful books in the drier departments of literature would never see the light. I know of at least a few instances. I remember that some years ago a friend of mine who is rather an authority on history, began to write a book on an historical subject with which he was well acquainted, and on which a book was then (and still is) much needed. He went up to London with his manuscript to see a prominent publisher, and bore as the certificate of his ability to do the work creditably a letter of introduction from a historian of some celebrity. The pub- lisher received him graciously and offered to publish the first volume of his work for a pay- ment of ,£400. When the kind offer was declined, he said that out of consideration for the letter of introduction he would consent to take three-quarters of the expense upon himself, if my friend would pay the other quarter. This also was declined, and the book never appeared. I have done some historical work myself, and having published some books through the Chris- tian Knowledge society, for which I was paid by them, wished some time ago to bring out another book, somewhat longer and more important. For certain reasons I was un- willing this time to offer the book in the first place to the S.P.C.K. I wrote accordingly to a well-known firm mentioning the subject of the book and what I had previously written, stating that I did not wish to publish it at my own expense, and asking whether I should send the MS. for their consideration. I received a reply that they declined its publication. Another leading firm subsequently offered to publish it for about .£140, and finally I allowed a third firm to bring it out, but I had to bear all the expenses. The book has been well reviewed, and has been adopted as a text-book in one degree-giving college, but it has not yet paid expenses. On the other hand I have gained in reputation by its publication, and I believe that a sudden tem- porary rise in my income was largely due to the publicity I thereby gained. I may be mistaken, but I do not think it would have been so well received had it been brought out by the S.P.C.K. I am pretty sure it would neither have done so much good nor brought me so much credit had it been brought out otherwise than through a regular publisher as suggested in your February number. I mention these points in no spirit of carping criticism, but because I am anxious to know whether there are publishers who would take such books aud publish them except at the author's cost, and whether I have acted foolishly or not in publishing as I did. I was told by a fairly good authority that the publication of historical works, unless they were "popular" works, must cause loss either to publisher or author. This may not apply to authors of celebritv, but is it generally true? L. M. N. [It is a very good thing for " L. M. N.'s " friend that he refused to pay £400. That must have been a stupendous MS. which would cost =£400 to produce, unless there were many illustrations. Probably it was only that publisher's little way. It used to be a very common little way to multiply the cost of production by three or four when the author was going to pay for publish- ing. The way is not so easy now, which explains the otherwise strange dislike with which some publishers regard the Society's "Cost of Production." "L. M. N." seems to think that literature considered as an article of commerce is different from anything else. He should under- stand that publishing is a trade, and a very good trade too: that it is conducted in order to make money: that all books which are "popu- lar" are eagerly published: and that unless a book is popular enough to be bought, that book will be a loss.—Ed.j  ## p. 267 (#319) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 267 BOOK TALE. THE subject of Mr. E. F. Benson's novel is opportune, the scene being laid in Greece seventy years ago, during the struggle between the G-reeks and the Turks. The story will first run in the Graphic. An Irish story by Mr. Richard Dowling will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, entitled "Old Corcoran's Money," Mr. Zangwill's "Dreamers of the Ghetto " will appear in the autumn. Mr. Sidney Pickering, author of " The Romance of His Picture," has another novel appearing through Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen next month, called "Margot." Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell's novel, "Sweet Irish Eyes," will be published this month by Messrs. Skeffington. Mr. Kipling has completed a new short story, entitled " Slaves of the Lamp." Mr. Robert Buchanan is about to issue two new books, "The Ballad of Mary the Mother " and "The New Rome." Mr. Buchanan says he is the only surviving religious poet, and possibly the last of the race. Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. announce "The Adventures of John Johns," by Mr. Frederic Carrel, and "Her Fortunate Grace," by Miss Gertrude Atherton. Mr. Meredith's article, " An Essay in Comedy," is being published in a small volume by Messrs. Constable. It appeared originally in the New Quarterly Review in 1877. Mr. Meredith entered upon his seventieth year on the 12th ult. A new story by Mr. Silas K. Hocking, entitled "The Blindness of Madge Tindall," will be pub- lished shortly by Messrs. Warne. "Who is She?" is the title of a novel by Professor P. Jones, to be published by Messrs. Nichols. Mr. Crockett's " Lad's Love " is due for publi- cation on the 12th. The personal life of the Queen which Mr. Richard Holmes is writing for the Goupil Gallery art monographs is expected to be ready by the great celebrations in June. The Edition de luxe, on Japanese paper, price J68, is sold out. A new edition of "Letters addressed to A. P. Watt," has just been issued by Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, with a number of additional letters from authors. These all testify to the value of the literary agent, or, to be precise, of Mr. Watt's services in selling the writer's literary works to the greatest possible advantage. Major J. R. Macdonald, of the Royal Engineers, who was engaged in the survey for the Uganda railway, has written a work on "Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa," which will be published by Mr. Edward Arnold. A record by Mr. Francis McNab of his journey in South Africa is to be published by Mr. Arnold, entitled " On Veldt and Farm." Sir George Trevelyan, who has retired from Parliament because of ill-health, is engaged upon an historical work dealing with the end of the last century. Sir Martin Conway's book on his recent expe- dition is expected to be ready this month, and will be called "The First Crossing of Spitz- bergen." "British Moralists " is the title of two volumes of selections, principally from writers of the eighteenth century, which Mr. L. A. Selby-Bigge has prepared for publication by the Clarendon Press. A new series of classical texts for the use of English-speaking students, edited by well-known scholars, is about to be published by Messrs. Methuen. Among the editors are Professor Tyrrell of Dublin, Dr. Sandys of Cambridge, and Professor Robinson Ellis of Oxford. A Somali-English Dictionary is to be published by Messrs. Kegan Paul. There are 2186 magazines published in the United Kingdom. Fifty years ago the number was 200. The Bronte Society's museum at Haworth is to be formally opened at Easter. Two new romances by the late William Morris are about to be published from the Kelmscott Press. The first to appear will be "The Water of the Wondrous Isle," and some time after- wards there will come "The Sundering Flood," which is the last romance written by Mr. Morris. The Rev. Morris Fuller, vicar of St. Mark's, Marylebone, is writing the biography of Bishop Davenant, who occupied the See of Salisbury and assisted Archbishop Laud in carrying out his reforms. Messrs. Methuen will publish the volume. The book called "Four Generations of a Literary Familv—the Hazlitts," by Mr. Carew Hazlitt, has been withdrawn from sale by Mr. Redway, owing to complaints as to its character.  ## p. 268 (#320) ############################################ 268 THE AUTHOR. Mr. Gosse is to edit for Mr. Heinemann a series •of short histories entitled "Literatures of the World." Among those who will contribute volumes are Professor Dowden, Dr. Garnett, Dr. Verral, Professor G. G. Murray, and Dr. C. H. Herford. A new and cheap edition of Dr. Hill Burton's "History of Scotland" will be published by Messrs. Blackwood in eight volumes. Professor Rhys and Mr. Brynmor Jones, who sat on the Welsh Laud Commission, are joint authors of a work entitled " The Welsh People," announced for publication by Mr. Unwin. "England in the Days of Old " is the title of a work which Mr. William Andrews has written, and will publish shortly. The life of the late Lord Tennyson, by his son, the present lord, will be published in October. When Sir Kichard Burton was Consul at Damascus, he collected material for a work now entitled " Human Sacrifice among the Sephardi'm, or Eastern Jews; or the Murder of Padre Tomaso." The book was written, but, owing to its strong anti-semitic tendencies, publication was delayed. It is now about to be published, prac- tically as it left the author's bands, by Messrs. Hutchinson. Mr. Gladstone will publish this spring a second series of " Gleanings" from his occasional writings. The first volume will contain ecclesiastical and theological essays. An uncatalogued collection of nearly 40,000 volumes, containing the greater part of Bishop Stillingfleet's library, has been discovered by Dr. Stokes in Marsh's Library, Dublin. The book of chapters of medical life and work, which was finished by Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson just before he died, is to be published immediately by Messrs. Macmillan, entitled "Vita Medica." Mr. Francis Thompson's new book, to be pub- lished by Messrs. Constable, will be called " Odes and Other Poems." In sending copies of Dr. Nansen's book to the Press for review, the publishers, Messrs. A. Constable and Co., requested editors not to publish extracts or quotations from it exceeding in all 1000 words. "The safeguarding of our interests in this country and in America," they added, "compels us to impose this condition." We imagine that Messrs. Constable have thus set an example that is likely to be followed by many other hrinses. "Here is rather a novel experience for people of letters," says the Daily Chronicle. "An author has just received the following letter :— My attention has been attracted by a notice in the of [naming the book]. In it the reviewer finds fault in style and English. You might find me useful. I devote myself wholly to revising, and work for some of the most successful authors. Naturally, I never give their names, but I can refer you to Messrs. Hutchinson, the publishers, for whom and for whose authors I do a good deal of work. The inclosed circular, too, will probably satisfy yon of my competence for what I undertake.—Yours faithfully, A. Heald (Anglophil). "The author's first impulse was naturally to desire the scalp of the person who wrote the letter. On second thoughts, however, it was regarded as a good joke," and sent to our contemporary for publication. Mr. Eustace Reynolds-Ball contributes to the March English Illustrated Magazine an article (illustrated from original protographs) on Shelley Land and the Levantine Riviera. It appears that there is some risk of the historic Casa Magna, near Spezia, where Shelley lived during the last few months previous to his death, being pulled down to make room for "eligible villa residences." Mr. Reynolds-Ball suggests that a fund should be raised by subscription to preserve the house as a memorial of the poet. Perhaps the Society for the Preservation of Places of Historic Interest will consider the proposal. Mr. Herbert Flowerdew, whose satire, called "The Tenth Muse," was announced in these columns, now writes to explain that he has unwittingly taken a title already used by Sir Edwin Arnold, and that he has therefore changed his title to " In an Ancient Mirror." Headon Hill has delivered complete "copy" of the serial which he was recently commissioned by Messrs. Cassell and Co. to write for their Family Magazine, and is now engaged upon the proofs of his next volume. The book, which will shortly be issued by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Co., is entitled "Beacon Fires," and deals with stirring events on the British coasts in war time. Messrs. Chapman and Hall will shortly publish a novel by Mr. Alan Oscar, entitled "Captain Kid's Millions." The first part of the story appeared in Chapman's Magazine for February; with a sequel added it is now to appear as a 6*. book. Mr. John Pendleton, the author of "Our Railways," and other works, has just completed a novel, "The Ivory Queen," a story of strange adventure, which will be published shortly by Messrs. Osgood, Mcllvaine and Co.  ## p. 269 (#321) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 269 Here is a pretty subject for the research of the unoccupied specialist in Court literary affairs. A second-hand bookseller offers in his recently issued catalogue, under the number 9282, "Deutsche Gedenkbliitter, 1870-1871" (German memorial leaves), published for the benefit of the funds of the Patriotic Women's Aid Society. The price is twenty marks. The volume so offered for sale is, the Berlin correspondent of the Daily News says, the copy which the late Empress Augusta sent to Queen Victoria, as a present, and bears the follow- ing dedication written by the Empress: "To my dear Victoria, from her faithful sister, cousin, and friend, Augusta." Nobody can say how this book came into the possession of the bookseller. A correspondent of the Daily Chronicle has been "discovering" Pietari Paivarinta, who was born seventy years ago at Ylivieska, not far out- side the Arctic circle. The son of a poor labourer, his youth was spent in abject misery. He married at twenty, and cleared himself a patch in the vast forest. Later on he became parish clerk, and, enjoying a little leisure, wrote letters to the patriotic papers. At forty, he ventured to pub- lish a volume entitled "Episodes of the Great War," and every Tear he has repeated the experi- ment. His tales have a distinct flavour, marking well the difference between the Turanian type of humanity and the more familiar type of peasant of Russia or Scandinavia. Paivarinta is hale and hearty, and not without honour in his own country. Two of the scarcest of the Kelmscott Press books, namely, "King Florus,'' on vellum (of which the issue was but twelve copies in all), and the same on paper, have been stolen from the shop of Messrs. Jones and Evans, Queen-street, Cheap- side. A propos the theft, some particulars of how such things are done have been supplied to the Westminster Gazette. Sometimes the thief leaves behind him another volume which is out- wardly the same as the one taken. A single leaf is often all that he wants to complete a volume, and in this event he simply slips in a piece of wet string and puts the book back on the shelves; then, when the leaf has been rotted through, he returns and carries it off. Occasionally, as in the case of the house painter who carried off a first edition of Burns from Lord Rosebery's house, the thief is ignorant of the value of the book, but the most daring thefts are usually committed by those who know something about the subject—broken-down publishers, literary hacks who have seen better days, and so on. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. The Bookselling Trade in 1896. Bookseller for Feb. 5. Reviewing. Opinions of authors in Westminster Gazette for Jan. 27 and Feb. 10; of Mr. Lang in Longman's for March; of Mr. Payn in Windsor for March. The Battle of the Books. Professor Raleigh. Cosmopolis for February. The Child in Recent English Literature. Pro- fessor Sully. Fortnightly Review for February. Wordsworth's Youth. Leslie Stephen. National Review for February. The Rival Poet in Shakespeare's Sonnets. O. A. Leigh. Westminster Review for February. The Indian Mutiny in Fiction. Blackwood for February. The Celtic Renascence. Andrew Lang. Blackwood for February. Ancient Bohemian Poetry. Frederick Count Lntzow. New Review for February. William Morris, Philanthropist and Poet. D. F. Hannigan. Westminster Review for February. Gibbon's Life and Letters. H. W. Paul. Nineteenth Century for February Reminiscences of Matthew Arnold. Dean Farrar. Temple Magazine for March. Notable Review. Of Morris's ■• The Well at the World's End." Athensrum for Feb. 20. The apotheosis of the six-shilling novel, in one volume, was the leading feature of the bookselling trade of 1896—according to the results of an inquiry which the Bookseller has been conducting. A complete consensus of opinion is found as to the benefit which the bookseller has gained from the abolition of the three volume novel, and the subs itution of the single volume one. The latter is purchasable by the majority of people at the very time that all the papers are full of its merits or demerits, while under the previous regime the six-shilling edition was often kept back till all active interest in the book had died away. The prosperity of the six-shilling novel has meant the decline of the cheap yellow-back and the shilling shocker, and curiously enough, the latter has been supplanted by the 6rf. popular magazine. The growth of magazine literature, indeed, has been so grrat that some booksellers are afraid that it will do permanent harm to the craft of hook- selling pure and simple. A competitor more often complained of however, is the " cycling mania." "We fear," says our contemporary, "that we cannot offer our readers any hopeful anticipation, at least for two or three years, as cycling certainly seems to have come to stay, and whether for good or evil, will have to lie made the best of." There is a feeling in favour of other classes of books besides fiction being offered in the popular six-shilling form. History, biography, and travel, the Bookseller informs us, find ready purchasers, but in many cases these books are issued at prices which are almost prohibitory,  ## p. 270 (#322) ############################################ 270 THE AUTHOR. and compel readers to obtain them from the library. Fiction was the literature most in demand during 1896, especially tales dealing with the romance of history. "The 'problem' novel and the ' sexual' novel would seem to have had their day, and have ceased to be at any rate." Another important feature in the past year was the increase of tasteful reprints, and it is clear that this field is capable of great development. Although the year throughout the Kingdom was successful beyond the average of the last two or three years (and it is interesting to note, by the way, that in Ireland reading has increased at an abnormal rate), the booksellers continue to air their grievance of discounts. In some towns associated action is being taken to put down undercutting; this movement, says the Bookseller, indicates the only way out of the difficulty, "and we are told more than once that the discounts now given do not sell a single copy more than would be bought under contrary con- ditions." There is a general desire to see the net system largely extended, and some even see in its entire adoption a way out of the present difficulties of the book trade. As to which, hear our contemporary :— However this may be, it is clear enough that, under the existing system, books of solid literature and of permanent learning, appealing to the fen rather than the many, must be at a great disadvantage, as booksellers are afraid to stock them, the profit resulting being usually too small to cover the risk; for with the minimum profit at present possible, the quicker return offered by ephemeral literature is the only means ef keeping out of the bankruptcy court. The Booksellers' Association has moved in this matter by lately issuing a circular to its members informing them that at a meeting of delegates of their society and the Publishers' Association, it was sugge>ted by the latter that to improve the state of the retail trade an effort should be made to revert to 2d. in the i*. discount, and that net books should be sold at net prices. In order to enforce this, the sub-committee of the Pub- lishers' Association are prepared to recommend to their Council that the present trade terms should be given only to those booksellers who pledge themselves not to exceed 2(2. in the 18. discount, and to maintain the published price of net books; those who are unwilling so to pledge them- selves, to be supplied at script, net, and no odd copy. "Unless the booksellers are practically unani- mous in giving their assent to the proposal," the circular added, " it cannot proceed further." Miss Florence Marryat has no reason to com- plain of her own critics, but she thinks the reading world would get on just as well if there were no criticism at all. The time is not very different, remarks Miss Marryat, from that in which Churchill wrote: Through whim (our critics) or by envy led; They damn those authors whom they never read. Mr. Lang does not regard ordinary reviewing of books which are not novels as very healthy. Mr. James Payn thinks signed critiques a mistake, as the critic ought to be impersonal, and in a signed criticism of your friend's work, he says, you are speaking directly to him. Anonymity lends a fictitious importance to journalists, says Ouida, who also believes that only two out of every hundred books issued in England are worth the paper they are printed upon; while Mr. Muddock regards it as a matter of common justice that the producers of books should know who are the persons who sit in judgment upon them. The ideal novel of the Indian Mutiny has still to be written, says a critical writer in Blackwood. Of all the trreat events of this century, as they are represented in fiction, the Indian Mutiny has taken the firmest hold on the imagination, yet the many novels, beginning with " Maurice Dering" in 1864, which have treated the subject have been dealing with the trivialities. The Blarfticood writer wants the great living facts of the Mutiny taken up. It should stand to the epoch of which it treats as "Westward Ho !" does to the age of Elizabeth, ever stimulating, ever refreshing. And who should we like to write it? He, says the writer, "upon whom more than on any other in this generation the mantle of Charles Kingsley has fallen "—Mr. Rudyatd Kipling. Professor Sully analyses some of the recent child books by Mr. Kenneth Grahame, Mr. Canton, Mr. Barrie, Mrs. Meynell, and others. With growing intimacy and with deeper observa- tion, our writers, he says, may be expected to do better. What is wanted is a frank recognition of the truth that a child is a subject worthy in itself of the finest artistic pourtrayal, and that in the hands of a man it may be admirable with- out being elongated into a prodigy, and highly entertaining without being broadened out into a huge joke. Mr. Gosse gives a portrait of the late Coventry Pat more, and Mr. Louis Garvin praises his odes. To know the man is here indeed, says Mr. Gosse, essential to the apprehension of his writings. And the man was angular, vivid, discordant, and yet exquisitely fascinating. Some called him " namby- pamby " and " mild," but to hear this was only entertainment to those who really knew that "he was the most masterful of men, the very type of that lofty moral arrogance which antiquity identified with the thought of Archilochus." Mr. Garvin is among those who believe Pat- more's "St. Valentine's Day" to be not un- worthy of comparison with the "Ode to tiie Nightingale," of Keats, and with Shellev's " Skv- lark."  ## p. 271 (#323) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 271 OBITUARY. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. PROFESSOR CHARLES TOMLINSON, F.R.S., died at Highgate in his eighty- ninth year. He was the author of many handy text-books on natural philosophy, meteor- ology, and natural history; and in 1854 he edited " Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical Manufactures, Mining and Engineering." He wrote the lives of Smeeton, Cuvier, and Linnaeus, and was also the author of "The Inferno of Dante Translated into English Tierce Rhyme," "Essays Old and New," "The Chess-Player's Manual," and other works. Professor William Wallace, of Oxford Univer- sity, died at Oxford on the 19th ult. from the effects of a bicycle accident. Since 1882 he was White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, succeed- ing Mr. T. H. Green. As a writer Professor Wallace was known as the interpreter of certain German schools of philosophy. Among his works were "The Logic of Hegel," "Epicureanism," "Kant," " Prolegomena to the Study of Hegel," and " Hegel's Philosophy of Mind." The Rev. Samuel Harvey Reynolds, scholar, teacher, and man of letters, died at Biarritz on the 7th ult., at the age of sixty-five. He edited "Bacon's Essays" and "Selden's Table-Talk," wrote many magazine articles, and was an earnest student of Dante. When the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford became vacant at the close of Matthew Arnold's tenure, many of Mr. Reynolds' friends were anxious that he should offer himself as a candidate. The Rev. Walter Gregor, LL.D., secretary of the Scottish Text Society, a high authority on Scottish folk-lore and the author of several works, died at Bonnyrigg on the 4th ult. The Ven. George Gresley Perry, archdeacon of Stow, in the diocese of Lincoln, who has died at the age of seventy-seven, was an authority on religious history, and wrote " The History of the Church of England," and a few other books. The Rev. Francis Jacox, the Shakespearean student and commentator, who also wrote "Aspects of Authorship, or Bookmarks and Bookmakers," and other works, died at St. John's Wood on the 5th ult. in his seventy-first year. Abroad, the deaths occurred of Jacinto Gullina, the well-known Italian dramatic author; and Ernst Konrad Ziletmann (" Konrad Telmann "), the German novelist. [January 25 to February 23—181 Books.] Abbott. E. E. The Spirit on the Waters. Macmillan. Adams, G. Burton. The Growth of the French Nation, 6/- Maczuillon. Andrews. E. B. The History of the Last Quarter-Century in the United States. 1870-189"). 80 - Kegan Paul. Anonymous. The Earl and the Knight: Passages from a Ministerial Diary. 1/- King. Armstrong, A. Under the Circumstances. 6/- Smith, Elder. Atteridge, A. H. Towards Khartoum. 16/- Innes. Bain, J. A. Life of Fridtjof Nansen. 6/- Simpkin. Banks, Mrs. G. L. The Manchester Man (special edition). 15/- net. Manchester: A. Hey wood and Son. Barrett, Frank. A Missing Witness. Chatto. Beazley, 0. B. The Dawn of Modern Geography. 18/- Murray. Betts, E. St. G. Sun and Mist (Poems). 8/6 net. Unwin. Bjdmson, Bjornstjerno. Magnhild and Dust. 8/- net. Heinemann. Book-Plate Annual and Armorial Year Book 1897. 9/6. Black. Bourinot. J. G. Canada (Story of the Nations). 6/- Unwln. Brewer, J. F. The Speculators. 6/- Methuen. Brouardel, P. Death and Sudden Death (tr. by F. L. Benham). 10,6. Brown, A. Mercy Warren [Biography]. 6/- Murray. Buckland, A. W. Margaret Moore, Spinster. 6/- Ward and Downey. Buck-master, J. C, editor. A Village Politician [John Buckley], 6/- Unwin. Burroughs, J. Whitman: A Study. 6 - net. Constable, Burrow, C. K. The Way of the Wind. 8 6. Kegan Paul. Canning, Hon. A. S. G. History in Fact and Fiction, 6/- Sniith. Elder. Carnarvon, (4th) Earl of. The Defence of the Empire (ed. by Sir G. S. Clarke). 6/- Murray. Causton, J. F. A Modern Judas. 6/- Digby. Cave, H. W. The Bulned Cities of Ceylon. Sampson Low. Chambers, G. F. The Story of the Weather Simply Told. 1/- Newnes. Chaney, H. J. Our Weights and Measures. 7/6. Eyre and Spottis- woode. Christiansen, 0. Elements of Theoretical Physics (tr. W. F. Magie). 12/6 net Macmillan. Church, the late Dean. Occasional Papers. 10 - Macmillan. Clarke. A. A Monograph on the Cathedral Church of Wells. 1/6 net. Smith. Clarke, Sir G. S. and Thursfield, J. B. The Navy and the Nation. 14/- Murray. Cleeve. Lucaa. The Water-Finder. 3/6. Hutchinson. Cliffe, F. H. A Daughter's Grief. 3 0 net, Bellairs. Cornish, V. Short Studies in Physical Science, Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Physics. 5/- Sampson Low. Costelloe, B. F. C. and Muirhead, J. H. Aristotle and the Earlier Peripatetics (tr. from Zeller). 24/- Longmans. Cowley, A. E. and Nenbauer, A. (editors). The Original Hebrew of a Portion of EccleslasticuB(xxxix. 15 to xlix. 11). 10/6 net. Frowde Crane. Stephen. The Little Regiment. 2.6 net. Heinemann. Craufurd, A. H. Christian Instinct and Modern Doubt. 6/- Clarke Doudet, Alphonse. Jock (tr. by L. Ensor). 5,- net. Dent. Dawe, W. C. Kakemonos: Tales of the Far East. 3 6 net. Lane. Dewe, J. A. New Thoughts on Current Subjects. Stock. Dawson, A. J. Mere Sentiment. 3. 6 net. Lane. Duff, Sir M. E. Grant. Notes from a Diary. 1851-72. 18/- Murray. DuncanB. How Money Makes Money. Wilson. Eastlake, F. W., and Yozki-Aki. Yamoda. Heroic Japan. 18,- Sampson Low. Ebert, H. Magnetic Fields of Force (tr. from German by C Burton). Part I. 10/6 net. LongmanB. Eeles, F. 0. Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire. 5/- net. Stock. Encyclopaedia of the Laws of England. By eminent legal authorities. VoL I. Abandonment to Bankruptcy. 20/- net Sweet and Maxwell Everard, H. S. 0. Golf In Theory and Practice. 8/6. Bell. Farningham^M. In Evening Lights. 2/6. Clarke Farrar, F. W., and otherB. Prophets of the Christan Faith. 15 - Clarke. Fendall, P., and Russell, F. Out of the Darkness. 6 - Smith, Elder. Fitzgerald, Rear Admiral, C. 0. P. Life of Vice-Admlral Sir Georgn Tryon, KC.B. 21/- Blackwood. Fitzgerald, P. F. The Rational, or Scientific, Ideal of Morality. 7/6 Sonnenschein. Fleming, Mrs. (A. M. Kipling). A Pinchbeck Goddess. 8 6. Heinemann. Fletcher, W. Y. Foreign Bookbindings in the British Museum. 63,'- Eegan Paul. Fothergill, C. A Matter of Temperament 6/- Black. Frazer. R. W. British India (Story of the Nations aeries). 5 - Unwlr.  ## p. 272 (#324) ############################################ 272 THE AUTHOR. "G. G." Great Scott. The Chaser, Ac. 3 6 net. Bellairs. Gallon, Tom, Tatterley. ft - Hutchinson. Gardiner. L. The Sound of a Voice. 6 - Hurat and Blackett. Garrett, E., and Edwards, E. J. The Story of an African <>isis. 3 6. Constable. Gill. W. A. Edward Cracroft Lefroy. 5'- net. Lane. Glynn, AnnaL. A Pearl of the Realm 6,- Hutchinson. Gordon, JameB. The Village and the Doctor 6 - Methuen. Gordon, Samuel. A Handful of Exotics 8 6. Methuen. Gower, Lord E. Selections from the Letters of De Brosaea. 10 6. Regan Paul. Graham. D. Is Natural Selection the Creator of Species. 6'- Digbv. GrenfelL B. P., and Hunt, A S. (editors). Greek Papyri., eerie* II. 12 fi net. Froude. Hall. R. N. Gilbert Vance, Curate. 6/- Western Mall. Harris J. R. and H. B. Letters from the Scenes of the Recent Massacres in Armenia 6 - Nisbet. Herrord, C. H. The Age or Wordsworth (H indbook Eng. Lit.) 3 «. Bell. Hill, J, and Bacon. G. F. Dinah Fleet. 6/- Downey. Bills. A. E Elflnn's Luck and Other Poems. 4 0 net. Innes. Hindo S. L The Fall of the Congo Arabs. 12 6. Methuen. Hohenlohe-Ingelflnge. Kraft Prinz zu. Conversations on Cavalry (tr by Lieut. C Beiehmann) 7 6 Eeliher. Hooley, E. T. Tarragal, or Bush Lifein Aust alia 3 6. (Jay and Bird. Hope. Anthony. Phroso, a Romance 6/- Methuen. Houghton. A. E. Gilbert Murray, a Novel, fi - Smith. Elder. Howard. J. J. and Crisp, F. A- Visitation of Ireland—Vol. I Sub- scription price 21/- Private Press of F. A. Crisp. Howard, W. The Evolution of the Universe. 12 6 net. Nisbet. Humphry, Mrs. Manners for Men. 1/- Bowden. JameB. Henry. The Spoils of Poynton. 6/- Heiuemann. Johnson. J. Musa Medic a. 2/6. Savoy PreBS. JohiiBton-Smiih. F. J. The Captain of the Dolphin and Other Poems of the Sea. 3 6 net Digby. Johnstone, T. B. The Land o' Cakes and Brither Scots. Gardner. Jokai, Maurus. The Green Book, or Freedom under the Snow. 6'- Jiirrold. Keith, G. S. Plea for a Simpler Faith Kegan Paul. Knight. E. F. Letters from the Soudan, s i; net. Maemillan. Knott, C. G. Physics. An Elementary Text-Book. Chambers. Lander. H. Weighed in the Balance 4 fi net. Lane. Lear. Mrs. H L.Sidney. 'Joy." a Fragment. 2/6. Longmans. Leask W. K. James Boswell (FanioiiB Scots). 1/6. Ollphant. Le Gallienne, B. The Quest of the Golden Girl. 5 - net. Lane. Le Gallienne, R.. editor. Walton and Cotton's "The Compleat Angler." 1ft - net. Lane. Lep lletler, E. Madame Sins-Gone (tr. J. A. J de Vllliers) 3 6. Chatto. Leys. J K. The Lawyer's Secret. 3,6. Warne. Liu. J. J. The Nieene Creed. 6/- Sonnenschein. Litcrfiry Yeor-Book, 1897. 8/6. G. Allen. Locke. Clinton. The Age of the Great Western Schism [Eras of the Christian Church]. 6/- Clark Luckock, H. M. Footprints of the Apostles. 12/- Longmans. Ludlow, J. M. The Age of the Crusaders [Eras of the Christian Church]. 6/- rlark. Macdonaltl. J. C. Chronologies and Calendais. 7 6. Andrews. Madden, J. The Wilderness and Its TenantB. 42,- Simpkin. Maitland, F. W. Domesday Book and Beyond 15/- Clay. Markby. Sir Wm The Indian Evidence Act. 3 6 net. Frowde, Marlowe, C (Harriet Jay). The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown. Buchanan. Maude, Captain F. N. Voluntaiy versus Compulsory Service. .*> - Stanford. Maude, W. C. Property Law for General Readers. Wilson. Mason. C. M. Parents and Children, fi/- Kegan Paul. Me Lin lock, R. Goethe's ■' Faust." 1st part. 10 - net. Nutt. Me1v>l]),J. Crystal Gazing and the Wondeis of Clairvoyance. - Nichols. Mllman. C. Through London Spectacles. 3/6. Smith. Elder. Molloy, J. F. A Juatitifd Sinner. 6/- Downey. Moore, H. S. The New Rules of the Road at Sea. 3/- Potter Moult on. L. C. In Childfood's Country. Bowden. Mtiller. F. Max Contributions to the Science of Mythology. 32 - Longmans. Mailer, Mrs. Max. Letters from Constantinople. 6 - Longmans. Nansen, Fridtjof. Farthest North. 42/ net. Napier, A. D. Leitb. The Menopause and its Neuman. B P. The Supplanter. NeviuB J. L. Demoo Possession and Allied Newton. A. V. Patent Law and Practice. Nisbet. Hume. The Swampers. Norris. W. E. Clarissa Furiosa. 6 - Ommanney, G. D. W. A Critical Dissertation Creed. 16/- * 'unstable. Disorders. 7 6 net. Scientific Press. Methuen. Thrmes. 7/6 net Redway. Cox. White. Methuen. on the Athanasfan. Frowde. Paget, C. E. Wasted Records of Disease. 2 6. Arnold. Palmer. C. F Inebriety (Source, Prevention. Cure). 8/6. OUphtnt. Pearmain, T. H., and Moor, C. U. Aids to the Study of Bacteriology. 3,6 Balliere. PearBe, Major (editor). The Crimean Diary and Letters of Lieut-Gen. Sir Charles Ash Wyndham, K C B. 7 0. Kegan Paul Pemberton Max. Christine of the Hills 6/- Innes. Perkins. T Handbook to Gothic Architecture. 3/6. Hazel!. Petherick, E. A. Tho Australian Colonies in 1896. 1'- Wilson. Pocock, R. The Blackguard. 2 - Beeman. Proctor, Mrs. J. An Oak of Chivalry. 6'- Digby. Pugh, Edwin. The Man of Straw. 6.'- Heinemann. Read, Opie. The Jucklins, a novel. 3 6. Black. Rhoscomyl, Owen. For the White Rose of Amo. 6 - Longmans. Ross, F. W. Forbes. Septic Conditions of the Infantile Alimentary Canal. 7 6. Rebman. Russell, R. H. The Edge of the Orient. 8/6. Kegan Paul. Salmon, G. Some Thoughts on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. 3 6. Murray Savage R. H. LoBt Countess Falka. Routledge. Schooling, W. Life Assurance Explained. 1/- Cassell. Schreiner, O. Trooper Peter Halketof Mashonaland. 6 - Unwin. Schweitzer, H. F. The Love Philtre, and Other Poems. 6/- Macqueen. Seth. M J. History of tho Armenians in India. 7/6. Luzac, Sims, E. C. Our Travels Round the World. 2 - Alexander and Shepheard. Smeaton, O. Tobbias Smolleit (Famous Scots). 1/6. Oliphant. Smith, F. K. Parsons and Weavers. Skeffington. Smith. Goldwin. GuesseB at the Riddle of Existence, and Other Essays on Kindred Subjects. 6/- Maemillan. Smith, II. A Plea for the Unborn. 2/6 Watts. *■ Snaffle." In the Land of the Bora. 15/- Kegan Paul. Speight, Harr*\ Romantic Rirhmondshire. Stock. Stadling. J. and Reason. W. In the Land of Tolstoi. 7 6. Clarke. Statham, F. R. South Africa as It Is. 10 6. Unwin. Steevens, G. W. The Land of the Dollar. 6/- Blackwood. Stillman. W. J. Venus and Apollo in Paintingand Sculpture. Bliss. Strickland, P. English Statute Law Revised. 2/6. Clowes. Stuart. Ejme\ Arrested. White. Surteos. Major C. Campaign in Italy 3 - net. Stanford. Sweet. H. The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon. 8 6 net. Frowde. Tebbutt. C. G., A. Read, and A. Tebbutt. Skating 1 - Routledge. Thorpe, W. G. The Hidden Lives of Shakespeare and Ba^on. and Their Business Connection. Chlswick Press. Tipper. H. England's Attainment of Commercial Supremacy. Stock. Transactions of the British Association of Waterworks Engineers. Vol. I. Biggs. Trehern. G. The Old Ecstasies. 3 6 net. Bellairs. Vane, Derek. The Three Daughters of Night. 3.0. Hutchinson. Victoria Regina Atlas. Political, Physical, Astronomical. Johnston. Vincent, M. R. The Age of HLldebrand (Eras of the Christian Church). 6,- Clark. Waller, S. E. Sebastiani s Secret. 6 - Chatto. Wallis-Tayler, A. J. Modern Cycles. Crosby, Lockwood. Warden-, Florence. The Mystery of Dudley Home. White. Warden, Gertrude. The Wooing of a Fairy, fi - Hurst and Blackett. Wenley B M. Contemporary TVology and Theism. 4 6. Clark. Whelen. F.. editor Politics in 1896. 3 - net Richards. Whitlock. F. W. The Migration of Birds. 3 « net. Porter. Wilkin, A. On the Nile with a Camera. 21/- Unwin. Williamson, G. C. Richard Cosway, R A., and his Wife and Pupils. 25 - net. Belt Wo'ff H. W. Employers' Liability, What Ought It to Be? 2 G. King. Wright. H. C. S. Soudan, '96. 1 - Cox. Yorke, C. A Flirtation with Truth. 6- Macqueen.  ## p. 272 (#325) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. THE LITERARY YEAR-BOOK 1897 EBITED BY FREDERICK G. AFLALO, F.R.G.S., &c. An Exhaustive Book of Reference for all Writers and Readers of Books. AMONG THE CHIEF FEATURES ARE :- A Critical resume of the past year's Literature, by Ernest Rhys. Portraits and Biographical Sketches of a number of Distinguished Authors. The Year's Obituary, with Portraits. A New and Complete Calendar for Literature. Some Account of the Chief Literary and Scientific Clubs, and Learned Societies and Institutions in the Kingdom, with their Addresses. Directories of Authors, Publishers, and Booksellers. A Directory of the chief Free, Public, and Subscription Libraries in Great Britain and Ireland. Practical Information in connection with the Reading Rooms of the British Museum Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), and Konigliche Bibliothek (Berlin). Articles on various Literary matters. Information concerning the Production of Books and the Processes in Illustration. &c, &c, &c. About 300 pages, crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6dm It is hoped that tbis volume, which deals with every matter of practical interest to the Literary World, will supply a long-felt want. LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN, RUSKIN HOUSE, 156, CHARING CROS'S ROAD, AND OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.  ## p. 272 (#326) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. LOWEST PRICES IN LONDON. Authors' JYLSS. correctly and neatly oopietl Carbon Duplicates LKGAIi AND GENERAL COPYING We have a skilled and veil educated staff of operators. at lOd. per lOOO words. at 2d. ,, ,, at Id. per folio. Give us a trial, and compare our work and prices with those of other offices. LARGE ORDERS ESTIMATED FOR. Note our address— THE ECLIPSE TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND OFFICES, 28, FENCHURCH STREET, LONDON, E.C. \ ^ OPINIONS OF CLIENTS—Distinguished Author:—"The moBt beautiful typing I have ever seen." Lady of Title.—14The ^ ^ work was very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." ^ MISS GENTRY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. j WRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest § process. J i To Attt"hobs. TYPEWRITING AND DUPLICATING OFFICE. ESTABLISHED 1892. USUAL TERMS. EEFEBENCES kindly permitted to the Bioht Hon. Q. J. GOSCHEN, M.P., and others. A NDREW X.iyO. Esq, sat/a: "In my experience your work ia unequalled." IV1ISS THOMAS. 5, CAUTLEY AVENUE. CLAPHAM COMMON, S.W. Typewriting iiv Clergyman's Daughter. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 189S.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. ArTHOUS' ItKt'l'KKM-KS," TYPEWRITING ACCURATELY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED. POSTAGE PAID. PLEASE OIVE TRIAL. HISS RAINES, 11, FALCONER CHAMBERS, SCARBOROUGH. TYPIST 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea S.W. Authors' MSS. carefully transcribed References kindly PERjrrrrsD to many well-known Authors. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on application. Telegraphic addreas: "Patzen, London TVE rt S . GILL, TYPE-WBITINO OFFICE, 35. LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) ->•«* Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter BeBant: also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk-street. Strand. W.C. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD 50, xjtiauHUii»ii oircoij > * j i i. Contains hairless paper, over which the slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: $&. per dozeny ruled or plain. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors' MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from is. per iooo words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augrustine Bin-ell, Esq., M.P., and "Anthony Hope." rpHE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Rev. -L G. A. MACDONNELL, B A. With Portrait and 17 Illustra- tions. Crown 8vo., cloth hoards, price 2s. fid. net. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House. Bream's-buildings, E C. (The Leadenhall Press Ltd.), Leaden hall Street, London, E.C. pen Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E.C. 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. 07 Issue 10 (March 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 07 Issue 10 (March 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-03-01-The-Author-7-10 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/301/1897-04-01-The-Author-7-11.pdf 2682f25f5b1bd373103b62986c1160c9 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) 1897-04-01 Volume 7 Issue 11 Pages Page range in volume 273–300 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970401 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Ube Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. V0L.VII.—N0.11.] APRIL i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONT PADS Notices, &C 273 From the Committee 27s Lkor&ry Property— 1. An Agreement 276 . 2. Copyright in New Zealand 277 3. Damages for the loss of a MS 277 4. Infringement of Copyright 278 6. The Nineteenth Congress of the International Literary and Artistic Association at Monaco 279 The Book Trade of Germany 280 Corrections 280 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 281 ENTS. PAH Notes from Elsewhere. By B. H. Sherard 283 Notes and News. By the Editor 285 Some Volumes of Verse 287 Editor and Contributor. By Bartle Teeling 288 "Stories Wanted" 289 Correspondence.—1. The Subjunctive Mood; Its Present Day Use. 2. Paying for Publication. 3. Viktor Bydberg. 4. The House where Byron was Born. 5. Corruption of the Language ...291 Literature In the Periodicals 295 Book Talk S96 Obituary 298 The Books of the Month 299 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1896 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., ios. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry GUaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History Of the Societe des Q-ens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprioge, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods Of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible- by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord MonkswelPs Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A. Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.''~  ## p. 272 (#328) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^t)e J5octefp of Jluf^ors (gttcorpor ateb). Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. A ipred Austin. J. M. Babbie A. W. X Beckett. P. E. Beddabd, F.B.S. ROBERT BATSMAN. Sib Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. Augustine Bibbbll, M.P. Rev. Pbop. Bonnet, F.B.S. Bight Hon. Jakes Bbtce, M.P. Bight Hon. Lord Bubqhclebe, P.C Hall Caine. Egebton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Mabtin Conway. F. Marion Crawford. PRESIDENT. GEORGE IMIIEIEaiEIDITIH: COUNCIL. The Earl of Desabt. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Dotle, M.D A. W. Duboubg. Prof. Michael Fosteb, F.B.S. Bichabd Gabnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Bideb Haggabd. Thomas Hardt. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jebome K. Jebome. Budyabd Kipling. Pbop. E. Bay Lankesteb, F.B.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mbs. E. Lynn Linton. Bev. W. J. Loftie, F.SA. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Pbof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Mebivalb. Bet. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sib Lewis Mobbis. Henby Norman. Miss E. A. Ormebod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lobd Pibbbioht. Sib Frederick Pollock, Babt., LL.D. Walteb Hebbieb Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Floba L. Shaw. G. B. Sims. S. Squire Spbigge. J. J. Stevenson. Pbof. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Tbaill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphby Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Undebdown, Q.C. A W. a Beckett. Sib Walteb Besant. Egerton Castle. W. Mobbis Colles. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT Chairman—H. Bideb Haggard. Hon. John Collier. Sib W. Martin Conway. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Solicitors- ( Messrs. Field, Boscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. I G. Herbert Thbing, B.A., 4, Portugal-street, W.C. Sib A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.D. Henby Norman. S. Squire Spbigge. Secretary—G. Herbert Thbing, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Pobtugal Stbeet, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. IP. WATT <3c SON, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. WINDSOR HOUSE PRINTING WORKS, IBIE^IELA-IMI'S BTJILTJIlTa-S, ZE.O. Offiees of "The Field," "The Queen," "The Law Times," &e. Mr. HOEACE COX, Printer to the Authors' Society, takes the opportunity of informing Authors that, having a very large Office, and an extensive Plant of Type of every description, he is in a position to EXECUTE any FEINTING they may entrust to his care. ESTIMATES FORWARDED, AND REASONABLE CHARGES WILL BE FOUND.  ## p. 273 (#329) ############################################ TZhc Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. u.] APRIL i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, bnt on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOE some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices,&c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded againBt, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This iB in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this syBtem, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements; and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretory before he signs it. F F 2  ## p. 274 (#330) ############################################ 274 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. |/>VERY member has a right to ask for and to reeeire l*J advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the condnct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not Bcruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that yon are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of tho safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. ~V|~ EMBERS are informed: J_TJ_ j . That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of tho Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that ail communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for tho sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Seoretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to tho Editor any points connected with their work whioh it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It mnst also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Ctosb. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year'! If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and savo him tho trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would givo a solicitor tho collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 275 (#331) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 275 or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at Jtg 4«. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is bo elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any Bums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. AMEETING of the Council and Shareholders of the Society was held in the Japan Room of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, 20, Hanover-square, on the 3rd March at four o'clock. Mr. H. Rider Haggard took the chair. The report and balance-sheet of the Society for the past year were laid before the meeting, and after some discussion were adopted. General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting of the Incor- porated Society of Authors was held on the 3rd March at 4.30 p.m. at the rooms of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, 20, Hanover- square, W. Mr. H. Rider Haggard presided. Amongst those present were the following: Sir Walter Besant, Mr. H. M. Lely, Mr. W. Morris Colles, Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, Mr. A. W. a Beckett, Mr. J. J. Stevenson, Miss Challice, Mr. Mackenzie Bell, Mr. Bram Stoker, Mr. Basil Field, Lady Colin Campbell, Mr. F. Gribble, Mr. J. Louis, and many other members of the Society. The Chairman, before commenting on the report, read the following statement: "Since the report was drafted, Mr. Hall Caine, whose great services in Canada the Society has already acknow- ledged, has informed the Committee that he had been in communication with the Colonial Office and the Dominion Government on the subject of Canadian copyright. The Committee, not being at present in possession of detailed information as to Mr. Caine's action, were unable to make any statement in regard thereto." He then proceeded to take the salient points in the report, and said the Society had lost during the past year tlirough death several old members and strong supporters, among them being Miss Mathilde Blind, Sir J. A. Crowe, Sir J. Eric Ericksen, Professor Middleton, Mr. George du Maurier, and Sir B. W. Richard- son. During the year there had been a far- reaching alteration made in the constitution of the Society. Last year, at the annual meeting, the matter of the admission of ladies to the Council was discussed, and he had to inform members that, in pursuance of an arrangement then made, five ladies had consented to be elected members of the Council, and it was believed that this movement would tend to the advantage of the Society, as it was wished that the Society should be as representative as possible of both sexes. The finances for the year, he was glad to say, were on the whole very satisfactory. They had now an income of over ,£1200 a year, and a capital account of ^£595, of which J6450 was left the Society by legacy. Considering what their resources had been in past years, he thought they had every reason to congratulate themselves. During the year 208 new members had been elected, and the cases which had been dealt with in the offices of the Society numbered no fewer than no, which was a large increase on the number for the previous year. Out of a member- ship of about 1200 no fewer than between 800 and 900 members had been in communication with the secretary for advice, which really showed that the Society had been a great boon and assistance to the large majority of its members. Last year it was suggested that the Committee was not sufficiently representative, and therefore the Committee had taken steps, according to a resolution passed at the general meeting, to obtain the opinions of members, and to get committee- men nominated from the members to meet a sub- committee and discuss the matter. So little did the members appear to be dissatisfied with the management, that no one was nominated to represent the body of members, so that it appeared that there was a good deal of excite- ment without any real foundation of complaint. During the year the matter of the copyright laws had been considered in conjunction with others interested, and the subject was still being pressed on. He thought that what they all needed was more esprit de corps, for it was only when such a spirit animated them that they could do any- thing real for the great profession of authorship. It was because the Society did its best to promote unity of aim that it was entitled to the support of every author in the kingdom. Some people thought that the profession of authorship was a  ## p. 276 (#332) ############################################ 276 THE AUTHOR. most remunerative one—as remunerative as that of an Arctic explorer, for instance—(laughter)— but it was a fact that a large proportion of authors were by no means rich. It was to help those who were not strong enough to help them- selves that the Society aimed, and, in fact, the Society was the only one that had seriously taken up the difficulties which beset the profession of authorship. They were not a warlike Society, and they did not exist to promote quarrels and war between publishers and authors. They existed, it was true, to obtain the rights of authors, and that they considered it their duty to do; but they wished to attain that end by esta- blishing those rights upon a firm and fixed basis. At the conclusion of the Chairman's address there was a discussion on various matters relat- ing to the interests of the Society. Mr. Perry Coste, in the course of the discussion, thought the Society might be more representative of the general profession, and suggested that the society should be divided into different branches or faculties with that object in view. The Chairman said the Committee did its best to embrace the several sections of literature, and had just established a sub-committee in relation to music, the drama, and art. Replying to a question as to whether journa- lism could not be more represented, Sir Walter Besant said that the Institute of Journalists well looked after that particular branch. More- over, the Authors' Society did not wish to act in rivalry or hostility to the Institute. A long discussion arose out of a proposition to issue a list of the members of the Society, and it transpired that a great number of authors would not allow their names to be published, some even joining only on the understanding that their names should not be published. The Chairman said he could not quite under- stand the reason, but he suggested that some were afraid that publishers would not take their work; but he did not think there was the slightest ground for that suspicion. Finally the following motion proposed by Mr. Percy Ames and seconded by Mr. J. Louis was passed: "The Committee are requested to take the sense of the members of the Society as to the publication of a list of the Society." A vote of thanks was then proposed to the Chairman by Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, and seconded by Sir Walter Besant. The proceedings then terminated. The Committee have decided to form three affiliated sub-committees to deal with questions relating to art, music, aud the drama. The Art Sub-Committee, which is already formed, will consist of the Hon. John Collier (chairman), Sir W. Martin Conway, and Mr. M. H. Spielmann. Mr. C. Villiers Stanford has consented to take the chair of the Musical Sub-Committee. Mr. J. L. Molloy has also consented to join. No other member has as yet been appointed. The Sub-Committee on questions relating to the Drama will consist of Mr. Henry Arthur Jones (chairman) and Mr. A. W. a Beckett. The other places are still vacant. Or. Herbert Thring, Secretary. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—An Agreement. THE publisher concerned returns to the attack, aud again very carefully avoids the real points. These are that, by the terms of the agreement, the publisher may make his edition as large as he pleases; that the author has to guarantee so much money; that after nine months the whole edition becomes the publisher's property. No talk can get away from these hard facts. "In the Rejoinder, marked III. in The Aut/ior for March, concerning ' An Agreement,' the writer sets out by saying that ' the price of the book in question has nothing to do with the case '; 'the actual treatment of the book in question has nothing to do with the case.' If this is so, it seems scarcely needful to have raised these points in dealing with the agreement, or brought them forward as objectionable. "The contention of your writer, now that it has been shown that the book in question has been well and liberally treated, and that the author has beeu done justice to, seems to be rather that the agreement is theoretically faulty, and that this is of more importance than the treatment the author has received. This, truly, is putting the letter before the spirit. "I contend that, however perfect an agreement may be, there are always people who will break through it, if they are dishonest and set them- selves to do so. The satisfactory publication of a book depends more on the good feeling and honesty of purpose of both author and pubUsher, than on the most elaborate and carefully drawn- out agreement. Let me put a case which has only recently occurred in illustration of this. I agreed, four years ago, with an author that he should write a book of a given length, on a given subject. The agreement was definite and unmistakable.  ## p. 277 (#333) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The author drew the payment at the outset, and promised to deliver the MS. by a given date. When the date for the delivery of the MS. arrived he stated that he could not possibly carry out his agreement, and offered to substitute another book on a totally different and quite unsuitable sub- ject, for the one bargained for. This offer was declined, and the author was invited to return the fee he had received. After numerous applications for repayment, at intervals during the four years that followed, the matter was put into the solici- tors' hands, and finally the Lord Mayor's Court recovered the fee. Here is a case of fraud with a perfect agreement, which may well be cited in comparison with a fair and liberal carrying out of an imperfect one. "The Publisher Concerned." II.—Copyright in New Zealand. The New Zealand Photographers' Copyright Act has just come into force in that colony. The Act divides photographs into three classes—(i) Photographs of natural scenery, &c, taken by any person at his own expense and for his own pleasure or profit; (2) Portraits of individuals or groups; (3) Photographs taken to order or for trade purposes. Full copyright protection for five years is granted the photographer in the first class, provided the word "protected," name of photographer, and date of taking, appear as part of the original plate and on each print. In class 2 the person photographed is declared to be the owner of the copyright, and not the photo- grapher. A sitter can therefore absolutely prevent any New Zealand photographer including his or her photograph in any series of notorious criminals or professional beauties he may be issti- ing, though nowadays it is much more likely that the beauty would feel flattered at the know- ledge that her features were considered so super- excellent. In any case the owner of a really first-class " photographic" face—which does not necessarily mean the most beautiful face—will be able to exact a royalty should ever a demand spring up for it. In the case of the third class, the copyright is declared to vest in the person who employs the photographer to do the work. Penalties are provided for reproducing or publish- ing any portrait or photograph without the con- sent in writing of the original owner, which should provide a new source of income for the criminal classes in blackmailing the cheap illus- trateds. However, some reproductions of photo- graphs which are to be seen from time to time under the guise of "illustrations," frequently suggest the idea that their perpetrators should come under the law of libel; but the New Zealand public man will now have an easy means of redress when he discovers himself represented in a public print as two blots and a fly track. The only thing is that it might be a nice legal point as to whether such misrepresentations were "reproductions" or " publications" of the original photographs to which they bear such very distant likeness.—Evening Mail, Sydney. III.—-Damages for the Loss of a MS. (Before Mr. Justice Grantham, without a Jury.) Kelly v. Clarke. In this case the plaintiff claimed damages for breach of a contract of bailment. The defendant did not admit the value of the article bailed, and counterclaimed for rent due. Mr. Clavell Salter appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr. Yelverton for the defendant. The plaintiff, a solicitor's conveyancing clerk, was the author of a book on conveyancing forms, called "Kelly's Conveyancing Draughtsman." This was published by Messrs Butterworth, and a second edition was brought out in 1881. The Conveyancing Act was passed soon after, and the plaintiff set about the third editiou, which took him about twelve months. Id November, 1885, he was going into the country and deposited the manuscript for this third edition, in a brown-paper parcel, at the Chancery-laue Safe Deposit, which then belonged to the defendant Colonel Clarke, and got a receipt for it and paid a deposit of 7s 6d. In March, 1896, the plaintiff was approached by Messrs. Butterworth as to the third edition of his book, aud went to the Chancery-lane Deposit, and saw the manager and asked for the parcel, and also asked what rent he owed. The manager referred him to Col. Clark. The plainiiff, on depositing the manuscript, gave his father's address as his; two demands for rent at 2 5.5. per annum were sent to him at that address on Sept. 27, 1890, and on March 12, 1891, but these were never received by him. In 1894 the present com- pany took over the business of the Chancery-laue Deposit from Col. Clarke; they had at the pre- sent time nothing to do with Clarke. Clarke eventually removed this brown paper parcel, amongst other things, from the strong room at Chancery-lane. The plaintiff put his loss at 100 guineas; two other witnesses put it at 75 guineas. Mr. Yelverton contended that, though no doubt his client had received a brown paper parcel, yet there was no reasonable evidence that this parcel contained this valuable manuscript. Only the plaintiff had given evidence of it. The parcel had been mislaid somehow. The defendant was entitled to rent. It was contended by Mr. Salter, in opening the  ## p. 278 (#334) ############################################ 278 THE AUTHOR. ease, that the defendant could not claim rent, because he had not kept his contract to safely keep and deliver this parcel. In the course of the case, Mr. Sykes said he had been instructed on behalf of the present Chancery-lane Deposit Company, to say that they had no concern in this deposit at all, and were not concerned in this litigation, but that they were quite ready to assist the court in any way in their power. Mr. Justice Grantham, in giving judgment, said he should assess the damages for the loss of this work at 75 guineas. There was evidence that the defendant had the book up to 1894; he should, therefore, give him rent at the rate of 25*. a year. There would be judgment for the plaintiff for the 75 guineas, less nine years' rent at 2 5*. a year. Mr. Yelvertou asked the learned judge to sepa- rate the claim and counterclaim, and give the defendant judgment on the counterclaim. This was refused. Judgment was given for the plaintiff for ,£67 io«., with costs of the trial and general costs, the defendant to have the costs of the counter- claim.— Times, March 16. IV.—Infringement of Copyright. 1. (Before Mr. Justice Homer.) BROOKS V. RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. This was a motion by the plaintiff, the well known fine art publisher, of 171, Strand, London, for an interim injunction restraining the defen- dants from printing and selling, &c, any copies of a publication called the Child's Companion containing a certain woodcut. The plaintiff com- plained that the woodcut was an infringement of a picture by G. A. Holmes entitled " Can't you Talk ?" the copyright of which was sold to his firm in 1875, and of which he was now the registered proprietor, or an infringement of the design or engraving of such picture. The picture, as appeared from an engraving produced, was a composition of a collie dog and a child on a stone floor, with the background of a wall with a door on the left, out of which a cat was looking. Above the dog was a table, on which was a tub with a spoon or a pestle in it. The plaintiff stated that about Fell. 14, 1897, his attention was called to the defendants' publication of the woodcut in question, and that the woodcut reproduced exactly almost the whole of the details of the picture— the collie dog, both in attitude, expression and position, the wall, the table, tub, and spoon being exact copies of what appeared in the copy- right work, whilst the position of the door and cat were the same, although some slight altera- tions in detail were made in the door and the attitude of the cat. The only differences between the picture and the woodcut were that in the woodcut the figure of the child had been removed and in its place two cats and a tortoise had been inserted, while the background and foreground had been increased and some new details intro- duced. The Child's Comvanion was a monthly periodical, and the woodcut in question appeared in the November issue of 1896 as an illustration to a tale entitled'• A Strange Visitor." In the woodcut the tortoise was the principal object on the floor, bein g somewhat large for a tortoise, and the attention of all the other four animals was riveted on the tortoise, the cats glaring at it with expressions of terror or astonishment. The expression of the dog in both woodcut and picture was one of calm and fixed attention. Th- defen- dants stated that they had purchased the block from which the woodcut was taken some five years ago from a man whom they had lost sight of. It was agreed that the motion should be treated as the trial of the action. The defendants had on the plaintiff's complaint at once with- drawn the publication. The plaintiff waived any claim for damages. Mr. Neville, Q.C., and Mr. E. Knowles Corrie appeared for the plaintiff. Mr. Levett, Q.C., and Mr. Scrutton, for the defendants, submitted that the dog was the only detail common to the picture and woodcut, and that both depended for their meaning or pictorial idea on other details, and that these details and the meaning had very little in common. The idea created by the picture was not that con- veyed by the woodcut, and the production of the woodcut was not within the Copyright Acts, the object of which was to prevent any interference with either the artist's reputation or the com- mercial value of his work (Hanfaengl v. Empire Palace, L. R., 1894, Ch., 109; per Lord Justice Lopes, p. 131). Mr. Justice Romer said that he thought the woodcut was an infringement of the plaintiff's copyright. The principal part, or one of the principal parts, of the copyright picture was the figure of the dog with a particularly sagacious or benevolent appearance. That appearance, together with the form and attitude of the dog, had been copied, and the defendants' dog was a repro- duction of the plaintiff's dog. Other portions of the plaintiff's picture had also been reproduced by the defendants. It was not only the dog which was taken, but also the feeling and artistic character of the plaintiff's work. They had taken the design whilst substituting cats and a tortoise for the child in the original. Wherever one found  ## p. 279 (#335) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 279 a direct copy of a substantial portion of a copy- right work, that substantial portion constituted an infringement if it was a copy in an ordinary sense. For instance, if a person were to take an historical picture and take out of it the principal figure and reproduce that figure without the other surroundings, that would be an infringement. The present case was a stronger case, because the defendants had not only taken the principal figure of a dog, but had copied as well the senti- ment of the picture. By a society like the defen- dants what had been done had been done inad- vertently. They offered an undertaking in the terms of the application. This he accepted. The defendants muwt pay the costs.— Tlie Times. n. (Before Mr. Justice Kekewich, on March 18.) SMITH V. THE NEW PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED AND MESSRS. CHATTO AND WINDUS. This was an action brought by the plaintiff, Mr. William Thomas Smith, the registered author and proprietor of the copyright in a certain original painting called "They Forged the Last Link with their Lives," an Arctic picture, against the defendants, the New Publishing Company Limited, the owners, and Messrs. Chatto and Windus, the publishers, of a monthly publication known as the Idler, and the plaintiff claimed an injunction to restrain the defendants, their agents, and servants, from infringing the plaintiff's copyright by publishing a representation of the said original painting, "They Forged the Last Link with their lives," in the Idler; he also asked for delivery up of all copies, blocks, photo- graphs, &c, and damages. The plaintiff alleged that on March 12, 1896, he wrote to the art editor of the Idler, expressing a wish to do work for them, and inclosing a photograph of the above-mentioned painting to the art editor as a specimen, and that the defendants without his consent published a copy of the picture in the May number of the Idler. The defendants denied that the plaintiff had any copyright in the painting until registration on May 18, 1896. It was also contended on their behalf that the plaintiff by sending the photo- graph, in accordance with the practice of the trade, implied that he consented to its publica- tion in the Idler. Mr. Willis Bund and Mr. J. W. Baines appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Eenshaw, Q.C., and Mr. D. M. Kerley for the defendants. Mr. Justice Kekewich said that he did not consider that the sending of the photograph of the painting to the art editor was an invitation to publish a representation of it, though the art editor honestly thought so. A wrong had been VOL. VII. done, and he should award the plaintiff a substantial sum as damages — namely, .£25. There would also be an order for delivery up to him of the books containing the pictures, also the blocks, negatives, photographs, &c., and the defendants would have to pay the costs of the action. V.—The Nineteenth Congress of the Inter- national Literary and Artistic Associa- tion at Monaco. In accordance with the resolution passed at the last Congress at Berne, the nineteenth Congress of the International Literary and Artistic Associa- tion will be held at Monaco from April 17 to 24. The following is the Ust of subjects placed upon the programme, together with the names of the members who will present reports on the several subjects: 1. On the distinction between the author's pecuniary and moral rights. Consequences of this distinction.—M. Jules Lermina. 2. On the public domain paying a perpetual royalty.—M. E. Mack. 3. On the contract with publisher.—M. E. Pouillet. 4. On the reproduction of political articles.— M. A. Osterrieth. 5. On the proprietorship of news.—M. A. Bataille. 6. On rights in historical documents.—M. Marbeau. 7. Desiderata of musical composers.—M. V. Souchon. 8. Desiderata of Architects.—M. C. Lucas. 9. Desiderata of photographers.—M. A. Tail- lefer. 10. On the proprietorship of the autograph,— M. Or. Harmand. 11. On the definition of type.—M. Davanne. 12. Project of a law respecting literary pro- perty.—M. Ot. Maillard. 13. On legislative work and the currents of public opinion in different countries.—M. Alcide Darras. 14. On the organisation of national committees for the study of the present situation in countries outside the Union, and the organisation of a pro- paganda with a view to the extension of the Union. —M. L. Poinsard. 15. On the creation of legal offices in foreign countries.—M. L. Layus. 16. On opportunities to be afforded the public of becoming acquainted with the existence of author's exclusive rights.—M. E. Rothlisberger. 17. On the suppression of the "caution" judicatum solvi.—M. de Glermont. (See The Author, Nov. 1896, p. 133.) G G  ## p. 280 (#336) ############################################ 280 THE AUTHOR. THE BOOK TRADE OF GERMANY. THE United States Consul at Breslau has prepared an interesting report on the condition and methods of the book trade in Germany, which is published in the last issue of Consular reports by the Department of State in Washington. The Consul says even in this changing age the organisation of the German book trade remains in principle what it has long been. The two main prin- ciples which make the trade as flourishing as it is are the fixed selling price and the right of the retailer to return unsold books. The first, combined with very long credits, is the solid basis of the existence of the small retail house, and has favoured the establishment of retailers every- where. There is in Germany one bookseller for every 5000 inhabitants, and the consequence of retail shops being found everywhere is that the German publisher spends little in advertising, for he sends out all his novelties on sale according to a system established with the retail trade, or special wishes of the retailers, which he leams by means of his inexpensive circulars. In no other trade is there so close an understanding cultivated as between the German bookseller and his educated customers. The retailer circulates all his new books amongst likely buyers, and they become better known than through advertise- ments. The retailer pays for all the books bought during the year at the Easter Fair of the following year. The discounts vary according to the class of book, from 25 per cent, on the selling price on scientific books to 40 and even 50 per cent, on juvenile literature, besides which eleven copies are sent for ten, or thirteen for a dozen. The enormous number of scientific books pub- lished in Germany, including pamphlets, can only be explained by the existence of the intelligent retailers all over the country. The legal organi- sation of the trade is the Verein in Leipsic, con- sisting of 2685 members, which lays down regula- tions for the members of the trade amongst themselves, and for them in their dealings with the public. Thus the maintenance of the selling price (5 per cent, being allowed for cash, periodi- cals excepted) is rigidly insisted on, and if the rule is broken it is adjudged by the Verein that publishers shall not supply the offender, or that they shall give him no credit or discount. Con- nected with this institution is a sort of publishers' and booksellers' clearing-house in Leipsic, by which the ordering by retailers and the keeping of accouni s between them and the publishers are facilitated and simplified, and the processes of ordering, packing, despatching, and paying are greatly cheapened. The system, which is a very old one, is described in detail by the Consul. It appears designed to prevent a great variety of petty expenditure, and to it, coupled with the fixed selling price and the long credit, he attri- butes the success of the trade in Germany.—■ Times, March 18. CORRECTIONS. THE power to correct proofs must certainly remain with the author. Otherwise there would be no sense in letting him have proofs. But, again, he cannot expect a free hand, or he might burden the book with a charge for corrections which would leave nothing over. The subject was treated in ZVte Author, vol. 4, p. 283. The information is repeated, because after three years there must be many members of our Society who have forgotten the very im- portant figures there presented. It is common for agreements of the profit- sharing kind (which so seldom lead to any profits) to contain a clause granting the author per- mission to correct to the extent of so much per sheet: "ten shillings, fifteen shillings, twenty shillings," as the case may be. It is never explained to the author what this allowance means, when the proofs are placed in his hands. Nor, should he begin to exceed the allowance, is he warned of his liabilities. We shall probably have to return to the danger of these liabilities next month by quoting a case in illustration. Now, what does this allowance of ios., or whatever it may be, per sheet, mean to the author? A printer charges " corrections " by the time they take. He charges at the rate of ia 2d. or 1*. id. an hour. How can an author correct work and time? In this way— 1. The substitution of one word for another takes about three or four minutes—say three minutes and a half. Therefore seventeen words can be changed in an hour, representing i*. 3d. So that an allowance of 20s. per sheet means the change of 272 words in a sheet, or seventeen words a page. 2. If, instead of a word, the author changes a phrase, making the line run over, causing the type to be shifted, perhaps, for a whole page to follow, then a single correction may cause an hour's work. The author must take great care not to correct in this careless manner. Let him be studious not to disturb the lines. A safe rule is to have duplicate proofs, and to enter the corrections on both proofs. In case of dispute the duplicate proof can be referred to. The best plan is to typewrite the whole, aud to treat the type-written copy as a first proof cor- rected for press.  ## p. 281 (#337) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, March 16th, 1897. WIDE public interest has been attracted by a crusade, started a couple of weeks ago, against the two newspapers having the largest circulation in the United States. Some club or library led off by passing a resolution that the World and the Journal should not be kept on file in the reading-room, and the idea spread with remarkable rapidity until, in less than a fortnight, almost every important club in this city, besides libraries and other associations here and in the surrounding towns, have taken similar action, while on Saturday Yale started the move- ment among the colleges. It is a purely moral protest against the exploiting of indecency and sensationalism by flagrant pictures and lurid descriptions in the two papers which reach the largest number of the common people. A little earlier a Bill was introduced into the Legislature at Albany, by Mr. Ellsworth, making the publication of a picture of a person without his consent a ground for damages; a measure which was caused by some particularly heartless " illustrations," and some particularly vile ones. The result was rather unexpected. It might well have been anticipated that these papers would only rejoice in the notoriety they got from the Legislature and the clubs, and in the consequent increase of circula- tion j but they have apparently become frightened, for Sunday's editions of both of them were much less objectionable than usual, and the World has amused the community by coming out in support of the Ellsworth Bill. Probably it was the adver- tisers who called the halt. It might please more subscribers to raise as much protest as possible, but the big advertisers who support the news- papers—especially the 1 cent sheets, of which the selling price does not pay for the paper alone —know that they would be unfavourably affected by the disgust of decent men, emphasised by the scores of protests made within two weeks from the pulpit, from the clubs, the libraries, and the colleges. It was the advertisers who stopped the same papers from talking about the bad business outlook a short time ago. The publishers' advertisements are a rather interesting thing to watch, and if one has the knowledge necessary to make a few corrections in first conclusions, they give an excellent indication of the nature of the public which reads the various papers. During 1896 the Evening Post, which has the best book-reviews published in the country, printed 172,819 agate lines of publishers' advertisements, or 596 columns, which was 71 per cent, more than ap|>eared in any other daily newspaper in the United States in the same year, VOL. VII, and 25 per cent, more than was printed in all other New York evening papers together. The Sun, which comes second, has excellent book- reviews of its own limited kind, those on Sunday being mere abstracts, and those on week days elaborately jocose. It had in the neigh- bourhood of 100,000 lines, but it is to be remembered that neither it nor any of the other papers is so strict in price as the Post, which never offers the "special inducements" which are made to a considerable extent by all other principal papers here, with the possible exception of the Tribune. The Tribune, the most respectable organ of the Republican party, which is read by the better class of business men, published some- thing like 85,000 lines; the Times in the neighbourhood of 50,000; and not one of the sensational papers, although their circulations are many times as high, published anything worth mentioning in comparison with these amounts. The Evening Post broke the record for one day on Dec. 12 with forty-six and three-quarter columns of publishers' advertisements. The extent to which advertising is carried by the publishers has one drawback, as I believe, although there is a decided difference of opinion about the amount of effect which it has on the reviews. Certainly the papers which have the most publishers' advertisements are the strictest in their literary standards, but some which are desirous of gaining a reputation for literary excellence are made very gentle in handling all books, especially, perhaps, those of the largest publishers. The importance of publishers' advertisements as part of the business of American newspapers, also leads some of them into the temptation to review altogether too many books, which helps to lower the quality of the criticisms. It seems as if a number of the leading papers are afraid to throw any book into the waste-basket without at least a few lines of meaningless praise. Books of essays continue, it seems to me, to be the most interesting and the most significant class of books published just now. Even though ouc of them is the publication of an English house, the author of it is of so much importance in this country that it may not be improper to say something about it here. "The Will to Live," by Professor William James, is the work of a man who comes very close to being the most brilliant essayist we have; whose literary qualities are perhaps as distinguished as his philosophical powers. The papers which make up this volume deal with the border land of philosophy, most of them with almost prac- tical problems upon which philosophy throws light, especially with a defence of religion g a 2  ## p. 282 (#338) ############################################ 282 THE AUTHOR. against the too exaggerated claims of some scientific or pseudo-scientific critics, somewhat in the spirit of Mr. Balfour's books. The vigour and readiness of their style make them very noticeable from the purely literary point of view, and the author's powers of expression accounts for a large part of the deep influence which he had at Harvard University, especially among the abler students. The current joke about the two brothers is that Henry is too much of a psycho- logist to be a satisfactory novelist, and William too much of a literary man to be a satisfactory psychologist, is of course not intended to be taken seriously, but in suggesting the high degree of Professor James's literary power it carries a truth. Anyone who followed the reviews of his "Psychology" must have noticed that the most eminent philosophical authors were tempted to put special emphasis on the literary qualities of the book. I will quote only Mr. Bryce, who said in the Speaker, "In it metaphysics have again condescended to speak the language of polite letters, and learning has been wise enough to take wit for her companion." The influence which Professor James has at Harvard would be hard to overstate. It begets the love of miscellaneous experience which we are beginning to look upon as one thing that is shaping itself as part of the still unformed American character, and of which Walt Whitman is the prophet, but it is all tempered with the care of the scholar and the basis of calmness of the man of high social and artistic culture. Harper and Brothers have just arranged to bring out in their series of American essayists a volume of the work of a man who was not known in the literary world three years ago, and has now already stepped into a prominent place. Pro- fessor H. T. Peck, of Columbia College, the editor of the American Bookman, whose essays this volume is to contain, expects to have them ready for publication in the fall. The following sub- jects, which have already been treated in the Bookman, will show to some extent the trend of his thought: William Dean Howells, The Evolu- tion of a Mystic (Huysmans), The Migration of Popular Sons, The New Child and its Picture Books, American Feeling towards England, Presi- dent Cleveland (April Bookman). Other papers still to be written and appear in the volume are A great National Newspaper, George Moore, Marcel Prevost.The Progress of Fonetik Befawnn, and some few others. In this series a volume by T. W. Higginson has just been issued, and one by Mark Twain is in type. The latter will be much more generally know as an essayist after this volume has been published, as his critical work haw thus far appeared only in magazines. Professor George R. Carpenter has an interest- ing problem on his hands. He has been com- missioned to edit a volume of American prose, not including living authors. The first decision which he has made is that not more than thirty or thirty-five ought to appear in it, and the ques- tion of admission and exclusion is going to lead to a more systematic attempt to place some of our authors as regards their permanent literary im- portance than has yet been made. To take oni instance, few prose writers have been of more influence in New England than Margaret Fuller, and many would give her a prominent place in such a volume, yet Mr. Brander Matthews, whose recent volume on American literature has gone through five editions of 10,000 each, and who is, of course, one of the first authorities on American literature, would as certainly exclude her on the ground that she yvas only a personality and a journalist, which is true enough, although perhaps not conclusive; for the personality which affected such a large number of the leading New England thinkers of her day runs all through the half- dozen volumes of her work, which still have enough circulation to show that the influence is still at work. Morover, if representativeness counts for much, it would be difficult to find any- body in whom the transcendental spirit appears in more energetic and it might be said in cruder form; certainly no writer was ever more American or more New England than she. A score of questions like this will arise, including that of the place to be given to the Federalist writers, of course the most notable single group of authors we have ever had. Some of them, by the way, are treated popu- larly in an excellent volume just published by Thomas Y. Crowell iind Co., consisting of essays by Professor William P. Trent, called " Southern Statesmen of the Old Regime," including Wash- ington, Jefferson, Randolph, Calhoun, Stevens. Toombs, and Jefferson Davis. His judgment is that Jefferson is the most influential of all our statesmen, the one having the largest and most philosophical understanding. His point of view towards Jefferson Davis is particularly interesting, because it keeps a fair balance between the igno- rant Northern condemnation, and the equally ignorant Southern laudation and sentiment. He calls him: "An able and versatile man, a fairly typical representative of his people and their cause, a good man with thoroughly pure intentions;, a gentleman, and a wonderfully gallant soldier ^ a wonderfully misunderstood and ofttimes slandeifed and ill-treated man, and finally a statesman who, though he made many grave errors, was a failure not so much from his own lack of ability to govern as through the inherent weakness of the cause he  ## p. 283 (#339) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 283 represented." Professor Trent is a little need- lessly controversial, but he has information and sanity enough to make this book on some of our most interesting men a valuable contribution. Frank A. Munsey has asked some of our leading writers of fiction to contribute to his magazine papers on their own favourite novelist. Mr. Howells will lead, but he refuses to be bound by the subject, and will treat several men. Mr. Matthews will come second, and discuss Thackeray, selecting as his favourite book one of the least known, which, perhaps, it would be unfair to mention yet; and Mr. Howells happens to agree with him in thinking that this little-read book is Thackeray's best. Last month I spoke of Mr. Jaccaci's going to McClure's. Frank N. Doubleday, who, as pub- lisher, has had much to do with the building-up of Charles Scribner's Sons' business, has also gone to the same firm, which, in the fall, will begin the publication of books, and probably soon carry it on on a large scale. Mr. McClure has just engaged Stephen Crane to go to Greece to report the war—if there is any —for McClure's Magazine, and if there is not, to describe the situation. Mr. Crane had started for Cuba for the Journal, but was unable to get further than Florida. The idea that imagination and literary power is needed to report important public events is growing, and Mr. Crane's work in fiction is, of course, just the kind which makes this experiment a promising one. Norman Hapgood. NOTES PROM ELSEWHERE. St. Ives, Cornwall. ISEE that the Authors' message to the King of the Creeks has been ridiculed in certain quarters. The King of the Greeks is the true friend of literary folks, and, were it on this ground alone, has a claim on our sympathy and admiration. I wish I had a fraction of the twenty drachmae pieces which in his time he has bestowed upon needy homines de lettres in Paris. I knew one poor old fellow—a ruined Polish nobleman who used to sit in the Cafe de la Paix writing pamphlets—who counted on the King for a regular source of income. He was certain of his twenty francs every time H.M. came to Paris, and when desiring anything particularly which he could not afford at the time, would put it off " till King George comes." This old Polish nobleman—since dead of star- vation—had a method of his own of placing his literary wares, which consisted of four-page pamphlets, marked " price one franc." He used to send copies by unfranked letter-post to all the princes and potentates under the sun, with the words " I am starving" (which was strictly true) written on a piece of letter-paper. He sent away hundreds of these missives every month, to digni- taries as diverse as the Pope of Rome and the Emperor of China. Once when I pointed out to him that his letters could certainly never reach the kings and emperors to whom he addressed them, he answered: "Well, supposing the letter only falls into the hands of the man who sweeps down the Emperor's front steps, he is sure to be a marquis at least, and a marquis is quite as good for my purpose as the patron." A new French novelist of whom I am hearing much good spoken is M. Emile Pouvillon. His latest novel is called "L'Image." M. Armaud Silvestre, who is certainly one of our best literary critics, speaks of him as follows: "'L'Iniage' ne saurait qu'augmenter la renoinmce si legitiniement conquise par cet ecrivain, d'une saveur meridionale si intense dans une formule du francais le plus noble et le plus pur. La personalitc littcraire de Pouvillon et sa reelle originalitc sont dans l'intiinitc du detail toujours merveilleusement decrit, et dans la subtilite d'une psychologie toujours ingenieuse." M. Pouvillon has been writing for some years, apparently without succeeding in " imposing his literary per- sonality," an injustice of circumstances to which I am glad to call attention. Speaking of new books and new editions, I would recommend anyone who delights in humour and would be interested to read about life in a French barracks, to invest in Georges Courte- line's " Vie de Caserne," published by the Edition Nationale, with illustrations by Dupray. It is a splendid book, diverting in the extreme; a typographical and artistic triumph. Courteline is a writer who, although he has suffered bitterly from life, always writes of life in its pleasantest aspects. As such he is particularly appreciated by those of us who, finding life indeed cruel and sad, wish in our diversions to forget this circumstance awhile. Why is it, by the way, that whilst the men who write cheerfully about life are usually the men who have suffered, the pessimists almost in- variably are men who, by their tastes and in- stincts, draw a maximum of enjoyment — sensual in the main—out of the existence which they so persistently decry? For my part, I have made up my mind to put sugar in my tea in the future. No more bitter draughts for me of my own composition. Life forces enough of those down one's throat. Squeers was quite right when he insisted that  ## p. 284 (#340) ############################################ 284- THE AUTHOR. "cheerfulness and good spirits must be kept up." One can get all the gloomy ■ exposure that one requires of the baseness and egotism of mankind without reading the pessimists of fiction and fact. Only the other day I came across an instance of these qualities, which exceeds anything that Maupassant ever imagined. Some years ago a German vessel was wrecked on the coast of Cornwall. The crew were all saved, but for many days the ship's cook, who had been nearly drowned in the surf as he was being dragged ashore, lay between life and death in a cottage by the sea, to which he had been earned for dead after the wreck. The man who kept the cottage attended to him night and day with the greatest kindness, providing him with the diet, stimulants, and restoratives which had been ordered by the doctor. When he was asked for his bill he made out a list of charges, which barely covered his out-of-pocket expenses, amount- ing in all to ^£5. When the captain saw the total he grew very angry, and at first refused to pay it, remarking, "This is a bad job for me. It would have been very much better for me if the fellow had been drowned." "And he meant it too," said the cottager, who told me this story one beautiful morning last week As we stood in an idyllic garden in one of the fairest scenes in England. Again, only yesterday, I heard that some fisher- men whose boat was run into and sunk by a foreign barque, refused to take refuge on this vessel, and remained in the water for hours until they were picked up by another lugger of the fishing fleet, because they feared that the foreigners might murder them in order to get rid of the witnesses who could testify .against them in a claim for compensation by the owner of the fishing smack. I defy any professional pessimist to invent two human documents more sad than these. Readers of The Author who possess French dictionaries should write in, in their proper places, the following words: Incuriosite (want of curiosity), UnicitS (oneness), Papillonnage (butterflying, flirtation), Febrilite (a state of feverishness), Inentamee (not broken in upon), Mondial (a variation of mondain). At least, such readers as read Bourget, in whose novel "L'Idylie tragiq ue," the above neologisms, amongst others, are to be met with. If not of the Academy, these words are at least of the Academician, Bourget to wit, and such is Bourget's influence that already they pass as current coin. It is a pity we have no coiner of wrords of some autho- rity in England, for there are many words lacking in our tongue. One word, for instance, is wanting to describe those men of letters whose work consists in embroidering on tissues of reported fact, and who cannot be described purely and simply as novelists, for that terra implies imagination and invention. It is just possible that, for want of buildings, the two annual Salons will not be held in Paris either next year or in 1899, the Palace de l'lndustrie and the Pavilion des Arts Libcraux, in which respectively the Salon des Champs- Elysces and the Salon du Champ de Mars have been held, having to come down in view of the Exhibition of 1900. This prospect is most cheer- ing to those newspaper correspondents whose routine duty it is to describe these exhibitions and to criticise the pictures. I have "done" the Salons for more than ten years, and have come to look forward with holy horror to May ("May month" we say in Cornwall). The fatigue of inspecting so many thousand canvases is no light one. Headache is a certain perquisite; the monotony of art, whose development is so lamentably slow, is depressing in the extreme; and the obligation under which one labours of writing only of "arrived" painters, the public in general earing nothing for new men, is revolt- ing to one's sense of justice. We shall all be very glad of a rest. It is proposed, by the way, that in future the Salons shall only be held triennially, but it is too much to hope to see that carried into effect. In speaking of St. Ives from a literary point of view last month, I was guilty of several omissions. To begin with, I ought to have mentioned that there is an old lady here who knew Charles Kingsley as a boy, and can talk for hours about him. I should also have referred to Mr. Herbert Thomas, editor of the Camborne Post, who is the author of many striking ballads on Cornish men and matters. We have also here Dr. Havelock Ellis—at this moment he is writing in a log- cabin adjacent to the one in which I am writing —who has realised an ideal literary life. I ought, further, to have referred to Mr. H. D. Lowry, the novelist. Since I have been in Cornwall my appreciation of his work has greatly increased, and I look confidently to his future. He has a splendid field, and is an excellent workman. I hope that next month I shall be able, as a variation, to write a letter on German literary matters, having it in mind to ship to Hamburg, and thence south to see the spring on the Bavarian Highlands, taking Berlin and Munich on the way. Robert H. Shebabd.  ## p. 285 (#341) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 285 NOTES AND NEWS. ALETTER from Sir John Lubbock points out that the opening sentences of his speech at the dinner are omitted in the report. This omission is very much to be lamented. The printers maintain that they left out nothing of the "copy" placed in their hands. The MS. was sent by the secretary as he received it from the reporters to the printing office. We can only offer our apologies to our distinguished chairman. I call very serious attention to the extract from the Times of March 18th, on the book trade in Germany. Compare it with our own: 1. In Germany books are sent out on sale or return. 2. Here they are not. Every book remaining on a bookseller's shelves is a failure and loss. 3. The discounts vary from 25 per cent, on the selling price of scientific books, to 40 or 50 per cent, on juvenile literature, besides which eleven copies are sent as ten, or thirteen as twelve, with 5 per cent, for cash. 4. Here the 4*. 6d. book is sold in single copies at 4«. or 4*. 2d. a copy, with a discount which reduces it to about 3*-. 90?., and thirteen as twelve. Publishers sell for less to distributing agencies at about 38. 5*/., making their average as near as possible 3*. 6d. The booksellers cannot, as a rule, afford to order twelve copies of the same book, or twelve copies of books published by the same publisher. 5. In Germany there is one bookseller to 5000 people. 6. Here the booksellers have declined by, it is said, 70 per cent. 7. In Germany a fixed price is the rule. 8. Here a fixed discount of 25 per cent, to the public is the rule, in towns at least. 9. In Germany the bookseller's shop is the place of resort of all the educated classes. There are exposed to view the whole of the new books at all likely to appeal to general readers. 10. Here no one in the country can see the new books at all; they are not exhibited—in other words, they are not published. It is certainly not publication, in any sense of the word, to print a book, advertise it, and order a traveller to mention it. The public want to see the books. Except in a very few shops the new books are not ordered, or exhibited, or offered, nor do the people go to the bookseller's shop to see them. In a word, the English system has killed 70 jjer cent, of the English booksellers; it is rapidly killing the remainder. In the interests of our property caunot the Society take steps to save the man who sells — the man without whom literature could not exist? The following is au extract from the New York Critic. The honour of this invention for trading on the folly and the vanity of people is, however, our owu. It is now some three years since the method was brought to light, and duly honoured in the pages of The Author :— "The literary aspirant would seem to be the victim of more than one scheme. One of my readers sends me a letter which he has received from the publisher of a periodical. A reader of this column would naturally be too intelligent a person to be the victim of a wily publisher; but there are those who might easily fall into his toils. This is the circular letter that my correspondent received: In reply to your answer to advt. of 'Author,' in Sunday's Herald, would say the plans are about perfected for the issuance of a new magazine of stories, entitled ■ , and to whose columns we cordially invite you to contribute. We offer the following proposition: We will print your story (if accepted) on condition that the same is offered as a free contribution to our columns, and that, in addition thereto, you are willing to purchase, and pay for on delivery, at least 200 copies of magazine, at the rate of 5 cents a copy, or we will mail them from this office to any addresses you may furnish. This will bring your name as a magazine writer direct to the attention of your friends, together with the opportunity of submitting to publica- tions of a more pretentious character already published contributions of which you are the author. Thus, yon see, we offer you an opportunity for placing yourself prominently in the field as a recognised writer of fiction, which will eventually yield returns of a satisfactory pecuniary character. We have our own printing plant and presses, and you are respectfully requested to advise us at your earliest conve- nience whether or not you desire to place your manuscript (under the above conditions) in the hands of our reader for approval or rejection. The magazine will enter the field as a competitor of The Black Cat and similar publications, but will be of a purely literary character, the space devoted to the insertion of advertising matter being very limited. "The generosity of this offer will no doubt appeal to a large audience, for there are those who would rather see themselves in print without pay than not see themselves in print at all. Against the expense of 200 copies at 5 cents each they would not protest, for what is 200 times 5 cents against the glory of being an author r But you may be sure of one thing— that they would not send a copy of the paper to anyone who, they had reason to think, had received one of these circulars." Does poetry pay? I find a contribution to the literature of this subject in au American paper. "Ballad the Bard," a poet from Iowa, who is, I  ## p. 286 (#342) ############################################ 286 THE AUTHOR. suppose, known to all the world excejjt myself, is announced as being about to appear at a certain theatre: he will recite his own poems first, and will rub them in, or lecture upon them, afterwards. I think the line ought to be drawn after the recitation. Certainly in this country poets do not as a rule dare to ask people to listen while they recite their verses. But to expect them, in addition, to listen to a lecture upon them—No : it would be too much, much too much. However, that is what "Ballad the Bard" is doing at this moment. The paragraph goes on to say that the poet has written 44,678 lines of verse. "But," it is added, "even production on this enormous scale has never paid him well, and he has to carry on a farm to make a living." Is there any " proper" length that can be laid down for a story? The length which is accept- able to editors first, and suits book form next, is the " proper " length. A contributor to this issue thinks that, for a first effort, the length should not exceed 30,000 words: and he finds a good many published works of that length. On the other hand, the short stories, for which there is now so large a demand, are not allowed to exceed 4000 words in the weekly magazines which want them. I think that a young writer should not tie himself down to any fixed length in planning and constructing his story, but should consider nothing but the natural development of the plot and the dramatic situations which it allows. When he comes to offer his work for publication he can then alter, correct, or add in order to bring it within the limits wanted. If we consider the reader, a length of only 30,000 words is much too limited, if the story is good. In that case, indeed, one cannot have too much of it. Dickens carried on his novels to something like 400,000 words, and nobody complained: but perhaps the public would resent such a demand upon their attention from his successors. The three-volume novel, which critics continually likened, with as much originality as truth, unto the bed of Procrustes, actually varied from 90,000 words to 250,000 words. The present popular six-shilling novel varies from 60,000 to 200,000 words. I think that the little booklet of 30,000 words has had its day. At all events, let us hope so. To sit down to a really admirable story—one remembers several excellent stories which appeared in that form—and to see it thrown away on a little thing that could be read in an hour, was a terrible waste : all the more when the story, as happened in the case of one writer at least, was full of gocd things, epigrams—un- expected "strokes," as the old writers called them. The following letter received by an editor has come into my hands. It requires no comment: anything that could be said is obvious:— Dkab Sir,—This morning I had the pleasure of reading a notice of my little book of" . . ," taken from last Tuesday's . It is qnite a flattering review; and very comforting to a man who is starving. The kind-hearted reviewer says he envies me my temperament, but I feel sure he would not have envied me my lot during the last few months—it has literally been a time of starvation for me. Briefly, here is my history. I began to work in the minfs before attaining my ninth birthday. At an early age—in my nineteenth year—I married, and later developed a taste for literature, mainly reading. At twenty-two I left the pits to work in a boiler-factory, and presently I began to scribble verses in my spare time. After a while I tried my hands at prose, and by the time I was twenty-four or five one or two of my contributions were accepted for a London periodical, that in which Stevenson's "Treasure Island" first appeared. I made steady progress, taking infinate pains to make my work readable. I had everything to learn, and spelling was fearfully difficult, but ere long I had the satisfaction of receiving a few shillings nearly every week for some little story, article, or a set of verses. During 1895 I nearly made a living by journalistic work, earning an average of a little over £1 per week. My work appered in various publications, and I worked very hard in the hope of doing better, but my health failed. However, I continued to do my best, bnt my prose work was not very successful. I wrote one novel, which brought me in a munificent (?) £16 1 os. The" . . "are a selection of some eighty pieces from several hundred which have been previously published —mostly in ... At present, though able to do good work, I can hardly get a story, an article or a set of verses accepted. I have received a letter from a member of the Society in which he shows a strong jealousy of publishers' readers. I have persuaded him to withdraw the letter, and 1 only refer to it in order to call attention to the fact that such prejudice exists. The writer says that readers are all authors: that they are jealous of all other authors: and that their jealousy will not allow them to give an unbiassed judgment. Perhaps this prejudice may exist in other minds. There- fore, let us consider the facts. First of all, pub- bshers' advisers are not all authors: many of them are, it is true. I know certain firms where no book is accepted until one of the partners himself has read it. Next, we must always remember that publishers are men of business. They publish books in order to make money, like any other men of business. There are no senti- mental considerations at all about them. If, therefore, this man of business discovers that the reader whom he pays for advising him as to the pecuniary value of a work has begun to advise him in accordance with private spite and malice, he would very soon make short work of that reader. But, it may be urged, a reader may strongly advise against a work, thinking that he  ## p. 287 (#343) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 287 is doing this honestly, and deceived by his own prejudices. When that work was produced else- where successfully, confidence in that reader would certainly be lowered or altogether lost. It is true that readers make mistakes: who does not? It is true that every publisher can point to excellent work being rejected. It is also true that many MSS. lie on the border line: it is unlikely that they will succeed, and a reader hesi- tates to recommend his firm to a probable loss. They go elsewhere. For some reason they have a run. One must not blame a reader for hesitation over an uncertain MS. In a word, I do not believe that authors as a rule have any cause of com- plaint against readers; while there are readers who possess a sort of instinct which tells them whether a MS. will succeed or not. I believe it is the fact that the late Mr. George Bentley, who at one time published nothing that he had not read, never made a mistake in his estimate of a book. Walter Besant. SOME VOLUMES OF VERSE. WE have before us several volumes of verse by writers chiefly new. As is the custom of The Author, which, for obvious reasons, cannot criticise the works of the members of the Society, we will allow every one of these young poets to recite a poem of his or her own making. The first is a book (Elliot Stock) called " Meetings and Partings, with other Verses and Translations," by E. C. Ricketts (Cornelia Wallace), author of "Flowers: A Fantasy," and " Mountain Monarchs." The following is a translation of Sully Prud- homme's lines, beginning "Vous qui m'aiderez dans mon agonie ": Ye who will aid me in my dying hour. Utter no word. To speed my flight sweet strains alone have power; Let such be heard. Music can sooth, enchant, and loosen ties To things below. Speak not, I pray you, but in kinder wise, Ah! lull my woe. 1 tire of words—vain words that only tend Truth to conceal: Better are sounds I need not comprehend, Their voice I feel. My soul shall plunge in melody's full streams Till her last breath; Then float from soft delirium to dreams, From dreams to death. The second book before us is "The History of a Soul," by Kathleen Bebenna (Digby, Long). It is dedicated to Philip Bourke Marston, " whose wondrous life hath been revealed to her whchn I call Idriss." The soul passes from one existence to another. The soul is none other than Philip Bourke Mar- ston, whose history, revealed to " Idriss," has been versified by Kathleen Behenna. At its first per- fect birth, the soul was known as Heliobas; next as Rameses II.; thirdly, as Homer; fourthly, as Mithradates VI.; then followed a period in Hell; afterwards it became Omar I., Caliph of Persia; after this, Geoffrey L'Estrange of France; lastly as Philip Bourke Marston. It will be seen that this was a soul singularly favoured, and with very long intervals between the incarna- tions. Let us take a passage from the sojourn in Hell: Within this deep and vast expanse of night, Where no sun sheds its glorious beaming light; No light of moon, or aught but faint pale star— The circling earth which shineth from afar. To this I fell from my soul's perfect birth Far lower then than mortals of the earth: And there I met far sadder sights, I ween, Than even Dante's eye hath ever seen. O God of Love, how great Thou art in might! "Leaves in the Wind," by Anthony C. Deane (Elliot Stock) is a little volume of a lighter kind. Here is an example, called "Yuletide Reflec- tions ": Bright in many coloured binding, Here they lie a goodly row! Now we may rejoice at finding Tales of ice and misletoe. How the wise lived " ever after "; How the fool his folly saw, Scenes of honest mirth and laughter, Such as Dickens loved to draw. What? You think so? How belated Is your knowledge, if you look For romances antiquated In a modern "Christmas book "! Bather hail the newer fashion, Pitiably the hero's died, And tho heroine's hopeless passion Ends, of course, in suicide. Genial writers of the present, Always we reoeive from you, Tales designedly unpleasant— Men that don't and maids that do. Gloomy screeds with gloomy morals, Dirty scenes of dirty slums, Stories of domestic quarrels, You provide, when Christmas comes. Though sincere in your persuasion That the world's an idle show, Could you not—for this occasion— Let your pessimism go '< Though your dullful view encumbers Every modern novel's theme, "Tell us not in "—Christmas—-numbers Life is but an empty dream "!  ## p. 288 (#344) ############################################ 288 THE AUTHOR. 14 Poems of a Naturalist" (Chiswick Press) by Marcus S. C Rickards. Here is a short poem called " Life on the Wane ": My friends are like the flowers That grace the sunny hours: Death is the blight whose shade Doth mar them till they fade. Ah! what a bevy did adorn The plot where one dies every morn. My heart is like a field Of trees with golden yield: Death is the gale whose force Doth Btrip, without remorse, The fruit of each arboreal type That should have smiled till fully ripe. My life is but the gloom That silvery stars illume: Yet, Bwift as hurrying clouds, Death one by one enshrouds: And soon—how soon! I shall be left 'Mid darkness, of their light bereft. But courage! coming spring Steals back on flowery wing, Fresh summer bids the root Breed new maturing fruit. And never midnight held dark sway That issued not in golden day. ■>•<——■ EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTOR. AS the question of the responsibility of editors in the matter of unsolicited manuscripts is at present being warmly discussed in literary circles, will you allow me space in your columns for the following remarks: Some time ago I sent my first contribution to a magazine of the highest standing, and received from the editor a very courteous acknowledge- ment, and a cheque for twenty guineas. Since then I have contributed articles to another high-class magaziue, and as I am not personally acquainted with the editor or any member of the staff of any magazine in England, I may, without presumption, conclude that my contributions are published on their merits and have a certain marketable value. On the 16th of November last I sent an article to a high-priced magazine (which for the moment I prefer not to name, as possibly the editor may, after reading this, consider that he owes me an an explanation either through your columns or otherwise). My manuscript was registered, my name and address were written most legibly on it, and postage stamps were enclosed for its return in case of rejection. It is now more thaji three months since I sent that article, and as it con- tained information which was then new, but is now no longer new, my article has deteriorated in value. Since I sent it I have written three times to the editor (not bellicose or threatening, but polite and courteous letters) and have even enclosed a stamped addressed envelope, but cannot get him either to return my MS. or to say if he intends to accept it. As I live out of England, I have never seen a copy of his magazine, and therefore do not know what are his rules as to unsolicited manuscripts; but I have always considered that the office of a magazine was an open market for literary contri- bution, and that an author could with as much confidence send his literary goods to the editor, as a farmer could send his horse unsolicited to Mr. Tattersall's stables, without fear of its being appropriated or destroyed. The editor of that magazine has not only kept or destroyed my article, which I at least consider of value, but he has also kept the $\d. in postage stamps which I sent him ; and if he has received 1500 MSS. within the year (as the editor of the Windsor has), and if each author has sent him the same amount in postage stamps that I have sent, he has realised from this source alone the goodly sum of =£28 2*. 6d. One of the correspondents of the Bookman (which has opened its columns to a discussion on the question of unsolicited manuscripts) com- pares a magazine article sent to an editor to a sample of goods sent by a tradesman. This is incorrect. If a few paragraphs of the article, or an entire article which had already been published by the same author, were sent, it would be a sample of his style, but the article itself is no more a sample than is the horse sent to Mr. Tattersall's a sample of the horses the farmer may have on his farm. It is a marketable article to be bought, or to be returned to its owner, who has not only consigned his goods, in all con- fidence, to a registered dealer in literary goods, but has paid for the return of those goods if found unsuitable to the requirements of that par- ticular dealer; and the article sent should be returned quickly, before the opportune moment for its appearance in another magazine should have passed. The editor is no more justified in holding it until "out of season" than would a seed merchant, whose store might be too full, be justified in accepting from a confiding nursery gardener seeds in the spring and returning thein in the winter when the season for their sale had passed. If be were himself too busy to return at once the surplus goods, he should employ a sufficient number of hands to do so, otherwise his establishment is badly and dishonestly con- ducted; and it would be well if he bore in mind that, though now he is very flourishing, his stores  ## p. 289 (#345) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 289 may some day be empty, and he may be very glad to receive unsolicited goods. But will the badly treated gardener send them in? As to the legal question of the responsibility of editors I am not qualified to offer an opinion; but if a horse dealer were to paint on his gate that he would not be responsible for unsolicited horses, and if that dealer were to appropriate or destroy any one of those horses, especially if sufficient money were sent with it to defray the expenses of its return, would any Judge in England hold him blameless? A few months ago I received a parcel from England, and a French custom-house incorrectly charged duty on it. I reclaimed the amount. The custom-house official to whom I wrote replied (his letter was unstamped, and I had to pay double postage), acknowledging that the charge was wrongfully made, but stating that it was contrary to the rules to refund the money. Doubtless it was contrary to his rules, but what right has anyone to make unto himself rules which are not in accordance with the rules of equity 'i I do not know what are the rules of the magazine to which I sent my last article, but I consider that the editor has acted even worse than that custom-house official, for, while he kept only the wrongfully charged duty, the editor has kept or destroyed my goods, and appropriated my money. Let him be charged by any twelve of his peers, and if they are honest English gentlemen as well as magazine editors, he will not be acquitted. March, 1897. Bartle Teeling. "STORIES WANTED." [all eights reserved.] IHAVE just concluded the painful experience of reading through (professionally) a few dozen of the effusions which are attracted by an advertisement to the above effect. I think, although I am no notable critic, that I might almost be in a position to render service to beginners by pointing out their faults. Let me say at once that I also am a lieginner, although a beginner of some years now, and one who has arrived at being able to live on his work. I "read " with no cut-and-dried didacticism, but conscientiously, sympathetically, and with rever- ence. That reverence is tempered with the scepti- cism of the war-worn who has learnt to translate "genius" by " oof." Priino, then, regretfully I urge it, do not let the contempt of the heaven-born drive you to overlooking paltry mechanical details in sublime reliance on the genius of the whole. A reader is, in one form or another, always paid for his work; an editor, if he reads, pays himself iu time. It is not unfair to say that, as a rule, short stories are put out for judgment at so much the dozen. Now, in all forms of work, you come sooner or later to give as little as you can for your money; and the most conscientious critic is liable to weariness and to shirking, and to saying to himself as he chucks the manuscript aside, " After all, what matter if I pass over one good thing in a dozen F No one will ever know, and / get paid just the same." Therefore, my fellow-novice, don't give him the chance of rejecting you perfunctorily by exact- ing too much from his mental concentration; let the form at least l>c perfect, so that, if there is a soul within, it may shine out by itself. Hiding your light under a bushel may be an excellent motto in morality; but hiding your talent under a napkin of illegible manuscript is decidedly injudicious for success. Some critics, too, hate you of malice prepense, and dub your careless- ness snobbery. To carry out this first counsel observe these elementary rules. Punctuate ; punctuate properlv, make a study of punctuation and of paragraphs. Half a good style depends on the judicious choice of stops, the psychological beginning of a new paragraph. Never, if you can help it, have a whole page of your MS. unbroken; it appalls the reader even in typo. And, ladies especially—with apology—l>e more generous with theeommas; do not despise the useful semi-colon; and come down royally with full stops. Once grasp the impor- tance of the colon and stop, and you will have made the first step towards the deletion of that persistent, that maddening, that irrefugible And. Taboo "and"; turn round on " and"; shun as you would the plague that irrepressible "and." "And" damns more stories than even bad writing ; sixteen "ands" in one paragraph, without so much as a comma between them, is the limit at which the reader's hair turns grey and his furniture is demolished. Next, as to writing. Here and there a man has a legible and characteristic hand, which permits his meaning to be grasped by the usual cursory glance down the page; but women — never. Ladies may form their letters perfectly legibly, although I have rarely come across one who differentiates her u's and n's; but almost invari- ably thev fill up all the white of the virgin sheet with tlreir largeness, or their flourishes, or their bold t's and lengthened y's, until the weary eye sees nothing but an indecipherable mass of hieroglyphics. Writing does not consist in well-  ## p. 290 (#346) ############################################ 290 THE AUTHOR. formed letters; that is the mere rudiment of the art. Good writing should allow an equal distri- bution of the black and the white by distinct spaces between each word, and distinct " leads" between each line; if your y above inns into your 1 below, the effect is ruined. Therefore I advise all ladies whose ambition soars beyond certain family and Christian publications at 5*. or 1 os. a thousand, to get their things typed. If they are making a business, or at least a permanent pleasure, of writing, they would do well to invest in a typer of their own. I know well the appalling expense of the thing; I know well the beautiful faith in one's own caligraphy, and have never used one myself. But that is because I have managed to make a start without one, and at the beginning wrote a minute and careful hand; nor are all of us built with the necessary objeetive- ness and patience to convey our thoughts by machine. None the less I think it a useful in- vestment in more ways than one—you cannot see the glaring faults of your style and punctuation in manuscript; and, after all, the "latest im- provements" are not necessary to you who have time to fill—there is a most handy, if slow, little machine at ,£3 3*., the price of typing about a dozen tales. Resume, then—get your stuff typed. Another elementary precaution .is in the way you put up your MS. Do not, unless you go to the expense of having your type bound in book form (and then it must be thick), do not fasten it down the side ; fasten it at the corner only. If you write a small, neat hand, use lined sermon- paper of half foolscap size; if a large, sprawling hand, used unlined foolscap with a ruled margin. In all cases, in my opinion, the facility of reading is greatly increased by a piece of cardboard at the back—but the back only; your critic loves his easy chair and pipe, and unstiffened dinisy is difficult to hold straight in one hand. To say write on one side of the paper only is, I think, unnecessary; no one makes the other mistake now. For a long MS., tape is better than a paper fastener; but do not fix up much more than 100 pages together, or it becomes unwieldy. Finally, in the case of a long story divided in several lots of MS., do for your own sake prefix each with a blank page marked with title, number of lot, and name, or if in many separate chapters jot down the title in the corner, and on the first title- page make a note of how many lots there are in^ all; otherwise in a trayful of MSS. scattered over the floor you are very apt to have a part mis- laid, or interrupt you» critic's reading, r The last, and almost most important, item to lie considered in your format is the length. What is the good of sending up a story of 7000 or Sooo words? Do you ever come across such a one in the popular journals at which you are pre- sumably aiming? A beginner should endeavour to keep himself—or herself—between 2000 and 4000 words; four columns of Tit-Bits, for instance, is about 3000 words; four pages of the Strand makes about 3700. And as it is the hardest thing possible to write a genuine story in less than 5000 words, the beginner would do very well, even if he or she has been beginning for many years, to break off "right now," and devote some months to the arduous but splendid exercise of concentration. It teaches you many things, things as yet undreamt of in your philosophy. For apart from helping you to slough your article of subjectiveness and verbosity, you learn in the process that your chosen calling is not after all the easiest one in the world which any " genius " can put his hand to from the word Go. On the contrary, it is almost as hard in its technicalities as painting; and that, and that only, is why after all it pays so excellently well. Do you think a man can fix his tariff at ,£5, £10, £20 a thousand words through mere luck, favour, or logrolling? And yet this means, for the laziest and least ambitious, a comfortable bachelor income of, say, £400 a year: twenty tales, only four months work to the slowest, placed in the hands of your agent, and the tariff autocratically fixed! Of course, there are, as there always have been, and in every trade, a few brains endowed with that rapid power of cram called genius, or favoured with an exceptional environment, supported by an exceptional popu- larity or tact, which gives them the first offer and a fictitious momentum when it is profited by; but rest assured that the rule is, as with paintiij0^ as with music—work, work, and hard work! If your discursiveness cannot be bound—and I, 'iff not us, suffer from that complaint, and have not mastered the lucrative short story yet—then cast yourself despairingly into the wordy, hopeless novel. It will take you at least five times as many years to draw from it the pay you could get with the same work out of short stories, but it is a more magnificent prize when you "get there"; and of course, if you desire that mere paltrjf. phantom called Fame, a well-bound novel is Jlftiething to display to your friends. You should fix as your limits for the novel from 50,000 to 70,000 words, but there is a wide market nowadays in the i*. 6</. "libraries" for^ short stories expanded to from 30,900 to 50,000 words. If you are about to make a new attempt, without suocjss yet to guide you, start in on a 30,000 tale: if you cannot reduce it to 3000 you can " easily" expand it to 30,000. And for the f>.i. novel, do not yet unlock the flood-  ## p. 291 (#347) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 291 gates of six figures; remember that the longer it is the more it costs to print, and that you must be a very big man before many publishers will set up your 150,000—and pay you for it. In a subsequent article I shall offer some comments on the substance of one's work: the relative importance of dialogue, plot, description, and moralisings, and the vitalness of the opening chapter. It is a matter which I shall approach with extreme diffidence. M . CORRESPONDENCE. I. — The Subjunctive Mood: Its Present Day Use. 1. IN Dr. Sweet's "New English Grammar," Part I., p. 193, I find: "The subjunctive is very little used, even in the educated form of spoken English, and in vulgar speech it disappears entirely." The question as to the use of the subjunctive mood lias been much complicated by the pre- valent superstition that certain forms of expres- sion are, for some mysterious reason, to be authoritatively considered as "correct," without any hint or definition as to what the controlling authority really is. The truth is that many English people judge their own language by a Latin standard. Latin is a dead language, in the sense that it is now immutable, and its laws of syntax admit of no further alteration. It therefore affords no guide whatever for the usages of a living language such as English, which gives proofs of its vitality by its ceaseless changes in vocabulary, in usage, and even in syntax. Historically, the verb to wear is weak, and the past tense was, for a long time, icered (as it used to be spelt); but such a usage is dead and buried, and the expression "he u eared a hat on his head" would now be ridicu- lous. In like manner, the use of the subjunctive mood is fast dying, and will soon cease, except in cases where the author wishes to call attention to the form of his sentence; as, for example, for the purpose of emphasis. That is, practically, the sole use of it at present. It is in place when- ever we are quoting, or imitating, or suggesting the style of writers of a previous period; but when we are really using the language of the present day it is much better to let it alone, unless there is a strong reason for being em- phatic. Yet there is no objection to such a sen- tence as the following: "If it were not for the guarantee of Europe, we should have little hope of security." For the fact is that, in this case, the whole phrase "if it were not" is what has happily been denominated a "petrified" phrase, a form which, from long custom, has become familiar to us, and does not strike us as un- usual. The true rule for pronunciation is this: be careful to pronounce words like the majority of your educated neighbours, if you wish to avoid being laughed at; and remember that pronuncia- tion is subject to frequent changes. And the true rule for syntax is like unto it: construct sentences like those commonly used by the most approved authors of the present day, if you wish to be intelligible; but in this case some archaisms are permitted, amongst which such petrified phrases as "if it be" and "it' it were " may be included, because they are still in occasional use, even in the spoken language. But, except in such phrases, there is really no point in pretend- ing that the subjunctive mood is alive. The sen- tence "Whether she possesses the means of realising it or not" is thoroughly sanctioned by the daily usage of the best speakers, and the forcible change (for such it really is) of possesses to possess can only be justified by the wish to impart emphasis or solemnity to the supposition, which is effected, to a certain degree, by the inversion of the sentence, i.e., by introducing the supposition at the beginning of it. To utter such a sentence as " 1 will give her a new hat, whether she want one or not," would surely be somewhat ridiculous, though it is quite "correct" in the dialect of East Anglia. Walter W. Skeat. 11. If I were able and willing (which I am not) to publish a complete grammar dealing with all points of English diction, there certainly would be a chapter in it dealing with the subjunctive case. So that the use of the subjunctive is not a case of certainty or doubt—there is no doubt at all in the above sentence. Yet there is a factor which prevents one using the form " if I was able and willing." To determine the use of the sub- junctive in modern English we have, I think, only to examine closely several such sentences, and analyse the mental feelings which give rise to them. The sentence quoted from the Times: "If Greece is incapable and unfitted to undertake the task," in reality expresses quite a different feeling or idea from " If Greece be incapable and unfittec%to undertake the task," and this, again, is different from " If Greece were incapable." A close consideration of the varying under- lying ideas, which I have had to make in  ## p. 292 (#348) ############################################ 292 THE AUTHOR. endeavouring pictorially to explain the subjunc- tives of French, German, and modern Greek, has, 1 think, given a clue which your correspon- dent Howard Collins may possibly find reasonable and useful. It is dependent upon the shaq) distinction between objective and subjective expressions; the first express outward facts, and the second inward thoughts about outward facts—for instance, "Greece is a country on the Mediterranean," and "J think that Greeks are a brave nation." Now, although a sharp distinction may be drawn between sentences of the first class, such as "an engine draws a train," and the second, "I hope my moaning is dear," as being the one an expression of outward perception and the other of inward feeling, yet, nevertheless, any expression of outward or objective fact may be made inward or subjective by the alteration of its terms, such as "I hope that the engine is .strong enough," or "If the engine were strong enough the train would go 100 miles an hour." This being so, there is still a third point to notice, namely, that any future event is proble- matical by its very nature, and "the engine will draw the train" only provided many jwssible things—if the boiler does not burst, if the line is clear, if the driver turns on steam, if it is strong enough to do so. Out of these possibili- ties I may choose to mention one—the question of strength—but this does not al'er the statement to any but a simple " future indicative "—and " If the engine it strong enough it will draw the train" is in reality better expressed thus: the engine will draw the train (if it is strong enough, if the driver turns on steam, if, &c., &c.)—a pure future indicative with one condition given (gif=if) or mentioned. But now, on the other hand, I am at perfect liberty in my imagination to imagiue impro- babilities or even impossibilities, and then I ought to, and in most cases must, employ a sub- junctive: "If the engine tcere powerful enough (and if the road trere true) the train might go at 150 or even 200 miles an hour;" or, again, "if Greece were incapable," &c. Further, I myself may not be sure, yet still put iuv hypotheses, and then I should say, "That engine is powerful, but not sufficiently so—at least, 1 think not"; "If it be (which I doubt) sufficiently strong it will move that train,"—or "If Greece be incapable and unfitted, then we must arrange in other fashion for the government of Crete." . In both cases" if it be" expresses an hypttthesis, "if it is" a condition. In a word, the rule seems to lie: if the state- ment it that of a future objective fact with conditions attached, use the simple tense, but if the statement be (as it may well be) a subjective hypothetical case, or if it were (as in certain circumstances I can imagine it might be) a purely hypothetical case, then employ the sub- junctive. I have incorporated the instances of the use in the argument the better to illustrate the rules, which if they are true, as I think they are, may prove of use to those in doubt on similar occasions. In many cases, however, the difference in idea is so slight that the desire for directness of diction overcomes the desire for grammatical accuracy. Howard Swan. 4, Arundel-street, Strand. in. From Mr. Howard Collins's article on "The Subjunctive Mood," Ac., in the last issue of The Author, I gather: 1. That it is becoming an increasing practice with the writers of the present time to use the indicative mood where the subjunctive would be more proper, or, at least, more elegant. 2. That such a practice was almost unknown amongst good writers a hundred years ago, and ljefore that—by which I understand during the eighteenth century. 3. That the subjunctive mood has for some years been gradually dying out. Now, with regard to the first and third of these statements, I am not in a position to offer positive evidence, which would, indeed, entail no small amount of labour; but my general impression is altogether the other way. If Mr. Collins will take a dip almost anywhere amongst the second- rate novels of the last twenty years—more espe- cially in those by ladies—T think he will find that the tendency is quite the reverse; that not only is the subjunctive mood very much used, but not unfrequently very much abused also. I am convinced that there are, and have been, plenty of writers who, finding this matter a little perplexing, and not having the patience to get to the bottom of it, have contented themselves with the simple and convenient rule that, whenever doubt, possibility, or contingency are implied—and more especially whenever a sentence begins with the word if—the subjunctive should be used in till cases. This, however, I do not think justifiable, aud so far from regarding a sentence like those quoted by Mr. Collins from the Times as the sign of a slovenly style, it is to me evidence that the writer has scholarly instincts, and has thought it worth his while to study the language which is the vehicle of his ideas.  ## p. 293 (#349) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 293 As to the assertion that this use of the indica- tive is a thing of recent usage, and was compara- tively rare in the last century, I think that is easily disposed of. I have not time to go fully into the matter, but I subjoin a few examples, which I fancy sufficiently bear me out, and which T found on a very brief inspection of the books quoted. "Spectator," No. 8. "If we are rightly informed, the rules that are observed in this new society," Ac. "Spectator," No. 262. "If he has not the pomp of a numerous train, and of professors of service to him, he has every day he lives," Ac. "Spectator," No. 340.—" Whether such or any other are true causes, all men have a yearning curiosity," &c. "Citizen of the World," Let. 74—" K he trans- gresses the common forms of breeding, mistakes even a teapot for a tobacco box, it is said," &c. "The Present State of Polite Learning," Chap. 12.—" If, then, there ever comes a time when taste is so far depraved," &c. "Rasselas," Chap. 27.—" If he gratifies one he will offend another," <fcc. Thus the classics of the last century. Take a few from the writers at the beginning of this, to which Mr. Collins specially refers. "But if that is the case you must write to your mother, to beg that you may stay a little longer."—"Pride and Prejudice," Chap. 37. "Have a care, my Lord Colambro; if she sets her heart upon you forLadv Isabel, she has you," &c.—" The Absentee," Chap. 6. "My lords, if it is your pleasure to gang on wi' this matter," &c.—" Heart of Midlothian," Chap. 23- . . Later still, in the thirties, we find Coleridge, whom I think we may regard as a purist in lan- guage, adding his authority to the same practice. "If men are neither the one nor the other, but a mere aggregation of individual bipeds," &c.— "Table Talk" ("Citizens and Christians," Mav 3, 1832). I can quite sympathise with Mr. Collins's desire for a practical rule in this matter, and if he care to follow the one that has guided me through life, and which I learned before I was in my teens, it is entirely at his service. At the same time I am far from asserting that it is generally accepted by the authorities, or that its authenticity is unimpeachable. "Sentences that imply contingency and futurity require the subjunctive mood; as,' If he be alone, give him the letter.' When contingency and futurity are not both implied, the indicative ought to be used; as, ' If he speaks as he thinks, he may safely be trusted.'" This is the tenth rule of syntax in "The Principles of English Grammar," by William Lennie. W. Braunston Jones. Laphroing, Islay, N.B., March 17, 1897. IV. Allow me to say, in reply to the letter of your correspondent F. Howard Collins, in the March number of The Author, that the simplest and most easily remembered rule governing the use of the subjunctive mood is this :— Only when there is a concurrence of contingency and futurity should the verb be in the subjunctive mood. When there is either contingency without futurity, or futurity without contingency, the verb should be in the indicative mood. The one exception to this rule occurs in the use of the imperfect tense of the verb to be, when ocr language is intended to denote contingency merely. The verb should then be in the subjunc- tive mood. See my work, "Learned Men's English: The Grammarians," Part 2, p. 8. George Washington Moon, Hon. F.R.S.L. II.—Paying for Publication. Similar to " L. M. N.," I have often wondered why authors are advised never to pay for publica- tion if they care to run the risk and have the means to do so. Of course, they must do it with their eyes open, but there may be results more precious to them than the receipt of a cheque from a publisher, or even the satisfaction of personal vanity. I know there are authors who will frankly reply that people with means to try experiments usually belong to the dilettanti class, and had better be kept out of the ring of established purveyors of good literature. Even if the writing be good, there is a bar sinister in the case of those who do not follow literature as their profession or mingle much with the literary coteries of the day. Again, the pub- lisher may reply, that if a writer simply has in view the presentation of copies to private friends and others, or, in the case of a very small sale of his book, the handing over of the remainder of an edition to public libraries, it might as well have been printed for private circulation only. Thus far the literary critic and the publisher. But is it not an established fact that publication casts a halo over a book, foreign to it when issuing merely from a printer's office, and has not the quixotic author every right to make vise of this advantage if able to do so? If his work is well done, it may be the means of at least giving pleasure to those who frequent public libraries, though the well-known critic may pass by on the  ## p. 294 (#350) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. other side, and the publisher may shrug his shoulders and think the presuming author a fool for his pains. However, as a rule, I believe original work eventually stands or falls on its merits. But what I would like to know is this: Many readers are still left who, in spit* of increased inter- course with foreign lands, care to read a good foreign work in translation. Why do we come across people who openly acknowledge that it is more the matter contained than the manner of doing it with which they are concerned, and must not the one be irrevocably bound up with the other? Ida L. Benecke. i 8, Canfield-gardens. III.—Viktor Rydberg. Mr. Hermann's article on Viktor (not "Vil- stor") Rydberg, is a record for misprints, although, as Swedish words are as frequently misspelt in it as English, this is probably due to your correspondent's handwriting. Your readers may be interested to know that there is the strongest resemblance between Ryd- berg's "Den Sista Athenaren" and the late Charles Kingsley's "Hypatia." In both tales the scene is laid in a provincial seat of learning at the close of Paganism; in bot h the heroine is a Pagan maiden, whose beauty and intelligence make her a formidable foe to Christianity, to which she nevertheless leans at the last; she is murdered under circumstances of great atrocity by Christian priests; and, in both, the Roman governor is a Laodicean, and the villain a priest named Peter. Yet the resemblance is probably accidental, for the Swedish work, which shows far deeper know- ledge of the history and manners of the period than the English, was the later by a few years; and in none of his other works (so far as I know) does Rydberg show any acquaintance with current English fiction. The resemblance was turned to good account by the gentleman who adapted "Hypatia" for the stage a few years ago; for the characters of the Jew and his daughters, who appear in the play but not in the novel, seem to be taken straight from Rydberg's book. I do not think any of our critics noticed the source of the drama- tist's inspiration at the time. F. Legge. IV.—The House where Btron was Born, i. Referring to my previous communication on the subject of Lord Byron's birthplace, it may interest readers of The Author to learn that a gentleman, more fortunate than myself, has succeeded in obtaining a reply from the owners of No. 24, Holies-street. They state that a tablet is "in preparation, and would soon be placed in its proper position." Is it too much to hope that this memento may be affixed by April 19 next, which is the anniversary of the illustrious poet's decease at Missolonghi? Of course, the inscription should make it perfectly clear to this and future generations that the site only of the house is indicated. C. Authors' Club, S.W. March 18. 1897. 11. "C." remarks in The Author of March, that the lar^e firm of haberdashers who carry on their business in 24, Holies-street, have promised to put up an inscription of some kind, but have not done so. I have been assured that Mr. Lewis is only waiting to decide upon a suitable memorial, to put one up to the late poet. Caroline Creyke. V.—Corruption of the Language. "Back of" instead of "behind " ; unnecessary. "Around" instead of "round "; adverb used as a preposition. Present subjunctive for conditional: "He stipulated that I pay him interest." TJngram- matical. The above are mostly Americanisms. Accusative for nominative: "The man whom I know wrote this." Sometimes in British jour- nalism. The full phrase, "The man who, as I know, wrote," shows at once where the mistak e comes in. "Monetary " for " pecuniary." Ditto. Mone- tary is properly used of coinage or currency. Motieta, a surname of Juno, in whose temple the Romans struck money; thence a Mint. I met with this in a tale by Mark Twain; not as a bit of dialect, but put into the mouth of an educated man. Neuter verba used transitively: "Nothing shall swerve me." Uncalled for use of substantive as a verb, e.g., "he loaned me," instead of "he lent me," &c. (The word " to advocate" is a case of the kind; it has been adopted generally, but it met a real want, unlike the case just cited, for which there is no such justification. "Loan " is, of course, a substantive, of which the corresponding verb is "to lend.") The above are only noted as a few instances of gratuitous corruption of the language of Shakes-  ## p. 295 (#351) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 295 pere and Addison, of Washington Irving and Hacaulay. The practice is not to be confounded with the changes exacted by new needs and uses. These no man can oppose, but wanton corruption can be checked by unceasing vigilance on the part of good and influential authors. Brussels, Aug., 1896. H. G. Keene. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. The Publishers' Association and the Discount Question. Bookseller for March. Publishers' Circular for March 20. The Contributor as Editor. Frederic M. Bird. Lvppincott's for March. Methods of Literary Work. John Dennis. Leisure Hour for April. Winter in Scottish Poetrt. Florence MacCunn. Oood Words for March. What is a Realist? Arthur Morrison. New Review for March. Gibbon. Leslie Stephen. Natiottal Review for March. Thackeray's Philosophy. Macmillan's Magazine for March. The Story op Cressida. Macmillan's Magazine for March. Picturesquene8b in History. The Bishop of London. Cornhill Magazine for March. Walter Pater. Stanley Addleshaw. Gentleman's Magazine for March. The Pronunciation of Greek in England. J. Gennadins. Contemporary Review for March. Benedict Spinoza. W. B. Wallace. Humanitarian for March. Wilkie Collins. Academy for March 20. Notable Reviews. Of several books under heading of "The Short Story: How Not to Write It." Daily Chronicle for March 20. Of Vol. III. of Henley and Henderson's Centenary Edition of " Burns." Athenseum for March 6. The suggestion of the Publishers' Association that an effort should be made by the retail trade to revert to the 2d. in the is. discount finds favour with the Bookseller, which agrees that this would mean a distinct improvement on the existing arrangements. But the Bookseller is not sanguine enough to hope that the proposal will be unanimously accepted, even by discount booksellers, unless the publishers are prepared to take adequate means to impose it. This latter condition, in our contemporary's opinion, is vital. Meanwhile the organ of the booksellers is glad that the Publishers' Association has relinquished its non possumus attitude towards the grievances of the retail trade. The result of the circular issued by the Asso- ciated Booksellers to their members regarding the suggested reform is said by the Publishers' Circular to be as follows: Country Lond. Total Number of Booksellers written to respecting the proposed change ... 509 66 575 Number who agreed to proposal 483 49 532 Number who declined 7 2 9 Number who did not answer 19 15 34 Mr. Arthur Morrison asks " What is a realist?" because Dr. Traill and other critics have said he is of the mysterious fraternity. But Mr. Morrison has never called himself a realist, nor put forth any of his work as realism. He appeals for the absolutely untrammelled liberty of the artist. Being a simple writer of talcs who takes whatever means lie to his hand to present life as he sees it, he declines the label of the schoolmen and the sophisters. Constable was called a realist, he says, and Corot too; but who calls these painters realists now. The so-called "realist" is the man who discards the conventions of the schools, and presents his matter in individual terms of art. For a while the schoolmen abuse him as a realist; and in twenty years' time, if his work have life in it, he becomes a classic. Mr. Morrison explains the christening of the realist thus: A man of independent talent, with the courage of his own vision, interprets what he sees in fresh terms, giving to things a new reality and an immediate presence. They of the schools appear with dulled eyes from amid the heap of precedents and prescriptions that compass them about, and, distracted at seeing a thing sanctioned by neither precedent nor prescription, dub the man realist, and rail against him for that he fits none of their pigeon holes. The following amusing extract from a letter from Wilkie Collins to one of his editors, is pub- lished for the first time in the Academy of March 20. A suggestion seems to have been made by the editor to the novelist as to the advisability of the latter deleting a common expletive, and this is the reply: The " damns " (two " damns " only, observe, in the whole story) mark the characters at very important places in the narrative. The " compromise " which you suggest is simply what they would not say. I know of no instances of a writer with any respect for his art or for himself who has ever made the concession which your friends ask of me. My story is not addressed to young people exclusively—it is addressed to readers in general. I do not accept young people as the ultimate court of appeal in English literature. Mr. Turlington (the character in the story in question) must talk like Mr. Turlington—even though the terrible conse- quence may be that a boy or two may cry " damn" in imita- tion of him. I refer your friends to Scott and Dickens— writers considered immaculate in the matter of propriety. They will find "damn" where "damn " ought to be in the pages of both those masters. In short, I am damned if I take out " damn!" An interesting collection of the methods of great literary workers is given by Mr. John Dennis. Wordsworth's study was in the open air; he never wrote down as he composed, but  ## p. 296 (#352) ############################################ 296 THE AUTHOR. composed walking, riding, or in bed, and wrote down after. Southey worked with a clerk-like regularity; but, Milton, Gray, and Coleridge had to wait for their inspiration. De Quincey was amazingly unmethodical; Charles Lamb did not write with ease, and acknowledged himself " an author by fits"; while the poet Campbell was a prodigious procrastinator, who often ran away into the country from his work at the time when, as an editor, he was most wanted in London. Sir Walter Scott confessed to a capricious kind of indolence, which very often inclined him to ex- change the task of the day for something he was not obliged to do at the moment, or, perhaps, not at all. Stevenson, unlike his great master, Scott, worked slowly, and toiled over his sentences; and we know that Carlyle, when at Ashestiel, rose at five, seated himself at his desk at six, and, by the time the family had assembled, had done enough to " break the neck of the day's work." Anthony Trollope was so business-like as to write the same number of lines on each page. Pope used to call a servant from her bed four times in oue night to supply him with ink and paper, lest he should lose a thought. BOOK TALK. WE regret to announce that the hope held out quite recently by a correspondent in this journal, that English readers of German will soon be provided with a thoroughly reliable German-English Dictionary, by Dr. Daniel Sanders, will not be fulfilled, that distinguished lexicographer having died on the nth ult., in his seventy-seventh year, in the midst of his arduous work. The loss to Teutonic philology is almost irreparable, but let us hope that the publishers of Muret's excellent "Encyklopadisches Worterbuch der Deutschen und Englischen Sprache," the first part of which has just been completed, will be able to secure for the second part the services of a German scholar who is fully conversant with English, both theoretically and practically. Mr. Wilfrid Ward is in sight of the end of his long-expected work, the "Life of Cardinal Wiseman," and the publication will take place shortly. Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy has just completed a story entitled "A Devil's Hand,'' which will run in serial form. Mrs. Riddell is the author of " Did He Deserve It ?" a story which Messrs. Downey will publish shortly. Mr. J. C. Snaith, who is a Nottingham young man still under twenty years of age, has written a second novel, which is to be published by Messrs. Innes. It is a romance of the Prince Charlie rebellion, called "Fierce Heart, the Soldier." Mr. Snaith's first book, " Mrs. Dorothy Marvin," appeared about two years ago. Mr. Ricardo Stephens has written a novel called "Mr. Peters," which Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. are to publish before Easter. The biographer of the late Professor Drummond will in all probability be the Rev. Dr. Stalker, of Glasgow, who is also of the Free Church denomi- nation. Mr. Kipling's short story," "Slaves of the Lamp" is to appear in Cosmopolis for April and May. Mr. Henry Ochiltree, author of "Redburn," has written a story called " Out of Her Shroud," which Messrs. Black have in hand for publi- cation. A novel by Mr. Christie Murray, entitled " A Rogue's Conscience," will be published by Messrs. Downey in a few days. Mr. Murray is issuing a cheap edition of the "Life and Letters of Princess Alice," in view of the Queen's Record Reign celebrations. Princess Christian, who edited the work, has now revised it, and added the last letter written by Princess Alice. The " Memoirs of Hawthorne," which appeared in the Atlantic Monthly from the pen of his daughter, Mrs. Lathrop, are to be published in book form. They deal with Hawthorne's life in Salem, Lennox, and Concord, his consulate at Liverpool, and the years of travel in France and Italy. Dr. J. C. Wills has written a novel called "His Dead Past." It will be published shortly by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. This firm also announces " Rie's Diary," a volume of a gossipy character by Miss Anne Coates. The seventh, or supplementary, volume of Professor Skeat's edition of Chaucer's Works will shortly be ready. It will be entitled " Chaucerian and Other Pieces," and will contain a selection of twenty-nine pieces that have been at various times printed in the chief editions of "Chaucer's Works." It is remarkable that the number of authors represented in this selection can hardly be less than sixteen, of whom no less than nine are known by name, viz., Usk, Gower, Hoccleve, Scogan, Lvdgate, Ros, Henrvson, Clanvowe, and Walton.  ## p. 297 (#353) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The bound volume of the Critic for July- December, 1896, contains the record of 2815 new books published during that period, and reviews of 1635 of the more important—among them being Mrs. Humphry Ward's "Sir George Tressady," Eudyard Kipling's "Seven Seas," Barrie's "Margaret Ogilvy" and "Sentimental Tommy," Shorter's "Emily Bronte and Her Circle," the first volume of Professor Sloane's "Life of Napoleon," and Dr. Hirsch's " Genius and Degeneration," to mention but a few. Added to this are a number of essays and sketches— among them Mr. Zangwill's papers on literary criticism, an account of the sesquicentennial of Princeton, with portraits of the receivers of honorary degrees-; Mr. Gerald Stanley Lee's account of Ian Maclaren as a lecturer, and records of the dramatic, artistic, and musical happenings of the period covered. Biographical sketches and estimates are given of the work of the writers who have died—Harriet Beecher Stowe, George du Maurier, William Morris, and others. Mr. H. G. Wells's new serial, " The War of the Worlds," will begin in the April number of Pearson's Magazine. It is a story describing the invasion of the earth by the inhabitants of Mars, the war they made against men, and the terrible destruction, chiefly in England, caused by this war. The story culminates in an account of London silent and deserted save for the Martians. Dr. Edward Eggleston's history of life in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries will be published in this country at the same time as in America, and the first volume may be looked for within the next few days. "Naples in the Nineties," by Mr. Neville Rolfe; "Through Finland in a Cart," by Mrs. Alec Tweedie; "A Handbook on Christian Rome," by two writers whose names will be known by their initials OLly; and a volume by Mr. F. C. Burnand, called " Zig-Zag Guide to the Coast of Kent," with illustrations by Mr. Phil May, are announced by Messrs. A. and C. Black for early publication. "The death of Professor Drummond," remarks the Academy, "calls to mind the warfare that waged between the booksellers on the publication of ' The Ascent of Man.' Professor Drummond had great faith in the net system, and the book was issued at ys. 6d. net. Though the majority of booksellers sold it at the net price, there were exceptions. A large firm of London booksellers, for instance, declared that they did not recognise the right of the publishers to dictate terms, and sold the book at 7*. A large number of book- sellers refused to stock the book at all, and, in the trade, the comparative small sale of 22,000 which the 'Ascent of Man' has attained is generally attributed to this fact. This seems to show that, at least with high-priced books likely to have a large sale, the net system does not answer." Mr. J. W. Hales states that enough money has been subscribed for the Goldsmith memorial in the village church of Ferney, and a design for the window h-is been approved. A Goldsmith window is also to be erected in St. Saviour's, South wark. A grant of .£150 has been made by the Trea- sury out of the Royal Bounty Fund to Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Brush, the two surviving daughters of William Carleton, the Irish novelist. Professor Skeat has given notice that no more publications will be issued by the English Dialect Society. The roll of the society's books amounts to eighty, several of which have only recently been published by Mr. Frowde. Now that the "English Dialect Dictionary " is well started, the object for which the society was originally estab- lished is practically attained, says Professor Skeat. "Since the society was first founded in June, 1823, up to the close of 1896," he continues, "work has been accomplished of which we have all some reason to be proud, notwithstanding many shortcomings and occasional errors." It is hoped that members of the society will now transfer their subscriptions to Professor Wright for the purposes of the Dictionary. The Bishop of Durham has placed with Messrs. Macmillan, for publication, a work entitled "Christian Aspects of Life." Mr. John S. Farmer has in preparation a series of privately printed reprints of scarce books and unique MSS., which will bo issued by Messrs. Gibbings and Co. The first of the series, to appear immediately, will be Goddard's " Satiry- call Dialogue," of which only one copy is known to exist. Goddard flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century, belonged to the Middle Temple, and was extremely caustic in his satire on women. He published three books, which Dr. Furnival prepared in 1878 for republication, but they were never issued. His notes and material have been placed at the disposal of the present editor. A "Chinese Biographical Dictionary," com- piled by Mr. Herbert A. Giles, late English Consul at Ningpo, will shortly be published by Mr. Bernard Quaritch. Two volumes of Mrs. Oliphant's history of the Blackwoods are finished. They deal with the first William Blackwood and his son John.  ## p. 298 (#354) ############################################ 298 THE AUTHOR. Sir Herbert Maxwell is publishing, through Mr. Arnold, a book of sketches of nature, entitled "Memories of the Months." There is about to be issued by Messrs. Putnam's a seventh edition, re-written and with new material, of a manual of suggestions. for beginners in literature, entitled "Authors and Publishers." It contains, together with general hints for authors, a description of publishing methods and arrangements; directions for pre- paring MSS. for the press; explanations upon book manufacturing; the text of the United States Copyright Law; and information regarding international copyright. Mr. Arthur Pearson is starting about the middle of May a daily newspaper to be called the Daily American. It will, of course, cater specially for American readers in London. Mayfair is the title chosen for a new literary and artistic weekly, edited by Mrs. Roy Devereux, which is about to appear. The Reformer, a new monthly political and religious journal, will be on the lines of Mr. Bradlaugh's National Reformer, and will have among its contributors Dr. Moncure D. Conway, Mrs. Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, Mr. Edward Carpenter, and Mr. H. S. Salt. Mr. James Nieol Dunn, editor of Black and White, has been appointed editor of the Morning Post. Tolstoy's " Ivan the Terrible" has been drama- tised by Dr. Arnold Eilvart, of the Croydon Brotherhood. The original autograph manuscript of Keats's "Endymion" was sold at Sotheby's on the ioth ult. for £695. It consists of 181 leaves, all but one in the handwriting of the poet. At the same sale the au'ograph MS. of "Lamia" sold for £305. Mrs. Hays Hammond is writing an account, from a personal point of view, of the occurrences in Johannesburg during the disquietude of fifteen months ago, during which her husband, who is an American mining engineer, played a not unimportant part. Professor James, of the chair of pyschology in Harvard University, ispublishing, throughMessrs. Longman's, a volume of essays entitled "The Will to Believe." The author is brother to Mr. Henry James. Dr. Murray's stupendous new English Diction- ary has been brought to the end of the first five letters of the alphabet. The number of words which this involves is no less than 89,591, of which 62,254 are main words, 10,156 special com- binations explained under main words, and 13,181 subordinate words. From an analysis of the main words we gather that 47,786 are in current use, 15,952 are obsolete, and 2516 are alien. Mrs. Campbell Praed has written a story called "Nulnia," which will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus shortly. The next volume in the Book Lover's Library, published by Mr. Elliot Stock, will be " The New Novels of Charles Dickens: A Bibliographv and Sketch," by Mr. F. G. Kitten. Miss Hannah Lynch has written a new novel entitled " Jinny Blake," which Messrs. Dent have in the press. Mr. Joseph Hatton's new novel, " The Dagger and the Cross," will be forthcoming early this month. "The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton: The True Story of Her Life," told in part by herself and in part by Mr. W. H. Wilkins, will be issued in two volumes by Messrs. Hutchinson. OBITUARY. PROFESSOR HENRY DRUMMOND died on the 11 th ult., at Tunbridge Wells, after a long illness. He was born at Stirling forty-six years ago, and studied at Edinburgh University with R. L. Stevenson and John Watson, afterwards proceeding to Tubingen. In 1883 was published his first book, " Natural Law in the Spiritual World," which attracted great attention among theologians and scientific men. The book sold very largely, having gone through twenty-nine editions, and was translated into several languages. "The Ascent of Man," pub- lished in 1894, was most critically received. It consisted of the Lowell Lectures which Professor Drummond delivered in America, and the object of the work was to show how the greatest factor of evolution had been overlooked iu almost all contemporary scientific thought—this factor being the "struggle for love," as a corollary to the struggle for life, or, in other words, the "struggle for the life of others." More than 20,000 copies of this work have been sold, but the most popular of Professor Drummond's books is the non- controversial pamphlet "The Greatest Thing in the World," of which 300,000 copies have circu- lated. Of " Pax Vobiscum," also a shilling booklet, 130,000 copies have been disposed of. In 1877 Professor Drummond was appointed lecturer in science at the Free Church College in Glasgow,  ## p. 299 (#355) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 299 and in 1884 was raised to the rank of professor. He accompanied Sir Archibald Geikie on a geological expedition to the Rocky Mountains, as well as to Africa, and had also visited Australia, China, and Japan. His African travels resulted in the popular account entitled "Tropical Africa." Mr. Henry Blackburn died on the 9th ult., at Bordighera, while returning from Rome, where he had been wintering. He originated and edited the well-known publication "Academy Notes," and many other guides to picture galleries during recent years. His best-known work is probably the " Memoir of Randolph Caldecott," published in 1889, which enjoyed a considerable success. Prior to this caine various books of continental travel, such as " Picluresque Normandy," "Art in the Mountains: the Story of the Passion Play," "Artists and Arabs," "Summer Life in the Pyrenees," "Travelling in Spain," "Breton Folk," and "The Harz Mountains." The last book published by Mr. Blackburn was " The Art of Illustration." The Rev. Robert Hunter, LL.D., the distin- guished lexicographer, died at his residence in Epping Forest, aged seventy-four. While residing in Edinburgh he wrote a school " History of India" and a "History of the Missions of the Free Church." During the years 1864-66 he was resi- dent tutor in the Theological College, Queen's- square, London, and on his retirement from that position he began the great work of his life, " The Encyclopaedic Dictionary." Seventeen years later the work reached completion and was published by Messrs. Cassell.—He had since written a " Bible Student's Manual." Dr. E. Cobham Brewer, author of the widely- known "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," died on the 6th ult., at the residence of his sou-in-law, Edwinstowe Vicarage, Notts, aged eighty-seven. Previous to this work, which has gone into twenty- five editions, Dr. Brewer published in 1850 a "Guide to Science." Other works which subsequently came from his pen included a "Political, Social, and Literary History of Germanv," " The Smaller History of Germany," "The "Reader's Handbook," "The Historic Note-Book," "Theology in Science," a "Dic- tionary of Miracles," and many other educational books. Mr. Wilton Jones, the well-known London play- wright, was for many years on the staff of the Vorkshire Post, and wrote a large number of pantomimes, and several dramas. "The Cruel City," a successful Surrey drama, was written by Mr. Jones in conjunction with his wife (Miss Gertrude Warden). Mr. Jones, who was in the prime of life, died from heart mischief on the 1 st March. Abroad, the deaths occurred of Alexander Petrovitch Milukov, the veteran Russian his- torical and literary authority; and the poet Friedrich Emil Rittershaus. THE BOQES OP THE MONTH. [February 24 to March 23—207 Books.] Adye, F. The Queen of the Moor. 6/- Macmillan- Ameriean Text-Book of Prosthetic Dentistry. 26/- Hlrschtleld A. M. O. T. C. M. The Marriage Question. 1/- Sinipkin. Andrews, W. England in the Days of Old. 7/6. Andrews. Anonymous. The Descendant; a Novel. 6/- Osgood Anonymous. The Unknown God. 2/6. net. Redway. Anstey, F. Puppets at Large. 5-'- Bradbury. Arber, E. The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers. 6;- Ward and Downey. Atherton. G. Patience Sparhawk and Her Times. 4,0. Lane. Bailey, M. B. A New Industry. 7 6. Simpkin. Balfour, F. H. Unthinkables. Bentloy. Baring-Gould, S. Guavaa The Tinner. 6/- Methuen. Barnes. M. 8. Studies in Historical Method. 2/6. Isbister. Barrere, A., and Leland, C. G. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant. 15/- Bell. 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Gardening for All. 1/- Sinipkin. Upward, A. Secrets of the Courts of Europe. 6/- BriBtol: Arrowsmith. Wakefield, H. R. An Elementary Text-Book of Hygiene. 2/6 Blackie. Watson, John. Christianity and Idealism. Glasgow: Maclehose. Way of the Cross, The; A Pictorial Pilgrimage. 8/6. Nownes. White, G. English Illustration: "The Sixties," 1858-70. 42/- net. Constable. Wiedemann, A. Eeligion of the Ancient Egyptians. 12 6. Grovel. Wilkinson, J. J. G. The Affections of Armed Powers. 6/- Speirs Willdey, J. C. The Book of Humbug. 3/6. Skefflngton. Wilson, W., jun. Investigations Into Applied Nature. 2/- Simpkin Winter, J. S. The Troubles of an Unlucky Boy. 1/- White. Wood, Sir Evelyn. Achievements of Cavalry. 7/6. Bell. Wood Industries of Canada. The. 2/6. Timber Trades Journal Wood, K. B. Quotations for Occasions. 3/6. Unwin. Woodward, W. H. Vittorino da Feltre and other Humanist Edu- cators. 6/- Clay. Wright, C. D. The Industrial Evolution of the United States. <!. - Gay and Bird. Wright S. Husband and Wife [Law], 1/- Saxon. Young, John, jun. Scotch Cameos. 1/- Gardner.  ## p. 300 (#357) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. iii RECENT VERSE. LYRICS. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered, price 5s. NOETH COUNTRY BALLADS. By HENRY TODD , Price 5s. TALES IN VERSE. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered, price 5s. SONGS OP THE CASCADES. By ERL VIKING. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 8s. 6d. SONGS OP THE PINEWOODS. By ARTHUR CAMP- BELL. Price 3s. fid. THE FAIREST OP THE ANGELS, and Other Verse. By MARY COLBOBNE-VEEL. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. 14 Some of the shorter lyrics are much above the average, being clear in thought and musical in expression. The merits of the collec- tion are considerable."—The Bookman, THE WANDERER IN THE LAND OP CYBI, and other Poems (1886-93). By CLIFFORD BROOKS. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. POEMS. By THOMAS BARLOW. Crown 8vo., bevelled boards, gilt edges, price 5s. POEMS. By LEWIS BROCKMAN. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, 5s. "The ballads are full of the spirit and directness of style proper to the ballad."—Saturday Review. "Mr. Brockman is a writer of good poetic mettle, and no doubt the reading world will hear more of him yet."—Glasgow Herald. 41 The graceful smoothness of Mr. Lewis Brockman's poems."— Daily Telegraph. "He is decidedly inventive, and often highly imaginative. . . . The element of originality pervades the book. . . . His long poem, * Ronald's Cross,1 is well sustained . . . it is like the plaint of the 1 Mariner/ and it holds us."—Queen. "A reader who values cultured sentiments and flawless versifica- tion will find much to admire."—Scotsman. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's Buildings. E.C. Now ready, price 2s. 6d., cloth. A FLYING VISIT TO THI AMERICAN CONTINENT. WITH NOTES BY THE WAY. By F. DALE PAWLE. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Now ready, demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s. 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Map and Twenty-six Illustration!. By H. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PART L Chapter I.—The Land of Gold and tho Way there. ,, II.—Across Desert and Veldt. „ III.—Johannesburg tho Golden. IV.—A Transvaal Coach Journey. V.—Natal: the South African Garden. ,, VI.—Ostracised In Africa. Home with the Swallows. PABT n —BAMBLES IN BHODESIA. Chaptib I.—Eendragt Maakt Magt. II.—Into the Country of Lobengula. „ UI.—The Trail of War. IV.—Goldmlning, Ancient and Modern. V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. ,, VI.—To Northern Mashonaland. „ VIL— Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: Horack Cox. Windsor House, Bream's-buildfngs, S.C. Pocket Size, price 6d.; by poBt, 6Jd. THE LAWS OF GOLF, As Adopted by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Special Bules for Medal Play. Etiquette of Golf. Winners of the Golfing Championship. Winners and Bunners-up for the Amateur Championship. London : Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Demy 8vo., with Map and Illustrations, price 10s. 6d. AN AUSTRALIAN IN CHINA: Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Acros China to British Burma. By G. E. MORRISON M.B.C.M:. Edin., F.R.G.S. 11 Mr. Morrison is an Australian doctor who has achieved probabl the most remarkable journey through the Flowery Land eve attempted by a Christian. ... He was entirely unarmed and unaccompanied, save for the coolies who carried his baggage. Such a journey—three thousand miles in length—could not fail to present many curious customs and as many curious people. But it is owing entirely to Dr. Morrison's graphic manner of description, and his acutely keen observation, that his travels are such a reality to the reader. This portly volume is one of the most interesting books of travel of the many published this year. It is frank, original, and quite ungarnished by adventitious colouring."—-.ST. James's Budget. 11 One of the most interesting books of travel we remember to have read."—European Mail. "A very lively book of travel. . . . HiB account of the walk of 1500 mites from Chungking to Burma, over the remotest districts of Western China, is full of interest."—The Timet. "Dr. Morrison writes crisply, sensibly, humorously, and with an engaging frankness. . . . There is not a page he has written that is not worth the perusal of the student of China and the Chinese."— The Scotsman. "By far tho most interesting and entertaining narrative of travel in the Flowery Land that has appeared for several years."—The World. London: Ho rack Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. In demy 8vo., price 128. net, by post 12s. 6d. Six Months in a Syrian Monastery. Being the Record of a Visit to the Headquarters of the Syrian Church in Mesopotamia, with some account of the Yazidis, or Devil Worshippers of Mosul, and El Jilwah, their Sacred Book. By OSWALD H. PARRY, B.A. (Of Magdalen College, Oxford.) Illustrated by the Author. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham. 11 The author of this handsome volume presents 1 a detailed study of a relic of history pursued off the track of general research;1 he has sought to give, and has succeeded in giving, 'a picture of quiet life in a country much abused, and among a people that command less than their share of ordinary interest.' • Westward the tide of Empire takes its way,1 sang a prophetic divine of the olden days, and no lesB certainly, as Mr. Parry points out, does the ebb of travel retain towards the East. ... As a volume descriptive of life and travel among a distant people, his work is well worth reading, but for those persons who are more particularly concerned with the old Syrian Church, or in the solution of the problem indicated above, it Is one of quite unique attraction. A pathetic interest attaches to the account of tho Yazidis included in this volume for it contains part of their sacred writings, the original manuscript of which was In the hands of Professor Robertson Smith for translation at the time of his death."—Publishers' Circular. London: Horacb Oox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C.  ## p. 300 (#358) ############################################ IV AD VEli TISEMENTS. LOWEST PRICES IN LONDON. Authors' MSS. correctly and. neatly oopied Carbon Duplicates LEGAL AND GENERAL COPYING lOOO words. at lOd. per at 2d. „ at Id. per folio. We have a skilled and teell educated staff of operators. Give us a trial, and compare our icork and prices with those of other offices. LARGE ORDERS ESTIMATED FOR. Note our address— THE ECLIPSE TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND OFFICES, 28, FENCHURCH STREET, LONDON, E.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. S 5 5 TYPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest $ ^ -L process. J J OPINIONS OP CLIENTS— Distixquished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I 1 ^ work was very well and clearly done." PROVINCIAL EDITOR:—" Many thanks for the! proceBS. have ever seen." Lady of Title"The 3 spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." J MISS GENTRY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C. ~; Typewritiso by Clbroymak'b Daughter. E. M. The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 1893.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' References. TYPEWRITING ACCURATELY and promptly executed, postage paid, please give trial. MISS RAINES, 11, FALCONER CHAMBERS, SCARBOROUGH. Now ready. Second Edition, Revised anil Enlarged. Crown 8vo., limp cloth, 2s. Gd. net; postage, 3d. extra. THE PRINCIPLES OF CHESS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. james y:m:ason. CONTENTS. — 1. Elements of Chess. 2. General Principles. 3. Combination. 4. Exposition of Master Play Complete. London: HORACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. HE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Rev. G. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 Illustra- tions. Crown Svo., cloth boards, price 2s. (id. net. London: HORACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. IS. GILL, TYPE-WHITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) S=~«3 Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typiBts sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant; also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.C. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (The Leadenhall Press Ltd.), f50, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C. Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 5s. per dozen, ruled or plain. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6s. HATHERSAGE: A Tale of North Derbyshire. BY CHARLES EDMUND HALL, Author of " An Ancient Ancestor," Ac. London: Horace Cox, Windsor Houso, Bream's-buildings. E.G. Published every Friday morning: price, without Reports, 3d.; with Reports, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House. Bream's-buildings, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E.C. 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. 07 Issue 11 (April 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 07 Issue 11 (April 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-04-01-The-Author-7-11 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/302/1897-05-01-The-Author-7-12.pdf 3267678123e4295fd66cd1b387f81ada 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) 1897-05-01 Volume 7 Issue 12 Pages Page range in volume 301–336 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970501 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XI b e Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 12.] MAY 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PASl Notices, Ac 301 The Management of The Author 303 Literary Property— 1. Secret Proats 307 S The Meaning of Koyalties 311 3. Copyright in Photographs 311 4. Copyright Legislation in America 312 ?». An Example from Aberdeen 313 6. An Author's Protest 314 The Society as Publishers. By Thomas W. D. Lisle 314 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 315 Notes from Elsewhere. By R. H. Sherard 317 Notes and News. By the Editor 319 A Wholly Imaginary Dialogue 320 A French View 321 The NoTels of J. H. Pearce. By Sir George Douglas 32 > New Poetry 324 Book Tit'es: a Proposal. By P. Howard Collins 324 Literature in the Periodicals 325 Correspondence —1. The Subjunctive Mood: its Present Day Use. 2. Episcopal Stylo. 3. Corruptions of the Langmgc. 4. Stories Wanted. 5. The Casual Contributor. 6. The House where Byron was Bom. 7. A Biography of Joseph Strott. 8 The Length of the Short Story. 9. Wanted a Strike. 10. Aa American Publisher's Account. 11. A Register of Title*. 12. A Self Examination Paper for Candid Critics. 13. Stories riot Wanted 14. Who should be Publishers' Beaders? 3->7 Book Talk S3 > A Belgian Literary Competition 334 Obituary 334 The Books of the Month 335 PUBLICATIONS OP THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Tropei-ty. Issued to all Members, 6s. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., ios. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Mokeis Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spriqge, late Secretary tc- the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agresments. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2.?. 6<1.  ## p. 300 (#360) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. Iflje goriefp of Jluffjors (gncorporafeb). Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. Alfred Austin. J. M. Barbie. A. W. X Beckett. Robert Bateman. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Besant. Augustine Birhell, M.P. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, P.B.S. Bight Hon. James Brtce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burohclere, P.C Hall Caine. Egerton Castle, P.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Convvat. F. Marion Crawford. PRESIDENT. GEOBGE MEBEDITH. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Duboubg. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. D. W. Fheshfield. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudtard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbright, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Spriooe. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. Prof. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonqe. Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. A W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.SA. W. Morris Colles. Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. SUB Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mua.Poe. Henry Norman. Francis Storr, COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mua.D. (Chairman) Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Molloy. ( Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. ^ G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Turing, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. Solicitors DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. X Beckett. Edward Rose. IP. "W"^.TT &c SO INT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON. AV.C. WINDSOR HOUSE PRINTING WORKS, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.G. Offices of ''The Field,'' "The Queen." "The Law Times," &e. Mr. HORACE COX. Printer to the Authors' Society, takes the opportunity of informing Authors that, having a very large Office, and an extensive Plant of Type of every description, he is in a position to EXECUTE any PRINTING tht-y may entruat lo his care. ESTIMATES FORWARDED, AND REASONABLE CHARGES WILL. BE FOUND.  ## p. 301 (#361) ############################################ XT b e H u t b o t\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VII.—No. 12.] MAY i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless tliey are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank 0/ London, Chancery-lane, or bo sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOR some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that thoy should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to oarry on his business in bis own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of Belling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Costof Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are :— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall bo charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements; and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. H H 2  ## p. 302 (#362) ############################################ 3°2 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. i. li\VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive t'J advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for ns. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof Bafe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the Bafe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: I. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits KSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Ctosb. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 303 (#363) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 303 or dishonest? 0£ course they would not. Why then hesitate for s moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at J89 4*. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of oourse, we have not included any sums whioh may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits o a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. THE MANAGEMENT OF "THE AUTHOR." I. f~W "^HE following circular, which explains itself, I was sent to the Committee on April 1: "Frognal End, Hampstead, April 1st, 1897. "It is quite clear to me that without the appro- val of the Committee, renewed or expressed from time or time, it must become impossible for me to continue as editor of this paper. It is their paper; it is the organ of the Society; the Committee have therefore, a full right to the control of the journal on general principles. "I therefore take the opportunity of the ap- proaching conclusion of the seventh volume to invite the opinion of the Committee on the subject. "My own view as to the work specially laid down for such a paper is that it must be the absolutely fearless advocate of authors' rights in literary properly. With this object I have kept steadily before me the three great principles of the Society —principles which, I am well aware, must be fought out for a long time before we get them passed into universal practice. "The principles are briefly— (1) The book belongs to the author, and not to the publisher, unless the author cedes it. (2) The author has the right of knowing what any proposed agreement gives to the pub- lisher compared v ith what it gives the author. (3) He has the right to audit any accounts submitted to him. "In support of these principles I have endea- - voured to pour into the pages of The Author all the light that can be obtained upon everything connected with the publishing of books, e.g., the cost of printing; the cost of paper; the meaning of corrections; the cost of binding; the price to the trade; the price to the distributing agencies; the money spent in advertising; the meaning of royalties, &c. All these things have appeared in these pages over and over again. They have drawn me into endless controversies, which I have been left to fight out quite alone. Pub- lishers have denied the truth of the figures even when I had the bills in my hands and was actually copying them. I have had to offer publicly to carry on their printing by myself at the figures given in the paper. Less than a year ago one publisher wrote to the papers giving certain figures as regards the trade which his own firm were actually compelled, in a "secret and confidential" circular to the trade, to disown the very next day! This I at once discovered and denounced. "At the same time I have published almost with every number some proposed agreement, with comments. The publishers concerned have generally met these facts with silence. Of late their defence has been that the facts are stated without names—a suggestion that the facts are inventions. In this respect, however, The Author goes as far as can be expected. It publishes the exact facts, leaving the persons concerned to announce themselves—but their modesty always keeps them in the background—and with the offer that the Secretary is ready to give the names concerned to any members who wish to learn them. "I have made arrangements for a monthly letter from Paris and from New York, chiefly on subjects which concern our own affairs. I have admitted correspondence freely from our own members, thinking it wise, even when grievances are imaginary, to let them be ventilated. There are also columns concerning new books, in which members have the right, which they exercise freely, of inserting announcements of their own books. Criticism I have found necessary to exclude entirely. "The columns on "Literary Property" are devoted to all kinds of questions concerning this great subject. I think we can fairly boast that nothing has ever before been done for literary property compared with what has appeared in The Author. Of ourse I acknowledge most readily that the valuable opinions of Counsel, such as those of Mr. H. H. Cozens-Hardy, Q.C.Mr.  ## p. 304 (#364) ############################################ 3°4 THE AUTHOR. Blake Odgers, Q.C., Mr. James Rolt; certain most useful papers by Sir Frederick Pollock, and other documents, have been presented by the Committee as contributions to the maintenance of literary property. "1 submit to the Committee that it is not enough to print such things as the meaning of agreements, royalties, &c, once for all. They are quickly forgotten; interested persons are always ready to try it on again; the facts must be reprinted over and over again. We are dealing with a set of men brought up in sharp business habits, whose perpetual aim is to get his work from the writer on terms favourable to themselves. What some of us call fraud, and some call trading on ignor- ance, some of these people call sharp business. If The Author has done any good in the past, that good will quickly vanish and be forgotten unless the paper is continued on the old lines, and the figures and facts repeated from time to time. "I submit again, as proof positive that The Author is doing great good, the fact that many persons concerned are continually denouncing the paper, showing that they regard it as a paper of the greatest importance, and that they read it with the greatest jealousy; and are either crying out that its facts are not true, or, if they cannot do that, are scheming and working underhand for its suppression or alteration. "I therefore lay before the Committee this statement, and invite their consideration of the whole question. To my own mind, it is clear that the maintenance of the Society's principles can- not be even attempted unless we have such an outspoken organ carried on quite fearlessly. But I cannot continue any longer to advocate these principles unless I am assured of the approval and the support of the Committee. I have therefore sent round this circular, and I propose to absent myself from the meeting on Monday in order that the Committee may either discuss this question then, or may name another day for the discussion. "Lastly, I beg that this letter may be taken as my resignation of the editorship of The Author, but that I am willing to be re-elected, provided the Committee approve of my conduct, of the paper in the past, and are ready to support me in its conduct for the future on the same lines. Walter Besant." II. The Committee, at their meeting of Monday, April 5, passed the following Resolut:on in reply to this circular: "The Committee < nauimously desire to retain you in the position of editor. Speaking generally, they accept the principle of your three points. They thank you for your efforts on their behalf, and they look forward to a continuance of those efforts in the future. "Whilst recognising fully the responsibility of an editor, and the necessity for freedom in the management of his paper, the Committee, anxious to meet your views in every way possible, yet feel sure that you will not wish them to abdicate all influence over the paper, or to refrain from ex- pressing to you any considerations that may occur to them in regard to the views expressed or the line adopted in what is, and is publicly stated to be, the official organ of the Society of Authors." III. The completion of the seventh volume of The Author may properly be made an occasion for examining into some of the services which it has rendered to the cause which it maintains. This cause is the definition and defence of Literary Property in the interests of those who create it, and those to whom it belongs until they part with it. The class of those to whom this kind of pro- perty is a real and a very important matter has very largely increased of late. On every side we see experts creating most valuable property in their own subjects: writers on education, writers on medicine, law, science, music, art, putting forth books for which there is an ever-increasing public; writers of new travels, new histories, new bio- graphies, widely in demand; writers of plays which may be mines of gold; writers of fiction for which there is an unprecedented demand. To all these writers The Author is addressed. We shall show here why it should be regarded as a paper which it is not only desirable but neces- sary to keep up. Apart from what it has done, the hostility with which it is regarded by certain persons is in itself a guarantee that it is doing a good work. For The Author, like the Society to which it belongs, considers publishers from the one point of view which is dignified and sensible. It speaks of them as so many men of business—a manner of consideration which ought to offend no honest man—liecause they are, and always will be, men whose business it is to make money by producing and selling literature. That is to say, t heir work is to get books that sell, to acquire the control or the administration of such works on favourable terms, whether with the bookseller at one end or with the author at the other end. The Author's Society and The Author have examined into the various agreements by which authors are induced to part with their rights: they have  ## p. 305 (#365) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3°5 proved what these agreements mean. Not only in the pages of this journal, but also in the book entitled "Methods of Publishing," they have exposed the true meaning of these agreements, and pointed out that in many cases they mean a surrender of almost everything to the pub- lisher. This exposure has met with the most violent animosity; the figures have been denied over and over again in the most impudent manner; attacks of the most venomous kind have been made in the papers; these attacks, however, always answered, continually renewed and answered again, have proved of the greatest value to the Society. Another class which has proved curiously hostile to the Society and its organ is that nume- rous body of literary people who hang about publishers' offices. Some of them are paid for touting for their employers—a dignified occupa- tion indeed for a man of letters; some are paid for doing any kind of work that is wanted; some are occupied in compiling books, which they sell for trifling sums; some are employed in editing and writing introductions for books; some are poets of small demand who are unpractical persons easily deceived into the belief that there is no such thing as literary property; some are readers; some look for the chance of getting an article accepted in the firm's magazine; all are dependents, and in that capacity regard writers who are not dependent with greeu eyes. This large class of literary men regards the objects of the Society with a strange jealousy. One hears, from time to time, what they say, and how they feel on the subject of Literary Property, of which they have themselves obtained so small a share. It is proposed, therefore, to set forth some of the contributions made by The Author towards the maintenance of literary property. Let us take the first volume only. Of what may be called "solid matter in this volume there are papers from Counsel learned in the law on Copyright in Lectures and Sermons: on the proposed American Copyright Law: on the Society's new Copyright Act: on Copyright in Magazine Articles: a valuable paper by Wilkie Collins on American Copyright: and on Canadian Copyright. There are exposures of agreements and "cases" by the dozen, with the figures and the proof of what is meant: other "cases" between editor and author, also by the dozen: the exposure of bogus publishers: the corre- spondence between the Society and the late Mr. W. H. Smith: papers on the Colonial Book Markets and American Piracies : the controversy in full between the Editor and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge: a statement of what is meant by royalties: analyses of lists of new books: all kinds of proposals for future development: and, what is more than all, a firm, clear view maintained in the face of those who, either for interested motives or from ignorance or from muddleheadedness, were continually then, as they are now, trying to obscure the issues, and to draw a herring across the scent. Various methods of publishing, especially the so-called " Half Profit" system: the "Commis- sion Book ": Literary management of all kinds: the Agent: the hostility to the Agent: law reports of literary cases: Collaboration: Literature and the State: the Civil List: national distinctions for literary men: Literature in the colonies r Accounts and communications of other literary societies in America, France, and Germany. Also the Literature of the Magazines, with hundreds of questions and difficulties which have- sprung up around this important subject, such a£ the length of time which a contributor should allow to the editor before accepting or refusing: before printing and publishing: before paying. In this very important branch the paper has done good service, not only in securing payment—in some cases by threats of law—but also in recalling to certain editors of the lower kind the fact that even to contributors courtesy is due. An impor- tant legal decision was obtained under the chair- manship of Sir Frederick Pollock, in the case of Macdonald v. The National Review, when it was held that to send a contributor the proof of his paper must be considered as acceptance. The Author has exposed many tricks of unscru- pulous publishers. Thus, for instance, the " Half Price " trick. The way is this. A clause in the agreement assigns the author a certain royalty; but "if the price of the book is lowered 10 one- half or under" the royalty shall be half. It seems plausible, and as it will certainly be tried on again—all the tricks are—it is well to repeat the case here. It was a two volume novel published at 21s. The author was to receive a royalty of 15 per cent., i.e., 3*. i$d. a copy. Now the sole buyers of the two volume novel were the libraries. They paid, as a rule, from 9*. to I is. a copy. By lowering the price to 10s. 6d. the publisher lost nothing: but he had to pay the author is. 6-?itd. instead of 3*. i\d. Thus he gained about 1*. 6d. on every copy. The paper has shown up the nature of tricks connected with printer's corrections. It is now possible for the author by keeping his first proofs to test the charge under this head. For instance (vol. 4, p. 234): Corrections are generally charged either at i«. or is. 2d. an hour. This means an hour's work of the compositor. Ho can, as a rule, substitute one word for another in three or  ## p. 306 (#366) ############################################ 3°6 THE AUTHOR. four minutes ; or say, about seventeeu words in an hour. The author has therefore only to count his corrections in order to arrive at an estimate of the charge that can be made on this account. Rut, if he so corrects as to make the line run on and displace perhaps often a page, a larger allow- ance must be made. It is common in agreements to al'ow the author so much for corrections, say, 10*. a sheet. This means 136 words in a sheet. The paper has been enriched by legal opinions upon certain subjects of the highest importance. Thus, Sir Frederick Pollock advanced in his opinion (vol. 4, p. 5) that there should be no mystery in the production of books: tint so ret profits are not admissible: that the author is 1 utitled to full and true accounts, and to be charged only with actual expenditure. These points have been claimed by the Society from the outset: but their advanc ement by a lawyer of the greatest weight and standing was—and is—a great support to the Society. Another most important opinion was that of Mr. H. H. Cozens-Hardy, Q.C., and Mr. J. Rolt. A paper had been prepared on the question of publishers' charges generally. The case was that of a so-called " half profit" system agreement. This paper, with the reply, is so important that it is reproduced here for the benefit of those members who have not seen it, or have for- gotten it. Another point of great importance is that of risk. It is constantly affirmed by those who know nothing of the matter that publishers are always incurring enormous risks in return for which they are entitled to take three-fourths, nine-tenths, or anything that they please, of the profits of a successful book. When this claim is disputed, they raise a cry that the Society denies that pubbshers ever take risk. It is important, therefore, to know what risk means. I put aside such great enterprises as an Encyclo- paedia: a Dictionary of National Biography: and so forth. There are very few of these works: they are published by no more than two or three houses. I speak of general literature. Now, before a work is printed it is sent round among the London trade. The initial risk, therefore, is the difference between the fiist subscription by the London trade and the cost of production. AY hen the book is produced there is another sub- scription which again lowers the risk. As the smaller publishers very, very seldom produce a book by a perfectly unknown hand, it stands to reason that the risk thus ensured amounts to next to nothing, if anything at all. Another point on which light has been poured is the cost of advertising. (See The Author, Nov. 1895, p. 120) :— "Everything that is unknown is enormous. That is why the cost of advertisements generally looms before the imagination as so stupendous. The following table will explain what advertising a book really means. It shows, that is, how much is added to the cost of a book by advertising to the extent of =£5, .£20, &c, up to =£100 for 1000, zooo, up to 40,000 copies. The figures mean pence: Edition. £lO £20 ^30 £50 £80 .£100 d. d. d. d. d. d. d. 1000 45 12 i9i 24 2000 1 ■A 2'i 35 6 91 12 3000 1 f i j 4 6| 8 5000 n is 2 * 2| 3H 4* TT 10,000 a ■I -> s m 'A iff 2i IT a ft 20.000 3 ft 0 ft n '1 40,000 lii ft t»__ ~i 1 ♦ TBB 15 "It will be seen from this table that, while the cost of advertising is very large per copy for small editions, for large editions it may be almost neglected as for single copies. Thus to spend jL'ioo in advertising a book of which no more than 1000 copies are printed or can be sold, adds 2s. to the cost of every volume; so that (see Cost of Production, p. 31) if a book of 20 sheets of 34 lines and 339 words to a page in long primer, without moulding or stereotyping, and allowiug 4sf/. a copy for binding, cost £79, or with corrections about ,£80, i.e., is. y\d. to each copy, an additional 2*. on the production makes such a book published at a loss. Sometimes this price is raised to ys. 6d., or even more, in order to allow for advertising. Sometimes, again, pub- lishers seem perfectly reckless about the money spent in advertising. Thus, an account was some time ago sent to the Society showing that about .£230 had been spent in advertising a book pub- lished at ys. 6d., of which souie 6000 copies had been sold. A detailed account was demanded and furnished. The account appeared to be quite correct, being examined and tested here and there. It seemed as if the publisher had been ransacking the country to find the least eligible of country papers. This, hewever, was an extreme case. On the other hand, when a book reaches, say, 10,000 copies, ,£50 can be spent upon it without adding any more than 1 irf. to the cost of produc- tion, while, with a very large circulation of 40,000 copies ,£200 can be spent, if necessary— but it would not be necessary—without adding more than i^d. to the cost. "It is neecless to say that these figures do not include advertisements which cost nothing, i.e., those of the publishers' circulars, magazines, Ac., nor those which are simple exchanges."  ## p. 307 (#367) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3°7 As The Author began, so it has gone on. It is a magazine of papers connected with the Administration of Literary Property. There is no other paper which touches the subject, except with the purpose aforesaid of obscuring issues, and making the falsa appear to be the true. The Author is the necessary accompaniment of the Society: were it not for The A uthor nothing could be known of what the Society is doing, or whether it is doing well or ill. It has been objected that the paper is some- times dull. If it does its work, what does that matter? Criticism is excluded l>ecause we cannot very well be criticising each other: consequently nothing is said about the literary position of any new books. Meantime the very angry way in which certain publishers speak of it is the clearest possible proof that it it doing i(s work, and that thoroughly. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Secret Profits. (Reprinted from The Author, Vol. IV., p. 394.) I. CASE FOR COUNSEL. THE Incorporated Society of Authors desires to be advised as to the legal position of authors under a certain well-known form of pubUshing agreement, known as the share- profit system, in reference to the charges made by publishers and otherwise, particularly as tested by the manner in which the courts would deal with charges in the publishers' accounts if they were being taken by the court. A case which raises the point on which counsel's opinion is sought is as follows: An author, A. B., enters into an agreement with publishers, C. D. and Co., in the following terms: Copy of Agreement. Memorandum of agreement made this day of between A. B. of the one part and C. D. and Co. of the other part. It is agreed that the said C. D. and Co. shall publish, at their own rule and expense—(title of work); the exclusive right of printing and publishing which shall be vested in the said C. D. and Co., subject to the following conditions, viz., that after deducting from the produce of the sale thereof all the expenses of printing, paper, binding, advertising, discounts to the trade, and other incidental expenses, the profits remaining of every edition that may be printed of the work during the term of legal copyright are to be divided into two equal parts, one part to be paid to the said A. B. and the other to belong to the said C. D. and Co. The books to be accounted for at the trade sale price, 25 as 24, unless it be thought advisable to dispose of copieB, or of the remainder, at a lower price, which is left to the discretion of the said publisher. Acoounts to be made up annually to Midsummer, delivered on or before Oct. 1st, and settled by cash in the ensuing January. VOL. VII. Some time subsequent to the publication of the book, au account in the following terms was sent to the author :—■ Publisher's Account. As rendered to the Author. £ s. d. Composition (17 sheets at £ 1 ios.) 25 10 o Printing ( „ „ 12s.) 10 4 o Paper ( „ „ £1 os.) 17 o o Moulding 4'3 3 Stereotyping 8 8 3 Binding (at £2 $s. per 100 copies) 22 10 o Advertising 41 10 6 Corrections 4 010 Paper Wrappers 1 13 o Postage 1 7 o .£136 16 10 Proceeds of sale of 950 copies at 3». 6d £166 5 o Incidental expenses (5 per cent. deducted) 8 6 3 ■57 18 9 136 16 10 £21 1 11 Alleged half profits iio 10 11 Which shows that, after the sale of the whole of an edition of 1000 copies, profits to the extent of ,£10 10s. lid. were credited by the publishers to the author as his half share. Upon a close investigntion of the account, it was discovered that on all the cost of production—i.e., com- position, printing, paper, moulding, stereotyping, and binding—the pubbshers had added to the actual cott 10 per cent, on each item. This addition had been made secretly, and the author was not in any way informed of what had taken place. The following amended account shows the actual amounts of charges invoiced to the pub- lishers by their printer, paper-maker, binder, and advertising agent in respect of the items before referred to:— Real Cost of Production. £ s. d. Composition (17 sheets at £ 1 7*.) 22 19 o Printing ( „ „ ion. 6d.) 8186 Paper ( „ „ i8». a sheet) 15 6 o Moulding ( „ „ 58. a sheet) 4 5 o Stereotyping ( „ „ 9*. a sheet) 7 13 o Binding at $d. per volume 20 16 8 Advertising 20 o o Corrections 308 Paper Wrappers 1 10 o Postage, &c 016 o jEios 4 10 Proceeds of sale of 950 copies at an average of 3s. 6<f. a copy ... 166 5 0 Less the coat ... 105 4 10 Profit ...£61 0 _• Actual half profits to author on this account ... £30 in 1 I I  ## p. 308 (#368) ############################################ 3o8 THE AUTHOR. With regard to the item of advertisements, it was further found that the publishers, being only able to show vouchers to the amount of £20, the rest of the sum charged was made up of charges for advertisements in the publishers' own maga- zines, for which, of course, they paid nothing, and "exchanges" with other magazines, i.e. adver- tisements in magazines for which the publishers pay nothing, they in their turn inserting gratis in their own magazines similar advertisements for the publishers of the other magazines. It is suggested that the charge for incidental expenses was inde- fensible. The result is that the author was entitled to .£30 io*. id., but the publishers proposed to give only £10 io«. ltd. Nature of relationship between parties to agreement.—Dealing now with several points that arise on this case :— ( I.) The above agreement is what is commonly inown as a share profit agreement, and it is sub- stantially, though there may be minor points of difference, what is offered by all publishers, as a share profit agreement, the share being usually, as here, one half. As to the general position of the parties under such an agreement, it is submitted that although the author is not able to be sued by any outsider in case of default of the publisher, the agreement amounts to a partnership agreement, or joint adventure in the nature of partnership qua the book concerned; or if not to an agreement for partnership or joint adventure, then to an agree- ment making the publisher trustee for the returns due to the author, and, therefore, unable to make any profit out of his trust other than such, if any, as he has expressly stipulated for, and the half share of profits. (II.) Duty of the publisher to account.—The author in the above agreement cedes to the pub- lishers the exclusive right of printing and pub- lishing the book during the legal term of copy- right, and such is the effect of most share- profit agreements. The consideration for this is the publisher paying to the author half profits— i.e., half of the net proceeds of sale of copies after expenses of the publishers have been deducted. It is presumed that whatever be the precise legal relationship of author and publisher under such an agreement as above, the pub- lishers are bound to account fully and exactly to the author, and this appears to involve, as of right, without any express provision in the agreement, (a) production of vouchers for all expenses charged by the publishers, and (6) pro- duction of such books as are usually kept by publishers recording sales; also all records of books received, and the stock in hand, in order to enable the author to check the number of books accounted for as sold. On this point it is believed some publishers would contend that their word is to be accepted as absolute as to number of sales in such cases, but this, it is submitted, is wrong, and that the author has the above right of examining the publishers' books. As regards the vouchers, the production of these seem to be essential. If they are produced they would reveal such a transaction as that disclosed in the before-mentioned accounts with- out the necessity of instituting independent inquiries of printers, binders, &c., from whom it might be difficult for an author to obtain infor- mation. (III.) Right of publisher to charge more than actual expenses.—Several questions arise on the accounts above set out as to the publisher's dis- bursements; and first, there is the addition of 10 per cent, to the actual prices charged him for the several items of work done—printing, binding, &c. It is submitted that this is equally indefen- sible, whether (a) the publisher discloses to the author that he has charged at a higher rate than he himself is charged, there being nothing in the agreement providing for his charging what he likes; or (6) as in the above instance, he conceals this, and so makes a secret profit. The matter appears to be analogous to the transactions which were held to be indefensible in Williamson v. Barbour (9 Ch. Div. 529). The defence of the publishers would probably rest on "custom of trade"; an open and well recognised usage the publisher could not prove, and an infrequent or secret practice it is believed would not constitute a custom. This matter was discussed in a recent case of Eideal v. Kegan Paul and Co., but this was only before the Registrar of the City of London Court. In that case the agreement, a half-profit one, proved that in the accounts "the work shall be debited with all expenses of every kind of or incidental to the publication of each edition of the work, including Mr. George Redway's charges for printing, plates, illustrations, stereotyping, paper, binding, and advertising." Mr. Redway charged more for these things than prices invoiced to him, and the registrar held he could not do so. (IV.) Whether publisher's conduct fraudulent. —Would the court regard the conduct of a pub- lisher who made a secret profit in the manner before stated as fraudulent, so that, e.g., he would be ordered to pay the costs of an action for account if such a fact was brought to light in it? (V.) Discounts.—There is another question which is often mixed up with the question under head No. III., but which is really quite a distinct matter, and apparently moredifficult of decision—■  ## p. 309 (#369) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. that is the question of discounts which a publisher gets allowed him from the printers, binders, paper-makers, &c, he deals with. It is customary for a publisher to obtain six months' credit from a printer. If he pays cash he receives certain discounts. If these discounts are to go into his own pocket, what is there to prevent him from arranging with the printer for a bill off which he is to receive heavy discounts in order to bring the actual cost to the publisher down to ordinary prices, but seriously affecting the state of accounts between author and pub- lisher? It is submitted that any advantages obtained for the quasi partnership by cash pay- ments should be credited to the book. Counsel is referred to the accompanying print of article, "Some Considerations of Publishing," by Sir Frederick Pollock, in which this point is fully discussed. (VI.) Right to charge for advertisements not actually paid for.—A very important point, which is also dealt with in Sir F. Pollock's paper, and which is of dally occurrence on publishers' accounts, is as to the charge for advertisements. As seen in the before-mentioned instance, pub- lishers charge what they call scale prices (being the prices they would charge to outside persons, such as makers of soaps, pills, Ac), for (a) Advertisements inserted in their own magazines, including their own trade lists of books. And (6) advertisements inserted by exchange without payment in other publishers' magazines. In neither case does the publisher pay directly or indirectly anything more than the cost of printing and paper for the pages of advertise- ments, and possibly a mere trifle extra for carriage and binding. It is submitted that beyond these small payments the publisher ought not to charge the author anything in respect of such advertisements. It will no doubt be contended by the pub- lishers who do make these charges that if they did not insert these book advertisements they would be able to advertise so many more soaps and pills; but even if this were the fact (which it probably is not), it is submitted that it forms no legal justification, A strong case exemplifying the evils of this system occurred as follows :— A clergyman named A. gathered many notes about his church, intending to write a history about it. Pressure of other work made it difficult for him to digest and write out his notes, and after some delay he handed everything over to B., who wrote the book out. B. then having full powers, he went to C., a publisher. He said to VOL. VII C, "We want this handsomely printed and bound We ask no remuneration. It can never have a very large sale. We therefore ask you to take it off our hands completely, only reserving the right to take as many copies as A requires at cost price." This proposal was willingly accepted. B. went away for his health, having told A. all about the (verbal) agreement into which he had entered, and explained in particular that under no circum- stances was A. to be called upon to make any money payment. As soon as his back was turned C. sent A. a bill for ,£30 for advertising. It so happened that among C.'s clerks was a young man who was connected with A.'s church, where he had been educated. This clerk seeing A. by chance in C.'s anteroom waiting for an audience, conferred with him on the subject, having only time to say " Do not pay anything without seeing the vouchers." A. took this advice. C. showed him vouchers for .£3 4*., which A. paid under protest. C. promptly cashiered the clerk who had given A. the advice. When B. came home and heard the story he went to C. and said, "You must at once return the =£3 4*. to A. with an apology, as you know perfectly well he owed you neither £30 nor .£3." But this C. would not do. If the publisher is justified in charging for either of the above-mentioned kinds of advertise- ments, the matter must be further considered from other points of view. Counsel will observe what a large door is opened to fraud if the right of charging for advertise- ments which cost nothing or next to nothing be conceded to a publisher. There is nothing to prevent him from putting the whole profits of a book in his own pocket by largely advertising in his own magazines or by exchanges. Further, it has been found by long experience thai a book will only "stand" a certain amount of advertising—i.e., there is a point at which further expenditure does not advance sales, and is only money wasted: also, in the opinion of many experts, the advertising of books in maga- zines is of very little use (because most of the English magazines have a very limited circulation) compared with their advertisement in the great daily papers. (VII.) Moulding and stereotyping. — The accounts above set out contain a charge for moulding, which is rightly charged to the first edition of a book of more than ephemeral interest, because the moulds are taken in case a new edition should be called for. But the stereo- typing need not be executed, and seldom is, until the second edition is wanted. If a pub- lisher charges stereotyping when it is not done, this no doubt will be indefensible. If it is done 1 1 2  ## p. 310 (#370) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. unnecessarily, can lie be made to bear the amount himself? (VIII.) Right to deduct a charge for incidental erpenses.—It will be seen in the above accounts that the publishers have charged "paper wrappers" and "postage," presumably for send- ing copies of the book for review, and have de- ducted 5 per cent, from the proceeds of sale for "incidental expenses"; and publishers justify such a charge by saying that it is to cover the book's share of their general office expenses (rent, wages, Ac). This seems clearly indefensible; the publisher gets half the profits for (i) his risk of loss if there is any risk—very few publishers do, in fact, run risks through the book not paying expenses—this falls entirely on the publisher ; and (2) his position in the publishing trade, for which his offices, his clerks, travellers, &c, are a tine qui! non. The questions on which counsel is asked to advise are as follows: 1. What is the exact relationship between the parties to a share-profit agreement; is it one of partnership, or rather joint adven- ture, or of trusteeship, or what? 2. In any view of the relationship, ought not the publisher to render full accounts, and to give full opportunity of checking them by production of vouchers and books as mentioned above? 3. Is the publisher entitled, under a share-profit agreement, to charge expenses at a higher rate than he himself makes; whether this is disclosed to the author after the con- tract, or is a secret profit made by the publisher? 4. If the answer to the last question is in the negative, would not the existence of such charges, when proved to the court, be a sufficient case for reopening a settled account which contained charges embody- ing such profits? 5. Is the publisher under a share-profit agree- ment entitled to charge the author the full amounts of invoices to him for expenses of the book when he himself only pays such amounts less discounts? 6. Has the publisher the right under a share- profit agreement to charge for advertise- ments (a) inserted in his own magazines or trade lists, and (b) inserted in other publishers' magazines by exchange with- out payment? 7. Can the publisher under a share profit agree- ment charge stereotyping against the first edition where it is not done? 8. Has the publisher under an ordinary share- profit agreement, in the absence of ex- press stipulation, the right to deduct a percentage on books sold for "incidental expenses." 11. counsel's opinion. 1. In our opinion, an agreement such as that set out in the above case creates between the par- ties to it a joint adventure, involving some (but not all) of the incidents of partnership, and con- stitutes a fiduciary relation on the part of the publisher towards the author. 2. Under such an agreement the publisher is, in our opinion, bound, in any view of the relation- ship of the parties, to render proper accounts and to produce all books and documents neces- sary for the proper vouching of the items of such accounts. 3. Under such an agreement the publisher is, in our opinion, only entitled to deduct from the pro- ceeds of sale the actual expenses of printing, paper, &c, and he cannot therefore charge such expenses at a higher rate than he actually pays. It would not, in our opinion, make any difference in this respect whether the publisher, after the execution of the agreement, informed the author that he intended to charge, or had in fact charged, the expenses at such higher rate (unless there were additional circumstances which might evi- dence a waiver or abandonment of rights on the part of the author) or kept the matter secret. 4. If the existence of such charges as those mentioned in the last question were satisfactorily proved, it would, in our opinion, be a sufficient ground for reopening the account in which such charges were contained, even though such account had been settled and approved by the author, assuming, of course, that the account had been so approved by him in ignorance of its containing such charges. 5. This question is one of some difficulty, but, in our opinion, the publisher, under such an agreement, is only entitled to charge for what he actually pays, and therefore cannot charge the full amount of the invoice where he obtains a discount. 6. The publisher is, in our opinion, only en- titled under such an agreement to charge the actual cost of advertisements, whether inserted in his own magazines or trade lists, or those of other publishers. He cannot charge against the author the sum which a stranger would have paid for the insertion of such an advertisement. The actual cost in case (6) would in effect appear to be the actual cost to him of inserting in his own maga- zine an advertisement in exchange for the adver- tisement of the work in question in another publisher's magazine. 7. The publisher is not, in our opinion, entitled  ## p. 311 (#371) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. to charge for work which has not in fact lieen done. 8. The term "incidental expenses" in the above-mentioned agreement is extremely vague and unsatisfac'ory, but, in our opinion, it includes those expenses which, or a portion of which, are incidental to the particular book referred to in the agreement, and does not include a shire of estab- lishment charges generally. Unless, however, the charge for incidental expenses could be shown to be excessive or improper, the publisher would not, in our opinion, I e called upon to furnish a detailed account of the items of which it was made up, and the fact that the amount of such incidental expanses was arrived at by taking a percentage on the returns would not, in our opinion, of itself render the charge improper. Herbert H. Cozens-Hardy. J. Kolt. Lincoln's Inn. Dec. 9, 1893. II.—The Meaning ok Royalties. The following tables were published in the first volume of The Author. They are reproduce; 1 here, because too much publicity c.innot be given to the meaning of royalties. The ordinary six shilling book is taken, as usual, with the number of sheets, &c, as in the "Cost of Production," "I. On the sale of the first 1,000, costing ,£100. Per cent. Roytlly of 6 10 15 30 25 30 £ £ £ £ PuM.her. CO 45 30 15 — Author ... 15 10 45 60 75 *> II. On the sale of the next 3,000, costing ^150. Per cent. 5 10 15 20 •a 30 3' £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Pa' 1 shci 350 285 240 195 150 10.» 60 Author ... 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 III. On the sale of an edition of 10,000, costing £400. Per cent 5 10 15 20 25 30 .r. £ £ £ £ £ £ £ rutlUher 1200 1050 too 750 603 450 Author... 150 800 450 600 750 900 1050 "Since it is more common to meet with a success corresponding with the second than with the first table, let us consider what the figures mean. They speak for themselves, but for those who cannot understand figures let us explain. "' Your publisher, dear Sir or Madam, when he benevolently offers you a £5 pjr cent, royalty, will on a second edition of 3000 copies make £330 to your .£45, i.e., eight times your share. If he gives you 10 percent.—which is common—he will make £285 to your £90, that is, three times your share. If 15 per cent, he will make £240 to your £135, i.e., twice your share. If 20 per cent., £195 to your £180. If 25 per cent. £170 to your ^"225. If £30 per cent., £105 to your £270. Consider this, and refuse the .£10 per cent, with indignation.'" Since the above figures were printed royalties have gone up very generally and enormously; thanks, especially, to the publicity given by The Author. Printing and paper have gone down, so that the table ought to be revised. For the present, howeve •, let it pass. Still, however, trading on ignorance, certain publishers pointed out that these figures made no- allowance for their " office expenses." Never was a more impudent attempt. They have never even offered to consider the "office expenses" of booksellers, on the one hand, whose "office expenses " are from 16 to 20 per cent, on their sales: nor of authors, whose office expenses are, as has been pointed out elsewheiv, just as real. IIT.—Copyright in Photographs. (Before Mr. Justice Col ins, without a Jury, on April 12.) Melville t\ Hulton. This was an action brought by Mr. G. C. Melville, a photographer, carrying on business at Market-street, Manchester, against Messrs. E. Hulton and Co., of Mark-lane, Manchester, the proprietors and printers of a daily pap^r called the Sporting Chronicle, and of two weekly papers respectively called the Athletic Neics and the Sunday Chronicle, for damages for infringement of copyright. The plaintiff, by his statement of claim, said that he was the author and proprietor of a photograph of one Frederick E. Bacon, a well-known athlete, and that the defendants had, without the consent of the plaintiff in writing, colourably imitated or multiplied for sale, and did sell, a large number of copies of the said photo- graph. The publications complained of w re:— (i)In the Sporting Chronicle of Sept. 19 and Oct. 5, 1896 ; and (2) in the Sunday Chronicle of Sept. 20 and Oct. 1896. The defendants said that the plaintiff never was, an.l is not now, the author or proprietor of th? photograph, and that  ## p. 312 (#372) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. the photograph, if made by the plaintiff, was made by him for F. E. Bacon for a good and valuable consideration, and that the copyright was not expressly reserved to the plaintiff by agreement in writing signed at or before the time when the photograph was made. Mr. Pickford, Q.C. and Mr. G. B. Wilkinson appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. McCall, Q.C. and Mr. Bradbury for the defendants. The action was tried at the Liverpool Assizes on March 27 last, when judgment was reserved. Mr. Justice Collins, in giving judgment to-day, said that upon the evidence he was satisfied that the photograph was taken for Mr. Bacon and upon his behalf, and that there was abundant consideration moving from him to the plaintiff. Mr. Bacon was a most distinguished athlete. Each copy of the jmotograph was worth i*. 6d., and although Mr. Bacon made no payment there was abundant consideration given by him. The 1st section of 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, said that if the photograph was "made or executed for or on behalf or any other person for a good or a valuable consideration, lhe person so . . . making or executing the tame shall not retain the copyright thereof, unless it be expressly reserved to him in writing signed ... by the persons for or on whose behalf the same shall have been so made or executed; . . . but the copyright shall belong to the person for or on whose behalf the same shall have been so made or executed." Mr. Bacon had said that there was no agreement by which he reserved the copyright to the plaintiff. There must, therefore, .be judgment for the defendants. Judgment for defendants. —The Times, April 13. IV.—Copyright Legislation in America. Now that so much interest is taken in the sub- ject of Copyright in the United States of America, it is important that British authors should be made acquainted with any fresh or proposed legislation by which their rights in that country may be affected. On the 3rd March, 1897, sect. 4963 of the Revised Statutes of the United States was amended. The section now stands in th-3 following form, the amendment appearing from the words in italics: "Every person who shall insert or impress snch notice, or words of the same purport, in or upon any book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, print, cat, engraving, or photograph, or other article, whether such article be subject to copyright or otheruise, for which he has not obtained a copyright, or thall knowingly issue or sell any article bear- ing a notice of United States copyright which has not been copyrighted in this country, or shall import any book, photo- graph, chromo, or lithograph, or other article bearing such notice of copyright or worls of the same purport, which is not copyrighted in this country, shall be liable to a penalty of 100 do'lars, recoverable one-half for the person who shall sue for such penalty and one-half to the use of the United States; and the importation into the United States of any book, chromo, lithograph, or photograph, or other article bea~ing such notice of copyright, when there is no existing copyright thereon in the United States, is prohibited; and the circuit courts of the United States sitting in equity are hereby authorised to enjoin the issuing, publishing, or selling of any article marked or imported in violation of the United States copyright laws, at the suit of any person complaining of such violation: Provided, that this Act ahall not apply to any importation of or sale of such goods or articles brought into the United States prior to the passage hereof." The notice mentioned in the section is to this effect: "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year , by A. B., in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington." It will be seen at a glance that the amended section is much more stringent than the section as it. origina'ly stood, and introduces new prohi- bitions of a far reaching character. At the present time there is also a Bill before the Hou -e of Representatives to revise the copyright law; it was introduced by Mr. Treloar, and has been referred to the Committee on Patents, and ordered to be printed. It is proposed to deal with and point out the most important amendments and alterations in the law suggested by the Bill. The first eight sections deal with the appoint- ment of a commissioner of copyrights, together with assistants and clerks, for the purpose of performing, under the supervision of the Joint Committee on the Library, all those duties which are now imposed upon the Librarian of Congress. This would appear to be a very desirable alteration, as under the existing system, owing, no doubt, to the onerous duties of the Librarian of Congress, complaints have been made that the business of registering and advising copyrights has been conducted in a loose way. The term of duration of copyright is to be extended from twenty-tight to fifty years from the time of registering the title thereof. This is clearly a step in the right direction. It will be remembered that in the Bill prepared by the Society of Authors, and introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Moukswell in 1890, the pro- posed term was for the life of the author and thirty years after his deith. The author's right of printing, reprinting, pub- lishing, completing, copying, exhibiting, using, leasing, vending, abridging, adapting, dramatising, translating, and publicly exhibiting his work has  ## p. 313 (#373) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 313 been made more comprehensive and clear than it is under the existing statutes. The 12th and 13th sections of the Bill deal with the manner in which copyright is to be obtained, but with regard to a dramatic composition or play the sections are not at all clear, and need amendment. Sect. 12 states " that no person shall be entitled to copyright unless he shall, not later than the day of first publication thereof, deliver at the office of commissioner of copyright, or deposit in the mail within the United States . . . two complete copies of the dramatic composition . . . Provided, that in the case of a dramatic composition or play, the two copies deposited as above may be typewritten." Sect. 13 states, " that in the case of a . . . dramatic composition, the two copies of the same required to be delivered or deposited shall be printed from type set within the United States." It is, therefore, doubtful whether the two copies of the dramatic composition are to be type- written or printed from type set within the United States, a most important difference to authors, and one which should be attended to before the Bill is passed into law. The ifith section subjects any person who sells or offers for sale a pirated literary composition to the same penalties as though he had pirated and printed it. Another proposed alteration of the law is to compel an applicant for copyright to make an affidavit stating in what capacity, whether as author, owner, executor, or how otherwise he claims the right. This alteration is aimed at those unprincipled persons who, having got the control of an author's manuscript, can under the existing law obtain copyright of it in their own name. Other parts of the Bill deal with penalties and damages for infringement, the obtaining of interim injunctions, and legal procedure. The Bill seems to be just and proper, and one which every person who has the welfare of the author and the protection of his rights at heart ought to strive to pass into law. Whether it become law or no, it shows that the American authors are not losing sight of their interests, and what are their interests are now those of the English author. V.—An Example from Aberdeen. "Thoughts for Book Lovers." By Harry S. Lumsden. This little book is worthy of remark for two reasons. First, because it is a second edition of a very interesting and valuable com- pilation. It consists of extracts from the writings of over two hundred authors, living and dead, on various subjects connected with literature and books. Especially, there is a treasury of advice on the subject of novel reading. It is pleasant to find novelists themselves dissuading the world from reading novels—one among them even declaring that he never read a novel at all, which is, indeed, a piteous case. The book is, however, remarkable for another reason: the author keeps all the remaining copies in his own hands; he is his own publisher. Now, why should not this method be more generally adopted? With a certain class of book—one, that is, that will com- mand a certain—but not a very great—circula- tion, the author may make his own arrangements for production: he is not liable for charges for expenses not incurred: he controls the advertise- ments: he can easily send out the books himself: he can have them bound as he wants them. See what he saves by such a method. A publisher would probably send in a bill something like the following: Cost of production:— £ s. d. £ s. d. In reality, say 50 o o In the account 70 o o Advertising:— In reality 5 o o In the account, swelled by charging for his own magazines 25 o o By sales, say 600 at 2.1. 6<7. 75 o o In account (ret down as 13 as 12) 69 4 o Less 5 per een\ for bad debts 390 Less incidental ex- penses, postage, &c 2 10 o Less 15 per cent, publisher's com- mission 10 7 6 So that the account in full would appear as follows: £ s. d. Cost of production 70 o o Advertising 25 o o Bad debts, 5 percent. ... 3 9 o Incidental expenses 2 10 o Publisher's commission... 10 7 6 in 6 6 By sale 600 copies at 2s. 6rf.,at 13 as 12 69 4 o Loss on book 42 2 6 in 6 6  ## p. 314 (#374) ############################################ 3»4 THE AUTHOR. Suppose ho keeps the book in his own hauds. How does the account stand then? £ s. d. Cost of production 50 o o Circulars for distribution 200 Advertising, say 10 o o Postage at 4f/ 10 o o Profit on book 3 o o 75 o o Sale of 600 copies at 2s. 6d 75 o o In common gratitude to Mr. Lumsden for showing the way, I am pleased to assist him by pointing out that his pretty little book can be obtained of him direct, by addressing H. A. Lumsden. 18, Bon Accord-crescent, Aberdeen. VI.—An Author's Protest. Some weeks since I observed among notices of forthcoming books the announcement of a work to be published by Mr. George Redway, on "'Travel and Big Game,' by Percy Selous and H. A. Bryden." I wrote at once to the paper in which I saw the notice to say that I knew nothing of Mr. Percy Selous or of any such work. I see that this book has been sent round to the Press for review, but that its present publisher appears to be Mr. G. Bellairs. The work is now described as "'Travel and Big Game,' by Percy Se!ous, with two chapters by H. A. Bryden." In fairness to myself I ought to explain that the two chapters for which I am thus held respon- sible were written for a news syndicate, with no idea of subsequent publication in book form. I have never been consulted in the matter of the book in question; I am not acquainted with Mr. Percy Selous (his namesake, Mr. F. C. Selous, of South African fame, I know very well); and I have objected, as far as I was able, to the inclusion of the two articles in the present volume. I understand that Mr. George Eedway acquired from the news syndicate I have mentioned the copyright in these two articles. He (or Mr. Bellairs, who now appears as publisher) is j>ro- bably legally within his rights in throwing my articles — notwithstanding my protests — into Mr. Percy Selous's book. But it is surely scarcely fair to an author (by virtue of thus securing a couple of stray articles) to include his name, against his will, with an author of whom he knows nothing, in a work of this kind. My experience is probably a rare one, but it seems to me that here is another instance of the necessity, now more than ever incumbent upon authors, of looking more cloiely after their copy- rights. H. A. Bryden. Constitutional Club, Northumberland- avenue, April 26, 1897. THE SOCIETY AS PUBLISHERS. ENORMOUS as has been the benefit con- ferred upon literature and afforded to the knights of the pen by the Society of Authors — benefits which I think no one can dispute—I am yet some distance from believing that the organisation of the Society is perfect, or from thinking that an association which in its mere childhood and youth has accomplished for literature so much—so very much—cannot in its growing vigorous manhood accomplish still a little more. Probably the hardest tug in an author's life—I mean of the average author's life, for transcendent genius may assert itself from its very youth—is the turning of the corner of the hill which leads from absolute obscurity, an unknown name, to popularity, pay, and a world- wide fame; a passage which I have heard described as—but the simile is not my own—like passing into heaven out of hell. The paying for the publication of the first book is a blunder upon which many generations of unprincipled publishers must from time immemorial have thriven and grown fat—it is a pit into which the tyro with some money in his pocket and literary ambition in his heart, the infant offspring of his imagination in manuscript before him, hungry publishers around him, and an unsympathetic world hard to wrin without, will not unnaturally fall. But to the flowery land and pleasant pastures of fame and popularity—the very haven to which he paid his money to be wafted on wings of gold—he is no nearer than he was before. 'Ihen how is the citizenship of this pleasant country to be won? In the February number of The Author the aspirant is put up to a wrinkle or two, the dreamer is told how he may get his chance; ha must get his work economically printed and bound on— six months credit—easy terms; he must then print a circular describing his work, and offer copies on liberal terms to booksellers on sale or return; he must advertise a little, feeling his way as he goes; he must issue to the trade from his own house—if he can find no better place This is all in theory and in principle excellent advice; it is right as far as it goes; how far it would be practicable or successful, or the reverse, I will not venture to say.  ## p. 315 (#375) ############################################ THE AUTItOk. 3i5 We are informed by those who know that out of every hundred manuscripts submitted to pub- lishers, no more than about three or five are acceptable or accepted; then what becomes of the ninety and five per cent, of intolerable literary matter thrust—inflicted I would say—upon the attention of publishers, this long-suffering race? Book publishing is said to be a good business; and had it not need, to pay for the consideration of 95 per cent, of unprofitable work? Much of it is, and must be—as every editor knows—hopeless; but surely all this 95 per cent, of unsuitable product of brain power cannot be irreclaimable waste: there must still be a certain proportion of good grain in the heaps of rejected rubbish and chaff. Besides, as we all know, much really excellent literary work is " declined with thanks " for no other reason than because it is unbacked by the magic talisman of some well known name. From the correspondence which appears in the pages of The Author, there seems to be a con- sensus of opinion that an additional department of the society is needed—that the Society of Authors, in short, should become publishers themselves; and I cannot help being strongly of opinion that the establishment of such a new de- parture would be the best day's work the Com- mittee of Management ever did. The magic word "connection" is the great secret of modern trade, and the trader who opened his shop and started his business with a connec- tion or clientele of 1300 customers might, if he at all understood his work, consider its success assured; and this, with its 1300 members, would be very much the position that the Society of Authors, starting as publishers for themselves, would be in. I cannot approach, even distantly, the working of such a department here.but obviously many works which the ordinary publisher would reject might be considered on their merits, reported on by competent readers, advised upon, and issued, if need be, upon economical lines. Here, then, would the literary aspirant, without fear of unfair dealing, get his chance, while the same chance by many an older bird would be not less eagerly embraced; it would be a chance, I think, which would be appreciated by all, and the venture would not improbably surpass the most sanguine anticipations of its originators. Of course such an office would have its own peculiar system of business, of advertising (which might be done at trifling cost to each individual author) of circularising the trade, &c., upon which I cannot here pretend to enlarge. Like as the Society itself has grown in usefulness and importance from a .modest beginning, so, as is uow the case with some of our most eminent VOL VII. publishing houses, the fact of a work being issued under its auspices would in itself be a recom- mendation in the eyes of booksellers and the public, and would be quite sufficient guarantee of its worth. Thomas W. D. Lisle. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, April 15. EERDLNAND BRUNETIERE and Mme. Blanc sat at breakfast together one morn- ing recently, and talked about the French critic's well-known opinions on literature as far as they bore on the situation in this country. I asked him why criticism had not made a better start among us, and he ventured as one explana- tion this: "Germany and France are the only two countries where the important books alone are reviewed, and where those are criticised adequately. An Italian was recently making the same complaint about criticism in his country which you make about it here, that books of all sorts, no matter how unimportant, have to be noticed, so there is no distinction, and no excel- lence." There was a little talk about the influ- ence of the business office and the large amount of publishers' advertisements, but both critics were unable to see clearly the workings of those influences, although Mme. Blanc, at least, had thought about the matter considerably. M. Brunetiere gradually became more expansive upon the general subject of literature in a democracy like ours. "I believe that the effect of democracy on literature is going to be very good. Mind you, it is not good yet. I only say it will be some time. Just now your literature is very crude—it descends too much to the level of an unrefined body of readers; but when your public is educated, the literature will be the better for being democratic, for it will escape the side-tracks, the dilettanteism, the mere rhetorical ornament, that usually encumber it where it is the product and the expression of a class. Literature should take subjects of import- ance to the whole nation; it should express broad social conditions, and so touch everybody. If I talk to you about the matters which are of inte- rest to all classes, and you use better words, make stronger sentences, and give more searching views on this common topic, you have already made literature." Mme. Blanc supplemented this by pointing out that we now care too much for the various fads of literature, and spoke especially of the absurd vogue which J. K. Huysmans is now having here. She commented also on the too K K  ## p. 316 (#376) ############################################ 316 THE AUTHOR. great leniency of our critics—a stricture which is certainly deserved. We are safe, in M. Brunetiere's case, from another book as full of mistakes as M. Bourget's, not only because M. Brunetiere sees more clearly the difficulty of understanding a civilisation in a few weeks, but also because his interests are in the really important elements, to which he makes all details subordinate. In contrast with such a point of view may be mentioned a book (a good deal talked about just now) published by the Scribners—"America and the Americans "—which pretends to be written by a Frenchman, and reads as if it were written by a pseudo-cosmopolitan American. It is full of the kind of observations which, as Dr. Johnson said of Boswell's ques- tions, makes a sensible man want to hang himself. The writer finds a man in some Western place who goes to an afternoon function in evening dress; he observes that Americans in their deal- ings with foreigners do not know how to change their tone to meet the differences of social station; he is amused that a woman in Chicago who talked of Plato did not know anything about the works now being produced in Chicago, and thinks it must be pose. In short, the book reminds one of the observations which some Americans bring back from a three months' trip in Europe, com- plaining about the bathing facilities in France, the inadequacy of Continental breakfasts, the indigestibility of tables d'hote, fleas, heating facilities in Italy, the ugliness of the Crystal Palace, or the absurd manifestations of patriotism in the Place de la Concorde. Such an irrelevant series of observations as are found in this book is more irritating than the mistakes of M. Bourget, because he at least founded interesting conclu- sions on his inaccurate premises; but opposed to them both may be put such a serious study of American women as Mme. Blanc has given to her countrymen, teaching them to know that the travelling class is not the class of American women which best deserves understanding. But, after all, far and away the best study of American affairs which has been made in our generation is the "American Commonwealth." Other books are needed to cover much that Mr. Bryce does not touch, but there could scarcely be a better draw- ing of the outlines. Various English papers speak with a sort of amazement of Mr. Charles Dudley Warner's en- deavour to put the world's literature into thirty volumes. The motives which led to the publica- tion of such a venture show at once the omni- presence of the business spirit here, and the desire for culture of many classes of the people, mixed with conditions which make it impossible for them to get it. The book is written for the American business or professional man, who seldom has time to read anything thoroughly, but intends when the opportunity offers to read everything that is really worth while. Letters have been sent by the publishers to a large number of sujh men in all the principal cities, laying out the advantages of the book and in- closing postal cards on which sample sheets may be ordered. The man who mails the return postal card does not get his sample sheets, but he gets a book agent, who has in advance learned all he could about the sender of the postal card, studied his particular case, and prepared himself to turn at once to that part of the encyclopaedic work which will be likely to meet the individual prejudices of his customer. For instance, a Scotchman in New York is told that the article on Blackmore was written by one of our best known literary men, and that the picture which appears in the work is the only photograph ever taken of the novelist. The general perspec- tive of the book is arranged with a very distinct idea of its market. More space is given to English writers than to those in other languages, most of all to Americans, and among them most to those who are now alive. Baudelaire, for instance, is given perhaps 1500 words of extract, where Henry James will have about 20,000. The business skill of the promoters of an adventure like this does not end with the study of any one class; they aim at the scholars as well as the hasty man of affairs, so the volumes are well sprinkled with signed articles by experts, by means of which they prove to the literary man also that the work is one which he "cannot afford to be without." It is an admirable illustration of "business" in literature. The librarian of the Carnegie Library of Phila- delphia has set an excellent example in excluding a lot of books, not on the ground that they were immoral (the usual reason), but that they were intellectually worthless. The less intelligent atti- tude towards literature is well shown by the hard fight with Mr. Dingley to yield no more in his duty on books than he is absolutely compelled to by the protests of everybody in any way interested in education. The librarians of this State have been giving their opinions on the literature of the year. Keturns from 300 of them have been received, giving the fifty books published in 1896 which they deem most valuable to a village library. "Sentimental Tommy" headed the list with 162, and the remainder of the first ten are: 2 (Ward), "Sir George Tressady "; 3 (Parker), " Seats of the Mighty "; 4 (Morse), " Life and Letters of Oliver Wendell Holmes"; 5 (Smith), "Tom Grrogan "; 6 (Skinner), " Myths and Legends of  ## p. 317 (#377) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 317 Our Own Land"; 7 (Barrie), "Margaret Ogilvy"; 8 (Kipling), "Seven Seas"; 9 (Krehbiel), "How to Listen to Music"; 10 (Wiggin), "Marm Lisa." Barrie and Maclaren are the only authors with two books each on the list. The latest manifestation of the taste for the Scotch here is a young woman who reads their books in drawing-rooms to fashionable audiences, and stops to cry at the pathetic places. The Harpers will publish about the 26th of this month a volume by an author who ought to be much better known in England than she is. There seems to be a large element of accident in the formation of foreign reputations by our various writers of fiction—Miss Wilkins, for instance, being well known in England, while Miss Jewett is not, and several writers of stories dealing with the middle West being known to 100 English- men while no one knows anything about Octave Thanet, which is the name taken by Miss Alice French, an Arkansas woman, some of whose stories have a height of dramatic art which makes them stand just below those of Bret Harte, and above any other of those tales of that part of the country with which they could be compared. They are not primarily studies; they are not realistic in the sense of being full of detailed analysis; but they are true to life in a broad way, taking from the existence of the middle West its most dramatic possibilities, and being less docu- ments than artistic productions, full of charm- ing skill, proceeding with apparent simplicity, but always ending successfully in a climax which leaves the reader usually happy. "Pleasant" is the word one finds first for them. Delicate humour, a raciness in the dialogue which is always re- strained, touches of pathos in moderation, no heavy gloom, and the spirit of adventure in greater or less degree, result in a whole that one may praise with fulness. The dialect, which is used infrequently enough to be a subordinate element, is the amusing and easily comprehended slang of the plain man in these States in which her stories are laid. The forthcoming volume, which is called " The Missionary Sheriff," is made up of half a dozen of her latest tales, showing her in her full charm. There are few, very few, present writers who might not be better neglected by those students of our literature who wish to see what are the most interesting literary possibi- lities in American life. Norman Hapoood. NOTES FROM ELSEWHERE. HEBE is a series of undesigned coincidences, or whatever you like to call it, which I think worth noting. A man has recently been arrested in Paris for a very cruel murder, and has confessed his guilt. There can be no doubt what the result of the trial will be, or what end is reserved for him. It appears, now, that twenty-six or twenty-seven years ago this man's father kept an inn in the north of France, near the frontier of Flanders. It was a low inn, frequented by rough people. One day a novel kind of contest was proposed by one of the customers. It was to see who amongst the drinkers could curse and blaspheme the worst. The idea was acclaimed as excellent, and the same evening, the landlord offering no objection, the contest was held in the tap-room. A day or two later—I have the exact names and particulars, but they are immaterial—one of the party of blasphemers was struck with paralysis, and from that day to the day of his death several years later could not articulate a word, could utter nothing but a sound like the grunting of an animal. The innkeeper committed suicide ten years ago, after seeing the following catastrophes in his family. His eldest son took to drink and hanged himself; his daughter went to the bad and died on the streets; a second son was found drowned in a stream at the back of the inn; whilst two other sons, to escape from the sinister influences of their home, ran away, and were not heard of afterwards. We have just seen what became of the last or youngest son; he has qualified for the guillotine. A similar instance of punishment on earth for ill-doing was enacted, so to speak, before my eyes. Some years ago, as I was rambling about in South Brittany, in the neighbourhood of Nantes, I came across the ideal country spot—river, spreading walnut-trees, wooded slopes, thatched cottages, and so on—that I had been looking for all my life. I took rooms at the inn there—a most picturesque hostelry by the side of a weir. It was beautiful. This inn was kept by two sisters, Breton peasants, the wives of two sailors on the French Transatlantic line. Quaint bodies they looked in their white Breton caps, their strangely cut bodices, and their clogs. They were the most sublimely ignorant people I have ever met. I envied them the Nirvana of their minds. They could neither read nor write, they did not know that France was under a Republic, and they had never heard of Monsieur Carnot. They had some pretty children, and were kind to their children,  ## p. 318 (#378) ############################################ 3i8 THE AUTHOR. though in the main they were very avaricious. I remember that I was kept on very short commons, and had to fill up with walnuts and white wine. Their old father lived with them, and was at their charge. They ill-treated him cruelly. "They grudge me every mouthful I eat," said he to me, and told me to notice how "my eldest" watched every spoonful of meatless broth that he ladled into his palsied jaws. One day he clutched me by the arm as I was passing through the yard— for he was usually expected " de se tenir" (to keep himself) in a kind of lumber-shed—and said he was very cold in his inside, and that it would be an act of real goodness on my part to treat him to a cup of hot coffee. I took him into the house, and, as he had advised, ordered the coffee for myself. "Otherwise," said he, "there'll only be one lump of sugar." The poor old fellow enjoyed his coffee immensely. It was a real privation to him to go without it, but his daughters did not allow him any such luxuries, and on the nights when the coffee was decocted, he used to retire to the backyard to be far from the delicious and tantalising odours of the brewage, and the aggravation of hearing his daughter Pauline keep smacking her lips and saying, ' I'm going to have a cup as soon as it's finished.'" He was half starved and miserably clad, and before I left he implored me to send him an old coat against the winter. I did not do so, if I remember; I wanted one badly myself. But this en passant. He used to cough continuously. "It may well be his end that's approaching," Pauline used to say hopefully whenever I remarked on this. He was wanted, he was expected, to die, and though neither of his daughters would have given him a push into the weir to precipitate matters, I do not think that either would have hurried her clogs if he had fallen in. It was a nouvelle by Maupassant which was in action before my eyes, and I spoke to Maupassant about it years later. I felt very sorry for the poor old man, and I used to regret that there should be two women with hearts so unkind, and to wonder whether no retribution would ever befall them. One day, two or three years later, I read in a Paris paper that two sisters, who kept an inn at V , near Nantes—the same women and the same place— had been murdered in their beds by a tramp, who had been attracted by the report of their avarice. As nothing was said of the old father, I presume that their wishes with regard to him had been fulfilled. I have been thinking that a novelist making use of these two stories, which are true in every particular, would get himself rapped over the fingers for making an ill-use of coincidence by ces Messieurs de la critique. I am glad to see that M. Berenger, the Senator —Pere la Pudeur, as they call him in Paris—is making a stand in the Senate against the licence and immorality of the French Press and much of modern French literature, which of late has really passed all limits. I owe Senator Berenger a very bad night, for I got run in and spent a night in the lock-up of the rue des Prouvaires, during the riots which followed on F affaire Nuger, but I owe him no grudge. He is protesting—a very ungrateful task—against the indifference of the Government, whose attitude towards the Press seems to be " Leave us alone, and we will leave you alone." Berenger is by no means the nin- compoop which certain English journalists have represented him to be; he is the author of " la loi Berenger," that humane enactment which preceded our First Offenders Act in England. When a French theatrical manager can engage a couple, who have no other recommendation than being flagrant offenders against the Seventh Command- ment, to appear on his stage, and thousands of pounds are taken at his booking office in conse- quence, it really seems time that someone, anxious about the dignity of his country and its capital, should protest as Berenger has done. Mrs. Emily Crawford made a very true remark in Truth the other day, when she said that Paris is the place for hard work and the home of hard workers. Ay, of the hardest workers in the world. As Daudet once said to me, " All the vital forces of Paris are below the surface. You only see the idlers, the drones. You must not judge of the Parisians by these, any more than you should wonder what makes a big ocean liner go, after looking only at those who dawdle on the promenade deck." Loti has, I see, made good use of his recent stay on the south-east coast of France; and to anyone interested in the curious Basque people, their strange customs and manners and ways of living, I can heartily recommend his last novel. He was for some months in command of a gun- boat, which lay off St. Jean de Luz, on the frontier of the French Basque country, and was constantly on shore. I used frequently to meet him rambling about in the district, and on one occa- sion when I had landed in a Basque village, where not a soul spoke French, he was good enough to interpret for me. In return for his kindness, I feigned to ignore his identity, for there is nobody less a persona grata to Vignaud the naval officer than Loti the Academician. BOBEBT H. ShEBAED. •>•<  ## p. 319 (#379) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 319 NOTES AND NEWS. THE reprinting of the paper called " Secret Profits" is the beginning of several reprints of valuable and important papers which have appeared in the back numbers of The Author. It is not enough to procure counsel's opinion on such an important matter as Secret Profits: it is not enough to publish it in this paper: the opinion is read and forgotten: by those who have joined the Society since the appearance of the paper it has never been seen. The paper has, therefore, been republished, and readers are invited to peruse it in order to ascer- tain what is the opinion of lawyers on practices which we have never ceased to denounce as dis- honourable, and not to be defended by any argu- ments whatever. ni_ Half a dozen correspondents have sent me an advertisement from the Daily News. The adver- tiser wants to find a writer who will compile for him "from the reading-room of the British Museum" a history of California. The history is to consist of 400,000 words, and the honorarium offered is £\o, which, being interpreted, means a penny for every 165 words. It is useless to wax wrathful over this. First of all, the advertiser is clearly a very ignorant person; the right place to find materials for the history of California is not the British Museum, but the Archives and Record Office of the State of California. Then, as to the length; surely, no one who knows anything at all about the history of California would lay down a hard and fast rule about the length to which such a history would run. As for the offer of .£10, it was clearly put down as a large and handsome amount likely to tempt the most prosperous of litterateurs. In a word, the man knew nothing about literary work or about literary pay. Either he thought that a book of 400,000 words could be written in two days, or he thought that literary men are poor scrubs and hacks, who take whatever is offered them. I think that the advertiser probably wants the history for an advertising medium. Soap, pills, hair restorers, mustard, might be well advertised between the leaves of such a history. im I cannot believe that this person reads The Author. Otherwise he might have pleaded that he only followed the example of the venerable and pious Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. I exposed four years ago the prices paid by this Christian Corporation to the unfor- tunate persons who wrote for them. My figures were not denied. Among them was the case where for a historical book—not a History of California—the enormous sum of .£12 was paid. The author said that if the book was a success he was to have more. The book sold 7000 copies, and no more was given. This noble generosity com- pared favourably with that of the advertiser. A correspondent calls attention to the practice of speaking of an article: a paper: a contribu- tion: a story: a novel: as consisting of so many thousand words: he says it is a mechanical way of treating literature. Why should it be so? For- merly a contributor to a magazine was told that he was to receive so much a page: he was not informed, however, of the length of the page, which may have been 500 words and may have been a thousand. At least we get something that we can understand. As for its being mechanical, literature has its commercial side which it is folly or affectation to ignore. Indeed, the man who affects most to despise it, is the keenest at getting all he can. Fortunately, this view is now recognised by all but a few who consent, in the interest of some publishers, to call attention to the commercial side as sordid and unworthy. Now, I have known a great many literary men and women. I have known some who affect con- tempt for the pecuniary value of their works; these are men—none women, who do not practise these little tricks. I have never known, however, any single literary man or woman who was not anxious to get out of his work all he could—not one, from th<* highest to the lowest, including especially the despiser of filthy lucre. This being so, surely anything which simplifies and helps the business side should be welcomed, and such a method is that of counting the words. As for any difficulty in counting, there should be none. The rule is very simple: to write always on paper of the same size. You thus know with- out counting how many words go to a page, and how many are wanted for the purpose for which you are writing. Indeed, one must know the number of words, otherwise it would be impos- sible to fulfil an engagement. For instance, in the old days—fifteen years ago—I used to write "middles" for the Saturday Review. How could I tell how many pages my article was to contain if I did not know the average number of words in one of those " middles?" Again, I was recently writing a novel for the Illustrated London News. It was necessary, above all things, to know how much space the editor allotted to the novel every Walter Bksant.  ## p. 320 (#380) ############################################ 3 20 THE AUTHOR. A WHOLLY IMAGINAKY DIALOGUE. Scene.—Private office of A., B., and Co., publishers. Dramatis personm.—Messrs. A. and B. and one X., an author. Mb. A. (to his partner).—Ah! this is Mr. X., with whom we have had some correspondence re- specting a book he wishes us to produce Author (sometchat testily).—No; I did not say produce—T said publish. Pubtish—that's what I want you to do. Mr. B.—Quite so. Publish—exactly so. But surely, my dear sir, you are aware that a book must be produced before it can be published. Now, we Author.—Yes, I do know it; that is why I wished to see you. I am going to produce this book myself. I only want you to put it in the hands of the trade—in short, to act as my agents Both Partners (together).—Agents! (Mutual glances of outraged dignity.) Author (mildly).—Yes; why not? Mr. A. (solemnly).—Surely, sir, you are aware that a firm of our standing does not act as agents. We are publishers, sir. We are principals in all our transactions. Author.—Oh, indeed! May I ask why? Mr. A.—Why? (Looks across in an appalled manner at his partner.) Author.—Certainly I ask why. If I produce this book at my own expense, and you merely sell it—nay, not even sell it, but only warehouse it— well, really, I don't see why you aspire to be more than agents. Mr. B. (diplomatically).—Eeally, my good sir, you altogether mistake the situation. When we publish your book, we lend you our Name. You have forgotten that. You have forgotten that our name sells your book. You have forgotten our experience, our influence over the channels of publicity. Our Author (rather warmly).— Your name! I had no idea you were an authority on "Popular Amusements in the Eocene Age." Now I am— at least, I am considered so, which comes to the same thing. However, let us get to business. Shall I make my proposal, or shall I not? Mr. A. (with a gasp).—Oh. Pray proceed. Author.—A short time ago I published a book, "Some Eccentric Adventures with a Dinosaur." You may possibly have heard of it. No? Well, that doesn't matter. It sold well; but it cost a most surprising amount to produce. Since then I have become a member of a society (telegraphic signs of intelligence between the partners), and I have read certain little books (more telegraphing), and, do you know, I have come to the conclusion that an author should attend to the old maxim, "If you want a thing well done—do it yourself." I don't allege motives. Not at all. My commercial friends tell me con- stantly "business is business," and business in these days means "get all you can and never mind the other fellow." Now, I have decided to have no more " publishers "; I am only going to have " agents" Excuse me, I am coming to my offer now. I have here an agreement made with Presser, Platen, and Co. It has been examined and approved in a certain quarter, and I can there- fore trust to it—not to them. In business I am informed one trusts to documents, not to reputa- tions overmuch. In two months' time I shall have in my hands 500 copies ready for the reader. Now, my question is, on what terms will you "publish " these—that is, offer them to the trade through your house? Mr. A. (violently).—Not at Mr. B. (interrupting suavely).—One moment, A. You see, my dear sir, this is a kind of thing we do not as a rule undertake; still, of course, there is in the present case very little risk to u 8 in what Author.—No risk whatever, to you. Mr. B.—Very well; let us say no risk at all, although—hum—you see you do not understand the publishing business as we do. Author (sotto voce).—There is some truth in that; we seem to understand very different things by that term. Mr. B. (continuing).—Now, let us examine the position. You wish us to lend you our name, and to introduce your work to a no doubt—hum- eager public. But, on the other hand, we must have security for our labours. Of course you will transfer the copyright to us. Author (looking for his hat).—Ah! I am afraid we are playing at cross purposes. I will not take up your time any further. Mr. B.—But, my dear sir, that is such a very elementary precaution—surely you can have no objection Author (resuming his seat).—I can see we shan't agree, but I will just argue this matter out with you, as a matter of interest. I will tell you a tale. A friend of mine is a great ironfounder. Amongst other things be makes flat-irons by the ton. Now, flat-irons are not used in tons; they are bought, one at a time, by old women, or, for the matter of that, young women. My friend is a busy man. He doesn't trouble to organise a system of canvassing amongst the actual users, or even amongst the local ironmongers; he just goes to a wholesale firm of warehousemen, and says:  ## p. 321 (#381) ############################################ THE AUTHOk. "Here's ten tons of flat-irons, my name on them —how much for the lot?" ".£50." "Can't take it. Sell them on commission at so much a ton—15 per cent, for you for your trouble in acting as go- between." "Done." Now, in disposing of ten tons of flat-irons to the retailers there is, I am told, considerable scope for business experience and influence, and even reputation. But the middleman does not try to charge my friend the ironfounder for each of these items as if they were something exceptional and rare. All that is understood. These high-sounding phrases are just another name for " wits." And if a ware- houseman or a publisher, or any other middle- man, exercises his wits in selling your manu. factures, he does it to gain a living, and is to be rewarded by a 5, 10, or 15 per cent., according to the case. Now, I offer you the chance of earning a clear 10 per cent, without risk, and you coolly ask me to transfer my copyright to you. I should like to hear my ironfounder friend's remarks if the warehouseman proposed to take over his flat- iron trade mark, and keep it for himself on account of services rendered. Mr. A (turning topartner).—Well, B., if you have time to waste listening to this gentleman's idle tales about ironfounders, and middlemen, and warehousemen, I haven't. Good morning. (Goes out.) Mb. B.—Ah, Mr. X., you must excuse my partner A.; he belongs to the old school. I am aware that changes are taking place—in fact, the trade is not what it was formerly. Things are cut very close nowadays. Author.—They will be cut closer. The time is not very far distant when your profits will be cut down to those of all other trades—a bare margin. Now, shall we talk over my proposal calmly? Mr. B.—I am afraid it is of no use. A. would never consent to such an innovation—no copy- right and a bare 10 per cent. But—(struck with a bright idea)—your difficulties have only just begun. What experience have you of adver- tising f Author.—In most trades advertising is an alarming item, running into large figures. By comparison, the advertising of a book is a paltry matter. In most trades there are advertising specialists—men who make a study of the diffe- rent journals, and advise their clients. Unless publishers mend their ways, there will be adver- tising specialists for book producers, and then the publishers' occupation will be very nearly gone, for most of their so-called experience is summed up in that one mysterious, though trivial, item of expenditure. Mr. B.—Ah! I see you are prejudiced against us. Well, well, we shall manage to scrape along for awhile yet, I daresay. But you haven't told me how you are going to advertise. Author.—Don't be afraid. I have eyes. Where the vultures gather, there also are the carcases. Mr. B. (smiling).—Hum. I am afraid that's a little impertinent. Publishers should not be likened to birds of prey. Author.—My dear Mr. B., I have no prejudice against publishers—personally they are often the most delightful of men. It's their unholy ways I object to—ways that, like all other abuses, have grown up little by little, until those nearest to them think they are natural and wholesome growths. But the newcomers can see, and some of them intend to lance those growths, for they are unsightly and slightly—infectious. No body of men in these days can long main- tain a false position or hope to benefit by a system that the age sees through and despises. For my part, I sympathise with such men as individuals—they are to be pitied; but, all the same, I cry " Haro " upon them, and will continue to do so until they have formed into line with modern work-a-day ideas. Exeunt. N. C. A FRENCH VIEW. THE Figaro, speaking of the everlasting question of author and critic, propounded certain questions, to which it furnishes these replies: "I.—Le critique a-t-il le droit tFecrire des v6ritis, ou ce qu'ilcroit tel, sur les homines et sur les osuvres, mime quand ces viritis sont tris dures, de fond et de forme? "R.—A cela, l'eleve repond qu'on reconnait ce droit au critique dans la theorie, mais qu'on le lui refuse generalement dans la pratique. Un ecrivain, un artiste, un ceuvrier en general, ne redoute qu'une chose, le silence. Comme il soumet ses ouvrages au jugement de la foule et de ceux qui sont a tort ou a raison charges de la representer et de l'informer, il semble vouloir affirmer par lu qu'il accepte d'avance les eloges, mais aussi qu'il se soumettra aux critiques, meme aux blames. "C'est en vain que certains critiques de ce temps, et M. Emile Zola tout le premier, avaient conquis pour le critique le droit de parler ferme et fort. M. Zola, dans Mes Haines, Une Cam- pagne, Nos Auteurs dramatiques, avait donne l'exemple le plus beau et le plus franc; il avait  ## p. 322 (#382) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. monte l'analyse à un diapason dont cornent encore certaines oreilles. D'un beau coup d'épaule, il avait défoncé certaines barrières et ouvert cer- taines voies. Tous les critiques, même ceux qui l'attaquent, doivent lui en être nettement recon- naissants, mais il ne peut s'étonner de voir em- ployer, même par ceux qui l'attaquent, les rudes outils dont il leur enseigna le maniement. '* Mais c'est là le moindre danger à craindre. La bêche et la pioche sont peu à peu redevenues d'un usage beaucoup moins général que le gou- pillon. L'indifférence du public, les progrès de la camaraderie entre œuvriers et critiques, la critique convoitée de plus en plus comme un moyeu de se faire des relations ou des profits, ont ramené un ton d'universelle douceur. "De telle sorte que lorsque paraît un article bien libre et bien franc, ne ménageant point un livre, ou une partition, ou une toile, ou un homme, le lendemain tout le monde se le signale en ces termes: 'Avez-vous lu Véreintement d'un tel?' et l'on ajoute en se chuchotant: 'Savez-vous ce qu'il y a là-dessous?' "II.—Le critique sert-il à quelque chose? "R.—L'élève répond que c'est une question que les critiques se posent euxmêmes parfois, avec plus d'anxiété que les œuvriers. Ils se demandent cela surtout quand ils voient avec quelle difficulté une belle idée triomphe, ou seule- ment une idée juste, avec quelles peines un vrai artiste s'impose, et en revanche combien il est malaisé d'empêcher la foule d'acclamer des sottises. "Toutefois, considérer ce seul point de vue serait éluder la question; et il faut, puisqu'elle est posée, mettre tous les points sur tous les ». "Le critique peut donc être: inutile, dangereux, —ou même utile. Il est évident qu'il est dangereux lorsqu'il profite de sa situation pour encenser exclusivement les gens puissants et pour fustiger ceux qui sont encore faibles ou inconnus. Il est non moins évident qu'il est inutile lorsqu'il se borne à enregistrer les résultats acquis, et à ne parler qu'après la foule pour dire la même chose qu'elle. "Il est encore certain que jamais une critique mal fondée n'a empêché une belle œuvre d'être belle, et n'a jamais pu bien longtemps prolonger l'illusion de beauté qu'elle peut parfois prêter à une platitude. En outre, le critique qui n'est que critique, j'entends celui qui n'est pas capable de faire autre chose (il suffit d'ailleurs qu'il ait l'aptitude et l'intention de faire cette autre chose, si le permet sa destinée), ce critique-là serait un monstrueux parasite, un bernard-Fermite de la littérature, un logeur en garni à perpétuité, un gardien du sérail, qui surveille les femmes des autres, mais ne saurait que faire d'une femme à lui. "Toutefois ce monstre n'existe presque pas, n'a presque jamais existé. Cherchez bien et vous verrez toujours qu'il a accompli à côté ou qu'il aurait pu accomplir une autre tâche, mais que son goût, ou le dévouement à une idée, ou les circon- stances de la vie, l'ont plus visiblement spécialisé dans celle-là. "En revanche, presque tout grand effort litté- raire ou artistique a trouvé à un moment donné un ou plusieurs critiques qui pour sa réussite étaient non seulement utiles, mais encore néces- saires. "III.— Quels rapports devraient exister entre les œuvriers et les critiques? "R.—Aucun. "Aucun, et d'aucune sorte. Us ne devraient pas se connaître. Ils ne devraient jamais être présentés l'un à l'autre. Ils devraient fuir toute présentation avec épouvante. "Ce sont deux métiers séparés, que chacun devrait exercer dans son coin, sans savoir ce qu'en pensera l'autre. "Lorsqu'un homme a fait une œuvre et l'a soumise au public, et qu'un autre a porté sur cette œuvre un jugement motivé, ils doivent se tourner le dos, s'ignorer, et recommencer le lendemain. "Lorsqu'au contraire celui qui a publié une œuvre se fâche contre le critique qui le blâme, il l'outrage; lorsqu'il le remercie, il l'insulte." THE NOVELS OF J. H. PEARCE. IN a recent one of those letters which go entirely counter to mv principles, and which I never fail to read, Mr. È. H. Sherard, writing from St. Ives, remarks that our literature is sadly deficient in pictures of English provincial life, and cites the case of Cornwall in particular. Now, I venture wholly to disagree both with his general remark and its special application. With Mr. Hardy in Wessex, Mr. Walter Raymond in Somerset, Mr. Baring-Gould in Devon, and " Q." in Cornwall (to take only the West of England, and only a few of its writers) all at work with exemplary industry, I fail to see what more Mr. Sherard can want. But since apparently he is not content, I gladly embrace the opportunity of drawing his attention to the Cornish novels of Mr. J. H. Pearce; for I cannot think that if he were acquainted with these, his complaint would have been made. Mr. Pearce is, I take it, a young man—a  ## p. 323 (#383) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 323 beginner one might almost say, for I know of only one book of his dated earlier than 1891, and he has this good point also to favour the idea: that his book of 1893 shows a vast improvement in technique on his earlier works. Why, then, has he written nothing since 1894; or is it possible that some later work of his has eluded my vigilance? Next, it may naturally be asked, what is it that at once arrests attention in his work. I should reply, its unmistakable originality. Nobody, I should suppose, could read half-a-dozen pages of one of his books without feeling—like him or like him not—that here is a man writing of what he knows, from observation, and out of the fullness of his heart. One might label him the Barrie of Cornwall, but I prefer to speak of him as the Cornish Hardy. These labels, convenient in an age which demands condensa- tion, are, however, somewhat apt to mislead. Let me say at once, therefore, that Mr. Pearce is as yet a Hardy only of the period of the " Pair of Blue Eyes." Nay, more, the term must be under- stood to be applied to him only in the restricted sense of implying an intimate and authentic knowledge of a peasantry, and a convincing power of representing its members. In the whole of Mr. Pearce's three novels which are known to me there is only one character (the curate in "Jaco Treloar") who belongs to any but the peasant, fishing, or mining class. Thus his subject is not country-life generally—with its squires and farmers and their wotnenkind, whatever these may be worth — but the country "people" simply and exclusively. And yet, in spite of this vast abstinence—for from the point of view of modern life and culture that is what it amounts to—his books fix and hold one from the beginning. The first of these books which I have been able to procure, dated 1891 (though I see there is an earlier work, "Bernice," mentioned in the title- page), is "Esther Pentreath, the Miller's Daughter." Let me say at once that this is one of the saddest books I have ever read—as sad as the " Malavoglia" of that great writer Giovanni Verga, so sympathetically praised by Mr. Howells in his preface to the English translation. And, indeed, with Verga's peasant-stories Mr. Pearce's work has much in common. In "Esther Pentreath" we feel that much of the sadness is due to the deliberate paganism of the book. (At this point I imagine a reader to exclaim, "But I don't like your pagan heartrending books!" Peace, good reader, and pass on. Tour point of view is a perfectly intelligible one, but I reply that these remarks art! not intended for you, but for others (of whom there are some in the present day) who have learnt to read, as I may put it, with detachment; to love, or at least to give a patient hearing to good literature, even at the expense of their own private and personal predilections. It is possible that I am no more of a pagan or a pessimist than you, but I do say that the pagan and pessimistic novels of Mr. Pearee are well worth reading.) Besides the above, I am ready enough to allow the existence of imperfections in the book—of some lack of picturesqueness, of distinction of style, in particular. Aichel's madness, too—brute madness as it is—is scarcely a sufficiently strong or inte- resting motive to form the basis of a tragedy; and, again, the author, in his curious care for style, has entirely mistaken the nature of the rhythm proper to prose, and has given us whole screeds of anapaestic or dactylic sing-song. But I am not claiming that the book is a master- piece; I merely hold that it is a strikingly original and promising piece of early work. The next and slighter story of "Inconsequent Lives" (surely an unhappy title), I like less. It is a tale of fisher-life, and, though it contains some admir- ably true and lifelike scenes, the author's laud- able desire to get rid of the conventions of the story-teller has carried him too far, though in a right direction. Observe that, to a student of literature, even his errors—his prose-metres and his hatred of convention—are interesting and instructive. Mr. Pearce's masterpiece, so far (but he has it in him to beat this, or I am strangely mistaken), is "Jaco Treloar." Now, even "Jaco Treloar" is not a well-constructed tale. But a tile full of beautiful writing it it, with poetic qualities of fancy and contemplative passion which entitle it to a very exalted rank. In particular, the love-making of the rustic lovers on a night in spring is among the truest and most beautiful things I know. Possibly I might be thought to reinforce what I have said by adding (which is true) that I have myself lived much with "rustics" and fisher-people, and known and loved and admired their characters perhaps more than most educated men have had opportunity to do. But I feel that such an observation would be beside the mark, for the question is almost entirely a literary one. I may quite well have lived with a person all my life, and yet not know whether a portrait of that person is a mere vulgar likeness or a fine work of art. Besides the above books Mr. Pearce has written two little volumes of apologues in the Hans Andersen style, which show plenty of quaint fancy. But it is to his novels that I pin my faith in his future achievements. And now, in an age reputed to be one of log- rolling, as a safeguard to the reader let me state exactly the extent of my knowledge of Mr. Pearce.  ## p. 324 (#384) ############################################ 324 THE AUTHOR. After reading " Jaco Treloar," in the impulsive way which is pardonable perhaps half a dozen times in a life, I wrote to the author expressing my enthusiastic admiration of his work. In due •course I received back a brief, civil, chilling acknowledgment. Evidently Mr. Pearce was not the man to fall into the arms of the first admirer; and, frankly, one thinks more of him for this. Afterwards I tried, through another and much better known Cornish novelist, to ascertain some facts about a writer who has so fascinated my fancy. I completely failed; I could learn nothing, and a mystery, so far as his personality is concerned, Mr. Pearce remains to me to this day. Thus, though my motive in writing about his books may possibly be mistaken, it is assuredly a pure one. George Douglas. NEW POETRY. TWO or three new volumes of verse lie on the table. It has always been the custom in this paper—which is not a Review,nor does it give its readers criticism on new books—to allow new poets ihe opportunity of showing their quality. In other words, they are invited to speak —once—in these pages. From " Jennifred," by Septimus G. Green, we extract the following sonnet:— Lady, since first within jour garden fair For yon long Bince these silver lilies grew, Methinks by right should still belong to you Whate'er of lesson meet to lighten care My muse, by happy chance directed there, From ont their chaliced chambers erstwhile drew, Who but as little bees are wont to do, Seeks still from every flower some nectar rare; That so with honeyed memories' golden store My flowerless age betimes being furnished. May from the bounteous past be hourly led As with celestial manna more and more; Such memories, Lady, in your heart's rich hive Keep long with their Bweet food sweet thoughts alive. The "Huia's Homeland" comes from New Zealand. Here is a bi'. peculiarly Maori:— Acres on acres of low, billy, poor land Is the Manuka's peculiar domain: Acres on acres like heath on the moorland, White with its blossom, like snow on the plaiD. Acres on acres to battle a path through, Growing o'erhead like the tall pampas-grass, Wirily branched with prickly foliage; Woe worth the day when the stranger shall pass! Acres on acres, and acres on acres. Fire hath swept clean through the length of the land: But the Manuka will ne'er be demolished Until old Neptune comes over the strand. Acres on acres like heeth o' the moorland, White with its blossom, like snow on the plain For the fair Bunlighted land of the Maori Is the Manuka's peculiar domain. "Hugo of Avendon" is a drama in four acts, by E. L. M. It is in blank verse. Here is a lovers' scene:— Stella. What lovers' world is this you lead me through? What golden fingers tipped with fairy spells Have touched my lips and trembled on my eyes'? All things were seen, but never seen as now. I dreamed such dreams; but as I bold thy hand, Earth's beauty and the joy of lovingnets Seem all so clear to me. Hugo. Dream on, dear love, there is a lovers' world That you and I upon some silver stream Might float to-vard, and pluck the golden flowers From sunlit waters, while above our heads The bent trees trembling in the breath of eve Ware farewells to their shadows in the brook. Then farewell shadows. Yon and I alone Would clasp our hands, and only think of love. Stella. How strange it seems! and yet you never seemed To me a stranger. All I found in you Was mine by right of some acquaintanceship, Not quite forgotten, and not quite recalled. Oh, Hugo, Hngo, long before our Btars Had joined our hearts, they must have whispered low Some thought of each to each. How Bweet it sounds 1 Before you even knew me jou were mine. Hugo. Ay, love, it must have been, when voices dim Swept through the night to breathe the word alone, They brought some thought of thee; perchance they touched Thy lips when sleeping, (re they came to me, And mingled with their message tender dreams For thy fulfilment, and for thine alone. Lastly, there is the "Water Bailey," a Tale of the Coquet. The Nymph of Coquet says :— Water sprites, that anglers hear When the dusk of night is near, Under Coquet's falls that lie, Calling, ever calling, Wailing sounds of misery To the waters falling, Sing your saddest conga of pain, For all my salmon now are slain. Little elves that lightly sing To the waters murmuring, Where the minnows leap and swim Gaily, ever gnily, Sing no more } our merry hymn Nightly nor daily. Join with me in sounds of woe For all my s-ons are stricken low. BOOK TITLES: A PROPOSAL. IN "Notes and News" on page 248 of The Author, the Editor suggests "that our members should themselves consider and suggest how" best to deal with the question of titles lor new books, so that when an author has once decided upou a title he may not subsequently find that it has bt en previously adopted, and hence be compelled to change it; a very expensive pro- ceeding if the book be printed with the title as a  ## p. 325 (#385) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 325 headline upon each page. In the past few years this question has been so frequently brought before the readers of The Author, that I write to suggest the advisability of the Society taking up the whole matter on a properly systematic basis, and one which would seem to me to be the only possible way of thoroughly combating, and treading under foot, one of the most serious drawbacks to the profession of, more especially, novel writers. The first thing to do is to get a list, as far as possible complete, of all the titles now used. As of more immediate use to the members of the Society let it be first limited to those books which have been published in Great Britain, Ireland, and America, to practically all books in the English language. Now what have we as a foundation for such a list? To name only a few :—" The English Catalogue of Books," 4 vols., 1835-90; 5 vols., 1890-95. The Publisher's Circular, 1838-97 ; the Bookseller, 1858-97; the Bibliographer, 1881-97; the Athenseum, 1832-97; the "Annual American Catalogue," "Shirley's Catalogue" (for Irish books); all secondhand book catalogues (for privately and provincially printed books). To make these books of service for the object in view, each title wants separating, and then the whole to be massed together in alphabetical order, with such cross references as may be necessary, e.g., sub-titles, and so forth. To do this would require two copies of each catalogue being bought —periodicals like the Athenseum might have the titles which were not in these copied by hand —and one volume being taken and cut up so that all the titles on the face of the pages were separated, but complete in themselves. The other volume should then be taken, but cut up so that all the titles on the back of the pages were similarly treated. The next process would be to paste each of these little cuttings on a separate small thin card, such as is now so much used in America for all indexes which are frequently being altered by additions and deductions. Then, after arranging the cards upon which the slips are pasted in alphabetical order, to put them away iu their respective drawers for future refer- ence. To prevent the cards being lost, or dis- arranged, a hole is punched at the foot of each, and through this a stiff wire, which is screwed, or for greater security locked, into the end of each drawer, is passed. The advantage of the cards over pasting the slips in a book is that all additions, no matter how many, are put in exactly their proper place, which is quite impossible where such limited areas as pages are used. The next point to consider is the matter of cost. After purchasing the volumes for cutting up, and the cards and cabinet for keeping the completed work in, the only expenses are the wages of the female clerks employed in the work; and, as this is extremely elementary, young girls direct from school are sufficient, at about js. a week, and two or three of these, in a year or two, would soon get together a very considerable part of the title catalogue. They should commence preferably with the titles of the books last pub- lished, as these would probably be more likely to be copied from there being a certain fashion in the naming of books. If this matter be taken up by the Society—and I certainly think it is a work so invaluable that it ought to be taken up by them—I would suggest that all the published catalogues be purchased first, and kept in the Society's rooms, so that, though the work were not itself complete, search could be made through those, not cut up, for any title which a member might inquire about. There should, in fact, be instituted a " Title Verification Department," at the service of any member wish- ing to know, for instance, if there were any such title used as " Martin Twist" or " Oliver Chuzzle- wit." P. Howard Collins. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Thi Prospects of Literature. Temple Bar for April. The Decline op Classical Verse-Writinq. J. B. Bury. Saturday Review for April 10. A German Poet of Revolt. Laurie Magnus. Fort- nightly Review for April. Artists and Authors. X. Y. Z.'s letter in the Daily Chronicle for April 17. The Output of Authors. Pearson's Magazine for April. A Visit to the Novelist op the Creoles. W. K. N. Woman at Home for April. Unwritten Books. Macmillan's Magazine for April. The Stort op Scott's Ruin. Leslie Stephen. Cornhill for April. The Need of Copyright Reform. W. Morris Colles. North American Review. Notable Review. W. B. Yeats's "The Secret Rose," reviewed by George Moore in Daily Chronicle for April 24. Literature has been hit hard by primary educa- tion, will it stand the shock of secondary educa- tion ¥ The writer who puts this question believes that literature to-day runs great risk of being drowned in a rising flood of newspapers, maga- zines, and ephemeral novels. People read too much: injuring their originality by learning almost entirely by the eye, and little by the ear. Newspapers—that is to say, the country Press, for the London Press is too formidable to be criticised —are pure enough, the greater part of their space being absorbed in accounts of teas in dissenting  ## p. 326 (#386) ############################################ 326 THE AUTHOR. chapels. But, as a whole, the writer countenances the view which hits off our newspaper-reading thus: "A clever German writer, describing an English Sunday, says that as you pass in the quiet street in the evening, in house after house you se i the family seated round a table in silence, while the father in the light of the lamp reads aloud. No picture so charming. What is he reading—the Bible? Oh, no; the details of the last murder!" Magazines, again, which have increased enormously in the last thirty years or so, have the effect of giving many people a smat- tering of subjects about which they had better know nothing. But it is the general tone of the novels of our day that the writer deplores most of all. There is no motive with the heroes in these works nowadays except a selfish one. Soul is lacking. In the " Master of liallantrac," in "David Balfour." or in " Catriona," yon just hear the distant stir of the Jacobite risings, but the only Bide yon seem to see is the seamy one. And in such excellent books as "Treasure Island," " King Solomon's Mines," and the " Wreckers," what man can do the heroes dare for love, gain, emulation, or sheer longing for enterprise, bnt as for a cause in the old sense, Dugald Dalgetty himself was an unselfish knight compared with our modern types. I read Buch writers as Stevenson with admi- ration, bnt with a feeliDg of something wanting. Good English, fine writing, splendid form, bnt oh! for some soul! It is with a certain school of French writers that the fundamental responsibility for the remark- able moral degradation in English novels is placed—the school in whose world no woman ever loves her husband, and every wife is the possession of at least two men. The writer's point of view on this matter may be seen from the following passage: The action of men and women is often caused or influenced by certain passions, and I see no reason for not mentioning them where necessary, or for sacrificing probability to save a blush to the cheek of the young person. Bnt where Bensual sins are committed in cold blood, and more it would seem as if from mere curiosity, or from a feeling of unrest, than from lust, I feel revolted in a way I never do at a tale of real passion. ... I prefer the coarseness of Smollett and of Fielding to that. Further, in some of the tales the immorality seems brought in from the tendency of a weak generation to dwell on passions they hardly feel, just as the schoolboy delights to talk of the dirt he cannot yet meddle with. The Bible was not originally written in English, but, says this writer in concluding, about the only bright spot in our literary prospect, menaced as we are by an invasion of half-educated barbarians, is that the Englishman is seldom aware of that fact, and so each generation possesses a standard for our language of inestimable value. Professor Bury puts the claim of classical verse-writing in an urgent form. Classical scholarship i3 getting too scientific: threatens to become a branch of mathematics. The decline of classical verse-writing is due also to the fact that the ideal of workmanship has not been uniformly high. "Take up any book of trans- lations, and you find that in most of the versions the writers are content with a few felicitous turn- ings, and that the rest is inferior, commonplace work." Either there is deliberate neglect, or the word is clung to and the spirit forsaken. There is room, says Professor Bury, for a new school of classical verse-translation, aiming at a more con- sistently high standard ; and it may be maintained that by submitting himself to a training in this craft the scholar will best win his way to the aesthetic apprehension of the poets whom he is interpreting to the world. "X. Y. Z." complains that artists who illustrate novels are very careless in the matter of making the details of their pictures agree with the letter- press. He arrays many gross errors of this kind in a new edition of "Tom Brown's Schooldays." The boys' ties, for example, are those of to-day and not of the early thirties; a soda-water syphon appears in one picture, and in another one of the boys who are teasing " Stumps" is shoot- ing with a catapult, while in point of fact neither syphon nor catapult were in use sixty years ago. Again, in a picture illustrating Tom's breakfast at the end of his first ride to Bugby nearly every detail given in the text is ignored. This sort of thing, remarks "X. T. Z.," is not only a discredit to the artist, but militates against the reputation of both author and pub- lisher. The lover of statistics, if his hobby does not stop short at the literary profession, will doubtless welcome the "interesting confessions of popular writers " in regard to their rate of output, which are given in Pearson s. It appears that Mr. W. L. Alden and Mr. Frankfort Moore each write 4000 words a day; "John Strange Winter" and Mr. Robert Barr from 3000 to 4000; Dr. Conan Doyle from 1500 to 2000; Mr. Max Pemberton and Mr W. LeQueux 1500; Sir Walter Besant 1000; "John Oliver Hobbes" 150. Mr. Hall Caine is content with 6000 words in three or four days; Mr. Crockett writes any number between 800 and 5000; and Mr. H. G. Wells wrote two of his books at the rate of 7000 words a day, but has since given up the practice. Mr. Rider Haggard finds it impossible to give an average, and Mr. Cutcliffe Hine also remarks that his output varies prodigiously. As will be readily imagined, the bent of these "confessions," one and all, is that, although a fairly accurate average may be struck, it is wholly irrelevant to consider writ- ing as a matter of a regulation number of words per day.  ## p. 327 (#387) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 327 In going over the story of Scott's ruin, Mr. Leslie Stephen, who will write on tin; s-ubjeet in the "Dictionary of National Biography," has been led to think that in his recent biography of Lockhart Mr. Lang has been a little too lenient in regard to Lockhavt's explanation of the causes of Scott's financial difficulties. After the publish- ing part of the Ballanty lies' business had been concluded, the printing only remained. Scott made an arrangement in 1822 that he would be personally responsible for the bills due at that time by the firm, which meant ,£30,000. How did this debt of Scott's originate? Lockhart said it was the result of the original debt incurred by the publishing concern, and had been taken over by the printing concern and allowed to accumu- late under Ballantyne's ineffectual management. Ballantyne's trustees, on the other hand, said that that had been completely extinguished, and that the accumulation of the debt of £30,000 was due to Scott's expenditure upon Abbotsford. Mr. Leslie Stephen thinks it is almost clearly probable that Scott, in want of money for purchases of land, might raise it upon the credit of the printing office —a concern which for six years was practically in his own hands. Again, it is hard to imagine how the debt could have been incurred without Scott's know- ledge of it, because he had accepted responsi- bility for it, and he was a keen business man who would not in such matters accept responsibility unduly. Mr. Stephen thinks that the explanation rests upon Scott's belief in the financial stability of Constable. The latter was constantly pressing for more work from Scott's pen, and Scott would naturally think that the publisher was rapidly making a fortune, at the same time as Scott was apparently making his own. He re- garded the Ballantyne unpaid liabilities, therefore, as mere reminiscences of botheration, which would wind up all right in time; and, heedless of them, he went on perfecting his establishment at Abbotsford, and keeping up a social and benevo- lent style of living. Then the crash to Constable came, and Scott v as undeceived. But his subse- quent brilliant achievement of honour, observes Mr. Stephen in conclusion, makes investigation of these matters at this distance of time almost indecent. In the very brief article on the novelist of the Creoles, Mr. George Cable is described as a land- owner, a devout Christian, and from the first an earnest philanthropist, deeply interested in the welfare of his kind. Amongst his recent under- takings has been the encouragement of homeculture clubs. He is not immensely popular with the Creoles, and it is hinted that from their point of view he speaks too plainly of their faults. There is every hope that he will visit England in the autumn, and give readings from his works, as he has done for long in the States. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Subjunctive Mood: Its Present Day Use. 1. YOU will, I am sure, be pleased to print the following "notes," which have been sent me by a distinguished University corre- spondent, who desires to remain anonymous.— Yours, &c, F. Howard Collins. Notes. The student must not forget that the English language has, for the last eight centuries, been gradually dropping inflections; that it preserves those only that are indispensable; and that the genius of the English people is an avoidance of all self-conscious rules of grammar. It is for this latter reason that the use of the subjunctive mood has been dying out. Another consideration: The student must dis- tinguish between the past and the present use of the subjunctive, and also between the construing (or parsing) of it in Shakspeare, Milton, Jane Austen, &c, and the necessity of employing it at the present day. Jane Austen uses it with till, when, except, &c. I remember an odd instance. Mr. Collins, the proteg6 of Lady Elizabeth de Bourgh, is ready to " perform" weddings, funerals, &c, " whenever it were required." Wordsworth 'is almost as much given to its use: "Creative art, whether the instrument of words she use or pencil." "And, if she trust the stars above, they can be treacherous too." And Tennyson also: "Till Ellen Adair cotne back to me," "Till over thy dark dioulder glow thy silver sister world." In all of the above cases, the indicative might be used, and no loss of meaning or of force result. But in such instances as: "If it tcere done, when 'tis done, it were well it were done quickly," "If I were you I should refuse," or "If these things were true, society could not hold together," only the subjunctive can be used. Again, Tennyson has "See that there be no traitors in your camp." Scott has " Look thou tell me true." From these and other examples I should deduce the rule: When the verb expresses a supposition that is the opposite of fact, the past subjunctive must be used. If it expresses a supposition that may or may not be the fact, then  ## p. 328 (#388) ############################################ 328 THE AUTHOR. the present subjunctive had better be used, though the indicative is not wrong. "If he is in the garden, I will fetch him " is just as good as "If he be." "If thou spare to fling Exealibur, I will arise and slay thee "—so says Tennyson with his fine literary feeling for mood; but no one would now find fault with him if he had said, " If thou spar'st." ii. A collation of the various letters oil the sub- junctive in The Author for April I shows at once the rarity of the occasions where it is necessary, and the difficulty of laying down a positive rule for its use. Mr. Howard Swan's first sentence is an instance that the subjunctive is—if not abso- lutely necessary—at least highly appropriate in a case which involves neither contingency nor futurity. Is it not, to a very great degree, a matter of—so to speak—literary demeanour? When one is hurried, or colloquial, one says : " If I am rightly informed" (Spectator), "If men are neither the one nor the other" (Coleridge), where an ellipse may be understood of "If (it be the case that), &c." But in poetry and in bigh full-dress work iu general, we ought to say—and as a rule do say — " Were it true" or "Should it prove so." The abuse of the subjunctive—which is a different affair—by lady novelists and others is seen in the clause quoted in my letter: "He stipulated that I pay him interest." In paragraph 6 of that letter a phrase is printed as used by Mark Twain, which should come in that which follows: "nothing shall swerve me " is the expression intended. ______ H. G. Keene. II.—Episcopal Style. It is announced in the Gazette that the Arch- bishop of Canterbury is instructed to prepare a Form of Prayer to be used in churches on the occasion of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee; let us hope that the Form to which we shall be expected to say "Amen" will not sin so grievously against the laws of grammar, rhythm, and good sense- as is usually the case with episcopal com- positions. For some months past we in the Diocese of Winchester have suffered from the following collect interpolated in every service:—" In the present time of anxiety (i), O most merciful Lord, from Whom all good counsels and all just works do proceed (2), we pray Thee to provide (3) justice and mercy for the suffering people who are called by Thy Name (4), and to guide in wisdom the councils of the nations (5)." Notes.—1. Why not at all times? 2. An excerpt from the evening collect for peace. 3. "To provide " makes one think of something to eat. 4. What people are called by the Name of God? Presumably the Armenians are meant; but they are called Christians, and the prayer is not addressed to Christ, since it concludes "Through" His Name. 5. Which nations? Swedes and Portuguese? All nations? The ancient collects, which are models of dignified diction, begin usually with an appeal to that particular attribute of the Almighty which we specially desire to invoke, or with a brief specification of our present need; then we ask for some definite gift, and then we name the result which we hope will ensue. Nineteenth century bishops can hardly expect to equal the old examples, but they might call in the assist- ance of literary experts, and so avoid putting forth the jejune and inaccura'e compositions which make the very name of a Form of Prayer less likely to excite devotion than derision. F. Baypord Harrison. III.—Corruptions of the Language. May I be allowed a word of protest against the vulgarism '■ Did you have,'' which is becoming more and more familar to our suffering ears every day ?" To have " is an auxiliary verb, and surely does not require any assistance from "To do," yet most modern speakers and many modern writers seem to be unaware of this grammatical fact. This unhappy combination of two irrecon- cilable verbs is lugged through many tenses; and it reaches its worst phase in " You had it, didn't you," which needs only being transformed into "Didn't you had it," to reveal its hair-raising qualities. It The Author could brand this "Kitchen-English " as it deserves, all true lovers of our sonorous tongue would be thankful. April 13. Vera Campbell. IV.—Stories Wanted. In reference to an article in the April number of The Author bearing the above title, I should be very much obliged if "M." could say where the " most handy" little typewriting machine at Ml 3*. can be obtained, and whether it can be worked by an amateur. D. V. April 20. ___ V.—The Casual Contributor. Your editorial note in the March number of The Author, to the effect that editors are increasingly  ## p. 329 (#389) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 329 in the habit of doing without the casual contri- butor, is suggestive. My theory still is that literary men of reputation, who now have an assured market, had to qualify originally as casual contributors. Some of them now, trading on their signatures, occasionally foist indifferent work upon the public. It is the competition of the person without a signature mainly, who admit- tedly has sometimes the capacity for writing, which prevents them from doing worse and more. Eliminate him, and you have a number of literary "rings," where real merit, dead merit, and no merit at all, would practice together. Why, 'tis a conspiracy of the body's members against the belly! Balbtjs. VI.—The House Where Byhon was Born. Since I last wrote on this subject in the columns of The Author, some unlooked-for developments have taken place. Notably, it has been stated that No. 24, Holies-street was not, after all, the birthplace of Byron, the distinction being claimed for No. 6, which is immediately opposite. If this assertion can be substantiated, it must be of great value, as that would be the original house, whereas No. 24 has been twice razed within the past fifty years. It is a pity the actual spot cannot be indicated beyond dispute. As an alter- native, and with a view to some more artistic record than any mural tablet can afford, it has been suggested that a statue should be erected in the adjacent Cavendish-square. Admirers of the illustrious poet would surely welcome such a step. The chief difficulty to be encountered is that a statue already exists in the metropolis. But it is by no means well placed in its greenery behind Apsley House. I venture to propose that these figures—Lord Byron's faithful hound is also depicted—might he removed to the more appropriate locality indicated. Cecil Clarke. Authors' Club, S.W. April 15. VII.—A Biography op Joseph Strutt. Will you allow me to state through your columns that I am engaged upon a "Life of Joseph Strutt" (1749-1820), author of "Sports and Pastimes " and other well-known antiquarian works, and to ask whether any of your readers possess, or know of the existence of, any of Strutt's letters, or any documents connected with him, and, if so, whether they would allow me to borrow same for purposes of my work? Any letters or documents sent here would be very acceptable, and would be returned as soon as they have been copied. Pryors, Broomfield, Miller Christy. Near Chelmsford. VIII.—The Length of the Short Story. 1. There seems to be a growing tendency, not only in the " popular journals " mentioned by the author of " Stories Wanted," but in the monthly magazines, to limit the length of the short story to 4000, or at most, 5000 words. I would suggest that this tendency, should it become a system—no admittance for more than 5000 words—would seriously injure the art of short story writing, both by preventing many good short stories from being written, and by encouraging superficial and machine-made fiction. I heartily agree with the author of "Stories Wanted" that "it is the hardest thing possible to write a genuine short story in less than 5000 words," though I differ from him in doubting if the beginner will do well to begin at "the hardest thing possible." Con- sider the immense difficulty of compressing into such narrow limits a story the interest of which depends principally on character drawing, or a short story of incident, the characters of which would be something more than mere names. Rudyard Kipling has done both; but where the short story is concerned, what is there that he cannot do P Nevertheless, with the ex- ception of "Beyond the Pale," few of the short stories in which his genius has reached its high-water mark fall within the 5000 words limit. I reckon that "The Man who would be King" runs to at least 13,000 words, "The Drums of the Fore and Aft" to 12,000, "Without Benefit of Clergy" to 8000, "The Courting of Dinah Shadd" to 7500. Two of the best short stories of Richard Harding Davis — "Gallegher" and "Her First Appearance" —run to about 9000 and 11,000 words respec- tively. All these are strictly short stories, not condensed novels. Concentration is a great art, but it may be too dearly bought. Arbitrary compression would be even more injurious to the English short story than the arbitrary extension, consequent on the three-volume system, was to the English novel. Sidney Pickering. 11. I quite agree with the writer of the above letter that to draw a hard and fast rule as to the length of a short story would be fatal. All that is wanted as to length in the  ## p. 330 (#390) ############################################ 33° THE AUTHOR. short story is that tho writer shall not " sprawl." He must be clear in motif and in language; his dialogue must be kept down; he must be dra- matic ; but, as to tying the writer down to length, I think we must protest, if necessary, and con- tinue to protest. It used to be objected against the three-volume novel by the smart young gentle- man who kuew nothing about it, and wanted an illustration, however well known, that the length was Procrustean. The length of the three-volume novel! Why, it varied from 80,000 words to 300,000 words. Just so the short story. I do not know where the short story becomes a long story; certainly there are, as our correspondent rightly says, short stories of 10,000 or 11,000 words which are still short stories. W. B. IX.—Wanted, a Strike. Judging from the Editor's note to my letter of January anent payment by publishers of maga- zines, &c, I fear I must have ill-expressed myself. My contention is, that if everyone determined to write for ready money only, magazine articles would be paid for when accepted. The stores and many tradesmen demand payment on delivery for their goods; why should not writers do the same? Naturally all must join the strike; but if editors are boycotted by the heads of the profession, they must soon give way, and we should not have to give three, four, or five years' credit. Payment upon acceptance should be the rule; but, of course, a fixed pay day per month might be conceded, for obviously wo could not expect cheques to bo sent the moment the MS. is passed. As at present, even pav days vary—end of month, beginning of following month, quarter, and so on. How in the world is one to know until one has written for the particular magazine? X.—An American Publisher's Account. The following account has bei n sent to an English author from an American publishing firm. The author was to receive a fixed percent- age on every copy sold, and nothing was stated in the agreement that copies sold below cost price (whatever this may mean in the American pub- lisher's mind) should have no loyalty paid on them. It is impossible for the author to cheek this account without expending a considerable sum of money, and this would not be worth while. The total liumln?)- of books sold below cost price and given away appears 10 be 228, in addition to 313 given to editors. This makes a total of 541 on which no royalty has been paid. This seems to be an extraordinarily large number. (" ") Cloth edition, price 1 dollar. Published March 20, 1895. Received from binder, 984 copies. Stock, Dec. 31, 1896 307 Sent to editors 160 Sold below cost (no royalty) 12 Sales bearing royalty 505 dols. cents. 505 copies at 10 cents... 50 50 Paper edition, published price 50 cents. Published fall of 1895; royalty 5 per cent. Received from binder, 1504 copies. Stock, Dec. 31, 1896 362 Sent to editors 153 Sold below cost and given away ... 216 Sales bearing royalty 773 dols. cents. 773 copies at 2A cents... 19 33 50 50 Accrued royalty 69 83 XI.—A Begister op Titles. Another example of the trouble caused by having no Register of Titles. Some verses by me, eutitled " Love's Awakening," were published in the July number of the Pall Mall Magazine. In Home Chat of the current week a lady has also used this title for a poem. Now, by special arrangement with the editor of the Pall Mall Magazine, I have the right to use my verses for a song, if I desire to do so. Should this lady publish her verses as a song, my agree- ment is prejudiced, and I have no redress—a new title for musical purposes being excessively hard to find. It is possible that someone may have used this title previously to myself. In that case I can only say that the grtater the number of inadvertent users of a title, the greater the nuisance, and the stronger the argument in favour of registration. Arthur Pilkington Shaw. 17, Sussex-gardens, Hyde Park, W., March 31, 1897. XII.—A Self-Examination Paper for Candid Critics. 1. Have you ever read " Robinson Crusoe" all through! Upon what degree of acquaintance do you base your frequent and affectionate remarks about it? 2. Quote any other passage from Burns but "Wad ye tak' a thocht an' men" and "Could  ## p. 331 (#391) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 331 some power the giftie gie us." Explain the phrase that puzzled Mr. Micawber. Can you honestly say you have any admiration at all for "Tarn o' Shanter "? 3. Do you ever take up the "Vicar of Wake- field" for your own amusement? If not, why not? State on oath if you have ever secretly considered it an over-rated volume. 4. («) Mention by name three characters in any one of Miss Austen's novels. (b) Have you any right to draw comparisons between the modern female novelist and Miss Austen? [Note.—Either (a) or (6) must be taken. If unable to answer the first, the candidate is required to attempt the second.] 5. If requested to give a personal introduction to Mataulay's New Zealander, in which essay would you look for him? And how would you expect to find him occupied? 6. Detect and explain the allusions in a Daily News article. [Half marks obtained on question 6 should be considered a pass in honours.] M. C. V. XIII.—Stories not Wanted. The article by "M." in your last number must prove invaluable to literary tyros 011 account of its invaluable hints and suggestions. However, I must join issues with " M." as to the pecuniary remuneration of accented stories, and the chances of any solid income accruing from them. He coolly mentions ".£400 a year, twenty tales, only four months' work to the slowest." Is this to be taken as a jest or au serieux? I maintain that, with the exception of well- known writer.', who can command their own prices, not even a practised story-writer can hope to realise half, nay even a quarter, of this income; and I challenge the readers of The Author for proofs to contradict my assertion. The literary market is absolutely glutted with short stories in MSS.; there are literary agents who are readv to supply editors with them at so much a lot; and thousands of stories whicli are offered are returned without being read. In my experience the prices for short stories average from ias. to 20*. a thousand words. Magazines pay much higher rates, but un- known writers have to wait one or two years before an accepted story is published and paid for. The fact of an author having had several stori- s accepted in any periodical is no guarantee for the continuance of his work. Let me give a personal instauce of this. I had three stories accepted by the editor of a well-known paper; my fourth one, over which I took the same pains and trouble, was returned with these words: "The editor of the regrets his inability to use 's interesting story, , and herewith returns the same." Au editor of a weekly informed me lately that the stories he uses are contributed by well-known writers, to whom he pays 10s. a thou- sacd words, and that all other MSS. are returned without being read. If the editor of The Author will pardon me for being personal, I must add that, although I have had scores of stories publ:shed in some of our best periodicals, I am not more advanced than the merest tyro longing to see himself in print, as regards being able to secure a small regular income out of my work. I am sure I am most singular or unlucky in this respect. Unless we are particu- larly fortunate, or a heaven-born genius, the pur- suit of literature for a living to me seems an illusion. . i; Lunette. XIV. — Who Should be Publishers' Headers? Considerable dissatisfaction exists in the minds of many persons that authors should be nearly always chosen as publishers' readers. It may be suggested that authors are often cold and prejudiced in their opinion of the works of others, and, moreover, it is clear that rivals can never be looked upon as invari- ably unbiassed judges. They may also favour their personal friends, or reject the works of those whom they dislike, or whose art, taste, and views are opposed to their own ethics ar.d literary standar J. But again, on the other hand, is not a reader's office strictly a commercial one, in which neither sentiment nor prejudice have a voice? He has to decide if certain MSS. have any commercial value. Ouce suspected of private malice or per- sonal jealousy he would be instantly dismissed. Being hard business men, publishers wish to turn their books lo the best account. In all financial matters publishers cannot afford to depend on the jealousies or the caprices of authors whom they invite to rea 1 for them, and who are their trusted literary advisers; they simply seek to make money—it is their sole aim. Then, again, how are publishers to find com- petent readers who ure not themselves literary people? Among one's own circle of friends, do we know any who, not being gensde lettres, would be qualified to decide on t he stories most likely to hit the popular taste? Even academically-trained persons devoted to literature, high-class critics and professors, might be too erudite, scholarly,  ## p. 332 (#392) ############################################ 332 THE AUTHOR. and philosophical to be quite in touch with the best and most attractive points of current light fiction. Annabel Gr.vy. BOOK TALK. MESSES. BLISS, SANDS, and CO. will produce during May a novel entitled "Mallerton," by A. B. Louis. Two volumes of " Johnsonian Miscellanies " by Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill, will be published shortly by the Clarendon Press. They will be uniform with the Boswell issued by the same editor and publishers. Mr. Lang is engaged upon a work on " Modern Mythology," which will be a reply to the ideas advanced by Professor Max Miiller. Mr. Meredith has made arrangements for the publication of a selection of his poems. The volume will be issued shortly by Messrs. Con- stable. Mr. W. E. Norris's novel "Marietta's Mar- riage," will be published by Mr. Heinemann in midsummer. Mr. Clement Shorter is writing a popular review of the books of the present reign, to be called " Sixty Tears of Victorian Literature." Mr. James Bowden is the publisher, and the price has been named at 2.?. The book will be out before the great celebrations next month. Mr. P. G. Stephens is writing a memoir of Mr. Coventry Patmore. Mr. Francis Thompson's volume of "New Poems," shortly to appear, is dedicated to the memory of the late Mr. Coventry Patmore, in the following lines :— Lo, my book thinks to look Time's leaguer down Under the banner of your spread renown -, Or, if these levies of impnissant rhyme Fall to the overthrow of assaulting Time, Yet this one page shall fend oblivious shame, Armed with your crested and prevailing name. The catalogue of the New Gallery this year will contain a poem by Mr. Rudyard Kipiing, written to Mr. Phil Burne-Jones's "picture "The Vampire." The Queen has been pleased to allow the publication of a memorial of the Royal mausoleums at Frogmore, and permission has l>een granted to Mr. J. S. Murray Fisher to complete and publish the work. The title will be "The Monu- ments and Statuary in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the Royal Mausoleums, Frogmore, the Albert Chapel, Windsor, and the Battenberg Memorial Chapel, Whippingham." There will be between seventy and eighty full-page re- productions in photogravure, and a number of other full-page illustrations in colours. The work will be issued by the Albion Publishing Company in a limited edition dc Ituce, in two volumes. Mr. George W. Bird has written a work of a comprehensive character on Burma—its history, administration, geography, climate, and other heads, entitled '• Wanderings in Burma." The book will be brought out by Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. The author is connected with the Education Department of Burma. A Dew edition of Mr. Austin Dobson's "A Handbook to English Literature," but revised and extended to the present time by Professor W. Hall Griffin, will be published shortly by Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son. "Pot-pourri from a Surrey Garden" is the title of a volume by Mrs. 0. W. Earle, which Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. are about to publish. It consists mainly of notes on garden- ing, but refers also to household management and education. Lady Constance Lytton has con- tributed an appendix. Miss Edith H. Fowler has written a story entitled "The Professor's Children," which Messrs. Longmans will publish. The first number is announced for May of a new magazine devoted to Genealogy and kindred subjects, to be published by Mr. E. Stock, entitled " The Genealogical Magaz ne: a Journal of Family History, Heraldry, and Pedigrees." Among the articles in the inaugural issue is "A New Pedigree of Shakespeare," carried farther back than any hitherto published. The Bronti? Mus um at Haworth was re-opened on the 10th ult. by Mr. Clement K. Shorter, who, in the course of his address, expressed a wish that some one, preferably a Yorkshire man, would write a really artistic biography of the Brontes. The membership of the Bronte Society is now 260. Sir William Martin Conway's book, "The First Crossing of Spitsbergen," ("s," not "z," is the correct spelling, says the author) will be published early this month by Messrs. Dent. Dr. Gregory, Mr. Trevor-Battye, and Mr. Garwood, who accom- panied Sir Martin Conway on the Spitsbergen Expedition, will all contribute to the record of its results. Mr. H. E. Conway, a cousin of the author, and the artist (f the party, will supply the illustrations, eight of whicU wi 1 be coloured plates.  ## p. 333 (#393) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 333 Mr. Miller Christy, Pryors, Bromfield, near Chelmsford, is writing a biography of Joseph Strutt, author of "Sports and Pastimes," and other antiquarian works. He asks any who may possess letters or documents relating to Strutt to be good enough to lend them to him in order that he may take copies for the purpose of his work. A series of popular volumes on historic towns of the medieval period has been projected by Messrs. Dent. The first to appear will be "Perugia," by Miss Symonds (daughter of the late John Addington Symonds), and Miss Duff Gordon. Mrs. Oliphant will contribute the volume on "Siena," and has gone thither to get material for the work. Each book in the series will contain illustrations by an artist living in the locality treated of. Mr. R. H. Sherard has just finished a new novel called " Uncle Christopher's Treasure," on which he has been working for some time past, and is now engaged upon a story dealing with literary life in Loudon and Paris, to which the provisional title of " Lord Zennor's Experiment" has been given. A new romance by John Bloundelle-Burton will shortly be commenced in the columns of the People. The scene is laid in the Palatinate during its second devastation—under Turenne— the principal portion of the action taking place in the heart of the Vosges. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton's other serial romance," Across the Salt Seas," now running in the Navy and Army Illustrated, will not be concluded until lati in the year, when it will be published simultaneously by Methuen and Co., of London, and Stone and Co., of Chicago, in volume form. "Shildrickthe Drummer; or, Loyal and True," by Julia Agnes Fraser, is now being issued by Mr. Macqueen, in three volumes. The book is a romance of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and has received some very favourable reviews. Mr. A. Stauff, of Berlin, is translating Mr. R. H. Sherard's novel " Jacob Niemand" into German, and Mr. Hughes Rebell, of Paris, the writer of the appreciative notice of the author in La Revue de Paris is translating it into French. The rights of serialisation of this story were bought some time after its publication in book form by the Northern Newspaper Syndicate. Mrs. Alec Tweedie's new book, "Through Finland in Carts," will be published by A. and C. Black early in May. It is on much the same lines as a "Winter Jaunt to Norway" by the same writer, but in this case describes a land quite unfamiliar to the British tourist, where adventure is still possible and railway trains are a. novelty. The illustrations represent scenesas far east as Russia, and as far north as the borders of Lapland, some of which are from the author's own brush. Miss Clementina Black proposes to give a course of six lectures at the National Portrait Gallery by permission of the directors. The lectures will be given on Thursdays, to begin on May 6. Tickets for the course, price 30*., may be obtained of Miss Black, 19, South End, Croydon. Antiquaries will be interested to hear of a book on the "Dolmens in Ireland,'' which Messrs. Chapman and Hall are about to publish. The writer is Mr. Copeland Borlase, a son of the Cornwall antiquary, and the book will be large and illustrated. Sir George DougLis is writing a volume on "The Blackwood Group " for Messrs. Oliphant's "Famous Scots" series. Mrs. Bishop has almost completed an account of her recent journeyings in the Far East. The volume, to be published by Mr. Murray, will be entitled " Korea and Her Neighbours." A novel, entitled "Jabez Nutyard -Workman and Dreamer," by Mrs. Edmonds, will be pub- lished during the season by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons. Miss Elizabeth Hodges has contributed a paper for the May number of T/ie Ludyate on " Castle Coch and its Vineyards." By permission of the Marquis of Bute, Miss Hodges has been enabled to see the whole process of making the wine. The paper will be illustrate d by drawings and photo- graphs made for Miss Hodges. The Gentleman s Magazine for May will also contain an article on St. Mary Redcliife, Bristol, bringing out several points not generally known in connection with Chatterton. A third edition of Brigadier-General Hart's "Sanitation and Health" (Clowes) has just appeared. A second edition of his " Reflections on the Art of War" will be produced in about two months. Messrs. Macmillan are adding Mr. James Baker's "The Gleaming Dawn" to their Colonial Library. A new work by Mr. Frank R. Stockton, entitled "A Storyteller's Pack," will be published immediately by Messrs. Cassell and Co. Professor Hugh Bell of St. David's College, Lampeter, will write a volume on "The Age of Tennyson " for Messrs. Bell's series of handbook* to English literature.  ## p. 334 (#394) ############################################ 334 THE AUTHOR. Mr. E. W. Hornung's new work, " My Lord Duke," will be published soon by Messrs. Cassell. Mr. Cedric Chivers has been explaining to an Academy writer the raison d'etre of his literary sample-room at io, Bloomsbury-street, London. It was started in the interests of public libraries as a central source of information for librarians. The publishers, however, who were readily induced to hire shelf-room to exhibit their newest books, insisted on the public being made free of the exhibition, and Mr. Chivers is now entirely in agreement with them on this point. Books are not sold at the Bureau, but people may come !o look at them in perfect freedom, and without incurring the smallest obligation. The bureau is no essential part of Mr. Chivers's business, and it would hurt him in no way to give it up to-morrow. He takes special interest in the theory, however, and wants No. io, Bloomsbury-street to become more and more a house of call for the book- lover. Mr. W. G. Tarbet, a young Scotch writer, has written a story of the Covenanting period, called "Ill-gotten Gold," which Messrs. Cassell are about to issue. Mrs. Deland bas finished a group of five short stories, which will be published under the title "The Wisdom of Fools." Mr. Julien Corbett has nearly finished his Life of Drake, upon which he has been engaged for the last six years. He bas unearthed many new docu- ments in English, Italian, and Spanish, includii.g an important and hitherto unnoticed account of the Armada, compiled by a Florentine writer (Ubaldino), from information supplied by Drake himself. The fourth and last volume of the Life of Pusey will be published in the autumn. Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell, who a few years back, under the pseudonym of " An Idle Exile," pub- lished "In Tent and Bungalow" and "By a Himalayan Lake," has another volume of Indian and soldiering stories ready, to be called "In Camp and Cantonment," and to be published shortly by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. The " Gleaming Dawn," by Mr. James Baker, has gone into a second edition. It is, as manv readers have learned, an historical novel, especially commended for accuracy in its history; a merit not always found in novels of that kind. A BELGIAN LITERARY COMPETITION. THE Belgian Minister asks us to publish the following notice: "By Royal decree of Dec. 14, 1874, his Majesty the King of the Belgians instituted a prize of 25,ooof. for the encouragement of intellectual studies. The prize of this international competi- tion for the year 1901 will be awarded to the writer submitting the best essay upon the military history of the Belgians from the Koman invasion to our own days. The author must briefly describe the wars of which Belgium was the theatre, and indicate the influence of these wars on the destinies of the country. He must relate the military exploits accomplished out of the country by Belgian troops on foreign service, and describe the methods of recruitiug, the organisa- tion, the rights and duties of the communal militia, as well as the state of the armament and fortifications at various periods. The work must then be completed by a study on the development of the army and the defensive system of Belgium since 1830. "Both manuscripts and printed books may be sent in. A new edition of a printed book can only take part in the competition if it contains alterations and considerable additions made during the period of the competition, viz., in one of the years 1897, 1898, 1899, or 1900. The works may be written in any of the following languages: French, English, German, Italian, or Spanish. "Foreigners who wish to take part in this com- petition should send their works, printed or in manuscript, before Jan. 1, 1901, to the Minister of the Interior and Public Instruction at Brussels. The manuscript obtaining the prize will be pub- lished in the course of the year following the one in which the prize is awarded. The essays will be judged by a jury appointed by the Kiug of the Belgians, and composed of seven members, three Belgians and four of other nationalities."—The Times, April 7. OBITUARY. PROFESSOR THOMAS DICKSON died suddenly at Athens on March 27th, after a forty years' residence there. During that time he held the English chair in the Uni- versity for a long period, besides being the instructor in English of the whole of the Royal Family in succession, by whom he was loved as much as he was respected. An urbane man of exceeding gentleness and calmness, a Liberal and  ## p. 335 (#395) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 335 a Philhellene, he was always a great favourite with the Greeks. For the last few years he had been Vice-Consul in addition to his other work. His donations to literature are comprised in a most useful handbook of Modern Greek, the first that appeared in this country. He translated several works into Greek, the chief of which was the popular volume of "Roughing it in Crete" by Hilary Skinner, the correspondent of the Daily News who accompanied a Greek vessel running the blockade during the Cretan rising of 1866. This book can still be read with advantage by all who wish to realize what Cretan insurrections have been in the past, and how identical they all are. Mr. Dickson, who was of Scotch parentage, was born in Corfu, and graduated in America. He was seventy years old at the time of his decease. Mr. G. W. Godfrey, who died in London on the 10th ult., began to writ*1 for the stage nearly a quarter of a century ago, and gained a place among playwrights for the power of mordant satire upon society which his work contained. "Queen Mab" (in which Mr. and Mrs. Kendal appeared at the Haymarket), "Vanity Fair," "The Parvenu," "My Milliner's Bill," and (adapted from the French) " Queen's Shilling " were among the plays written by Mr. Godfrey, who, until three years ago, was a clerk in the Admiralty. Kev. Dr. Sparrow Simpson, librarian of St. Paul's, died on March 28. He was an enthusiastic antiquary, and wrote "Gleanings from Old St. Paul's," and a number of other works on the history of St. Paul's and St. Vedast's. Herr Johannes Brahms, the illustrious com- poser, died at Vienna on the 3rd ult. At home, the musical interest lost Dr. George Mursell Garrett, organist at Cambridge University, and composer of the oratorio "The Shunamite," who died on the 9th ult., aged 63; and Mr. Henry Erskine Allon, a young musician who had composed over thirty pieces, including six cantatas, chief among which were "Annie of Lochroyan" and "The Oak of Geismar." Mrs. Julia Davies, probably the last survivor of the intimate friends of Charles Lamb, died at Clif- ton last month at the great age of 94. Her father was Joseph Hume, of Montpellier House, Notting Hill, where Limb, Godwin, and Hazlitt were constant guests. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [March 24 to April 23—218 Books.] Abbott, E.t and Campbell, L. The L:fe and LettcrB of B-rijimin Jowett. 32/- Murray. Akeiman. P. B., and Hurst, N. Trlscomte Stone. 6/- BIibs. Alden, W. L. His Daughter. 2 - Beeman. Alexander, Rupert. Ballyronan. 6/- Digby. Allbu't, T. C. (editor). A System of Medirino-II. 25/-net. Macmillan. Anderacn-Muishead, A. E. M. 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Winners and ltunners-up for the Amateur Championship. London : HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Demy Svo., with Map and Illustrations, price 10s. 6d. AN AUSTRALIAN IN CHINA: Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Acroa China to British Burma. By a. E. MORRISON M.B.C.M:. Kdin., JrT.R-C3-.S- "Mr. Morrison is an Australian doctor who has achieved probabl the most remarkable journey through tho Flowery Land eve attempted by a Christian ... He was entirely unarmed and unaccompanied, save for the coolies who carried his baggage. Such a journey- three thousand miles in length—could not fail to present many curious customs and as many curious people. Hut it is owing entirely to Dr. Morrison's graphic manner of description, and his acutely keen observation, that his travels are such a reality to the reader. This portly volume is one of the most interesting books of travel of the many published this year. 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Being the Record of a Visit to the Headquarters of the Syrian Church in Mesopotamia, with some account of the Yazidis, or Devil Worshippers of Mosul, and El Jilwah, t leir Sacred Book. By OSWALD H. PARRY, B.A. (Of Magdalen College, Oxford.) Illustrated by the Author. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham. "The author of this handsome volume pres< nts 1 a detailed study of a relic of history pursued off ihe track of general research;' he has sought to give, and has succeeded in giving, * a picture or quiet life in a country much abused, and among a people that command less than their share of ordinary interest.' 'Westward the tide of Empire takes its way,1 sang a prophetic divine of the olden days, and no less certainly, as Mr. Parry points out, does the ebb of travel return towards tho East. . . . As a volume descriptive of life and travel among a distant people, his work is well worth reading, but for those persons who are more particularly concerned with the old Syria n Church, or in the solution of the problem indicated above, it Is one of quite unique attraction. A pathetic interest attaches to the account of the Yazidis included in this volume for it contains part of their sacred writings, the original manuscript of which was in the band* of Professor Robertson Smith for translation at the time of his death.' —PubtUheri Cirevlar. London: Horace Cox. Windsor House, Bream's-buiWing^ E.C. 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. 07 Issue 12 (May 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 07 Issue 12 (May 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-05-01-The-Author-7-12 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/304/1897-06-01-The-Author-8-1.pdf 1b2d973270f5085bc19995aae31bc655 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) 1897-06-01 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages Page range in volume 1–28 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970601 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin TLhe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vni.—No. i.] JUNE i, 1897. [Pbice Sixpence. CONT MM NoOee», Ac, 1 From the Committee 8 Literary Property— 1. Copyright (Amendment) Bill * 2. Denmark and the Union 8 3. The Paria Conference 8 4. Literary Property In Russia 8 4. Tanchnitz Editions 8 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 9 Notes from a Duchy. By Robert H. Sherard 11 The Friends of Charles Lamb I2 Notes and News. By the Editor 1* The Baling Passion 1* Moods—Tenses—Voices ,5 ENTS. PA9K A Flemish Saga. By H. G. Koene U Subjunctive Mood: Its Present Day Dae 17 Books and their Keepers 18 Personal 19 From " Poems " by 8. L. E 21 A Suggested Beconstitution. By F. H. Perry Coste 21 Book Talk 22 Literature in the Periodicals 24 Correspondence —1. The Output of Authors. 2. The Moi-meme in Journalism. 8. The Criticism of "Dolomite Strongholds." 4. A Good Word for Editors. 5. Answers tc some of the Questions in "A Self-Eiamination Paper for Candid Critics." 2S The Books of the Month 17 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Eeport. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6s. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., io«. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., HI., and IV., 8«. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Mobbis Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des (Jens de Lettres. By S. Squibe Spbigge, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squibe Spbigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Eeport of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walteb Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). i*. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. (#406) ################################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ®t)e $ociefp of Jtuffrors (gncotporateft). PRESIDENT. g-zeoirg-ie: isdiEiaEXJiTii. COUNCIL. S.I. I The Earl of Desabt. Austin Dobson. a. conan doyle, m.d. A. W. Duboubg. Pbof. Michael Foster, F.E.S. D. W. Feeshfield. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gobse. H. Rider Haooard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. , P.C. I Jerome K. Jerome. BuDYABD KlPLING. Prof. E. Bay Lankester, F.E.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Eev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doo. Pbof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C Alfred Austin. J. M. Barbie. A. W. X Beckett. Bobert Bateman. F. E. Beddard, F.E.S. Sib Henry Bergne, E.C.M.G. Sir Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. Eev. Pbof. Bonnby, F.B.S. Eight Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Eight Hon. Lord Burghclere Hall Caine. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Martin Conway. F. Marion Crawford. Herman C. Mebivale. Eev. C. H. Middleton-Wakk. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Eight Hon. Lobd Pirbright, F.E.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Hebries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. B. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. Prof. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Q.C. A W. 1 Beckett. Sib Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sib W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Eider Haggard. Sir W. Mabtin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mub.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Mollot. Solicitors— f Field, Boscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields, i, G. Herbert Theing, B.A., 4, Portugal-street Sib A. C. Mackenzie, Mub.Doc. Henry Norman. Francis Storr. DEAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Cha A. W. a Beckett. Edward Bose. OFFICES: Secretary—G. Hebbeet Theing, B.A. 4, Pobtuqal Stbebt, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. IP. WATT So SO 1ST, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SdUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON", W.C. Published every Friday morning; price, without Reports, 9d.; with Reports, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Becord of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Broam's-bulldings, E.O HHE AET of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5e. L net, by post 5s. 4d. London: Horace Cox, Windsor Houbb, Bream's-buildings, E.O. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Eev. O. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 Dlustra tionB. Crown 8vo.t cloth boards, price 2s. fid. net. London: Horace Cox, Windsor Bouse, Bream's-buildings, E.O.  ## p. 1 (#407) ############################################## tTbe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated. Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vin.—No. i.] JUNE i, 1897. [Pbice Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. oio Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOR some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It hag been objected as regards these warnings that the trioks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should bo borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property :— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. HI. The royalty system. In this system, whioh has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohanoe of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points whioh 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 whioh belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements; and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the game time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. B 2  ## p. 2 (#408) ############################################## 2 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. IiTVEBY member has a right to ask for and to receive Pj advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is snch as can be given beBt by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Bemember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, Bend the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the trioks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Bemember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action npon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, oonclndes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon whioh its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that nil communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in nil cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invito MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by Borne of the leading members of the Sooiety; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the oost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6</. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will thoBe who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Sooiety or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in whioh they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Sooiety does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year p If they will do thiB, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduot, whether he was honest  ## p. 3 (#409) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 3 or dishonest? Of coarse they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years P Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanoed 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at Jtg 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums whioh may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits o a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. I. THE short Copyright Bill, drafted on behalf of the Society of Authors, is now in Lord Monkswell's hands. The fact that the International Copyright sections settled at the Paris Conference last year have passed into law in Germany was brought to the notice of the Committee at their meeting. The Committee were unable, owing to the short notice, to send a representative to the meeting of the Association Littcraire et Artistique Inter- nationale at Monaco at Easter. They, however, informed the secretary of the Association that they would be willing to express an opinion on any subject the Association chose to put before the Society. The three sub-committees are now complete, and consist of the following gentlemen :— Aet.—The Hon. John Collier (chairman), Sir W. Martin Conway, and Mr. M. H. Spiel- mann. Music.—Professor C. Villiers Stanford (chair- man), Mr. Jacques Blumenthal, and Mr. J. L. Molloy. Drama.—Mr. Henry Arthur Jones (chairman), Mr. A. W. A'Beckett, and Mr. Edward Bose. A bankruptcy petition has been presented against Messrs. Horace and Beresford Whitcomb as representing the Neic Saturday. The Society is acting on behalf of its members, and repre- sents claims amounting to between two and three hundred pounds. The course of events will be reported from time to time in The Author. II. Me. E. H. Lacon Watson v. Catholic Gazette (Limited). An interesting case, supported by the Society, came up for trial at the City of London Court on May 11. Unfortunately, the defendants did not appear, so the judgment was given by default; but it may be useful to members of the Society to state the facts of the case. The plaintiff was asked by the editor of the defendant paper to write an article, which article was written and accepted by the editor, for a sum agreed upon. Subsequently, the editor resigned his post, and, when the plaintiff wrote to the defendant paper, he received a reply that the defendant paper did not hold itself responsible, as the editor had no power to make financial arrangements. The plaintiff had no notice whatever of this, and brought the matter before the Society. The Society, on writing to the defendant paper, received the same response; and thereupon the plaintiff, with the support of the Society, com- menced action in the City of London Court. The defendants, on the case coming up for trial, did not appear, and judgment, as stated above, went by default. It would have been interesting to hear the defence of the defendants, as it is, without doubt, a recognised custom of all papers that the editor, as agent of the proprietor, is capable and respon- sible for the making of contracts that refer to the literary contents of the paper. The amount at stake was a small one, but the Society felt bound to carry it through, as a matter of principle was involved. m. A Copyright Case. It seems to me that the following facts should be made known, in the interest of all authors who are concerned in the question of copyright. On March 28 a poem from one of my books was printed in the Weekly Sun. No acknow- ledgment of its source was appended, and the name affixed was E. Nesbitt (the name, I believe, of another author). I wrote to the editor point- ing out these facts and asking for a cheque to the amount of my usual fee for the use of a poem. I received in reply a letter stating that it was an advantage to an author to have his poems " taken" by the TVceftly Sun, and that the editor " preferred  ## p. 4 (#410) ############################################## 4 THE AUTHOR. to regard the advantage as mutual." To this I replied that the question of advantage need not be considered, as no acknowledgment of the source of the poem had been made, and the name was mis-spelled; and again I asked for a cheque. The reply from the Weekly Sun regretted Mr. Charles Watney's inability to en- dorse this suggestion. Then I wrote remarking that as yet I had claimed no damages, and named a day on which I should, unless I received a cheque, place the matter in the hands of my solicitor. By return of post came the cheque, together with the following interesting letter, in which Mr. Charles Watney plainly puts the alternatives— robbery or boycott. The boycott of the Weekly Sun is perhaps not important, but the prin- ciple is. The Weekly Sun, Temple House, Temple-avenue. London, E.C. April 19, 1897. Madam,—As I have no wish to protract this unpleasant- ness, I enclose the oheque for £2 2s. At the same time I take leave to reaffirm my view of the position, and, to avoid any recurrence of any incident of the kind, have (riven instructions that no future reference, either direct or indirect, shall be made to you or your works in the numerous publi- cations with whioh I am connected.—Tours truly, Chah. Watnhy. Comment is superfluous. E. Nesbit. Three Cables, Grove Park, Kent. LITERARY PROPERTY. L—Copyright (Amendment) Bill, [dbaft memoeandtjm.] THIS Bill is intended to amend the most serious defects in present law of copy- right. Its provisions do not materially differ from the provisions on the same points contained in the Bill introduced by Lord John Manners (on behalf of the then Government) in the House of Commons in 1879, and in the Bill introduced by Lord Monkswell in the House of Lords in 1891. Both those Bills were mainly founded on the Report of the Royal Commission on Copyright of 1878. Lord Monkswell's Bill passed a second reading in the House of Lords. The amendments are directed to the following points :— I. MAGAZINE COPYRIGHT. Since the passing of the Copyright Act, 1842, this kind of copyright property has probably increased a hundredfold in value and importance, both to authors and publishers, much literature of high merit being constantly published in the first instance in magazine form. The 18th section of the Act of 1842, which deals with the subject, is expressed in language so obscure as to be almost unintelligible, and defers the author's right of separate publication to the end of a period of twenty-eight years. It is proposed that that section should be repealed, and that the copyright should be vested in the author, subject to the following qualifications: (1) The proprietor of the magazine to have the sole right of publishing as part of the magazine. (2) The author not to publish separately until after the expiration of three years from publication. It is further proposed, as recommended by the Royal Commission (see report, paragraph 43), that the alterations should be retrospective. The entire copyright in encyclopaedias is vested in the publisher as before, but in a separate section. 11.—newspapers. It has been thought advisable to make the Copy- right Acts and the present Bill expressly apply to newspapers. It was at one time (see Cox v. Land and Water Co., L. Rep. 2 Eq., 324) con- sidered that the Copyright Act, 1842, did not extend to newspapers, but later decisions (see Walter v. Howe, 17 Ch. Div. 608; Trade Aux- iliary Co.'s Case, 40 Ch. Div, 625) have overruled Cox v. Land and Water Co., and have placed the applicability of the Act to newspapers beyond the possibility of doubt. in. LECTURES. The Lectures Copyright Act, 1835, gives to the lecturer the exclusive right of publication, but requires a preliminary notice to justices of the peace, and probably does not apply to sermons. It is proposed to repeal this Act, and to give the lecturer (including the preacher) copyright with- out any useless formalities, but permitting a newspaper report unless expressly prohibited by the lecturer. IV. ABRIDGMENTS. It is now easy without any infringement of copyright in a few weeks, by skilful abridgment, to appropriate the fruit of the labours of many years, and to compete with the original copyright, bought and published at a very great expense. This will be prevented by the simple enactment that copyright shall carry with it the right to abridge. The reputation of the author is also safeguarded by a provision that a disclaimer of his authorship of the abridgment shall, if required by the author, be printed on the title- page; and that the abridgment shall not be issued without the author's consent in cases where  ## p. 5 (#411) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 5 the author retains an interest in the sale (by royalties or otherwise) though not in the copy- right. V.—DRAMATISATION OF NOVELS. As there is no copyright in ideas, it is easy for any person to take the whole plot of a novel and practically reproduce the novel itself in dramatic form without any legal infringement of copyright, and a similar injury can be inflicted by the novelisation of dramas. It is proposed to convert these moral into legal infringements of copyright. Owners of dramatic copyright are also given a summary remedy against infringement which is much needed, as pirates are often difficult to detect, or are not worth the expense of an action in the High Court when detected; and the remedy is to be available against those who "per- mit " as well as those who "cause" the repre- sentation. VI. ASCERTAINMENT OF THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. The present term of copyright is for the life of the author, and seven years after his death, or forty-two years after first publication, whichever may be the longer period. To ascertain the date of first publication is always difficult and fre- quently impossible. It is proposed, therefore, that the British Museum authorities should com- bine with the publisher of every book in so certi- fying the date of "first publication" that no doubt" should be possible, and that a certified copy of the entry of the date of publication should be primdfacie evidence of that date in all courts. The British Museum, by the 6th section of the Act of 1842, is entitled to a free copy of every book published. The supply of these free copies has long been felt to be a considerable burden on the producers of large and expensive works, and it is submitted that the British Museum may fairly be asked to perform the small but useful service of certifying the date of a first publication. COPYBIGHT AMENDMENT BILL. Arrangement of Clauses. Definitions. 1. Definitions of "book " and " copyright." Copyright in Periodical Works. 2. Copyright in articles in periodical works. 3. Registration of articles by anthor. 4. Retrospective operation of clauses 2 and 3. 5. Registration by owner of periodical work. 6. Copyright in articles in encyclopedias. Copyright in Lectures. 7. Copyright in lectures as in book. Abridgements. 8. Abridgements without consent of copyright owner to be infringement of copyright. Dramatisation and Novelisation. 9. Dramatisation of novels to be infringement of copyright. 10. Conversion or adaptations of dramas to be infringe- ment of copyright. Summary Remedy for Infringement of Right of Repre- sentation of Drama. 11. Liability to fine of person representing drama without consent of owner of performing right. Date of Publication of Book. 12. Date of publication of book to be furnished to and certified by British Mnsenm. Repeal. Suspension in Colonies. Short Title. Com- mencement. 13. Repeal of Lectures Copyright Act, and sects. 18 and 19 of Copyright Act, 1842. 14. Power to suspend Aot, or any part thereof, in British possessions. 15. Short title. 16. Commencement of Aot. Schedules: 1. Enactments repealed. 2. Form of entry of periodical work. A Bill to Amend the Law relating to Copyright in Periodical Works, Lectures, Abridgments, and otherwise. Whereas it is desirable to amend the Law of Copyright in relation to Periodical Works, Lec- tures, Abridgments, and otherwise. Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:— DEFINITIONS. 1. In this Act and in the Copyright Acts (i) "Book" shall include " newspaper." (ii) "Copyright" in the case of books shall include the exclusive right of translating, abridging, and (as regards works of fictiou in prose or in verse) of drama- tising the same, (iii.) "Copyright" in the case of dramatic works shall include the exclusive right of converting or adapting the same into any other •form of work whether dramatic or otherwise. COPYRIGHT IN PERIODICAL WORKS. 2. Where any article, essay, poem, or other work is first published in and forms part of a review, magazine, or other periodical, the copy- right in such article, e<say, poem, or other work shall, in the absence of any agreement in writing to the contrary, be the property of the author thereof. Provided that where the author is paid for the writing of such work as aforesaid by or on  ## p. 6 (#412) ############################################## 6 THE AUTHOR. behalf of the owner of the review, magazine, or other periodical, then :— (i.) The owner of the review, magazine, or periodical shall, during the subsistence of copyright in such article, essay, poem, or other work, have the sole right of publish- ing the same as part of the review, maga- zine, or periodical, but not otherwise, (ii.) Neither the author nor his assigns shall print or publish such article, essay, poem, or other work in any form until after the expiration of three years from its first publication in the review, magazine, or periodical, and any printing or publica- tion contrary to this provision shall be an infringement of the rights of the owner of the review, magazine, or periodical. 3. The author of any such article, essay, poem, or other work as aforesaid, or his assigns, may, either before or after the expiration of the said term of three years, register the same at Stationers' Hall as a separate work, and shall thereupon be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any infringement of the copyright therein as a sepa- rate work. 4. The provisions of sections 2 and 3 shall apply to articles, essays, poems, and other works first published in a review, magazine, or other periodical, whether such publication took place before or after the commencement of this Act, and in the case of articles, essays, poems, or other works first published before the commencement of this Act, the copyright and other rights therein shall as from the commencement of this Act be held and enjoyed in accordance with the pro- visions of those sections. 5. (i.) The owner of a review, magazine, or other periodical may register the same at Stationers' Hall, and shall thereupon be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any infringement of his rights in the same or any part thereof (ii.) Registration of a review, magazine, or other periodical shall be in the form set forth in the second schedule hereto, or as near thereto as circumstances will permit. (iii.) It shall be necessary to register only the first number, volume, or part of a review, magazine, or other periodical published in numbers, volumes, or parts. ^ 6. Where any article, essay, poem, or other work is first published in and forms part of an encyclopaedia, or similar collective work, and the author is paid for the writing thereof by or on behalf of the owner of the encyclopaedia, the copyright in such article, essay, poem, or other work shall, in the absence of any agreement in writing to the contrary, belong to the owner of the encyclopaedia. COPYRIGHT IN LECTURES. 7. The author of any lecture shall be entitled to copyright therein as if the same were a book, subject to the following modifications and additions :— (i.) The first delivery of a lecture shall be deemed to be the first publication there- of. (ii.) So long as a lecture has not been pub- lished as a book by or with the consent of the author, the copyright therein shall include the exclusive right of delivering the same in public. (iii.) It shall not be necessary to register the copyright in a lecture which has not been published as a book by or with the con- sent of the author. (iv.) A report of a lecture delivered in public in the ordinary current edition of a news- paper, after the delivery of such lecture, shall not be deemed an infringement of the copyright unless the author, before delivering the same, gives public notice that he prohibits the same being reported, but no such report shall be deemed to be a publication of the lecture within the meaning of sub-sect. ii. (v.) The notice referred to in the last preced- ing clause may be given either by affixing the same to the door of the place where the lecture is delivered, or by advertise- ment in one or more newspapers published and circulating in the district. (vi.) The term "Lecture" shall include apiece for recitation, address, or sermon. ABRIDGMENTS. 8. (i.) It shall be an infringement of the copy- right in a book if any person shall with- out the consent of the owner of the copy- right print or otherwise multiply or cause to be printed or otherwise multiplied any abridgment of such book, or shall export or import any abridgment so unlawfully printed, or shall sell, publish, or expose for sale or hire, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed for sale or hire, any abridgment, knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect that the same has been so unlawfully printed or imported. (ii.) Where the author of a book has sold the copyright thereof in consideration  ## p. 7 (#413) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 7 (whether wholly or in part) of a royalty, or a share of the profits to be derived froin the publication thereof, or is other- wise notwithstanding such sale possessed of a pecuniary interest therein, such book shall not, during the continuance of the copyright therein and so long as the author shall be entitled to such royalty, share of profits, or shall be so interested as aforesaid, be abridged by the purchaser of such copyright without the consent in writing of the author or his assigns. (iii.) If the owner of the copyright in a book to the abridgment whereof the consent of the author is not required under the pre- ceding proviso, intends to publish an abridgment thereof made by some person other than the author of the original book, he shall give notice of such inten- tion to the author, if living, by registered letter directed to his best known address, and shall, if so required by such author, either state or cause to be stated on the title-page of each part or volume of the abridgment that the abridgment is not by the author of the original book, or shall in like manner state or cause to be stated the name of the maker of the abridgment. (iv.) The author of a book shall be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any abridgment published in contravention of the above provisions of this section. DRAMATISATION. 9. In the case of a book which is a work of fiction in prose or in verse, it shall be an infringe- ment of the copyright therein if any person shall without the consent of the owner of the copyright take or colourably imitate the title of such book, or take from such book any material or substantial part of the dialogue, plot, or incidents thereof and use or convert it into or adapt it for a dramatic work, or knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect such dramatic work to have been so made, shall publicly perform the same or permit or cause the same to be publicly performed. 10. In the case of a dramatic work it shall be an infringement of the copyright therein if any person shall without the consent of the owner of the copyright take or colourably imitate the title of such book, or take from such book the dialogue, plot, or incidents thereof, and convert or adapt them into any other form of work whether dramatic or otherwise, or knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect any work to have been so made shall print or otherwise multiply, or cause to be printed or otherwise multiplied copies VOL. VIII. thereof for sale or exportation, or shall export or import, or sell, publish, or expose for sale or hire, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed for sale or hire, any copies thereof, or shall publicly per- form such work or permit or cause the same to be publicly performed. SUMMARY REMEDY FOR INFRINGEMENT OF DRAMATIC COPYRIGHT. 11. If any person shall represent or cause or permit any dramatic work to be represented at any place of dramatic entertainment without the consent in writing of the owner of the performing right in such work, it shall be lawful for the owner of the performing right (without preju- dice to any action for damages or other remedy he may be entitled to) to apply in a summary manner to a court of summary jurisdiction in that part of the British Dominions where such representation has taken place or where the offender dwells, and such court shall, on produc- tion of the certificate of registration, order the offender to pay a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds and costs, and such penalty shall go to the owner of the performing right by way of compensation. Provided that not more than one penalty shall be recovered in respect of each representation. DATE OF PUBLICATION. 12. (i.) Upon the delivery of a book at the British Museum, the publisher shall therewith deliver a certificate setting forth the name of the book and the date of the first publication thereof, and such certificate shall be registered in a book to be kept by an officer provided for that purpose by the trustees of the said Museum. (ii.) Such officer shall upon payment to him of the prescribed fee not exceeding 2*. 6d. give a certified copy of any entry in such book to any person requiring the same. (iii.) Such certified copy shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of the date of the first publication of the work therein referred to. (iv.) The delivery of a book at the British Museum without such certificate as afore- said shall not be deemed a compliance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1842, and the publisher shall be liable to the penaltv provided by section 10 of such Act. REPEAL. 13. The Acts or parts of Acts specified in the first schedule hereto are hereby repealed as from the passing of this Act, but except as hereinbefore expressly provided such repeal shall not prejudice or affect any rights acquired previously to such c  ## p. 8 (#414) ############################################## 8 THE AUTHOR. repeal, and such rights may be enforced and enjoyed as if such repeal had not been made. 14. (i.) If it shall at any time appear to Her Majesty to be expedient that this Act, or any part thereof, should not apply to any British possession, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty by Order in Council to declare that this Act, or any part or parts thereof specified in such Order, shall be suspended so far as regards such British possession, either generally or during such period as may be thought expedient. (ii.) Any such Order in Council may from time to time be revoked or altered by any further Order in Council. (iii.) Every such Order in Council shall, as soon as may be after the making thereof, be published in the London Gazette, and shall take effect as from the date of such publication. (iv.) A copy of every such Order in Council shall be laid before both Houses of Parlia- ment within six weeks after the issuing thereof if Parliament is then sitting, and if not, then within six weeks after the commencement of the next session of Parliament. (v.) No such Order in Council shall affect prejudicially any right acquired at the date of its coming into operation. 15. This Act may be cited as the Copyright (Amendment) Act 1896 ; and shall be read and construed with the Copyright Acts. 16. This Act shall come into operation at the expiration of one calendar month after receiving the Royal assent. FIEST SCHEDULE. ACTS REPEALED. Sessions and Chapter Short T.tle Extent of Repeal. 5 & 6 Will. IT. 0.65 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45. Lectures Copyright The whole Act. Sections 18 & 19. Act 1835. Copyright Aot 1842. SECOND SCHEDULE. FORM OF ENTRY OF A PERIODICAL WORK. Date of Publi- cation cf nrst vol., part, or number. Title of Work Name and address of owner. Name and address of Publisher. II.—Denmark and the Union. We learn with regret from Le Droit d'Auteur that the hopes recently entertained that the kingdom of Denmark would shortly enter the Berne Union are not likely to be immediately fulfilled. A considerable number of difficulties have arisen, in consequence of opposition to any protection of the foreign author, on the part of the same persons who raised difficulties in Sweden—proprietors of newspapers, editors, and theatrical managers. Their principal arguments are the same as usual, with the ordinary varia- tions upon the increased price that translations of foreign works would command. The Danish Press, and especially the Dannebora, has made a vigorous attack upon international literary agree- ments, insisting particularly upon the injury to public education and the general culture of the people that would result from Denmark's enter- ing the Berne Union. The result has been an unfavourable vote in the Danish Parliament. At the same time the supporters of international copyright do not despair of final success. III.—The Pabis Conference. France and Switzerland have now followed the German Empire in ratifying the Acts of the Paris Conference of 1896, reforming certain articles of the Berne Convention. IV.—Literary Property in Russia. The committee of the French Socicte des Gens de Lettres has for some years past been diligently engaged in making efforts to bring about some literary convention between France and Russia. At a meeting of Dec. 21, 1896, it resolved to accredit Mme. de Wasilief with a letter to the Russian Government, authorising her to resume previous negotiations undertaken with this aim. It has also been decided that the President of the Society (M. Henri Houssaye) should write to the Minister of Public Instruction to call his attention to the interests of literary property in Russia, and to ask him to consider whether it might be now opportune to commence negotiations on this subject in combination with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is worth ' while to remark that, apart from the particularly friendly feeling which has of late existed between France and the Russian Empire, France has been for some time past much more forward than the other western nations to pay due attention to the ever-increasing importance of Russian literature. V.—Tauchnitz Editions. It will be good news to authors whose works are published in cheap form by the firm of Tauchnitz to know that the Cusioms House authorities have at last awakened to a sense of  ## p. 9 (#415) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 9 duty. For many years copies of Tauchnitz •editions have been introduced wholesale into England, but 'within the last few weeks a special order has been issued to all Customs officers at Dover, Folkestone, Queenborough, and Harwich, to search carefully for any concealed books, with the result that hundreds of copies are daily confis- cated. A correspondent informs us that while crossing from Calais to Dover one morning last week he witnessed a whole portmanteau full of new Tauchnitz editions seized by the Customs officers, and five minutes later a lady was dis- covered with no fewer than eighteen of the neat little volumes carefully packed at the bottom of tier trunks. In fact, our correspondent says that in almost every person's baggage there seemed -one or two of the books.—Literary World. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, May 13. MBETTNETIERE'S five lectures in New York aroused more interest among * literary people than any event which has happened within my recollection. Not only did he draw very large audiences, which nhowei the wisdom of Columbia College in chousing a public hall instead of one of the University buildings for the lectures, but what he said was the text for a great deal of private conversation about many points connected with literary criticism, and with differences in culture between Paris and New York. In one of his lectures he hinted at some of the faults of criticism in this country, particularly its lack of disinterestedness and courage. In a democracy, he thinks, there is an especial need of the highest and fairest criticism to act as a tendency against the con- fusion in ideals which grows out of the increasing number and variety of readers and the greater literary output. There is an especial danger of levelling all reputations by constant mutual praise and laudation of local writers. No sugges- tion could be more deserved. Our literary men not only rejoice in praising each other, but some of them have expressed to me the opin'on, mingled with some reproach, that to speak of a living writer, especially of a living American writer, unless what you wish to say is distinctly laudatory, is at least a breach of taste. Perhaps our desire for a national literature is responsible in part for this position, but it is hard to believe that lower motives are not part of the cause. M. Brunetiere met a popular demand by speaking freely about Zola, condemning himwith the greatest earnestness and without the least reserve for his VOL. VIII falsity to French life and his lack of the per- manent elevated qualities of style. Asked in conversation the old question about Zola's admis- sion to the Academy, M. Brunetiere answered with a laugh, " It is possible; but it will not be my fault." The story, which I believe is told in the "G-oncourt Journals," was told in answer to this remark by the man to whom Daudet related it; that Zola came to him one day and said: "This is my fiftieth birthday, and after this I intend to live. You understand, I intend to live. You others have always lived, but I have spent my life in grinding. It is my turn now." And Daudet added: "That is the man who has been telling us for so long what life is." Sarcey M. Brunetiere dismissed in a sentence, as a man who never yielded an inch to the opinion of his fellow critics, but who reversed any belief if he fflt the notions of the crowd about to shift. The most interesting of his other judgments are in the main those that will be found in his books, although his high praise of Maupassant was a sur- prise. In social intercourse M. Brunetiere noticed that conversation was less sustained than in France. If a new person joins a small group, the subject, whatever it may be, is usually dropped, and, even if there is no interruption, after one topic has been talked about for a little while it seems to die of inertia, and there is silence until another is brought up. He noticed also less charity towards other opinions, more of a desire to discuss whether another opinion is true or false than to allow each person to do the best he can in bring- ing out the interest of his own point of view, for which a generous appreciation of the points of view of others is necessary. Frank Munsey is about to follow the lead of the owner of another 10 cent magazine (S. S. McClure) in founding a publishing house. It is announced that in the fall Mr. Munsey will begin the publication of books of the quality usually sold for 1 dollar, which he will sell for 25 cents, and that his first book will have a first edition of 250,000 copies. Extravagant as the assertion sounds, it borrows some plausibility from the success which Mr. Munsey has already had as the innovator and the most successful practitioner in the field of cheap magazines. The recent death of William Taylor Adams, whose pen name was Oliver Optic, led the Chap Booh into some moralising founded on the popularity of this writer, who received no attention from the critics, but perhaps is the most widely read of American authors, certainly the most popular writer of boys' books. From the age of thirty- four to that of seventy, he wrote about 130 volumes and more than 1000 short stories, and more than two million copies of his books have c 2  ## p. 10 (#416) ############################################# IO THE AUTHOR. been sold. The Chap Book gives a flippant and not very adequate explanation that he had the good fortune to be ignored by the critics, and it backs up this explanation with quota- tions from an Advertisers' Directory, show- ing that some magazines of which nobody has ever heard have larger circulations than any of the more prominent periodicals. For in- stance, Comfort, published in Augusta, was rated at 1,252,325; the Hearthstone, of New York, at 6oo,coo; the Delineator, at 500,000; and so on. One answer to this is, that these directories must found their estimates on the statements of the publishers, which are mostly unreliable; and another answer is, that circulations of such maga- zines are largely made up of copies to give away or throw away. The Ladies' Home Journal un- doubtedly leads all of our magazines. It is rated in Lord and Taylor's "Advertisers' Directory " atover 700,000, and it probably has at least half a million genuine purchasers. McClure's and the Cosmo- politan are given 300,000 each, and Munsey's 500,000, which is too much. Harper's Monthly is given 175,000, and it probably is gradually actually approaching 150,000. The Century is supposed to be now about even with it, with Scribner's a little behind. Mr. John Corbin, one of the editors of Harper's Monthly, was dis- cussing the other day the demands of our three leading illustrated magazines. Harper's Monthly wants articles which they call " vital "—that is, which connect themselves with the practical inte- rests of a large number of people; and literary form is frankly very secondary. In carrying out this principle, it touches partly on the field of the English reviews in welcoming summary treatment of political, economical, and social questions; but within this field it will take nothing which appeals mainly to the literary man and the scholar. Scribner's Magazine, Mr. Corbin said, was lighter, caring more for literary form; the Century had no settled policy what- ever, but had made its great hit on the sensa- tion of its war articles, and was now losing it and looking about for another sensation. The editors of Harper's, on the other hand, never allow the magazine to be thrown on to one of these sudden and short waves of interest, for fear that when that subsided it would be necessary to find another sensation to save it. They believe that a greater permanent circulation will be built up by keeping almost exclusively to interests which are at once general and somewhat perma- nent, although slight variations with the current of feeling in various parts of the country are allowed. This magazine especially, with others to some extent, is becoming more and more like monthly newspapers of the better class, both in the subjects of their articles and the mode of treatment, at the same time that the dailies, especially in the Saturday and Sunday editions, become more and more like magazines, both in their general articles and in certain special literary features, such as the space now given to serials. It is impossible in a cursory letter to do justice to the most important book of the past month. In the " Literary History of the American Revo- lution," just published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, readers on both sides of the water will find much about one of the two most interesting periods of our history, which has not been accessible before. The Revolutionary period differed from that of the Civil "War, among other things, in having a more full and varied literary expression, and Professor Tyler has given us generous extracts from it, together with a clear narrative to connect them. I have already said that we have no such interesting single group of writers as the Fede- ralists, and those that immediately preceded them had much of their vigour and genuine- ness. In this first volume of Professor Tyler's History, which covers a period from 1763 to 1776, James Otis, John Adams, Philip Freneau, John Trumbull, John Dickinson, Josiah Quincy, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, James Paine, and Thomas Jefferson are a minority of the interesting personalities to which life is given in this volume. That time was very much alive, and none of the other histories that have covered it have given it a kind of treatment which will satisfy a literary interest as well as this. Of course, it is incomplete, for the thoughts and feelings which found their expression in the writings covered by this book- were concentrated in a few dramatic external events, which are here kept in the background, so that the reader to whom the book will be most satisfactory is the one who already knows the political history of the time. English readers will doubtless be pleased to see that the Tories are treated with fairness as the most respectable Conservatives of the times, including the majority of clergymen, physicians, lawyers, and teachers. Two or three literary men have, in my hearing, expressed a desire to make a novel out of the Salva- tion Army, which offers exceptional temptations in the picturesque. Mary A. Denison has just pub- lished a love story called "Captain Mollie," with Lee and Shepard of Boston, but it totally fails to take advantage of the Salvation Army motif, being utterly colourless The copyright provision punishing the piracy of plays has just had its first test in a suit brought by Klaw and Erlanger against Louis Robie, who is charged with stealing songs from "In Gay New York " and using them in a variety enter-  ## p. 11 (#417) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. tainment called " The Bohemians." There was an indictment, and about a week ago the defendant was held in the United States Court for trial. This is regarded as a test case. Norman Hapgood. NOTES FROM A DUCHY. NOBODY in St. Ives could give me any information about Mr. Pearce, the Cor- nish novelist about whom Sir George Douglas wrote last month. The fact is we are not great readers down here. "Nobody buys books here," said the bookstall man. Halfpenny papers go well. I suppose, absorbed as we are with the wonderful beauties of Nature, we have no time or no wish to think. Hence the demand for halfpenny papers. One can read them with- out any mental fatigue whatever. Rudyard Kipling once said that he bought Answers every week " because there are times when a man doesn't want to think." Kipling, by the way, was asked his opinion on Torquay before he left, and he said that with 30 per cent, less moisture it would be the prettiest place outside Paradise, a characteristic remark of which the Torquay people are taking advan- tage for publicity purposes. I heard that Mr. Kipling used to visit the railway bookstall every day and " have a look round." The railway book- stall has its fascination to most of us. In Camborne, to revert to Mr. Pearce, I heard his work enthusiastically talked about, with special reference to the Esther novel. I was told that Mr. Pearce was a Newlyn man, who lived in London, where he was engaged in clerical work; that he was about thirty-five years old, and that he wrote, not professionally, but pour passer le temps. Madame Alphonse Daudet's book, "Notes sur Londres," has been translated into English by Marie Belloc, and will be published in London this season. I was over at Fowey a few weeks ago. It is without exception the most beautiful and most interesting seaport I have seen anywhere. I envy "Q.," but after his fine descriptions of his home I shall not attempt to descrilje it. I was fortunate enough to see " Q." also with his little boy, who, if children's faces reveal anything of the future, will be an artist of the pen or pencil. What a happy life " Q.'8" must be. From what the papers are saying down here everybody is very glad that it is he who is to finish " St. Ives." In my perambulations about the district I came, the other day, across an inn at St. Hilary, called "The Jolly Tinners," which has the following sign: Come all true Coinish boys walk in, Here's brandy, beer, rum, Bhrnb, and gin; Yon can't do less than drink Buocess, To copper, fish, and tin. Fish, perhaps, but not all the votive beer in the world, I am afraid, will bring back success to copper or tin. Slave labour in the Straits Settle- ments has killed the tin mining industry in Cornwall. "Jolly Tinners," indeed! Why, the other day, in Camborne, a jolly-faced woman told me that all the earnings of a life of hard work had been invested in tin mines, and that the only dividend she drew was "trouble and tears for dinner, and tears and sorrow for tea "; and she wiped her eyes on her apron as she spoke. All the profits of her business went in meeting the calls on her worthless shares. I have received from Annemasse, in La Haute- Savoie, a copy of a journal called L'Avant Garde, which describes a new language—"the universal and instantaneous language, an invention for pro- nouncing, reading, and writing all languages in the world at first sight, with their pure accent "; and gives, or, rather, says that it gives, " imme- diate and irrefutable proofs" of this in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Servian, &c. It seems that all that is wanted to enable everybody to read, write, and pronouce any lan- guage in the world—though not to understand it nor speak it—is the universal adoption of the new " Universal Phonographic Alphabet," which consists of forty-two letters. These are the ordi- nary letters of the alphabet, the additional letters being made up by the help of accents and italici- sation, whilst one or two letters turned upside down represent other sounds than when standing on their feet. This alphabet is supposed to re- present all the sounds which the human voice uses in articulation. People who have found Volapuk and other universal languages wanting, might study this new system, which is evidently being worked with some energy by the " body of professors." Particulars can be obtained at the office of the journal. Several people have written to mo about my story of the two unfilial daughters and their father at the inn at Verton, and in answer to the general inquiry I want to say that it is quite true in every detail. The point about these women which interested and pleased me most was their absolute ignorance of and indifference to all matters outside their narrow sphere. It must be an ideal existence. Animal spirits arise from the animal state, and, as far as I know, animals never "worrit" themselves about anything or anybody  ## p. 12 (#418) ############################################# 12 THE AUTHOR. in whom or which they have no direct and imme- diate concern. My good Bretonnes had never heard even of M. Carnot. Very well; when we were passing through hours and days of grief at his cruel fate, they were quietly pickling their walnuts or salting butter for the winter, and rejoicing to think how nice they would be. And in this there was no selfishness. They narrowed their interests, and thus reduced the chances of having to Buffer for oihers. I sometimes fancy that hermits have no other object in view when they retire to mountain tops or lonely caves. What was curious about the Bretonnes was that they dwelt neither on mountain tops nor in lonely caves, but within three-quarters of an hour of one of the biggest ports in France. A novel personal experience in the literary world. A book of mine has recently been pub- lished. Some days after its publication the editors of various papers receive letters signed with my name, full of personal abuse of the gentle- men who act as their literary critics. The letters were never written by me, nor is the handwriting in any way like mine, though the signature is imitated. I heard of this friendly move from one of the critics. He had written a favourable notice of the book in question, and had sent it in. Said his editor to him, " If you knew what that man has been writing about you, I do not think you would want to do him a good turn." The critic wrote to ask me what I had been "up to." I answered that I had written no letters to editors, other than for money. He then procured the letter, and recognised that the writing was not mine, though the signature was a good imitation. I have since heard of other similar letters. Can this be anything else than an attempt to wreck my book at the outset, by provoking editors and critics very naturally and reasonably to put it under tabu? And what can one say of the cher confrere, the brother writer who can act like this? Robert H. Sheraed. THE FRIENDSJ^CHARLES LAMB. "Let me not lose my friends," he prayed, when pain And horror of great darkness veiled his way; And when an afterglow of peace held sway, "To all dear friends be thanks " was still his strain. Pathos touched sharpest in the wild refrain Of " old familiar faces " passed away: Laughter rose sweetest at the close of day When comrade voices eohoed his again. And Fate itself, grown kind, fulfilled desire— Even death consigned to no unfriendly grave This spirit, trained to noblest, gentlest ends: Still rose new hearts to listen, love, admire, And each new decade more than brethren gave To him who, dying, murmured " names of friends." "Murmuring in his last moments the names of his dearest friends, he passed tranquilly out of life."—Ainger's "Charles Lamb," (Men of Letters series), p. 165. M. C. V. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Bill printed in another column was originally started with a view of doing away with the 18th section of the Act of 1842, and gradually developed into its pre- sent form. The sub-committee of the Authors' Society have acted throughout with Parlia- mentary counsel (Mr. James Rolt of Lincoln's- inn), and have had also the assistance of their solicitors, Messrs. Field, Eoscoe, and Co. They have discussed the Bill fully with the sub-com- mittees of the Publishers' and Copyright Associa- tions. With some exceptions (especially clauses 4 and 13) the Bill has received the approval of the Publishers' Association. There are, however, some points on which the Copyright Association are not absolutely in accord with the Society. These points will no doubt be discussed when the Bill is in Committee. In another column will be found a letter on the ruling passion in the mind of the youug writer. It is, of course, the desire to be published. He wants to be published. Sometimes he believes in himself; then there is hope for him. Sometimes he is diffident about his own work, yet has put into it all the strength, and knowledge and power that is in him; then there is hope for him. Sometimes he thinks that his production is as good as that of many people who do get published. In other words, he knows that he has written rubbish yet wants it published. Then there is no hope for him. Sometimes—and this is very frequently the case—he fondly imagines that all the books in the advertised lists are bringing to their authors large fortunes, and he writes in the expectation of making a large fortune for himself. Then there is no hope whatever for that writer. In any case, however, the one thing which he desires is publication. Now, since the best thing for the bad writer is to learn that he cannot hope to- Bucceed, and since the best thing for the good writer is to get a chance, the publisher who brings out the first work of a new writer confers so great a boon upon that candidate that we ought not to be too careful about the first agreement, if it only makes provision for success and for equi- table terms in new editions. Readers of this paper, who are for the most part members of the Society, would do well to impress upon young  ## p. 13 (#419) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. '3 writers: (i) that very, very few of the advertised books are successful in any sense of the word: (2) that it is generally the height of folly to suppose that what good publishers refuse bad publishers can cause to succeed, because for good or for bad publishers ulike there is but one public: (3) that it is therefore as a rule a certain waste of money to pay for production. Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co. write from 2, White- hall-gardens: "At the request of Mrs. F. A. Steel we wish to let the public know that she does not derive any benefit of any kind whatever from the publication of her book' In the Tideway,' beyond the lump sum we agreed to pay her for a seven years' lease from the date of publication. This lease is dated three years back, and as it contains no clause specifying either prioe or manner of appearance, we have not consulted her as to either." The above letter appeared in the Times. It explains itself. Mrs. Steel, in 1894, sold, on a lease for a limited term, a story of about 30,000 words. She sold all rights, and the publishers were fully entitled to produce the book in any form, or at any price, they pleased. They have chosen to produce it at the price of 6s. The case is not, therefore, at all one of author v. publisher, but of bookseller and public v. publisher. It is not, either, a case of right and wrong. It is simply a case of what the public expect to get for a 6*. book, and what, in the interests of authors, as well as of themselves, publishers should offer as a 6*. book. It is, one would think, understood that such a book should give a certain amount of solid reading. But of late there have appeared several cases in which a short story of, say, 30,000 words or so, has been priced at 6s. A notable case was that of Olive Schreiner's "Trooper Halket." Of course, it may be argued that, in giving 6«. for so short a work, the buyer may be tempted by the name and the reputation of the author. Perhaps; but in very few instances. In most cases the course seems to be a mistake on the part of the publishers, and a mistake which canDot be otherwise than pre- judicial to the commercial value of a book. We cannot have a Literary Weights and Measures Act, but we can recognise the broad principle that 6s. or 4s. 6d. is a substantial sum to pay, and that most people cannot afford to pay so much for one short hour's reading. The ordinary 6*. book generally contains from 70,000 to 200,000 words, the average being about 100,000. The following letter makes an offer which may perhaps overwhelm the writer with an avalanche of acceptances and requests. The Secretary has his name, and will forward it to any member on application. The letter is written in the best spirit—one that we have long advocated—that of encouraging people of the literary profession to put away their foolish shyness and false shame and to communicate to each other through the Society their own experiences. If "An Occasional Contributor " would be so good as to follow up this letter by suggesting some practical plan for such interchange, he might do great good. "I have only just seen the February number of The Author, when I came across a letter by 'Well-wisher' (Correspondence 4), asking if any of your town readers would look up articles in a reading-room. I should be happy to do this free of charge, as I have to go to a reading-room anyway for the purpose of looking up my own articles and stories. It strikes me, too, that it would be a good thing if occasional contributors, like myself and 'Well-wisher,' had more oppor- tunity of interchanging views with regard to the prices paid by various papers and the possibilities of acceptance. I have contributed to various monthly and other papers, and as 'Well-wisher' has evidently done likewise, I should be glad to relate and receive experiences. "An Occasional Conteibutob." A letter of which the following is an extract appeared in the Times of May 20: It has long been felt as a matter of regret by many men and women associated with Liverpool, that the city possesses no memorial of Felicia Hemans, a native of that city, who also resided there when many of her best writings were produced. On May 14 a preliminary meeting was held in Liverpool to consider the question of a local memorial to Felicia Hemans. It was Resolved " That the memorial Bhould take the form of a prize associated with the name of Felioia Hemans, to be awarded for the composition of a lyrioal poem." It is considered that from £2$o to £300 will be required, and towards this amount several subscriptions have been promised. Contributions will be received by Mr. A. Theodore Brown, 26, Exchange-street East, Liver- pool, or by Mr. W. H. Picton, College-avenue, Crosby, near Liverpool." This letter was signed by Mr. Mackenzie Bell and Mr. W. H. Picton. It is late in the day, but it could not be too late to create some memorial to Felicia Hemans. Her short life of forty years terminated sixty-two years ago, in the year 1835. This is a period long enough to prove what enduring powers lie in her work. At the present moment there is but one opinion: that she is one of the sweetest and simplest of English poets, that her poems are still widely read and known, and that her influence is wholly good. The memorial will take the form of a prize to be awarded for the composition of a lyrical poem. This object can  ## p. 14 (#420) ############################################# '4 THE AUTHOR. be attained by the raising of a small sum of from ^£250 to .£300. I wish the promoters would make it .£2000 so that the prize might be a substantial help to some young poet. Liverpool has reason to be proud of her sons, if we consider only the names of the committee. How many readers will recognise this "Por- trait," and will know who drew it? I am Sir Oracle; when my tongue wags, Ay! and my beard, let no man call his soul His own, or flount me with the filthy rags Of an opinion free from my control. Let Shelley chatterers style my gait a roll, And witless upstarts criticise my "bags"; I am English-Saxon, rough as mountain crags, One grand, historic, rude, Belf-centred whole. Ancient is modern, modern ancient too, I have said so myriad times. Who doubts it? Fool! I want some nincompoop to state his view. I'd smash him flat as Fronde or Martin Rule. Yea, by my balidom! Certes! God wot! I am the Oxford Witenagemot. We have often advocated the prohibition of introducing Tauchnitz books into this country, hitherto without effect. At last, it appears, the Customs House officers have been ordered to do their duty. These books, which are pirate copies in this country, have been brought into the country every year by hundreds of thousands. The importation, which is usually conducted by travellers for their own private bookshelves, is a direct injury and loss to the author and owner of the property—how great a loss it is difficuly to com- pute. For certainly it does not follow that if a Tauchnitz copy is prohibited, a much dearer copy will be bought—that is not contended. But almost every copy of every readable book is lent by its owner, and it is fair to suppose that out of the twenty or thirty who read it one would prob- ably buy it. But all private book-shelves presently fall to the eecond-liand bookseller. There are many such shops where there are rows of Tauch- nitz books. The sale of Tauchnitz books must be prohibited as well as their importation. Indeed, I am astonished that booksellers have not imported them in quantities and sold them openly as new books and latest editions. I beg especial attention to the last paragraph of Mr. Sherard's letter. It describes an entirely new departure in venom and spite. He says that he has recently published a book, presumably his book on "White Slaves," which has been reviewed in many papers. Apart, it would seem, from any consideration of the review itself, whether it was favourable or the reverse, some infamous person has been sending to the editor of every paper a letter, signed with Mr. Sherard's name, abusing the critic of his book. One hopes that the perpe- trator of this spiteful forgery is not himself a man of letters. If so, the famous book on the " Quarrels of Authors" must be brought up to date. Mean- time an advertisement or two in the papers warning editors might produce a good effect. Walter Besant. THE RULING PASSION. IN the columns of The Author frequent mention is made of, and warning given on, the folly of paying for publication; and in almost every case, I venture to think, it would be well were the warning taken. I cannot agree with those who assert that it is "contemptible conceit" or egotism that makes a writer willing to sacrifice almost anything, some- times everything, in order to see his work in print. Bather let us take the broader, more generous view of sympathy with the worker. "In looking back," says Jeffrey—that stern critic—" I can hardly conceive anything in after life more to be envied than the recollection of that first outburst of intellect, when, freed from scholastic restraint, and throwing off the thraldom of a somewhat servile docility, the mind first aspired to reason and question nature for itself; and, half wondering at its own temerity, first ventured its unaided flight into the regions of adventure to revel uncontrolled through the bright and boundless realms of literature and science." And so it is with every worker who possesses true "grit." There are, of course, genuine writers and not genuine—as in everything there is genuine and spurious; and he who feels that he possesses the noble gift of inspiration, who has a profound love of literature, an earnest sincerity in his work, may surely be forgiven if, in that first burst of enthusiasm, he commit the folly of presenting to the cold, calculating eye of the critic, or the often unsympathetic gaze of the public, his innermost treasured thoughts. My own case. Since childhood the thought had possessed me: "I will write a book." I wrote that book. Through much tribulation and burning of the midnight oil did I write it, yet my days were days without leisure. My work was a loved and cherished secret. Each day as it grew I lived more and more in a land of dreams—an ideal world. My characters  ## p. 15 (#421) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. '5 became as living beings who awaited me in the quiet of my own room. Was not I lonely? asked my friends. Lonely? I laughed gaily. How could I feel loneliness while exchanging golden hopes with creatures of my own creation! At length the day arrived that saw the end of my labour. My " book," thought I, should go forth and speak to the world, while I remained unknown. I wrote to my chosen publisher—and be it understood he was one of the first and foremost in Her Majesty's dominions. Audacity? Conceit? Egotism? As you will. I know it was none of these. In due course I received a courteous note from Messrs. and Co. My MS. was refused. My loved work came home; it rests with me still. Looking over it now I know what a debt of gratitude I owe to the honourable firm of pub- lishers who " regretted they could not undertake the publication of my book." Smarting under my "failure" (so called), I wrote to a man whose advertisement appeared in that stately and fashionable paper, the Morning Post. It ran as follows: "A. well-known firm of London publishers is prepared to publish approved MSS., &c." Those who have had an experience like unto mine will understand my feelings when, after having hastily written and sent up a story of About 25,000 words, I received the following: "I have read this MS. with considerable inte- rest, and I like it. Kindly send more," &c. Nice comforting words; words to flatter and "tickle the ears" of any aspirant to literary fame. Need I add more? I fell among thieves. I ■was caught in a trap dexterously laid. The more ■easily was I snared when this publisher, because •of his " considerable interest" in my MS., offered to share half expenses and all risks! The result? Not sweet to the taste; in sooth, very bitter. Earperientia docet. I had bought my experience—how dearly none but myself will ever know—ere I chanced upon the I.S.A. And now I would ask, Can nothing be done to stamp out of existence these fraudulent publish- ing houses? Finns which are a disgrace to any community, and which trade on the inexperience of young writers—cannot their dealings be made public? I read with keen pleasure the proposal made in the February number of The Author by " An Old Bird," that the I.S.A. should " show the world of letters how a book should be turned out on true business lines," &c. I cannot but think that the proposal might be carried out with incalculable benefit to writers, and with honour, as well as lucrative returns, to the Society. I, for one, entirely hope that the "Old Bird's" eyes, and many others, may be gladdened in the near future with a sight of "I.S.A." upon many a title-page. E. W. H. MOODS -TENSES-VOICES. CYNICISM is a selfishness, a shallowness, a silliness, a sourness, or a sham. Idealism may be a matter of sunshine, or only a manner of moonshine. Materialism is a blindness, a hollowness, a hopelessness, or a truthfulness. Optimism is religious, scientific, selfish or super- ficial. Pessimism is dyspeptic, irreligious, unscientific, or unwise. Realism may be sunny, stormy, or only shady. Common criticism discovers little, but invents much. Proper criticism finds merit, while the common- place only finds fault. Wisdom is less a matter of reasoning than a manner of understanding. Were there no misunderstanding, there would be no misfortune. The wise suspend their judgment, while the unwise only strangle theirs. No one fully knows the Past, realises the Pre- sent, or understands the Future. Some romance never did happen, some never could, some never ought. Fallacies for the Past, facts for the Present, fancies for the Future. The Past may be perfect in fancy, but must be imperfect in fact. Perfection ever lies in the Future. Capacities, like conceits and reputes, are ever in process of change. Opportunities, like microbes, are often imper- ceptible, but always inexhaustible. Social reputes are as overcoats, and personal conceits as undershirts. Greatness is not a matter of fame, but a manner of force or of grace. Cons, ience is a common mean between Chance and Providence. Both humour and reverence are phases of sane sympathy. Faith may madden and truth may sadden, but Love must strengthen and sweeten. Religion may be feminine and science mascu- line, but shams must be neuter. Moods may be emotional, rational, or wilful. Morbid moods make trying tenses.  ## p. 16 (#422) ############################################# i6 THE AUTHOR. Sanity simply suggests sweet sympathy. Moderate truth must inspire; the immoderate may irritate. The manly voice is not fog horny, nor the womanly steam-sirenish. Higher art transfigures common things with uncommon thoughts. Impression may be a matter of gift; expres- sion must be a manner of growth. To be loved is to be encouraged; to love is to be raised. Phinlay G-lenelg. A FLEMISH SAGA. THOSE who are acquainted with the suburb of Brussels known as the Commune of Ixelles, must have observed at the foot of the causeway leading to the city a flower-garden on the bank of a piece of ornamental water. In the midst of the glowing beds of geranium and mignonette, heliotrope and rose, is a weeping willow shading a singular monument of masonry. It consists of a sort of portico, in the centre of which are two bronze statues of a man and woman seated, the woman leaning on the man, who looks straight before him with a rapt and visionary gaze. Symbolical carvings surround them—a spinning-wheel, a dog, and other graven images; on the man's breast hangs a small bag, and over all is a medallion showing a pure and thoughtful profile surmounted by the iegend " Charles De Coster." Among the many English who pass by, there are few who understand the meaning of this memorial. But to the Belgians it is a place of reverent honour. Hither came, one beautiful summer morning in 1894, a company of more or less distinguished men to unveil the newly-built monument, and to hear an eloquent address by M. Camille Lemonnier. In this discourse were rehearsed the praises of a man who had died, obscure and almost alone, the author of a work hardly noticed in his life-time, but now pronounced by enthusiastic compatriots to be the "Bible of Flanders." Of De Coster himself there was little to say. Born in on Munich, Aug. 20, 1827, he lived poor and solitary till May 7, 1879, when he succumbed to tubercular disease in a small apartment over a greengrocer's in Ixelles. His last moments were cheered by the presence of M. and Mme. Hector Denis—M. Denis being known even beyond the boundaries of his own little land as a distinguished member of the Left in the Belgian Senate, and a devoted friend of the labouring poor. It is by his work, long neglected, that De Coster deserves a loving record. Borrowing the name of the Ger- man jester of the Middle Ages, he has created him anew as the incarnation of his country's genius, placing him—by a bold anachronism—in the sixteenth century, among the fields and streets of Flanders, full of the havoc of the Spanish persecution and the bold resistance of the kindly but tenacious burgesses and peasants. The book at its first appearance was too novel in conception, perhaps too sumptuous in form, to catch the public. A bulky quarto volume, it was illustrated with numerous etchings by the best artists of that most artistic country, and had but a slow circula- tion. In his spirited discourse, M. Lemonnier, speaking in somewhat sorrowful tones, said: "The author was unnoticed in his own day"; "he died unappreciated "; "no glory smiled upon his pillow"; "all appeared at an end—his life and its oblivion." But "Death touched nothing but what was perishable; the turf of his grave opened, and a luminous soul arose—the soul of his country—the lark singing to the free heavens." Round the speaker stood men more fortunate in their own day: Maurice Maeterlinck; the great sculptor of modern Flanders, Julien Dillens; the Liberal Senator, Edmond Picard, author of " La Vie Simple "; Charles Buls, the famous Bourg- mestre who shared with King Leopold the honour of bearing the insults of a misled mob a few years ago; Professor Pergameni, of the Brussels University, and many others of local distinction, in whose persons a repentant public made atone- ment. The publisher, M. Paul Lacomblez, who was one of 1 he company, made haste to bring out a handsome reprint of the book, without the etchings, and at a popular price; the original work is now food for the wealthy bibliophile. It is impossible to give in a few words any just idea of the literary merits of the "Roman d'Ulenspiegel." It stands alone as the national expression of Flemish patriotism, and this sets it beyond comparison with historical romances of a purely pleasurable character, like "Quentin Durward" or "The Cloister and the Hearth." In its language and its incidents it breathes the very spirit of the dawn of modern European life. Chaotic in form, archaic in expression, it gives but a secondary place to that passion of a boy and girl which is the recognised essence of an ordinary romance. The narratives of sorrow and cruelty peculiarly belonging to the place and time are related with grim realism, while a light of idealism breaks out here and there which gives occasional glimpses of epic inspiration. In the end, after adventures sometimes bloody and often gross and crude, the hero is purified and raised above the common world. In vain do his enemies heap the light sand above what they deem to be his dead form. Leaping up with a laugh, Ulen- spiegel asks, "' Can you bury me, the genius of the  ## p. 17 (#423) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 17 mother-country? She also seems to sleep, but die she cannot.' And he fared on singing his sixth song, but his last—no man knows where he sang it." De Coster, too, has leapt to life after his teem- ing burial, and literary history can hardly show such another resurrection. H. G. Kbenk. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD-ITS PRESENT-DAT USE. rr^HE correspondence on this subject in The \ Author is interesting as having brought into prominence what one correspondent has called the absence of any " self-conscious rules of grammar " in the English language. While I have not the smallest claim to speak as an authority on the matter, yet it seemed to me that none of the rules adduced by various correspondents were framed in sufficiently comprehensive terms to in- clude all cases where the subjunctive mood is used both in accordance with the cumbrous and complex rules of the grammar books, as well as in the pages of the " most approved authors of the day." To these pages then,following Professor Skeat's advice, I betook myself, thinking that it might, perhaps, be possible to deduce from them a fairly clear and com- prehensive canon as to the use of the subjunctive mood in English. Readers of the correspondence in TAe-i^MfAormayperliaps be interested to hear of my results—if, indeed, they can be called results, for I must at once confess that I am no nearer the "clear and succinct rule " which Mr. Howard Collins de- sires, than I was before starting on my enterprise. The authors I selected were: Mr. George Meredith, Mr. Lecky, Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. Henry James, Mr. Leslie Stephen, Mr. H. D. Traill, Mr. John Morley, Mr. Hardy, Professor Dowden, and R. L. Stevenson; and after stalking subjunctives throughout the pages of one of each of the above- named authors' works, the only point on which I seem approximately clear is that the use of the sub- junctive in any verb except the verb "to be," is exceedingly rare. Of my ten authors, four, i.e., Mr. George Meredith, Mr. Lecky, Mr. Andrew Lang, and Mr. Henry James, never use any other verb in the subjunctive ; three, i.e., Mr. Leslie Stephen, Mr. H. D. Traill, and Mr. John Morley, have a single instance each; while R. L. Steven- son, Mr. Hardy, and Professor Dowden yield respectively six, four, and two such instances. Mr. L. Stephen's solitary instance of a verb other than the verb "to be" in the subjunc- tive mood, "even though it contain" (" Social Rights and Duties," vol. II., p. 161), is the more perplexing when we observe what might almost be called his callous indifference to the claims of that mood in other passages. Thus, he writes: "What difference does it make whether the brain . . . has a fixed resemblance to ... or be . . . the product," &c. {Ib., p. 9). "^If the honourable gentleman means to say . . . But, if his meaning be simply," &c. (Ib., p. 160). "It might be a question . . . whether the pleasure . . . be really so great, &c. . . . It is certainly also a question whether his expen- diture was ethically right " (Ib , p. 110). Similar instances might be multiplied. Mr. Lecky—whose sentences in his "History of Rationalism" are seldom cast in the hypothetical form—has, on p. 11, vol. I.: "Those who lived when the evidences of witchcraft existed in profusion . . . must surely have been as competent judges as ourselves, if the question was [and his argument goes to prove that it was not] merely a question of evidence ;" and again (lb., 433), where the case is purely hypothetical: "//"some great misfortune were to befall a man . . . if the physician declared [here there is no special form for the subjunctive] . . . if concealment was only possible by a falsehood, there are very few moralists who would condemn," &c. Mr. Andrew Lang (" Custom and Myth," p. 239) has: "If this was the cast*, surely the presence of those elements . . . should have been indicated. ... Is nothing said about the spirits of the dead ... in the Vedas? Much is said, of course. But were it otherwise," &c. Mr. Hardy (" Pair of Blue Eyes," p. 333) writes: "The gentle-modest would turn their faces south if I were coming east, flit down a passage 1/1 was about to halve the pavement with them." Mr. Henry James, in the volume entitled "Daisy Miller," never uses the subjunctive in the present tense, although he appears to discriminate care- fully between "was " and " were." Mr. Morley's "The most that the individual can do is to seek for himself, even if he seek alone" ("On Compro- mise," p. 101) is somewhat puzzling when com- pared with his: "Even if he thinhe it does mom harm than good" (76., p. 223); nor does his " if it be valid (lb., 174) explain itself side by side with "If the principle of such conformity is Hood for anything at all " on the following page. On the other hand, he appears to be consistent in his use of the past subjunctive. Mr. Meredith likes the subjunctive mood (of the verb " to be "), nevertheless we meet with: "It is a lute to scatter songs to his mistress; a rapier it she obstinate" ("Egoist," p. 12). "If it is necessary" (lb., p. 60), where there is both futurity and contin- gency, "Yet if my friend is not the same," &j. (Ib., p. 132, where the case is purely hypothe- tical). Contrast these with: "For any maltreat-  ## p. 18 (#424) ############################################# i8 THE AUTHOR. ment of the dear boy Love . . . you [i.e., the reader], if you be of common soundness" {lb., p. 300), "If it be a failing" (lb., p. 86), and "If this line of verse be not yet in our literature" {lb., p. 5). Professor Dowden, in his "Life of Southey," only twice uses the indicative after "if," and here again, it seems difficult to dis- criminate between, e.g., "If the ice were fairly broken he found it natural to be easy and familiar" (lb., p. 90), and "If to these melody icas added, he had attained" (lb., p. 193), &c. And while " except," "if," and "whether" are all followed by the present subjunctive, we find: "There was nothing in the poem that could be remembered with shame unless it is shameful to be generous," &c. (p. 170). I have, I fear, only made confusion worse confounded by my re- searches. But should any one object to our use or non-use of the subjunctive we can at least feel that the onus probandi rests with the accuser. Summary. . I Approximate number of words Author. Book. in book. ■George Meredith The Egoist 190,000 W. E. Lecky ... History of BationaliBm, vol. 1 102,000 Andrew Lang . .. Custom and Myth 68,000 Leslie Stephen... Social Eights and Duties, vol. II 71,000 T. Hardy Pair of Blue Eyes 99,000 E. Dowden Life of Southey 67,000 E. L. StevenBon. Men and Books 99,044 H. D. Traill Life of Coleridge 60,000 Henry James ... Daisy Miller 56,000 John Morley .. On Compromise 57,000 -Positive instances. Subjunctive moods. To be. Words to one sub- junctive. 2800 .. 3800 .. 2300 1400 2300 .. 3200 .. 1900 2900 2200 .. 2500 2S3oI ■ • 2043 • ■ 5370 • • 2957 ■ • 1543 • • 55oo • • 16750 .. 4280 .. 6666 2800 ■ • 1055 BOOKS AND THEIR ZEE PEES. [i.- Present. George Meredith 11 W. E. Leoky ... 11 . A. Lang 20 L. Stephen 36 T. Hardy..- 3* . E. Dowden 5 E. L. Stevenson. 5 H. D. Traill 5 . H. James — J. Morley 16 III.—Negative Instances. George Meredith 50 ... 11 ... 32 ... 93 W. E. Lecky ... 7 ... 2 ... 10 ... 19 A. Lang 13 ... 4 ... 6 ... 23 L.Stephen 15 ... 3 ... 28 ... 46 T. Hardy 11 ... 6 ... 1 ... 18 E. Dowden 1 ... 3 ... o ... 4 E. L. Stevenson. 6 ... 11 ... 8 ... 25 H.D.Traill 2 ... 2 ... 5 ... 9 H. James 2 ... 16 ... 2 ... 20 J. Morley 29 ... o ... 25 ... 54 * 2 "if so be." t After " though." I Average, B. E. Meyer. An Interview with Me. J. T. W. MacAlistee. "fT^HE index of a book should be made by the I author; anybody can do the rest of it." This curious saying, not Mr. Mac Aba- ter's, rang in the ears of the interviewer when, in his talk with the honorary secretary of the forthcoming International Library Conference, he came to the point of discussing questions that stand between librarians and authors. "It should be a rule," replied Mr. MacAlister, " that every book should be provided with a good index. To publish a book without one ought to be reckoned an offence." Another offence lies in the framing of titles. "Titles," said Mr. MacAlister, "should set forth clearly the nature of the books, instead of being merely fanciful, as they often are. It would amuse authors," he continued, "to find to what an extent librarians have to make new titles for their works. First we have to catalogue the title which the author has given to the book, but that has to be constantly followed by other titles which are absolutely necessary to make the ordinary reader understand what the book is about." Mr. MacAlister selected at random the follow- ing titles, which are meaningless to the average library user:—Buskin's "Ethics of the Dust," "Crown of Wild Olive," "Eagle's Nest," " Queen of the Air," " St. Mark's Best;'' Dr. John Brown's "Horse Subseeivae," Birrell's "Obiter Dicta," MacMichael's "Goldheaded Cane," Kinglake's "Eothen," MacDonald's " Orts," Miller's "Cruise of the Betsey." Again, "The Despot's Champion" is the title of a life of Claverhouse; "Through the Long Day," "Shadows of the Past," and "Faint, yet Pursuing," are also biographies; "In an Enchanted Island" is an account of Cyprus; while " Through the Long Night " is a pleasant specimen of the indefiniteness of many titles of novels. While on the subject of book-titles the inter- viewer ask-d Mr. MacAlister's opinion of the proposal made in The Author by Mr. F. Howard Collins, to the effect that the Society of Authors should compile a list of all the book-titles that had been used, in order that a writer would be saved from selecting a title which is already appropriated. Mr. MacAlister did not think sued an undertaking would be seriously worth while. "Bemember," he said, " that such a case of the same title being selected over again cannot happen where a very famous or important book is concerned. When it does occur, it argues that the forerunner in the title is a ' dead' book. The British Museum catalogue can always be discussed by the  ## p. 19 (#425) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 19 author, and, besides, Stationers' Hall people are very good in that way. To compile such a list as is proposed would be a gigantic task, and a very expensive one, but it would be like employing a Nasmyth hammer to crack an egg." The issue of old books under new titles is a practice more common than is generally supposed. "This may be said to be exclusively a trick of the novelist's," Mr. MacAlister remarked; "it is unknown in other fields of authorship. Thus a book which has been unfortunate as 'The Maid Forlorn ' will reappear after a decent interval as 'How to Prepare an Underdone Mutton Chop,' and the librarian buys the new book, as he thinks it to be, not knowing that it is on the shelves already in another dress. Of course it is com- mon for a story that has appeared as a serial to be published in volume form under a new title; that is quite different. But when a book that has failed under one title gets a new title-page stuck in and is then put on the market as a new book, it is simply a piece of dishonesty." [At this stage several cases were instanced.] "Authors do not realise either," said Mr. MacAlister in answer to another question, " how often their books sere printed on wretched paper. It would not be fair to mention names, but some well-known editions of popular novels are issued on paper so notoriously bad that librarians do not bind them after they have been in use a year or two. The difference in cost between a paper that will last one hundred or two hundred years and one that will, like the present average, hardly last fifty must be very trifling. Any author who seeks a lasting reputation cannot afford to overlook this matter, although I suppose the question of paper will lie principally with the publisher." On July 13 to 16 the second International Library Conference will be held in the Council Chamber of the Corporation of London. Libra- rians from all civilised parts will foregather here, under the presidency of Sir John Lubbock. Delegates—in the majority of cases representing the Government of these countries—will be present from France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Holland, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Af nca. Largest contingent of all, 300 American librarians will absent themselves from the States for two months with the avowed objects of becoming acquainted with as many English librarians as possible, seeing English methods of library administration, and visiting as many places of historic and literary interest as they can. Since its formation twenty years ago, the Library Association of the United Kingdom has grown from a membership of scarcely 200 to one of upwards of 500. The American librarian thinks he has a good deal to learn in England, but, on the other hand, this feeling is fully reciprocated by his British confrere with regard to America. Both from the Government and through private munificence, the American libraries have received much larger gifts than those of Britain. But, as Mr. MacAlister pointed out, the British experiment of establish- ing libraries by the will of the people, and having them voluntarily supported by the rates, has in many respects produced a better effect by leading the people to take a more personal interest in them. "At the same time," continued Mr. MacAlister, "we should be very glad indeed if public spirit in this country could induce the Government to do something for public libraries. They have done nothing so far." "We have not attained to the Bibliographical Professorships yet?" "No, but there is an approach to it in the Sandars Readership in Bibliography at Cambridge. Mr. Sandars was a member of our association who bequeathed a considerable sum, the interest of which was to be devoted to the payment of the lecturer. In America, of course, there are fully equipped library schools, with lecturers attached, and degrees in librarianship. We have hopes that when a new teaching and examining University is established in London there may be a chance of getting the new authorities to recognise the importance of the subject. It is only in London that there is sufficient material to give practical illustrations to students." PERSONAL. MR. LECKY, M.P., presided at the Book- sellers' Dinner on the 8th ult., and in proposing "Literatureand Science,"said that the first thing that would strike one was the enormous multiplication of books. The power of spinning something in the nature of a book from the slenderest possible materials with the greatest possible haste was an accomplishment which the present age had brought to a perfec- tion that no other generation had ever attained. It might be said that there was no great harm in writing a book which no one was obliged to read, and, indeed, the sale of some works had the positive advantage of making the lives of their authors somewhat more easy than they otherwise would be. But, after making all allowances, he still felt bound to say that contemporary litera- ture would probably be much better if it were somewhat less voluminous and somewhat more  ## p. 20 (#426) ############################################# 20 THE A UTHOh. choice. He did not wish to speak in a desponding way about literature. If poor books were greatly multiplied it did not mean that good books were less numerous. Nothing was more remarkable than the silent, steady sale of good books long after people had ceased talking about them. Tuesday, May n, was a ladies' night of the New Vagabond Club, when five to six hundred guests sat down to dinner in the Holborn Restau- rant. Mr. Hall Caine, who presided, in giving "The Ladies," said that the reign all were going to celebrate had been pre-eminently the reign of woman. Some rumours they heard of masculine jealousy that women were competing, perhaps too successfully, with some of them in the pro- fessions, but he did not believe that any man worthy of the name ever yet owed a woman a grudge because she was beating him in his craft, and he appealed to them to see that when a woman crossed their path in her struggle to live she should have fair play and every chance and every help that a man's hsmd could give her. Lecturing at the Royal Institution on "Romance," Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins said that the leading characteristics of romance as a quality in literature were, first strong emotion; second, a high pitch of abstraction; and third, self-assertion. Every novel which dealt with love was not romance. For example, there was a large class of novels which gave pictures of the life that was about them every day, and in which love played, so far as the incidents went, a leading part. But the love was not a subject; it was rather a datum. That was not of necessity untrue to life, but it might be anything in the world except romance. Novels with "love" for their theme failed in that respect. The love-making was itself mechanical. It did not rule the book. They were, in fact, constrained to believe that the author did not understand his theme, or had confused the theme with the auxiliaries. That was why those books were not romances. There was no power, no imagination in them. The " problem novel" and the "realistic novel" were not in the nature of romances, for, instead of simplicity and confidence, they found in them complexity and self-distrust. He admitted that it was not always so easy to draw the line between the novel and the romance. For example, in "Tom Jones," "Vanity Fair," and " Pendennis," there would be found matter of a romantic character. Generally speaking, the reader should ask what was the theme, and by that he should judge. Let them take the story of "The Three Musketeers." They would exclaim, "Here is romance!" Why Y Because, in spite of all its complexity, they found running through the whole book and inspiring it that one strong simple passion or emotion which ruled the lives of the leading characters, and, above all, that of the great hero D'Artagnan. Dumas's trilogy of the Musketeers was a romance of the joy of action. Those men did not so much care as to what they were at, but they must be at something. At the same time, he did not say there was nothing in " Tom Jones" or "Pendennis" of a similar kind. It would be, perhaps, correct to say that the great English writers used their heroes to gratify the world, and the great Frenchman used the world to gratify his heroes. The romancist was not the worst companion that a reader would find speaking to him words of truth. The New York Critic of April 10 announces the result of its prize competition for the best list of the best twelve American short stories. The prize has gone to Mr. J. W. George, of St. Louis, who has selected two stories by Hawthorne, two by Irving, two by Poe, and one each by Dr. Hale (" The Man Without a Country," of course), Bret Harte, Frank R. Stockton, Thomas Nelson Page, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and Mary E. Wilkins. The editors add that they do not offer this "as an ideal list, be it observed, but merely as, on the whole, the best of those submitted." Some 500 lists were received, and they publish, also, another list, containing only one story by a single author—the authors selected being T. B. Aldrich, H. Bunner, F. R. Stockton, Mary E. Wilkins, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, E. E. Hale, G. W. Cable, and Richard Harding Davis. Mrs. Linnaeus Banks, the novelist, died at Dalston, on May 4, in her seventy-sixth year. Her best known stories are "God's Providence House" (the historic building in Chester which escaped the plague) and "The Manchester Man." Like the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Mrs. Banks was well advanced in life before she began to publish any remarkable work. "God's Providence House" appeared when she was forty-five, and "The Manchester Man" about a decade later. As Miss Isabella Varley she had, however, written and published verses in Manchester newspapers as early as her sixteenth year. Her first collection of poems, "Ivy Leaves," appeared in 1844. Mrs. Banks was a native of Manchester, and her works were especially popular in Lancashire. It is told of the late Mrs. Banks that, when negotiating for the serial publication of one of her novels, she felt herself somewhat worsted in the bargaining. She accepted the terms, but, by way of revenge, exclaimed, "' It is naught, it is  ## p. 21 (#427) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 2 1 naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way then he boasteth.'" The publisher was greatly pleased with the cleverness of the quota- tion, and his estimate of Mrs. Banks's work by no means suffered in consequence of her witty protest. Mr. Theodore Bent, the indefatigable explorer of South-East Africa and Arabia, died, on May 5, of malarial fever and pneumonia, at the age of fifty-two. His works included "The Cyclades; or Life among the Insular Greeks" (1885); "Ruined Cities of Mashonaland" (1892); and "Sacred Cities of the Ethiopians" (1893). FROM "POEMS" BY S. L. E. An jEolian Harp. From harp strings strained before the wind Strange music issues forth; It comoth now from east and west, And now from south and north. At first a sweet, low, moaning wail, Pathetic, fitful, mild; Then, gathering strength—the sound bursts forth In music strong and wild. We listen breathless; joyful strains Must crown this fitful play. Alas! the mnBic drops and falls, And, moaning, dies away. The song of life, the Christian song, Begins full oft in pain; Then, gathering strength, bursts forth in song, Begins a heavenly strain. Begins—a hopeful prelude gives Of heavenly music here; But soon ib quenohed in death—the theme Is for another sphere. There will earth's wild, tumultuous notes, And discords here too strong, Be gathered up in one complete, One rapturous, perfect song. A SUGGESTED RECONSTITUTE. AT the recent annual meeting of the Society I brought forward a proposition for the direct election of the Council by the whole body of the members of the Society. Sir W. Besant asked me to put my suggestions into writing for publication in The Author, and this request I now comply witb. Of course we all know that, at present, the Council, however generally representative it may be, is in no sense elective; for the members of the Society have no voice in the choice of their "representatives." No doubt, in the early days of the Society this arrangement was judicious, for the great body of members were ignorant and helpless, whilst a few leading spirits alone had any adequate knowledge of the needs and true interests of the Society. It was therefore well that those who so generously devoted time and labour to promoting the interest of their fellow authors should be given a free hand in their choice of colleagues; in other words, it was perhaps well that the infant Society should be governed autocratically. But it is obvious that the rigime which is good for infancy is highly unsuitable for adolescence, and that sooner or later the Society must be released from leading strings and allowed to govern itself and to exercise the franchise; and I think that many members agree with me in hold- ing that the time for a Reform Bill has now arrived. Last year an attempt was made to introduce a small elected element into the Society, but this attempt resulted in failure. The reason for this failure I alluded to at the annual meeting, but it is unnecessary to repeat my remarks here, since we are looking forward and not back- ward. I proposed that the whole Council shall be directly elected by the Society, each member serving, say, three years, and a third of the Council retiring every year. For the purpose of election the Society should be divided into faculties, each faculty electing a proportionate number of councillors. For instance we should require a faculty out of Fiction, Poetry, Music, Education, Physical Science, and so on. It would be neces- sary to fix a minimum number of members for each faculty, and as a basis for negotiation I suggest that no faculty should be constituted with fewer than 100 members. Where the writers upon any subject were too few to claim a faculty for themselves, they should be classed with writers on allied subjects into a joint faculty, just as at London University the graduates in music, being too few to claim a faculty of their own, are classed for voting purposes with the graduates in science. Thus it might be necessary, at present, to put sociologists, historians, and legal writers into one faculty; to class dramatists, poets, and all other writers on aesthetics together; to put psychologists into the Physical Science faculty, and so on; but these are all matters of detail that can easily be arranged. Similarly when a writer belongs equally to two subject-faculties he should be allowed to decide in which he would be classed for voting purposes. One point I must especially emphasise. It is absolutely essential to this scheme that each faculty, whether including 100 or 400 members, should elect the same number of representatives,  ## p. 22 (#428) ############################################# 22 THE AUTHOR. for the Society is concerned with the interests of every branch of literature, and not merely with the interests of a majority of its present members. We must here adopt the old political principle that interests and classes, not simply heads, must be counted. Unless this system be adopted it is clear that one slightly dominant faculty might outvote the others, and "nobble" the whole machinery of the Society in the interests of one class of writers only. This, of course, would soon lead to a secession of the other members, and the foundation of a rival Authors' Society, and that would be a disaster which we must avoid at all hazards. Therefore we must make it a tine qua nun that each faculty elect the same number of representatives. One word more and I have done. The elec- tions must be real and not formal. Everyone who has belonged to any of our scientific societies knows that, although theoretically their consti- tution is a pure democracy, yet actually it is a pure oligarchy, for the outgoing council always nominate their successors, and the society goes through the farce of filling up ballot papers which never include the names of any rival candi- dates, for it is considered "bad form " to oppose the council's nominees. Against this un-English abuse we must make stringent safeguards, and I therefore propose that, at each election there shall be at least two candidates for every vacancy, so that the election must necessarily be real. I pro- pose that the initiative shall be left with private members of each faculty, but that if in any faculty there be fewer than two candidates pro- posed for each vacancy, the Council, or preferably individual members thereof, shall propose suffi- cient candidates to make up the required number; but otherwise the Council should nor, interfere in the elections. Such is, in brief, the outline of the Reform Bill which I have the honour of laying before the Council and my fellow-members of the Society; and I hope that the English spirit of popular government and an unrestricted fran- chise will be amply strong enough in the Society to ensure its adoption. F. H. Perky Coste. BOOK TALK. THE Jubilee celebrations are causing a healthy stoppage for a week or two in the free flow of new books. As one result, the autumn season will perhaps prove to be an unusu- ally busy one this year. The Royal Asiatic Society will commemorate the completion of the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria by founding a gold medal for distinguished scholarship, to be awarded trien- nially for the best work on an Oriental subject in the English language. A series of small books upon the "Imperial" platform is projected by Messrs. Horace Marshall and Sons, entitled "The Story of the Empire," edited by Mr. Howard Angus Kennedy. The series will begin with a volume by Sir Walter Besant on "The Rise of the English-Speaking Race"; to be followed by volumes on South Africa, by Mr. E. F. Knight; on Australia and New Zealand, by Miss Flora Shaw; and on Canada, by Mr. Kennedy. These books will be all short; and, it is hoped, attractive and instructive. Mrs. Alfred Baldwin's " Story of a Marriage" has been added to Messrs. Macmillan's Colonial Library. "Daughters of Thespis: a story of the Green Room," is the title of Mr. John Bickerdyke's new novel. The publishers are Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Limited. The same author has recently published through Mr. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, an illustrated six-shilling volume entitled "Wild Sports in Ireland." It includes descriptions of the author's considerable yachting, wildfowling, and fishing experiences on the large Shannon lakes. "False Gods," a novel by Mrs. Albert S. Bradshaw, has just been published by Messrs. Henry and Co. Two poems by Mrs. Albert S. Bradshaw have been taken by Messrs. George Routledge and Co. for publication in the "Fernandez Reciter," just published. Miss Bertha Thomas has written a series of stories presenting various pictures of modern English society. The book, entitled "Camera Lucida; or, Strange Passages from Common Life," will be published by Messrs. Sampson Low and Co. Mr. Guy Boothby's new story, "The Fascination of the King," is about to be published by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Co. Mr. Clark Russell has written "A Tale of Two Tunnels," which Messrs. Chapman and Hall will publish. Mr. Hume Nisbet and Mr. Alan St. Aubyn each has a new work of fiction in course of publi- cation by Messrs. White. Mr. Marion Crawford has written a novel entitled "A Rose of Yesterday," which Messrs. Macmillan will publish.  ## p. 23 (#429) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 23 Mr. Lane is publishing this month two volumes —one of prose and one of verse—of the works of Col. John Hay, the new American Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. The books are "Castilian Days " and " Poems." Mr. Tom Gallon's novel, "Tatterley," is being adapted for the stage by Mr. Norman Forbes. Professor Miall, of Leeds, has written " Thirty Years of Teaching," a volume which Messrs. Mac- millan will publish shortly. Professor George Adam Smith, of the Free Church College, Glasgow, has undertaken to write the biography of the late Professor Henry Drum- mond. The possessors of material connected with the subject are invited to send it to Professor Smith, 22, Sardinia-terrace, Glasgow; or to Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. The Indian prince and famous English cricketer, K. S. Ranjitsinhji, has written a book upon the game. It will be published by Messrs. Black- wood. "The Diary of Master William Silence " is the title of a study of Shakespeare and of Elizabethan sport, which Mr. Justice Madden, of the Irish Bench, has written. It will be published by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. The long-expected Life of Lord Tennyson will be published on Oct. 6, the fifth anniversary of the poet's death, by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. "Are We to go on with Latin Verses?" This inquiry is the subject of a pamphlet by the Hon. Edward Lyttelton, head master of Haileybury College, which Messrs. Longmans will publish. Mr. W. M. Rossetti has selected and edited a volume of "Poems " by the late Mr. J. Lucas Tupper, who was a contributor to the Germ in 1850. The volume will be published by Messrs. Longmans. Miss Ella Fuller Maitland is publishing a col- lection of her verses, under the title " The Song Book of Bethia Hardacre." A volume of poems by Mr. F. W. Bourdillon, some of which are new, while others appeared anonymously in Oxford some years ago, is to be published by Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen. The title will be "Minuscula: Lyrics of Nature, Art, and Love." Mr. Henry Craik, C.B., is writing a history of Scotland from the Union, which will deal in special detail with the 100 years following 1745. General Maurice, C.B., is writing a volume on "National Defence" for Messrs. Macmillan's English Citizen series. The rebuilding of the London Library will be begun next month. A number of Spanish books have been added to the collection lately, but the library is still deficient in the literature of the Romance languages. At the 107th anniversary dinner of the Royal Literary Fund subscriptions were announced to the amount of nearly <£iooo, headed by the sixtieth donation of £100 by Her Majesty the Queen. Lord Lister, who presided, said that Literature was an uncertain calling by no means rewarded according to its deserts. To a man of high literary culture and exquisite sensibility, the mercy extended through this fund blessed those who gave and those who but for that would have been lost to the world. A fine copy of the extremely rare quarto, the "Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice" (1600), was sold at Sotheby's for ,£315. This is the highest sum ever realised for a first edition of one of Shakespeare's plays. Mr. Vere Foster is printing the correspondence of the two Duchesses of Devonshire, in which there will be letters of Fox, Sheridan, Gibbon, Moreau, Napoleon, the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, and others. The work will be entitled "The Two Duchesses." Mrs. Patmore is engaged writing a memoir of her husband. She will be assisted in the work by Mr. Basil Champneys and Mr. Frederick Greenwood. Mr. Champneys has also designed the monument to be erected over the grave of the poet in Lymington Cemetery, and per- mission has been granted by the authorities for trees to be planted near the spot. To the expense of the latter object all who wish to do so may send contributions to Rev. Father O'Connell, The Presbytery, Lymington; or to Mr. F. G. Stephens, 10, The Terrace, Hammer- smith, W. Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have brought out a one-volume storv, entitled "A Princess of Islam." The author is Mr. J. W. Sherer, C.S.I., whose chapters ou the great Mutiny formed a feature in Col. Maude's book published in 1895. The new story is mainly devoted to the domestic life of the Indian Muslims — a curious and interesting subject. A curious illustration is to hand (says a corre- spondent) of the small equipment of historical knowledge requisite for a successful journalist. Here is an editor who in expressing sympathy with the Greeks observes that the best soldiers are subject to panic when ill led! Under a Wellington or a Nelson, Tommy is "practically invincible; at Fontenoy or Bunker's Hill he runs."  ## p. 24 (#430) ############################################# 24 THE AUTHOR. The writer ought surely to have known that as much valour was shown by the private soldiers at these two fights as at Waterloo. If any use was to be made of the argument it would have been more to the purpose to compare the Royalists and Roundheads at Naseby. But this, doubtless, is "ancient history," which journalism, we know, disdains. "The Note-book of Tristram Risdon " |(i6o3- 1628) has long lain buried in the richly-stocked library of Exeter Cathedral. It is a companion to the well-known "Chronological Description or Survey of the County of Devon," published in 1714, and contains much information which closely concerns Devonshire genealogists. Mr. James Dallas, F.L.S., Curator of the Exeter Museum, has transcribed the MS., and the volume is about to be issued by Mr. Elliot Stock. Two hundred and fifty copies only will be printed for subscribers. Headon Hill's new novel "By a Hair's Breadth," which begins to run in Cassell's Maga- zine this month, will be published in volume form when it has finished its serial course, simulta- neously in London and New York. The English publishers will be Messrs. Cassell and Co., and the American rights have been acquired by Messrs. Dodd, Mead, and Co., of New York. —> • «^ LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. The Literature or the Victorian Era. H. D- Traill. Fortnightly Review for June. The Apotheosis op the Novel under Queen Victoria Herbert Paul. Nineteenth Century for May. Canton English. Colonel Wilkinson J. Shaw. New Revievi for May. Shall English Become a Dead Language? Review of Reviews for April; Spectator for May 1. Stevenson as a Writer. Mr. George Moore in Daily Chronicle for May 12; E. Le Gallienne in Westminster Gazette for May 19. Canadian Poetry. John A. Cooper. National Review for May. A Poet op Spring [Herriok],—Temple Bar for May. On the Theory and Practice op Local Colour. W. P. James, Macmillan's for May. The day of estimates of Victorian literature is upon us. Mr. Lang, indeed, opened the ball a few months ago. Dr. Traill contributes a more lengthy review to the new Fortnightly. Except for the triumph.* of the Romantic and Naturalist movement in English poetry, the literature of the nineteenth century, he says, will mean exclusively the literature of the Victorian Era. The two decades—1837-1857—which witnessed the birth of the works of Tennyson Browning, Carlyle, Macaulay, Dickens, Thackeray, and Ruskin, was a dazzling period which need fear no com- parison with the most famous periods of English history. From 1857 to 1877 the tide of literary produc- tion was steadily receding. Only, it produced Mr. Swinburne—beside whom Dr. Traill declines to place Rossetti or Matthew Arnold. In fiction, George Eliot's advent might, at first sight, appear to retrieve the literary credit of the period, but "we should be careful not to mistake the ap- proval of the critical and cultured English society for a popular pronouncement. The middle Vic- torian Era is not really the age of Tennyson in poetry and George Eliot in prose fiction; it is the age of Trollope as a novelist and of Martin Tupper as a poet"—and "one need not cast about for any severer criticism on the taste of the time." The reaction, as regards fiction, may be said to have begun when Mr. Blackmore gave "Lorna Doone to the world; and certainly, from the middle of the seventies to the present time, the art of the novelist has displayed a vitality, a strength, a many-sided activity, on which we may justly pride ourselves. They have witnessed Mr. Hardy's elevation to a foremost place among English novelists; Mr. Meredith's emergence from the shadow of an almost lifelong neglect; and the career of Stevenson. The last— "the youngest, and much younger than the eldest "—has naturally exercised the greatest influ- ence. To him we owe the new romantic move- ment, whose only serious competitor for popularity at the present day is the "Kailyard " school. As to this latter band of writers, Dr. Traill observes: "Time may be trusted to sift out the Scotch novelists who are novelists first and masters of the Doric afterwards from those with whom this order of procedure is reversed; and it will be in- teresting to note which of them will prove his substance and solidity as a wi-iter by remaining in the sieve." Dr. Traill also notices a remarkable improve- ment in workmanship during the last dozen years, which has made it difficult, in the case of dozens of novels which are issued from the press every year, to discover the delineating line between the merits of their form, and the merits or demerits of their matter. In a concluding passage he has a word of mordant reproof for some present-day criticism: If the democratic movement has made for the wider diffusion of the literary faculty, it has, on the other hand, infected the published estimates of literary productions with the peculiar and characteristic vices of democracy— with its vehemence, its ignorance, its inconsistency, its insatiable thirst for the sensational, its vulgar admiration for artistic vulgarity, its utter laok of measure and reserve. From the exaggerated eulogy, the shameless reclame which  ## p. 25 (#431) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. attends even the most moderate of contemporary successes in literature, sober criticism revolts . . and it needs a determined fair-mindedness on the part of the critic to refrain from judging the whole literary movement of the time by these repellent incidents. "The novel threatens to supersede the pulpit. . . Perhaps few of us realise the extent to which the novel is a growth of the present reign. If we put aside the great and conspicuous in- stances of Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, of Fanny Burney, Jane Austen, and Walter Scott, there is scarcely an English novelist now read who died before Her Majesty's accession to the throne." Thus Mr. Herbert Paul. The weight of responsibility that has been shown to result from this serious view which is taken of themselves by the new class of novelists does not, however, wholly recommend itself to Mr. Paul. "Those who love, Uke Horace, the golden mean, may look back," he says," with fondness to the beginning of Her Majesty's reign, when novelists had ceased to be pariahs and had not become prigs." The poli- tical novel is among the more or less literary products of the Victorian age, and chief of poli- tical novelists is, of course, Mr. Disraeli. But how far is either the political or the historical novel (which may be considered as a variety of the political) legitimate or desirable r "I must confess to thinking," Mr. Paul answers, "that a novel should be a work of the imagination, and that it must stand or fall upon its own merits, without reference to any external standard what- ever. A novel which only interests those who are interested in the subject of it does not, if this view be correct, belong to the highest class." The "novel with a purpose" is also a product of the Victorian age. Dickens began it when he ran a tilt at the Poor-law in "Oliver Twist," and con- tinued it when he attacked the Court of Chancery in "Bleak House." Charles Kingsley's novels had a great practical influence in the promotion of sanitary improvement; although their earnest- ness was not conducive to literary perfection. And if novels with a purpose are to be written at all, they could hardly be written more wisely than Charles Reade, whose purposes were in every respect benevolent and praiseworthy, wrote them —Charles Reade whom, by the way, Mr. Paul classes with Whyte Melville and Wilkie Collins as authors who have fallen into oblivion. Mr. Paul is happy, too, that the school of Dickens is at last dying out. Their dreary mechanical jokes, their hideous unmeaning caricatures, their descriptions that describe nothing, their tears of gin and water, provoke only unmitigated disgust. But Dickens is absolved from responsi- bility for the long lingering train of weak imitators. His position is "unassailed and unassailable. He must always remain an acknowledged master of fiction and a prince of English humourists." Mr. Stead's alarm for the language is not shared by the writer in the Spectator. Mr. Stead pictures one language being spoken in London, another in Chicago, and a third in Melbourne, the users of these dialects being mutually un- intelligible. He proposes that to avert the danger of our race being struck with the curse of Babel, a sort of academy of editors and men of letters should be formed, who would keep the language true and make our words and phrases keep line. Assuming for the moment that the danger feared by Mr. Stead doesexist, the Spectator replies that this suggested remedy would be worse than the disease, and they would rather see the English language grow so disunited that it would cease to be a single language, than see it perish by being confined in an academic strait-waistcoat. The beauty of any language is its freedom and adaptability; when it has become fixed and rigid it is dead. Again, no committee could tell whether a word is a good word or a bad word, or whether it is wanted or not. Thousands of words which we now consider absolutely essential to the language were, when they were first introduced, described as quite unnecessary and the mere surplusage of pedantry or affectation. Each word must take its chance. But all this is beside the question, for the Spectator writer does not admit the need for an academy for the English language; he denies the proposition that the English race in its various habitations is taking to unintelligible dialects. "We have never met a newspaper article in modern English, much less a printed book, whether hailing from America or Australia, which, if not deliberately intended to- be a skit on current local slang, was not perfectly intelligible to every educated man who uses the English language as his mother tongue." Free trade in words has kept the language steady. Books written in the Elizabethan age are still perfectly intelligible. The language will broaden and deepen, and yet remain as clear as ever. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Output op Authors. IFIND it stated in The Author for May i that I confess to having written two of my books at the rate of 7000 words a day. I made no such confession. I said that while I had two of my earlier books in hand I must have written as much as 7000 words a day, but that that included  ## p. 26 (#432) ############################################# 26 THE AUTHOR. a mass of journalistic work—a very different thing from invention. H. G. Wells. Heatherlea, Worcester Park, Surrey. II. —The Moi-meme in Journalism. Students of literary methods cannot fail to have remarked the extensive growth of late of the moi-meme style of contribution, whether as applied to books, the drama, parliamentary reporting, or even the telegraphic views of "our own " or " our special." Is this new departure a healthy one? I venture to think not. The advantage of a lavish employment, over initials, of the personal pronoun is by no means apparent. Rightly or wrongly, a feeling is engendered that the impartial duties of a writer towards the organ he represents are being sacrificed upon the altar of egoism. Thus the small, not infrequently very insignificant, " I myself" flouts the more potent editorial " we " in quite a cheeky fashion. As a matter of fact, the general public are apt to resent individual opinions as above indicated, and fail as a rule to even identify such contributors, save when pseudonyms or initials are of established reputation. Anonymity in journalism, apart from book reviewing, seems to me the wisest course for all parties concerned. Cecil Clarke. Authors' Club, S.W. March 17. _ III. —The Criticism of "Dolomite Strongholds." That "the works of members should not be criticised in The Author" is a healthy rule, and I was glad to see it formulated, on p. 287, in the last number. But, in the previous number (p. 264), I am sorry to see that Sir William Martin Conway has managed to insert a very damaging criticism of a member's book, which he names in full—"' Dolomite Strongholds,' by J. Sanger Davies "—and the attack is none the less effective because it is brought in " to illustrate" Sir W. M. Conway's novel views of the moral obligations which should govern his reviewing, or should not. What necessity was there for giving the full title and author's name? The " illustra- tion" in no way needed it. Of course, as Sir W. M. Conway declares that he has "reviewed with open hostility . only three books," I am not seeking a reason for the supposition that he intended, in this case, "to kill the book if he can," although members of the Alpine Club did once suggest something. But why trouble your readers, who are chiefly non-climbers, with a climbing criticism of my book? Sir William Martin Conway informs them: "The book is not a good. one from the point of view of an expert climber." The opinion, as an opinion, is a perfectly legiti- mate one, especially coming from one who pro- jected and announced a little book of his own upon the same group of mountains, with the aid, how- ever, of another hand. But why drag in this, or any other opinion, with full title of book and the author's name, into an illustration in a letter to The Author? True, there was a balancing clause, that he "praised" the same book in a popular weekly because it was " quite amusing," &c.; and, from the context, I may gain the further comfort that the readers of popular weeklies, "being possibly the fools they are," will get "no false notions of any importance " from my book. But I must decline to see the compensation even in this " praise," and I trust that there will be no further criticism of the works of any member of the Authors' Society in the pages of The Author. J. Sanger Davies. IV.—A Good Word for Editors. I recently sent a short story to one of our current publications, and received a cheque from the editor for just twice the amount asked. Though the fee named was a modest one, it was at a rate of payment that is, I believe, often used. That the story may have been worth more than the author asked for it makes no difference to the liberality of the transaction, but helps to prove that editors are not all mean and grasping. Why do I write this? Justice is my plea. May 17, 1897. Margarita. V.—Answers to some of the Questions in "A Self-Examination Paper for Candid Critics."—[The Author for May.] 1. I have only read " Robinson Crusoe " in Ger- man, where the hero figures as Crusoe Robinson. I never make any remarks upon the book, affec- tionate or other. 3. I published an article in the National Review for July, 1890, showing the "Vicar of Wakefield" to he one of the coarsest and most grossly absurd stories in English litera- ture. 5. Ranke's "History of the Popes," of course. —Contemplating the ruins of St. Paul's with a view to sketching them. Who doesn't know that?  ## p. 27 (#433) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 27 6. Give the article. Will any do? 4. (b.) I have a ri^ht to draw comparisons between any two novelists that are comoarable. Does M. C. V. intend to insinuate that, for instance, George Eliot, Mrs. Gaskell, Mrs. Oliphant, and, say, Mrs. Humphry Ward, are not comparable to Jane Austen, or that the female novelist of the present day is "incomparable "? In either case I disagree with him. Frederic H. Balfour. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [April 24 to Mat 22—240 Books.] "Actinotus." The Power of (he Pane. 3/6. Sonnenschein. Adcock. A. St. John. East-End IdyllB. 8/6. Bowden. Alexander, Mrs. Mrs. Crichton'B Creditor. White. Anonymous. America and the Americana. Heinemann. Anonymous: A. O. M. Two Brothers. Gardner. Anonymous: M. R. S. OptimuB, and Other Poems. 2/6. Sonuenschein. 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His Excellency (Eugene Rougon). 8 6. Chatto.  ## p. 28 (#435) ############################################# AD VER TISEMENTS. iii ELLIOT STOCK'S NEW VOLUMES OF TALES In crown 8vo., cloth, Illustrated, price 7s. 6d WREKIN SKETCHES. By EMMA BOORE. NEW STOBY FOB CHILDREN. In small fc»p. 8vo., parchment cover, price 2a. Sd. SPICK and SPAN. A Story for Children. By AUNT CHEERY. :The little tale ia prettily and simply told, and the tone of the book Is altogether admirable."—Dundee Advertiser. NEW VOLUMES OF VERSE. In crown 8to., cloth, price 6s. IN LONDON, and other Poems. By C. J. SHEARER. In fcap. 8vo., cloth, price 5s. JENNIFRED, and other Verses. By SEPTIMUS O. GREEN. "The titlo poem is finely, even richly, coloured, and 1b suggestive of the romantic period in which its scenes are set. Mr. Green infuses considerable vigour into his lines."—Dundee Aiieertuer. AND POEMS. In crown 8vo., cloth, price fis. The HUMS HOMELAND, and other Verses. By ROSLYN. 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Being the Record of a Visit to the Headquarters of the Syrian Church in Mesopotamia, with some account of the Yazidis, or Devil Worshippers of Mosul, and El Jilwah, their Sacred Book. By OSWALD II. PARRY, 13.A. (Of Magdalen College, Oxford.) Illustrated by the Author. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham. "The author of this handsome volume presents 'a detailed study of a relic of history pursued off the track of general research;' ho has sought to give, and has succeeded In giving,' a picture of quiet life in a country much abused, and among a people that command less than their share of ordinary interest.' 'Westward the tide of Empire takes its way,' sang a prophetic divine of the olden days, and no leas certainly, as Mr. Parry points out, does the ebb of travel return towards the East. . . . Aa a volume descriptive of life and travel among a distant people, his work is well worth reading, but for those persona who are more particularly concerned with the old Syrian Church, or in the aolution of the problem indicated above, it is one of quite unique attraction. Apathetic interest attaches to the account of the YazidU included in thiB volume, for it contains part of their sacred writings, the original manuscript of which was In the hands of Professor Robertson Smith for translation at the time of his death."—P-ubUther? Circular. London: Horace Cox, WindBor House, Bream's-buildings E.C. Now ready, price 2s. (id., cloth. A FLYING VISIT TO THB AMERICAN CONTINENT. WITH NOTES BY THE WAY By F. DALE PAVLE. London: Horacb Cox, Windsor House, Bream'a-buildings, E.C- Now ready, demy 6vo., cloth boards, price 10s. fid. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Map and Twenty-six Illustration!. By H. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PART L Chapter I.— The Land of Gold and the Way there. II.—Across Desert and Veldt, in.—Johannesburg the Golden. IV. —A Transvaal Coach Journey. V.—Natal: the South African Garden. VL—Ostracised in Africa. Home with the Swallows. PABT II.— BAMBLES IN RHODESIA. Chapter I.—Eendragt Maakt Magt. II.—Into the Countrv of Lobengula. m.—The Trail of War. IV.—Goldmining, Ancient and Modern. V. —Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. VI.—To Northern Mashonaland. VII.—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: Horacb Cox. Windaor House, Bream'a-buildings, E.C. Super-royal 8vo., price 20a., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1897. 8 EI NO A STATISTICAL BOOK OF REFERENCE For facts relating to the Clergy in England. Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Colonies; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Benefices than any ever yet given to the public. Crockkord's Clerical Directory is more than a Directory: itcon- tains concise Biographical details of all the ministersand dignitaries of the Church of England, Wales. Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies; also a List of the Parishes of each Diocese in England and Wales arranged in Rural Deaneries. Horack Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C.  ## p. 28 (#436) ############################################# IV AD VEIi TISEMENTS. LOWEST PRICES IN LONDON. Authors' M.SS. correctly and neatly copied at lOd. per lOOO words. Carbon Duplicates at 2d. ,, LEGAL A>TJJ GENERAL COPYING at Id. per folio. We have a skilled and well educated staff of operators. Give us a trial, and compare our work and prices with those of other offices. LARGE ORDERS ESTIMATED FOR. Note our address— { THE ECLIPSE TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND OFFICES, ! 28, FENCHURCH STREET. LONDON, E.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. § rpYPEWKITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. ^ -L process. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest S OPINIONS Of CLIENTS— Distinguished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I hive ever seen." Lady of Title:—"The J work was very well and clearly done." PROVINCIAL Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatnesB and beautiful accuracy." 5 MISS GENTRY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C. Typewriting by Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Oardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 1898.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' Reffrknues. — WRITINQ ACCUEATELY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED. postage paid, please give trial. MISS RAINES, 11, Falconer Chambers, Scarborough. 6* At/ I PASTE STICKS Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6s. HATHERSAGE A Tale of North Derbyshire. CHARLES EDMUND HALL, Author of " An Ancient Ancestor," &c. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House. Bream's-buildings, E.O. =18. GILL, TYPE-WBITINO OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typints sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant; also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk-street. Strand, W.C. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (The Lkadenhall Press Ltd.), 50, Leadeuliall Street, London, E.C. Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 5«. per dozen, ruled or plain. Royal 8vo., price 16s. net. Sporting Days in Southern India: BEING REMINISCENCES OP TWENTY TRIPS IN PURSUIT OF BIG GAME, CHIEFLY IN THE JflADRAS PRESIDENCY. Lieut -Col. A. J. 0. POLLOCK, Royal Scots Fusiliers. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY WHYMPER AND OTHERS. CONTENTS.—Chapters L, IL, and III.—The Bear. IV. and V.—The Panther. VI., VII., and VIII.—The Tiger. IS. and X.—The Indian Bison. XL and XII —The Elephant. XIII.—Deer (Cervidaj) and Antelopes. XIV — The Ibei. XV. and XVI.— Miscellaneous. London: Horaoe Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 01 (June 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 01 (June 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-06-01-The-Author-8-1 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/305/1897-07-01-The-Author-8-2.pdf 4d130145a4de9f344300dba917e13311 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) 1897-07-01 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages Page range in volume 29–56 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970701 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Ube Butbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 2.] JULY 1, 1897. [Peicb Sixpence. CONT PAfll General Memoranda 30 From the Committee 81 Literary Property—1. The Berne Convention. 2. The Eight of Criticism. S. Willonghby r. Kegan Paul. 4. The Cost of Pro- duction. 6. The Publishers' Vade Mecum 31 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 39 Notes from Elsewhere. By Robert H. Sherard 40 Notes and News. By the Editor 42 The Society as a Publishing Company 44 The Subjunctive Mood. By Howard Collins. 46 Disillusion. ByH. G.K « ENTS. PASS Book Talk 46 Correspondence. — 1. Transliteration. 2. The Mockery of Realism. 8. The Need of a Literary Bureau. 4. Mutual Help among Writers 4» Personal 61 Obituary—Mrs. Oliphant 61 The Bronti1 Museum 61 A Note from Buckle 52 Literature in the Periodicals 62 The Books of the Month 64 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., ios. 6d. (Bound) ; Vols. II., III., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6j. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3«. 4. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods Of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord MonkswelFs Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 28 (#438) ############################################# 11 AD VEIi TISEMENTS. $ociefp of Jlut^ors (gncotporcttei)). Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. Alfred Austin. J. M. Babbie. A. W. X Beckett. Robert Bateman. F. E. Beddard, F.B.S. Sib Henry Bebgne, K.C.M.G. Sir Walteb Bksant. At)GU8TINE BlRRELL, M.P. Bev. Prof. Bonney, F.B.S. Bioht Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Eight Hon. Lord Burghclere, P.C. Hall Caine. Eoerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conway. F. Marion Cbawford. PRESIDENT. OOEOZR-a-IE MEBEDITH. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desabt. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Duboubg. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. D. W. Fbeshfield. Richard Gahnbtt, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rides Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankesteb, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mub.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Undebdown, Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wakk. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Nobman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Rioht Hon. Lord Pirbright, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. Prof. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. A. W. a Beckett. Sib Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Sib A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Henby Norman. Francis Storr. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villibrs Stanford, Mns.D. (Chairman) Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Molloy. ( Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. ij. G. Herbebt Thbing, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thrino, BA OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sir W. Martin Conway. M.JH. Spiklmann. Solicitors- DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Cluiirman). A. W. A Beckett. Edward Rose. .A.. IP. AATJLTT &c SO INT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND. LONDON. W.C. Published every Friday morning; price, without Reports, 9d.; with Reports, 1b. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the moBt complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C THE ART of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5s. net, by post 5s. 4d. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buIldingB, E.C. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Rev. G. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 IUustra tions. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 2s. 6d. net. London: Hokace Cox, Windsor House, Bream'B-buildings, E.G.  ## p. 29 (#439) ############################################# tTbe Hutbot* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. VoL.Tm.-No. 2.] JULY i, 1897. [Pbick Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notioe that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOR some years it has been the practioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &o., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards theBe warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to oarry on bis business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rnles to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. Till. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special oharge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both "ides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true : but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohanoe of a success whioh will not, probably, come at all; but which may oome. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are :— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged whioh has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements; and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. D 2  ## p. 30 (#440) ############################################# So THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. INVERT member has a right to ask for and to receive JQj advice upon his agreements, his choioe of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduot of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, tho member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are oontinually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the trioks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, reliovcs members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in ail cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society -r that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to- communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called npon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and tho special subjects on which they are willing to write P Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are recoived. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society doeB not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year H If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 31 (#441) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 3» V* dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding IB set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, bo that it now stands at £g 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of oourse, we have not included any sums whioh may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits o a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. PROM THE COMMITTEE. THE Incorporated Society of Authors have forwarded the following congratulatory address to the Queen. The address has been signed by Mr. George Meredith (President of the Society), Mr. H. Rider Haggard (Chairman of the Committee of Management), and Mr. G. Herbert Thring (Secretary) :— "We, the undersigned, representing a body of more than 1400 authors, avail ourselves of your Majesty's gracious permission to oubmit, with the utmost loyalty and devotion, our most respect- ful congratulations on the sixtieth anniversary of jour Majesty's reign, glorious from every point of view, and unprecedented in every achievement which can enrich and advance your people. "We rejoice especially, and in this we believe that your Majesty, as an author, will sympathise with us, that during the last sixty years the achievements of literature in all its branches have been great beyond parallel. "Thus, among scholars, divines, and philoso- phers, we only need to mention the great names of Stanley, Carlyle, and Mill; in poetry, those of Tennyson, Browning, and Matthew Arnold; in history, those of Macaulay, Grote, Freeman, and Froude; in science, those of Darwin, Faraday, Huxley, Owen, and Tyndall; in fiction, those of Dickens and Thackeray. We desire also to allude to the splendid and sudden development of the genius of women in the sphere of literary work, as instanced, amongst others, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Mrs. Gaskell, George Eliot Miss Mulock, and Charlotte Bronte. With these leaders we rejoice to think that in this period there have lived and passed away many writers and workers in literature whom the world will not willingly suffer to be forgotten, such as Hood, William Morris, Lord Houghton, Charles Kings, ley, De Quincey, Wilkie Collins, and others in every branch of letters. "We invite your Majesty's attention to the fact that the dependencies and colonies working par- ticularly in the domains of poetry and fiction have begun to create a literature individual, indeed, to each community, but the common possession of your Empire. "We believe that it is above everything desirable to welcome whatever may help to bind together the myriads who call your Majesty Queen and Empress in the various quarters of the earth, and we submit that nothing is working more powerfully to this end than the literature of the English tongue which is open to and in the hands of all. "We respectfully recognise the deep interest which you, Madam, have always shown in the intellectual achievements of our time, whether literary or scientific, and we humbly pray that your Majesty may long be spared to reign over an Empire as illustrious for its literature as for its arms, its arts, its industries, and its trades." r, TT „ G. Herbert Thring, Secretary. LITEEAEY PEOPEETY. L-—Revision op the Berne Convention in Germany. THE diplomatic conference on international copyright convoked in Paris on April 15, 1896, to discuss a first revision of the Berne Convention, drew up an Additional Act, modifying certain articles of the Convention of Sept. 9, 1886, and also a Declaration explanatory of certain stipulations of the Convention. The Federal Council of the German Empire having given its assent to both of these documents, they were, in January of the present year, presented to the Reichstag, and received its sanction on the Feb. 10, 1897. The German Empire is thus the first of the countries of the Union in which the Additional Act and the Declaration drawn up at Paris have become law. The document in which the Imperial Chancellor, Prince von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, placed before the Reichstag the Additional Act and the Declaration, is lying before us. (" Reichstag,  ## p. 32 (#442) ############################################# 32 THE AUTHOR. 9 Legislatur-Periode IV., Session 1895-97, No. 640.") The contents are of a most interesting nature, comprising, besides the Additional Act and Declaration both in the original text and in a German translation, a Memorandum (Denk- schrift) and four appendixes. The whole is deserving of the serious attention of all -who are interested in questions of international, or indeed of national copyright, whilst many of the Chan- cellor's remarks bear upon questions of grave importance to both authors and publishers. One of the appendixes contains the Articles as they stood in the original Convention and as they now appear altered, side by side in parallel columns, offering a most convenient comparison of the two, and it must here suffice to mention that the modified Articles are numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, and 20, together with paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Final Protocol. From the Memorandum and the other appendixes the following passages have been selected as likely to be the most interesting to authors, but the perusal of the whole can be recommended, as no single particular of the results of the conference, however small, is over- looked in the valuable and suggestive notes which accompany them. The Memorandum amounts almost to a report of the part taken in the conference by the dele- gates of the German Empire. After enumerating the countries represented, the Memorandum con- tinues: "The Office of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in Berne had previously forwarded certain ' Proposi- tions de l'Administration Francaise et du Bureau international,' and these furnished a base for the work of the conference. In addition to this, there were also to be considered, especially by the German delegates, certain wishes which, since the existence of the Berne Convention, had been expressed amongst ourselves in circles which these questions interested. The matter laid before us had been subjected to a careful examination in a number of previous conferences of the commis- saries of the associated Imperial and Prussian jurisdictions, and, to a great extent, had been further submitted to a searching inquiry at the hands of experts. UNIFORM COPYRIGHT LAW. "The 'propositions' above mentioned bore direct reference to the several articles of the previous Convention, or to the Final Protocol attached to it. It was evident from the way in which they were framed that it would be impos- sible in this conference also to look forward to the desirable consummation of a uniform international codification of the law of copyright; and, as the labours of the conference advanced, it became more and more plain that a uniform revised con- vention of that kind was absolutely unattainable, notwithstanding the best intentions on the part of the majority of the countries of the Union - The reason of this was the opposition of particular countries, based principally upon their own domestic legislation. "In consequence of this, the final result of the conference consists in the drawing up of an Addi- tional Act, bearing upon some articles of the previous Convention and of its Final Protocol (this Additional Act embraces all the countries of the Union except Norway), and of a 'Declara- tion' attached to the Berne Convention and the Additional Act. This Declaration embraces all the countries of the Union, including Norway, with the exception of Great Britain. (The ultimate agreement of the Republic of Hayti to both may be regarded as certain). "Although, under these circumstances, it must be admitted that the result of the Paris Inter- national Copyright Conference lacks coherence and finality, it is just, on the other hand, to emphasise the fact that, practically speaking, the contents of the new stipulations will be found to be, as far as is possible, adapted to the views resulting from recent developments of the law re- specting such matters. Taken in connection with the other Articles of the Berne Convention, which remain unaltered, they are calculated to form a convenient base both for a practical exposition of uniform international copyright, and for a further development of it. In addition, in No. 5. of the " Voeux" which the conference adopted, it has also expressed its hope that the consultations of the next conference may again result in a text uniformly applicable to all countries within the Union. "So far as Germany is concerned, what was effected in Paris practically corresponds with the wishes expressed by those amongst ourselves interested in the matter. On the one hand, account was taken of our legitimate efforts, as, for example, in the case of the extension of the period of protection of the exclusive right of translation; and, on the other hand, a check has been in several ways placed upon the disadvan- tages arising from exaggerated effoits in favour of prolongation of copyright." PROTECTION OF THE OUTSIDE AUTHOR. The Memorandum proceeds next to describe and comment upon the additions made to the several Articles of the Convention of 1886, taking them one by one. Amongst other passages of great interest may be quoted the following respecting the modification of Article 3:  ## p. 33 (#443) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 33 "It results from the wording of the revised 3rd Article that an author of a country outside the Union, in order to enjoy the protection accorded hy the Union, must comply with the conditions and formalities prescribed by the country in which he publishes his work or causes it to be published. If he has complied with these preliminaries, he enjoys the full protection which the Union guarantees—that is to say, he is pro- tected not only against unauthorised editions, but also against unauthorised translations, and unauthorised representations, or exhibitions of the work which he has published in one of the countries of the Union, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention, to which refers Article 1, iii., of the Additional Act, and Article 9 of the Convention. "The author who does not belong to a country of the Union is in a worse position than one who does belong to one in this respect, that his un- published works cannot obtain protection in a country of the Union. It was considered at the Paris Conference that this difference in the treat- ment of the author outside the Union (one arising from the nature of the case) would form an inducement to other States to join the Union." UNAUTHORISED TRANSLATIONS. Respecting the new Article 5, which deals with the very important question of translations, the Memorandum remarks: "How far an author is to be internationally protected against unauthorised translations of his work is an important question. On the part of Germany a strong effort was made to obtain a complete uniformity in all replies to this question. In consequence of the opposition of some coun- tries of the Union that was not possible. How- ever, a real step in the direction of the evolution of international protec tion was made by the pro- posed alteration of Article 5, clause 1. The author's exclusive right to translate,* which according to the previous stipulation was secured him for ten years only after the publication of the original, is in future to be extended to the whole period during which the original is pro- tected against piracy in its original language, provided that the author has published a transla- tion of his own within those ten years. Apart from this limitation, the reproduction of a work in an unauthorised translation is therefore placed upon the same footing as an unauthorised repro- duction in the original form. This principle has been already accepted by the Legislatures of a number of countries (for example, Belgium, France, Spain, and, according to the general opinion, Great Britain), and is strongly supported by German authors. "On the side of Germany there was no hesitation about agreement to this modification. The idea that protection of translations is a contradiction because the author has a right to his work only in the language in which he wrote it, may be con- sidered as exploded. How far it may seem requisite to limit the duration of an exclusive right of translation is a question of expediency. At the conclusion of the Berne Convention the shorter limit of time was decided upon from a hope that this regulation might persuade the countries which held back from the Union the more rapidly to overcome their hesitation. Weight can no longer be attached to that con- sideration. So far as German interests are con- cerned, the real hesitations respecting any further limitation of liberty of translation come practi- cally to this—a misgiving that the result would be to increase the difficulty and the expense of the translation of foreign works into German. If, in addition, the possibility of the author's entirely withholding his work from translation is suggested, that danger is a very remote one. Besides, this case is provided for by the limita- tion which has been introduced into Article 5. In addition to this, however, some misgiving is expressed that, in consequence of the extension of the protection, we should more frequently than hitherto have to content ourselves with inadequate translations, in consequence of these alone having been authorised by the author. But, as a matter of fact, in the present state of the law, the con- sequence of the fierce competition is that good translations are often placed at a disadvantage by inferior but cheaper ones. And this circumstance cannot but have a deleterious effect upon the production of good translations. In the nature of things it will be a matter of consequence rather to the author himself than to anyone else that the translation should be a good one. Ordinarily no one is more interested than he, or the publisher to whom he has assigned the pro- duction of the translation, to provide, by the choice of the translator, and by the supervision of the work, that the result shall bj satisfactory. But both author and publisher will feel more dis- posed for such enterprises when they no longer, have any occasion to be anxious lest, after a short, interval, someone else should publish another translation which may obtain command of the market in consequence of its greater cheapness, notwithstanding its actual inferiority. "It by no means follows that, in consequence of the extension of the duration of the copyright, translations at the present moderate prices will be in the future withdrawn from the market. The danger of the price being placed too high is limited in this case, exactly as in the case of originaj  ## p. 34 (#444) ############################################# 34 THE AUTHOR. German works, by the trade competition. Besides, in the province of literature, the lower price can certainly not be regarded as an advan- tage, when what is offered for it is of inferior value. In the interests of the community it is by all means to be desired that unsatisfactory translations of foreign works, many of them of no value in themselves, should not be put before the reading public in such excessive numbers as at present. Both from the point of view of the German author and that of the actual national book trade, it will be a gain to have placed a check upon the flooding of .the book market with worthless translations. EXCLUSIVE EIGHT OF TRANSLATION. "It must also be considered a step in advance for Germany that a wider protection of the exclusive right of translation has been secured by Germany for the foreign author. This will pre- pare the way for a German literature of good translations. On the other hand, respecting a just treatment of German authors in the other countries of the Union, both their perfectly reasonable wish not to see their works translated by persons who have no authority to do so, and their very material pecuniary interests, connected with the increasing dissemination of German literature in foreign countries, alike plead for the widest possible extension of this sort of protection. "The exclusive right of translation depends upon the condition that the individual work shall first of all be under the protection of the Con- vention—that is to say, that those conditions and formalities have been complied with which are prescribed by the Legislature of the country of origin to secure the original work from reproduc- tion. (Article 2, clause 2, of the Convention.) On the other hand, it is not necessary that the author should also have complied with sundry peculiar stipulations respecting the right of trans- lation contained in the law of the country of origin (as, for example, the Imperial law of June 11, 1870, s. 6)." THE PERIOD OF PROTECTION. The extension of the period of protection beyond ten years is made further depeudent upon the fact that the author shall have, within that period, published a translation in a country within the Union, in that language, or in those languages, for which the period of longer pro- tection will be claimed. After the lapse of this period of ten years the right of translation into all the other languages in which translations of the work have noc appeared, will have fallen into the public domain. The period of ten years begins from the date of publication of the original work. It follows next, from No." 2 of the Declaration, that dramatic and dramatico-musical works, which have not appeared in print, and therefore, not- withstanding their actual performance, are not held to be published, are protected as long against translation as they are against being reproduced in any other way. In addition to this, according to the wording which has been chosen, the owner of the copyright (even though, in conse- quence of the lapse of the appointed period, he may have lost his rights for the future, either entirely, or for this or that language) is not pro- hibited from taking legal proceedings against a translation which has previously appeared in an illegal manner. PROTECTION OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES. The following passage deals with the new stipulations for the protection of newspaper articles and articles in periodical publications: "Also respecting the protection of articles appearing either in newspapers or in periodical publications, the proposals made by the German delega es were substantially adopted by the Conference. "For the future are protected: "1. Absolutely; Boinances and novels ap- pearing iu Feuilletous. Under the head of novels are included, as was more precisely explained at Paris, short stories and anecdotes, as well as, under certain circumstances, such compositions as do not contain mere news, but have been embellished by touches of the author's imagi- nation. "2. Conditionally: it being presupposed that eithtr the newspaper article, or the number in question of the periodical publication, is furnished with an express prohibition of reproduction—all other articles in periodicals. If the prohibition is omitted such articles may be reprinted, if the source whence they are taken is mentioned. It was also taken for granted at Paris that the mention of source should not amount merely to a mention of the name of the newspaper or periodical publication in which the article in question had appeared, but, in the case of the article being signed, should include also the name of the author. "The distinction between longer and shorter articles, similar to that in the German copyright law of June 11, 1870, was left an open question, as it had been previously left by the Berne Convention. "3. Unrestrictedly is permitted the reproduction of political articles, news, and 'current topics,' as hitherto, either in the original language or in translations, and that notwithstanding a pro-  ## p. 35 (#445) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 35 hibition on the part of the author even expressly notified, and without any mention of source." WHAT BBITAIN DECLINED TO ACCEPT. Perhaps no part of the whole document is more interesting to English authors than that which deals with the Declaration which our English delegates found themselves unable to accept "Whilst reading it the English author will be unable to avoid reflecting sadly that he is, in consequence of some of our own statutes, in a distinctly worse case than the German author. It seems, however, that even so the fact that this Declaration has become law in Germany may be of importance to English dramatists. "All the stipulations which are contained in the Declaration of May 4, 1896, might have been included in the Additional Act had not difficulties about accepting them as an inter- national arrangement been raised by the delegates of Great Britain on the ground of the domestic legislation of their country. "The Conference was accordingly compelled to choose between either forfeiting entirely the par- ticipation in the Additional Act of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with its extended colonial territories, or collecting the explanatory prescriptions here in question, to which Great Britain could not agree, in a sepa- rate document. The Conference chose the latter course, and respecting three doubtful points decided as follows: "1. Latterly judgments have been given by several courts according to which the protec- tion of a literary or artistic work published in one country of the Union must depend in another country of the Union, not only upon compliance with those conditions and formalities which are prescribed by the country of origin, but also upon compliance with those required for the home productions in the other country in which protection is claimed. Under these cir- cumstances it seemed desirable once and for all to make it clear, by an authoritative interpretation of the meaning of Article 2, clause 2, that the pro- tection afforded to literary and artistic works by the Berne Convention of Sept. 9, 1886, and the Additional Act of May 4, 1896, depends alone upon compliance with the conditions and formalities required by the country in which the work originated." Respecting the second point, we may quote: "2. Having regard to the fact that the protec- tion which the Berne Union guarantees is, under certain circumstances, made dependent upon this —that the work in question must have been published in one of the countries of the Union— it appeared to the great majority of the delegates VOL. VIII. of the various States represented at Paris neces- sary that the term 'publication' should be defined. According to the definition of 'publication' given, in consequence, under No. 2 of the Decla- ration, 'to publish' (veroffentlichen: publier) is equivalent to 'to bring out' (herausgeben: (Salter), by which is to be understood the first multiplication (Vervielfaltigung) with a view to public sale." The third point deals with a matter that has long been a very sore subject with English novelists. "3. The fact that the dramatisation of popular romances, and also the production in the form of romance of attractive dramatic pieces, has of late become constantly more and more common, led to a desire definitely to include all such cases under the heading of ' adaptations' mentioned in the 10th Article of the Berne Convention. The opposition of the British delegates compelled the Conference to renounce either incorporating a declaration to this effect with the article itself, or altering the article in the Additional Act." As regards Germany, the new declaration (Die Umgestaltung eines Romans in ein Theaterstuck oder eines Theaterstucks in einen Roman fallt unter die Bestimmungen von Artikel 10) amounts simply to giving complete expression to the view which has for a long time past found acceptance in this country—namely, that all such transforma- tions as are here dealt with can be included in the term "adaptations," and that it is simply the office of the judge to examine and determine, with the assistance of experts, whether, in each case, an adaptation lies before him or a new work has been created. We were able to assent with- out hesitation, as the intervention of the tribunal is provided for in the 1 oth article. THE MEANING OF PUBLICATION. In Appendix III. the definition of "publica- tion," which is the second point of the " Declara- tion, is discussed at somewhat greater length. As the international importance of this definition may not be at first sight quite plain, the clear elucidation of the point here given seems well worth quoting. As a matter of fact, one of the cases here mentioned as a possible one has actually recently occurred, and was mentioned in the March number of The Author. "According to various provisions of the Berne Convention (Articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 9), the grounds and the duration of the covenanted pro- tection depend either upon the country in which the work was published or upon the date of pub- lication. In the meantime it has been found in practice that in the application of these dire«- tions a difference of opinion exists respecting what E  ## p. 36 (#446) ############################################# 36 THE AUTHOR. is meant by publication. Taken in its widest sense, publication is that act which for the first time brings the work into publicity. The public reading aloud of a literary composition might be considered an act of this kind. So miiht the public performance of a play, or of a musical work; or the public exhibition of a picture, or of a sculpture. In a narrower sense, publication takes place only when the work is by means of reproduction put within the reach of the public —that is, has been brought out as a publica- tion." The practical range of the question which has been raised is very important. For example, if an opera has been originally produced in Germany, and then appears in print in Italy, which of these two countries is to be considered the " country of origin" (in the sense of Article 2) will depend upon which of the above definitions of " publica- tion is chosen." In the case of a play which has been put upon the boards before its appearance in the book market, the duration of the exclusive right of translation (according to article 5 as it has hitherto stood, and, under certain circum- stances, also as it now stands in its altered form) depends upon whether the former or the latter date is to be accepted as that of publication. In this connection also Article 2, clause 1, and Article 3 are of moment. "For if any act which brings the work into publicity is to be regarded as publication, the author, whether he belongs to one of the countries of the Union or not, immediately secures himself the protection of the Convention by causing his work, before it has been in any way multiplied by reproduction, to be either produced (auffiihren) or exhibited (aufstellen) within the Union. This protection is thenceforward a lasting one. The circumstance that the author afterwards has his work brought out by a publisher in a country outside the Union is in no way prejudicial to him. On the other hand, the author who belongs to a country of the Union would lose the protection to which his unpublished work is entitled so soon as he allowed it to be performed or exhibited in a country outside the Union. An author who did not belong to the Union would, under the same circumstances, be robbed of the prospect of pro- curing himself protection under the Union. For both it would be equally useless afterwards to bring out (herausgeben) the work for the first time within the Union. But if only production by a publisher is esteemed as publication, in all the above instances the case would be exactly th-i contrary." Having regard to this uncertainty, it was pro- posed by agreement to limit the meaning of "publication " so as to ensure a uniform adminis- tration of the Convention in all the different countries. Hereupon the position taken by Germany, having regard to the well-known sense of the Imperial law respecting copyright, was that publication must be regarded as consisting in the putting forth of reproductions. It may here be left as an open question whether this view might be at once deduced from Article 9, clause 3, of the Berne Convention. But in any case its being so pre-eminently to the purpose is an argument in its favour. Besides, the de- sirability in legal questions of giving full import- ance to certainty is in favour of it, as there will often be difficulties in the way of proving whether a work may, in some way or another, previously have obtained publicity. The grounds which had led to making publication within the Union the point of departure of protection, also pointed to t.he adoption of the narrower view of publication. It could be nothing but disadvantageous to the publishing world within the Union if the author could avail himself of protection by means of so transitory an act as performance or exhibition would often be, and the subsequent first edition became of no importance. On the other hand, it would be a facility contrary to the aims of the Union given to the authors of States outside it, if they were thus enabled by a transitory act of this sort to create protection for themselves and to publish the work in some other region. So, according to the Declaration, "veroffent- licht" (publiees) is equivalent to "herausgegeben" (editces). Doubt can scarcely arise about what is meant by this. A work is published (heraus- gegeben) in a given country, when the reproduc- tions of it there, for the first time, having been brought into publicity with a view to sale, come into the market. No importance, as the rule at present stands, is attached to the question whethrr the copies offered for sale have been also supplied within the Union, which will generally be the case. Such a requirement, apart from the diffi- culties attached to carrying it out, would not be justified, since the advantages which publication within the Union carries with it are already sufficient to attach the concession of protection to publication. II.—The Right of Criticism. In July, 1808, an action was brought by Sir John Carr against Messrs. Hood and Sharpe, booksellers. The facts, which were not denied, were as follows: The plaintiff was the author of certain books called respectively " The Stranger in France," for which he received the sum of ,£100; "The Summer Tour in France," for which he received  ## p. 37 (#447) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 37 £500; "The Stranger in Ireland," for which he received ,£200; and "The Tour through Ireland," for which he received .£600. He had written another book, called " The Stranger in Scotland," for which he expected a sum of money equal at least to what he had before received, when the defendants produced a book called " My Pocket Book," in which the plaintiff's writings were held up to derision. In consequence, his book became greatly depreciated, and his publishers refused to look at " The Stranger in Scotland "; hence this action. Sir Richard Phillips, the publisher in question, was asked if he ever read reviews. He declared that he did not, knowing the scurrility, partiality, and misrepresentation with which they abounded, and the manner in which they were produced. The Attorney-General contended that" My Pocket Book " was only fair criticism. Lord Ellenborough observed "that every man had a right to criticise the writings of another, and even to hold them up to ridicule, so that he cast no personal re- flections on the author. If fair criticism injured the sale of a work, it was damnum absque injuria. As to the present question, if the criticism went beyond observations on the work or on the author, merely as such, it was action- able, and not otherwise." The jury found for the defendant. I have always thought, as a matter of common sense, that the right to criticise a book should be exactly the same as the right to criticise anything else that is sold. For instance, a man who criticises a baker's bread, and charges the baker with using alum and potatoes, and other substances besides flour, would certainly be liable to an action for libel. He would have to prove the use of alum and potatoes. So a man who charges a writer with plagiarism, inde- cency, vulgarity, incompetence, or ignorance— charges constantly hurled at authors by critics who are too often personal enemies or rivals— would have to prove his charges in open court. That is to say, if he could only justify a charge of ignorance by a single point or a few points only, he would be very rightly cast in damages. Lord Ellenborough used the word "fair" criticism. What is "fair" criticism? It is, surely, such criticism as can be defended in open court. One would by no means seek to suppress "fair" criticism, without which literature would become flabby, but it is very much to be desired that critics themselves should remember what " fair" criticism means. One or two actions at law would probably do more to improve certain current criticism than all the remonstrances in the world. W. B. vol. vm III.—WlLLOUGHBY V. KeGAN PAUL AND Co. High Court of Justice:—Queen's Bench Division. (Before Mr. Justice Hawkins and a Middlesex Special Jury.) Willoughby v. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, and Co. (Limited). In this action Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C., and Mr. A. M. Bremner appeared for the plaintiff, Sir John Willoughby; and Mr. Cock, Q.C., Mr. E. Glen, and Mr. J. H. Lindsay for the defendant company. This action was for damages for libels alleged to be contained in a book called " How We made Rhodesia," published by the defendant company. On the case being called on, Mr. Cock, Q.C., on behalf of the defendants, expressed his regret that the passages complained of had appeared in a book published by them. They acknowledged that there was no foundation for any suggestion against the plaintiff's character, and withdrew every imputation. They consented to pay the plaintiff the sum of .£200, and would withdraw the book. Sir Edward Clarke, on behalf of the plaintiff, stated that, while he had thought it neces- sary to clear his character as a military man and a man of honour, he was willing to accept the apology and the terms offered by the defen- dants. His Lordship said that he was glad the case had been so dealt with. It would have been im- possible for the plaintiff to have slept under the allegations made against him, but his character was now absolutely cleared. The record was then withdrawn. — Times, June 16. . IV.—Cost of Production. The following is an actual printer's estimate for printing a book 224 pages, or 14 sheets, in length, crown 8vo., small pica, 28 lines on a page, or 280 words. (N.B.—The MS. turned out to be 15 sheets in length.) The estimate is for 250 copies. The printers have their works in the country. £ s. d. Composition per sheet, .£1 5*. (This includes footnotes, of which there are some in every page) 17 10 o Printing, 48. 3d a sheet 2 19 6 Paper 2 12 6 Binding, at 4<f. a volume 434 •£27 5 4 e 2  ## p. 38 (#448) ############################################# 38 THE AUTHOR. Turning to the Society's " Cost of Production," p. 27, we find the following: Composition, .£1 7 s. 6d. a sheet 19 5 o Printing (see p. 63), 48. od. a sheet 2 16 o Paper, 9*. od. a sheet 6 6 o Binding, ts,d 4 3 4 £32 10 4 So that the printers'estimate is actually .£5 55. od. less than that of the Society. "We are constantly coming across such cases as this. Members of the Society who are proposing to pay for produc- ing their own books should make a note of this, and should look into their estimates with the greatest care. The secretary has the name of the firm. The following letter speaks for itself. Of course, it is an old story. We have exposed the game over and over again. But still it goes on. A manuscript is sent to a certain firm of advertising publishers. Whether it is read or whether it is not read, matters little, because the reply is always the same. It is to the effect that the reader thinks so highly of the work that the worthy firm are emboldened to make "the following favourable offer." There then comes a demand for as much money as they think they can safely ask. Should this be objected to, they proceed to offer lower terms. The invariable clause at the end of the letter is to the effect that "this is the best time of the year for publish- ing." Eeaders will observe that while this London firm generously offered to do the job for .£50, a local printer offered to do it for £18! Aspirants who receive such letters would do well to remember that the offer made has nothing whatever to do with the literary merits of the work, so that, in throwing the letter into the fire, as they ought to do, they need not therefore assume that their work is worthless. Let them proceed, instead, to try if they can find a respect- able publisher, and hear what he says. "June 11, 1897. "Iam tempted by the invitation in the columns of the outspoken Author to give you an experience I have had with an ' enterprising ' firm of pub- lishers. "The copy of the letter I received speaks for itself. Second thoughts came to the rescue, and prevented me from launching a book at the upset price of .£50. The MS. languishes in a drawer, and may remain there until it is moth- eaten. But I must confess the temptation was strong, and visions of fame at the expense of my shilling shocker haunted me for days. My fame is not yet come, nor will I risk publishing at my own cost; especially when I read your repeated and timely warnings. I may say a local firm agreed to print and publish 1000 copies of this magnum opus for £18. Even that didn't draw me; for what is worth publishing is worth acceptance at the hands of any decent publisher. All this goes to prove that my book in 'attractive covers' is not worth having. It is a pity other tyros do not see the matter in the same light.— I am, yours faithfully, "S. R." "Publishers, "London. "Dear Sir,—We now beg to reply to your letter of the 8th inst. Our terms for a is. book in attractive paper covers would be J50; £30 when you sign the agreement, and £20 when yon see the proofs. The edition to be 3000 copies—you could not well print less of a is. book. Two- thirds of the proceeds of sales to be your property, and the book to be advertised at our sole expense to the amount of £7. "This is the best time of year for is. books, and we could put yours on the market in a month from now. "Awaiting your instructions, "Faithfully yours, And here is another letter on the same subject referring to the same worthy gentlemen :— "May I add my chronicle of recent experience to those you have already published? "Some time ago I sent the MS. of a novel to a certain publishing firm. A little later I received an answer to the effect that the novel had im- pressed them 'favourably,' and that they there- fore offered me the following 'favourable terms' (The expression was theirs, but the italics are mine.) I was to pay, in ali, £88. Needless to say, I rejected the offer of terms so favourable— to themselves—and requested the return of the MS. _____ "G. E. M. G." V.—The Publisher's Vade Mecum. The following table is prepared for the use of publishers as a ready reckoner. It means the price paid by the retail trade, subject to certain discounts: 5 P-o- 10 p. c. I2i p.c. 15 P- 0. 1. d. 1. d. s. d. >. d. s. d. 6 3i 3* 3-ft 3A I 0 7& 11* 6i «H I 6 ioi ioi 2 0 « 3 1 2 1 ii I Ii 2 6 1 6\ 1 Si 1 S 1 4i 3 0 1 10 1 8f 1 8i 1 7i 3 6 2 2i 2 1 2 oi 1 ui 4 0 2 Si 2 4i 2 3i 2 2} 4 6 2 g{ 2 7i 2 <H 2 5* 5 0 3 «i 2 11$ 2 ioJ 2 oi 6 0 3 7l 3 Si 3 4i 3 3i I 6 4 8 4 5i 4 3i 4 2i 0 4 "i 4 8i 4 7 4 Si  ## p. 39 (#449) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 39 The calculations are based on sale price 13 as 12, but, as it is not the custom to give this dis- count on single copies, the average is, of course, very sensibly raised. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, June 16. THERE is as usual more gossip than impor- tant news at this period of the year. Whether the market is really any more depressed than it is on the average at the begin- ning of summer may be doubted, although a member of the firm of Roberts Bros., of Boston, remarked the other day that he he had never known things so dead. He lays it to the bicycle; but then we lay everything to the bicycle. He said that nothing would sell now except history and translations; and although the statement is absurd, it does point to the popularity of these two branches of the publishing business. Known writers, he admitted, might be published any time and pay something, but a new writer would only invite his own death by publishing before times changed. This same firm, which once stood high, has just returned a novel which it accepted two years ago. During those two years it has been writing every few months to the author telling why it was thought advisable to postpone publication a little longer. That is the kind of business that the respectable publishing houses here look upon as disreputable. Two men of wide experience in the book world have given ine within a short time directly opposite advice on the best time of year to pub- lish. A well-known author said: "Bring out your first volume in the spring; you won't sell quite so many copies, but you will get more notice. Most of the important books are published in the fall when the reviewers are too crowded for space. In the spring they are seeking something worth writing about, and if a new writer offers anything promising they will spread on his book." A week or two later a member of a large pub- lishing firm advised me to beware of the spring, for my own sake as well as for the sake of the publisher. The important thing in his mind was to start the book among the readers directly, instead of among the reviewers. Papers in various cities have taken up a letter written a month or so ago to the Dial of Chicago by John J. Chapman, attacking the magazines for their timidity. He said they preferred to give their readers what they know they will read, instead of doing what he thought they ought to do, giving the best literature they could get. A multitude of replies have defended the commercial point of view, and at the same time have pre- tended that the magazines do publish the best writing they can find. The facts are simple. All the prominent periodicals in this country are run, not for artistic or literary satisfaction, but for money. The editors are probably paid salaries ranging from 5000 dols. to 10,000 dols. on the most successful magazines, and there are several assistant editors and a host of subordinates. A magazine editor remarked to me the other day, "We charge ten cents for our paper, and we don't calculate to give our readers but ten cents worth." I suggested that there might be some satisfaction in having a paper run by men who were willing to make less and give more. He said that that was a boy's point of view, and that publishing a magazine was a serious matter when it was done by men. He had his dream, how- ever. When he was finally where he wanted to be financially, he would found an ideal magazine, and in it he would publish some of the best books which appear, as nearly all the best writing is destined for publication in book form. He thought that a first-rate magazine should be made up of serials. I do not know what editors receive in England, but it is hard to believe that it will ever be possible for the owners and editors of our periodicals to make them worth much from a literary point of view as long as they look upon them merely as business investments. There has been another change of management in the Forum; Dr. J. M. Rice succeeding Mr. Keet. It is an open secret that the best editor this or any similar publication has had in this country for a long time, Mr. Page, now of the Atlantic, left because the owners, who are largely Hebrews, wanted to see some money come out of the paper. It would interest me a great deal to know how many men have to make their living out of the Fortnightly and Contemporary, and what scale they have to live on. It is very hard to keep from talking about Mr. Munsey. He is the most daring and the most entertaining adventurer in the publishing world. In the June number of his magazine, in a personal chat with his readers, he discusses his aims and how he hopes to carry them out. He has been asking his readers to decide for him whether the con- tinued stories were worth while; and he says that the success of his magazine is, in his opinion, mainly due to the short, unsigned articles, espe- cially, I believe, what he calls " Storiettes." He has, however, undertaken to make himself neces- sary to the elect, whom he pretends to despise, somewhat on the principle that I explained in  ## p. 40 (#450) ############################################# 4° THE AUTHOR. connection with the "Library of World's Best Literature." He is giving a series of articles on "My Favourite Novelists," signed by the best known names, and the criticism by Frank Stock- ton on Defoe and Dickens, in the current number, is very high-class work. This -will be followed by articles on the same subject by Mark Twain, Walter Besant, Marion Crawford, Richard Harding Davis, Paul Bourget, S. R. Crockett, Mrs. Burton Harri- son, James Whitcomb Riley, General Lew Wal- lace, and Bret Harte. The other publishers promise him bankruptcy. "Munsey succeeded first," said one, "because he paid nothing for his pictures or his articles; now he is beginning to thrash about—he is advertising, and that is a bad sign. Then the people are beginning to demand fees for their pictures and payment for their con- tributions." Mr. Munsey is serene, however, and remarks that the same prophecy was made about him when he began the ten cent, principle, If it were not for the fear of seeming to wish to ad- vertise him, I should like to talk indefinitely about this exaggerated representative of American publishing principles. The process of making contemporary Ameri- can writing familiar to the French goes on, and Madame Blanc is being most unjustly scolded for her part in it, on the ground that she is patronis- ing. La Revue de Paris has translated Hamlin Garland's "A Member of the Third House." M. Brunetiere will give his impressions of Americans in La Revue de deux Monde*; and he will also contribute a series of articles on French litera- ture to the Atlantic Monthly. It now looks as if books for libraries and educational institutions would be let in free under the new tariff, although it is not yet decided. The Macmillan Company have for- warded a letter to the Committee on Tariff Revi- sion, in which they say: "In the present law and for some time past there have been legal exemptions from the collection of a tariff on books in favour of libraries and educational institutions, and some of these, it is currently reported, have become regular smuggling agencies, importing free of duty, not only for themselves, but for any friends who want to buy, to the extent of their legal limit as to number, and in some cases without regard to that limit. The exempted institutions, which furnish naturally a large proportion of the book business of the country, can import through the booksellers, but, for whatever reason, nearly all have found it wise to avoid the booksellers, and that to such an extent as greatly to undermine the bookselling business of the country." They suggest that either exemption be done away with and the present duty continued, which might work hard- ship to educational institutions, or that the duty on books be made so low that there need be no exemptions at all. The librarian's annual report puts the number of books in the library of Congress at 748,115 —an increase of 16,674 for the year. There are 245,000 pamphlets. During the year there were 72,470 new copyrights—an increase of 4896, attributed mainly to the extension of the inter- national copyright system, which now includes eleven countries: Belgium, Chili, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. Colonel Higginson and Professor H. T. Peck are among the writers who will spend the summer in Europe. Mr. Howells goes to Carlsbad. Norman Hapgood. NOTES FROM ELSEWHERE. June 21. THE friendly move to which I alluded last month has been much commented upon, and the hope has been expressed that I may be mistaken in supposing that the author of the letters was a dear confrere. My reason for this supposition was that the critics of the papers were abused by my pseudo-ego by name, and that their names are not generally known by the out- side world. The book in question has given offence to some people, and the journalists who are in the pay of these people have considered fair every means of discrediting it and of vilifying its author. Let me mention some instances. They are curiosities of criticism. In one case a Bradford paper informed its readers that the author of the book was not an Englishman, and, ergo, merely wrote it to vilify a nation alien to him. In the second case a Manchester journalist wrote a leader of more than a column's length on a statement invented by himself as my own, a statement which was the direct opposite of something I had said. When I drew his attention to the matter, he responded by printing as his authority what purported to be a quotation from the book. This quotation was made up of words and phrases picked here and there from the book and supplemented with phrases and words supplied by the writer. This is done, remember, in a leading provincial paper, and in the most prominent part of that paper. Another paper contented itself with announcing the book under a totally false description. Thus, published at 2*. 6d. with forty illustrations, it was described as published at 6*. with one illustration.  ## p. 41 (#451) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 41 A fourth informed its readers that the book was rendered practically useless by the careless way in which some of the sheets had been turned in printing and passed by the binder. Altogether, if any of my readers wish for novel experiences and a wider knowledge of the use to which the pen can be put, let me recommend them to publish a book dealing with social reform. That some such book as the one alluded to was necessary, would appear from a letter I received the other day from one of the unfortunate indi- viduals whose acquaintance I made when I was collecting the materials. This is a middle-aged man, a skilled worker, who works fourteen hours a day. He occupies a two-roomed cottage in a slum, and has only one child dependent on him. It occurred to me that a month in the country might save the child's life, for he is going to join his mother and brothers and sister, and I wrote to the father to ask him to let me have the boy down to the duchy. He answered: "I am very sorry to inform you that my social condition remains unchanged" (12*. a week at a skilled trade). "I am still rubbing against the roughest side of the world, and I suppose it will remain so to the end of the chapter. In fact, I have given iip all hope long ago. With regard to your offer to my little boy, I am very sorry indeed that I cannot accept it—not from choice, for T certainly would like to see the little fellow get such a treat; but the truth is I cannot keep him in anything like a presentable appearance." Sans commentaires, n'est-ce pas? A propos, this reminds me of the outcry which was raised by us literary folk at an offer made by a literary employer of £10 for 400,000 words. It was calculated and set forth with just indignation that at this rate of payment the literary craftsman would have to produce 166 words for a penny. We have living in England able-bodied men and women who at this very moment are producing 220 Flemish tacks hand-wrought, for that sum of one penny; each tack involving from twenty to thirty different manipulations. The question is, of course, which is more useful and valuable a commodity, the 166 words, or the 220 Flemish tacks? It should also be remembered that to pro- duce the 220 Flemish tacks, a certain outlay has to be made on fuel, repair of tools and rent. So we can console ourselves with the thought that the very worst sweating in the literary labour market is very much more lenient than in many other branches of industry. Here is a little drama of rural life which has been passing under my eyes recently, which I commend to the English Maupassant—or one of them. If people tell him that he has a morbid imagination, let him refer them to me. A village schoolmaster, who had lost his place by drunken- ness, came into a sum of money exceeding ,£1000. He placed this money in the bank, and announced in the public-house which he frequented that he intended to drink every penny of it. "And when it's all spent?" he is asked. "Then I shall hang myself." So he sets to work, and gets drunk regularly. He is often seen at mid-day lying in the ditch by the roadside; at nights he is wheeled home by brother topers in a barrow. The tree on which he intends to hang himself is designated, and one day, returning from the neighbouring town, he displayed the rope. He is pointed out to strangers, the story is told, and attention is called to the tree. It is an understood thing that, as soon as the money is all spent, the man will hang himself. Lately the money has been getting low, and the boys of the village now follow the man when he staggers homewards. This takes place in England of to-day. If French dramatic authors suffered formerly from the piracy of foreigners, they have been com- pensating themselves handsomely since the Berne Convention protected their property. In fact, unless the agents moderate their demands, the adapters in England and elsewhere will soon have to abandon the business as unremunerative. Fancy prices are the rule, and, in many cases, the performance of the adaptation has resulted in a dead loss. But dramatists the world over look to Paris for their light. I was much amused once to witness a transaction between an English dramatic author and the French dra- matic agent. My friend wanted to buy the English rights of a j>lay which had recently been produced in Paris, not because it had been a success—for it had been withdrawn after four performances—but because it contained one good scene, which could be admirably worked into a play which he was then writing. A similar scene, even more adaptable, was to be had in another French play, which had been produced at the same time. It was like buying a chair or a horse—all most business-like. "How much for so and so?" "Four thousand francs," said the agent. "That's a good deal." "You can take it or leave it." "You see, I only want one scene." "We can't cut up the material." "I thought perhaps Messrs. would accept ." "I can telephone to them at once if you wish, but I know it is quite useless." Then the agent telephoned. "Absolument impossible" was the answer—" absolutely impossible, as I told you." "Well, I'll see next door"—there was another agency on the same landing. "They have another play which would suit me even better." "As Monsieur likes." We went next door, and  ## p. 42 (#452) ############################################# \2 THE AUTHOR. asked the price of the other play. "Eighteen thousand francs." So we returned to the first office, and there the business was completed. My friend got the rights, and has them still, for he was never able to make anything of his purchase to suit an English manager. The eighteen thou- sand franc goods, by the way, was disposed of the same day -next door, and cost the manager about as many pounds. When a young dramatic author writes a play in France he is certain that it will be read if he submits it to the management of one of the thidtres subventionnes, and that, if suitable, it will be produced. By graceful tradition it is custo- mary at the Francais and Odeon to grant his entrees to an author who has submitted a play even when this is not suitable, if it shows a certain standard of merit. In France there is every encouragement to write plays. This is perhaps the reason why so many good plays are written there. In England things are different, as I am told. A few days ago, I was driven by a violent storm to take refuge in a farmhouse. It was a big house, and the farmer seemed a prosperous agriculturist. His wife supplied me with tea and let me dry myself before the fire. She begged to be excused, as she had to attend to her butter; and as to the farmer, he had to absent himself also to do some- thing to the bullocks. So I asked the farmer's wife if she would lend me a book. "It doesn't matter what it is." "We have no books in the house." .And so it was. There was not a book of any sort, except the family Bible in the draw- ing room. They took in no papers. They had never heard of any of the great writers of England. The farmer had once read a storv about a miner. Et voilh! A day or two later it fell to me to escort a young lady home from an afternoon affair to a neighbouring town. She was very fond of reading. I asked her about her tastes. She had never heard of Dickens, she thought she knew a Mr. Reade, did he not let out bicycles at C ?and no, she had never read any- thing by Wilkie Collins. As to living authors— O, popularity and press cuttings !—there was not one of our great men whose name had penetrated so far. She might have read this book or that, she said, but she never troubled about the author's name. I do not think that this could be matched in France. May I, for this time, adopt a new signature? It is the way by which the writers of literary paragraphs in some of the English and American papers like to designate me when quoting from these pages. It is rather neat. "A Me. Shbeabd." P.S.—To-morrow we shall be able to send four ounces for a penny. What an impetus this will give to what the Americans call "the shooting of paper-bolts." Poor, poor editors! Four ounces for a penny! NOTES AND NEWS- THE death of Mrs. Oliphant will be to millions among those who speak and read our language the death of a personal friend, deeply loved. For nearly fifty years her busy pen has been running, her active brain has been at work. And her work has been always goo I: sometimes excellent: and sometimes of the very first order. There is little in English litera- ture that can surpass the greatness of conception, the skill of execution, the artistic atmosphere, the terror and the vividness of "The Beleaguered City," a book in which her imaginative power touched its highest point. Mrs. Oliphant wrote many books besides novels: they may be de- scribed as Impressions of History and Biography, rather than finished works—amoi;g them three monograms, on Dante, Cervantes, and Moliere, for her own series of "Foreign Classics for English Readers." These works may live or may die: probably they are already dead. The writer will be remembered for her novels. Out of these the world will select two or three, and the rest will be forgotten. It is the common lot: what more can a writer expect? Pity that so much good work should be lost: but posterity will be chiefly concerned with its own writers, its own art, and its own manners and customs. As for the two which will live, I venture to prophecy that they will be " The Beleaguered City " and "Salem Chapel." Mrs. Oliphant was a member of our Society from its foundation. She refused, however, a place on the Council on the ground of age- In the June number of The Autlwr a brief mention was made of a speech by Mr. Lecky— now, as all friends of literature are pleased to see, the Right Hon. W. E. H. Lecky—on the multipli- cation of books. We are bound to receive with the greatest respect any utterance of Mr. Lecky, but, surely, when he complains of the multiplica- tion of books he is confusing things. What would it matter, let us ask, if a hundred books a day were published? Simply nothing at all. In every branch of learning, science, and philosophy there are a few, and only a few, authorities: in the great field of history the writers whom the world will receive are limited to half a dozen or so; in poetry, the  ## p. 43 (#453) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 43 ■world will only read the works of a dozen living writers; in fiction there are about two hundred, or two hundred and fifty at the outside, who succeed in getting a hearing; in essays and criticism the number who obtain any vogue is certainly not more than twenty or thirty. What happens, then, with the books which, it is com- monly and foolishly stated, "flood the market"? Nothing happens. The circulating libraries take a few copies : the publisher's name has a certain power of recommending a few more: the book- sellers do not "stock" them: they die. By far the greater number of published books have no life at all: they find no readers and no purchasers: the reviews mention them: they die. They cost, for the most part, very little to produce; by their extremely limited sale they pay their expenses with something over. Take for instance, our old friend the average 6*. book. An edition of a thousand copies can be produced, advertising and all, for about .£65. The cost of production is covered, allowing a shilling a copy for the author, by the sale of 5 20 copies. What possible ■effect upon the vast world of English readers— even upon the smaller world of London—even, again, upon the still smaller world of literary London—by a tiny circulation of 520copies? It may be argued that a book may have so small a sale, and yet be a book destined to live and to produce a great effect. If so, the effect must be produced by a vast increase of circulation. But, indeed, there are very few such books. If a good book of any kind in any branch be produced, it is speedily singled out and thrust into notice and popularity. __t In another part of the June number was an account of Mr. Herbert Paul's article in the Con- temporary Review on the English novel. It is a very remarkable thing how all people, in all pro- fessions, especially the men who do not write novels, are always ready to write about the modern novel. For my own part, if I were an •editor, I would have an article every month, always from the pen of a man more or less distinguished, on the English novel. I should begin with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who should tell us what a novel ought to be: the Bishop of London would certainly be able to tell us what a novel is: the Premier would probably delegate Mr. Arthur Balfour to write on the subject for him. From the Presidents of the College of Physicians, the College of Surgeons, the Law Institute, the Institute of Civil Engineers, and other learned bodies a great deal of light and learning could be expected. In a word, as the modern art of fiction was thus continually being examined and dissected, I would openly recog- nise the abiding interest of the subject by devoting to it a monthly article, and, to repeat, I would invite none but men of distinction to con- tribute. After going on for twenty years, however, no one would be one whit nearer to understanding how it is done. For, indeed, the art of holding an audience cannot be taught; the mechanical part may be taught, the magical part is personal. Mr. Herbert Paul is reported to have said in his article that Charles Reade and Wilkie Collins have fallen into oblivion. That is a great mistake. With these authors, as happens to all, the world has made a selection. Both of them wrote a great many novels: both of them survive in two — Wilkie Collins in "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone," Charles Reade in "The Cloister and the Hearth" and "It is Never too Late to Mend." Of the latter two a cheap edition issued the other day went through 150,000 copies of each in three weeks. That does not look like oblivion. Lovers of Reade, whom I myself consider a writer very near to the highest place among English novelists, will not allow many others of his novels to fall into oblivion. These two writers, however, illustrate exactly what is said above about Mrs. Oliphant. First, to delight your own generation; then, to leave two books or so which shall still delight generations to come—what happier lot cimld man desire? I hope that readers of The Author will give a little more than passing attention to the " Pub- lisher's Vade Mecum," which appears on another page. It is a kind of "ready reckoner," which shows what discounts made to the trade really mean. Those who have taken an interest in the denials of our figures will remember that we have always maintained that the sum of 3*. 6d. repre- sents the average price obtained by the publisher for his 6s. book: that this statement has been stoutly denied: that we have published in these columns proofs that the estimate is strictly correct. We have now the paper in daily use among many of them, at least, which shows that on the 10 per cent, discount—the common one up to the latest intelligence — and counting thirteen as twelve, the price to the trade of the 6s. book is 3*. 5^<Z. Now, single copies are not sold thirteen as twelve, nor do they obtain discount, except "for the account." Their price is from 3». Sd. to 3«. lo^d., which, of course, runs up the 3*. ${d. very materially. From the other figures before me, some of which have been already given in The Author, I am convinced that in all agree- ments for the 6*. book the average trade price of 3*. 6d. may be accepted. As regards the cost of production, our own book on the subject is fairly good, but it wants to be brought down to the  ## p. 44 (#454) ############################################# 44 THE AUTHOR. present time. Paper has gone down in price very greatly-. In another column (pp. 37, 38) will be found a comparison between an actual printer's estimate and our proposed cost. It will be found on examination that the proposed cost of is. on large editions must be materially reduced. The following lines have been sent me by an American reader. They appeared some years since in " Putnam's Papers." At a library desk stood some readers one day Crying " Novels, oh, novels, oh, novels!" And I said to them, " People, oh, why do yon Bay 'Give ns novels, oh, novels, oh, novels?' Is it weakness of intellect, people," I cried, "Or simply a space where the brains should abide t" They answered me not, or they only replied, "Give ns novels, oh, novels, oh, novelB!" Here are thousands of books that will do you more good Than the novels, oh, novels, oh, novels! Yon will weaken your brain with such poor mental food As the novels, oh, novels, oh, novels! Pray take history, mnsio, or travelB or plays, Biography, poetry, science, essays, Or anything else that more wisdom displays Than the novels, oh, novels, oh, novels! A librarian may talk till he's black in the face About novels, oh, novels, oh, novels! And may think that with patience he may raise the taste Above novels, oh, novels, oh novels! He may talk till with age his round shoulders ore bent, And the white hairs of time 'mid the black ones are sent; When he handB his report in, still seventy per oent. Will be novels, oh, novels, oh, novels! There is complaint about the illiteracy of under- graduates. WheD have they been, as a rule, any- thing but illiterate, as a body? What time or leisure has the undergraduate for books, when he has athlet ics to consider first and the examinations next? The bookish boy at school is an extremely i-are person: at the university he is just as rare. When one's attention is wholly occupied by other things, what room is there for literature, or art, or anything? Perhaps a defence of youthful illiteracy might be set up. Thus: It is very good for young men to practise manly sports; it is especially desirable that those who read, for the highest honours and are certain to become the intellectual leaders of their time, should be physi- cally fit for the work; there is not room for the pursuit of more than two subjects with absorption; if athletics is one subject, the Senate House is the other. And what becomes of literature? Well, in the after years, when sports have lost their attraction, when the profession has been entered upon and the great heat of study is over, when the quiet country vicarage gives many idle hours— then the illiterate undergraduate becomes uncon- sciously a reader, a student in literature, and sometimes even a writer. Walter Besant. THE SOCIETY AS A PUBLISHING COMPANY. IS the consideration of the possibility that the I.S.A. shall be their own publishers going to die out, I wonder? May I make a pro- position? I do so with extreme diffidence, for I am obscure and almost unknown in the world of letters. Will not some influential person take up my proposal? England has its Royal Academy, founded for the purpose of raising the status of artists; to consolidate their efforts; to provide means for presenting their work to Ihe public. 'Why should not England have its Royal Society of Authors too? And why should not its Royal Society of Authors publish the works of its own members; decide the status of writers; consolidate their efforts, and thus provide means for presenting their work to the public? That Her Majesty- would give her gracious sanction to the title one cannot doubt. The Queen, who has throughout her glorious reign endeavoured to promote the welfare of her people, would assuredly not—in this the sixtieth year of her rule—refuse her royal sanction to any scheme brought forward for the aid and furtherance of literature and talent in her land. Why, then, should not the members of the I.S.A. join together and make this Society an abid- ing monument to England, and a commemora- tion of Her Majesty's long reign? The painter must produce his best work ere he dare hope to find it hung in the Academy. So let the author strive to accomplish something worthy his Society ere he may hope to have it published by them. Art is encouraged—and rightly—-in every country, and in every age. Art, says Schiller, found man a savage, and makes him lord of nature. But, unhappily, if we are to judge from many publica- tions of recent years, we may be allowed to question whether the art of the present day (literary art, at any rate) is helping to develop "lords of nature." I remember how proud of my country men and women I used to feel, years ago, while living in Paris, when I heard, as I often did hear, the words: "Ah! Oui, c'est une traduction Anglaise; certainment vous pouvez la lire." Alas, for my English pride! Only the other day I read that, since the publication of certain books, the Germans have found it necessary to forbid the perusal, by young girls, of English novels. I feel very strongly on this point. Literature is one of the highest arts. To attain to anything worthy in any art there must be noble endeavour. There very often is, of necessity, self-sacrifice, and it is right that it should be so. It is only through trial that we can show the spirit of the true  ## p. 45 (#455) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 45 artist; only through warfare that we can prove ourselves conquerors. We must accept the challenge if we would win the prize. Thus, in having to prove ourselves worthy to gain the help and countenance of a powerful society we should have to work. Let the "honour be won by good work and true—and by that alone. My suggestions are :— 1. That the I.S.A. unite and become a limited liability company. Shares of £i. 2. That works published by the Society be only such as tend to raise the tone of English literature. 3. That the members be limited to the number already on the list; new members enlisted only as old ones pass from the Society. 4. That an entrance fee of £1 be charged all new members, plus the annual subscrip- tion (unless the Committee sanction free entrance). 5. That a certain number (say fifty) of eminent writers be elected as members who have done honour to the cause of literature in England. These members to hold the highest honour as in L'Acadcmie Francaise. Is my scheme Utopian? I think not. With a few of our leaders at the head of such a move- ment, I feel convinced that before the end of this great Commemoration Year it would be almost, if not quite, un fait accompli. E. W. H. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: DAY USE. ITS PRESENT ALL readers of The Author will be much indebted to Miss Meyer for her excellent article in the June number on the subjunc- tive, and very grateful for the labour expended in stalking this wily mood through the pages of so- many standard works. With the assistance of some figures which she has kindly allowed me to use, it will be possible, I think, to prove that, contrary to what Miss Meyer wrote, we are "nearer to a clear and succinct rule than before." Repeating her former summary:— Approximate number of words Author. Book. in book. E. Dowden Life of Sonthey 67,000 T. Hardy Pair of Blue Eyes 99,000 Henry James ... Daisy Miller 56,000 Andrew Lang ... Custom and Myth 68,000 W. E. H. Lecky History of Rationalism, vol. 1 102,000 The Egoist 190,000 On Compromise 57,000 Social Rights and Duties, vol. H 71,000 Men and Books 99.000 Life of Coleridge 60,000 George Meredith John Morley ,.. Leslie Stephen... L. Stevenson D. Trail Total 869,000 We find that in the ten volumes selected are approximately 900,000 words, and that there are only fifteen instances of the subjunctive mood of any other verb than the verb "to be," twelve of which are distributed among only three of the books, and hence three of the authors. That, in fact, its use is "exceedingly rare." Therefoi-e, we shall not be wrong in saying to beginners — for whom these articles were commenced — Only use the subjunctive mood of the verb "to be." Writers of years' standing, yearning, and only then, to employ it with other verbs may use it once in a volume, although the propor- tion of authors who do not use it at all would tend to show that this is an unwarranted frequency. The next point to arise, is when to use "to be" in this mood? The following figures which I have re-arranged may serve as. a guide: The verb " to be" after:— Dowden . Hardy ... . James Lang Leoky Meredith .. Morley Stephen .. Stevenson Traill Total If +Sub. 13 26 18 23 12 32 22 28 32 12 218 -Sub. 3 '4 '5 '5 '4 54 '5 7 >5 4 '55 Whether + Sub. 4 -Sub. Though Although Unless 1 As it were"  ## p. 46 (#456) ############################################# 46 THE AUTHOR. The point for consideration here is, is it not justi- fiable to recommend to beginners that if a form of words can only be used on an average twice in a complete volume of a hundred thousand words it should be omitted entirely, especially when its correct usage entails a consideration so careful as to prohibit its easy employment? Bearing in mind the practical good of a simple rule, I think the answer should be—yes! This being granted, a very great simplification of the results of the foregoing table follows: The subjunctive of "to be" should only be used after "if" Tt should not be used after whether, though, although, unless. The column headed "as it were" is added as an illustration of the existence of one of Professor Skeat's "petrified phrases." Now, as "if" is used so many times, both with and without "to be" in the subjunctive, it becomes necessary to try and find out the reason for this varying practice. Miss Meyer's un- published analysis shows the following:— The subjunctive of "to be" is used after "if" — in hypothetical in- stances with real contingency 213 times. Where a definite assertion is withheld 44 „ Total ... 257 „ The subjunctive of "to be " is not used after "if "—in hypothetical instances without real contingency 62 times. When the style is familiar 55 „ Total ... 117 „ Passing from these general statements to par- ticulars, I find the following instances of its detailed use, which may be of interest to some readers, and possibly of use to those fond of statistics: If" and Were Be Total la Wan Are Am Total 5 4 9 0 2 0 O 2 Hardy 26 0 26 7 6 2 0 14 James 18 0 18 1 8 7 0 "5 Lang 6 24 30 3 6 6 0 IS 5 16 21 4 9 1 0 14 26 6 32 28 9 8 9 54 12 •5 27 •3 0 2 0 IS 7 37 44 3 1 3 0 7 20 H 34 S 7 2 1 IS Trail 10 6 16 1 3 0 0 4 Total I3S 122 257 65 Si 31 10 155 In conclusion—passing over some inconsistencies ■as unnecessarily complicating the argument—will some of those in authority favour the pages of TJie Author with their views upon the following suggested rule, which seems at least to represent the •current use of the subjunctive mood among some of our best present day writers, and hence help those who are not yet standing upon the highest rungs of the ladder of ltterature? SuOaKSTED EULE. (in hypothetical instances, use the suhjnnc- ) or tiveof "to be" DISILLUSION. You might, perhaps, have loved me yet— As angels loved before they fell— Bnt on a day of Fate we met, And meeting broke the spell. The poet should be like a bird That sings in May where woods are green, Divined by glimpses, gladly heard, But never plainly seen. H. G. K. Only after "If" use not where definite assertion is withheld, in hypothetical instances, without real contin- gency, or where the style is fami- liar. F. Howaed Collins. BOOK TALK DE. SAMUEL SMILES has recovered from his accident of a year ago, and is prepar- ing a new book of a character identical with that of " Self-Help" and his other works. Mrs. Humphry Ward is at work on a new novel. Mrs. Hodgson Burnett is engaged upon a new novel for publication in the autumn.  ## p. 47 (#457) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 47 Mr. C. Arthur Pearson has become a publisher. He announces novels by Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Max Pemberton, Mr. W. W. Jacobs, Mr. Frankfort Moore, and Mr. G. B. Bargin. Madame Sarah Grand is writing a new novel, which will be a study of a woman's life from the cradle to the grave, and will probably introduce the subject of heredity. An account of a "Trip to Venus " has been written by Mr. John Munro, and will be published by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons. Mr. Lane announces a skit on Mr. Le Gallienne's romance "The Quest of the Golden Girl." The title will be "The Quest of the Gilt-Edged Girl," and the author, Richard De Lyrienne. Mr. Frederick Wedmore has prepared a selec- tion of "Poems of Love and Pride of England," which will be published early in July by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Co. Mrs. Leith-Adams has written a novel entitled "Madelon Lemoine," which Messrs. Jarrold will publish. The late Mrs. Hungerford's last work, "The Coming of Chloe," will be issued early this month by Messrs. White. A story by Mr. Warren Bell will inaugurate the "Henrietta Volumes," a new library of fiction in paper covers which Mr. Grant Richards is publishing. Mr. Richards also publishes Mr. Grant Allen's new romance entitled " An African MiUionaire." Mr. David Hannay will write a volume on "The Later Renaissance" for the series on periods of European literature which Professor Saintsbury is editing and Messrs. Blackwood publishing. "Secretary to Bayne, M.P.," is the title of a story by Mr. Pett Ridge, to be published soon. Later on, " Mordemly," a novel treating of low life, will come from the same pen. Mr. Silas K. Hocking has completed a new story, called "God's Outcast," which will run in the Leistire Hour. Mrs. Annie S. Swan has finished a new Scotch story, entitled "The Curse of Cowden," which Messrs. Hutchinson will publish. Mr. Morley Roberts has a novel, entitled "Strong Men and True," in course of publication by Messrs. Downey and Co. Mr. Lewis Sergeant has written a work entitled "Greece in the Nineteenth Century," which will be published shortly by Mr. Fisher Unwin. Eighteen years ago Mr. Sergeant wrote "New Greece," which is long out of print, and so much as is applicable to the present time will be trans- ferred now to the new work. A large part of the new volume is devoted to the relations between Greece and the Powers during the last twenty years, and there is also an account of contempo- rary Greek literature. An account of the late Turco-Greek war by Mr. Clive Bigham, who was the Times correspondent with the Ottoman Army, will be published by Messrs. Macmillan, entitled "The Campaign in Thessaly." Mr. Demetrius Boulger is engaged upon a new "Life of Sir Stamford Raffles," for which he has the sanction and co-operation of the Raffles, family. The book will contain a large number of new letters and other documents, and will be issued by Messrs. Horace Marshall and Sons early in October. Mr. Leonard Huxley is making good progress, with the biography of his father. Mr. Andrew Lang's Christmas book for 1897 is to be called the " Pink Fairy Book." In the sonnet printed in The Author last month (on page 14), line three should have been " His own, or flout," not " flount." The Right Hon. (as he now is) Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P., and Mr. F. G. Aflalo are to edit an Anglers' Library. The first volume in the series will be on "Coarse Fish," by Mr. C. H. Wheeley. Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen are the publishers. Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co. now become the publishers of the monthly review, Natural Science. The anniversary meeting of the Scottish branch of the Franco-Scottish Society will be held in Edinburgh from the 12th to the 17th inst. Among the papers to be read are "The Influence of Scottish Philosophy upon the French," by Professor Boutroux; "The Teaching of French Literature in Scottish and English Universities," by Dr. Sarolea; and "Le Mouve- ment Neo-Hellenique dans la Litterature Fran- caise," by Professor Croiset. "Through Finland in Carts," Mrs. Alec Tweedie's new book of travel, is now ready. It is published by Messrs. A. and C. Black. There are nineteen full-page illustrations. Mrs. Tweedie has not simply gone first to a hotel and then read up all the books about Finland; she has lived among the people, and learned their life and their ways of thought, and of manners. The volume contains her experiences and an estimate of a people very little known by Western Europe.  ## p. 48 (#458) ############################################# 4« THE AUTHOR. Mr. Robert Sherard's new novel "Uncle Christopher's Treasure" has been re-christened. It will be published in the autumn by the Messrs. Pearson under the title of "The Magpie House." Mr. J. LI. Warden Page has completed his ''North Coast of Cornwall." It is to be pub- lished this month, in time for the tourists and the holidav-makers. Mr. W. Crofton Hemmons, of Bristol, publishes Mr. Page's work. All lovers .of the west country know Mr. Page's " Dartmoor" and the " Coasts of Devon and Lundy" (Horace iCox). The autobiography of Nelson, the Common- place Book of Robert Burns, and five original manuscripts of poems and novels by Sir Walter Scott, were sold by auction on the 15th ult. by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, and Hodge. The Nelson lot included not only the autobiography, but autograph letters to John McArthur, corre- spondence with Earl Nelson and Lady Nelson, a full-length tinted lithograph portrait (one-armed) a sketch of the ball which killed Lord Nelson, and a complete transcript of the "Memoir" for the press—thirty-three articles in all. The collection was bought for <£iooo by Messrs. Sotheran. A collection of twenty-three autograph letters from Nelson to his friend Admiral Sir Thomas Trowbridge fetched ,£280. Of the Scott manuscripts "The Lady of the Lake" 1810 realised £1290; a portion of " Tales of a Grandfather," <£io6; the introductory essay on "Popular and Ballad Poetry," "Halidon Hill," and "Doom of Devorgoil," =£62; "Old Mortality," <£6oo; the original manuscript of "Castle Dangerous," dictated by Scott to his amanuensis, W. Laidlaw, but with numerous corrections and additions in the author's hand, £32. The Burns Commonplace Book or Private Journal, commenced by Burns on April 9, 1787, and consisting of thirty-eight pages of the poet's handwriting, in capital preservation, sold for £365. Mr. James Payn is publishing, through Messrs. Downey, a new novel entitled "Another's Burthen." Mr. David Pryde, author of "Pleasant Memo- ries of a Busy Life," has written a study of life and character in the east of Scotland—or, rather, in the " kingdom " of Fife. It will be published l>v Messrs. Morison Brothers, Glasgow, under the title "The Queer Folk of Fife." The first volume in a series upon Historical Women will be published immediately by the Roxburghe Press. It will be "Victoria, Queen and Empress," written by Mr. Richard Davey. Mr. Wickham Flower has finished a little volume in the defence of an old reading in Dante's "Inferno," and the work will be published shortly by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. The fourth volume of the series of "Periods of European History," published by Messrs. Rivington, Percival, and Co., will be "Europe in the 16th Century," by Mr. A. H. Johnson, M.A., Historical Lecturer to Merton, Trinity, and Uni- versity Colleges, Oxford. It will be published immediately. Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. have in hand a volume of poems by Miss Helen Marion Burnside, with a title-page designed by the author, which will be issued in the autumn. Miss Burnside has also written two tales for children, entitled respectively "The Little V.C." and "The Adventures of a Postage Stamp," which will be published by Messrs. Thomas Nelson and Sons. The Queen has been pleased to accept the original copy of Surgeon-Colonel John Mac- Gregor's Jubilee poems, entitled "Victoria Maxima et Victoria Regina," which were specially mounted and embroidered by Mrs. MacGregor. Some of the poems were written for the present celebration, and some ten years ago, in honour of the previous Jubilee of 1887, when the author was on active service in Upper Burmah during the late Burmese War. We believe it is intended to publish them shortly in combination with other poems by the same author. Mr. Mark Twain's book on his tour round the world is finished, and will appear in the autumn. The scenes of Mr. Gilbert Parker's forthcoming novel are laid in the French-Canadian village of Bonaventure, and the period is that of the abor- tive rising under Louis Papineau, who aimed at establishing une nation Canadienne on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The two leading characters in the novel are Tom Ferrol, an attractive Irish rapscallion, and Christine Lavilette, a charming French-Canadian girl. The title of the book is "The Pomp of the Lavilettes," and it will be published shortly. The business of Messrs. Osgood, Mcllvaine, and Co., publishers, Lonr on, has been amal- gamated with that of Messrs. Harper Brothers, New York, and will in future bear the latter name. The Jubilee articles for the Illustrated London Ncics and the Queen were written by the editor of this paper. He also wrote for a Chicago firm a short volume on the Sixty Years' Reign. This work has been produced in this country by the  ## p. 49 (#459) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 49 Globe. It was written for American readers, who, as a general rule, are wonderfully misinformed on the government and social order of this country. ■Consequently, it contains certain passages which may appear superfluous to English readers. The editor is also under contract to deliver to Messrs. Chapman and Hall a story of the ordinary one volume length before the end of September. It will be finished, it is hoped, in the month of August. Mr. Walter Pollock, in collaboration •with Miss Lilian Mowbrey, has produced a roman- tic play in five acts, entitled "King and Artist" —William Heinemann. The period is the year 1540. Benvenuto Cellini is one of the principal (characters. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Translitebation. THIS once thorny subject—which Sir W. Hunter rendered plain in India some twenty years ago — has been rearing its prickles in the European newspaper press since the recrudescence of Graeco-Turkish conflict. Almost every principal nation has its own way •of pronouncing vowels and consonants, and this leads to impenetrable darkness when the .correspondents and editors try to express, each in the fashion of his country, the sounds of names—mostly Arabic — of which they do not know the meaning. To make the matter worse, the representatives of the London papers attempt to spell Turkish names as they hear them pro- nounced by foreigners, until it becomes difficult, -even for well-educated people, to make out what may be the designation intended to be conveyed. We hear of Edhem Pacha and Sey Foola Beg, of Nedgib and Eedschid, and have to enter into abstruse reflection and calculation before we can ascertain what our well-intentioned informants wish us to understand. The evil proceeds from the varying use of letters. Thus, the French use ch for s/t, dj for j, e for a; the Germans express the Arabic jim by dsch; Italy has her own fashions, not very different from the French. Surely, it is desirable that some common system of transliteration should be adopted, by which an English or American reader could be guided to some dim conception of the names and titles of distinguished Orientals. The Russians transliterate like the French, and the English system is peculiar to ourselves, so that it may not prove easy to decide which of the various methods is to be adopted. But that is urely a point of convention; only let some efinite code be adopted, and scrupulously followed by all the journalists of Christendom. It will be of no importance whatsoever whether the mysterious words be transliterated after this or that fashion, so long as uniformity be pre- served. Surely a congress might sit and settle the details. H. G. K. [On this important subject perhaps the follow- ing experience may prove useful. Many years ago the Palestine Exploration Society found itself face to face with the same difficulty. Every man who worked for them in Syria followed his now method of transliteration in his reports. The result was bewildering. Finally, the committee resolved that the method adopted by Dr. Robin- son, the American traveller, should be followed in all their printed documents. The result was that their readers were no longer confused.—W. B.] II.—The Mockeby of Realism. Mr. Howard Collins's article on the subjunctive reminds me of an appeal that I made to you some months ago on the subject of an authority for the protection of the good old language com- monly called "the Queen's English." From Addison to Macaulay writers were content to follow certain acknowledged rules: words, of course, were added from time to time as new ideas arose or new objects were created, but the grammatical structure conformed to established standards, and—except in the case of royal or noble authors—one was usually able to under- stand what was meant. Setting aside Queen's Speeches, diplomatic despatches, and the like, where ambiguity might be intentionally caused, the adherence to these rules and standards brought the meaning of printed matter home to all men and women of average culture and intelli- gence. But it is no longer so in our modern days of universal "education." Literature now means novel-writing, and novels—if they are to be profitable—must be written for the third-class passenger and the board school alumnus; with what consequences we can see. As in the days of Horace: Soribimus indocti dooidqne. The mass and multitude of readers run as they read, and only ask to be amused; and that can be done by and as well as by- Thackeray or Meredith. Another curious result is the extraordinary etiquette as to topics. You may be almost as paradoxical and heterodox as you like if you will only maintain a discreet reserve and primness of manner. There is a convention, for example, that no reference is ever to be made to a certain P (1  ## p. 50 (#460) ############################################# 5° THE AUTHOR. portion of the human frame; motives may be Belfish and conduct lawless, but people must be painted in kit-cat. Dr. Conan Doyle has said of this that the modern fiction-writer never hits below the belt. But it is not altogether a ques- tion of hitting; a touch of friendliness is as bad. You may talk as much as ever you please about brain work or even of brain-fever; your charac- ters may have all sorts of sentiments in their breasts, and pulmonary phthisis has its allotted share of romantic pathos; the heart is supreme by old tradition, and even its diseases are ad- missible; the death of Svengali, has it not thrilled two continents? The legs and feet may be under a cloud in the United States, but are not quite unmentionable; in English fiction they are even cultivated. But the engine-room, the place of the machinery and propelling power, is everywhere tabu; excepting to those vulgar folk who talk of "pluck," and of "white-livered scoundrels," and call a spade " a spade." Yet, if you come to think of it, the region between the diaphragm and the pelvis contains the seat of all we do or suffer. A man could live awhile with tubercles on his lungs, heart- complaint and softening of the brain; but take away the healthy life of the region in question, and you will soon see a paralysis of the pre- sumptuous " higher " organs. It may not be amiss for the romantic school to describe the adven- tures of cherubs, but it is the most hollow mockery of realism to ignore the primary instincts which are the basis of all our actions. H. K. III.—The Need of a Literary Bureau. In conversation this week with an editor of a notable paper, we agreed as to the usefulness of an establishment where editors could at once lay their hands on what they wanted, and authors could find an immediate outlet and market for their work. Consider what time an editor might save by not having to wade through a mass of MSS. in order to discover suitable matter, and how the author would be benefited by knowing the exact periodical where his poem, article, dialogue, or story would be accepted. At present he gropes blindly in the darkness of uncertainty. The majority of writers, unless on the regular staff of a paper, heedlessly send their work about on a postal- roaming expedition, to seek a haven where it might be generously welcomed and paid for. What heartaches, disappointments, tribulations, the long-suffering community of scribblers might save if a competent distributing agency would only do this work for them! Looking at the matter from a commercial— often the necessary—standpoint, it seems to me that the rules which govern manufacturers of any commodity ought also to apply to the products of the brain. For instance, a manufacturer of nails deals with the wholesale house or middleman who supplies the shops, instead of selling his nails to the latter. Why, then, is there not a literary middleman who can at once dispose of an author's wares? In France such institutions are common. There are bureaus where even plays, songs, and musical pieces are distributed where they are needed; it is therefore surprising that what is deemed necessary in France should be completely ignored in this country. I believe the matter has been often broached in The Author, but as yet no one has had the courage or the spirit to carry out what would prove a boon to editors and contributors. The bureau could be made profitable, the editor and author paying a yearly subscription, whilst the latter would not grudge 10 per cent, com- mission to secure an immediate profitable customer. The Authors' Society might, I think, with their knowledge and experience easily further or bring this undertaking to a practical issue. They have helped, they have advised, they have protected the writers of books, and opened their eyes, to the greed of rapacious publishers; but to found and successfully inaugurate a practical institution of this kind would prove their crowning usefulness. Isidore G. Abcher. IV.—Mutual Help amono Writers. The communication from " An Occasional Con- tributor," in the June number of The Author opens up a wide field for possibilities of mutual self-help among the portion of the community— members of the Society and others—engaged in literary work. Why should not literary people, whether known actually personally to one another or not, communicate their various personal expe- riences, give and take advice, or otherwise, direct through the Society or post? Much disappoint- ment might be avoided, many of the pit-falls which beset the path of a young author might be escaped. Much mutual work might be accom- plished, many pleasant and useful literary friend- ships might be the result. Although in no way seeking an advertisement, or making any claim to a literary standing, yet the quarter of a century or so connection that I have had more or less with literary work may enable me to counsel usefully on many points those who are mere beginners or have had less; and that advice I should ever be  ## p. 51 (#461) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. pleased to give. On the other hand, I am only :stul a, learner, and shall be till the end of my days, .and shall be just as glad often to ask and receive ;advice as T shall be to give it. Thomas W. D. Lisle. Amesbury, Salisbuiy. PERSONAL. AMONUMENT to the late Joseph Thomson, the African explorer, was unveiled at his native place—Thornhill, Dumfriesshire— last month by Sir Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geographical Society. Mr. William Holden, custodian of the Grenville Xiibrary at the British Museum, has retired on a pension, having passed fifty years in the service of the Trustees. Mr. Qeorge Smith is about to give a dinner to the contributors to the "Dictionary of National Biography," in celebration of the completion of the list of names. Vol. 52, issued last week, in- cluded the articles on Shakspeare, by Mr. Sidney Lee; Scott, by Mr. Leslie Stephen; and Seeley, by Professor Prothero. Mr. Henry James has become London corre- spondent with Harper's Weekly. Mrs. Olive Schreiner has been obliged by indisposition to leave London and to seek com- plete rest at a quiet seaside place. The Women Writers of England held their annual dinner at the Criterion Restaurant, London, on June 14; Mrs. Steel presided, and spoke upon the ethics of literature. There were many things in the commercial aspect of literature, she said, that even men acknowledged to be wrong, and which might be amended if women would be both bold and honest, now they had got their say. Miss Montresor proposed the toast of "Absent Friends," and Mrs. Creighton subsequently made a speech on the pleasures of research. The com- pany included also Mrs. J. R. Green, Mrs. Thackeray Ritehie, Miss M. A. Dickens, Mrs. Meade, Miss Mary Kingsley, Mrs. Clifford, "Edna Lyall," and Miss Adeline Sergeant. At the out- set of the dinner, after "The Queen" had been honoured, the following telegram was despatched: "A hundred and twenty women writers, at their -annual dinner, humbly and heartily congratulate Victoria, Queen, Empress, and authoress, on her Diamond. Jubilee." OBITUARY. MRS. OLIPHANT died on the 25th ult., at her house at Wimbledon, from cancer. Born at Walliford, near Musselburgh, Midlothian, in 1828, she began to write in 1849, when "Passages in the Life of Margaret Mait- land" appeared. She rapidly obtained a foothold among fiction readers, and subsequently traversed also the fields of popular biography and history. Altogether she had written about 100 books, among which may be mentioned " The Chronicles of Carlingford," " It was a Lover and His Lass," "The Prodigals," "Diana Trelawny," "Neigh- bours on the Green," "Sir Robert's Fortune," "Old Mr. Tredgold," "Life of Edward Irving," "Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant and of Alice his Wife," "Memoir of Count Montalem- bert," "Francis of Assisi," "Jeanne d'Arc," "Historical Sketches of the Reign of Queen Anne," "Royal Edinburgh," "The Makers of Venice," "The Makers of Florence," "The Makers of Modern Rome," "The Literary History of England in the End of the Eighteenth and Beginning of the Nineteenth Century," and a "Child's History of Scotland." She also con- tributed " Molicre" and "Cervantes" to Black- wood's series of Foreign Classics for English readers, edited by herself, and "Sheridan" to the English Men of Letters Series. Only recently she published two stories, entitled "Two Ways of Life," and wrote a biography of the Queen for the Diamond Jubilee number of the Graphic. She was engaged upon a " History of the Blackwood Group," which was to run to three or four volumes, two of which are practically ready for publication. She was a frequent contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, in which many of her novels originally appeared. Mrs. Oliphant, whose maiden name was Wilson, was pre- deceased by her husband and two sons. RE-OPENING OF THE BRONTE. MUSEUM.- Apeil 10, 1897. Tf^HE following report, written for The Author, I has been unavoidably delayed. Readers will rather hear about the Bronte Museum late than never:— Moorside Haworth is said to be uncouth and rugged, but at least she has learned the elements of hospitality. Dr. Robertson Nicoll and Mr. Clement Shorter, not coutent with the hard work they have already done in the interests  ## p. 52 (#462) ############################################# 52 THE AUTHOR. of Bronte lore, wished to add one more to their efforts; and Haworth generously put by her winds and rain for the time being, and gave them as cheery weather as they could have hoped for. A sympathetic crowd assembled in front of the museum doors at three o'clock. Mr. Shorter briefly declared the museum re-opened for the summer, after which everyone dispersed in the direction of the moors. Mr. Wade, the rector, was most courteous in his willingness to show the visitors the rectory. In the evening a well-attended meeting was held in the Baptist schoolroom. Mr. Brigg, in the chair, performed his duties cheerily and well, and, in introducing the author of "Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle" to the audience, he had a singularly pleasant task. Mr. Shorter struck a true note when he claimed to be at home amongst us. From the start there could be no doubt as to the reception in store for him from those who had read the biography, and I think we abandoned for the time being our prerogative as Yorkshiremen to express a little less than we feel. His speech, dwelling as it did on a subject of which he has shown himself the master, could not fail to be interesting; nothing could have been happier than the chatty way in which he talked to us, as a friend among friends. Mr. Shorter expressed a lively desire to see the Bronte biography re-written once for all, and that by a Yorkshireman and a literary artist. If Mr. Shorter himself is possessed only of the latter of these two essentials, it is surely our misfortune rather than his fault that another soil is respon- sible for him. Dr. Robertson Nicoll followed with a speech of rare power. There was something very con- vincing in the quiet, well-chosen periods in which he gave expression to his enthusiasm — an enthusiasm which has led him to do more for Bronte literature, perhaps, than any literary man of the age. Dr. Nicoll laid stress on the hard- ships through which the Bronte family passed; on the unfailing heroism and strength under trial exhibited by the three sisters; on the remarkable union of these with the power of feeling passion, the power of restraining passion, and the power of giving it an outlet in literary form. He gave credit to the moor-environment of Haworth for suggesting all that was strongest and best in the Bronte novels, and claimed that the sisters, despite accidents of birth, were essentially Yorkshire in character, habits, and associations. As the upshot of the meeting, one thing is abundantly clear—the Brontes live to-day as they never lived in their own time. There is nothing easier of diagnosis than mock enthusiasm, and at the same time there is no doubting the genuine fervour which once in a while we find reflected in the faces of an audience. Little Haworth, wild, provincial to the heart, has pro- duced literature that will only die with the language; of her ruggedness has been born strength, from her tenderness has sprung im- mortality. Halliwell Sutcliffe. A NOTE PROM BUCELE. THE following note may be read by those who doubt the existence or the importance of a love for literature among the people:— "The extension of knowledge being thus accompanied by an increased simplicity in the manner of its communication, naturally gave rise to a greater independence in literary men, and a greater boldness in literary inquiries. As long as books, either from the difficulty of their style or from the general incuriosity of the people, found but few readers, it was evident that authors must rely upon the patronage of public bodies or of rich and titled individuals. And as men are always inclined to flatter those upon whom they are dependent, it too often happened that even, our greatest writers prostituted their abilities by fawning upon the prejudices of their patrons. The consequence was that literature, so far from disturbing ancient superstitions and stirring up the mind to new inquiries, frequently assumed a timid aHd subservient air, natural to its subordi- nate position. But now all this was changed. Those servile and shameful dedications; that mean and crouching spirit; that incessant homage to mere rank and birth; that constant confusion between power and right; that ignorant admira- tion for everything which is old, and that still more ignorant contempt for everything which is new; all these features became gradually fainter , and authors, relying upon the patronage of the people, began to advocate the claims of their new allies with a boldness upon which they could not have ventured in any previous age."  ## p. 53 (#463) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 53 LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Woman's Place in the World of Letters. Mrs. J. B. Green. Nineteenth Century for June. Poetry and the Jubilee: A Temptation for Mil- lionaires. Richard Le Gallienne. Westminster Gazette for Jane a i. Self-Consciousness in Poetry. The Spectator of Jnne 12. School of Fiction. Mrs. Meade and Sir W. Besant. New Century Revietv for Jnne. The Real Monsieur D'Artaqnan. Sir Herbert Maxwell. Blackwood's Magazine for June. Oxford and Jowett. A. M. Fairbairn, D.D. Contem- porary Review for June. The Abuse of Dialect. Matmilla n's for Jnne. Our Men of Letters and Our Empire. W. Gress- well. Temple Bar for Jnne. A Plea for the Study of Sonnets. Emily G. Kemp. Temple Bar for Jnne. Notable Beview. Francis Thompson's " New Poems." Daily Chronicle for May 29. Woman remains essentially mysterious, even in her literary venture, says Mrs. J. R. Green; she does not come forward unprotected and bare to attack, but she covers her advance with a whole machinery of arrow-proof bides and wooden shelters, or seeks safety in what is known in Nature as protective mimicry. The problem of this precaution and disguise is not to be solved by merely accounting for a prudent demeanour, which may be explained by timidity, self-distrust, a sensitive vanity, and hatred of criticism. "To the truth first pointed out by Schopenhauer— that there is another and a greater force than Thought in the Universe, namely, the force of Will—woman remains the living witness." Here are her perplexities as Mrs. Green states them :— She is haunted by a twofold experience. Primitive emotions and instincts that rise from abysses of Nature where she herself is one with the world that lies below con- sciousness, carry with them an authority so potent and tyrannical that she is impelled to rank them above all functions of intelligence. On the other hand, a rude and ruthless discipline warns her that these are but the raw material with which Nature works, lopping off here, and cutting down there, everything that pnshes above the sanctioned level. By a thousand indications, too. Life mocks her with the awful panorama of emotion continually swept before the power of common realities of the world life shifting sand driven before the storm— nothing stable that is not comprehended. Nowhere is the bewildering civil strife of Nature, the battle that is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, stranger or less intelligible than in the devastated field of woman's experience. With the exceptions, it may be said, of Mrs. Hutchinson, Mrs. Catherine Macaulay, and Mme. de Stael, woman has left on one side, or only- skirted, the fields of theological, metaphysical, and political speculation, an aloofness which is possibly of the same character as her detachment from the whole classic world. "The Modern Englishwoman has in no way been subdued to the civilisations of Greece and Rome; her cry still resounds: 'Let them see no wisdom but in Thy eternal law, no beauty but in holiness.'" Perhaps woman is never quite self-forgetful enough for frank expression of her feeling, save under the passionate impulse of poetry. True, such prose writers as Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot at the height of their argument overleap common bounds; "but," says Mrs. Green, " it may be doubted whether there is any woman save Christina Rossetti (and, within her own limits, Emily Bronte), whose sincerity has never faltered, and whose ardent soul has- constantly scorned to wear the livery of any pas- sion save its own." Woman is an anarchist of the deepest dye; she has allied herself with the poor, and all who like herself were seeking some- thing different from that which they knew, and the two great religions which have expressed tha feminine side of feeling, the Buddhist and the Christian, have been sustained by her ardour; Stoicism has been routed, and the enormous value supposed to attach to each separate being, the importance of life and death, have been given a prominence such as was never before known— and this has been mainly done by woman, who is herself perhaps Nature's chief witness to the truth that humauity is not the centre of the universe. And the future? The feminine as opposed to the masculine forces in the modern world are becoming more and more decisive in human affairs; but " if woman is to deliver her true message, or to be the apostle of a new era, she must throw aside the curiosity of the stranger and the licence of the anarchist. The history and philosophy of man must be the very alphabet of her studies, and she must speak the language of the world to which she is the high ambassador, not as a barbarian or foreigner, but as a skilled and fine interpreter. From culture she must learn deeper lessons than ' Taste,' and the Reason which in the last resort must give stability to the shadows projected by her instinct must be hon- ourably reckoned with." May not poor poetry presume to be " like things of the season gay 'r1" asks Mr. Le Gallienne. He is pleading for an adequate recognition, at this Jubilee season, of the fact that in nothing has the Victorian era juster reason to pride itself than in its literature. Novelists live in castles, build mansions for themselves, and are generally self-supporiing; for the most part poets must either be supported, or, in the process of earning their honest livings, surely and swiftly cease to be poets. The poet only wants to be fed—not for idleness, but, like every other worker, for the  ## p. 54 (#464) ############################################# 54 THE AUTHOR. service he does the community. State support being out of the question—" a proposal more appropriate for the Millennium than the Jubilee" —Mr. Le Gallienne addresses his appeal less to the nation than to the nation's millionaires. To these he shows such a way of originality in the spending of their money as will lift them at once out of the mere rabble of millionaires. He puts it thus: ft year's rest for these men, 0 millionaires, a year's rest —to work in. How easy it were for you to give them all five years' rest—to work in, mind!—a whole life's rest. With the stroke of a pen yon conld endow all the genius that deserves and needs endowment; yon conld be the virtual founders of Twentieth Century English Litera- ture! .£50,000 invested at 4 per cent, would provide eight poets with JB250 a year for life; and what is £50,000, seriously speaking, to pay for the honour of doing so great a servioe to your country? . . . Have you not said that you would spend more on your stables than the sum I . ask? Or if one of you cannot Bee your way, how about a syndicate of Maecenases P The Spectator differs a little from Professor Courthope in the examples he has cited of the "vast growth of individual self-consciousness" as one of the main causes of the poetical deca- dence. The poets were Matthew Arnold, Algernon Swinburne, and Eudyard Kipling. As to the latter two, the Spectator "should not have thought that, whatever their faults may be, there was any exaggerated element of self-conscious- ness in either of them "; and as to Arnold, with whom the article deals principally, the writer argues that the "individual self-consciousness" in his poems was not of the kind fatal, or other- wise than exalting, to his genius as a writer, and that, in fact, Wordsworth is often guiltier of the fatal kind of self-consciousness — that which throws up the oddities and unmeaning eccentri- cities of individuals, instead of bringing out more fully the characteristics of human nature at large—than Arnold. As evidences that the self-consciousness is not of the kind which dwells on what is petty and egotistic in the poet's mind, the writer instances " Empedocles on Etna," and the lines in " The Scholar Gipsy " which express the craving of the Oxford student for a calm life. Pidgin English is discussed by Colonel Shaw (in an article in the New Revieie for May, which we had no space to notice last month), who locates the birthplace of this dialect as Canton. It is so easily learned that it i3 popular with the native hangers-on of the English. English merchants find it profitable too, because while it takes six years to learn the Chinese language (which has eighteen dialects, in addi- tion to the Mandarin, or Court, dialogue), Pidgin can be acquired in as many months—and it serves -their turn. At Hong Kong, in spite of official discountenance, Canton English still holds its own. At Canton and various coast settlements the Chinese have regular schools and classes in which it is taught, and it is believed that similar arrangements exist, under the rose, in our colony of Hong Kong itself. The vocabulary is made up of three classes of words: (1) words purely English; (2) words purely Chinese, a very small proportion; and (3) words of doubtful parentage. The word •' pidgin" means "business." Thus "joss-pidgin" is divine worship; "singsong pidgin," theatricals; "coolie-pidgin," work of a labourer; "too muchie pidgin," press of work. "My" stands for " I or me "; "you" is used as in English; "he" does duty for he, him, she, her, or it. There are no genders. The possessive adjectives and pronouns are formed by the addi- tion of the word "belong," so that "belong to pidgin" means "his or her business." "That" and " this " are used much as in English, but the former also takes the place of our "the." "Number one" is the phrase for excellence or superiority either in a person or a thing. Thus, the Bishop of Victoria is ordinarily described in Hong Kong as "that number one heaven-pidgin man." When the youth in the missionary school is puzzled by difficulties in the study of pure English, he is apt to seek refuge in the easier Pidgin, and it is told of one convert that he could not be made to understand the Psalm for the day: "Why do the heathen so furiously rage together:" until his European teacher rendered the line into Chinese, when as the meaning dawned upon him he broke out, to the great scandal of all present: "My savee: what for that Heathen man makee too muchie bobbely." The popularity of the dialect is remarkable, although in the Colonial Government schools at Hong Kong every possible effort is made in the opposite direction :— It is spoken not only by the English residents in com- municating with their servants and employees, but also by the merchants and visitors to China of all other nations. The Dutch captains who voyage to Hong Kong from Batavia, with little knowledge of our pure vernacular, are often excel- lent hands at Pidgin. The French and Germans make use of it with few exceptions, and learn it on arrival quite as a distinct study. In the New Century Mrs. Meade replies to criticism of the proposed '• school of fiction," holding that it would serve to weed o.it the incapable, the weak, and the commonplace novelists; and Sir Walter Besant states his opinion that a " School of Literature and Com- position" would raise the standard of literary art, and allow clever young writers to have a systematic study of English literature, style, logic, and the art of putting things.  ## p. 55 (#465) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 55 Sir Herbert Maxwell gives an account in Black- tcood's of the real D'Artagnan, from whose memoirs Dumas's famous trilogy was written. He was a great intriguer, a great lover, and a great warrior. "You will always be the same, Sir," said Mazarin to him; "the first petticoat— and serious matters fly out of the window." THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Mat 24 to June 23—219 Books.] Adams, D. C. 0., and Carter. T. T. The Salnta and Missionaries of the Anglo-Saxon Era. First series. Mowbray. Allen, Grant Cities of Belgium. (Historical Guide). 8/6 net. Richards. Allen, James Lane. The Choir Invisible. 6/- Macmillan. Ames, P. W. The Mirror of the Sinful Soul. A translation by Queen Elizabeth when eleven years of age. 10 6 net. Afiher. Anglican Pulpit Library. Vol. VI:—The SnndajB after Trinity. 15/- H odder and Stoughton. Armstrong, Lord. Electric Movement in Air and Water, with Theoretical Inferences. 30/- net. Smith, Elder. Armstrong, G. F. S. Queen, Empress, and Empire. Poem. 6/- Marcus Ward. Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Art and Life and the Building and Decoration of Cities. 6/- Rivington, Percival. Avellng, F. W. Who was Jesus Christ? and other Questions. 6'- Kegan Paul- Aubyn, Alan St. The Wooing of May. 8/6. White. Baker, II. F. Abel's Theorem nod the Allied Theory, including the Theory of the Theta Functions. 2-1/- net. 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White, W. H. A Description of the Wordsworth and Coleridge Manuscripts in the Possession of Mr. T. Norton Longman. 10 6. Longmans. Whltting, C. J. History of the Lodge of Hcngist, No. 195, Bourne- mouth, 1770-1897. 10 - net. G. Kenning. Wills, C. J. His Dead Past. 6/- Chatto. Windle. B, C. A. Life in Early Britain. 3/6. Nutt. Woodbury, J. C. Echoes. 12/6. Putnam. Z. Z. (LouiB Zangwill). The Beautiful Miss Brooke. 1/- Tuck.  ## p. 56 (#467) ############################################# AD VER TISEMENTS. iii Now Ready, Crowa 8vo., Cloth Boards, Silver Lettering, Price 6s. A LADY OF WALES. "A Story of the Siege of Chester, 1645." BY THE ReY. VINCENT J. LEATHERDALE, M.A. London: HORaCI COX, Windsor House, Bream's-bu tiding n, E.C. Now rsady, demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s. 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Map and Twenty-six Illustrations. By H. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PAET L OURn I.—The Land of Gold and the Way there. „ II.—Across Desert and Veldt. „ 1IL—Johannesburg the Golden. IV. —A Transvaal Coach Journey. V. —Natal: the South African Garden. „ VI—Ostracised In Africa. Home with the Swallows. PART II —RAMBLES IK RHODESIA. Chapter I.—Eendragt Maakt Magt. ,, II.—Into the Country of Lobengula. „ III.—The Trail of War. „ IV.—Qoldmining, Ancient and Modern. „ V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. „ VI—To Northern Masbonaland. ,. VIL—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: Hora.cs Cox. Windsor House, Bream's-bnildings, K.C. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6b. HATHERSAGE: A Tale of North Derbyshire. BY CHARLES EDMUND HALL, Author of " An Ancient Ancestor," &c. In demy 8vo,, price 12s. net, by post 12s. 6d. Six Months in a Syrian Monastery. Being the Record of a Visit to the Headquarters of the Syrian Church in Mesopotamia, with some account of the Yazidis, or Devi Worshippers of Mosul, and El Jilwah, their Sacred Book. By OSWALD II. PARRY, B.A. (Of Magdalen College, Oxford.) Illustrated by the Author. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham. "The author of this handsome volume presents ' a detailed Btudy of a relic of history pursued off the track of general research;' he has sought to give, and has succeeded in giving, * a picture of quiet life in a country much abused, and among a people that command less than their share of ordinary interest.1 'westward the tide of Empire takes its way,1 sang a prophetic divine of the olden days, and no lea* certainly, as Mr. Tarry points out, does the ebb of travel return towards the East. . . . Aa a volume descriptive of life and travel among a distant people, Mb work is well worth reading, but for those persons who are more particularly concerned with the old Syrian Church, or in the solution of the problem Indicated above, it is one of quite unique attraction. A pathetic interest attaches to the account of the Yazidis included in this volume, for it contains part of their sacred writings, the original manuscript of which was in the hands of Professor Bobertson Smith for translation at the time of his death.' —Publishers' Circular. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream1 b-buildings, E.C. Royal 8vo., price lGs. net. SPORTING DAYS IN SOUTHERN INDIA: BEINCt REMINISCENCES OF TWENTY TRIPS IN PURSUIT OF BIG GAME, CHIEFLY IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. BY Lieut.-Col. A. J. O. POLLOCK, Royal Scots Fusiliers. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BT WHYMPER AND OTHERS. Contents. Chapters I., II., and III.—The Bear. „ IV. and V.—The Panther. VI., VTL, and VIII.—The Tiger. ,, IX. and X.—The Indian Bison. XI. and XII.—The Elephant. „ XIII.—Deer (Cervida1) and Antelopes. XIV.—The Ibex. „ XV. and XVI.—Miscellaneous. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildlngs. E.C.  ## p. 56 (#468) ############################################# AD VER TISEMENTS. LOWEST PRICES IN LONDON. ********* Authors' M8S. correctly and neatly copied at lOd. per lOOO words. Carbon Duplicates at 2d. ,, LE&A.L &KNERAL COPYING at Id. per folio. We have a skilled and well educated staff of operators. Give us a trial, and compare our work and prices with those of other offices. LARGE ORDERS ESTIMATED FOR. Note our address— THE ECLIPSE TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND OFFICES, 28, FENCHURCH STREET. LONDON, E.C. Typewriting by Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The Wert Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, "Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 1893.) Anthora' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' References, TYPEWRITING ACCURATELY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED. POSTAGE PAID. PLEASE GIVE TRIAL. MISS RAINES, 11, Falconer Chambers, Scarborough. 6"&1/- PASTE STICKS Now ready, price 2s. 6d., cloth. A FLYING VISIT TO the AMERICAN CONTINENT. WITH NOTES BY THE WAY. By F. DALE PAWLE, London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo., limp cloth, 2s. fid. net; pontage, 3d. extra. THE PRINCIPLES OP CHESS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. JAMES '"MASON. CONTENTS. — 1. Elements of Chess. 2. General Principles. 3. Combination. 4. Exposition of Master Play Complete. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. MRS. GILL, TYPE-WBITINO OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant; alBO to MesBrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary AgentB, Hastings House, Norfolk-streot, Strand, W.O. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (The Leadenhall Pbess Ltd.), 50, Leadenhall Street, London, TC.C Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 5s. per dozen, ruled or plain. Super-royal Hvo., price 20s., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1897. BEING A STATISTICAL BOOK OF REFERENCE For farts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Colonies; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Benefices than any ever yet given to the public. Crockfohd's Clerical Directory is more than a Directory; it coo- tains concise Biographical details of all the ministereanddignitaries of tho Church of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies; also a List of the Parishes of each Diocese in England and Wales arranged in Rural Deaneries. T W ENTY-NINTM ISSUES. HORACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Pocket Size, price 6d.; by post, fi£d. THE LAWS OF GOLF, As Adopted by the Royal and Ancient Oolf Chtb of St. Andrews. Special Rules for Medal Play. Etiquette of Golf. Winners of the Golfing Championship. Winners and Runners-up for the Amateur Championship. London : Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor HonBe, Hream'e-bnildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 02 (July 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 02 (July 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-07-01-The-Author-8-2 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/306/1897-08-02-The-Author-8-3.pdf eb8c988715633956c9c1de1e4d303380 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) 1897-08-02 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages Page range in volume 57–88 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970802 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Aidhors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 3.] AUGUST 2, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONT FAQ I General Memoranda 87 From the Committee 59 Literary Properly—1. The Home of Lords Committee. 2. The New Copyright Bill. 3. The Eight of CriiioiBm. 4. University of Cambridge r. Blackie and Sons 59 Copyright (Amendment) Bill (H. of L.) 63 Civil List Pensions 67 Notes and News. By the Editor 67 The Proposed Net System "1 A Warning to Authors and Others 72 A Case in Pofnt 74 ENTS. PAOI 'International Library Conference 75 Book Talk 78 Fashions in Language. By H. O. K ... 81 Correspondence.—1. Corruptions of the Language. 2. Editor and Contributor. 8. English Novels In Germany. 4. A Query. 5. Transliteration. 6. Subjunctive Mood: its Present Day use. 7. Cost of Production. S. How Long; 82 Literature in the Periodicals 85 Personal 86 Obituary 87 The Books of the Month 87 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report, That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., 10*. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8«. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6J. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3$. 4. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spriooe, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, <fec, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2*. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigoe. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2*. 6d.  ## p. 56 (#470) ############################################# 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^i)e gociefj} of Jlufljors (§ttcotporafe6). 8ib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Barbie. A. W. X Beckett. Robert Bat em an. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. Sir Henry Bkrgne, K.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. ATjOUBTINE BlRRELL, M.P. Rev. Prop. Bonnet, F.R.S. Right Hon. James Brtce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burohclire, P.C. Hall Cains. Eoerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. The Eabl of Desart. president. o-ieozroce :mz:e:k.:e:dit;e3:. COUNCIL. Adstin Dobson. a. conan dotle, m.d. A. W. Dubouro. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. D. W. Freshfield. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haqgard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. RuDYARD KlPLINO. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky, P.C. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Merivale. Eon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbrioht, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptiste Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Spriqoe. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Store. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonoe. Q.C. A.. W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Eoerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. SU B-COM M ITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mas.D. (Chairman) Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Molloy. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mub.Doc. Henry Norman. Francis Storr. Solicitors— f Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. a Beckett. Edward Rose. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thrino, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. .A.. IP. WJ^TT & SOINT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON". W.C. Published every Friday morning; price, without Reports, 9<L; with Reports, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete and efficient Beries published. Offices: Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.0 THE ART of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5s. net, by post 5s. 4d. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.0. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Rev. G. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 Illustra- tions. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 2s. «d. net. London: HouACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.O.  ## p. 57 (#471) ############################################# be Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 3.] AUGUST 2, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are. officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOB some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objeoted as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of Belling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A pro&t-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to > (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. _ (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " offioe expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both °ides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. Prom time to time the very important figures conneoted with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objeoted. that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a groat many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success whioh will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points whioh the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged whioh has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all dissounta shall b" duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. F 2  ## p. 58 (#472) ############################################# 58 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USB THE SOCIETY. I. "TTWERY member has a right to ask for and to receive I* J advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Eemember that questions connected with oopyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Seoretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thns obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed dooument to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the cose of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever ou the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Direotor by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in ail cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they ore willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest . I  ## p. 59 (#473) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 59 or dishonest? Of coarse they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, bo that it now stands at £g 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production " for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publishor from sweeping the whole profits o a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. ON Thursday, July 26, a meeting of the Com- mittee was held at the Medical Association Rooms, Hanover-square. It was Resolved: "That in view of the proposed action of the Publishers' Association towards the booksellers, a committee be appointed to consider the whole questiou, and to arrive at the opinions and inte- rests of the persons most concerned. That the committee should consist of five, who should have power to extend their number to twelve, but not more." It is expected that the committee will begin their work in September. Owing to the great pressure upon our space this month, Mr. Hapgood's New York Letter, and Mr. Sherard's Notes from Elsewhere, have been unavoidably held over. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—The House of Loeds Committee. THE Select Committee of the House of Lords which has been appointed to deal with the copyright law promoted by the Society, and drafted for the Society by Mr. J. Rolt, of 4, New- square, sat for the first time on Thursday, July 1. As previously stated in The Author, the Bill is being brought forward on behalf of the Society by Lord Monkswell, who acted as chairman of the Lords' Committee. Mr. Daldy, who was a member of the com- mission of 1878, and who is secretary of the Copyright Association, was the first witness called. He gave evidence on the various points of the Bill, and answered the numerous questions put to him by their Lordships as to the effect of the Bill and its bearing with regard to change in the exist- ing law. The witness, in answer to their Lordships, touched on the point of the inclusion of transla- tion rights in a definition of copyright and its effect on the International law; on the question of the definition of " book" shall include " news- paper"; on the existing law with respect to lectures ; on the proposed amendment of that law; and generally on all the other points dealt with in the Bill. After the witness had given his evidence on the point relating to the definition "book shall include newspaper," the room was cleared, and on the re-admission of the public the chairman said that the committee had come to the conclusion that they would not include any alteration in the law with regard to the copyright in newspapers in the present Bill. Mr. Daldy was taken through various objec- tions, and suggested amendments, which objec- tions and amendments he had furnished to the secretary of the Society, who in turn had forwarded them to the chairman of the committee. Their Lordships listened with attention to his statements, and reserved the points for their con- sideration. At the conclusion of Mr. Daldy's evidence, Mr. C. J. Longman, representing the Publishers' Association, was called. His evidence was given in support of the Bill in all its important essen- tials. He did not touch on the points that had already been covered by the former witness except when it appeared to him that errors of law or fact had been put before their Lordships. His evidence was very strongly in favour of the fullest protection for the performance of dramatic works, whether such performance took place in a place of dramatic entertainment or in a private house. Although not supporting the suggestion in the Bill for registration at the British Museum, he stated that he looked forward to a time when registration should be made compulsory. Mr. G. H. Thring, the secretary of the Society, as representing the promoters of the Bill, was called last so as, if necessary, to supplement or correct the evidence already given, and to put before the Committee, should they desire, the views of the promoters of the Bill on any of the sepa-  ## p. 60 (#474) ############################################# 6o THE AUTHOR. rate clauses. As most of the difficulties had already been explained (both of the former wit- nesses being mainly in favour of the Bill), there was very little to add, but the secretary pressed those points which appeared to be of the greatest benefit to authors, namely, the repeal of the 18th section of the existing Act and the adoption of the present clauses; the retention in the author of rights of dramaiisation of his novels, and the necessity for complete registration. The committee then adjourned to Thursday, July 8. On Thursday, July 8th, their Lordships' Special Committee again sat, Mr. Bram Stoker, Sir Henry Irving's manager, was called as being able to answer for the theatrical managers on the points relating to the drama and dramatic rights. He stated that the practice of dramatising novels was on the increase, and he thought it was absolutely essential both that the author of a book should be protected from dramatisation, and the author of a drama from novelisation. He submitted that dramatic authors should be able to prohibit performances in public or private. He desired to see a simplification if possible of the method of obtaining an injunction against the infringing parties, and stated that managers would prefer such simplified legal remedy rather than merely the power of obtaining penalties. He also touched on the subject of copyright in lectures. At the close of his evidence the room was ■cleared for the consideration of the Bill by their Lordships. The Bill has now been revised by the Special Committee, Lord Thring undertaking the redraft- ing of it on behalf of their Lordships' Special Committee. On Monday, July 19, Lord Monkswell on the motion to go into committee on the Bill made the following speech. The House then went into committee, and the amendments proposed by the Special Committee were agreed to. Lord Monkswell asked to be allowed to say a few words as to the proceedings of the Select Committee to which the Bill was referred. The benches opposite were represented by Lord Knutsford, Lord Pirbright, Lord Hatherton, and Lord Tennyson; while Lord Farrer, Lord Thring, and Lord Wei by represented that side. The committee sat several days, and went into the subject carefully. The first point which they devoted a great deal of attention to was that of translation. It was absolutely necessary to amend the law with regard to translations. It was now in a sad state of confusion. Trans- lation into foreign tongues were dealt with under the Berne Convention and under the International Copyright Act. But as to trans- lations into Hindustani, Welsh, Gaelic, and other tongues current within the British Dominions the law was in a doubtful state indeed. With regard to this he could not do better than quote from the evidence of Mr. Daldy, one of the Commis- sioners of 1878, and who was now, and had been for many years, honorary secretary of the Copy- right Association. Lord Monkswell then read the portion of the evidence bearing on this point, and then pro- ceeded :—It was certain, therefore, that the matter of translation ought to be dealt with as soon as possible, and the promoters of the Bill proposed to deal with it by giving, as was proposed in the original Bill, the absolute right during the whole period of the copyright to prevent unauthorised translations. An endeavour had been made to lighten the Bill so that it might be got through their Lordships' House this Session, and it dealt only with those subjects which were most press- ing and least contentious. All reference to news- paper copyright had been struck out. With regard to magazine copyright, it was proposed to make it retrospective, but as there was a diffe- rence of opinion as to that, the clause in the Bill making the copyright retrospective had been omitted. With regard to lectures the Bill had also been considerably lightened. The great point on which the committee wished to insist was that eojiyright should be given not only in lectures when published in a book, but when delivered, and that they had tried to effect by the Bill. It was further suggested in the original Bill that the law should be altered so as to give copyright, which did not now exist, to lectures delivered in endowed buildings. The Select Committee were on the whole favourable to that proposition, but, at the same time, they re- cognised that any alteration of the law to effect that must seriously affect very considerable inte- rests; and they thought it was not desirable, without taking a great deal of evidence and going into the matter very thoroughly, to recommend such an alteration in the law, consequently they had inserted in the amended Bill a proviso set- ting up again the provision that now existed— not allowing copyright to lectures in endowed buildings. For the present it had been decided not to propose any change in the law with regard to the difficult and thorny question of registration. Another alteration had been made which he thought would commend itself to their lordships. The principil Act of 1842 now applied to all British possessions, unless by Order in Council they should bo exempted either from the whole Act or part of it. It was proposed in the amended Bill to give the British posses-  ## p. 61 (#475) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 61 sion8 much greater freedom of action by declar- ing that the Act, if it passed, should not run in any of the British possessions unless they them- selves asked either for the whole or part of it. The net result, therefore, of the labours of the Select Committee had been to greatly lighten the Bill, and to clear it of almost every subject of controversy, whilst at the same time it intro- duced a great many alterations of the law which were of considerable value. He might, perhaps, be allowed to say that the best thanks of the committee were due to Lord Thring for the great care and attention he had bestowed on the draft- ing of this measure. (Hear.) He found that two or three amendments would have to be made, which, however, did not touch the Bill in this respect. In order that noble lords might have an opportunity of considering the amendments he had put down, he proposed to take the report stage to-morrow, and the amendments on Thursday or Friday, when he hoped the House would give a third reading to the Bill. (Hear, hear.) He begged to move that the House now resolve itself into Committee on the Bill. On Friday, July 23, the Bill was read a third time. Lord Monkswell stated that at the wish of the Colonial Office he desired to move that Clause 12 be omitted. The omission was agreed to. II.—The New Copyright Bill. I. FBOM THE "TIMES." A gentleman engaged in a publishing business recently wrote to Lord Monkswell suggesting that it was desirable to take steps to protect the titles of series of books, and so to prevent the foisting upon the public of hasty imitations of deservedly popular volumes. "I have been," he said, "in correspondence both with the Stationers' Hall authorities and the Trade Mark Office of the Board of Trade; and recently I took occasion to have an interview with the respective chiefs of these offices. The Eegistrar of Trade Marks told me that, unquestionably, such titles fall outside the scope of the present Trade Mark Acts; but he seemed to see no objection whatever to the re- gistration of such titles, only he thought that such a matter would fall more fittingly within the province of Stationers' Hall. The chief man at Stationers' Hall said: (1) That my application was by no means the first of the sort, that, on the contrary, more people came to his office with similar requests than with any other; (2) that he thought that means for registering novel titles of businesses and series of books should be given to the public; (3) that he had noted with surprise that the new Copyright Bill which your lordship was introducing into the House of Lords contained no provision for this purpose; (4) that he thought it very possible that, if the matter were brought before your lordship, your lordship would see the desirability of making such an addition." Lord Monkswell's reply was as follows: "I will lay your statement before the Copyright Committee at its next meeting; but, as the amendments you suggest would enlarge the scope of the Bill, I do not think they will consider themselves justified in recommending them to the House." II. FBOM THE " DAILY NEWS." Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill has been printed and circulated with the amendments made by the Select Committee of the House of Lords. These were accepted in committee of the whole House yesterday afternoon, and the Bill now stands for third reading. As it has not yet passed through the House of Commons, the chances of its becoming law this session must be regarded as remote. But it has now been brought into the best shape which legal minds can give it, and there may be some hope for it in 1898. Even this year, if some general agreement could be obtained, a judicious attempt to deal with a difficult subject might be crowned with success. Social reform is not achieved in England with reckless or thoughtless haste. The essence of this measure formed the subject of a Bill which the present Duke of Rutland, then Lord John Manners and Postmaster-General, introduced into the House of Commons in 1879. That was, if we are not mistaken, the year in which the late Sir John Holker moved the second reading of the Criminal Code Bill, which has never got beyond a second reading since. There are presentable, we do not say conclusive, arguments against the codification of the criminal law. But the law of copyright has been osten- sibly codified for more than half a century, and all that is now required may be accomplished by a short amending Bill. In 1878 there was a Royal Commission on Copyright, to which Lord John Manners' Bill was due, and thirteen years afterwards, in 1891, Lord Monkswell again endeavoured to legislate upon the Commission's Report. But there is none of "that slippery stuff," as Mr. Morley calls party capital, to be made out of copyright, and so copyright, like the Corporation of London, remains unreformed. In 1891 Lord Monkswell's Bill was read a second time. This year it has advanced a step further, and has gone through Committee. The first  ## p. 62 (#476) ############################################# 62 THE AUTHOR. clause makes translation an infringement of copy- right. This is obviously just, if there is to be any copyright at all, whether the right has or has not been expressly reserved. A very important change is made in the copyright of magazines. In 1842, when the principal Copyright Act was passed, there were very few magazines, except the old quarterlies, with Blachicood's and the Gentle- man's. Now there are almost as many magazines in a month as there are days in a year, and a large number of the articles contributed to them have a really permanent value. At present the author of an article has a right of separate publication for eight-and-twenty years. Macaulay, for instance, could not without permission from the editor of the Edinburgh Review—which was, of course, given, but which might have been refused—have republished during his lifetime any of his essays except those on Milton, Machiavelb, and, perhaps, one or two more. The Bill provides that while the proprietor of the magazine shall have the sole right of pub- lishing the magazine itself, and the articles as part of it, the author of an article may publish it separately after three years. This is a great change, but a change wholly, in our opinion, for the better. Copyright is essentially the asser- tion of property. But whei-e a special kind of property, which did not exist at common law, is created by statute, Parliament should be careful to regulate it in the public interest. The interest of the public lies in the rapid diffusion of readable matter, and cannot be served by locking up interesting essays for a generation. Seven years before the Copyright Act of 1842 there was passed the Lectures Copyright Act of 1835. This Act gives a lecturer the exclusive right of publication. But it requires a preliminary notice to Justices of the Peace, which savours of the terror inspired by the French Revolution, when lectures were regarded much as dynamite w-as regarded a hun- dred years later. It is doubtful whether the Act applies to sermons, and there must, we should imagine, be very few magistrates who have been formally notified that a new volume of sermons was about to dazzle the world. The Bill abolishes this rather ridiculous formality, and gives the lecturer, as well as the preacher, an absolute copyright. But it allows a lecture to be reported in a newspaper unless the lecturer expressly states that he does not wish to be reported. There are not many lectures which would suffi- ciently attract the general reader to be reported at any great length, nor would many newspapers have space for them. But a paid lecturer, who delivers the same lecture, which may have cost him much labour and research, at several places, is entitled to protection against a form of publicity which would destroy his market. Suchr at least, is the view popular in the literary class, and the view to which Carlyle gave such forcible emphasis in his famous petition to the House of Commons. There is, of course, the theory, understood to find favour with at least one eminent statesman, that copyright is an infringe- of public right, and that authors should be com- pensated by a royalty. But that is not within the range of practical politics. One of Johnson's biographers narrates an argument upon a Scottish case, which went from the Court of Session to the House of Lords, and which raised the point of copyright at common law in lectures or sermons. Dr. Johnson declared that it was unjust to stereotype a man's doctrines and ideas, which he might afterwards see cause to alter. That motive had not previously restrained the sage from reporting Parliamentary debates in what he was pleased to call the "Senate of Liliput." Wot the least important clauses in the Bill are those which deal with abridgments. As Lord Monkswell says in the useful memorandum pre- fixed to the Bill: "It is now easy without any infringement of copyright, in a few weeks, by skilful abridgment, to appropriate the fruit of the labours of many years, and to compete with the original copyright bought and published at a very great expense." The art of judicious abridgment is not perhaps quite so common as Lord Monkswell supposes. But a farrago of extracts any fool can turn out, and they may be so copious or so vital as to prevent many readers from approaching the original work. Under this Bill copyright carries with it the right of abridgment as well as the right of transla- lation, and the author would be empowered to insist upon a disclaimer of his authorship being printed upon the title-page. There is no copy- right in ideas. That is to say, that an illegitimate reproduction of another man's work must be a. verbal one, or there is no remedy. Any one, therefore, is at liberty to make a play out of somebody else's novel, or a novel out of somebody else's play. The whole plot may in either case be stolen. But no penalty is imposed upon the thief. It is for this reason that novelists who intend afterwards to dramatise their own novels arrange for one colourable performance on the stage so- soon as the story appears, so as to bring them- selves under the protection of the Dramatic Copy- right Act. It is proposed to make a statutory copyright in ideas, and to make the unauthorised dramatisation of a novel an infringement of it. Such are the chief features of this excellent Bill.  ## p. 63 (#477) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 63 III.—The Eight of Criticism. In the action brought by Sir John Carr in 1808 against Messrs. Hood and Sharpe, the exact words of Lord Ellenborough were as follows:— Every man who publishes a book commits himself to the judgment of the public, and anyone may comment upon his performance. Ridicule is often the fittest weapon that can be employed for such a purpose. Reflection on personal character is another thing. Show me an attack on the moral character of this plaintiff, or any attack upon his character unconnected with his authorship, and I shall be as ready as any judge who ever sat here to protect him; but I cannot hear of malice on acconnt of turning his works into ridicule. In the more recent case of Merivale v. Carson (20 Q. B. Div. at pp. 280-1), Lord Esher, M.E., said, carrying the doctrine, if possible, even further:— Every latitude must be given to opinion and to prejudice, and then an ordinary set of men with ordinary judgment must say whether any fair man would have made such a comment. . . . Mere exaggeration, or even gross exag- geration, would not make the comment unfair. However wrong the opinion expressed may be in point of truth, or however prejudiced the writer, it may still be within the prescribed limit. The question which the jury must con- sider is this. Would any fair man, however prejudiced he may be, however exaggerated or obstinate his views, have said that which this criticism has said of the work which is criticised? IV.—University op Cam bridge v. Blacxie and Sons. (Before Mr. Justice Kekewich.) In this ease the plaintiffs as proprietors of the "Pitt Press" brought this action and now moved the court for an injunction in respect of an alleged infringement of their copyright in annotated editions of Pope's "Essay on Criticism" and Milton's " Lycidas," "Allegro," and "II Pense- roso." Copyright was, of course, claimed solely in respect of the annotations. Mr. Millar, Q.C., and Mr. Ingpen appeared for the plaintiffs, and Mr. Stokes for the defen- dants. It was now arranged that on the defendants undertaking to keep an account of all books sold by them, and to file affidavits and deliver copies of exhibits within the first seven days of October, the motion should stand over until the second motion day in Michaelmas sittings; and Mr. Justice Kekewich made an order to that effect.— Times, July 23. VOL. Till. COPYRIGHT (AMENDMENT) BILL. [H. L] [As Amended by the Select Committee.] MEMORANDUM. THIS Bill is intended to amend some of the most serious defects in the present law of copyright. Its provisions do not mate- rially differ from the provisions on the same points contained in the Bill introduced by Lord John Manners (on behalf of the then Govern- ment) in the House of Commons in 1879, and in the Bill introduced by Lord Monkswell in the House of Lords in 1891. Both these Bills were mainly founded on the report of the Royal Com- mission on Copyright of 1878. Lord Monkswell's Bill passed a second reading in the House of Lords. The amendments are directed to the following points :— I.—Translations. Translation is made an infringement of copy- right. II.—Magazine Copyright. Since the passing of the Copyright Act, 1842, this kind of copyright property has probably increased a hundredfold in value and importance, both to authors and publishers, much literature of high merit being constantly published in the first instance in magazine form. The 18th section of the Act of 1842, which deals with the subject, is expressed in language so obscure as to be almost unintelligible, and defers the author's right of separate publication to the end of a period of twenty-eight years. It is proposed that that section should be repealed, and that the copyright should be vested in the author, subject to the following qualifications :— (1.) The proprietor of the magazine to have the sole right of publishing as part of the magazine. (2.) The author not to publish separately until after the expiration of three years from publication. The entire copyright in encyclopaedias is vested in the publisher as before, but in a separate section. III.—Lectures. The Lectures Copyright Act, 1835, gives to the lecturer the exclusive right of publication, but requires a preliminary notice to justices of the peace, and probably does not apply to sermons. It is proposed to repeal this Act, and to give the lecturer (including the preacher) copyright with- out any useless formalities, but permitting a newspaper report unless expressly prohibited by the lecturer. It will be observed that a proviso has been inserted maintaining the present law as G  ## p. 64 (#478) ############################################# 64 THE AUTHOR. to lectures in endowed buildings, &c. The com- mittee have taken this course because they did not think it desirable to alter the law without taking more evidence than time permitted. IV.—Abridgments. It is now easy, without any infringement of copyright, in a few weeks, by skilful abridgment, to appropriate the fruit of the labours of many years, and to compete with the original copyright, bought and published at very great expense. This will be prevented by the" simple enactment that copyright shall carry with it the right to abridge. The reputation of the author is also safeguarded by a provision that a disclaimer of his author- ship of the abridgment shall, if required by the author, be printed on the title page ; and that the abridgment shall not be issued without the author's consent in eases where the author retains an interest in the sale (by royalties or otherwise) though not in the copyright. V.—Dramatisation of Novels. As there is no copyright in ideas, it is easy for any person to take the whole plot of a novel and practically reproduce the novel itself in dramatic form without any legal infringement of copyright, and a similar injury can be inflicted by the novelisation of dramas. It is proposed to convert these moral into legal infringements of copyright. Owners of dramatic copyright are also given a summary remedy against infringement which is much needed, as pirates are often difficult to detect, or are not worth the expense of an action in the High Court when detected ; and the remedy is to be available against those who •■ permit" as well as those who " cause " the representation. AEEANGEMENT OF CLAUSES. Translations. Clause. 1. Translations and infringement of copy- right. Copyright in translations. Copyright in Periodical Works. 2. Copyright in articles in periodical works. 3. Registration of article by author. 4. Registration by owner of periodical work. 5. Articles in encyclopaedias. Copyright in Lectures. 6. Lectures. Abridgments. 7. Abridgments without consent prohibited. Copyright owner not to abridge without author's consent in certain cases. Notice on title page that abridgment is not by author. Dramatisation. 8. Dramatisation of novels prohibited. 9. Conversion or adaptation of dramatic works prohibited. Summary Remedy for Infringement of Dramatic Copyright. 10. Liability to fine of person representing drama without consent of owner of per- forming right. Repeal. 11. Repeal. 12. Application of Act. 13. Short title. 14. Commencement of Act. Schedules. A Bill (as amended by the Select • Committee) intituled an Act to amend the Law relating to Copyright in Periodical Works, Lectures, Abridgments, and otherwise. — [The Lord Monkswell.] Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— Translations. 1. —(1.) In the case of a book, it shall be an infringement of the copyright therein if any person shall, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, translate the book: (2.) The author of an authorised translation of a book shall be entitled to copyright therein in the same manner as if it was an original work. Copyright in Periodical Works. 2. Where any article, essay, poem, or other work is first published in and forms part of a review, magazine, or other periodical, the copy- right in such article, essay, poem, or other work shall, in the absence of any agreement in writing to the contrary, be the property of the author thereof. Provided that where the author is paid for the writing of such work as aforesaid by or on behalf of the owner of the review, magazine, or other periodical, then— (i.) the owner of the review, magazine, or periodical shall, during the subsistence of copyright in such article, essay, poem, or other work, have the sole right of publishing the same as part of the review, magazine, or periodical, but not otherwise; (ii.) neither the author nor his assigns shall, without the consent of the owner of the review, magazine, or periodical, print or  ## p. 65 (#479) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 65 publish such article, essay, poem, or other work in any form until after the expiration of three years from its first publication in the review, magazine, or periodical, and any printing or publication contrary to this pro- vision shall be an infringement of the rights of the owner of the review, magazine, or periodical. 3. The author of any such article, essay, poem, or other work as aforesaid, or his assigns, may either before or after the expiration of the said term of three years register the same at Stationers' Hall as a separate work, and shall thereupon be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any infringement of the copyright therein as a separate work. 4. —(i.) The owner of a review, magazine, or other periodical may register the same at Stationers' Hall, and shall thereupon be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any infringe- ment of his rights in the same or any part thereof. (ii.) Registration of a review, magazine, or other periodical shall be in the form set forth in the First Schedule hereto, or as near thereto as circumstances will permit. (iii.) It shall be necessary to register only the first number, volume, or part of a review, magazine, or other periodical published in numbers, volumes, or parts. 5. Where any article, essay, poem, or other work is first published in and forms part of an encyclopaedia or similar collective work, and the author is paid for the writing thereof by or on behalf of the owner of the encyclopaedia or similar collective work, the copyright in such article, essay, poem, or other work shall, in the absence of any agreement in writing to the contrary, belong to the owner of the encyclopaedia or similar collec- tive work. Copyright in Lectures. 6. The author of any lecture shall be entitled to copyright therein as if the same were a book, subject to the following modifications and additions:— (i.) The first delivery of a lecture shall be deemed to be the first publication thereof. (ii.) So long as a lecture has not been published as a book by or with the consent of the author, the copyright therein shall include the exclusive right of delivering the same in public, but when so published the copyright in the book shall date from the first delivery of the lecture. (iii.) It shall not be necessary to register the copyright in a lecture which has not been published as a book by or with the consent of the author. VOL. Till. (iv.) A report of a lecture delivered in public, in the ordinary current edition of a newspaper after the delivery of such lecture, shall not be deemed an infringement of the copy- right unless the author before delivering the same gives public notice that he prohibits the same being reported, but no such report shall be deemed to be a publication of the lecture within the meaning of sub-sect, (ii.) (v.) The notice referred to in the last preceding clause may be given either by affixing the same to the door of the place where the lecture is delivered, or by advertisement in one or more newspapers published and circu- lating in the district, or by a declaration made by the lecturer before the delivery of his lecture at the place where he delivers the same. (vi.) The term "lecture" shall include a piece for recitation, address, or sermon. (vii.) Provided that this enactment shall not extend to any lectures delivered in any uni-. versity or public school or college or on any public foundation, or by any individual in virtue of or according to any gift, endowment or foundation [5 & 6 Will 4, c. 65, s. 5.] Abridgments. 7.—(i.) It shall be an infringement of the copyright in a book if any person shall, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, print or otherwise multiply, or cause to ba printed or otherwise multiplied, any abridgment of such book, or shall export or import any abridgment so unlawfully produced, or shall sell, publish, or expose for sale or hire, or cause to be sold, pub- lished, or exposed for sale or hire, any abridg- ment, knowing, or having reasonable grounds to suspect, that the same has been so unlawfully produced or imported. (ii.) Where the author of a book has sold the copyright thereof in consideration (whether wholly or in part) of a royalty or a share of the profits to be derived from the publication thereof, or is otherwise, notwithstanding such sale, possessed of a pecuniary interest therein, such book shall not, during the continuance of the copyright therein, and so long as the author shall be entitled to such royalty, share of profits, or shall be so interested as aforesaid, be abridged by the purchaser of such copyright without the consent in writing of tht author or his assigns. (iii.) Where the author has sold the exclusive right of publication of a book without assigning the copyright, he shall not be at liberty to publish an abridgment of the work without the consent of the owner of the exclusive right of publication. (iv.) If the owner of the copyright in a book o 2  ## p. 66 (#480) ############################################# 66 THE AUTHOR. to the abridgment whereof the author's consent is not required under the preceding proviso intends to publish an abridgment thereof made by some person other than the author of the original book, he shall give notice of such inten- tion to the author, if living, by registered letter, directed to his last known address, and shall, if so required by such author, either state or cause to be stated on the title page of each part or volume of the abridgment that the abridgment is not by the author of the original book, or shall in like manner state or cause to be stated the name of the maker of the abridgment. (v.) The author of a book shall be entitled to restrain and obtain damages for any abridgment published in contravention of the above provisions of the section. Dramatisation. 8. In the case of a book which is a work of fiction in prose or in verse, it shall be an infringe- ment of the copyright therein if any person shall without the consent of the owner of the copyright, take or colourably imitate the title of such book, or take from such book any material or substan- tial part thereof, and use or convert it into or adapt it for a dramatic work, or knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect such dramatic work to have been so made shall perform or permit or cause the same to be performed. 9. In the case of a dramatic work it shall be an infringement of the copyright therein if any person shall, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, take or colourably imitate the title of such book, or take from such book any material or substantial part thereof and convert or adapt such part into any other form of work, whether dramatic or otherwise, or knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect any work to have been so made shall print or otherwise multiply, or cause to be printed or otherwise multiplied, copies thereof for sale or exportation, or shall export or import, or sell, publish, or expose for sale or hire, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed for sale or hire, any copies thereof, or shall perform such work, or permit or cause the same to be per- formed. Summary Remedy for Infringement of Dramatic Copyright. 10. If any person shall represent or cause or permit any dramatic work to be represented without the consent in writing of the owner of the performing right in such work, it shall be lawful for the owner of the performing right (without prejudice to any action for damages or other remedy he may be entitled to) to apply within two months after the commission of the offence to a court of summary jurisdiction having jurisdiction in the place where the representation has taken place, or where the offender dwells, and such court shall, on production of the certificate of registration, order the offender to pay as a civil debt a sum not exceeding fifty pounds and costs, and such sum shall go to the owner of the per- forming right by way of compensation. Provided that not more than one penalty shall be recovered in respect of each representation. Repeal. 11. The Acts or parts of Acts specified in the Second Schedule hereto are hereby repealed as from the passing of this Act, but except as hereinbefore expressly provided, such repeal shall not prejudice or affect any rights acquired previously to such repeal, and such rights may be enforced and enjoyed as if such repeal had not been made. Extent of Act. 12. —(i.) This Act shall extend only to the British Islands, but if Her Majesty the Queen is satisfied that the Legislature of any British possession has by resolution declared its assent to this Act or any part thereof being extended to such possession, Her Majesty may direct by Order in Council that this Act or such part thereof shall apply to such possession, and this Act or such part shall apply accordingly. (ii.) Any such Order in Council may, with such assent as aforesaid, from time to time, be revoked or altered by any further Order in Council. (iii.) Every such Order in Council shall, as soon as may be after the making thereof, be published in the London Gazette. (iv.) A copy of every such Order in Council shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six weeks after the issuing thereof if Parliament is then sitting, and if not, then within six weeks after the commencement of the next session of Parliament. (v.) No such Order in Council shall affect prejudicially any right acquired at the date of its coming into operation. 13. This Act may be cited as the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1897, and shall, except so far as is inconsistent with this Act, be read and construed with the Copyright Acts. 14. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.  ## p. 67 (#481) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 67 SCHEDULES. First Schedule. Form of Entry of a Periodical Work. Date of Publica- tion of first Volume, Part, or Number. Name and Address of Owner. Name and Address of Publisher. Title of Work. Second Schedule. Ads Repealed. Session and Chapter. Short Title. Extent of Repeal. 5 & 6 Will. 4 0. 65. 5 4 6 Vict. c. 45. Lectures Copyright The whole Act. Act, 1835. Copyright Act, 1842 Sections eighteeen and nineteen. CIVIL LIST PENSIONS. APAELIAMENTARY return which has just been issued gives the following list of all pensions granted during the year ended June 20, 1897, and charged upon the Civil List:— Mary Anne, Lady Broome, <£ioo, in considera- tion of the public services of ber late husband, Sir F. N. Broome, K.C.M.G., especially as Governor of Western Australia, and of her own literary merits. Mr. William Alexander Hunter, £200, in con- sideration of his labours in connection with Roman law and scientific jurisprudence. Dr. John Thomas Arlidge, .£150, in considera- tion of his valuable labours in the cause of public health, and especially his investigation into the hygienic results of particular industries and occupations. Miss Beatrice Hatch, .£30, Miss Ethel Hatch, JB30, Miss Evelyn Hatch, ,£30, in consideration of the services of their father, the late Rev. Edwin Hatch, in connection with ecclesiastical history. Amelia, Lady Thurston, £150, in recognition of the distinguished services of her husband, the late Sir John Bates Thurston, as Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Mrs. Elizabeth Dickens, £100, in consideration of the literary eminence of the late Mr. Charles Dickens, and of the straitened circumstances in which she has been left by the death of her husband, Mr. Charles Dickens, jun. Mrs. Rose Trollope, £100, in consideration of the distinguished literary merits of her husband, the late Mr. Anthony Trollope, and of her straitened circumstances. Miss May Martha Mason, £30. Mrs. Mary Caroline Florence Wood, £30, in recognition of the originality and merit of the work of their father, the late Mr. George Mason, in painting. Mr. Augustus Henry Keane, F.R.G.S., £50, in consideration of his labours in the field of ethnology. Dr. Francis Steingass, £50, in consideration of his services to Oriental scholarship in England. Mrs. Maria Garrett, £50, in recognition of the merits of her husband, the late Dr. George Garrett, as a composer of church music. Mrs. Jane Wallace, £50, in recognition of the philosophical labours of her husband, the late Whyte's professor of moral philosophy in the University of Oxford. Mr. Archibald Hamilton Bryce, D.C.L., £50, in recognition of his services in the cause of secon- dary education in Scotland. The total is £ 1200. NOTES AND NEWS. TINHERE is an article in the current number I of the Quarterly Review entitled "Ou Commencing Author," which purports to be based on this journal and its contents for the last seven years. The paper is in many respects, as I shall show immediately, quite satisfactory and even sympathetic. The writer begins with recognising the right of the author to a full understanding at least of what is meant by the estate which his publisher administers: therefore, of course, his further right to understand what the publisher makes by his administration. As to the sympathetic side, we will return to that immediately. Let us first take the points to which I must take exception. It has been our contention in this paper, over and over again, that the literary and the com- mercial side of literature are totally distinct. The poet at work, if he allows any other con- sideration to enter his brain — any touch of commercialism—must infallibly mar that work. In every art, the artist must be absorbed while he is at work. The work done, he may be as commercial as he pleases. That is the just and obvious deduction. But this writer cannot understand such a distinction. His view is that an artist, when his work is finished, must not, without detriment to that work, pay any atten-  ## p. 68 (#482) ############################################# 68 THE AUTHOR. tion to its commercial value. He says, "To such men"—i.e., men who, when their work is finished, do consider its literary value—" there comes a literary half and a commercial half." Just so. Why not ?" Where the commercial half arrives at being real, there is some danger that it will drive out the literary half." No : because the two have nothing to do with each other. If the writer means that there is danger that the artist may have his brain filled with commercialism while he is at work, one can only reply that he must be a very mean and miserable artist. Apply the same kind of conventional talk to painting. All great painters receive large sums of money for their work. No one in his senses has ever re- proached them with doing so: no one has ever asserted that they have ruined their art as their price went up. In the name of common sense, then, why cannot literary men be treated as on the same footing as painters? There is, again, another distinction between the literary and the commercial side of literature which must not be forgotten. It by no means follows that a writer of the highest kind will become popular, while a person of tenth-rate merit may command the shillings of millions. This consideration alone should show the futility of the common talk about commercialism. My position is this: If an author chooses to give his property to a publisher, let him. If he chooses to keep his property for himself, or to administrate it for himself, or to let its administration out at a rent or royalty, or to sell it, there is no danger whatever that the same care of his commercial interests will damage that completed tcork any more than the same care icill damage a painting. There is, perhaps, the danger that he may scamp the next poem, and that commercialism may "infect it." Surely, however, something must be allowed to the artistic sense which governs and controls artistic production. Again, the writer says: "In some of our lesser men, it is conceivable that a journeyman's credit- able faculty of going straight on, and of produc- ing yet another book, and yet another book, will survive." Here we seem to discern the bogey of "inspiration." The writer plainly understands, I have no doubt, that the painter must go on paint- ing because he is a painter; yet he cannot see that the poet, the story-teller, the dramatist—where are we to stop ?—the critic, the essayist—everyone who writes because he is to the manner born, must go on—must go on writing till he dies. Lo boa Diea me dit, " Chante, Chante, paavre petit." The writer quote3 these lines—full of tears as well as of consolation—yet cannot understand that they contradict flatly what he has just advanced about the dangers of " going on." He finds fault with The Author for hoping- that copyright may be so enlarged as to enable a successful and popular writer to found a family. Says that it is an ignoble wish. Why does he think so? Because he confuses the literary and the artistic value of a book. He says, he who could act " on a pill-vendor's conditions, namely, that he keep his private property for ever, must receive only as a pill-vendor.'' This is nonsense. One might as well say that the Marquis of Salisbury if he receives his rents and keeps- his property does so as a pill vendor. But this kind of rubbish will continue to be talked so long as literary value and literary property are mixed. The Reviewer speaks of a certain writer who would abolish criticism. I wonder who that writer is. The position taken up by The Author has always been (i) that criticism should be a distinction—that is to say, that a paper should, as some papers do, select books for careful criti- cism by competent persons; (2) that the system of "reviewing" books in a batch is injurious to literature because it does not give importance to important books, because " notice " is not criticism, and because it is impossible for the writer, with the best intentions, to read the books he notices, and that the system is injurious to the paper because it ruins the literary character of that paper; (3) that to notice harmless weak productions is useless, because such a notice does not educate the writer nor does it help the pubbc, which, whatever its faults, does not buy or read we.ak books; (4) that the space in the paper taken up by little notices written without reading the books would be much better bestowed upon an important notice; (5) that the present depressed condition of criticism is due mainly to the system of the little notices, which simply will not allow their writers to read the books; and, lastly, that the public never read, and pay no heed, to these little notices. This is the position taken up in these columns on the subject of reviewing. It will be seen that this is very, very far from wishing to abolish criticism. The Reviewer is also very angry with some uuknown persons who, it seems, object to literary men advising publishers. Who, again, are these people? The position of adviser to publishers is one of the greatest responsibility and importance. Most men of letters have at various times done  ## p. 69 (#483) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 69 such work: some, occasionally: some by engage- ment and on salary. It seems to me quite unnecessary to defend the work, and I do not know who has attacked it. Personally, I have myself done such work, and I see no reason at all to be ashamed of it. Nor do I think it necessary in these columns to do more than enter a protest against the implied accusation that The Author, the only publication standing at the head of the article, finds any fault with any literary man or woman who advises for pay a publishing house. He says that in demanding inspection of docu- ments I myself have done a " grea,t service" and have been right, "however injudiciously" I may be held to have done it. My methods—or rather the methods of the Committee—have always been perfectly simple. There has been throughout a steady determination to get at the facts and the figures and to publish them; to pour a flood of light on facts strenuously concealed. There has been no other method, and that method will be continued. _ In many points: on the necessity for main- taining the responsibility and the honour of authorship: on the differences which mark men of genius: on the writer as teacher: and so forth, one has nothing but gratitude to this Reviewer, because it is good that such things should be said. But the whole paper is tainted and spoiled by this inability to distinguish literary value from commercial value: so that the writer, while he is fain to acknowledge the genius of Scott and Dickens, must needs try to explain away or to lament the fact that they were good at business. Nearly all popular writers have thought very much of the separate commercial side: Scott: Dickens: Trol- lope: George Eliot: Macaulay: Byron: every- body. At the same time one must certainly not obtrude the subject. As our writer says: "If the public once hears too much about profits—it has not bothered itself yet about the matter—but if it should?" In The Author the question of profits is a question of principle: there is no mention of any single writer's returns: or of what he obtained from any book: and there never will be any. It is the trade organ of literary men and women generally: its object is to give such facts and figures as illustrate principles. But the writer is quite wrong about the matter. The public has heard about these profits: it hears often : not from us, but from other papers, what this and that writer is receiving. Again, the Beviewer protests against the use of the phrase " thousand words," " so many thousand words:" "so much for so many thousand words." Now this is not the phrase of the author, but of the editor. He wants an article of a certain length, and no longer: it is to fill a definite space in his magazine: he may say, if he likes, so many pages: or he may say so many thousand words. What on earth does it matter? Or the author, in that commercial spirit which the reviewer confuses with the artistic spirit, may say, "Here is my work. It occupies so many pages," or "Here is my work. It occupies so many thousand words." Will anybody in his senses contend that there is any difference? It is a fctfon de parler. I am myself, for instance, under agreement to hand in, by a certain time, a certain story to a certain editor. My editor tells me, " I want a story of 8o,coo words." He means that it is to occupy a certain number of months in his serial. Whether it is 70,000 words, or 80,000 words, or 90,000 words he will not mind, nor will he count. But he means that I am not to take lip the old space, and that he will not fill up his pages with the old-fashioned three-volume novel. He must assign a limit: he must say how much space he can give. Whether he says words or pages, I repea", what does it matter? In a word, this Reviewer means well: he sees that we are absolutely in the right, and he says so: but because he confuses literary and commercial value he has got hopelessly muddled ; while in such little matters, as one or two which I have quoted, he is wrong simply because he does not know the practice. There are one or two remarks which I should like to quote: There is this special feature in the writing business, that it is entirely volunteered. Some few years ago writers awoke to the belief that they had not received a fair share in the net profit of their wares. More particularly they desired to make a declara- tion of their right to know the amount of expense incurred in the publication of their volumes. In this they have nothing bnt our sympathies, and part of their work is yet to do. What are the more prevalent motives which set genuine men of letters to work? We fear that the first motive we assign will appear to many most honourable men of the day l; perilously near to cant." Yet, upon omviction, we cannot but put it in the forefront of the battle. We speak of a mission, a vocation, a priestly office; a priestly office assuredly in a wider natural church. And this office no man lightly takes upon himself. The real men are never likely to take it upon themselves lightly, for they slide into it involuntarily and unconsciously. And they slide into it too with a good deal of that suffering, whioh, in the genuine man of letters, seems inevitable. Business men who have selected as their path to fortune the financial side of books, are, from one commercial point of view at least, exceptionally lucky. They are hardehells who have to deal with softshelU. It is not to be wondered at that the softshells have not been conspicuous for getting  ## p. 70 (#484) ############################################# 7° THE AUTHOR. the best of it. Many a publisher might say perhaps, as Robert Clive said in the gold vaults of the Indian city, " By heaven ! I am surprised at my own moderation!" A man oan only be an author in so far as he is a man who has perceived, or known, or done real things, and possesses the gift and feels the duty of speaking about them. A woman and an author must be either something above the average robust male or something below him. The following information is here published as a warning to typewriters: "Some time ago a friend lent me a small but interesting pamphlet, and as it is out of print I was allowed to have a typewritten copy made of it. The friend recommended as type- writer a young lady, orphan daughter of a clergy- man, recently deceased, who courageously sup- ported herself by typewriting, She copied the pamphlet for me very nicely, and when I paid her bill she said she wished to get regular work from authors, so I advised her to advertise in The Author, which she has done every month since January, 1897. She now writes to say that some one, whose name she does not mention, has written to ask her terms, but says his MS. is so precious that she must pay him a guinea as caution money before he sends her the MS. She naturally declines to have anything to do with a person of this sort." I would only add to the above that the object of the demand is made obvious by the fact that when a manuscript, which is very rare, is precious, it is probably worth many hundred guineas. Asking a guinea as caution money for a manuscript which the writer declares to be "precious," is too thin to deceive anybody. I shall be much obliged if papers generally will be so good as to copy this warning in the interests of typewriters, who have not, probably, too much experience of the world. The Civil List, which is published in another column, is the very best list that has ever ap- peared since its commencement. There are sixteen recipients of pensions. Among them, eleven are widows and daughters. One observes that these pensions are granted more and more to widows and daughters instead of the workers themselves. The change will be accepted by everybody with satisfaction. One observes, also, that it is not yet possible to obtain a list completely in accord with the famous resolution of 1837. That resolution undoubtedly gave power to place in this list persons who had claims upon the Sovereign. Thus, the Queen's tutors and teachers were placed upon the list by authority of that clause. Yet the list was then, and has always been, intended for persons distinguished or connected with literature, science, and art. There are two ladies in this list who are widows of Colonial Governors. One of these, Lady Broome, better known as Lady Jackson, is herself a writer of some distinction; the other, Lady Thurston, is simply the widow of a Colonial Governor. As such, her pension has no place on this list. The power of foisting all kinds of people into this meagre provision for literature, science, and art could be removed by passing another resolution omitting the clause referred to. I observed in a certain paper a question meant to be " smart." "Is it," the writer asked, " the wickedness of the publisher which causes the names of Dickens and Trollope to appear in this list?" It is not in these pages that private affairs will be discussed. The late Charles Dickens, jun., however, was not a writer, except of one or two guide books. He was a printer. Perhaps publishers showed their "wickedness" by not paying his accounts. As for the name of Trollope, it was stated at the time of Anthony Trollope's death that he was possessed of a large sum saved from the proceeds of his novels. Publishers have hardly been so "wicked " as to take that money from his family. But what silly nonsense it is to ask such a question! I have received from a correspondent a collec- tion of extracts from letters received from various publishers, which inform him that they cannot undertake the responsibility of publishing his manuscript. The letters are very curious and instructive. Various reasons were assigned, all of which were different, but all contained one cardinal fact in which they were agreed: that the work was too long. One firm frankly admitted that what they wanted was a manuscript of about 60,000 words. What may be gathered from all these letters is, in fact, that some publishers are becoming increasingly anxious to bring out books at 6*. which contain the minimum leugth for which the long suffering public will pay 4s. 6d. In these columns mention has already been made of a little book, containing about 24,000 words, and taking very little more than an hour to read, and costing 4.S'. 6d. cash. To what lengths is this practice going to be carried? A certain result will be that before long the advertised price of 6*. and the real price of 4«. 6d. will fall into contempt, and the public will refuse to pay more than a shilling for a little book which can be read in one hour. It is true there may be cases in which the  ## p. 71 (#485) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. author's name is great enough to carry off a high price for a short story, but these cases must always be very rare. It seems that it should always be the duty of novelists to provide the public with work which, in length, at least, will give them some fair return for the cost of the book. Let us turn to lighter themes. The following appeared in the Times, July 24, in the form of a letter from Mr. Walter Wren. He kindly gives me permission to reproduce it here. Mr. Wren is well known as a profound student of Dickens. The origin of Do-the-boys Hall seems settled by this discovery beyond the reach of reasonable doubt. One pities the unfortunate Mr. Simpson, of Easby, near Richmond, York- shire: "In your article of June 12, on the coronation number of the Times, telling your readers that they would be presented gratis with a reproduc- tion in facsimile of the Times of Friday, June 29, 1838, you call attention to these two advertise- ments as containing a hint of some of the abuses which Dickens (whose 'Oliver Twist' is here an- nounced as appearing in Bentley's Miscellany) was already setting himself to scourge. 'These are of schools—one in Yorkshire—at which youths are boarded and instructed according to age, including clothes, books, and other neces- saries. No extras and no vacations.' "I respectfully submit that you might have put this more strongly, and that these must be the originals from which Dickens made up Mr. Squeers's card. 'Nicholas Nickleby' was published in 1839. It seems to me clear that Mr. Squeers's card was based on them. It will be found on page 20 of the original edition. Please print all three. '" Education.—At Winton Hall, near Kirby Stephen, in Westmoreland, young gentlemen are boarded, clothed, provided with books, and edu- cated, by Mr. Twycross, in whatever their future prospects may require, at £20 per annum. There are no extras nor vacations. Prospectuses and references may be had at Peele's Coffee-house, Fleet-street, where Mr. T. attends daily, between 12 and 2 o'clock.' "' Education.—At Mr. Simpson's Academy, Easby, near Richmond, Yorkshire, youth are boarded, and instructed by Mr. S. and proper assistants in whatever their future prospects may require, at twenty and twenty-three guineas a year, according to age, including clothes, books, and other necessaries. No extras and no vaca- tions. Cards with references to be had from Mr. S., who attends from 12 to 2 o'clock daily at VOL VIII. the Saracen's Head, Snow-hill. Conveyance by steam vessel weekly.' '" Education.—At Mr. Wackford Squeers's Academy, Dotheboys-hall, at the delightful village of Dotheboys, near Greta-bridge, in Yorkshire, youth are boarded, clothed, booked, furnished with pocket money, provided with all necessaries, instructed in all languages living and dead, mathematics, orthography, geometry, astronomy, trigonometry, the use of the globes, algebra, single stick (if required), writing, arithmetic, fortification, and every branch of classical litera- ture. Terms twenty guineas per annum. No extras, no vacations, and diet unparalleled. Mr. Squeers is in town, and attends daily, from one to four, at the Saracen's Head, Snow-hill.' "Dickons added to the advertisements in your issue of 1838. But the leading principles are in all three—viz., ,£20 a year for clothes, books, and education; no extras, no vacations; and both Mr. Simpson and Mr. Squeers, the two Yorkshire schoolmasters, 'attended daily at the Saracen's Head.'" Mr. Howard Collins projxises to take up and continue the subject of the subjunctive mood in the October number of The Author if possible. He is consulting.as many men of letters as he can reach as to their opinion of his j>osition. Walter Besant. THE PROPOSED NET SYSTEM. ACOMMITTEE has been appointed by the Society for the investigation of the whole subject. It would be injudicious therefore to express any opinion until that committee has given in its report. There has already appeared a sheaf of papers and articles dealing with the proposal. It is well known that among the book- sellers—the persons most concerned—there is con- siderable difference of opinion. Perhaps it would be well, before their views are ascertained, and before the committee completes its labours, that there should be a general silence. On the produc- tion of the report, no doubt, the floods will be let loose. The bare facts of the case seem fairly stated in a brief article which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette of July 13. There is one word, however, which should be altered. It is there said that the publishers "intend to boycott discount booksellers." They do not intend: they propose —a very different thing. One Book, One Price. Shall we buy a book at gd. or is.? The outside public say, unhesitatingly, gd.; the booksellers H  ## p. 72 (#486) ############################################# 72 THE AUTHOR. say, unhesitatingly, i«. Both natural enough, when you come to look at it. The advantages of selling at is. and buying at gd. are so obvious that there is no need to go further into them. But the most casual observer who remarks the prices on the bookstalls and compares them with the rumours that reach us from the traHe cannot help seeing that a Battle of the Books is only a question of time. Here and there we find six- penny magazines sold at 4.|«?., and books pub- lished at 6*. going at 4*. 6d. The thing seems simple enough. Can a retail bookseller sell at what price he likes r He gets his books at a discount of 25 per cent., or some- thing more than that; has he a free hand after that? With the vague idea we all have of the principles of law, we declare offhand that any- thing else would be interfering with the liberty of the subject. The question is nothing new. It has been gone into years ago. The only novelty now is that the booksellers have got an associa- tion, and have the powers of a trade union. They are the only people who object to the discount. The publishers do not. The authors do not. If an author is getting a royalty on the published price it is nothing to him how the book is sold. In any case the lower rate is probably to his advantage, for it increases the sale of his work. The same thing would apply to the publisher. In fact, the opinions of all the great writers of the day were taken on the subject, and were published in Sir W. Besant's paper, The Author. Speaking from memory, we recollect they were practically unanimous and decided in saying the retail price was the bookseller's affair. The price at which the wholesale bookseller buys from the publisher is quite another matter. It is allowed that to break this is to ruin the book for regular trade. Against all this the fact remains that most of the big publishers intend to boycott the discount booksellers. Taking it logically, the publishers are really the employes, and are going on strike. To the average onlooker it would seem to lje just a case in which a strike would not succeed. The discount man can get his books indirectly if he likes; and he can appeal to the public to support him. The reduction of yl. in the shilling is an argument which touches the British public in its tenderest point. It is the argument which he has always made till now whenever the difficulty has come up; and in these days of libraries the British public wants every possible encourage- ment in buying books. However, publishers are not ignorant of the world, nor are they, by any means, incapable men of business. Obviously, the new Book- sellers' Association have found their power, and can put pressure on the publisher which he is- unable to resist. But the fight has hardly yet begun. The publication of a book appears a simple thing at first sight. When you come to look into it, or, worse still, have anything to do with it, it is a problem which runs close South African politics or the Irish question itself.—Pall Mall Gazette, July 13. A WARNING- TO AUTHORS-AND OTHERS. ITHINK the following story may interest some readers of The Author, if only as a curious instance of human effrontery. It may, however, act as a warning against a certain class of "literary agents." About a year ago Madame X., a French lady, wished to have some short articles and stories, which she had written in English, corrected for the press, and inserted an advertisement in a local London paper. It brought several replies, and among them one from a gentleman whom I will call Mr. A. He stated that he was "late editor of the Readers' Gazette" (I give a fictitious title), and named several persons as his referees; among them, a well-known publishing firm, "for literary publications "; and for " scholastic pub- lications " a certain "Jones, Manchester." in a foot-note he also named a gentleman, very well known in the scholastic world, as able to speak to his literary qualifications. I will call him "Mr. N." Mine. X. was delighted. She fancied that fortune had directed her to a literary man, and she hastened to communicate with A. He called upon her, and in conversation told her he held an official post in the Civil Service. It was agreed that he should undertake the corrections, the only thing contemplated up to now. But, in the course of the interview, he intimated that he was prepared to undertake the duties of literary agent, and to place the MSS. as well as to correct them. Mine. X. said that she could not afford' to pay for this, but Mr. A. replied that she had told him she was acquainted with many French journalists. Now, it was the wish "of his heart to become a correspondent of the Continental Press, and if she would give him an introduction he would consider himself paid. On this Mme. X. confided to him a number of MSS., and gave him an introduction to the editor of one of the most widely known of continental journals. Months passed, during which Mr. A. wrote from time to time, speaking vaguely of his efforts on Mine. X.'s behalf—they had been uusuccess-  ## p. 73 (#487) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 73 ful, but he expressed himself as by no means discouraged. During this time he corrected the longest of the articles—it was a short story. I saw the copy he had made—the MS. was entirely in his handwriting, and so far his assertion that he had "re-written" it was true. But his corrections were a farce. As I myself had to "re-write" it, I speak from knowledge, and a gentleman, who is himself a writer, said of it that it was not worth having, even if done for nothing, that no one with the least literary ear could possibly have passed the foreign turns of expres- sion. Even obvious omissions of parts of sen- tences were not supplied, and the general incompetence displayed in this specimen of A.'s powers confirmed our suspicions that he was not what he had represented himself to be. We were not at all surprised to find that the foreign editor had been puzzled by his letter, had evi- dently conceived an unfavourable opinion of A., and declined to have anything to do with him. I should say that A. asked and received 5*. for correcting this short story. On my return to England after an absence, Mme. X. had confided her doubts to me. I advised her to get her MSS. back as soon as possible—especially as she had a chance of dispos- ing of them herself. She wrote explaining this. A. replied in a manner which struck us as evasive, but at last, after many weeks and many letters from Mme. X., he returned all but one. .In the accompanying letter, lie said that he had sent all, and also said that he had "re-written" two others of the MSS.; but the parcel, on being opened, did not contain these copies, nor were the returned MSS. "corrected." Mme. X. felt that she had simply wasted six months—A. had done absolutely nothing—his corrections were worthless in the instance in which he made them, and, in the majority of instances, he had done no work at all. Of course he could not be held responsible for failing to dispose of the MSS., supposing lie ever tried, which the sequel makes us gravely doubt. Mme. X. wrote in vain, asking for the missing MS. and the two "copies." A. replied that he had sent the MS., and he ignored the question of the copies. And in a few days he sent in a bill for ,£3 3*. for "professional ser- vices." Mme. X. was in despair, she was utterly unable to pay £3 38., and A. had known this from the first. She wrote reminding him that he had himself offered those services in return for an introduction which she had given; and added that she was ready to pay on the same scale as before for the "corrections" of the MSS. which he had said he had" re-written," when she received the rc-tcritten copies. The reply was a threat of the County Court. Neither then, nor afterwards, did A. ever allude to the (verbal) agreement, or to the missing copies. He simply repeated his threats of the County Court if a remittance was not sent " to-morrow," or " next Tuesday," as the case might be. It was almost amusingly evident that he was trying to strike terror into a helpless foreigner. He numbered his letters "second and third " application." His first threat of the County Court came barely a fortnight after the "first application," and in reply to a civil request for the work he was demanding payment for. Mme. X. was in very bad health, and was much distressed at the prospect of appeariug in Court, and perhaps being made to say what she did not mean. Under these circumstances a friend began to make inquiries of the persons given by A. as referees. The first person applied to was the present editor of the Readers Gazette. He replied that there must be some mistake—he himself had been editor many years—and he suggested imposture. Next, the Civil Service List was tried, with the result that nothing whatever was known of Mr. A. A slight clue, however, was followed up, and at last Mr. A. was dis- covered—not as a Civil servant, but as under- master in a primary school in an adjacent parish. Meantime, the firm of publishers was written to. They at length remembered—not Mr. A.'s name, but a now, de plume which he had mentioned as the name he wrote under. A MS. by a writer with this nom de plume had been submitted to the firm, and declined. The "scholastic" side of Mr. A. was next probed; and here, strange to say, we came upon the first piece of bond fides we had yet discovered. "Jones, Manchester," whose name had sounded to us so apocryphal that we had not thought it worth while to waste a letter upon him, turned out to be a most respectable firm of publishers —almost entirely, it seemed, of school books for primary schools. They knew Mr. A., and thought well of him. He had published an " elementary book " and a leaflet or two for children to learn. It was not precisely a testimony to "scholastic" qualification, but at least he was known. More- over, Mr. N, whom A. had mentioned as able to speak to his literary qualifications, replied favour- ably, and said that A. had held " high positions," and was "an educated gentleman," but added that he knew nothing of his literary qualifications. Thinking there was a mistake in identity, and that A. was trading on a similarity of name, we asked for further particulars, and learned that Mr. N. had obviously no personal knowledge of A., but that A. really had been inspector of some diocesan schools in the provinces, and afterward* head- master of a " high school." All this while, A.'s  ## p. 74 (#488) ############################################# THE A UTHOR. threats were becoming more urgent, and he repre- sented himself as on the eve of placing the matter in the hands of his solicitor. The friend who made the inquiries thought it was time to do something, and wrote a letter to A., repeating the facts as stated by Mine. X., and informing A. of the result of the inquiries. The letter con- cluded with a renewed offer to pay him 58. each for the corrected stories, on receiving the correc- tions. A reply came by return of post. It appeared to be written by A.'s wife at. his dicta- tion, and stated that Mr. A. could not answer the letter now, as the matter had passed out of his hands. Before this, at first, in order to learn whether A. was already known to our Society, 1 had con- sulted Mr, Thring, who with the greatest kind- ness gave me counsel. He now reiterated his opinion that wc ought to get a " friendly solicitor" to write A. a letter. A legal friend of my own most kindly consented to do this, and wrote deny- ing any indebtedness for "professional services," but again renewing the offer to pay for the cor- rections. It brought the following answer again by return: "Sib,—-I have received yours of the , and it has been duly filed." This extraordinary reply, and the effrontery of A.'s whole attitude, astonished the solicitor, and is still a puzzle to us all. We are, however, consoled by seeing that A. is really not so clever. For six weeks after this, when we all thought the matter was ended, he suddenly wrote once more to Mme. X., threatening to put the matter into a lawyer's hands if the money was not sent within three days. By this time the threat had lost its terrors—even Mme. X. was able to laugh at it, and so I trust all was well that ended well. But it is a singular story, for there can be no doubt that A. was at no distant period in an excellent position, and yet his calm effrontery would seem to show a practised hand. It is my deliberate conviction, basrd on several small indications, that he never showed the MSS. to a single editor. This, of course, we cannot prove, but if he had ventured to force us into court he would have heen required to mention names. I should say that in this last letter he repeated that he had been editor of the Readers' Gazette — it was the only allusion he ever made to the unmasking of his pretensions. Finally, I would entreat, not only authors, but everybody, to "look up their references"—though, as a gentleman I consulted over this business said very frankly, " When does one look them up, if they are good ones?" And I confess that I should have thought it impossible that a man would venture falsely to call himself ex-editor of a paper—it is a statement so easily verified. But perhaps A. is a student of human nature, and reckoned on our reasoning thus! And candour compels me to admit, that had inquiries been made at first, and had we happened to begin with Mr. N. and "Jones, Manchester," we might have- been perfectly satisfied, and have gone no farther. Wherefore, when references are given you, write to them all. Y. A CASE IN POINT. IOUGHT to have joined the Society of Authors long ago; but I suppose it is a case of stinginess over the wrong thing, and that even the demands of a large family upon a slender income should not have hindered my finding that guinea subscription. Every author wants more or less protection under the present conditions of things: certainly the unwary one. Here is a case in point. A well-known publisher asked me to prepare a book for the present season. It was to be ready at the New Tear, and I was to receive =£50 in advance, on account of royalties, upon delivery of the MS. I sent in the complete work in the last days of December. I waited, and at length hud to remind the publisher that three weeks had elapsed, and I was expecting to hear from hiin. To my surprise his reply, and several subsequent communications, showed me that he was " off the job," if possible, having doubts of its probable success. But I stuck to him. He suggested additions and improvements, which I loyally worked up with great benefit to the book. At length, early in April, I had the first proofs and a cheque for .-£25. The last sheets were returned, and I was look- ing for the completion of the payment. But, guess my astonishment on being informed by letter that many faults in composition, cant phrases, and so forth, had been discovered, and it had been necessary to take the thing to pieces —also " whether the thing will ever pay is becom- ing more than ever a matter of doubt with me." With the best possible grace I accepted the possibility that my style was open to criticism, but I asserted that for acquiescence in his improvements I must first have the opportunity of weighing their value. Now that the book is published I find that, far from " improvement," the book has been utterly damaged by interpola- tions and omissions, and many alterations of very slight importance but destructive to that coherent unity of style which should throughout reveal an author's personality. There are six verbal altera- tions which I should consent to. The remainder  ## p. 75 (#489) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 75 are of a piece with the specimens I have marked in the copy of the work inclosed for your inspec- tion, which amount to nothing more nor less than interpolated blunders. The book has been brought out, price 7«. 6d. As it looks more like a 4*. or 58. volume, the booksellers won't touch it, and it has fallen still- born upon a season especially favourable for the sale of such a work. Our publisher tells me it is "complete failure," and ascribes the failure to the numerous alterations rendered necessary after the thing was in type, and which added heavily to the printer's bill. What this has to do with the shyness of the retail booksellers passes me, but I have been so worked upon by the sad story of £150 or more thrown away upon my " diabolical" (tie) book as to give a renunciation of all further right or claim upon payment of ,£5 5*. There is nothing now to hinder Mr. X. T. from reforming his mode of publication, and making a small income out of it. Simpleton, you will say! I deserve it. S. INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY CONFERENCE. President—Sir John Lubbock. Chairman of Committee—Kichard Garnett, LL.D. Hon. Treasurer—H. K. Tedder. Hon. Secretary— J. Y. W. MacAlister. Secretary—J. D. Brown. f I ^HE Conference was opened on Tuesday, July I 14, by the Lord Mayor, in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall. The following notes of the principal proceedings are taken from the Times:— PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. The President (Sir J. Lubbock) then gave his inaugural address. He said that the existence of this congress was an indirect result of an Act passed by a private member of Parliament (Mr. Ewart) in the year 1850. The Act was a striking example of beneficent legislation passed by a private member. It had been adopted by some 350 places, containing nearly half our people. From 1857 to 1866 it was adopted by fifteen localities, from 1867 to 1876 by forty-five, from 1877 to 1886 by sixty-two, from 1887 to 1896 by no fewer than 190. In London the recent pro- gress had been even more remarkable. From 1850-66 only one public library was established, and Westminster had the honour of taking the lead; from 1867 to 1876 not one, from 1876 to 1886 only two, from 1887 to 1896 no fewer than thirty-two. These libraries now contained over 5,000,000 volumes, the annual issues amounted to 27,000,000, and the attendances to 60,000,000. Australia had 844 public libraries with 1,400,000 volumes, New Zealand 298 with 330,000, South Africa about 100 with 300,000. In Canada the public libraries contained over 1,500,000 of volumes. The United States possessed in 1890 1686 public libraries, containing 13,800,000 volumes. These numbers, however, were hardly comparable with ours, as they included in some cases college and law libraries. Moreover, we had many public libraries which were not included in the above numbers. The British Museum alone contained 2,000,000 volumes. Those who doubted the advantage of public libraries generally based their argument on the assertion that an immense preponderance of the books read were novels. But it must be remembered that a book of poems, and even more a work of science, would take much longer to read than a novel. Moreover, many novels were not only amusing and refreshing, but also instructive. No doubt the wise choice of books was becoming more and more difficult. The National Home Reading Union had done, and was doing, excellent service in assisting our country- men and countrywomen to what to read, and how to read. A recent writer had referred to the treasures of ancient lore in Egyptian papyri, which were now scattered in large numbers through the museums of Europe, where, for want of catalogues and descriptions, they lay well nigh as profoundly buried as if they were in their original tombs. Many authors buried their own creations by misleading titles, or by bringing together incongruous subjects, which led to un- fortuuate results, like other ill-assorted marriages. A friend of his had recently mentioned a remark- able case in point. In the year 1850, Dr. Mitchell, the Director of the Observatory of Cincinnati, which was then the only astro- nomical observatory in the United States, brought out a perfectly beautiful book, and it came over here for sale in the ordi- narv way. It was called "The Planetary and Stellar Worlds." The publisher of the book complained bitterly about it, and said that he had not sold a single copy. His friend said, "Well, you have killed the book by its title. Why not call it ' The Orbs of Heaven'?" That was acted upon, and 6000 copies were sold in a month. (Cheers and laughter.) As regarded Govern- ment, our own had set a very good example. An American writer (E. H. Walworth), in an article on " The Value of National Archives," had paid us the compliment of stating that "perhaps no nation had been more careful than England in the preservation of her archives; and perhaps no nation has been more careless in this direction than the United States." (Cheers.) This was, however, no longer true of the United States  ## p. 76 (#490) ############################################# 76 THE AUTHOR. Government, which now issued excellent monthly- catalogues. India also had for some time taken much pains to make her publications as available as possible. The Eoyal Colonial Institute had recently taken an important step in adopting and forwarding to every colonial Government a reso- lution, "That the colonial Governments be respectfully invited to issue—through the medium of their Government gazettes or otherwise— registers containing entries of all publications within given periods, and also all other locally published works, with their full titles, so as to furnish for general information complete records of the literature of each colony." To turn to the scientific societies, our own Eoyal Society had accomplished a great and most useful work in its catalogue of scientific papers, contained in nine thick quarto volumes. These had been extremely useful. The society was moreover organising a catalogue which aimed at completeness, and was intended to contain the titles of scientific publica- tions, whether appearing in periodicals or inde- pendently. In such a catalogue the titles of scientific publications would be arranged, not only according to authors' names, but also according to subject-matter, the text of each paper and not the title only being consulted for the latter purpose. The preparation and publication of such a com- plete catalogue was far beyond the power and means of any single society. Led by the above considerations, the president and council of the Royal Society had appointed a committee to inquire into and report upon the feasibility of such a catalogue being compiled through inter- national co-operation. (Hear, hear.) There was one other catalogue to which he should like to refer, namely, the classified index of the London Library in which were given the names of the principal authors who had written on each sub- ject; and the assistance there given to the student was invaluable. To every true lover of books it was sad to see our countrymen and countrywomen neglecting the great masterpieces of science and literature, and wasting their time over " books that were no books," merely because they were new—in many cases, to use Buskin's words, "fresh from the fount of folly." (Cheers.) EVOLUTION OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Mr. Henry Tedder read a paper on "The Evolution of the Public Library." Mr. Herbert Spencer had, he said, traced the origin of all our professions. The processes of development and differentiation had been as clearly shown in the case of public libraries as in other departments. The earliest librarians were priests, and the earliest libraries ienples. The earliest civilisa- tions—those, e.g., of Assyria and Egypt—had their public libraries, which, however, were purely of an ecclesiastical character. Aulus Gellus said that Pisistratus in the sixth century b.c. was the first founder of a real public library, whilst others ascribed their origin to Aristotle. One of Caesar's projects was the establishment of a great public library, and Varro had written a treatise on the subject; and at Herculaneum a beauti- fully arranged small room was found with 1756 manuscripts, which gave an insight into the arrangements of libraries of that time. Christian libraries, of course, dated from Constantine; and his successors, especially Theodosius, busied themselves with their establishment, and St. Augustine gave his library to the church at Hippo. The early church was, however, more or less hostile to the ancient literature of Greece and Rome. But the Benedictines early in the sixth, century were the first of the Christian bodies to establish libraries, and their example was followed by the Carthusians, Cistercians, Prasmonstraten- sians, and others; and the Cistercians were the first to allow persons outside their orders to borrow books. In the thirteenth century a library was formed at St. Germain des Pres. Paris, where, in 1513, a noble library was founded. For much which was in his paper he wished to acknowledge his obligations to Mr. J. Willis Clarke, who had clearly traced the con- nection between collegiate and monastic libraries —a connection specially manifest at Merton College, Oxford. Mr. Tedder also gave interest- ing accounts of the construction and arrangements of college libraries; and particularly of the Escurial Library founded in 1584. He also described cathedral libraries, of which he took Westminster as a type. The old type was mainly for the benefit of the professional scholar; and it was not until the middle of the eighteenth century t hat the needs of the people at large were considered, and the Bodleian and Mazarin libraries were splendid instances of private munificence. The free library movement started by E wart's Act was mainly educational, and the rapid growth of rate-supported libraries—which were peculiar to this country—had been described by Sir John Lubbock. In the United States a similar movement had been going on, and France afforded numerous examples of public libraries on every scale of magnitude. Belgium, Austria- Hungary, and Scandinavia were also well equipped, and in recent years a vast number of library associations had grown up both here and in the United States. In conclusion, Mr. Tedder described public libraries as the real universities of the unattached, and said that the librarian should remeinbir that he was a priest of litera- ture. (Cheers.)  ## p. 77 (#491) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 77 PUBLIC LIBRARY AUTHORITIES. Mr. Herbert Jones read a paper on "Public Library Authorities, their Constitution and Powers, as they are and as they should be." Our present system, he observed, was due to the happy-go-lucky methods which were so characteristic of the British people. The results had, no doubt, on the whole been good, but the time had come for a reconstruction on a more logical and consistent basis. Library committees were variously constituted in different centres, and the numbers were fluctuating and sometimes too great for useful action, and their relations to other local bodies vague and ill-defined. But when commissioners were appointed a better system prevailed. Our free library legislation needed amendment, and it was not desirable tliat a possibly hostile vestry should be able to super- sede the regular library authority. A small body appointed or elected ad hoc was surely better than a large body constituted for a variety of purposes. He was in favour of the appointment in each district of a distinct library authority—not constituted of too many persons, but varying according to population—whose sole work would be the supervision of libraries. In this way a uniformity of action and a security which was greatly to be desired would be effected. (Cheers.) Mr. Alderman Rawson, of Manchester, said that his city was the first to adopt Mr. Ewart's Act. A like movement had almost simultaneously started in the United States. Since the estab- lishment of the libraries the numbers of books and readers in Manchester had increased tenfold. Notwithstanding the enormous circulation of books, the loss by missing or injured books was a mere trifle. The employment of women in the libraries had produced most beneficial effects in the maintenance of silence and order. The cor- poration, though entitled to elect outsiders on the library committees, had not done so, and had, with pardonable vanity, thought themselves competent to manage their libraries. The Manchester libraries were peculiar in one respect, that they never levied fines, and their confidence in the public had never been abused. (Cheers.) The Inland Revenue had tried to exact income-tax, and the case had been carried to the House of Lords, where in the end the library authority of Man- chester achieved a notable victory for themselves and all the public libraries of the country. THE TRAINING OF LIBRARIANS. Mr. Charles Welch, Guildhall Librarian, read a paper on "The Training of Librarians." He insisted on the primary importance of a wide and liberal education. BOOKS AND TEXT-BOOKS. A paper on "Books and Text-Books: The Function of the Library in Education," was read by Mr. F. M. Crunder, librarian, Public Library, St. Louis, U.SA., who said that the problem was to provide the best education for the masses. Could text-books furnish that educa- tion P He remembered his surreptitious enjoy- ment as a schoolboy of a book of extracts—chiefly poetry and oratory—and those poems and speeches were to him worth all the arithmetic and text- book learning which he was compelled to learn. To use Sir John Lubbock's words, "the main • thing is not so much that every child should be taught as that every child should wish to learn." Franklin's was the ideal education—that no child should be taught until he desired to learn. Books were the true university, and the true edu- cation was to stimulate the love of good literature, and to enable the child to discriminate between what is good and bad in books. Education should seek to make not lawyers, engineers, farmers, &c., but men; and the larger aim would be found also invariably to have included the narrower. The text-book should only be employed as the guide to what was of permanent value and interest in literature. NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY. Mr. Sidney Lee, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, read the next paper on "National Biography and National Biblio- graphy." He said he should make his immediate purpose plainer if he said a few words about the aims and scope of the Dictionary of National Biography, which might be defined as a bio- graphical census of all dwellers in the British dominions who had achieved anything worthy of commemoration. The most notable feature in their methods of execution was the effort to give authority for every fact recorded. The life of Shakespeare, for instance, would be practically useless were not the authenticity of each of the traditions which had accumulated about his name carefuly determined. He had himself attempted on a modest scale a bibliography of Shakesperiana arranged in the order in which the student of Shakespearian biography was likely to find it convenient to approach the books. His biblio- graphy was far from complete; the catalogues of the British Museum Library, with its 3680 entries; the Barton collection in the Boston Public Library, with its 2500 entries; and the Birmingham Public Library, with 9640 volumes, supplied far longer lists of Shakesperiana. But he had endeavoured to observe some logical principle of classification which the larger library cata- logues did not attempt. After a reference to the  ## p. 78 (#492) ############################################# 78 THE AUTHOR. bibliography respecting Milton, Sir Walter Scott, Sir W. Raleigh, Dryden, and others, he said that all that was possible was to mention, as a rule in chronological sequence, the chief articles or memoirs previously published. The Dictionary's list of authorities contained much that was material for the preparation of a subject catalogue of literature, and a subject catalogue was obviously of high importance in developing the utility of public libraries. The making of subject catalogues was a subsidiary branch of the science of bibliography. In its essence bibliography was the science of describing books as books, in contradistinction to books as literature. For the literature of Great Britain and Ireland there existed at present four notable experiments in national bibliography. At the beginning of the century Eobert Watt, a poor surgeon of Paisley, sacrificed twenty years of arduous labour in compiling his "Bibliotheca Britannica," an elaborate catalogue mainly of British literature, though a few foreign works were included, arranged in two indices—one of authors' names, the other of the titles of books. The next effort in national bibliography was made by William Thomas Lowndes, who in his "Bibliographers' Manual," first published in 1834, endeavoured to arrange the titles of books (under authors' names) with some regard to their intrinsic interest. Lowndes, after many years of abject poverty, lost his reason and died in 1843. The third great attempt at a bibliography of English literature was made in America, and it was to the credit of that great country that its history involved no distressing incidents like those which accompanied the efforts of Watts and Lowndes. Allibone's ample " Dictionary of English Litera- ture" was projected in 1850, and the last proof sheets were read by the author on the last day of 1870. The work was published by Messrs. Lippincottof Philadelphia, in three large volumes, and a supplement in two volumes, almost equally large, appeared in 1891. Living authors were included as well as the dead, and to all books of importance there were appended illustrative quotations from critical reviews. Although Allibone's book was open to criticism and con- tained many blunders, jet the work was an invaluable book of reference, as every librarian would acknowledge. The fourth great experi- ment in national bibliography was the printed British Museum catalogue, which is a permanent memorial of the skill, knowledge, and industry of Dr. Garnett, the Keeper of Printed Books, and his staff. BOOE TALE. THE Earl of Desart's new novel will be entitled " The Raid of the Detrimental." In it he has made a new departure. The tale deals with the true history of the Great Disappearance of 1862, and is related by several of those implicated, and others. The book will be published early in September by Messrs. C. Arthur Pearson Limited. Professor Laughton is engaged upon "The Life and Letters of Henry Reeve." The book will be published by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. Among other forthcoming publications by this firm are "The Validity of the Papal Claims," by Dr. Nutcombe Oxenham, with a preface by the Archbishop of "Xork; and a biography of Dr. Maples, Bishop of Likoma, in Central Africa, by his sister. Colonel H. M. Vibart has written a work on "The Siege of Delhi, in the Indian Mutiny," in which he gives to Colonel Bard Smith's services a more adequate recognition than he believes they have hitherto been granted. The book will be published by Messrs. A. Constable and Co. Mr. Bret Harte's new novel is called "Three Partners," and treats of a strike in a mining camp. It will be published next month by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. Mr. Meredith's volume of selected poems will appear shortly. Mr. W. Clark Russell's articles on the life of Nelson, which are running in one of the maga- zines, will be issued in book form in the autumn by Mr. James Bowden. Mr. Sidney G. Murray is the author of "A Popular Manual of Finance," which will be issued immediately by Messrs. Blackwood. The late Mr. Du Maurier's novel, "The Martian," will be published by Messrs. Harper on Sept. 17. Mine. Sarah Grand's new novel is to be published by Mr. Heinemann. Mr. Herbert Warren, the president of Magdalen College, is having his poems published by Mr. Murray, under the title " By Severn Sea." Some time ago they were printed by Mr. Daniel, of Oxford, but only circulated privately. They are now to be available to the public. Mr. Geo. Haven Putnam has a scheme for the institution of literary courts or boards of arbitra- tion, to settle disputes arising between the writing and publishing professions. Details of it are to be given in the revised edition of his work,  ## p. 79 (#493) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 79 "Authors and Publishers," which is to appear shortly. Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, M.P., has written "The War in Thessaly, with Personal Experiences in Turkey and Greece." It will be remembered that one of the "personal experiences" of the author was to be captured by a Greek torpedo boat and carried to Athens. Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy has aimed at presenting a complete picture of Irish society in the last century, in his forthcoming work entitled "The Romance of the Irish Stage." Messrs. Downey and Co., who will publish the book, are also about to issue a uniform edition of Mr. Molloy's social and historical studies at a popular price. Mr. D. J. O'Donoghue, the biographer of Carleton, will shortly conclude " The Life and Writings of James Clarence Mangan," a work he has been engaged at for some time. It will tell for the first time the story of the young poet's tragic career in the Young Ireland days; and there will also be reminiscences of Mangan by Sir Frederick Burton, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Dr. J. K. Ingram, and others. A biography of the engineer who laid the first Atlantic cable—Sir Charles Tilston Bright—is being prepared for publication (by subscription) by Messrs. Constable and Co. A brother and a son of the distinguished pioneer have compiled the work from the diaries which Sir Charles kept; therefore it will be largely autobiographical in character. Lord Eibblesdale, who was Master of the Buckhounds under the last administration, is writing his recollections of " The Queen's Hounds and Stag Hunting," to which will be contributed illustrations by prints and drawings from Her Majesty's collections at Windsor Castle and at Cumberland Lodge. The book will be published by Messrs. Longmans. Mr. Theodore A. Cook will write a book about Rouen, and Miss Margaret Symonds (daughter of the late John Addington Symonds) one about Perugia, for a series of volumes dealings with mediaeval towns which Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co. are to publish. The late Mrs. Oliphant was writing "Sienna," but had only completed three chapters of it. The biography of Professor Huxley is not likely to be ready before the autumn of 1898. Prince Ranjitsinhji's book on cricket is to be published by Messrs. Blackwood, and will be dedicated to the Queen. There will be an ddition de luxe in crown quarto, with the author's auto- graph, twenty photogravures, and eighty full- page plates; a fine-paper edition in royal octavo, with a photogravure frontispiece and ninety-nine plates; and a popular edition in large crown octavo, with eighty page illustrations and twenty in the text. Mr. George Bernard Shaw is revising his plays for their coming publication in book form under the title " Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant." They will be in two volumes, to be published by Mr. Grant Richards in the autumn. The several stories contained in Mr. Coulson Kernahan's "Book of Strange Sins," are being published in separate numbers by Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co. Mr. Fraser Rae is at work upon a new edition of Sheridan, in which he will correct the accepted text to a considerable extent. Mr. William Le Queux's new Tuscan novel, now in the press, is to be called "A Madonna of the Music Halls." Mr. F. E. Robinson, M.A., the latest recruit to the ranks of London publishers, announces that he has nearly completed arrangements for a series of Oxford and Cambridge College Histories, which will be written by dons and other well- known graduates. Mr. Frank A. Munsey—whose enterprise has lately been spoken of by Mr. Hapgood in the New York Letter of The Author—has been in London making preliminary arrangements for an English edition of Mungey's Magazine. He will probably send a manager from New York, and open a branch establishment here. Mr. Munsey has secured a story by Mr. Max Pemberton for the magazine, to succeed Mr. Hall Caine's " The Christian." Mr. Alfred Kingston is engaged upon a work entitled " East Anglia and the Great Civil War," in which he tells the story of the rising of Crom- well's Ironsides in the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Hertford. The "Victorian Era" series of books, to be issued by Messrs. Blackie, is intended as an authoritative record of the great movements of the century. Mr. J. H. Rose, M.A., late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, will edit the series, and contribute a volume on " The Rise of the Democracy." Canon J. H. Overton will write "The Anglican Revival ;" Dean Stubbs, a biography of Charles Kingsley; Mr. George Gissing, a biography of Charles Dickens; Mr. H. Holman, "National Education;" Mr. G. Aimitage Smith, " Free Trade and Its Results;" Mr. Lawrence Gomme," Modern London;" &c.  ## p. 80 (#494) ############################################# 8o THE AUTHOR. Mr. F. Anstey's "Baboo Jabberjee" will be published by Messrs. Dent this autumn. Mr. Barry Pain's new novel, which Messrs. Harper will publish immediately, is entitled " The Octave of Claudius." Colonel L. J. Trotter has written the " Life of John Nicholson, Soldier and Administrator," which Mr. Murray will publish. A series of stories by Mr. Barry Pain, dealing with the career of Eobin Hood; a series by Mr. Max Pemberton, dealing with the French Revolution; and a series of detective stories by Major Arthur Griffith, are among the forth- coming projects of the English Illustrated Magazine, Mr. Andrew Lang has edited a volume of selec- tions from Wordsworth, which is in the press, and which will be the first of a new series of "Selec- tions from the Poets," to be published by Messrs. Longmans. Mr. William Harbutt Dawson has written a comprehensive account of the present day social movement in Switzerland in its various branches. The volume, entitled "Social Switzerland," will be published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall at once. "The Typewriter Girl" is the title of a story dealing with an aspect of London life untouched hitherto, which Messrs. Pearson are about to publish. "Olive Pratt Rayner" is the name assumed by the writer. A work on English monastic history, by the Rev. Ethelred L. Taunton, will be published by Mr. John C. Nimnio in the autumn. It will be called, "The English Black Monks of St. Bene- dict: A Sketch of their History from the Coming of St. Augustine to the Present Day." The third volume of the series entitled " Litera- tures of the World," which Mr. Heinemann publishes, will be "Italian Literature," by Dr. Richard Garnett. It will appear early in the autumn. Three months later "English Litera- ture," by Mr. Edmund Gosse, the editor of the series, will be ready. Mr. G. Forrest, Director of Records, Govern- ment of Tndia, is to write "A History of British India" for the important project, the Cambridge Historical Series. The Historical Society of Trinity College, Dublin, is co-operating with the National Literary Society of Dublin to celebrate the centenary of Burke's death. It is proposed to hold a public meeting in November, and to erect a tablet on the house in which Burke was born. Miss Phoebe Allen, whose work in interesting children and spreading their love for Nature is well known, is the editor of a small botanical quarterly called the Sunchildren's Budget, which is the organ of two botany clubs, the second of which is for children. Readers of this paper who are interested in the subjects are invited to make the acquaintance of the magazine for their children. Mrs. Butcher, wife of Dean Butcher of Cairo, will publish in October a book on Egypt, where she has lived for nearly twenty years. It gives an outline of the history of Egypt from the time of the Roman occupation in the year 30 b.c. to the English occupation in the year 1882 a.d., and so will fill a blank in our knowledge of that ancient country. As the Christianity of Egypt is the connecting thread for all the various epochs com- prehended in these twenty centuries, the book will be called "The Story of the Church of Egypt." Messrs. Smith and Elder are the publishers, and it will appear in two volumes. A story of public school life, entitled " The Gift of God," is about to be brought out in volume form. It is by Mrs. Laffan, the wife of the Prin- cipal of Cheltenham College; better known to the reading public by her former name—" Mrs. Leith Adams." Mrs. Laffan gave a lecture at the Ladies' College, Cheltenham, last month, on the subject of "Fictional Literature as a Profession for Women." It has created great interest, and will be repeated. New editions of "Madelon Lemoine," and" The Old Pastures," by this writer, are in the press. Volume 2 of Mr. Edwin 0. Sachs' monumental work, "Modern Opera Houses and Theatres," has now been issued, and with it, perhaps, that part of the undertaking which appeals most to the general public has seen its completion, for the third volume, due in December, will mainly deal with the historical and practical details of theatre construction, finance, and management, and have an essentially technical character. Mr. Sachs has been able to extend materially the scope of the second volume beyond what was originally in- tended, so that the part now completed contains descriptions of over fifty playhouses in Europe, with no less than 450 illustrations. Most of the latter are on plates. Every country is represented, including Russia with three theatres, Roumania and Greece with one each. Garnier's charming theatre at Monte Carlo even stands to do credit for the principality of Monaco. The playhouse most elaborately illustrated in vol. 2 is the Paris Opera House, and the French capital is further represented by the new Opera Comique in course of construction, and the Eden Varietv Theatre.  ## p. 81 (#495) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 81 The great Vienna Opera House heads the Austrian examples in vol. 2, whilst Her Majesty's takes a similar position among our metropolitan houses. Mr. Sachs has received great assistance from many foreign Governments whilst preparing the work, and many of the names prominently asso- ciated with drama on the one hand, and with architecture on the other, will also be found on his list of subscribers. Mr. Arthur Lee Knight has a new book for boys in the press, entitled "Under the White Ensign; or, for Queen and Empire." Messrs. Jarrold are the publishers, and the volume will be profusely illustrated by Mr. J. B. Greene, who makes a special study of naval subjects. "The King's Oak" will be the title of a volume of stories by Robert Cromie, which Messrs. E. Aickin and Co., Limited, of Belfast, have in the press. Mr. Cromie is best known as the author of " The Crack of Doom," which had an extraordi- nary circulation in Sir GeorgeNewnes' "Famous Books " series. The author of " The Song-Book of Bethia Hard- acre" (Chapman and Hall) is Mrs. (not Miss) Fuller Maitland. "The Demon of Santa Fc," by Mr. Farquhar Palliser (Heber K. Daniels), commences in the current number of Eureka: The Playgoers' Magazine, conjointly with "A Romance of Nor- way," from the same pen, in No. 4 of the "Favourite Illustrated Stories." A sequel to Mr. Palliser's " Me and Jim," entitled " Our Tenants," will also be published by the same publishers— the Favourite Publishing Company, Pentonville- road. The Navy and Army Illustrated (edited by Commander C. N. Robinson, R.N.) is devoting a series of special numbers to the Yeomanry and Volunteers. The title of the work is "Our Citizen Army," and the entire letterpress is by Callum Beg, author of " The Life of a Soldier," &c. The second number of the series was lately published and contains some fifty or sixty illustrations descriptive of the duties falling to the lot of our citizen soldiers in camp and elsewhere. "Cruelties of Civilisation."—Early in August the Humanitarian League will issue the third volume of its publications. It will contain the following essays: "Literce Humaniores: An Appeal to Teachers," by Henry S. Salt; "Public Control of Hospitals," by Harry Roberts; "The Shadow of the Sword," by G. W. Foote; "What it Costs to be Vaccinated," by Joseph Collinson; "The Gallows and the Lash," by Hypatia Brad- laugh Bonner; "The Sweating System," by Maurice Adams; "The Humanities of Diet," by H. S. Salt. One of the League's new pamphlets will deal with the English Game Laws. FASHIONS IN LANGUAGE. VERT great men may almost be said to be "of no time." The English of Shakspeare is still modern, and one reads it with more ease and pleasure than that of much more recent writers; the reason being that he writes sincerely, and is but little swayed by the thoughtless fashions of his day. This is not the case with a vast majority of even good authors; most of whom are content to swim with the tide, and to gain a temporary success at the cost of all chance of immortality. Addison, Gray, Coleridge, Macaulay, Tennyson, are all instances of men who have stedfastly resisted such temptations, and of whom, therefore, we may feel sure that their works will endure and will become classics. It is when one turns to the colloquial idiom recorded by writers of various times that one observes how fashions affect our language, and realises what changes are in store for it among the multitudes of so-called "English-speaking people" that are growing up in America and the Colonies. Yet precisely similar changes have been always going on, even in the comparatively small and well-trained circle of London society, without seriously affecting the purity of written English. Time and space would not suffice for a com- plete exemplification of these remarks; we may however, find enough to justify them in con- sidering one class of words—the adjectives and adverbs by which indolent and ill-trained men and women have been wont to express intenseness and superlative quality. Thus, in the London of the Revolution, when institutions began to be fixed and West-end society to become organised, we find colloquialism of this sort recorded by Con- preve and the Spectator; and the fine ladies and their beaux at once began to coin current epithets which circulated with but little regard to their intrinsic value. Mrs. Fainall hates her husband "transcendentally"; Mirabell is a "pretty" fellow; Cleantha has been "hugely" diverted. Then comes the Hanoverian age, beginning with George II. and ending with George IV., when convention was lord of all, and " enthusiasm" was regarded as a form of insanity. Here we come upon yet more artificial epithets, the paper- money of social intercourse. Not only are words used without any pretence of their proper signifi- cation, but the lords and ladies who set the fashion do not even deign to employ the neces-  ## p. 82 (#496) ############################################# 82 THE AUTHOR. sary termination to indicate an adverbial meaning The characters in Miss Burney's novels talk of a "monstrous handsome woman," and a "prodi- gious pretty place;" like the mediaeval emperor, they are above grammar, though they can hardly be said to have mastered that humble science. Many other instances will occur to readers of eighteenth century books, and will be even found in sermons and works intended to be dignified. "Respectable " is used as a high form of praise; few words, indeed, can have more changed their value. Boswell writes of "Chief Baron Smith of respectable and pious memory," where he evidently means to exhaust eulogy. Two other favourite epithets of the period have fallen from their high estate—"elegant"and "genteel," the former used to mean much what we mean when we say that a lady is refined, or that her hospitality is gracious; the latter meant well bred or polite. Lord Chesterfield, about the middle of the period, touched the subject with his habitual plesantry:— "Not content," writes the witty peer, "with enriching our language with words absolutely new, my fair countrywomen have gone still farther and improved it by the application and extension of old ones to various and very different significations. They take a word and change it, like a guinea into shillings for pocket-money, to be employed in the several occasional purposes of the day. For instance, adjective vast, and its adverb vastly, mean anything. . . . Large objects are vastly great, small ones are vastly little; and I had lately the pleasure to hear a fine woman pronounce a very small gold snuff- box that was produced in company to be vastly pretty because it was vastly little." On this Walpole noted: "Humming is a cant word for vast. A person meaning to describe a very large bird, said 'It was a humming bird.'" Surely we seem to be on familiar ground here. Is it not the fact that for the last thirty years we have had "cant words," or intensive expletives, of at least equal absurdity? What is the meaning of a lady who is awfully ugly, but has an airfu/ly jolly house?" Or of the young officer who comes down to breakfast in a strange house declaring that he has had "a rippin' night's rest?" H. G. K. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Corruptions of the Language, THE AUTHOR" is fulfilling several useful functions, and its usefulness seems to grow with every month. The suggestion of " E. W. H." appears to me to be an excellent one; and I shall be glad to support it. But I am hunting smaller game just now; and I ask for only a few lines of your journal to call attention to a minor nuisance. The English language is in daily danger of being corrupted by slovenly phrases introduced by journalists and reporters in a hurry; and it might be one of the duties, and one of the privileges, of The Author to guard the purity of the language, in so far as this is possible and practicable for any one journal. But, as The Author is read by hundreds of men and women who write, and who have an honest respect for the language they write in, it is, probably, a task that becomes it well, to exclude from the language words and phrases that are "bad English" or ungram- matical, or ill-sounding. An obituary notice of Mrs. Oliphant in the July number of The Author, concludes with the words: "Mrs. Oliphant was predeceased by her husband and two sons." Now, I did not expect to find that in The Author. Let me talk grammar for a minute; I will try not to bore you. "Predeceased by " is clearly a verb in the passive voice. If one can "be predeceased," it follows that one can "decease" and even "predecease." Then " decease" is an active verb. What is to decease/ There is no such verb in the English language. Still less is there the verb to pre- decease. The writer might have given the sad facts in a truer way if he had not gone after Latin words, but kept within the bounds of his mother tongue: "Mrs. Oliphant was a widow; and all her children had died before her." There is another Latin word that is hauled in by every penny-a-liner with fatal facility and unpleasant results. I saw this heading in a country newspaper the other day: "Demise of a Dundee Baker in Canada." What is a demise* It is a demissio—a handing down (of the crown or of some title). Shakespeare has the verb to demise in the sense of to bequeath. Mr. Greville, in his Memoirs (quoted in the Century Dictionary), writes: "Now arose anew difficulty—whether the property of the late king demised to the king or to the Crown." Here the word demise is rightly used. An act of demise is a handing down of something to somebody. But the small journalist saw the word, liked the sound of it and the look  ## p. 83 (#497) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 83 of it, didn't know what it meant, took the ignotum pro magnifico, and applied it to the death of the first person he had to mention the departure of. As I am on the prowl for a few minutes, I will mention another piece of bad English that seems likely to gain and to keep a place in our language. It is the American vulgarism " at that." Anyone whose ear has been trained by the reading of the best English prose, must be shocked by the use of a phrase so unrhythmical. I should like to suggest to you the usefulness of setting apart a column as a sort of Index Expurgatorius, in which all kinds of bad English and slovenly grammar would be gibbeted, as the gamekeeper nails stoats and other vermin to the barn door. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. St. Andrew's, July 6. II.—Editor and Contributor. What is the law in the following supposed case? I write an article, more or less ephemeral, and send it to a daily paper. I receive a proof; on it is a notice that such proof is no guarantee that the article will be accepted or published. There is, therefore, no contract. I send a copy of the same article to another daily paper, which at once prints and pub- lishes it. It happens that on the first of the Greek Kalends my article appears in both papers. Has either paper any remedy against me, or are they both equally in my debt? Delay spells ruin to an ephemeral article; how am I to view the notice printed on the proof slip? Dubious. [My opinion is that, if the author of the article in question was not able, or willing, to take his chance, he should have kept the proof and informed the editor of his intention to offer it elsewhere, unless he received a note of acceptance or contract to publish. I do not think that he was justified in sending it to the second paper without such warning or notification to the first paper. Clearly, the editor of the first paper was entitled to believe that the article was offered to him alone. By the decision of the Westminster County Court in the case of "Macdonald v. National Revieic," the forwarding of a proof is in itself an acceptance of the article, or a contract to pay for it, if not to publish it. The notice that the proof is not a guarantee of acceptance is probably sent with the proof in consequence of that decision.—Ed.] III.—English Novels in Germany. I have read with considerable surprise the statement of your contributor, " E. W. H.," to the effect that " Germans have found it necessary to-' forbid the perusal by young girls of English novels." The italics are his. After a comprehensive study of the works of prominent German writers of to-day, I confess it would seem to me quite unnecessary to banish even some very advanced English novels from the library unless, at the s:ime time, an enormous per- centage of the romances read, with or without permission of the parents, by girls of seventeen or younger, were forbidden at the same time. Per- sonally, I have the greatest admiration for the style and literary merits of works I could men- tion, written by leading Teuton (men and women) authors; but it is impossible to deny that few books which attain general popularity in the Fatherland would escape the verdict in England of "highly pernicious," or that they would instantly be locked away on the shelf with the glass windows, of which only " papa" is supposed to have the key. As the assertion in question is not" E. W. H.'s" own, I trust he will forgive me for taking up the cudgels in defence of English literature. Gwendoline Ashworth-Edwards. Germany. ii<ri IV.—A Query. I should feel much obliged if any reader of 'The Author could give a definite rule, or refer to a satisfactory authority, in the following cases: (a) The correct form of the predicate verb, "when two or more pronouns of different persons, are connected by alternative conjunctions." According to Professor Bain, there is a diver- gence of use among classical writers. (/?) The correct auxiliary to be used with verbs of motion. (y) The present day use of, and distinction between, the prepositions " by " and " with." A. E. Aldington. V.—Transliteration. With reference to the note by "H. G. K." on "Transliteration" in The Author for this month, I beg to point out that the congress he wishes for has sat, and to a great extent settled the question. At the Tenth Oriental Congress, held at Geneva in 1894, on the motion of Lord Reay, President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, a commission was appointed to consider this subject. The scheme adopted by the commission was printed in the Proceedings of the Congress, and a translation of it was published in the Asiatic Society's Journal for October, 1895. This system has, with a few alterations, been adopted by the society, and earnestly recom-  ## p. 84 (#498) ############################################# 84 THE AUTHOR. mended for adoption by all writers on Oriental subjects. As one who has written and published a good deal on Indian languages, I am deeply impressed with the necessity of uniformity on this point— not for the sake of Oriental scholars, to whom, knowing as they do the words in their Oriental alphabets, transliteration is of little moment, but for the general public, who are apt to be bewil- dered by diversity of spelling. The system adopted by the Geneva Congress does not com- mend itself to me in every particular, and in such of my writings as are intended for students of Oriental languages only I could not conscien- tiously adopt some of the Roman equivalents proposed, as I consider them misleading. But in writing for the general public this objection would not arise, and the Geneva system might be used. I think, however, for general use the employment of dots and diacritical signs would have to be dispensed with, as the public would not understand them without previous study—and the public has no time to study such matters. In the Arabic language there are four letters, all of which in India are pronounced as z, three which are pronounced s, and two pronounced t. It would suffice to write all these letters as they are pronounced without putting dots under them. But then the four letters pronounced as z in India are pronounced differently in other Mahomedan countries. For instance, the name of the month during which all good Muslims fast is pronounced in India and Persia Ramzan, while in Arabia and Turkey it is pronounced Ramadhan (i.e., like the two English words "rummer " and "darn," not like "rammer" and "dan"). I do not think any system, except one which hideously distorted them, would enable the Englishman who is unac- quainted with Arabic to pronounce these words properly at sight—one would not like to see the word written " rummer darn!" The short indis- tinct vowel which is so very frequent in Oriental languages creates a great difficulty. The sound of it is exactly the same as the u in English bun, sun, run. It is also the same as the unac- cented e in the French le, jc, me; and the half audible c at the end of German eine, meine, gate. But it is also the same as the final unaccented a in America, woman. Consequently the Geneva Congress, following an already established rule, has adopted a to express this sound, and this course is now followed by all Oriental scholars. French writers (not scholars), however, use e. Thus the general whose name we should pro- nounce in India as Uzzum Pasha, appears in Thessaly as Edhem, and Muhammad is written Mehemet. While, therefore, absolute uniformity is,per haps, not likely to be attained soon, it might be an advantage if the alphabet adopted by the Geneva Congress were made more geuerally known, and used by English writers at least. Foreign writers may perhaps in time consent to use it also. John Beames. Netherclay House, Bishop's Hull, Taunton, July 6. VI.—Subjunctive Mood: Its Present Day Use. Your correspondent might have ascertained Mr. Lang's views on this subject by a shorter process than the study of 68,000 words. "I," says Prince Prigio, "unworthy as I am, represent the sole hope of the Royal Family. Therefore to send me after the Fired rake were* both dangerous and unnecessary." To which the author appends a note: *" Subjunctive mood! He was a great grammarian!" Apparently a suspicion of priggishness attaches at the present day even to the use of "the sub- junctive of to be after if." E. C. S. VII.—Cost of Production. In re the letter of "S. R.," published on page 38 of the current issue of The Author, I think he is quite wrong in his deduction that because a decent publisher declines to accept a book that therefore it is not worth publishing! Not so, friend " S. R."! However meritorious a book is, many publishers will not accept it unless the author has already a well-known name in the literary world, as they think that without this the work will not "catch on." The commercial side comes in, you see, and publishers will not take the first plunge. The refusal of a book by a decent publisher is no sign that it is not worth publishing, for it is not its literary merit so much as the status of the author that the publisher considers. Many historic cases—" Vanity Fair," "Jane Eyre," &c. — prove this. My own book, "Fisherman Fancies," Elliot Stock declined to bring out at his own risk, and yet it was much praised by Mr. R. D. Blackmore, and had capital reviews from good London and provincial journals. F. B. Doveton. VIII—How Long? Here is another choice experience of the courtesy of editors. Last December I submitted a contribution to a weekly paper circulating in the parish where I reside. No acknowledgment was vouchsafed. After a couple of reminders, it  ## p. 85 (#499) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 85 has to-day been sent back, declined with thanks. Seven months to consider a short story! It is difficult to believe that a small suburban news- paper can find any valid excuse for so long a detention of manuscript. C. C. Authors' Club, July 15. —■»•«> LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. On Commencing Author. Quarterly Review for July. On the Complaints op Authors. A. T. Q. C Speaker for July 3. The Proposed School op Fiction. A. T. Quiller Coach. Pall Hall Magazine for Jaly. John Sterling, and a Correspondence between Sterling and Emerson. Edward Waldo Emerson. Atlantic Monthly for July. Some Reminiscences op English Journalism Sir Wemysa Reid. Nineteenth Century for July. Pascal. Leslie Stephen. Fortnightly Review for July. A Woman Poet [Mme. Marceline Valmore]. Fort- nightly Review for July. The paper in the Quarterly Review has been treated elsewhere (see Notes and News). A practical suggestion the Quarterly Review makes has regard to the work of agents. At the present time, many agents only look at the work of well-known people; but the writer seems to foresee considerable remuneration to a firm who will announce themselves as the depositaries of everything—sonnets, epics, turnovers for a paper, or anything else, by servant girls, duchesses, or eminent men. For these they would have to give an immediate receipt. They would be free to send back at once anything considered unmarketable. They would be at liberty to charge (say) ten per cent, on whatever they obtained for the item, and to pay themselves. There would be no temptation to dishonesty, because the action of the percentage and the immediate receipt for the document would be so self-working. It will be noticed that the idea is substantially that which Mr. Isidore G. Ascher put forward in the July number of The Author. Just before the latest Quarterly appeared, Mr. Quiller Couch had been writing his view that the commercial side of the literary calling has been too prominent of late. He believes " that writing has aims and rewards of its own which must and always will escape what I may call a bagman's estimate, and that if a man can only bring a bagman's estimate to this calling, a bag- man he had better be." The author and the publisher, is a case of the workman and the capitalist; and "give and take" is the best motto for each. There is a class of authors, one would point out to Mr. Couch, who take their money, as much as they can get, and then pretend not to care how much it is. There is, as a rule, no one more anxious for money than the writer who talks big about bagmen. Those who know how to separate literary from commercial value do not talk about the sordidness of keeping watch over property. An interesting friendship between Emerson and Sterling is revealed by Mr. E. Waldo Emerson. The correspondence (they never met) that passed between the American poet and the British man of letters, here published for the first time, shows their relations to have originated by Emerson sending a presentation copy of his "Essays." Sterling acknowledges this in a letter from Clifton, dated Sept. 30,1839. "I have read very, very little modern English writing that has pleased, me so much," he says; "among recent productions almost only those of our friend Carlyle, whose shaggy-browed and deep-eyed thoughts have often a likeDess to yours which is very attractive and impressive, neither evidently being the double of the other." Emerson, in re- plying, criticises Sterling's volume of poems, saying, "I must count him happy who has this delirious music in his brain;" and " I am natu- rally keenly susceptible of the pleasures of rhythm, and cannot believe but that one day—I ask not where or when—I shall attain to the speech of this splendid dialect." There are twenty letters altogether, eight of them Emerson's. They are made up of criticisms of literature, and passages of tender personal sympathy with trouble. "Ill-health, many petty concerns, much loco- motion, and infinite laziness," are Sterling's first excuse for delay; and the Eame reason of ill- health continues until in June, 1844, when he is dying, he writes from Ventnor that his condition is one of " expecting to be dead in five minutes, and noticing the pattern of the room paper and of the doctor's waistcoat as composedly as if the whole had been a dream." We find Sterling saying, in 1840, that "Hartley Cole- ridge, Alfred Tennyson, and Henry Taylor are the only younger men I now think of who have shown anything like genius, and the last— perhaps the most remarkable—has more of voli- tion and understanding than imagination." In 1842 Sterling thought of visiting New Eng- land. "Come and bring your scroll in hand," promptly writes the American sage. "Come to Boston and Concord, and I will go to Niagara with you. I have never been there." Again he writes, introducing his countryman Bronson Alcott as " a man who cannot write, but whose conver- sation is unrivalled in its way—such insight, such discernment of spirits, such pure intellectual play, such revolutionary impulses of thought." Another friend Emerson introduces is Henry James, of New  ## p. 86 (#500) ############################################# 86 THE AUTHOR. York, "a man of ingenuous and liberal spirit, and a chief consolation to me when I visit his city." Here is one paragraph from a letter of Emerson's, dated January 31, 1844. I learned by your last letter that you had builded a house, and I glean from Russell all I can of your health and aspect; and as James is gone to your island, I think to come still nearer to you through his friendly and intelligent eyes. Send me a good gossiping letter, and prevent all my proxies. What can I tell you to invite such retaliation? I dwell with my mother, my wife, and two little girl -. the eldest five years old, in the midst of flowery fields. I wasted much time from graver work in the last two months in reading lectures to Lyceums far and near; for there is now a "lyceum," so oalled, in almost every town in New Eogland, and, if I would accept every invitation, I might read a lecture every night. My neighbours in this village of Concord are Ellery Cbanning, who sent his poems to you, a yontb of genius; Thoreau, whose name you may have Been in the Dial ; and Hawthorne, a writer of tales and historiettes, whose name you may not have Been, though he, too, prints books. All these three persons are superior to their writings, and, therefore, not obnoxious to Kant's observa- tion, " Detestable is the company of literary men." Emerson was trying to arrange for the printing of Sterling's poems in America, but the project hung fire. The reasons are given by Emerson in his letter of June 30, 1843, which shows the un- satisfactory state of the book law at that time: Oar whole foreign book market has suffered a revolution within eighteen months, by the new practice of printing whatever good books or vendible books you send ns, in the cheapest newspaper form, and hawking them in the streets at twelve, eighteen, and twenty-five cents the whole work; and I suppose that fears, if his book should prove popular, that it would be pirated at once. I printed Carlyle's •' Past and Present" two months ago, with a preface beseech- ing all honest men to spare our book; but already a wretched reprint has appeared, published, to be sure, by a man unknown to the trade, whose wretchedness of type and paper, I have hope, will still give my edition the market for all persons who have eyes and wish to keep them. But, beside the risk of piracy, this cheap system hurts the sale of dear books, or such whose price contains any profit to an author. Add one more unfavonrable incident whioh damped the design, that a Philadelphia edition of "Sterling's Poems " was published a year ago, though bo ill got up that it did not succeed well, our booksellers think. To judge from this year's issue of Professor Kiirschner's "Deutsche Litteratur Kalender," which has been fully described in this journal before, the guild of writers must be on the increase in Germany. It numbers sixty pages more than last year's issue, and contains much new and valuable information. The portraits inserted in the present volume are of special interest. The one facing the title-page represents the popular and prolific romancer Mas Ring, who, as we learn from Kiirschner, is a doctor of medicine, and will celebrate on the 4th of next month his eightieth birthday. Among his various successful novels the one entitled "John Milton und seine Zeit" has attracted in Germany particular attention. The second portrait is that of the well-known poet . Detlev von Liliencron. As for the rest, the useful literary and biographical annual fully maintains its standard, and we may cordially recommend it to all who take an interest in current German literature. PERSONAL. "|V TE- GEORGE SMITH gave a dinner at IVI the Hotel Mctropole, on July 8, to his friends and the contributors to the "Dictionary of National Biography." In pro- posing the health of Mr. Sidney Lee, Mr. Smith said that twenty-one volumes of the "Dic- tionary" had appeared under the editorship of Mr. Leslie Stephen, with the assistance of Mr. Sidney Lee; five were edited jointly by Mr. Stephen and Mr. Lee; and twenty-five had been produced under the editorship of Mr. Lee. The number of contributors was 634; and each volume contained between 400 and 500 separate biogra- phies. Mr. Lee, in replying to the toast, said that when ill-health unhappily compelled Mr. Stephen to retire from the editorship, it was the force of his example that had enabled him to carry the work forward to the stage it had reached. Mr. Stephen also acknowledged the toast. Mr. Lee gave " The Health of the Con- tributors," and Canon Ainger replied. "The Guests who were not Contributors" was proposed by the Chairman, who coupled with it the names of Viscount Peel and Mr. Lecky. One of the most remarkable features of the time, said Mr. Lecky, was the manner in which individual exer- tion had been replaced by corporate work, by syndicates and companies. It was old fashioned now to think that a history could only be written by one hand in a uniform style. The Tennyson Memorial in the Isle of Wight will be unveiled by Lady Tennyson, and dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Friday, the 6th inst., at 3 p.m. It is placed in Freshwater Down, the favourite walk of the late Laureate. Mark Twain has declined the fund which was set on foot for him by the New York Herald, and supported in London by the Westminster Gazette. A man who is able to work, he says, should not accept charity. The appeal was meeting with ready response. A successful Dickens fete was held at Broad- stairs in the first week of July. The principal feature was a fancy dress bazaar, in which the stall-holders impersonated characters in the novelist's books. The proceeds will be devoted to erecting a club-house and other buildings in memory of Charles Dickens.  ## p. 87 (#501) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 87 OBITUARY. MISS JEAN INGELOW died at Kensing- ton on July 20, at the age of seventy- seven. She came, like Tennyson, of a Lincolnshire family (her mother was a Scotch, woman of literary inclinations), and was one of a banker's eleven children. Her first volume which attained fame was "Poems" (1863), which has been popular through the half century that has elapsed since. This was her second work, the first, "A Rhyming Chronicle of Incidents and Feelings," having been published anonymously in 1850. "The Brothers," " Divided," and " Songs of Seven" were likewise well received; and Mr. Swinburne, for one, paid very high praise to "Requiescat in Pace." Both in this country and in the United States her works com- manded large sale in the sixties and seventies. Her stories in blank verse included " Lawrance" and "Gladys and Her Island "; "Supper at the Mill" and "Afternoon at a Parsonage" were dainty sketches. The poem by which Miss Ingelow is best known is "High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire," which is a favourite piece with public reciters. She also wrote fairy stories for children and novels for the young. "Off the Skelligs" was perhaps her best prose work. Miss Ingelow seldom revised her poems after she had once committed them to paper. She shunned publicity, and was a generous friend of the poor. Sir John Skelton, K.C.B., LL.D., Advocate, late Vice-President of the Local Government Board for Scotland, died in his native city, Edin- burgh, on the 20th ult., aged sixty-six. He was the author of several books on public health and the poor law; of "Nugse Criticse," a volume of essays published in 1862; and of historical and other works, including " A Campaigner at Home," "The Impeachment of Mary Stuart," " Maitland of Lethington and the Scotland of Mary Stuart," "Mary Stuart," "Essays in Romance," and one novel, "Crookit Meg." It was Disraeli's admiration for "Crookit Meg" that removed the young barrister from Parliament House at Edinburgh to be Secretary of the old Board of Supervision. His latest work was "Table Talk of Shirley" (1895), of which a second series appeared last winter. This work contains reminiscences of some of the foremost writers of the present reign. Dr. Skelton was a consistent admirer of the unfortunate Queen of Scots, but this did not interfere with his close friendship with Froude. Under the pseudonym of " Shirley" lie was a frequent contributor to Frasers and Blackwood's. He was the original of Lord Glenalmond in Stevenson's" Weir of Hermiston." "' Shirley' is the last of them," the late Miss Isabella Blackwood used to say in speaking of the former but departed glories of literary Edinburgh. Sir John Charles Bucknill, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S., who died at Bournemouth on the 19th ult., aged seventy-nine, originated, in 1853, the Journal of Mental Science—which for nine years he edited, was one of the original editors—and Brain; and wrote numerous psychological works. The most important of these are: "Unsound- ness of Mind in Relation to Criminal Acts," "The Mad Folk of Shakespeare," "Notes on American Asylums," "Habitual Drunkards and Insane Drunkards," and " Care of the Insane and their Legal Control." THE BOOKS OP THE MONTH. [June 24 to July 23.—154 Books.] About, Edmond. The King of the Mountains, [trans, by Richard Davey.] 3/6. Heinemann. Allen, Grant. An African Millionaire. 6'- Richards. Allingham, Francis. Crooked Paths. 6/- Longmans. Aloysius, Slater Mary. Memories of the Crimea. Burns and Oates. Anglican, An. Some Thoughts on the Third Order of St. Francis. I/- Skeffington. Anonymous. A Catalogue of the Egyptian Antiquities in tho Posses- sion of F. G. Hilton Price. Quaritch. Anonymous [*'E."]. Peggy's Decision. 1/- Simpkin. Anonymous. Notes on tho Painted Glass in Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury: E. Crow. AnonymouB. The Oxford Debate on tho Textual Criticisms of the New Testament. Bell. Anonymous [•'One of H. M.'s servants."] The Private Life of tho Queen. 2/6. Pearson. Armitage, E. S. A Key to English Antiquities, with special reference to the Sheffield and Roiherham District. 7, - Sheffield: W, Townsend. ABtlns, G. S. Wayside Echoes. 2/- King, Sell, and Railton. Austin, Alfred. Victoria: June 20, 1S37—June 20, 1897. 6d. Macmillan. Bailey, James. Sunday School Teaching. 1/6. R. Cully. Barnes, W. E. An Apparatus Criticus to Chronicles in the Pesbitta Version. 5/- Clay. Harnett. P. A. (ed.) Teaching and Organisation. 6/6. Longmans. Barr, Robert. Tho Mutable Many, (i - Methueu. Bathurst, J. K. The Royal Houses of Great Britain. Genealogical Chart, with notes. Comparative Synoptical Chart Company. Be a van, A. A. Popular Royalty. 10 6. Low. Bell, R. S. Warren. The Cub in Love and Other Stories. 18. Richards. Bellamy, Edward. Equality 0 - Heinemann. Besant, Sir W. The Queen's Reign and its Commemoration. The Werner Company. Bingham, Clive. With the Turkish Army in Thessaly. C tj net. Macmillan. Blrrel), Augustine. Four Lectures on the Law of Employers' Liability at Home and Abroad. 2/6. Macmillan. Boae. W. P. Du. The Ecumenical Councils. 6 - Edinburgh: Clark. Bower, Marfan. The Story of Molly. 3;(J. Andrews. Brown, J. D., and Stratton, S. S. British Musical Biography. 10,6 net. Birmingham: S. S. Stratton. Browning, Oscar (ed.) The Journal of Sir George Rooke, Admiral of the Fleet. Navy Records Society. Bryant, Sophie. The Teaching of Morality in the Family and the School. 8/- Sonnenschein. Bryden, H. A. The Victorian Era in South Africa. Offices of African Criiic. Caine, Caisar (editor). AnaVcta Eboracensia: Some Hemaynesof the Ancient City of York. 42 - Phillimore. Cameron, MrB. Lovott. A Man's Undoing. White. Campbell, C. T. British South Africa: A History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 7 C. Haddon Campbell, F. Index-Catalogue of Bibliographical Works (chiefly in the English language) relating to India. Library Bureau.  ## p. 88 (#502) ############################################# 88 THE AUTHOR. Cavalry Officer, A. Cavalry Titetics. 4 - Stanford. Clarke, L. W. Tlie Miracle Play in England. 3/6. Andrews. Cocking. B. D. A Primer of French Etymology. 1/6. Innes. Cotton, John. Thoughts and Fancies. Simpkin. Cowell, E. B. (ed.) The Jataka. Vol. III. 12/6. Clay. Crawford, J. W. Wild Flowers of Scotland. 6/- net. Hacqueen. Davenport, Cyril. The English Regalia. 21 - net. Kegan Paul. Donaldson, T. Walt Whitman, The Man. 6/- (lay and Bird. Druery, O. T. The New Gulliver, or Travels in Athomia. 3/6. Roxburghe. Earlo, Mrs. C. W. Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Oarden. 7/6. Smith, Elder. England, Frances. Small Concerns. 1/- Dlgby. Farquharson, C. D. The Federation of the Powers. 1/- Warno. Forlong, J. G. R. Short StudieB in the Science of Comparative Bcligion, embracing all the religions of Asia. Quaritch. Fowler, Edith H. The Professor's Children. 6/- Longmans. Oarbctt, Captain H. 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Vol I.—Facsimiles, prepared for the members of the Plainseng and Medieval Music Society. 25.'- Quaritch. Wright, S. The Law Eclating to Landed Estates. 12/6. Eztates Gazette Office. Wyatvllle, G. Victoria, Begina et Itnperatrix, and Other Poems. 3/6 net. Birmingham: Cornish Bros. Xenopoulos, Gregory. Tho Stepmother (tr. by MrB. Edmonds). 2/6 net. Lane. Zeto. Vashtl. a tragedy, and Other Poems. 5;- Kegan Paul. '• Zuresta." Ye Booke of Ye Cards. 1/- Boxburghe. Among the books of the month of July ought to have been mentioned " The Fairies' Favourite; or, the Story of Queen Victoria," told for children by T. Mullett Ellis. It was published nominally on Commemoration Day, but actually a little earlier. The publishers are Messrs. Ash Partners, Limited, and the price is is. In the books of the month, "Armstrong, Q-. F. S., Queen, Empress, and Empire," should have been entered as "Savage-Armstrong, G. F., Queen, Empress, and Empire."  ## p. 88 (#503) ############################################# ADV Now Ready, Crown 8vo., Cloth Boards, Silver Price 68. A LADY OF WAI "A Story of the Siege of Chester, 1i BY THE Rev. VINCENT J. LEATHERDAL London: Horace eox, Windsor House, Bream'e-tmili SEMENTS. Ill Now ready, demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s IN NEW SOUTH AFf Travels in the Transvaal and Rhoa With Map and Twenty-six Illustrations. By H. LINCOLN TAN In demy 8vo., price 12s. net, by poet 12s. 6d. Six Months in a Syrian Monastery. Being the Record of a Visit to the Headquarters of the Syrian Church in Mesopotamia, with some account of the Yazidis, or Devil Worshippers of Mosul, and El Jilwah, their Sacred Book. By OSWALD H. PARRY, B.A. (Of Magdalen College, Oxford.) Illustrated by the Author. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham. 41 The author of this handsome volume presents 1 a detailed study of a relic of history pursued off the track of general research;' he has sought to give, and has succeeded in giving. 'a picture of quiet life in a country much abused, and among a people that command less than their share of ordinary interest.' 1 Westward the tide of Empire takei its way,' sang a prophetic divine of the olden days, and no less certainly, as Mr. Parry points out, does the ebb of travel roturn towards the East. ... As a volume descriptive of life and travel among a distant people, his work is welt worth reading, but for those persons who are more particularly concerned with the old Syrian Church, or in the solution of the problem indicated above, it is one of quite unique attraction. A pathetic interest attaches to the account of the YazidiB included in this volume for it contains part of their sacred writings, the original manuscript of which was in the hands of Professor Robertson Smith for translation at the time of his death.' —Publisher? Circular, CONTENTS. Introductory. PART I. Chapter I.—The Land of Gold and the Way there. II.—Across Desert and Veldt. III. —Johannesburg the Golden. IV. —A Transvaal Coach Journey. V.—Natal: the South African Garden. VI.—Ostracised in Africa. Home with the Swalt PART II —RAMBLES IS RHODESIA Chapter L—Eendragt Maakt Magt. ,, IL—Into the Country of Lobengula. III.—The Trail of War. ,, IV.—Gold mining. Ancient and Modern. V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. „ VI.—To Northern Mashonaland. „ VIL—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wa Index. London: H0Ri.cs Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-builc Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6s. HATHERSAC A Tale of North Derbyshij BY CHARLES EDMUND H Author of " An Ancient AnoeBtor," ftc| London: HORACE Cox, Wlnd»or House, Breun's-bull London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Eoyal 8vo., price 16s. net. SPORTING DAYS IN SOUTHERN INDIA: BEING REMINISCENCES OF TWENTY TRIPS IN PURSUIT OF BIG GAME, CHIEFLY IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. Lieut.-Col. A. J. O. POLLOCK, Eoyal Scots Fusiliers. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY WHYMPER AND OTHERS. Contents. Chapters I., II., and III—The Bear. IV. and V.—The Panther. VI., VII., and VIII.—The Tiger. IX. and X.—The Indian Bison. XI. and XII.—The Elephant. XHI.—Deer (CervicUe) and Antelopes. XIV. —The Ibex. XV. and XVI.—Miscellaneous. ndon : Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C.  ## p. 88 (#504) ############################################# ADVErERTKNTS. IV THE TEMPLE 1 UTING OFFICE. § kail | rpYPEWEITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCTJ T| fl KriceB. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest | ^ ■> ,_.TrT,-r>V ITT DON C <J, 1< .L. 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CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1 BEING A STATISTICAL BOOK OF EEFEEENC For fa ts Muting to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotia and the Colonies: with n fuller Index relating to P Benefices thim any ever yet given to the public. Chockkord's CLERICAL Directory is more than a Direc taini concise Biographical details of all the mlnlstersandd the Church of England, Wales, Scotland. Ireland, and th also a List of the Parishes of each Diocese in Englandffon arranged in Hural Deaneries. ins hairless paper, over which the pen „ h perfect freedom. 1 -v^x."1 %xpence each: 5«. per dozen, ruled or plain. Pocket Size, price fid.; by post, fi.Jd. LAWS OF GOLF, jpted by the Royal and Ancient Gulf Club of 1 St. Andrc^ve. tii:il Kulcs for Medal Plav. uette of Golf. rners of the Golfing Championship, pen and Kunners-up for the Amateur Championship. Q Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C Crown Svo., limp cloth, price 2s. Cd. HANDBOOK Horace COX. Windsor House, Bream-s-buildiugs, Crown 8vo., 3d. extra PROCEDURE OF THE USE of COMMONS, WITH Second Edition, B-*- -d PRINCIPLES™* OP 4r' MEN™Y D'BATING S0C'ETIES' „„v and PRACT1C1' > „ „^ ✓ < t> t v x^,„ HE: '.SUGGESTIONS AND PRECEDENTS FOR THE CSE OF ,N THEORY AND PRACT1CI Combination. *■ . Windsor House. Bream's-buB 3. Combination. London: Hobace Cox r GEO. G. GRAY, Esq., Ind.), J.P., Barrister-at-Law, Ac., Author of "A Manual of _ —. ptcy," a Treatise on 11 The Right to Support from Land and ^\ J J I Jj ^Si" &C., Speaker of the Hastings Local House of Commons. : Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C "panted and Published by ^~^dlng«, E.C. fie> Bream'e-btiildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 03 (August 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 03 (August 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-08-02-The-Author-8-3 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/307/1897-09-01-The-Author-8-4.pdf dd6297b6a9ace41108b752b31af3394e 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) 1897-09-01 Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages Page range in volume 89–108 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18970901 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XT be Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED B7 WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONT PAOl General Memoranda. 89 From the Committee—//! /f« Whitcon.b 91 Literary Property— 1. On the New Law of Copyright 91 J. The Localisation of Copyright 9» Solecisms a Hundred Years Ago 93 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 91 ENTS. PAOl Notes from Elsewhere. By B. H. Sherard 97 Feuilleton.—The Story of a Broken Pen *W Book Advertising in 11*00 103 Freedom of Criticism 104 Book Talk J04 Literature in the Periodicals 106 The Books of the Month 108 PUBLICATIONS OP THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report, That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., ios. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., HI., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colleb, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des GeilS de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprioge, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. as. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia. ment. With Extracts from the Eeport of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6d. 8. The Society Of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 88 (#506) ############################################# 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. g>ocietp of Jlufljors (gncorporafeb). 8ib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Barbie. A. W. X Beckett. ROBEKT BATEMAN. F. E. Beddabd, F.R.S. Sib Henrt Bebone, K.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. Bbv. Prop. Bonnet, F.B.S. Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Bight Hon. Lord Burghclebe, P.C Hall Caine. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sib W. Martin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. The Earl of Desart. PRESIDENT. GEORGE IMZIEIRIEIDITH COUNCIL. Austin Dobbon. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Dubourg. Prof. Michael Fosteb, F.E.S. D. W. Freshfield. Bichabd Gabnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Bideb Haggard. Thomas Habdt. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Eudyabd Kipling. Pbof. E. Bay Lankesteb, F.E.S. W. E. H. Lecky, P.C. J. M. Lely. Mbs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doo. Pbof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Hebman C. Mebivalb. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Undebdown, Q.C. Eev. C. H. Middleton-Wakk. Sir Lewis Mobbis. Henby Norman. Miss E. A. Obmerod. J. C. Pabkinson. Eight Hon. Lord Pibbbight, P.C, F.E.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock, w. bapti8te scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. B. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Mot Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonob. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Eider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Fresiifield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villibrs Stanford, Mus.D. (Chairman). JACQUE8 BLUMENTHAL. J. L. MOLLOY. ( Field, Eoscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. '( G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thbing, BA. OFFICES: 4, Pobtuoal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. A. W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. Solicitors- Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doo. Henry Norman. Francis Storr. DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones [Chairman] A. W. X Beckett. Edward Rose. IF. WATT &c SOIDsT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SdUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. Published every Friday morning; price, without JReports, S*d.; with Reports, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law sx^ the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of * °£au Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. yip Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Bre&m'B-buildings, E C THE ART of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5a. net, by post 5s. 4d. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Eev. G. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 Illustra tions. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 2s. Cd. net London: HoBAOK Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.G.  ## p. 89 (#507) ############################################# XT be Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vin.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinion* expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Sooiety begs to give notioe that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot bo accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. ]J\OTH some years it has been the practice to insert, in j every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, to., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards those warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to bo observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by oharging exohange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special oharge 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 Berial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has oponed the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from tho "Cost of Production." Let no one, not evon the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that those precautions presuppose a great succoss for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always domanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of tho3e account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there Bhall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing Bhall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If those points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to Bend his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. i 2  ## p. 90 (#508) ############################################# go THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. IjTVERY member has a right to ask for and to receive Fj advioe upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advioe sought is snch as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is suoh that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use tho Socioty first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Seoretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society yon are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep tho key of tho safe. Tho Sooiety now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: I. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in alt coses, be sont to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Socioty; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members aro invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whoso services will be called upon in any ooso of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no peouniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of tho Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send thoir names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write P Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Sooiety does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may bo a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 91 (#509) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 9i or dishonest? Of conrse they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or fire years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per oent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at Jig 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. HIGH COURT OP JUSTICE.—QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. (Sittings in Bankruptcy, before Mr. Registrar Hope.) In Be Whitcomb. THIS was an adjourned sitting for public examination under a receiving order made against H. and B. W. Whitcomb,described as of 12, Burleigh-street, Strand. The examina- tion of the debtor, H. Whitcomb, was ordered to be concluded on June 30 last, and the other debtor now attended. His accounts showed liabilities <£i 169, with assets ,£1034. Mr. C. A. Pope attended as assistant official receiver, and Mr. Mellor appeared for creditors. In the course of his evidence, B. W. Whitcomb s:ui<mI that he was an actor, and had followed that profession for eight or nine years, his income from that source averaging about £300 a year. In Sept. 1896, he started a journal known as the New Saturday,Andput about*£20ointo the undertaking. He had no knowledge of journalism, and it was arranged that his brother (the debtor, H. Whit- tomb) should act as manager of the paper. He skirted the journal because he thought it would prove a successful speculation. His brother, who had experience in journalistic work, was an un- discharged bankrupt at the time. The Assistant Official Receiver.—Was not the object of your becoming the registered proprietor merely to cover your brother and enable him to carry on the newspaper, in spite of the fact that he was an undischarged bankrupt P The debtor emphatically denied that this was the case, and said that the idea was to form a syndicate to carry on the business, but the syndi- cate never got beyond a suggestion. The paper was a loss throughout, and he was responsible for all the debts incurred. Mr. Mellor also briefly questioned the debtor, and the examination was ordered to be concluded. —The Times, Aug. 17. LITERARY PROPERTY. L—On the New Law op Copyright. THE Incorporated Society of Authors and the Incorporated Institute of Journalists are doing their best to press forward a long- needed amendment of the Law of Copyright. As things are, successful writers, dramatists, lecturers, and even preachers, are at the mercy of the un- scrupulous class of persons who find it much easier to steal other people's ideas than to create ideas of their own. Of course there is a copyright law in existence, but its imperfections are only fully known to those who have had occasion to seek its protection. By some strange perversity of judg- ment, it has long appeared to otherwise honest and honourable men that a broad distinction may properly be drawn between property in the pro- duction of a man's brains and property in the production of a man's hands. If a carpenter lawfully acquires a few slips of wood and makes them into a chair or a table, that chair or table is his own, and the individual who attempts to dispose of it, without first satisfying the maker, runs a good chance of spending a few weeks in close confinement. Even if the thief takes the precaution of taking the chair or table to pieces, and selling the pieces of wood separately, he is still held responsible for an act of dishonesty. Or, in another case, if the carpenter or ironworker or other artificer produces quite a new design in his work, and has the design properly registered, then he can prevent by law a less ingenious com- petitor from palpably copying that design and passing the work off as his own. But mark how the law deals with a brain-production in the shape of a book, or a play, or a lecture, or a sermon. Perhaps sermons are pilfered least; but this, in turn, may be because they are, as a rule, least worth pilfering. The principle holds good all the same, and those who are moving in the matter wish to protect brain-workers of all grades, just as hand-workers are already protected. Their principle is that what a man  ## p. 92 (#510) ############################################# 92 THE AUTHOR. produces by the exercise of thought, invention, and cultivated mental effort is as much his own property as the coster's donkey-cart belongs to the coster, and cannot be "appropriated" by the first person who sees his way to make money by the elementary process of taking something that does not belong to him. As a rule it is the novelist and the dramatist who get their brains "picked " most persistently. Mr. Brain Stoker, who gave evidence before the Lords' Committee, put the matter very clearly. The successful novel is forthwith pounced down on by the light- fingered dramatist; and the successful dramatist is the immediate victim of the cadging novelist. In other words, the man who has no ideas walks about like a hungry jackal, ready to devour, without leave and without reward, the ideas of the man more favoured in that respect than himself. Of course, in spite of the doubtful dictum that a good novel usually makes a bad play, there will always be a natural, and perhaps laudable, desire to see the characters of a favourite story personified on the stage. There is no harm in that; indeed, quite the contrary. But surely the man who wrote the story and created all that is worth appropriating from it ought to be pre- sumed to have such legal property in his own production as would prevent its appropriation by anyone without his consent, and without affording him any recompense. So with the dramatist; if after a long expenditure of thought he produces a play which "means money," why should the hack story-writer steal, from a back seat in the gallery, all the ideas, the situations, and the general effect that mean so much to the dramatist? Or, to take the lecturer, why, because he reads or recites his "book," should he be less protected than if he issued it in printed form? What a man writes, so far as it is his own, ought to be protected as his own; and it should be legally his "property" as against all comers who decline to pay the owner's price for it. To the question, Is there not already a Copyright Act? the short answer is that it fails in nine cases out of ten through technical defects, or through its limited application, or, perhaps most of all, through the expense and difficulty of putting it into operation. If a thief steals a pennyworth of tintacks he may be treated with "summary diligence," and the owner's rights be vindicated. If he "appro- j>riates " the year's labour of a man's brain he may go on his way rejoicing, for the chances are the law will be too slow, too clumsy, and too costly to overtake him. It is high time this state of things should be altered.—Birmingham Daily News, July io. II.—Localisation of Copyright. At a meeting of the Council of the Publishers' Association held on Aug. 6, it was resolved that the following recommendation should be circulated among the members:— The subject of the localisation of copyright, as illustrated by special American, Colonial, and Continental editions of English publications, having engaged the attention of the second Inter- national Publishers' Congress, held at Brussels in June, 1897, that body passed the following reso- lution: "La cession d'cditions localisces k certains pays implique pour le cessionaire l'obligation d'indiquer sur ces editions spcciales autorisces les pays auxquels la vente en est liinitee." The importance of the American market to Eng- lish publishers is so great that it seems specially desirable to secure the adherence of American publishers to this resolution. With that object it is recommended that authors and publishers (following the precedent of Continental and Colonial editions) should, in all agreements made with American publishers, stipulate that a noti- fication limiting the American issue to the United States be insisted on, while at the same time the British edition should bear a notice excluding it from circulation in the United States.— The Pub- lishers' Circular. SOLECISMS A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. u Tip j8 weu known that the ancient Greeks and I Romans took infinite pains to improve their respective languages. We have many re- markable instances of their labours to this effect in the writings of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the author who passes under the name of Demetrius Phalereus, Cicero, Quinctilian, Aulus Gellius, and others. The English reader will be surprised to see with what exactness they measured their periods, analysed their phrases, arranged their words, determined the length of their syllables, and avoided all harsh and ele- mentary sounds, in order to give grace and harmony to their compositions. To this refine- ment we may, in a great measure, ascribe that inexpressible charm which every man of taste and learning discovers in some of the classics, and which is not to be found in the generality of modern compositions. Such an attention to propriety and elegance of style is of the greatest importance, as no pro- duction can be read with pleasure, or transmitted to posterity with applause, if it is defective in this respect. It should likewise be considered, that the literary character of a nation will always  ## p. 93 (#511) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 93 depend on the accuracy and elegance of its publi- cations. Since the" beginning of the present century the English language has been much improved and refined. Several able writers have examined its principles, and pointed out its beauties and defects, with a critical and philosophical investi- gation. I must, however, observe that many enormous solecisms still appear in almost all the produc- tions of our English writers, such as, You was. This expression sometimes occurs in books, is often heard in conversation, and frequently echoes through the caverns of West- minster Hall. The nominative case is the second person plural, and the verb to which it is united is the first or the third person singular. More or most universal. 'Its success was not more universal' (Gibbon, vol. II., p. 357). 'Money is the most universal incitement of human industry' (lb., vol. I., p. 356; vol. III., p. 66, <fec.). 'Company more universally accept- able' (Zeluco, vol. I., p. 398). 'That which pleases most universally is religion' (' Blair's Sermons,' vol. II., p. 168). What is universal cannot admit of augmentation. Of all others. 'The profession, of all others, for which he was the fittest' (Zeluco, vol. I., pp. 75, 118). 'The most precious of all others' (Anachar, vol. III., p. 288). 'It is that species of goodness with which, of all ot/iers, we are best acquainted' ('Blair's Sermons,' vol. II., p. 129). 'To collect a dictionary seems a work, of all others, least practicable in a state of blindness' (Johnson's 'Life of Milton,' p. 169). This ex- pression resembles the following absurdity in Milton: Adam, the goodliest man of men since born His sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve. B. IV., 322. I would not attempt to vindicate Milton, as some have done, by pleading that this is a figure of speech or a 'poetic licence.' I would rather say, with Horace, it is one of the Macula;, qnas ant incnria fndit, Ant humana parum cavit natnra. Ax. P. 552- No apology, however, can be made for the fore- going expression in prose. Either side. 'Either sex and every age was engaged in the pursuits of industry' (Gibbon, vol. I., 452). 'He retired with a multitude of captives of either sex' (lb., vol. IV., 281). 'Pilled with a great number of persons of either sex' (lb., vol. II., 324; alibi passim). 'In that violent conflict of parties, he (Edmund Smith) had a prologue and epilogue from the first wits on either side* (Johnson's 'Lives,' vol. II., p. 248). Either signifies only the one or the other; and is improperly used instead of each in the singular number, or both in the plural. We meet with innumerable writers who talk of looking into the tcomb of Time. But this expression suggests a gross and indelicate idea, and is in itself absurd; for Time, according to the mytho- logists, is an old fellow, the Chronos or Saturn of the ancients, and consequently has no womb. All personifications ought to be consistent. An accusative or objective case after a passive participle. 'He (Thompson) was taught the common rudiments of learning' (Johnson's 'Lives,' vol. IV., p. 252). 'He (Watts) was taught Latin by Mr. Pinhorae ' (lb., p. 278). 'He (Milton) was offered the continuance of his employ, ment' (lb., vol. I., p. 183). 'Thus I have been told the story' (Telem. vol. I., p. 92, edit 1795). It would be better to say: he was instructed in the rudiments of learning; he learned Latin under the tuition of Mr. Pinhorne; the King, or the Ministry, offered to continue him in his former employment; thus I have heard the story, or thus I have been informed. The author of these remarks has observed, with regret, the last of these expressions in a translation, which he wished to give the public in an unexceptionable style. But he has been long convinced that no work was ever published without some inadvertencies of the author and the printer. 'Two highwaymen were hung this morning.' This is a common vulgarism. We should rather say: 'two highwaymen were hanged.' This verb should be used in the regular form when it signifies to execute, and in the irregular when it denotes only suspension; as, 'he was hanged, and afterwards hung in chains.' The eldest of the two. 'Her eldest son, Esau' (Genesis xxvii., 15). When only two things are mentioned, there cannot be what grammarians sometimes call the third degree of comparison. In this case we should say, the younger, the elder, the wiser, the better. The conjunction nor is frequently used after an affirmative sentence very improperly in this manner: 'It was impossible that a soldier could esteem so dissolnte a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just contempt' (' Gibbon,' vol. II., 5). 'Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women, who have sustained with glory the weight of empire; nor is our own age destitute of such distinguished characters' (lb. 32). It would, I think, be much better to begin the latter part of these sentences without this con- junction, which only seems to form a connection, but in reality has no corresponding negative.  ## p. 94 (#512) ############################################# 94 THE AUTHOR. The simple independent word 'not' would be preferable. The impropriety, I believe, has never yet been observed; and some, perhaps, may think the foregoing expressions unexceptionable. I shall not dispute with critics who are so easily satis- fied."—" Eubebiub," in the Gentleman's Maga- zine, for July 1797. NEW YORE LETTER. New York, July 18. THE recent announcement in England, that a magazine is to be started in England to comment on books and literary matters "in the American manner," would be more inte- resting with more explanation. If it means, as it probably does, in a light, bright, and somewhat callow manner, with what we call "freshness," it begins at a time when that tone is less in demand here than it was a short time ago. We have had so much " cleverness " of a certain kind that the public is sick of it. "Chap-Booky" used to be the adjective for this quality. Herbert Stone, editor of the Chap-Book, was in New York the other day, and I asked him if he had any ideal for the periodical. "Yes," he said, "a bi-weekly Atlantic Monthly. At first the ideal was the Saturday Review, but we have now given that up." Smartness simply did not pay any more than the other idea, yellowness—which he also imported from England—did, and he has also abandoned that. "Your book business and your paper will never pay," said a watchful critic to him, " until you make people take them seriously. They were amused by your experiment for awhile, but that sort of interest doesn't last." Stone is now trying to get as solid a line of books as he can, and also to get short essays and stories for the Chap-Booh, which shall carry by their solid worth. The essay of from 1000 to 2000 words on literary subjects or general topics of the day is especially called for just now. The Atlantic Monthly, which is as good as it has ever been now that Walter H. Page has charge of it, and is much the best periodical we have, wishes to get so many of these little essays that it can ru u two departments of them every month. The same sort of thing is wanted in books by all the leading publishers, except the Harpers, who confine their interests, as in fiction and essays and literature generally, to a few men of an estab- lished market. A tendency that is visible in current American criticism, especially in newspapers, is to substitute exposition for judgment; to tell just what is in a book, and quote the best things in it, saying comparatively little by way of comment. This is called " getting the news out of books," and the ethics of it and its effect on the sale have been fully discussed in The Author. Nothing pays like "news" of whatever kind. The marked success of the Bookman is largely due to the unusual amount of news in it. "I have always thought I ought to have been a newspaper man," said Professor Peck, the editor, the other day. Frank A. Munsey is going to show the essence of cheap American literary methods in their most interesting form to the English public by esta- blishing his magazine in London. If he lives up to his reputation, he will make the Strand and. the Pall Mall "bustle" before he has been there long, and also any other periodicals in his field which England may boast. The McClure- Doubleday Company is going into cheap editions of good works in the fall, heavily, relying on large sales, taking classics on which the copy* right has expired, and publishing them in pretty little sets in boxes at 25 cents, a volume. The public, at least, is the gainer. All writers will naturally be interested in the new edition of "Authors and Publishers," by G. H. and J. B. Putnam, especially as there is matter in it which was not in the earlier editions. George Haven Putnam is decidedly entertaining in his introduction, and he puts in many true observations,'_which are mixed, however, with some unconvincing ones. It is an old storv that a man ought not to write unless he is "called to," and Mr. Putnam retells it. But it is not a very pro- found observation. It is an axiom to any observer that a man often does best in something in which he is not most interested, and writing is not an exception to the ordinary laws of human nature. "Go to, let us make a book," has led to many of the best books we have, and the worst books are, in large part, those which the author was "com- pelled by something inside him" to write. Again in the cbapteron " publishing arrangements," Mr. Putnam makes some implications which might be staggered by cross-examination. For instance, he says "royalty is paid either on all the copies sold, or on all copies sold after enough have been sold to return the first manufacturing out- lays and to insure for the undertaking a profit instead of a deficiency. The theory of such a reservation is that the author and the publisher should begin to make money out of the book at the same time." A little later he puts in a parenthesis the argument that the suggestion comes from the author, so the publisher should not be asked to take any more risk than is neces- sary. And that point is worth dissecting. Mr.  ## p. 95 (#513) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 95 Putnam probably would not deny that, leaving out authors who have reputations which make it possible for them to make good terms at any time, it is the general custom, in New York at least, for the publisher to pay no royalty on a thousand copies of a book if it has been offered to him, where he would pay from the beginning if he had heard of the existence of the book and asked for it; this even where he is sure the book will pay. In other words, he simply takes advantage of the author's desire to publish to pay him less than he could afford to pay him. Mr. Putnam calls the complaints of literary men about publishers "the baby act." One may admit it is a pure business deal, and yet think it only fair to get all the facts into the mind of writers, as they meet the publisher at a disadvantage as it is, as shown by the fact that a writer whose personal acquaintance with publishers helps him to "know the ropes" is sure to make a better bargain than one of equal standing who has not the information necessary to enable him to make a decent contract. Of course few authors in comparison to the whole number can get at the proper "counsellor" to whom Mr. Putnam refers. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to add that these differences of opinion ought not to turn the attention of any reader of this letter from the fact that no author, publisher, or general reader, who cares for the subject, can fail to find this book one of the most instructive and interesting accessible, and the attractive make-up adds another merit to it. I would add one to the list of methods of advertising mentioned. It appeared recently in the advertising columns of the Dial:— A NEW BOOK SENT FBEE. A new book of verse, issued by a well-known publishing house at one dollar, will be sent free to any address upon receipt of a postal-card request. If you wish to keep the book, sixty cents in stamps or money-order will make it yours. If yon do not wish to keep it, return by mail, and the postage (four cents) is the price you will have paid for the privilege of reading a new book. Address P. A. L., Box 84, Evanston, 111. Last fall the Century Company advertised John La Farge's "An Artist's Letters from Japan" for publication in the winter. It did not come out, and now they promise it again. There are pieces of prose in it as good as (and I have almost the boldness to say better than) any other American writer of the day could produce, and the sketches by the author, in at least two respects our strongest artist, add greatly to the charm. Mr. La Farge is a poet, and Japan brought out the best there is in him. Probably the tariff question will be settled this week. The chances seem to be that the pro- VOL. ▼III. visions about the importation of books will be about what they were under the McKinley law. The Dingley Bill, as originally intended, put a tax on books, whether they imported for sale, or for exhibition or instruction, and the exemptions on behalf of educational institutions amounted to nothing. The outcry from the public and the Press had its effect when the Bill got to the Senate Committee, for books imported for scientific and educational purposes were restored to the free list, and the whole thing left about as it is under the present Wilson law. Later, how- ever, the Senate, by amendments, put it back to the McKinley law, which means that literary productions more than twenty years old will com* in free, and some of the restrictions on importation for educational purposes are taken off; and this will probably be finally adopted by the Conference committee. New York, Aug. 16. Authors whose books appear in the United States this fall apparently have cause to be more cheerful than they have been for some time, if the general notion of the publishers is to be trusted. They seem even in the West and South, where they have been most depressed, to share the streak of confidence which the merchants are feeling. Of course the Republicans think their laws are responsible; others believe that the good crops are starting a change which has been long preparing, and the real fatalistic American spirit says, "When everything has been bad so long there will be an improvement, and nobody will know why." The middle of the summer brings some of the most conspicuous books. Of course they are mostly novels, and it is noticeable that publishers are tending more and more to believe the summer a good time for the publication of important fiction, but there are enough other works on the list to make one wonder if our idea that the three hot months are a fatal time for the birth of a book is to be done away with. With one of the books to come out in the fall a little story is connected. Writers have long been warned in this paper not to allow a publisher to deduct anything for office expenses, and pos- sibly the spirit of that warning would cover this case. A certain firm in this city stands as high as any in America, and it is often said, "Send your book to so and so, and you will be treated squarely, with no unexpected developments when settlement time comes." None stands higher in America, and it is practically part of a firm of equal standing in Great Britain. Last winter it brought out a story, the first literary work of K  ## p. 96 (#514) ############################################# 96 THE AUTHOR. a poor man. The story had remarkable success, and is still selling rapidly. Ten per cent, royalty was the arrangement. When the first payment came to be made 150 dollars was deducted for editing. The beauty of the charge is, that the firm had no editing to do, as it was all done by an outsider, a friend of the author, who was inte- rested in the success of the book. It all amounts to this. Some of our little publishers have to say, " We cannot pay you royalty until after we have sold 500 or 1000 copies," but this big firm was too dignified for that, so it takes out the royalty on the first 1500 copies by a subterfuge. Some of the firms have their fall announce- ments ready. On the Putnam's list studies of interesting things in American history are pro- minent. The second volume of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, the fourth volume of the writings of James Monroe, four volumes of the life and correspondence of Rufus King are announced. It is a fact, not a publisher's adver- tisement, that some of the volumes in this series of the works of the early American statesmen have sold at auction at twice their original price immediately after publication, which is a good omen for the direction of the interests of the readers of this country. Lives of Grant and Lee are also on the Putnam's list, and the second volume of the "Literary History of the Ameri- can Revolution," which in its first volume was one of the best books of last season, although not yet announced, will doubtless appear before very long. Among the interesting books of the same company connected with politics will be a volume of essays by Theodore Roosevelt, not yet announced, but probably to be ready during the fall. He is now Assistant-Secretary of the Navy, and before taking that position made a great stir as President of the Police Board of New York City. He has been in politics a good deal, and he has a taste for the picturesque, and a number of his essays and sketches deal with aspects of political life which are peculiar to this country, and which, indeed, offer one of the best literary fields we have, and one of the least worked. Among the novels of prominence which have just appeared, one of the most interesting is Miss Wilkins's "Jerome," published by the Harpers. It is a hybrid, partly a study in her usual line of New England pride and poverty, and partly a love story, which is touching because it plays with accuracy upon the well tested chords. It is, I believe, her third novel, and confirms the indica- tion of the other two, that her permanent repu- tation will rest on her short stories. The strong parts of her novels are precisely the touches that might be taken out and made into short stories, and the more complex structure of the novel is what she is weakest in. In this story the plot, although skilfully handled, is artificial and made up of the conventional devices. The machinery includes several timely inheritances and other overworked means, in carrying out which she is sometimes led to injure her characters by impro- babilities. But Miss Wilkins is an artist, and her conversations especially, which are always her greatest strength, are excellent in this book. Her style is her most marked imitation. When she talks in her own person she is frequently guilty of something approaching precocity, but her cha- racters, varied enough in their well-defined field, talk admirably. She brings out the severer aspects of New England life and character with constant power, and probably with no more exaggeration than is legitimate for artistic em- phasis; and a person who reads her stories and tempers them with Miss Jewett's will get some- where near the facts. Another good student of American life is to be honoured by the Appletons with a uniform edition. The works of Mr. Hamlin Garland, whom the Spectator thinks a woman, will appear as follows: (1) "Spoils of Office"; (2) "Wayside Court- ships"; (3) "Jason Edwards"; (4) "The Member of the Third House." William Gillette, whose recent success in London as dramatic author and actor has been so decided, reached home on Saturday. He is a man of originality as well as of skill. Years ago, after the success of "Held by the Enemy," which had some literary merit, his friends regretted the attention which he gave to pure farce. He used to answer that he was not writing for posterity, which could take care of itself, but that he was endeavouring to amuse the people who were alive to-day, which he thought a sufficiently high aim. The Macmillan Company has just accepted a novel of railroad life by Herbert E. Hamblen, who, under the name of Fred B. Williams, wrote "On Many Seas," one of the successes of last year. The new book tells the life of the railroad engineer with the ingenuousness, so the Macmillan reader tells me, that made the success of the sea stories. Mr. Hamblen is himself an engineer, and the scene of the book is limited to what he sees in his daily life on his engine. Perhaps this will come nearer to making a success of the subject, the possibilities of which have been so much extolled of late, than Mr. Kipling's fanciful treatment of it in the last number of Scribner's Magazine. The tariff on books passed in the form which seemed probable at the date of my last letter. There is no duty on books for public institutions,  ## p. 97 (#515) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 97 or on books printed in foreign languages, or on English books more than twenty years old. The tax on Art is retained in its worst form. Norman Hapoood. NOTES PEOM ELSEWHERE. AREVIEW entitled " Industrial Jim-Jams," dealing with my book on the White Slaves, appears to have given such sincere pleasure to many people that it may interest these further to hear that the acting editor of the periodical in which this review appears informs me that it was "written by a very capable man, who was fully in sympathy with your object, but not with your method; and had he felt it possible to deliver a favourable verdict he would gladly have done so." This letter was an answer to one of mine, in which I had pointed out certain misrepresenta- tions, and had objected to the introduction, as irrelevant, of the following remark: "Mr. Sherard, we understand, has published novels. They do not appear to have brought him a great reputa- tion. This is somewhat strange. 'The White Slaves of England' is proof that, as a fiction writer, Mr. Sherard possesses powers of no common order." The acting editor in question concludes his letter with a piece of advice. "Meantime," he writes, " if you will permit me, in all friendliness, to say so, nothing could be calculated to do you more harm than the foolish document you send from the 'degenerate' Max Nordau." This in reference to a long critique which the author of "Degeneration "—whom I have only met once in my life—wrote me spontaneously after reading the book in question. This review and this letter form a valuable addition to the literary documents which the publication of " The White Slaves " has brought with it, and to which I referred in my last. George Cable, the American author, is to visit England shortly on a lecture tour, and will make his dfbnt at Liverpool, when Ian Maclaren will take the chair. Though a man of very small physique, Mr. Cable is a powerful speaker, having been specially trained for the lecture platform by a New YorK elocutionist. He is the delight of American audiences, and it is to be hoped that his reception in England may be a very warm one. Mr. Cable believes in regularity and methodicity of work. He sits down to his work every morning at nine o'clock with the strictest punctuality, and writes till one, when he lunches, resuming work at two, and working on steadily till six. I am very glad to hear that Mark Twain's financial troubles have been greatly exaggerated in the papers, and that his deliverance from the same is only a question of months, so that one of the best fellows in the world will soon be released from what is more cruel to the writer than to any other worker. Mark's troubles all sprang from a type-setting machine, an invention in which he sank every penny of his fortune; and h propos of this a pretty and very creditable story is told of him. When, on a New Year's Day, he carried to Mrs. Grant, as her first returns on the "Lifeof General Grant," the largest cheque which has ever changed hands over a literary transac- tion, Mrs. Grant asked him to invest it for her. "No, no," said Mark Twain, "don't ask me to do that. I should only invest it in this type-setting machine, and there's far too much risk about that." I think this was very fine of Mark Twain. Mark Twain's description of the Jubilee pro- cession, published in the New York Journal, was considered in America a magnificent piece of writing. Hearst, the proprietor of the Journal, is very anxious that Mark Twain should con- tribute a series of fifty letters to the Sunday issue of his paper. The fight for pre-eminence between the Journal and the World is not without its pathos. However much one may disapprove of Mr. Joseph Pulitzer's journalistic methods, one cannot but admire his stupendous energy. He is almost, if not totally, blind; he is a confirmed invalid (they say of him, in New York, that he has seven organic diseases), yet since the competition of the Journal began to make itself felt, he has resumed the entire direction of his colossal enterprise, and may be seen day and night—as in the old days of his early struggles —■ working from fifteen to twenty hours out of the twenty-four, surrounded by stenographers, fighting a fight of the bitterness of which none but those who know the fierceness of the competition in American journalism can have any conception, 10 maintain the supremacy, commercial, it must be admitted, of his creation, a creation of which, he is so proud, that one day he told me that he would far rather see his son edito ■ of the New York World than President of the United States, for the power and influence enjoyed. The Mercnre de France publishing house in Paris allows its authors to stamp each copy of a book published by that firm as a check on sales. Whether this is the reason of the popularity which this firm enjoys amongst authors I do not know, but the fact is that the Edition du Mercure de France is getting all the books of the younger authors, and has scored many successes,  ## p. 98 (#516) ############################################# 98 THE AUTHOR. including the most phenomenal success known in the Paris publishing trade during the last five years. A similar plan was under consideration by the Canadian Government. It was proposed that the author should stamp each copy of his book— he could either do it himself or by deputy—at one of the Government offices at Toronto, and that only books so stamped would enjoy copy- right protection, unstamped copies being regarded as piracies. It was also proposed that the author's royalties should be paid to him directly by the Government office. I may add that it would have been necessary, had this proposal been carried into effect, only to bring the fly-leaves of the edition to the stamping house. I remember that when something similar was proposed in England, a publisher wrote pointing out the material diffi- culty of sending van-loads of books—representing the first edition of a popular author's book—to the author's house to be stamped, and suggesting the probable reluctance of the author to deal with such a task. It is, of course, the less popular authors—the men to whom the selling of a single copy is of some importance—who would mainly benefit, and to whom this system would be most welcome. A charming photograph of Sir Henry Irving— as a young man—has recently come to light at a photographer's in Douglas. It should be posses- sed by every admirer. Mr. Edward Terry was acting at that time with Henry Irving in Douglas, and he recently referred to this. "I was only getting thirty shillings a week," said Mr. Terry "and you were the star." "I was a star at thirty-five shillings a week," said Henry Irving. Robert H. Shebaed. FEUILLETON. The Stoet op a Beoken Pen. UP in a garret a young author, with genius enough, as I conceive, to get him a tomb at Westminster, had he lived, died pre- maturely. The poets, therefore, in their select "Corner," have escaped crowding by one memo- rial, which is undeniably a benefit in its way. I know something about the manner of his death and something of the history of his life. I breathed the same air with him, and gripped his hand almost daily for a few years during the early part of his short career, when he roused in me a more than passing interest as a youth likely, if God favoured him, to accomplish no small thing in the world. To me, who am by nature careful, and slow to conceive and act upon ideas, his has always seemed a truly remarkable character. The con- centrated energy of mind which he was capable of manifesting moved me not a few times to admira- tion, even in his youth, and the tremendous enthnsiasm which lay behind an apparently re- served nature made me even then, at times, appre- hensive for his future. In my own mind, there can be no doubt that he had burning within him the divine spark which is called Genius. In appearance, as I last remember him, he was slender and somewhat fair, with a face narrow at the base and broad at the brow, showing the gift of a great imagination. His mouth was like a woman's; but his eyes were, perhaps, the most noteworthy feature about him—very prominent and brilliant, betokening a strong spirit in an unequal body. He was sensitive to the last degree, and, as a consequence, made few friends. With the exception of myself, he talked fami- liarly with no one during the whole term of his stay at the commercial house to which his parents sent him on leaving school, and where I first shook him by the hand. To me, however, for some reason or other, he attached himself strongly. With an almost childish craving for sympathy, when we knew each other better, he would pour into my ear the dreams and aspirations which possessed him, most of which to me seemed splen- didly impracticable, and all of which were exceed- ingly ambitious. There are three books at my side now, formerly belonging to him. They were purchased when he was nearing his fifteenth year, and two of them have a small square disfigurement on the back, underneath the title, where doubtless a secondhand-bookseller's label once adhered marking the price. One is Murray's Grammar, another a Latin Primer, and the third Trench's "Study of Words." On the fly-leaf of each book, written large in the centre of the page in an unformed hand (and yet a hand which betrays the germ of his singular individuality) is the one word, " Advance." I have found in my experience that a single word may sometimes speak a volume; and as I gaze at this one simple verb it seems to me that I see my author completely embodied in its two syllables. In writing that word he seems for the first time to have given voice to what was in him, and to have begun the inglorious tragedy of his life. The parentage of my author was humble, and it was therefore at an early hour of the day that he was started to work in the vineyard of this our world. At the period to which I have come he had for nearly two years tasted the joys of labour in the driving of a commercial pen from nine in the morning until six in the evening.  ## p. 99 (#517) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 99 It was an evening close upon a year after the inscription of that motto in his three books, and he was seated behind one of the partitions in a little eating house in North-street, taking tea after his day's labours. Over that simple repast he perused the pages of yesterday's Telegraph. Now it happened that in that paper there appeared a leader, written in a somewhat lofty style and with considerable show of language, and dealing with matters of literary importance. On that leader he at length alighted. "While I read it," he says in his diary, "the strangest thing happened. The earth and all things vanished away from me and I Moated up into a heaven of aspiration and dreamed dreams and saw visions of the future, and found my destiny. When I returned to earth I brought a purpose with me. The spirit of language had at length found me: I had caught the melody of speech and had seen for the first time the beauty of the written word. I could no longer remain a mere reader: I also would write. The question that had for so long been dancing through my brain unanswered was then, under those circumstances, finally decided. I had identified myself: 1 was a writer." He goes on to relate, in his characteristic style, how, lost in his great discovery, he " walked the streets on air like a man with his first love, and spent the midnight hours sleepless, in the restless and delightful torture of a first conception, trying to work out an idea." That is the second chapter in the history of his life; the second stage in his development when he found what he conceived to be his purpose in life. And from the date of this discovery right onwards to the end I should say there was but one idea in his head. Then began the struggle against adverse circumstances. His education, which had been sadly curtailed, owing to poverty on the part of his parents, had to be repaired and extended; and, most galling of all, his lack of means obliged him to continue to give eight of his best hours daily to mechanical drudgery, which became abhorrence itself to him. Writing, in one place, retrospectively of this period, he says: "Ah! How I slaved, even in those early days! While the sun crossed from the East to the West my fingers would be driving that detested office pen in company with ten others, of whom I was the least. Then while the others left the office to wield a billiard cue or sing songs in friends' houses, I would mount to my own room and take up another pen or dip deep into my books for hours and hours until the oil in my lamp became midnight oil, and the short hours sounded, and a man's stride down the silent street suggested to one's mind a footstep in a city of the dead. And next morning there would come the office again; and McCrae, peering into my face with those small keen eyes of his, would point out the bluish tint round my own eyes, and would tell me, perhaps, that my voice was dry and tremulous, a sign that my nerves were becoming deranged. Dear, honest old fellow! How often did he repeat to me the maxim of which he was so fond: 'Safe with caution, Arthur, my boy, safe with caution; you are overdoing it.' I acknowledge his wisdom; but I am built in another way; and that very night would see me in front of my lamp again and my bed empty at one o'clock. No doubt I was a fool. 'Nature never can be defied with impunity, and penalty always follows abuse,' as McCrae taught me. I know it—don't I know it But I can't help it—Excelsior!" In process of time, after training his powers to some extent on syntax, Latin, and standard literature, he began to turn off at intervals scrappy productions of his own, both in prose and verse. One of the former, in a moment of self-exaltation, he posted to the editor of that important publication, Blackwood's Magazine. It was returned. "I hid it away," he says, " at the back of a drawer; read through once more the story of the early struggles of Balzac, greatest of French novelists, and set my pen again to paper." Eighteen months and more passed, and one morning the following telegram arrived at the offices in Abercrombie-street:—" My son unfit to come business for some days. Writing." It was from his father, and it was what I had for some time been expecting. I went to the outskirts of the town that evening and rang the bell of the little house wheie his parents lived. I found him in a condition that was abject; unable to remain still, his forehead like fire to the touch, and in his eyes an expression that frightened his mother, as she told me in the passage, in a whisper, the moment I arrived. I heard (what I already knew) that he had been unable to sleep for five consecutive nights, his imagination working furiously and his head swarming with nightmare immediately he closed his eves. There was nothing to be done but to call in a medical man, who administered a powerful sleeping draught. This had the desired effect of allaying the alarming activity of brain by throwing him into a stupor, but the physician afterwards informed me that he had escaped brain fever by a kind of miracle. After three weeks' complete rest he climbed his stool atthe office again, but very weak, and with his mind in a state of semi-torpor. This condition remained for nearly three months, during which  ## p. 100 (#518) ############################################ IOO THE AUTHOR. time the earth spun round him unregarded, and he seemed completely to have lost interest in every- thing—even in his writing. I half began to think that he had abandoned his plans, and that his ambition had died within him. But I was deceived; gradually, as his mind strengthened and freshened, the old ideas returned; the fever to write stirred in his veins again one day, and he cleaned his pens and laid paper out on his table in his bedroom. But his parents mercifully held him off from the resumption of his work for some time, and removed his lamp every night half an hour after he went to his room. At the end of a year, however, from the date of his break-down, (by which time he had recovered to a surprising degree), seeing that it was useless to deny him any longer, his parents to some extent relaxed their prohibition and he fell upon his work again, but with tempered zeal at first. Then a calamity occurred; for in ten weeks his home was empty, his father and his mother descending, almost abreast, into the same grave. He buried them in succession with many tears, and returned to the now silent little house melancholy and unsettled in mind. He was the only child of his parents; they were strange reserved people, with no capacity for making friends; and there were no relatives of theirs living that ever I heard of. I was in Canada on business at the time, and was kept away for six weeks. I am afraid I never properly understood him; I fear nobody really did. Our friendship had been somewhat strained for a while past—I think it must have been because I sometimes failed to see things as he saw them—but I was not prepared for the communication that was put into my hands on my return to Edinburgh. It bore his signature, and was dated two weeks back, my housekeeper having been instructed not to forward it, but to let it await my home-coming. In it he told me that he had sold the household effects of his late home, and, with the modest sum thus realised, intended to repair to London, and fight his way to fame in the city where so many literary men had come to light in the past. Further, he said —and this was the unkindest cut—that, knowing well enough I should not fall in with his plans, and desiring to take all the responsibility of his conduct upon his own shoulders, he would not send me his address until his name was known in the world. From the tone of his letter he evidently did not think that this determination on his part would keep us asunder very loug, and he spoke with enthusiasm of the early day when I should receive the first printed work of his pen. Anyhow, he concluded, come fortune or failure, he would be free; never again should a detested office stool support him. I did not attempt to follow him up for some months; and when I did set inquiries afloat later they came to nothing. It was not until five years afterwards that I heard news of him. The rest of my story comes partly from the lips of those who at different periods housed him as lodger, but chiefly from the many pages of diaries in which, with increasing elaborateness as he neared the end, he recorded the experiences through which he passed and the emotions which beset him as he journeyed through those lonely, ineffectual years. The self-consciousness which he developed in his solitude in the crowded wilderness of London is full of an eloquent pathos for me. He tells how he spent his first few months in the metropolis; how, seizing with avidity upon the marvellous wealth of varied life which it offered for observation, his feet never wearied of treading its highways and low places, and his eyes were never tired of gazing upon the human faces which for ever in the streets crowded about him. Somehow no other town, north or south, is like London in its peculiar fascination for the student of humanity. He says: "I think I have learnt to read the secret writing on men's faces and to gather the tale that is told by the lined mouth, the hungry, the eager, or the saddened eye, and the marked brow. I have become an artist in humanity! I can read, too, the signs of disease; the dusky pallor of complexion; the eye hung with a pouch (there are so many of these amongst the restless city men), the eye painted dark underneath; the yellow tint, the purple tint, the small red fever spot on the cheek. How many faces that pass tell disease, and how many death! And I know the character behind the prominent and the receding chin, and the full cheek, and the one with high cheek bones, and in fair hair and black hair. Also in the walk of a man and in the cut and shape of his hands as he sits in the 'buses. Humanity is becoming an open book to me. Many strangers I pity who pass me, and many I despise, and some I love. There are a few faces burnt deep into my memory that I shall never forget. A woman went by me yesterday in the street—I caught her eyes full - her face I shall never forget." There is much like this in his diary. Had I the skill, I could paint a history of him from this material which would be wondered at for nine full days. Whenever he saw a crowd he joined it, and read the faces, and afterwards recorded what he saw there in his note-books, "An acci- dent," he says in one place, "is a gold mine to me. It opens up the possibilities of the human face as lightning opens up the night."  ## p. 101 (#519) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 101 A tall, maudlin woman in University-street, one of his landladies, said to me: "He give me the creeps, sometimes, he did, the way he used to look at you, as if he could see right through you, and all the time making believe he wasn't noticing you." During his first year in London he seems to have written chiefly short stories and essays. One of the former apparently found its way into the pages of some obscure weekly journal. I have not been able to trace it, but there is a note in one of his diaries joyfully recording the event, and also the fact that it was not paid for. One day also he sent a production of his to a leading novelist for criticism, for I find amongst his letters a communication from , in which that competent writer gives him some good advice as well as some warm praise. The letter says :— "You have only to persevere in order to acquire a really fine style, a distinctive style of your own. There are turns of thought and touches which show the true possibility of style. But you seem not to have had sufficient association with the world; jour characters have not enough red blood in their veins, they are too imaginative. You should draw more upon real life for your creations." In the early part of '87, shortly after the receipt of this letter, he began his novel, the work which drew this modicum of praise from the critic's mouth. Remembering his advice, he conceived the idea of putting himself into his work, so that, as he himself expresses it, " there should be at least a pound of real human flesh amongst my characters." "For," he continues, "what my literary friend says is, I fear, but too true. My field, which I thought so rich, is after all a barren one. A man's face I may know, I may be able to read the speech that is in his eyes, or tell the malady that is in his body, but I do not know his soul. I have never seen a mother actually bereft of her child, nor have I yet seen amongst those I know two loving hearts torn asunder. I may fancy I can read the history of such things in the faces of strangers; but I cannot be sure. I have never had another soul beside my own fully bared to my vision. If there would but come a violent passion of love in my own breast! So my characters have not much flesh and bone; they do not seem to palpitate with real emotion as if they had lived and loved, and wept, and beat their hearts out against the world. However, there is myself. I have lived, and if I have not yet loved, I have wept, and I have already been roughly handled by the world. I had. not thought of that before. I will put myself into my work." To this end therefore there sprang into existence at this period some further note books, and he also began to greatly elaborate the diaries which he already used. There is a book labelled "My Emotions," another "My Appearance," a third " Thoughts," and in these he daily dissected himself and served himself up for his novel. I have had tears in my eyes in reading some of these notes. Slowly and with infinite pains the work was created. About the period when he would be in the middle of it there occurs a sentence in the book of "Thoughts," over which I have bent my brows many times. It is in the centre of a clean page; there is no other writing on the page. It is :— "Love paints the world with roses for a man—and for a month!" Why he wrote this sentence and left it alone ou the sheet I cannot gather, for nowhere in the whole number of his books are the details filled in. Only, there is a gap of three months in the diary of '88 caused by the removal of many leaves; and, also, it was about this time that his heart went more completely than ever into his book and he began to sit over it with such incessant energy. The sentence is pregnant and impressive enough; it holds the suggestion of a bitter story within its narrow compass, and the active imagination may fill it in. But one would like to have known in detail how his singular heart was captured and occupied and then left desolate; what the circumstances were and who was the person that stirred that " violent passion of love in his own breast" (if it were such) for which he had so ardently longed. How he lived about this period has been some- thing of a mystery to me, for he was apparently producing nothing that paid. On this matter he is silent in his diaries. But there are certain indications which would had one almost to suppose that he wrote short stories for a woman who paid him for them and published them under her own name. His novel became his very daily bread. "I have sat over it," he wrote just before it was finished, "for six half years, sometimes with burning eyes and flying pen—beautiful sensation! sometimes almost weeping. I have continued over it often, till a dull pain coming out of the side of my head has warned me that I have gone too far, and shall pay for it with a sleepless night." He had been living in a way that was certain to kill him. He had a constitutional weakness which made his mode of life to him like a stone  ## p. 102 (#520) ############################################ THE AUTHOtt. round the neck of a man in the water. In one place he says: "It was good of my father to give me his powerful nervous brain for heritage, but I could have dispensed with my mother's weak heart. That dusky pallor is always on my face now; people have begun to notice it in the streets; Mary can run up the stairs easily. I am older than she, and I am a man, but I had to stop four times this morning coming up the stairs, and T get these feelings of deadly faintness more often. I must drink more brandy." And yet, apparently, he never had a serious thought of giving up. The tenacity of his ambition was terrible, and his heart, although weak at the valves, was the heart of a hero. His pen still went from side to side of the MS., and at the other end of it his weakening brain continued to evolve the novel. At length the following entry appears: "I am now a prisoner in my own room as secure as ever Crusoe was on his famous island; I have not been out of the house for three weeks, and see no present likelihood of going. That terrible flight of stairs has mastered me at last. Regent's Park is now a thing of the past. I finished my novel yesterday, and this morning pushed it away from me in disgust. All is vanity beneath the sun! I will get Mary to buy me some flowers—I almost forget the smell of them." On Sept. 20, 1894 he was up in a garret within ear-shot of the traffic of Marylebone-road. It was a tall house in reduced circumstances and now let out to many lodgers. There was a church within throwing distance from the back, and when the wind was in the right direction and the windows were open, one might detect some fra- grance in the air from Regent's Park. But the author's window had not been opened for many days. There was a servant girl at this place between whom and the author there appears to have existed a bond of genuine friendship, and from her I gathered much of the information which has enabled me to fill in the details of these last pages. A little brown-eyed, sympathetic girl, quite out of place in the sordid London lodging- house. The first entry in his diary of this date is unfinished, and the writing is that of one in pain: "It is early morning. I can just hear the market carts rumbling by in the distance. I am half dead. No sleep now for nearly a week, and my head racked with neuralgia" There is also the last entry in the book labelled "My Appearance," which was no doubt made on this day, although he did a quite unusual thing for him in omitting to date the page: "Dark and hollow under the eyes; Hps colourless, and cheeks more dusky white than ever." Mary came up at nine with his breakfast, and found him in his armchair, his novel open on his lap, but his head resting on his hand, and his eyes fixed vacantly upon the fire-place. As Mary was lighting the fire he asked' her a question. "Mary, did you ever hear of anyone who had forgotten how to pray?" Mary said, "No, Sir." "No!" he said in a low voice, and remained quiet. There are no more entries in his books. At one his dinner came up, and went away again untasted. He talked with Mary as long as she could stay, told her the neuralgia had now gone, and that he had had a sort of a doze but did not feel refreshed, on the contrary he felt more exhausted; and asked her about her home in Suffolk. He seemed to cling to her presence like a child. And when the sound of her over-large shoes on the stairs had died away in the base- ment he felt as if all the world had left him alone to die. He told her this when she brought up his tea. That long afternoon must have crawled away by hours that seemed endless. Wrapped in his long overcoat (which he always wore about the room), and with his hands lying listlessly on the chair arms, he waited and waited. Outside, there was a white, dead sky weeping a dismal mist, the smoke, under the influence of the heavy air, curling low as it left the chimney pots opposite and wreathing outside his window; and there was the faint sound of traffic from the streets; and there were the chimes at intervals from the clock of the neighbouring church. What thoughts came to him in that lonely vigil waiting for the Messenger, one can only in faith and hope surmise. One wonders if he had even then quite penetrated to the vanity of human things; if he beheld anything beyond the dust and ashes; if God came first and, in the last hour, before the Messenger arrived, taught him how to pray. Once, unable for the moment to bear it any longer, he sent his hand out towards the bell-rope —the tongue of the bell in the basement lifted and swung within an ace of striking. But it did not: and he waited on alone.' At six, the mockery of tea, and conversation with Mary. At eleven, Marv, looking sleepily in at the doorway, saw the author lying- on his bed  ## p. 103 (#521) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 103 in his clothes. She thought him asleep, and carried her candle into her bedroom opposite, but left his door ajar. Twelve; and, later, the clocks with an un- happy want of unanimity struck one. A minute afterwards there was a sound in his room as of a match being scratched along its bos unsteadily; then the same sound again; thea the noise of something like a book striking the floor. Whether it reached his ears or not I cannot say, but next minute there came the creaking of a door, and Mary, in her nightdress, was crouch- ing in his doorway peering into the room with large frightened eyes. What she saw and heard, down to the minutest detail, appears to have been cut into her mind with terrible distinctness. The author was muttering, " It's come at last," meaning, doubtless, the end. He was in his arm- chair, his face showing deathly white against its black leather ; there was a glowing match between his fingers and a candle sputtering on the table immediately before him. There was dead stillness for a moment when the candle burnt with a clear flame and the shadows in the room receded. The servant was about to make a movement to go to him, but she held back; for his hands, still with the match between the fingers, were coming together in the attitude of prayer. But suddenly his head and arms fell forward—a cab rattled by in the street below—and Mary, with a smothered scream, fainted in the doorway. When she opened her eyes and presently recovered, the candle was out, but pale moonlight was in the room and around the figure in the chair. Coming in stealthily, she gazed at the head that was hanging motionless on the breast and at the right hand, which would not hold a pen again, falling straight and limp by his side. Then, shivering, and with her hands over her eyes, she went to call her mistress. When his novel came out one of the critics said: "There are unquestionable signs of something more than talent in this work— there is promise of real genius. Who is the author?" The Vestry of Marylebone, at any time, pro- vided expenses are defrayed, can produce a hand- ful, of bones from one of their pauper coffins, the remains of this dead autltor. BOOS ADVERTISE IN 1900. THE following appears in the Month of New York. It will perhaps furnish a few instructive suggestions to some of our own enterprising publishers:— "A young gentleman, who has had a good deal to do with the adver- tising of books in the conventional, legitimate way, has amused himself by making up the following sample of an advertisement such as we may expect to see in the year ltwo. There is humour In the Idea, and it has been carried out in the happiest spirit" BOOK SLAUGHTER. BELLA BLAIR'S GREAT NOVEL. Her brightest and belt. "HER HUSBAND'S WIFE." With the collaboration of EIGHT (8) FAMOUS AUTHORS. AT EVERY NOTION COUNTER. THRILLING . . . PATHETIC . . U PLIFTING . . Clutches the Heart Strings. SEVEN (7) HEROINES. Four blondes, three brunettes. SIX (0) HEROES. Count them for yourself. One a gambler, one a nobleman; the others, ministers, burglars, divorce's, and college t GREAT TRIPLE PLOT. Enacted simultaneously In London, Duluth, and Smolensk. Characters all from life. (Key with every copy.) Tiro Six Two Tveelre Nine Three One CHIEF Railroad Collisions Marriage* Abductions Court Scenes Scandal* Death Beds (all fatal) Subvay ex}>losion INCIDENTS. Two .Sir Two Txelre Nine Three One ONLY A FEW COPIES LEFT. Tfi ANIV fs\IP ordering before the 16th Inst, we s Kf f\L^ I V/l 1 L. present (for cash orders only) ELEGANT RED AND BLUE MANIOUBE SET. will an HOW TO ORDER. 1st. Press the Are alarm button three times, and simply wit. 2nd. At any Notion Counter. 3rd. Hand your order to any policeman. 4th. Send for one of our female Parisian canvassers. Send for pamphlet of Press Notices: Gladstone, Stedman, and Howells hare all praised it warmly. N.B.—Costumes in this novel described by "Gyp"; subtleties by Henry James; love scenes by K1U Wheeler W. . . . x; railroal accidents by Jolcai; abductions by Edgar Saltua; court scenes by Anna Katharine Green; scandals by the editor of the J ;marriage services by a corps of carefully selected and highly trained bishops; drunks and disorderlies by Stephen Crane. SCRIP & COMPANY, Publishers, Hew York.  ## p. 104 (#522) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. FREEDOM OF CRITICISM. AN action for libel was brought a few weeks ago by Miss Lottie Collins, a music-hall artiste, against Society, a journal which had criticised one of the songs of her repertoire. For describing the song as vulgar, the editor had to pay ,£25. Writing in To-Day, Mr. S. L. Bensusan tells us that unintelligent "puff" has been the form of notice which music-hall per- formances have received in the Press until lately, when there has been an attempt to substitute the critique for the " puff." This authority would like to see men representing responsible journals taking up a fair and well-defined position with regard to the variety stage; in nearly every respect, he says, the modern music-hall calls for reform. But that is a question apart. The point the journalist and the critic may be supposed to put is this: If the criticism of a song is penalised to-day, what guarantee is there that a British jury may not fall foul of the criticism of a book to-morrow? Another aspect. The Newspaper Society has issued a return of the number of libel actions, mostly against newspapers, which have been tried in recent years. In 1878 there were forty-six; in 1896 there were eighty-two. The total damages noted in the High Court returns for last year was .£18,238. The amount of the costs is not recorded, nor the amount paid to settle the thirty or forty cases settled out of court; but probably the total penalty is not less than £50,000 a year. The Daily Chronicle, in re- cording these figures, is confident that a large part of the money is a fine which the newspapers have to pay for doing their duty. How easy and cheap a notice of an action for libel is, the words of NortJiern Finance and Trade, a Manchester organ, explain :— The initiatory coat of issuing the writ need not be more than a few shillings, and the man who takes it oat may not even intend to take it into court, the object being to frighten the individual against whom the document is issued, to pay something in damages and costs rather than go through a long, costly, and harassing action at law. No matter how trivial the charge of libel may bo; nor how certain it may be that the plaintiff will withdraw from the action; the unfortunate defendant has to take all Bteps to defend himself as if the action would be fought out; and the first call upon him is generally .£150 on the part of his own solicitor, " to be going on with." Of course, in nine cases out of ten, the plaintiff is no better than a blackmailer and a man of straw, and an action for libel lands an editor in a big loss, although he may win all along the line. A recent utterance of Lord Chief Justice Russell is very valuable as an aid to—at any rate—the critic of financial schemes in the dis- charge of his duty. In the case of Wicks v. The Financial Times, the Lord Chief Justice con- cluded his charge to the jury in these terms: Gentlemen, I repeat, the main question is, Is this an honest article f If you arrive at the conclusion that it is an honest article, I would not advise you to be astute to see whether there may not be here or there a little more exaggeration than your own judgment would go with. I would not advise you to be scrupulous to consider and scrutinise whether the writer has crossed all his t's and dotted all his i's. As was once said in a case of libel, I would not advise you to condemn the defendant merely because the patches and the feathers of his rhetoric have not been composed as you in your better good taste perhaps might have 00m- posed it. If you believe the thing is honest, I would not look for inaccuracies, unless they are inaccuracies which you think of the greatest importance as indicating unfair- ness or as constituting libels and imputations. If, on the contrary, you think it is dishonest, and that there is any foundation, any real foundation, I mean, for the suggestion that it iB not an honestly conceived article, then, of course, you ought to give your verdict for the plaintiff. But if you think it was honest, if you think, taking the whole thing into consideration, either that there is no libel, or that, although there are observations in it which in your judg- ment might be so considered, yet they are covered by fair comment, you ought to give your verdiot for the defen- dants. BOOK TALE. EEADERS who are interested in India may be glad to know that Messrs. W. Thacker, of Creed-lane, have in the press a book of social gossip, dating from a period a little earlier than the "Forty-one Years of Lord Roberts, which has had such a remarkable success. The present work is called "A Servant of John Company," and contains the recollections of Mr. H. G-. Keene, CLE., with illustrations (from the author's sketches) drawn by the well-known artist of the Illustrated London News, Mr. Wm. Simpson, R.I. Mr. Tighe Hopkins has written the Christmas annual for Mr. Arrowsmith's Bristol Library this year, and has called it "Pepita of the Pagoda." Mr. Rudyard Kipling's works are to be issued in a uniform edition of twelve volumes, by Messrs. Macmillan. The first volume " Plain Tales from the Hills," containing a new portrait of the author, etched by Mr. William Strang, will probably appear next month, the others following at monthly intervals. The issue of the edition is limited to 1050 copies. Each volume will cost half a guinea net. Mr. Cutcliffe Hine's new book, "The Paradise Coal-Boat," to be published by Mr. James Bowden, is the outeome of many thousand miles of travel, and deals specially with the life of the steamer sailor.  ## p. 105 (#523) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Mr. E. D. Chetwode has a new story to be pub- lished by Messrs. Pearson. It will be called "John of Strathbourne," and it is laid in the stirring times of Francis the First. It has been announced that a Dutch publisher has already brought out a Dutch translation of Miss Olive Schreiner's "Trooper Peter Halkett of Mashonaland," and that the owners of the English copyright are never likely to get a penny therefrom. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould is engaged on a Welsh story. An edition of "The Shepheard's Calender," with twelve pictures and other devices, by Mr. Walter Crane, is in preparation by Messrs. Harper Brothers. Mr. Bichard Ashe King is writing a new Life of Goldsmith. "John Oliver Hobbes's" new novel, "The School for Saints," is announced among the early autumn publications of Mr. Unwin. The Eev. H. R. Haweis has written a volume on "Old Violins" for Mr. George Redway's series of books for collectors. A selection of the late R. L. Stevenson's poems has been set to music by Katharine M. Ram- say, and will be published as "Song Flowers," by Messrs. Gardner, Darton, and Co. Mr. S. R. Crockett has written an introduction for the volume, and the illustrated headings and tail- pieces will be by Mr. Gordon Browne. A book by Miss Susan Horner on Greek Vases, containing a history of their manufacture, their uses, and their gradual development, illustrated, will be published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein. Mr. Claude Phillips is at work on a catalogue of the Wallace Collection of pictures, of which he has been appointed keeper. He has also in view a more elaborate work on the subject. Mr. George Griffith has written an historical romance called "The Knights of the White Rose," telling of the adventures in the service of the Grand Monarch of a company of exiled sons of English, Scotch, and Irish noble families. It will be published by Messrs. F. V. White and Co. Mr. F. C. Burkitt will edit the fragment of Aquila which he recently discovered in the Cambridge University Library. The volume will contain photographs, and probably an excursus or appendix by Dr. Taylor, master of St. John's College. The story for girls written by the late Christina Rosetti nearly fifty years ago, which was an- nounced in these columns some months ago, is now announced by Mr. James Bowden for early publication. It is entitled "Maude," and has not hitherto been published. A short sketch of the authoress, by Dante G. Rossetti, and a preface, giving the history of the story, by W. M. Rossetti, will be included. Mr. Brimley Johnson is editing a selection of the prose writings of the late W. B. Rands, better known under the pseudonym of "Matthew Browne." The volume will be published by Mr. James Bowden. Mr. A. E. T. Watson, editor of the Badminton Magazine, is bringing out a volume of his stories through Messrs. Longman. Mrs. Walford will be represented this autumn by a novel entitled " Iva Kildare," which Messrs. Longman hope to issue next month. Miss Nina F. Layard has placed a volume entitled " Songs in Many Moods" with Messrs. Longman for publication. A new illustrated edition of Thackeray's works will begin to appear shortly, with biographical and anecdotal introductions by Mrs. Richmond Ritchie. Each novel will be complete in one volume, and they will appear at intervals of one month. A hitherto unpublished portrait of the novelist will be given. The publishers, of course, are Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. George Eliot's "Scenes of Clerical Life" will shortly be published in a sixpenny edition, by Messrs. Blackwood. Mr. E. Livingston Prescott's new romance of military life, called "The Rip's Redemption," will be published in a few days by Messrs. Nisbet. "To Be Had in Remembrance" is the title of a new anthology of poems concerning the future life, which will be edited by Mr. A. E. Chance and published by Mr. Stock. Mr. Blackmore's new romance, "Dariel," will be issued shortly by Messrs. Blackwood. "Loraa Doone," by the way, is about to be published by Messrs. Sampson Low in a sixpenny form. Mr. Robert Leighton and Mrs. Marie Connor Leighton, who have written a number of serials, are about to publish certain of them in volume form through Mr. Grant Richards. The first will be '* Convict 99." Miss Jean Middlemass is about to run a serial called "A Life's Surrender" in the syndicate of newspapers connected with the National Press Agency. Mr. Graham Wallas has written "The Life of Francis Place," which Messrs. Longman will publish.  ## p. 106 (#524) ############################################ io6 THE AUTHOR. The late William Morris's last wort, "The Sundering Flood," is nearly ready at the Kelms- cott Press. There will be 300 copies at the sub- scription price of two guineas, and ten on vellum at ten guineas. Miss H. C. Foxcroft is the author of "TheLife and Letters of Sir George Savile, Baronet, First Marquis of Halifax," which Messrs. Longman have in the press. The volume edited by Mr. Frederick Wedmore and his daughter, and entitled "Poems of the Love and Pride of England," will be published shortly by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Co. Among living writers who will be represented in it are Mr. Swinburne, Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. Watts- Dunton, the Poet Laureate, Sir Lewis Morris, Mr. William Watson, Mr. Kobert Bridges, and Mr. Conan Doyle. Mr. Walter Redmond, M.P., has contributed articles to an Irish newspaper on "A Shooting Trip in the Australian Bush," the result of his visit there. These will be published in book form, and will constitute Mr. Redmond's debut as an author. The Marquis of Granby is writing "The Trout," and Mr. J. E. Harting "The Rabbit," for Messrs. Longman and Co.'s "Fur, Feather, and Fin" series of volumes. The fourth and last volume of the "Life of Edward Bouverie Pusey, D.D.," by Dr. Liddon, edited and prepared for publication by the Rev. J. 0. Johnston, the Rev. Dr. Wilson, and the Rev. Canon Newbolt, is in the press by Messrs. Longman. The second volume of Dr. Gardiner's "History of the Commonwealth" is in the press (Long- man). Mr. J. K. Laughton is preparing "The Life and Letters of Henry Reeve, C.B.," late editor of the Edinburgh Review, which will be published by Messrs. Longman. This firm will also pub- lish in the course of the autumn a memoir of the late Sir Henry Rawlinson, Bart., <fce. It is written chiefly by the Rev. Canon Rawlinson, but the present baronet will contribute one chapter, and Lord Roberts another. Mr. W. W. Yates has written " The Father of the Brontes." He has made a close study of the family history. A portrait of Mr. Bronte as he was in 1809 will be given. "Wellington: His Comrades and his Contem- poraries," is the title of a work on the great soldier by Major Griffiths, which Mr. George Allen will publish. Mr. Bernard Quaritch has in hand the publica- tion of a work entitled "A Florentine Picture- Chronicle: Being a Series of Ninety-nine Draw- ings representing Scenes and Personages of Sacred and Profane History by Maso Finiguerra, Reproduced in Facsimile from the Originals in the British Museum by the Imperial Press, Berlin, with a Critical and Descriptive Text by Sidney Colvin, M.A., Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." The British Museum acquired the drawings in 1889 from Mr. Ruskin, who had bought them eighteen years previously. Mr. Colvin at length discovered evidence to show that they are the work of the famous Florentine goldsmith, niello-worker, and engraver, Maso Finiguerra (1426-1464). Mr. Colvin hopes to set forth in quite a new light the artistic personality of this master. The edition of the work will consist of 300 copies, the price to subscribers before publication being ^9 9s., and afterwards ,£12 12*. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Book Titles. Daily Newt for Ang. 7. Daily Chronicle for Ang. 13. Booksellers' Discounts. Interview with Mr. T. Bar* leigh: Daily Chronicle for Aug. 14. Interview with Mr. Frederick Maomillan: Daily News for Ang. 4. Opinions of Booksellers; Daily News for Aug. 11 and 13. Interview with Mr. M. H. Hodder: Daily News for Ang. 16. The True Story of Eugene Aram. H. B. Irving. Nineteenth Century for Angnst. The Novels of Mr. George Gissing. H. G. Wells. Contemporary Revieic for Angnst. George Du Maurier. Henry James. Barper't for September. The Sentiment of Chivalry: Burke and Scott. T. £. Kebbel. Macmillan't Magazine for Angnst. Some Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift. Geo. Birkbeck Hill. Atlantic Monthly for Angnst and September. Ten Years of English Literature. Edmund Gosse. North American Review for Angnst. Stationers' Hall has printed a " Lexicographical Index " of all productions entered there since the passing of the Copyright Act of 1842. From that year up to 1884 all entries made at the Hall are alphabetically indexed, either under authors' names or under titles; while from 1884 forward, not only authors and titles, but sub-titles, subjects, and even publishers, are recorded in the same alphabetical arrangement. This is a substantial reform, but the drawback, as the Daily News writer remarks, lies in the fact that the Copyright Acts impose no obligation to register literary pro- ductions unless the owner of the copyright is about to take legal proceedings for infringement —which he very seldom has to do. "It would certainly be safe to say that of the quarter of a  ## p. 107 (#525) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. million or more of books and pamphlets published in Great Britain since 1842, not 25,000 have been heard of at Stationers' Hall." Therefore, "Mr. Payn's felicitations to his brother novelists and men of letters, must continue to be premature till the Legislature has created that long-desired institution, a compulsory register of all literary property." It is also suggested that the fee for registration should be reduced from 5*. to, say, is. Another proposal is that an index of all books as they reach the British Museum should be made there, and kept at the disposal of those who wish to consult it. Mr. T. Burleigh, of Oxfoi-d-street, who is the secretary of the Booksellers' Association, has given extracts from his own business ledger to prove the narrow profits that are being made in the trade. He quotes his dealings with eight first-class publishers for a certain period. All the books are copyright volumes. Here is the statement: JB1649 10s. 6<2. did not produce enough to pay working expenses. JE1391 7s. yd. produced 2j per cent, beyond working expenses. JE406 6s. yd. produced 51 per cent. .£14 28. od. „ 10 „ £$3 31. gd. „ ii „ £74 17s. gd. „ 7 £10 7s. sd. „ 5 „ JB131 118. od. ., 3 „ £16 is. 6d. just paid working expenses. The above represents handling thousands of books by the best authors, "Surely," says Mr. Burleigh, "those authors may well consider whether such a condition of the book trade can be satisfactory to anybody." Out of his profit he has to make good the loss on ,£1649 10s. 6d., and to keep stock. "I want to know," he adds, "where I come in for food and raiment?" Mr. Glaisher, bookseller, declares that the proposed change to a fixed discount of 2d. in the i*. would be bad for authors and publishers, and would make the whole trade suffer. It would mean, for one thing, a decrease in the sale of six-shilling novels, for although the public have said nothing yet about these becoming shorter and padded out with leaded type, they would not give an extra sixpence for them. What the country bookseller suffers from, in Mr. Glaisher's opinion, is lack of enterprise. "I find country drapers much more awake," he declares, "than the booksellers are. Offer a country draper a special book, and if the price is low he will take a large stock. Then he gets a fair profit." Mr. Henry Bumpus, speaking for him- self—as distinct from his firm—doubts the wisdom of the proposed change. He is opposed to coercion, and would have any alteration of discount come about voluntarily. Another large trader is doubtful whether the opposition of the few London houses who are against the scheme could be overcome. This gentleman does not think that to the man who pays 4*. 6d. for a novel another sixpence is of vital importance; but, on the other hand, Mr. Stoneham, one of the leaders of the old "3d. in the is." party, is quite convinced that the public would not submit to this, and once the prices went up, he, for one, would not be able to sell nearly so many six- shilling novels. Mr. Kichard Poole, a country bookseller, disputes the charge that it is "lack of enterprise" prevents his class from buying largely. The reason, on the contrary, he says, is that the demand would not justify it:— Where then can his profit be if he has to pay 48. 2d. and commission, or 48. 6d. net, for his 6s. book, plus expenses? The result of these discounts is that booksellers in small country towns (and in the aggregate they are many) do not now, as a rule, Btock these books, and this fact does not tend to increase sales. The country draper may be open to buy a special book " if the price be low," but I have never yet known this apply to new books of the day. As regards the suggestion that the public will not pay 5*., instead of 4s. 6d., for the 6*. novel, a decided contradiction comes from Sheffield. The District Booksellers' Association there became convinced of the virtue of the proposed reform, and on the 1st July they began the system of allowing 2d. in the shilling off the published prices of the general run of books. Since that time the Sheffield booksellers have sold 6s. novels at 5s., and their experience—expressed officially —is that the public do not object, but, on the contrary, they purchase the books and sympathise with the movement. Mr. M. H. Hodder, of the firm of Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, publishers, does not believe that an alteration in the discount in the country will greatly help the booksellers there. Indeed, he believes it will take trade from them. The discount system in London he is positive cannot be altered, and he foresees only a greater patronage to the metropolitan dealer if a less discount is the rule in the country. Mr. Macmillan remarks that if the authors are not willing, then the whole scheme will be dropped. Mr. Henry James enjoyed the acquaintance of the late Mr. Du Maurier during nineteen years. One of the most notable things in his paper, which is largely persona', is the account of the effect of the "Trilby" boom upon Du Maurier, an event which coincided with his diminished relish for life. Mr. James has "small difficulty in seeing" these occurrences rather painfully related:— What I Bee certainly is that no such violence of publicity can leavo untroubled and unadulterated the sources of the  ## p. 108 (#526) ############################################ io8 THE AUTHOR. production in which it may have found Hb pretext. The whole phenomenon grew and grew until it became, at any rate for this particular victim, a fountain of gloom and a portent of woe; it darkened all his sky with a hugeness of vulgarity. It became a mere immensity of sound, the senseless hnm of a million of newspapers, and the irresponsible chatter of ten million of gossips. The pleasant sense of having done well was deprived of all sweetness, all privacy, all sanctity. . . . The demonstrations and revelations encircled him like a ronde infernale. The new Swift letters are those written by him to his friend Knightley Chetwode, of Wood- brooke, during the seventeen years (1714-1731) which followed his appointment to the deanery of St. Patrick's. THE BOOES OE THE MONTH. [August 24 to Sept. 23.—113 Books.] Allbutt, T. 0. (ed.). A System of Medicine. Vol. III. 25/- net. Ailing-ham, II., and Crawford. B. Captain Cuellar's AdTentures in Connacht and Ulster, A.D., 1588; Captain Cucllar'B Narrative of the Spanish Armada, Ac. 2/- Stock. Ames, P. W. (ed.). The Mirror of the Sinful Soul. A prose trans- lation from the French, made by the PrinccBS (afterwards Queen) Elizabeth. 10 ,'6. Ashor. Anderson, E. J. Some AspectB of Mimicry. Galway : M. Clayton. Anne, Mrs. C. A Women of Moods. 5/- Burns and Oaten. Anonymous ("A.B."). The Blasted Life. 1/- Roxbnrghe. 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Homburg and its Waters. Low.  ## p. 108 (#527) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. How Ready, Crown 8to., Cloth Boards, Silver Lettering, Price 6s. A LADY OF WALES. "A Story of the Siege of Chester, 1645." BY THE ReY. YINCENT J. LEATHERDALE, M.A. London: HORACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Now ready, domy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s. 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Hap and Twenty-six Illustrations, By II. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PABT I Cuaptbr L—The Land of Oold and the Way there. „ IL—Across Desert and Veldt. ,, in.—Johannesburg the Qolden. „ IV.—A Transvaal Coach Journey. „ V.—Natal: the South African Garden. ,, VI.—Ostracised in Africa. Home with the Swallows. PART H.—BAMBLES IN BHODESIA. Chapter I.—Eendragt Haakt Magt. „ II.—Into the Country of Lobengula. „ IH.—The Trail of War. „ IV.—Ooldmintng, Ancient and Modern. „ V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundl. „ VI To Northern Mashonaland. „ VU.—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildlngs, 3.0. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6s. HATHEESAGE: A Tale of North Derbyshire. BT CHARLES EDMUND HALL, Author of " An Ancient Ancestor," &o. London: HOBJLCI^Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.O. Books for Writers and Readers. AUTHORS and PUBLISHERS. A Manual of Suggestions for Beginners in Literature. Comprising a Description of Publishing Methods and Arrangements, Directions for the Preparation of MSS. for the PresB, Explanations of the Details of Book-Manufacturing, Instructions for Proof-Beading, Spocimens of Typography, the Text of the United States Copy- right Law, and Information concerning International Copyrights, together with General Hints for Authors. By G. H. 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Second Edition, Revised, with Additions, and with the Record of Legislation brought down to March, 189C. Crown 8vo., gilt top, 7s. 6d. "The question of copyright is becoming of greater importance day by day, and we desire, therefore, to draw attention to this excellent volume, full as It is of facts and arguments connected with the law of copyright. . . . Wo advise those who desire to equip themselves to take part in the discussions to which the copyright difficulty con- stantly gives rise to obtain this book, and to study the facts contained In it."—Law Journal. AUTHORS and THEIR PUBLIC in ANCIENT TIMES. A Sketch of Literary Conditions and of the Relations with the Public of Literary Producers, from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Roman Empire. By GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM, M.A. Third Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo., gilt top, 6s. 11A painstaking investigation of relations existing betwocn the public and literary producers from the earliest times to the invention of printing."—Review of Rerievi. ** Mr. Putnam has given us hero an entertaining and useful book." —Spectator. '*Mr. Putnam has ransacked every work of any authority which has appeared either in this country, in France, or in Germany; and this, combined with his own evidently extensive research and read- ing, baa resulted in a book of a very special value and importance."— Bookworm. ____ BOOKS and THEIR MAKERS DURING the MIDDLE AGES. A Study of the Conditions of the Produc- tion and Distribution of Literature from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Close of the Seventeenth Century. Hy GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM, M.A. 2 vols., 8vo., gilt tops, each 10s. Gd. "Mr. Putnam has treated a scholarly subject in a scholarly fashion. . . . 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PUTNAM'S SONS, LONDON AND NEW YORK.  ## p. 108 (#528) ############################################ iv AD VER TISEMENTS. THE MERCANTILE TYPEWRITING OFFICE (Manageress-MISS MORG-AN.) 158, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from lOd. per 1000 words. Special Terms for Contract Work. All descriptions of Typewriting, Shorthand, and Translation work executed with accuracy and despatch. TO AUTHORS A.ND OTHERS. THE LITERARY, TECHNICAL, AND TYPEWRITING ASSOCIATION, 16, FURNIVAL STREET, HOLBORN, E.C, UNDERTAKE all kinds or RESEARCHES it the British Museum, Somercet Boose, Patent Office, Ac MSS. Revised and Prepared for Press; Proofs Bead. TYPEWRITING of all kinds carefully and promptly executed. Circulars, Ac. duplicated. SHORTHAND 'WRITERS Sent Out at Short Notice, with or without Type Machine. Only experienced persons employed. Terms moderate. Prospectus and Estimates Free. First-class references. Typewriting by Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, Th« West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens. Hammersmith, "W. (ESTABLISHED 1898.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' References. TYPEWRITING ACCURATELY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED. POSTAGE PAID. PLEASE GIVE TRIAL. MISS RAINES. 11, FALCONER CHAMBERS, SCARBOROUGH. Royal 8vo., price 16s. net. Sporting Days in Southern India: BEING REMINISCENCES OF TWENTY TRIPS IN PURSUIT OF BIG GAME, CHIEFLY IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. BY Lieut.-Col. A. J. 0. POLLOCK, Royal Scots Fusiliers. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY WHYMPBR AND OTHERS. CONTENTS.—Chapters L, II., and III.—The Bear. IV. and V.—The Panther. VI., VII., and VIII.—The Tiger. IX. and X.—The Indian Bison. XL and XII.—The Elephant. XIII.—Deer (Cerridai) and Antelopes. XIV.—The Ibex. XV. and XVI.— Miscellaneous. London: HORACE Oox, Windsor House, Broam's-buildings, E.C. =1.8. QILL, TTPE-WBITINO OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translation! supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter BeBant; also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.Q. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Thb Leadenhall Press Ltd.), GO, Leaden hall Street, London, E.C. Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 5*. per dozen, ruled or plain. TYPIST, 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. Authors' MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly PERMITTED TO MANY WILL-KNOWS AUTHORS. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on application. Telegraphic address: "Patzbn, London." OECRETAEYSHIP, Private or otherwise, WANTED by b LADY in January or earlier. Experienced. Reference to C. S. Loch, Esq., 15, Buckingham Street, Strand. Address " M.," care of The Warden, Women's University Settlement, Nelson Square, S.E. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1897. Being a Statistical Book of Reference for facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the ColonieB; with a fuller Index relating to Parishos and Benefices than any ever yet given to the public. London: Horace Oox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildlngs, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildinga, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 04 (September 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 04 (September 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-09-01-The-Author-8-4 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/308/1897-10-01-The-Author-8-5.pdf 78407574648f67ce5060aa5be007815d 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) 1897-10-01 Volume 8 Issue 5 Pages Page range in volume 109–136 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18971001 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 5.] OCTOBER i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PAOB .. 109 .. Ill General Memoranda From the Committee Literary Property—1. A Case. 2. Another Cafe. 3. A Copy- right Case. 4. Publishers'Obligations. 5. A Warning from America m "Authora and Publishers" 113 Printing in the Victorian Era 117 New York Letter. By Nornian Hapgood Bad Paper 119 The American Autumn List 119 Notes and News. By the Editor WO Public Library Theft* I*» Cheapness of Books 123 A Bule for the Use of the Subjunctive Mood. Collins Robert Louis Stevenson The Autograph Fiend Sir Henry Cralk on Impressionism A Small Literary Problem. By H. Q. Keene ... Book Talk FAU By F. Howard lis IM IM 1*5 m 126 Correspondence—1. The Beturn of MSS. 2. Criticism in Conflict. 8. "Dictionary of National Biography" Dinner. 4. An Inquiry. 5. An Unpaid Magazine Article 181 Obituary 133 Literature in the Periodicals 134 The Books of the Month 133 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6s. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., 10s. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8*. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colleb, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des Q-ens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spriooe, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost Of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods Of Publication. By S. Squire Spriooe. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3#. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Eeport of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lelt. Eyre and Spottiswoode. it. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). 1*. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 108 (#530) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^fye g>octefp of JluiJjors (§ncotpotafc5). 8ib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Barrie. A. W. 1 Beckett. Robert Bateman. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. Sib Henry Bebgne, K.C.M.Q. Sib Walteb Besant. AUGUSTINE BlBBBIiL, M.P. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.R.S. Right Hon. James Brtce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burghclerb, P.C Hall Caine. Eqebton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Martin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. The Eabl or Desabt. PRESIDENT. Q-EO^a-E MEBEDITH. COUNCIL. Austin Dobson. A. CoNAN DOYLE, M.D. A. W. Dubourq. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. D. W. FRE8HFIELD. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthont Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudtard Kipling. Prof. E. Rat Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Leckt, P.C. J. M. Lelt. Mrs. E. Ltnn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mns.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Meritale. Bon. Counsel — E. M. Undebdown, Q.C. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbrioht, P.C., F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. j. j. steven80n. franci8 storr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Tonge. COMMITTEE Chairman- k. W. 1 Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Mobbis Colles. Sir W. Mabtin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. OF MANAGEMENT. -H. Rider Haggard. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Henry Norman. Francis Storr. S U B- CO M M I TTE E S. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mas.D. (Chairman) Jacques Blumenthal. j. l. molloy. _ ,. . ( Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Solicitors £ G Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-Btreet. Secretary—G. Hebbebt Thring, B.A. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sib W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. a Beckett. Edward Rose. OFFICES: .A.. J?. WATT &c SO 1ST, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON", W.C. Published every Friday morning: price, without lieports, 9d.; with Reports, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of (lie Law and the Lawyers, which haa now been established fen .vcr half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the 1'rogress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the LecM Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognise.1 the most complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Breani's-bniMings, E 0 THE ART of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5s. net, by post 5s. 4d. London: HORACE Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.O. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Rev. O. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 niustra tions. Grown Svo., cloth boards, price 2s. 6d. net. London: Horaoe Cox, Windsor House, Bream'e-bulldlngs, E.O.  ## p. 109 (#531) ############################################ ^Tbe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vin.—No. 5.] OCTOBER 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless t/iey are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOK some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true oharacter, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both "ides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohanoe of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged whioh has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall b« duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. L 2  ## p. 110 (#532) ############################################ no THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. "TTWERY member has a right to ask for and to receive J_}J advice npon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advioe roujht is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon suoh questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of oourse, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action npon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its servioes can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps Bhould, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndioate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members arc invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose servioes will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of oharge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6«. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send thoir names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 2ist of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatoh is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. . The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 111 (#533) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, bo that it now stands at J89 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisem mts in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, ky inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. ri^HE sub-committee appointed to inquire into I the publishing of educational works com- pleted its labours and sent in its report in July last. It was adopted by the committee of management, and ordered to be circulated among lecturers and masters of colleges and schools after the summer holidays. The sub-committee appointed in July last for the purpose of inquiring into the proposed change in the discount system has commenced its work. By Order. G. H. Thring. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—A Case. AN author had a book, the publication of which he wanted to transfer, as his publisher was retiring from business. He went to one of the largest firms in London and offered them the publication of his work. The book was a technical work and had an established position and a firm and constant sale. After some discussion with one of the partners an offer was made to publish the book for the author on a certain financial basis, the details of which it is not necessary to mention. The author applied to the Secretary of the Society for advice, and was strongly advised by him to accept the offer, which was, in his opinion, fair to all parties. The author thereupon wrote to the publisher and asked for an agreement to be forwarded, embody- ing the terms arranged. The agreement came to hand in due course; but, on the author bringing it to the Secretary, the latter was astonished to see that one of the first clauses in the agreement was a clause for the transfer of all copyrights and all rights whatsoever and wheresoever in the said book to the publisher. Not the slightest mention had been made in the first interview between the author and publisher with regard to the transfer of the copyright, and no point had been brought forward with the exception of the point giving the publisher the right to publish, on a certain stated royalty. The Secretary pointed out the fatal disadvantage of transferring the copyright in an educational book of this kind, and stated at the same time that he was surprised that such a clause had been inserted when the point had never been mooted before. The author there- upon wrote a letter explaining his view of the matter, and the publisher at once withdrew the clause referred to, as no doubt he was anxious to obtain the publication of a book which had such a reputation and was such a good property. If the publisher at the time had desired to purchase the copyright it would have been only fair in the first instance to have stated so to the author, who could have accepted his proposition or not as he thought fit. If, in the present case, the writer of the book had not had the advice of the Society behind him he might have signed the agreement, thinking that it was properly drawn up on the basis of the previous conversation. This example shows how careful an author should be before signing the final contract. II.—Another Case. An author took a book to a well-known firm of publishers, and they, after perusal, stated that they would be willing to publish the work on a certain basis.* (The only point that it is neces- sary to mention is that the royalty was to be paid after the cost of production had been covered.) In the conversation that followed, the author mentioned that it would be necessary to have the right to see the books of the firm. To this the publishers demurred in a half-hearted sort of way, and nothing further was said on the subject at the time. In due course the agreement was forwarded to the author. In it was the usual clause for rendering accounts, but no clause was inserted giving the author the right to inspect the books if necessary. The author had read the little book published by the Society on the * They offered an exceedingly bad form of agreement, one not recommended by the Society. In this case, however, there was a special reason for the author acquiescing.  ## p. 112 (#534) ############################################ I 12 THE AUTHOR. Methods of Publishing, and had gleaned from that the absolute necessity of being able, should occasion arise, to check the accounts from the books and vouchers of the publishers. He did not know that there existed a common law right to see these books, and accordingly he drafted a clause which should cover the point. As the right existed, of course, this clause was unneces- sary. As soon as the agreement was returned with the clause, the publishers refused to have anything further to do with the publication of the book. To the ordinary mind there can only be one deduction to be drawn from this refusal. These examples are not, as has often been stated by those who wish to minimise the value of them, drawn from the imagination of the writer. The Secretary of the Society will be pleased, as in all cases published in The Autlior, to give the name of the publishers referred to to those members of the Society who desire to have such information. _ HI.—A Copyright Case. "I am a writer of poems for children,and some time since gave permission to a musical composer to set one of them to music. The composer, not knowing that the words were mine (they had been published anonymously in a collection I had made) spoilt one of the stanzas—to my thinking —by a material alteration, of which I knew nothing till after the song had been published. Meanwhile, the copyright of the music was sold to a well known musical publisher, whose name pro- mises a wide circulation both of the song and the travestied stanza. The composer, with whom I have remonstrated, is as sorry as I am for what has occurred; but what remedy have we? The publisher has, of course, no right in the words, of which the composer did not possess the copyright. Can he be required to withdraw or modify them, or at least to do so—if we are content to wait so long—as soon as the present edition is exhausted? I should be grateful for advice in the matter. Meanwhile, I trust other writers will take warning by my example, and protect both themselves and their musical coadjutors from mistakes as to copy- right by a proviso against alteration of words." A Membek of the Society. [The Secretary advised the writer of this letter as follows: That she could obtain an injunction against the musical publishers for infringement of copyright, and also could maintain an action for damages against the composer for user of her words and for consequent infringement, but that the best plan would be, if possible, to arrange for some satisfactory payment, as is usually the case with other song writers.] IV.—Publishers' Obligations. An interesting case has been recently decided in the French courts. It may be found in full in the Publishers' Circular of Sept. 11, from which we quote the decision of the court. Briefly, the case is as follows: A publisher bought of the compiler a work entitled " Vocabulaire des Vocabulaires," being a dictionary of terms used in the French language. The publisher was to give the compiler the sum of 12,500 francs, with a certain number of copies. In return, the property was to be his own abso- lutely, to alter if he pleased, and to publish in any manner that he pleased. This was in 1891. In 1892 there were troubles about charges. In 1893 the compiler consented to take 10,485 francs, instead of 12,500. In 1894, as the book was not published, the compiler brought an action to compel the publisher to produce the book, or to restore the MS., with 15,000 francs damages. On Jan. 10, 1897, the tribunal delivered its judgment. The arguments of the publisher, as quoted in the Publishers' Circular, stated that there were many errors which had to be corrected; that there was nothing in the agreement about time of pub- lication; that it would take two years to produce the book, &c. The tribunal concluded that, "con- sidering the documents and the examination ordered by this tribunal, it appears that in this case the compiler cannot be considered as a collaborator who has contributed with other writers to a work which the publisher had conceived, edited, and combined in one whole, but that it is he, on the contrary, who brought to the publisher the plan of the work at the same time as the collection of documents composing it; that the publisher cannot, therefore, deny him the title of author and allege that only an ordinary contract of hire of work has been made between him and the applicant; that if it is established that on the terms of the agreement the publisher has bought the entire and exclusive rights of the compiler's dictionary; that he has even reserved the right of adding to it such modification as he might judge fit, and to dispose of it as he pleased, it is no less true that the compiler has only ceded to him the right of printing on the tacit under- standing that he should exercise it; that the pub- lisher would not be justified in alleging that the appellant ought to have stated, with respect to the publication of his book, the rights which he intended to reserve; that it is, in fact, inadmissible that, unless stipulated to the con- trary, an author alienates his work in such an  ## p. 113 (#535) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 113 absolute fashion, that from that moment there should enter into his calculations the possibility of seeing his work neutralised, his thoughts annihilated; that the use made by the purchaser of the work become his property ought not to injure the author's interests, which survive the cession; and that the publisher who has bought has not fulfilled all his obligations when he has paid the price, but that there remains the obligation to do what he has contracted to do, that is to say, to publish, from which only clear and precise agreements could dispense him. But such stipulations do not exist in this case." The verdict was that "within a period of eighteen months from the notice of this judgment the publisher shall be bound to publish the dictionary which has been ceded to him by the appellant, and to deliver to the latter twenty com- plete copies, and this under a penalty of 50 francs per day's delay during one month, after which date judgment shall be given as well with regard to the demand for cancelling the agreements entered into between the parties as with regard to damages and the restitution of the manuscript. Condemns, also, the publisher to pay all costs. This judgment was appealed against by the publisher. Miiitre Straus, plaintiff's counsel, replying, hoped the court would maintain the judgment. After hearing M. Van Cassel, Advocate-General, the Court annulled the appeal, ordering that "that which is appealed against shall have full and entire effect; says, neverthe- less, that the penalty of 50 francs for each day of delay shall only begin to run in default of the publisher having published the dictionary and delivered twenty copies to the compiler within a period of one year, to be calculated from this day; condemns the publisher in the fine and all costs of appeal." V.—A Warning from America. The following is a curious story, and suggests a few points: 1. Did the Press Directory give no hint that the Revietc was an American organ? 2. Does the editor habitually write without any address? 3. Are all the papers submitted to the editor sent through the English publisher? In which case, who pays the postage r 4. Where can one get American stamps for inclosure with a MS.? 5. Readers will take notice that stamps must be sent with MSS. At the same time they will do well to keep a copy in case of accident. "On June 4 I sent a typewritten manuscript, which was originally a prize essay, to the Psycho- logical Review, care of Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Bedford-street, Strand, which was the address I found in the Newspaper Press Directory. On July 4 I wrote to the editor asking whether he intended to use the manuscript, and on the 23rd of the same month received the following reply (no address given); but the post mark indicated that the post card was from Princeton, New Jersey. 'Dear Sir,—We cannot attempt to return MSS. sent us which, as in your case, had no available (American) stamps inclosed. Tour paper, which we did not find valuable, is not preserved.' I have written to the editor, pointing out that the manuscript was valuable to me, and requesting that he make some effort to recover it and return it to me." "AUTHORS AND PUBLISHEES. THIS book, by Messrs. G. H. and J. B. Put- nam, professes to be a manual of sugges- tions for beginners in literature containing all kinds of information for their use. It has arrived at a seventh edition, and is now re-written with additional material. Let us acknowledge at once that up to a certain point, and within certain limitations, the book is admirable—from the publishers' point of view. The style and the e xcellent Engbsh, the manner of conveying such information as it gives, are worthy of great commendation. Yet for prac- tical purposes—the great practical purpose—of guiding the beginner as to the nature of literary property, and the best way of having it adminis- tered, the book is silent. It says nothing of the dangers which lurk in the agreement: it points out none of the tricks which the author must expect: it does not warn him of the absolute certainty that if he trusts himself, helpless and ignorant, in the hands of one who wants to make money out of him, he will be "bested"—the reader may put what interpretation he pleases upon this word. In short, it does not, at the outset, as it should, admonish the young author that in publishing, as in everything else, if a man has absolute freedom to impose what terms he pleases, with secrecy, ignorance, and long success in the confidence trick, that man will abuse the position. This is a mere commonplace. And when a book is published, pretending to be a guide for the young author, which does not recognise this cardinal fact, it is necessary to warn the young author very seriously on this point. It is, indeed, as if a man should write a book on the buying of a horse—or the sale of a house— or the acquisition of a business—and should absolutely ignore the existence of sharpers and  ## p. 114 (#536) ############################################ ii4 THE AUTHOR. rogues. Everybody understands that the thing would be too ridiculous. Yet the authors of the book before us blandly sail along the unruffled surface which they imagine, without so much as a hint that the author must expect in this business exactly what he is taught to expect in every other: viz., that advantage will be taken of ignorance, and that rogues will overreach him. The book gives many quotations from writers in favour of publishers: Howells, G. W. Curtis, Thomas Hughes, Washington Irving. But their testimonies are absolutely worthless unless the writers had been able to examine the books of the men they praise. We do not say, or hint, or suggest that their publishers were unworthy of the praise. It is only contended that the favourable opinion, any opinion, favourable or otherwise, as to the honesty of a publisher's treatment of authors is mere guess work unless the books could be examined. In other words, a publisher might cheat in his charges: cheat in his returns: cheat in the money he paid for royalties: cheat in his royalties: and yet, for all that these laudatory writers know, stand out as a most honourable and upright man Surely it is better to make agreements as in other kinds of business, those, namely, in which the facts of the case are admitted and known on both sides. And, since the author is probably ignorant, an honourable publisher cannot object to a Society which provides him with full light on every part of the commercial side of his work. On the question of publishers' risk, the book presents the usual claims made by publishers without any arguments to support them. Our position is absolutely impregnable. Any book, considered from the commercial point of view, must stand by itself. For example, it is ridicu- lous to suppose that Dickens's books should be loaded with the losses made by an incompetent publisher over his unsuccessful ventures. These writers draw an imaginary picture of a publisher losing all his capital by successive losses. Such a picture is misleading, for the simple reason that in every department of literature men are writing by the dozen whose name is a guarantee against loss: that the publishers who take risks are very few, and the books they issue that carry risk are also very few—excepting such great works as Encyclopaedias, National Biographies, Dictionaries, and such books, which the Messrs. Putnam would not mix up with general literature : and that publishers, with very few exceptions, do all prosper, while those who do the largest trade prosper the most—a thing natural in trade, but only in profitable trade. The chapter on "Publishing Arrangements" complains that authors have "paraded their grievances" before the public. Well, it was their only way to make them known, and. to warn others. He asks why Dean Farrar " appealed to the public for sympathy because his publishers had made more money than himself from the publication of a book that had been written ' to order' under their suggestion and contract, and for which, according to the statement of the Canon himself, he had been paid a good deal more than his contract price?" This is not the proper way to put it. Dean Farrar received a sum of money for a book. He did not complain of this, because he had accepted an offer. He complained of the offer made to him for the second book. Did the publishers explain to him the meaning of his first success? Then Messrs. Putnam ask, "Why should authors, presumably of adult age and sound mind, plead the 1 baby act' in regard to their contracts (or their failure to make contracts) any more than the clients of lawyers, architects, or stockbrokers?" By the use of the word "clients" they give away their case. Every man is safe if he is the "client," in any business, of a lawyer who knows the subject. He is only in danger when he acts for himself in ignorance of the conditions. The writers speak of "compensation." What do they mean? Compensation means payment in atonement of injuries. If authors were compen- sated for the injuries inflicted on them by the publishers of their books there would be a large crowd of the latter in Portugal-street. They have yet to recognise the fact that a MS. is a piece of property belonging to the writer, who may sell it or may let it out to a publisher to be administered, or may go into partnership with a publisher. We do not ask, however, for compensation, but for our own property. Then follow the pages on " publishing arrange- ments." And here there is no explanation, except one or two lame ones, of the reason why a pub- lisher should have this or that share, or what he does to earn his money. As for the lame explanations: I. The writers (p. 47) state that a royalty of 10 per cent. "on the retail price was ca culated on the basis of securing for the author an average return of half the net profits." This may possibly be true in America. In this country nothing could be more untrue or more misleading. Take an average 6*. book—exactly such as that considered in the "Cost of Production"—one with a sale, not of 10,000 copies, to which the writers object, but of 4000, which is much more common. The cost of each volume, including advertising, is as near as possible a shilling; the  ## p. 115 (#537) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. retail price is 3*. 6d., as near as possible. A royalty of 10 per cent, on the retail price means 4}d. The profit of the publisher would be 2s. i±d.! And this is what the writers of a book which has gone through six editions seem to regard as a system of high profits!! II. On the "Cost of Production," issued by the Society, the Messrs. Putnam say: Authors who hare read in the mannal of the " Authors' Society" the cost of producing a i6mo. ori2mo. volume containing a certain number of pages, are likely to assume that the figures should be precisely the same for any other volume printed in the same size and containing the same number of pages. It is necessary, however, to remind them of various possible differences which will affect the com- parison, such as the number of words contained in the page, the width of the printed text, the leading of the lines (npon whioh items depend the number of thousand eme charged for in the printing-office), the printing of the edition from type or from plates, the quality of the paper used, the quality of the material put into the cover, the character of the cover stamp (involving an initial expense for designing and for cutting, and a later current expenditure in the stamping of the covers), and a number of other similar details. It is a great pity that the writers did not look at the "Cost of Production" before committing themselves to this statement. For in that book care has been taken to give the number of lines and the number of words in the page, in order to prevent this mistake. The quality of the paper is an average quality: the price of the binding shows that it is a plain average binding: the extras, such as a small stamp, extra gilding, finer binding, are surely matters of easy arrangement with the author. The "Cost of Production" gives figures which are good working figures in getting at an estimate. After so much fault-finding, it is pleasant to recognise to the utmost the spirit of fairness which elsewhere appears in the book. The writers have not been able to shake off the conventional talk about the importance of the publisher and the fearful risks he runs: but they do recognise to an extent previously unknown some of the points demanded by the Society. For instance, as to the cost of production in a half-profit system: A fourth objection to the half-profit system which is from time to time emphasised on the part of the authors, is that the author is not in a position to verify the accuracy of the charges made by the publisher against the book, and that these charges are frequently made to include items which do not properly belong in such an amonnt or amounts whioh have been unduly increased by manufacturing commissions or " secret profit," whioh is appropriated by the publisher. The remedy for such a difficulty is to be sought in one or two directions. The author should, in the first place, at the time the publication agreement is executed, secure from the publisher an estimate upon whioh this agreement will be based, showing the amonnt that the publisher proposes to debit against the book or against the joint acoonnt, for the various items comprising the cost of its publication and VOL. VIII. distribution. The estimate for the use of such joint account should, in fact, be as precise and as full as if the book were to be undertaken at the entire cost of the author. This estimate would remain available for future reference, and in so far as the conditions of the publication (that is to say, the amonnt of the material to be printed, the style of the printing, the amonnt of changes made in the text while it was going through the press, the outlay for advertising, the oost of circulars, Ac), have not been modified under the instructions of the author or under later agreement between the author and the publisher, the final charge against the joint account should, of course, be in exact accord with the amounts specified in the original estimate, and mnst, in any case, be in accord with the rates so specified. This advice is good but incomplete. In many cases the estimate has been made a means of fraud, by inserting exaggerated figures, which then form part of the signed agreement. The estimate must be submitted to the secretary. One chapter is devoted to the shortcomings of the author. These assume several forms: (1.) A writer has undertaken to contribute a volume to a series, the length and form and price of which have been carefully thought out and fixed beforehand. He presents, when the time comes, a MS. of double the length stipulated: It would also seem hardly probable that an author having been so regardless of the preliminary conditions laid down for his work, should, when this work was com- pleted, be so unreasonable as to insist that his volume must be accepted in the precise form in which he has written it; that, whatever the conditions or the limitations of the series, his own individual literary methods and literary execution must not be interfered with; and that (his own compensation being assured under some fixed payment arrangement) the question of possible profit or loss for the publisher is a matter concerning which he need give him- self no conoern. Improbable as such a state of mind or such a method of action appears to be, as thus sot forth, I can only say that the experience of nearly all publishers and editors who have had to do with the publication of series, will show not a few examples of just such literary perversities. (a.) The practice of rewriting or reshaping work after it has been set up in type. (3.) Breach of faith in delay of delivery. Several instances are quoted of this bad practice. (4.) The production of another work by the same writer on the same subject with another publisher. (5.) The acceptance of a salary and doing no work for it. The sympathy of every man of honour must be with the publisher who suffers in any of these ways. At the same time, one would poiut out the very simple fact that by introducing the ordinary methods of business into this part of the trans- action every one of these dangers can be met. Now publishers—for which one does not blame them—are adamant in the matter of the sum or the royalties for which they acquire control of M  ## p. 116 (#538) ############################################ n6 THE AUTHOR. the author's property. Why can they not be as careful in other matters? (i.) Take the first case. In such a series there is generally an editor. Some of us have written for such series : we have all understood the limitations as to length. I cannot understand any editor worth his salt who would find any difficulty in returning a MS. to be reduced to the proper length. The danger on this side of the Atlantic seems wholly imaginary. (2.) In the second case; that of excessive corrections. The agreement in almost all cases safeguards the publisher. Some honourable gentlemen make the corrections a source of profit. They insert a clause limiting the corrections to so many shillings a sheet. But they are very careful not to connect shillings with the number of words, so that the author is in no way helped, and goes on correcting in blind ignorance, which, when profit by over- charge is intended, is carefully left without warning. Nothing is easier or simpler than to give the author a type-written copy, and to tell him that this is a first proof which he may cut up as he pleases, but that he will be allowed no more corrections. (3.) Breach of faith in delivery. In every other business transaction this would mean an action for damages. One such action brought would prevent any more such cases. Nor would any jjublisher suffer who should bring an action of the kind. (4.) The production of another wrork on the same subject. This danger is met by some publishers by a clause to the effect that the author is not to produce another book on the same subject within a stated time. But, so far, I have never yet seen a clause binding the publisher not to produce another book on the same subject within a stated time. (5.) If a publisher calmly offers a man a salary without stipulating for work, one cannot really sympathise with him if he gets no work, whatever opinion one may have of a man who would take money and do nothing for it. But on this side of the Atlantic publishers do not act with such uncalculating prodigality. In a word, these complaints, which are very seldom heard from English publishers, go to show that a man of business who complains of them does not carry on his business on business principles. The above notes were already written when the following were placed in the writer's hands. They are added to show that the objections raised by him have occurred to more than one reader. Page 8. "The interests of authors and pub- lishers are practically identical.'' This may be the case after the agreement has been entered into, but they are certainly diametrically opposed as far as the agreement is concerned. If pub- lishers advance money to their subsequent destruc- tion, it only shows they are not business men, or that their business instincts are false. They do not do this with a view of generosity to the author, but with a view of retaining the author as one of their writers during the term—so long as he does not pay off the money—of his natural life. It is a good speculation. Page 37. "Why should authors plead the 'baby act'?" Mr. Putnam compares the rela- tions between authors and publishers to ordinary business relations between stockbrokers, &c, but there is this vital difference, which he seems to have overlooked, that stockbrokers are competing keen business men with keen business men. Authors, in many instances entirely ignorant of business and incapable of transacting business, place themselves to a great extent in the hands of keen business men, who take advantage of their ignorance. Mr. Putnam is evidently writ- ing from the methods of his own firm of trans- acting business, and he appears to be entirely ignorant of the ways of those publishers who do not stand in the very first rank. Page 60. "Half-profit arrangements and charge of business expenses." The statements with regard to half-profit arrangements contained in the book certainly give the author an erroneous idea of this very disastrous method of pubUshing. Page 66. "Unless the author," &c. The whole chapter on publishing arrangements is written from the point of view of the publisher's agree- ment and the benefit likely to accrue to the publisher. There are some useful hints to authors on pp. 84 and following, on keeping books together. Also on p. 93, " Syndicating arrangements." Page 98. "Obligations under the pubUshing agreement." These entirely refer to the author's obligations. There is no mention whatever of the points an author should protect himself against with regard to publisher's obligations, which are many and varied, and often broken. He quotes instances of delinquent authors. How about delinquent publishers? Page 119. "Contract between authors and publishers," &c. He has subverted the whole paragraph. Page 149. The paragraph beginning "Here also, however." It may be possible to force a publisher to specific performance in America, but  ## p. 117 (#539) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 117 the best legal authorities doubt its possibility in England. Even if you did enforce specific per- formance, a book published by an unwilling pub- lisher might as well not be published at all. It is very seldom that publishers enter into an agreement without the MS. being fully com- pleted, or, rather, out of 100 cases, in quite ninety the MS. is complete and to hand, so that there is no danger from the procrastination of the author. Page 160. "Boards of arbitration." These would be found practically useless. PRINTING- IN THE VICTORIAN ERA. "~]VT"0 good printing has been done since I X 1550," the late Mr, William Morris was wont to say. Mr. John Southward, who has just issued a work on the subject,* contends that better printing has been done during the last sixty years than was ever done before. The progress in book printing begun soon after 1828, when Charles Whittingham became asso- ciated with the publisher and bibliophile, William Pickering. The late Henry Stevens, describing the co-operation of these men, says it was amusing as well as instructive to see each of them when they met pull from his bulging side-pocket well-worn title pages and sample leaves for dis- cussion and consideration. About 1840 Mr. Whittingham's office, the Chiswick Press, acquired an unrivalled collection of head and tail pieces, borders, and other typographical ornaments. Other printers were compelled to rival him; and the forward movement was begun which has gone on to the present day. As regards the inferiority of the printing of process blocks in England as compared with America, the author of this work is of opinion that the explanation is to be found in the weakness and insufficient inking and dis- tributing capacity of our presses, and the inepti- tude of many of our pressmen. "Already efforts are being made," he adds, " to remedy both of these shortcomings." Our general bookwork is not inferior to that of any other country in the world: This is more especially obvious in regard to cheap books, snch as reprints of non-copyright books, issued for a few pence each. They are, as a rule, in all respects, admirable specimens of typography. They are printed on thin, cheap paper, but it has generally received a fine, bnt not excessive, polish, by being rolled before printing. The printing is usually done without damping, and thus destroying the surface of the paper. The types make little or no indents- •" Progress in Printing and the Graphic Arts during the Victorian Era." By John Southward. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 28. 6d. VOL. VIII. tion; both sides of the paper are usually smooth and glossy. The ink is black and the colour full, but not smudgy. The type used has been fresh and clear.and the plate taken from it has been sharp and deep. It may have been printed direct from linotype bars, and it may be impossible to distinguish the type from the linotype. The register is always accurate. Process blocks are freely introduced, and, as a rule, they are well, if not quite perfectly, made ready and brought up. Sixty years ago there were cheap books, but they did not show these qualities. In every element of good workman- ship the book of to-day is as superior to that of 1837 as the locomotive of to-day is to that of the time of Robert Stephenson. Mr. Southward also sketches the progress in job and news printing. His book is fully illus- trated, and itself, of course, a model of excellent production. He is enthusiastic about the Lino- type machine, which, he says, has elevated the condition of the working printer, and also made possible even bigger papers and a larger number of cheap books than we get now. NEW YORE LETTER. New Tobk, Sept. 17. TI^HE Editor's remarks on "little notices," in I a recent number of this paper, apply with even greater force to American reviewing. In this country a really capable judgment is a secondary consideration, and timeliness is every- thing. The worst part of the situation is that this idea that books are news, to be treated with the same haste that the events of every day are treated with, is on the increase, which is perhaps one reason why the Evening Post with its late reviews is the only daily newspaper in the country worth serious consideration from a literary point of view. Any one interested in the fundamental motives which influence publication in the United States should read a convincing and rather de- pressing analysis of the whole newspaper question in the October number of Scribner's Magazine. J. Lincoln Steffens, who wrote the article, is one of the most intelligent and most successful young newspaper men in the city, and he has also written enough for the magazines to know that end of the publishing business. He speaks without fear, or without softening in any way the facts which he has found out. The substance of the article is that pubhshing is not an ideal occupation, but just as much a mercenary one as any commercial enterprise, and this general point of view is worked out in careful detail showing how everything that goes into a newspaper, from the events of the day to the literary notices, is determined by the field which seems most promising; that is, the class of readers who seem to be less well provided m 2  ## p. 118 (#540) ############################################ u8 THE AUTHOR. with a newspaper fitting their taste than any other class. Whether the generalisation can be made with equal safety about the publishing houses is perhaps an open question, but the more one learns the inside of things here, the more sur- prised he is at the number of books where the author takes the risk while the publisher is pub- licly supposed to do so; at the number of books which are taken against the literary judgment of the publishers for purely business reasons ; at the number which are rejected for similar com- mercial reasons, although the publishers think highly of their literary quality; and at the num- ber of articles which leading magazines are paid for accepting. William Gillette, t'.ie dramatic author and editor, gave his idea of what criticism ought to be in a recent talk itpropos of some absurd tech- nical suggestions that had been made to him by less skilful playwrights while he was abroad. "The only criticism I care for," he said, " is the criticism of the simple man who goes to the theatre without a desire to judge what he sees. Emotions are raised in him—fear, suspense, hope, sympathy, anger—real emotions, which he does not put into intellectual terms. It is to the ingenuous man that dramatic art appeals, and if somebody could transcribe his feelings into words, and thus show whether the drama carried out the object for which it was written, that would be valuable criticism, and it would be a work of the highest intelligence." It is rather interesting to notice that the "Almanach Hachette," which published in France recently a long list of books forming a library for a young girl of eighteen years old, selected just two American books and oue about America. From England it took "Robinson Crusoe," " Gulliver's Travels," "Ivanhoe," " Bob Eoy," "Waverley," "David Copperfield "; and from America, "The Last of the Mohicans " and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It is a pretty fair test of a book to ask whether it appeals to any other nation, and their are no two American novels which give more true and distinctive information about the history of the United States than these two, although one of them, at least, is not remark- able for its artistic form. An excellent choice was also made in the book about contempo- rary America, Mme. Blanc's "Les Americaines Chez Hies." The first fall announcements of the McClure and Doubleday Companies are watched with interest, especially because of the firm's success in other fields of publishing, which the leading men in the new venture have had. Their little sets of "Tales from McClure's" and "Little Masterpieces" at thirty cents each justify their attempt to show that cheap publishing is con- sistent with good taste. They will say very frankly in a future announcement, "We, like other men, wish to gain material success, but we want to gain it by those means which appeal to our intellectual as well as to our moral self-respect." Perhaps the book on their list which is most interesting from the point of view of originality is "Prince Uno," a fairy story written by a prominent New York business man, who wishes to remain anonymous; "Charles A. Dana's Reminiscences of the War," which Miss Ida M. Tarbell is preparing, will begin in the November number of the magazine. The interview is an idea which this magazine is adopting freely from journalism. In the last number Mr. Steffens put a good deal of art into an interview on the Klondike, and in a few- months Mr. Robert Barr will have an interview with Mark Twain. Although nobody holds in some respects a- higher place in New England literature than James Russell Lowell, the attempt to get enough money by popular subscription to save his old homestead promises to be a miserable failure. Very few of the little sums which were expected came in, and there have thus far been no large gifts from rich men. On the Scribners' list of books for next season is "This Country of Ours," by Benjamin Harrison, ex-president of the United States. Mr. Harrison is not a remarkable writer, he is not a man of imagination or great culture, but he is a man of marked business intelligence and some indepen- dence of thought, and for anyone studying the political side of the United States his book is worth reading. A new publishing house is about to begin its career in Boston called Small, Maynard, and Co. The best known member of the firm is a silent partner, Mr. Bliss Carman, rather prominent as a lyric poet. The new firm begins its work with a new edition of Walt Whitman, which is worth while, since the publication of Whitman's writings has heretofore been extremely irregular, and since the interest in him seems to be on the increase. A reader for one of the prominent publishing houses told me the other day that 90 per cent, of the matter submitted to his house was fiction. It is not, as a rule, the echo of any successful book; the idea is original, but weak, and the execution bad. A great many of the writers live by them- selves in small places, and their novels represent the work of years. Mr. Stanley Waterloo, whose works seem to be popular in London, has written an introduction to  ## p. 119 (#541) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 119 the New England edition of his first novel—" A Man and a Woman." Whether any of it has yet been made public in England I do not know, but the general purport of it is that there is no school of writers in the region of which Chicago is the metropolis. He prefers " the Chicago group," on the ground that, although the treatment of life by these Western writers varies from that found elsewhere in the country, the writers are so diffe- rent among themselves that the term " school " is somewhat misleading. Another Chicago writer, now dead—Eugene Field—is to be honoured by two clubs this season. The Caxton Club of Chicago will bring out some- thing about him, not yet decided on; and the Duodecimo Club of the same city will bring out a bibliography of his works. NOBMAN HAPOOOD. BAD PAPER. IN an interview with Mr. J. T. W. MacAlister, a well-known librarian, which appeared in the June number of The Author, that gentle- man referred inter alia to the very perishable character of the paper employed for a large pro- portion of the books of the present day. We learn that the Society of Arts have appointed a representative committee of paper-makers, librarians, and chemists, to investigate the ques- tion of the deterioration of paper, and the whole subject of perishable paper when used for books of importance or reference. The committee asks to be supplied with any instances of books pub- lished within the last thirty years which already show signs of perishing, particularly where the books have been much used. Sir H. Trueman Wood, secretary of the committee, will also be glad to have any other information bearing on this matter, which may be sent to him at the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi, London. THE AMERICAN AUTUMN LIST. OTJR own Autumn List will not be complete before the end of October, owing to the custom with some publishers of sending in their lists up till November, for publication in the Athenteum. The American Autumn List, how- ever, has been fully announced in one number of the Chicago Dial. The list comprises over a thousand books. In the analysis, and in the remarks which follow, books educational, medical and surgical, of reference, new editions of stan- dard literature, and holiday gift-books, have been omitted: In Biography and Memoirs there are 60 entries. In History 43 .. In General Literature 90 „ In Poetry 23 In Fiction 184 „ In Travels 28 In Art and Archaeology 19 „ In Music and the Drama 7 „ In Science and Nature 27 ,, In Politics and Economics 23 „ In Philosophy and Psychology 15 „ In Theology and Religion 85 „ In Sport 12 „ The English reader naturally asks what pro- portion of these books belong to ourselves. Of English Origin. In Biography there are 32 In History 7 In General Literature 38 In Poetry 5 In Fiction 48 In Travels 12 In Art and Archaeology 12 In Music and the Drama 3 In Science and Nature 4 In Politics and Economics 4 In Philosophy and Psychology ... o In Theology and Religion 22 In Sport 12 Of 28 36 5* 18 136 16 7 4 »3 '9 15 63 o 199 417 These figures may be incorrect to a trifling extent, but they are near enough for our pur- poses. They show that out of 616 books in the principal subjects of literature, 199 are of English origin, and 417 are of American origin. The last time that the present writer analysed an American autumn list, now some years ago, the numbers showed a much larger proportion of English origin. The reason was that while American editors could flood the market with pirated books at a wretchedly low price, the American author had no chance. The effect was to deprive the writers of fiction of the market altogether, and to make it very difficult to persuade the American public to buy any books except at a miserable price. This licence being abolished, the native author begins at once to take his place; so that we now see out of 184 new works of fiction 136 are of American writers: out of twenty-three new volumes of verse, eighteen belong to Americans: and so on. The proportion of English to American writers may be expected to become still less every year.  ## p. 120 (#542) ############################################ 120 THE AUTHOR. This is what should be looked for: the bulk of popular fiction must be redolent of the soil: the great majority of writers cannot hope to provide the fiction of the more popular kind except for their own countrymen. There is springing up, as was foretold in these pages two or three years ago, a purely American literature in America: a purely British bterature here: and an Anglo-Saxon literature, containing what is precious and Catholic out of both literatures. To these will be joined before long the literature of the other great branches of our race. It will be a great thing for an American or an Englishman to delight his own countrymen: it will be a far greater thing for him to be included in the list of those writers who belong to all who speak our language over the whole world. s»«<- NOTES AND NEWS. IBEG to inform a great many people who addressed communications to me during the months of August and September that I only received their letters on Sept. 21, owing to the neglect of a clerk at the Society's oflices, to which the letters were addressed. I hope that they will receive this statement as an excuse or explanation for my silence as to their communications. Information has reached the secretary of several attempts recently made to entrap authors by the old trick, regularly denounced in these pages, into binding themselves down for future books with the same publisher. Would any medical man dare to propose that his patient should bind himself to call in no one else; or any solicitor? The worst feature about these cases—there are at least three publishers concerned — is that they occur with first books. The victim is offered low terms—perhaps to be excused in considera- tion of its being a first book—with the condition that the publisher is to have the second book, if he pleases, on the same terms. Take the case of Charles Dickens. His "Sketches by Boz" were sold, I believe, to Bentley for ,£150: what if he had bound himself down to let that publisher have " The Pickwick Papers" for the same sum? Experience shows that the same tricks—always the same tricks—are tried on time after time: and that the same vigilance must be kept up to expose them. The Secretary can furnish mem- bers with the names of the three publishers con- cerned. . The sub-committee to examine into the Dis- ount Question has begun its work. It will be a laborious work. Meantime I refer readers once more to the " Battle of Books," in The Autlior of February, 1897. And, without instructions from the sub-committee to this effect, I may also remind readers of The A uthor, who are probably members of the Society, that the matter under discussion is one of the very highest importance to themselves, and that they ought to consider for themselves what it means. The proposal of certain pub- lishers, which appears to be accepted by certain booksellers, is this: (1) To maintain the present arrangements and prices with the retail trade, provided the latter reduce their discount from. 3<Z. to 2d. in the shilling: but (2) to issue books at a net price for which the bookseller will pay four-fifths of that price. We have to consider how such a change will affect our own interests, the interests of booksellers, the interests of publishers, and the interests of literature generally. nin The new literary journal, concerning which a good deal of whispering has gone round, will appear this month. As we all know now, it is to be called " Literature": it is to be published at the office of the Times: it is to be edited by Dr. Traill. It would seem that the journal could hardly appear at a more opportune moment: the British Review and the National Observer are extinct: so, after a brief existence, is the New Saturday; the Saturday has undergone changes; the Spectator has lost its principal pillar of support, and is practically on its trial for its future position. The Athetueum remains what it always has been, filling a place of its own from which it will not be easily dislodged. The Book- man still remains a monthly paper: the Literary Gazette has got, and will keep, its own place, and a very useful place it is. The Publishers' Circular and the Bookseller are organs of the publishing trade: The Author is the organ of the Authors' Society, and is not a review at all. None of these papers would stand in the way of the new weekly. There would seem to be plenty of room for another paper devoted entirely to Literature. There would seem to be a great future possible for such a paper. Those who remember—sorrowfully I confess that I remember — the early days of the Satur- day Review, will recall the pleasure with which one welcomed reviews of books which were obviously written by scholars who knew, and were guided by, canons of criticism. It was a time, I believe, and have been told, when criticism was at its very worst, with log-rolling—but the name had not yet been invented—and personal  ## p. 121 (#543) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 121 animosities of the most violent kind; the most blackguard abuse; and the most flagrant incom- petence. The Saturday Review came, and the •whole tone of criticism changed. Some of the earlier numbers of the new paper were violent, but no paper can be completely in advance of the time. The justice of the line taken by the writers: the ability with which the subject, as well as the book, was handled; the breadth of view: the fearlessness with which abuses were attacked: the separation of the journal from any considerations of advertisements, whether they would be attracted or repelled: the knowledge that the journal belonged to a rich man, who would not care much if it brought him but a small return—these points gave the paper, almost from the outset, a commanding position. Will the new paper be able to take up that position, and so dominate the literary world? The place is vacant: the door is open. No one, I think, understands the position better than Dr. Traill himself, as much distinguished for his journalism as for his books. On all sides we hear the same complaint. Reviews are of no use : they have lost their interest and their value. The world is no longer guided by them. A most remarkable illustration of the fact is before us all at this moment in the case of a certain book which appeared a month or six weeks ago. It was instantly seized upon by all the reviewers for all the papers. I hope that I am not understood as saying or suggesting anything against, or for, the merits of the book, when I use it as an illustration of my position. By one part of the reviewers the work was fiercely, savagely assailed; by the other part it was as cordially welcomed and praised. What is the result? A larger demand for the book than has greeted any other novel on its first appearance for many years. In three or four weeks, in the teeth of the most "damaging " assaults upon the book, the circula- tion has been 50,000, and a new edition of 20,000 is announced. The hostility, therefore, of that part of the Press has not had the slightest effect upon the demand for the book. I am not, I repeat, finding fault with either section of the reviewers. I only point out that, as the " slating" has not affected the book, it is not too much to assume that the praise bestowed upon it has also been unable to affect it. In spite of praise or blame, the public have received the book on their own judgment. I have received twenty letters all asking the same question—I have printed one—p. 132. On all sides the same question is asked: "If critics—educated men — produce judgments so diametrically opposite, what is the use of criticism?" The answer is, that judgments diametrically opposite cannot proceed from critics who work on any canons of criticism. How, then, can a literary paper proceed? The only safe way is to follow the example of the Saturday Review iu 1859 or i860—namely, to admit on the staff none but scholars and proved writers ; and to take the greatest care not to suffer any book to fall into the hands of friend or enemy of the author. The Critic of New York observes this rule most strictly, and would never allow a man to write a second time who infringed the rule. Of course, one need not in this place dilate on log-rolling and animosities. There is anothar point on which the original practice of the Saturday might be followed. It is to give importance to literature as well as to the author by assigning to each review an adequate space. It was then, and should be now, a distinction to be reviewed—to be selected for review. A journal which would follow that custom, without "minor notices" at all, would immediately become distinguished above the rest. As to the "minor notices," the world cares nothing for them: they do not help or instruct the author: they do not advance the interests of the book; they damage the paper by destroying the value of so many columns; worse still—worst of all—it is impossible for a reviewer to read books for which he is allotted only an inch or two of space: no scale of pay ever invented would enable writers of short " notices" to read the books. One has been encouraged by the occasion to make these remarks; which are, after all, mere echoes of what is said everywhere. But no doubt Dr. Traill understands the situation far better than the writer of these lines. At this point I fell in with a paper by Mr. Cecil Mead Allen in the New Century Review, called "Novelist v. Reviewer," in which he takes the side of the reviewer. He assumes, however, that those who find fault with the present con- dition of criticism do so because they themselves have been severely treated; also that they are novelists only. Both these assumptions are baseless. He also says that, "No critic would wilfully defame a good book." The converse proposition therefore follows: "No critic would wilfully praise a bad book." Apply these propositions to the book whose case we are considering. I. If it is good, no writer would defame it. But critics have defamed it. Therefore it must be bad. II. If it is bad, no critic would praise it. But  ## p. 122 (#544) ############################################ I 22 THE AUTHOR. critics have praised it. Therefore it must be good. Yet it cannot be both good and bad. Mr. Allen very justly points out that the signifi- cance of a criticism depends greatly on experience and education. Does this fact explain the reason why it is supposed that anybody can review books? So we come back to what was said at first—that the time is highly propitious for the formation of a literary organ whose staff shall be scholars, who will be free from personal motives, who will read the books they judge, and whose judgment shall carry weight. I am very pleased to publish the following letter, which speaks for itself. It will be, I believe, as new to the world as it is to me to hear that the late Charles Dickens was a contributor to the Press. That he was an excellent editor I know very well, for I wrote his Christmas story for him, either alone or with the late James Eice, for ten or eleven years—1876-1886, or 1887— with relations perfectly satisfactory. Of course, one cannot believe that his family would be hurt by the statement that he was a printer. Let us, however, correct these words, and say that the late Charles Dickens was not known to the world as a writer, save of guide-books; that he was an editor for many years; and that he was also a printer for many years. "When commenting upon the above in last month's Author, you remark that the 'late Charles Dickens, jun., was not a writer, except of one or two guide-books. He was a printer.' Will you kindly allow me to say that I think these remarks are calculated to give an entirely wrong impression of the late Mr. C. Dickens's position in the literary world. I fear also they are likrly to give pain to a large number < f your readers, and more especially to those who, like myself, knew him not merely as a personal friend or as a contributor of brilliant unsigned articles to the Press, but also as a most conscien- tious and genuinely artistic editor. As such no slovenly work ever passed muster with him, nor did any really good work ever suffer at his hands from rough and ready pruning. For ten years (dating from 1884) I was serial writer to his two magazines, All the Year Round and Household Words, and, looking back dispassionately upon the work which I placed in his hands during that time, I gratefully acknowledge how much it owes to his most thoughtful suggestions, which were invariably the outcome of genuine artistic feeling and wide literary knowledge." The following note is taken from the Daily News, with thanks to the editor for providing a piece of literary gossip so interesting:—" The oldest member of the Soeicte des Gens de Lettres is neither M. Eugene Veuillot, who is 89, nor M. Legouve.who is 90, but Mme. du Bosd'Elbbecq, who is 99. She is very sorry to have lived so long. Her experience of a very great age is given in one word—solitude. She has outlived hus- band, son, grandchildren, friends, and has, for a little quiet society, gone to live in a convent at Angers. Mme. du Bos d'Elbhecq was a prolific authoress. A list of her books would fill a column of a large newspaper. Some of them were highly successful. 'Le Pere Fargeau' still sells. It had an early sale of 36,000. She has to write every year to the secretary of the Socicte' des Gens de Lettres, to enclose a certificate that she lives. Her handwriting remains firm and legible. She works still as an authoress, chiefly writing for peasants and country folks. When she last applied for her pension, she was suffering from influenza, but has recovered. She began to work for the printers at the age of twenty, that is to say, seventy-nine years ago. She led a regular life, was never poor, never very well off, and had many kind friends. The last of her old friends, Admiral de Eibours, died two years ago. She was elected a member of the Societc fifty-three years ago." Walter Besant. —)» — PUBLIC LIBRARY THEFTS. IN the report of the Stoke Newington Public Library for 1896-7, it is stated that sixteen volumes were stolen during the year, fourteen of which wore taken from the shelves to which the readers had free access, only two being lost under the old system by which books were obtained through the library staff. Not long ago two city libraries, working also under the free access system, had to bewail the loss of some 200 volumes or more, one of the thieves being caught at a library using the old safe method, where, in trying to exercise his thievish ability, he was at once detected and handed over to the police. Libraries at Oxford, Liverpool, Cardiff, Nottingham, and other impor- tant places, which have more or less given up this risky method, have all suffered, and it is obvious that only where the authorities are pre- pared to lose many of their most valuable works, and are not particular as to the general disorder and misplacement of books on the shelves, can such a method be tolerated. One characteristic of this report is its unquestion-  ## p. 123 (#545) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 123 able honesty, as it is not pleasant to have to report the failure of a system after once it is adopted. CHEAPNESS OF BOOKS. "T HAVE long felt that a great number of I books are much too cheap. Books are published now at 28. 6d. that twenty years ago would have easily commanded 6s., and those that were once 2s. 6d. are now published at i*., which means qd. Having thoroughly debauched the British public by in- ducing them to believe and to practice the lie that nd. is only t)d., what are we to do? The British public will not repent in sackcloth and ashes, and thus retrace its steps. What is to be done? I think the only thing to be done is for the publishers to agree to revise their prices. Let them, among other things, give up the old conventions-. Haif- a-crown is a price, 5*. is a price, 6*., io*, and 15*. are prices. But you never hear of 3*. 6d., or of 6s. 6d., or of 12s. 6d. Why not '< We have grown into routiue and custom. The publishers can, I fancy, easily break through this. Let them in future make a is. book is. 6d., a zs. 6d. book 3*. 6d., a 5*. book 6s. 6d., and so on. The public will pay only is. i\d. for a is. 6d. book; they will be well pleased, and the publisher will have i^d. on the is. to the good. "The competition in the book market is quite different in character from the competition in fish, or bread, or beef. A book is a book, and on the other hand, a book is not a book. No man buys a book on history when he wants a novel, because the first is cheaper; he has in his head a quite fixed idea of the book he wants and will have; and the temptation of Qd. or is. cheaper does not make him waver (unless he is going to make a present to someone he does not care about). It appears to me that the publishers have not sufficiently regarded this side of the question. Every book has its own public."— (From a Letter.) A RULE FOB THE USE OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 0| INCE the publication of my "suggested 1^ rule" for the use of the subjunctive mood by beginners in literature, in the July number of The Author, I have been in corre- spondence with some who have an acknowledged literary style, and also with others who are authorities on English Grammar. The views of the former class are well repre- sented in a letter which I received from Professor Dowden—the writer of one of the ten books which formed the basis of this investigation. He writes: "Your rule seems a good one for regulating the use of the subjunctive after 'if.' But I am not sure that there are not shades of meaning brought out by its use with other verbs than 'to be'; and, although the use is rare after 'whether,' 'though,' and 'although,'the propor- tion of subjunctives is large enough to suggest that it has some use. I should accept your rule as sufficient for beginners, but, should a yearning for a subjunctive possess me, I should like to think the passion not wholly criminal. I am afraid I have written in what Milton would call the unfettered liberty of a Christian. Now I shall feel that the number of ' tongue sins,' which Baxter fixed at thirty, is at least thirty-one." The sentence, "the proportion of subjunctives is large enough to suggest that it has some use," is interesting as bearing out the views of some other author*, who, while seeming to think that it has "some use," are apparently at a loss to say what that use is. In the words of others, "instinct" or their "ear " leads them to employ this moud without being able to understand or to explain to others why, in particular cases, it seems better than the indicative. Can it possibly be for the reason which leads to the use of synonyms, to avoid, that is, the too frequent repetition of the same word? It would certainly appear to be so in some instances that have come under my notice. Another reason may be traced to the schoolroom, for one author, distinguished for the purity of his style, admits that 'the use with me is simply that I was somehow taught that it was the proper thing to use 'be' after 'if.' I did not ask for any reason, but obeyed blindly." 'J'his is not the only case where this same reason holds. Coming to the other class, the grammarians, as distinguished from authors pure and simple. Professor Skeat writes: "I can only say that you have taken very great pains — that your general rule seems to be quite reasonable—and that there is 110 compulsion or necessity for using the subjunctive mood in any case, unless one wishes to do so. Its use seems to be most agreeable when real contingency is to be ex- pressed by a sentence involving be or were. And certainly the conjunction if is the one which generally goes with it. The net result is clearly that the subjunctive is in a moribund state. Dr. Sweet says, I believe, truly that it is completely dead in the spoken language. I take this to include all but flights of oratory and speeches of an ambitious character. In common talk it  ## p. 124 (#546) ############################################ 124 THE AUTHOR. sounds terribly pedantic, and that is why we may disregard it if we please. This 'obsolescent' stage has lasted for a long time. Even in middle English the subjunctive is comparatively rare. '• I think it probable that the reason why the subjunctive of 'be' has survived other subjunc- tives is partly because that verb has peculiarities of its own. In Anglo-Saxon the future and the present of all verbs were alike with one sole exception BE. Thus ic ga, I go=(i) I am going; (2) I will go." But, ic com, I am, is present only; ic beo, I be, is both present and future, but commonly future. Later on 'I am,' and 'I be,' were both common; and the above distinction was often made. But (if I remember rightly) 'I be' died out in northern English at any rate in the indicative mood. There was great confusion. Moreover, the Anglo-Saxon for 'that I may be' was neither 'thaet ic eom,' nor yet, ' thaet ic beo,' but 4 thaet ic sy!' that is, there was yet a third form, used in the subjunctive only. This separated ' be' from all other verbs. "I think we ought all to be much obliged to you. To compile statistics is highly laborious, and is not always appreciated as it should be." Prof. Henry Sweet, the author of the exceed- ingly interesting " New English Grammar," writes: "My own practice, both in writing and speaking, is to use 'were' after ' if' to express rejected condi- tion 'if it were possible,' implying 'it is not possible.' Otherwise I do not think I use the subjunctive at all except in 'petrified phrases'— that is I say and write 'if it is possible' in all cases ... I should advise young authors to follow their own instincts about the subjunctive, that is, to write it only when they speak it; but if they must set up an artificial standard, I think they could not do better than follow your rules." It should be noted that we cannot use "was" everywhere after "if":—"I do not know whether he was there or not; if he teas, I did not see him." Here "were" would make nonsense. The author of a very well known grammar writes: "I feel inclined to put the results of inquiries into the following form: It is not now necessary to use the form of the subjunctive mood except in one single instance—in the past tense of the verb ' to be.' "You can now use the indicative of the present of 'to be' in place of the older subjunctive, without offence to the grammatical sense (of which only a minimum survives in the English nation) or to the ear. If anyone likes to say 'If he be at home I will call on him,' we have a feeling that he is unnecessarily particular, and therefore a little pedantic. But you cannot get out of the necessity of saying ' If only he were here, we should,' &c. If 'was' were used, it would at once be felt to be 'bad grammar '—that is, against all ordinary usage. "I don't myself believe that the English people will ever get out of the habit of using the subjunctive mood in this single instance, ' If I were, he were,' &c, because it seems to me to mark a real need of thought. To substitute 'was' would be to confuse two very different things, and would also be felt as a weakness— that is the feeling that it is impossible he could be here, when we say 'If he were here' would not be done adequate justice to. "Why not go in boldly for the one rule; use the subjunctive only in the past tense of the verb 'to be'—or use the subjunctive only in 'were '?" While much may be said in favour of the brief "Use the subjunctive only in were," I should hardly be summing up fairly the results of the correspondence this investigation has brought me—larger, possibly, than the foregoing extracts would suggest—without giving the "suggested rule" in a form that has met with general assent, and which may easily be remembered. I am now justified in recommending the fol- lowing to those who feel the need of some guidance beyond their "ear" or "instinct":— The subjunctive mood should be used with no other verb than "to be," and then only after "if" in cases (i) where there is real contingency, e.g., "H it be thought advisable, such and such measures will be pro- ceeded With "; (2) OR WHERE DEFINITE ASSER- TION is withheld, e.g., "It is as indispensable as any other . . . if it be not more so." Where the style is familiar the subjunc- tive SHOULD NOT BE USED AT ALL, e.g., do not write, "If he be naughty, he shall go without desert." F. Howard Collins. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. IN a criticism of R. L. Stevenson's collected works, the Athenteum prints the following letter it received from Stevenson himself, after it had reviewed " Kidnapped":— I wish to thank yon for your notioe of "Kidnapped," and that not because it was kind, though for that also I valued it, but in the same sense as I have thanked you before now for a hundred articles on a hundred different writers—you who fight the good fight, contending with stupidity, and I would fain hope not all in vain; in my own case, for instance, surely not in vain. What you say of the two parts in "Kidnapped " was felt by no one more pain- fully than by myself. I began it partly as a lark, partly as a pot-boiler; and suddenly it moved. David and Alan  ## p. 125 (#547) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. stepped out from the canvas, and I found I was in another world. Bat there was the cursed beginning, and a cursed end must be appended, and an old friend, Byles the Batcher, was plainly audible, tapping at the back door. So it had to go into the world, one part (as it does seem to me) alive, one part merely galvanised: no work, only an essay. For a man of tentative method, and weak health, and a scarcity of private means, and not too much of that frugality which is the artist's proper virtue, the days of sinecures and patrons look very golden, the days of professional literature very hard. Yet I do not so far deceive myself as to think I should change any character by changing my epoch; the sum of virtue in our books is in a relation of equality to the sum of virtues in ourselves; and my "Kidnapped" was doomed while still in the womb, and while I was yet in the cradle, to be the thing it is. It may not be generally known that Stevenson at one time aspired to fill a professorial chair. The Critic recently printed an article describing this incident. The position he applied for was the Chair of History and Constitutional Law at Edin- burgh University. In the summer of 1881 Stevenson's mother read in the Scotsman the announcement that the chair was vacant. She said to him: "I am sorry that that Chair has become vacant, as I have always thought it was the one position in Edinburgh which would suit you." He replied: "I have never thought of it, but you are quite right, and I don't see why I should not apply now." He at once wrote round to his influential friends soliciting their testi- monials as to his fitness for the post. Copies of these letters were bound in a pamphlet and dis- tributed among those who had the power of filling the vacancy. These pamphlets are now exceed- ingly rare. Stevenson received very eulogistic letters from Leslie Stephen, J. A. Symonds, and Andrew Lang, among others, but did not obtain the Chair. —>•< THE AUTOGRAPH FIEND- THE following is from a circular copied from an American paper, and used by the late Sir Isaac Pitman in reply to letters asking him for his autograph:— "One of the forces not duly rated in this world is the power involved in making oneself disagree- able. "The autograph hunter is the embodiment of it, and it is his crowning glory that few have attained the distinction of being cursed as he has been, for being an unmitigated nuisance; and aroused, even in the breasts of the pious, thoughts that lie too deep, not only for tears, but for words not fit for polite society. Yet it is in proportion to this supreme capacity for making oneself odious that the autograph hunter exhibits, like the Indian, the trophies of his hunt. Nor does it seem to require the brazen hardihood of age and experience. Owing to the fact that age puts by this sort of thing with other follies, it is the youth that most indulge and most exult in this lion- baiting pastime. "One of these young fiends in Brooklyn, having scarcely attained the age of eighteen, has whole folios full of autographic scalps. His waking hours are devoted to the task of plotting against the peace and comfort of the great. Having no scruples and no humanity, he smiles at the refusals of his victims, knowing well that he has settled down upon them never to depart until he shall carry with him in triumph the plunder he is seeking. To his credit, be it said, he is no respecter of persons. Bismarck and the German Emperor are made to stand and deliver as well as Mark Twain and the Sweet Singer of Michigan; Susan B. Anthony and Von Moltke as. well as Mother Goose and K. B. Hayes. He has drawn autographs from people who have regis- tered a solemu vow b3fore high heaven never to write another. Eminent lawyers have pleaded for mercy as they never pleaded for a verdict, but they have not always been let off even with a short sentence. Distinguished clergymen, at first excusing themselves on the ground that they were too engrossed in Holy Writ to furnish the secular sort, have yielded to the inevitable in order to escape eternal suffering in this world." SIR HENRY CRAIK ON IMPRESSIONISM. SIE HENRY CRAIK, K.C.B., Secretary of the Scotch Education Department, delivered an address to the boys of Glasgow High School on the 21st ult., on the occasion of the opening of a new wing of that establishment. His subject was the training for citizenship, and he advised the curbing of the emotions, and the development of the imagination. He suggested that in the nineteenth century we had specialised knowledge too much, and forgotten that balance of judgment which is the chief quality of wisdom; that in our poetry we had torn at our heart- strings too much, and carried our feelings too much upon our sleeves; that in our philosophy we had tried to solve the insoluble, pursuing perhaps some nebulous and misty produce of esoteric philosophy borrowed from Germany; and that in fiction we had neglected the early pic- turesof domestic life—which, after all, had so much of interest, so much of tragedy, so much of comedy —and rather pursued after exaggerated types of morbid ideas in which, to use a common phrase, each  ## p. 126 (#548) ############################################ 126 THE AUTHOR. man had striven to go one better than his neigh- bour. It was quite possible we might have to wait for a time before the pendulum swung back; we might have to carry further the exaggeration of emotionalism, of what was called impres- sionism. But sooner or later some reaction would come. What if we reverted somewhat to the tone of an older age; if we repeated some- thing of that much decried eighteenth century, which we thought was wanting in enthusiasm, and sacrificed too much to form? Suppose we attempted, after all our energy of effort, to garner a few of the fruits—to seek after lucidity, clearness, and simplicity in our speculations, calmness in our judgment of politics and of social questions, order and good form in our poetry, simplicity in our pictures of human life as represented in fiction? A SMALL LITERARY PROBLEM. AGENUINE, if not very important, mystery arises out of the strange twist in Sir Walter Scott's nature which led that just and honourable man to take a gratuitous delight in hoax and humbug. The endless population of Clutterbucks and Cleisbothams, indeed, could hardly deceive the most simple-minded readers; and the authorship of " Waverley," though abso- lutely denied, soon became of the sort known in France as "a secret of Punch." But Scott made a most determined effort to mislead the world in another direction. It was early in 1813, while engaged in "Rokeby" and making his new departure in "Waverley," that his fertile brain was inspired by the idea of competing with himself by an anonymous poem. In March of that year the Ballantynes brought out the "Bridal of Triermain," pains being taken to make it appear the work of a friend, William Erskine. The thing took; the critics hailed an imitation—however inferior—of the great Min- strel; and it was not until the appearance of a third edition that the true authorship became known. Had this, however, been the whole story it would have been nothing unusual. "Waverley came out about two years later, in a similar cloud of concealment and mystification; and in 1817 another poem—" Harold the Dauntless "—was launched anonymously, and the critics were once more at fault, and hailed an inferior imitation. What makes " Triermain " a special case is that it was not a frank exercise in the manner of the "Lay" and "Marmion," but rather an attempt at a new style, resembling that of Byron's tales, and apparently modelled on "Christabel," which Coleridge asserted to be written in a new form invented by himself. But the darkness deepens when we remember that "Christabel" was not published until 1816, three years later than the poem of Scott, of which the first canto, in which the Coleridge manner is most apparent, had appeared still earlier.* And yet it is hard to resist the conclusion that Scott must have seen Coleridge's poem in MS. Although of this there seems no external evidence, yet there is the strange similarity of style and manner; above all there is the name of Geraldine's father— "Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine "—which, allow- ing for slight difference in spelling, gives the exact appellation of Scott's hero. "Christabel" was written in 1797, though not published, and Scott must have seen it in MS. before 1809. It is further remarkable that—whatever may have been the opinion of contemporary critics—a great improvement in workmanship made itself manifest in Scott's new venture. The poem is not, perhaps, as well known as it ought to be, by reason of its humour, descriptive skill, and delicate technique- Altogether the unsolved mystery remains full of literary interest. Its elucidation may be commended to those ingenious philosophers who teach that genius is but a form of epilepsy, and essentially morbid. Scott dictated his matchless " Lammermoor " in a state approaching to delirium a few years later; and the mattoid sect will perhaps attempt to account for the strange incidents above noticed by the theory of a disordered constitution. One thing, at least, they may be trusted to do : if they establish no other conclusion, they will certainly add to the already existing proofs that the disease of genius is not contagious. Note —In the atanzaa introductory to Canto First the author uaeB a distinct denial of identity with the Last Minstrel:— Nor "on—beat meed to minatrel true— One fav'ring smile from fair Buoclenoh. H. G. Keene. BOOK TALE. AWORK on Klondyke, by Mr. Harry de Windt, is to be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus under the title "Through the Goldfields of Alaska to Behring Straits." The new work by Mr. Ruskin which Mr. George Allen has unearthed, consisting of the lectures on landscape delivered to Oxford undergraduates in * The fragment first saw the light in the Edinburgh. Annual Register for 1809, no leaa than seven years before "Christabel." It was an avowed imitation (see first preface).  ## p. 127 (#549) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 127 1871, will be published with illustrations repro- duced from the author's private collection which accompanied the addresses. A story called " Poppy," by Mrs. Isla Sitwell, will be brought out this autumn by Messrs. Nelson and Co. Mr. Romesh C. Dutt, I.C.S., CLE., the late officiating Commissioner of Orissa, and author of "Civilization in Ancient India," has produced a book called "England and India," a record of pro- gress during a hundred years, 1785-1885. The preface points out that since 1837 there has been a great famine every twenty years: that while the rule of the English has been honest, it has been found necessary to call for reforms in many directions, and that other reforms await the legis- lator. What these are the book attempts to point • out. The publishers are Chatto and Windus. A second and enlarged edition of Miss Roalfe Cox's "Introduction to Folk-Lore" is in the press. The special feature of the new issue is a classified list of books designed for the use of students of the science. The publisher is Mr. Nutt. Messrs. Moran and Co., Crown Press, Aberdeen, will issue early in October an important book, "My First Prisoner," from the pen of Mr. Bartle Teeling, who has an interesting career as governor of an Irish prison and as one of the Pontifical Zouaves. The picture of Ireland and Rome of more than a quarter of a century ago will be found interesting at this moment, viewed in the light of the present political state of Ireland and Italy. The work will be published in London by the Roxburghe Press Limited. "Richard de Lyrienne," the author of the skit on Mr. Le Gallienne's book, published recently by Mr. Lane, is Mr. David Hodge, a Glasgow journalist. This is his first book. Mr. Hodge is connected with the same journal as Mr. Neil Munro, whose volume of stories of life in the Highlands of Scotland Messrs. Blackwood published some time ago. Mr. Thomas Wright, Olney, Bucks, is writing a work on "Hind Head, and Its Literary and Historical Associations." This locality is noted for the number of literary and scientific gentlemen who reside in it. Dr. Wallis Budge is editing the text of the Coptic Psalter discovered about two years ago in Upper Egypt, and the work will be published by Messrs. Kegan Paul. The manuscript was found in the ruins of an ancient Coptic monastery, inclosed in a stone box, which had been firmly fastened into the ground. The manuscript is interesting also as containing the spurious cli. Psalm. Professor George Ebers's novel, "Barbara Blomberg: a Romance of the Days of Charles V," is about to be published by Messrs. Sampson Low. Early this month Mr. Andrew Lang's book for the young, "The Pink Fairy Book," will be published by Messrs. Longmans, Green. Mr. H. J. Ford illustrates it. "Weeping Ferry, and Other Stories," is the title of a volume by Margaret L. Woods (author of "A Village Tragedy "), which Messrs. Long- mans, Green, and Co. have in the press. Golfers will get "Colonel Bogey's Sketch Book" added to their literature shortly. The author is Mr. R. Andre, of the West Herts Golf Club. Mr. F. H. S. Merewether, Reuter's special correspondent during the Indian Famine, who travelled in the stricken districts, has written an account of his experiences. This will be pub- lished by Messrs. A. D. Innes and Co., entitled "Through the Famine Districts of India." This firm also announces "The Coldstream Guards in the Crimea," by Lieutenant-Colonel Ross, C.B., of Bladensburg. Mr. Clark Russell has written a novel entitled "The Two Captains," which Messrs. Sampson Low are about to publish. Mr. James F. Sullivan has written and illus- trated a volume entitled "More Stories," which Messrs. Longmans will publish. The author of " The Devil Tree of El Dorado" has written another novel, entitled "A Studio Mystery," which Messrs. Jarrold will publish. Mr. Silas K. Hocking's serial "In Spite of Fate" is to be published shortly by Messrs. Warne. "Stories of Famous Songs" is a work by Mr. S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald shortly to appear from Mr. Nimmo's house in King William-street. The writer has spent fifteen years, he tells, upon the work, and has gathered the histories of all the world's most famous and popular songs and ballads from all sorts of sources. Mr. Beckles Willson is the author of "The Tenth Island: being some Account of Newfound- land, its People, its Politics, its Problems, and its Peculiarities." The work is the result of Mr. Willson's special correspondence from North- western America to the London Daily Mail. Sir William Whiteway and Lord Charles Beresford will write contributions to the work. Dr. Newman Hall is writing his Life. The book will be called "Sixty Years Ago, by an Octogenarian."  ## p. 128 (#550) ############################################ 128 THE AUTHOR. Mr. F. H. Le Queux is engaged upon a new story, to be called "The Eve of the Seventh Resurrection. It will be ready for publication early in December. "Steadfast and True" is a tale of the Hugue- nots, by L. C. Silke, author of "Margaret Somerset," <fec. Published by the Religious Tract Society. 2s. 6c?. "School Life at Bartram's" is another story by L. C. Silke, author of "A Hero in the Strife," "Margaret Somerset," &c. Same publishers, i*. 6c?. The second edition of "Reflections on the Art of War," price ys. 6c?., and the fourth edition of "Sanitation and Health," cloth, is. 6c?., both books by Brigadier-General R. C. Hart, V.C., C.B. (commanding a district in India), are about to be published. There will be three serial stories in the Monthly Packet during the course of 1898: "The Gospel Writ in Steel," by Arthur Paterson, a story of the American War; "The Main Chance," bv Christabel Coleridge; and " Off the High Road,'"' by Eleanor C. Price. A second edition of Mary L. Pendered's fairy tale, "To Suniland with a Moon Goblin," has been issued by Messrs. Marshall, Russell, and Co. It is a dainty little volume, being the story of one "Queer Eye," a boy of inquiring mind, who wanders it, to strange lands, where he is shown many marvellous things by a goblin guide, whose moralising on the way is quaint and amusing. The illustrations by a child of ten are remarkably clever. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton's new novel, "The Clash of Arms," will be published on the 15th by Methuen and Co., in London, and Appleton and Co., in New York, a colonial edition also appearing at the same time. The author has, during the holiday season, revisited the scene of the novel, viz., the heart of the Vosges moun- tains, and carefully verified his description of the locality. It was in this neighbourhood, many years ago, that Mr. Bloundelle-Burton was told by an old peasant the story which forms the groundwork of "The Clash of Arms," to wit, the abduction of an English girl by a French noble- man serving under Turenne, and the implac- able vengeance with which he was afterwards pursued and brought to bay by one of her countrymen. Among Messrs Harpers immediately forth- coming publications is Mr. J. M. Graham's historical novel, "The Son of the Czar." This work, first announced in March last, but held over for the autumn season, is fixed for issue on Oct. 15. The book deals, of course, from the point of view of the romance writer, with the relations between Peter the Great and the Russian Crown Prince Alexis. And the a.uthor, while not relieving the father from entire responsibility for the tragic fate of the son, seeks to remove some of the stains which have clung to the memory of the Czar in this connection, and, above all, is careful to point to the countless provocations received by Peter from the heir to his throne. "Verdi: Man and Musician" is the title of a monograph now in the press, from the pen of Frederic J. Crowest, author of "The Great Tone Poets," "The Story of British Music," and many other accepted musical writings. The name of the composer of " II Trovatore," " Otello," and "Fal- staff," is a household word, and it is matter for surprise that no English biographer has hitherto been found to give to lovers and students of his music the romantic story of his early struggles and their successful issue, or to attempt to assign to him a position, critically, among the great masters of music. The present volume, while being a complete biography, will contain the results of lengthened research into the hitherto neglected English experiences of the maestro, and will deal with the extraordinary and diverse criticisms which his successive operas evoked from the leading musical critics of the day. The vol ume will be issued on Oct. 5, in demy 8vo. form at js. 6c?., and will contain several full-length family por- traits, including a photogravure frontispiece repro- duced from the latest portrait of the composer, with his dated autograph. "A Frisky Matron," by Percy Lysle, published by Messrs. George Routledge and Sons, has received some very favourable notices, and is going very well. Mr. James Baker, the author of "The Gleam- ing Dawn," &c, has been travelling in Scandi- navia and Finland, visiting the Lap district within the Arctic circle, and the interesting mining mountainous district round Gellivara, from whence he crossed over to Russia to be present at the Faure fetes in honour of the French President at St. Petersburg. He is writing for the Pall Mall Gazette, the Queen, Black and White, and some provincial papers. Messrs. Cassell and Company (Limited) will publish in October a volume of aphoristic poems, "Quiet Waters," by Frederick Langbridge. The book—which is intended as a sequel to the author's "Cluster of Quiet Thoughts"—will have twenty illustrations by Zillah Taylor. Miss Taylor has also designed a cover and a frontis- piece for Mr. Langbridge's "Sent Back by the Angels."  ## p. 129 (#551) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Mr. David Nutt will shortly publish Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel John MacGregor's new volume of Gaelic Poems, entitled "Luinneagan Luaineach" (Random Lyrics). The volume will also contain several renderings of the original Gaelic into English verse by the author himself, as well as the Jubilee poems of "Victoria Maxima," lately accepted by Her Majesty the Queen. Messrs. W. Thacker and Co. will publish, on the 5th inst., a work entitled: "A Servant of John Company" (1825-1882), by H. G. Keene, C.I.E., author of "Sketches in Indian Ink," &c, and for many years a district judge in the North-West Provinces of India. Among other subjects the volume deals with: Posting Days in England, Fighting Fitzgerald, Daniel O'Connell, Reminiscences of the Indian Mutiny, Duelling in the Army and the part the late Prince Consort took in the abolition of the same, Agra, Calcutta, &c, Bishop Wilson, the Right Hon. J. Wilson, Lord Canning, Sir Henry Lawrence, Lord Dalhousie, Sir H. M. Elliot, Anglo-Indian Society in the days of the East India Company; interspersed with original stories and anecdotes of the times. The book will be illustrated by Mr. W. Simpson, R.I., the well- known artist and correspondent of the Illustrated London Neics, from original sketches by the author. The Quiver has arranged with Mr. W. Edwards Tirebuck for a new serial story to begin next November. It is to be called "The White Woman: An Adventure." "I was visiting Stratford-upon-Avon," a gentleman writes to the Standard, "and, while looking at a shop window, a boy of about ten or eleven volunteered the information (pointing to a photograph) that that was ' Shakespeare's house.' I inquired, 'Who was Shakespeare'(' and with a merry twinkle in his eye, the boy said, 'He stole the deer.' I said, 'I had not seen anything of it in the papers—was it recently—this week or last?' He replied, ' It was three or four years ago.' I inquired if that was all that Shakespeare did, and why there were so many pictures about of his birthplace?' He said,' He was a rich man, and lived in a big house.'" Mr. Fisher Unwin would be greatly obliged if anyone possessing information about books and etchings of the late Charles Keene, not mentioned in Mr. Layard's "Life," would communicate the same to him for the purpose of a forthcoming bibliography. If a sufficient number of guinea subscriptions are obtained, the Clarendon Press propose to publish, by the collotype process, a facsimile of the original MS. of the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon in Welsh, reproduced from the MS. of Bishop Richard Davies, and compared with the parallel versions of Salesbury (1567) and Morgan (1588). To this will be added an account of a draft petition for a translation into "the vulgar walsh tong," and a bond in connec- tion therewith, bound with the MS., and a disser- tation on some early Welsh versions of Holy Scripture by Archdeacon D. R. Thomas, Llan- drinio. A book of private letters, illustrating high life in the Elizabethan period, has been prepared by Lady Newdegate of Arbury, and will shortly be published by Mr. David Nutt. It is entitled "Gossip from a Muniment Room," and the correspondence is that of two Fitton sisters, one of whom married Sir John Newdigate of Arbury, and the other was maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth. Sir William Knollys, Sir Fulke Greville, Sir Richard Leveson, and Francis Beau- mont are among the correspondents introduced. The book will be illustrated from family portraits. The latest volume in Mr. Thomas J. Wise's library of privately-printed books is a collection of "Letters from Shelley to Hogg." These were written in 1810-11. Mr. St. Loe Strachey, editor of the Cornhill Magazine, has succeeded to the post of joint- editor and joint-proprietor of the Spectator, on the death of Mr. Hutton. The Progressive Review is dead.—The Angli- can, an illustrated church review, makes its first appearance this month. It is a monthly, price i*., and is published from 37, Norfolk-street, Strand.— To-morrow has not been issued for the last two months, but begins again now under a new publisher, Mr. Grant Richards. Another series of biographies, this time of "Masters of Medicine" of Great Britain and Europe, has been projected, and will appear before long. Among early volumes to appear will be "John Hunter," by Dr. Stephen Paget; and "William Harvey," by Mr. D'Arcy Power. Miss Beatrice Whitby's " Sunset" and Mr. F. W. Robinson's "Little Nin," are among the new novels which Messrs. Hurst and Blackett will issue this month. "This Little World" is the title of Mr. D. Christie Murray's new novel which Messrs. Chatto and Windus are to publish immediately. Miss Alcock has introduced Armenian history in her novel, " By Far Euphrates," which Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton are about to issue. The Rev. E. Convbeare, whose antiquarian researches in Cambridgeshire are well known, is  ## p. 130 (#552) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. engaged on a history of that county for Mr. Elliot Stock's Popular County History series. Particular attention has been bestowed on the part taken by Cambridgeshire in the baronial wars of the thirteenth century. A new work by Count Tolstoy is announced. The subject will be the tardy repentance of a man who is on a jury that condemns a young woman to Siberia for theft. This man recog- nises in the prisoner a girl whom he has wronged years before, and he eventually accompanies her into exile. "Manners, Institutions, and Ceremonies of the Hindus," by the Abbe J. A. Dubois, is shortly to be published by Mr. Henry Frowde. The work has been translated from the author's later French MS. in the Madras Government's records, with notes and corrections, and a biography of the author, by Mr. H. K. Beauchamp. Dean Farrar has written " The Herods" for a set of volumes called the Popular Biblical Library, an enterprise of Messrs. Service and Paton. This firm also announce "Our Churches, and "Why We Belong to Them," by Canon Knox- Little, Dr. Horton, and other preachers. A two-volume work by Mr. J. E. C. Bodley, on "France since the Revolution," is to be published by Messrs. Macmillan. The 6nal part of " Flora of British India," by Sir Joseph Hooker, will be issued this month by Messrs. L. Reeve and Co., who have also in hand the following:—By Mr. A. Fryer, an illustrated "Potamogetons of the British Isles "; by Miss E. M. Bowdler Sharpe, an illustrated monograph on the genus Teracolus. Dr. Jessopp has written a "Life of Donne " for •Messrs. Methuen's "Leaders of Religion" series. Mr. W. S. Gilbert is bringing his old "Bab Ballads" volume into line with his "more chastened sense of humour." The text has been revised, and a number of illustrations added. Messrs. Routledge will publish the book. A volume of poems by Mrs. Shorter (Miss Dora Sigerson) will be published by Mr. Lane this month. A monument is to be erected to the memory of Joanna Baillie at her birthplace, Bothwell, Lanark- shire. It is given by a friend of letters who wishes to remain anonymous. Mr. Owen Seaman succeeds the late Mr. E. J. Milliken on the staff of Punch. Mr. W. E. Henley's "English Lyrics" is announced by Messrs. Methuen for this month. Mr. F. G. Kitton, the well-known authority on Dickens, has discovered a number of stories, articles, and essays by the novelist. These will shortly be published by Mr. George Redway in a volume entitled " To be Read at Dusk." There will be an edition for England, and another for America, and each will contain matter that the other will not. Mr. Aylmer Gowing's new book "Merely Players" is now ready. The publishers are F. V. White and Co. Messrs. Barnicott and Pearce, of Taunton, have issued "Memorials of Wells and Glastonbury," in the shape of two cards, each with collotype views of the cathedral and the abbey respectively, with sonnets by the Rev. Prebendary Godfrey Thring, well known for his hymn "Fierce raged the tempest o'er the deep," and others, in the collection of Ancient and Modern Hymns. Those who know these monuments may note that the cards can be had for a shilling each. Mr. H. A. Salmonc, the professor of Arabic at King's College, London, has devised and is editing a unique souvenir of the Jubilee. This is the third verse of the National Anthem metrically rendered into fifty of the principal languages spoken throught the British Empire. Sir W. B. Richmond has done an emblematic design, and each page will have a decorative border. The Queen has accepted the dedication of the volume, which will be published by Mr. Nutt at Christ- mas. The long legal and political career of the late Sir John Simon, serjeant-at-law, formerly M.P. for Dewsbury, is to be treated in a memoir now being prepared by his son, Mr. Oswald John Simon. The biography of Lord Tennyson will be pub- lished on the 6th inst. It will contain poems and letters that have not yet been made public. Mr. R. H. Sherard is engaged on a biography of Herr Andree for Messrs. McClure. Under the title "Tourgueneff and his French Circle," Miss Ethel Arnold will shortly publish, through Mr. Unwin, a translation of various letters addressed to Flaubert, George Sand, Zola, Maupassant, Gambetta, and others. The volume is edited by Mme. E. Halperine-Kaminsky. The letters have been appearing in monthly instal- ments in Cosmopolis. The posthumous volume of stories by Mr. Hubert Crackanthorpe is to be published by Mr. Heinemann. "The Canon," by a Symbolist, is a work on ancient symbolism and mysticism which Mr. Mathews is to publish. It will have a preface by Mr. R. B. Cunningham Grahame.  ## p. 131 (#553) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. A volume of Pitt's letters to Wilberforce is to be published on Monday by Mr. Unwin. Lord Rosebery, who has seen them, describes the letters as "among the most interesting we possess of Pitt." Mr. Archibald Forbes's "Life of Napoleon III." will be published shortly by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. The memoirs of the late Archbishop of Canter- bury are to be published by Macmillan. Mr. J. Cuthbert Hadden has written a memoir entitled " George Thomson, the Friend of Burns: His Life and Correspondence." Thomson's cor- respondence, which was placed by his descen- dants in Mr. Hadden's hands, includes letters from Scott, Hogg, Bjron, Moore, Campbell, and Joanna Baillie. New material concerning Mary Queen of Scots is promised in a forthcoming biography by Mr. Hay Fleming, to be published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. The work is founded upon documents recently discovered by Mr. Maitland Thomson, the head of the historical department in the Register House, Edinburgh. Mr. Clement K. Shorter's book on Victorian Literature will be published from Mr. Bowden's house this month. Mr. B. T. Batsford has in the press the follow- ing architectural and decorative works :—" The Influence of Materials on Architecture," by Mr. Banister F. Fletcher j "Examples of Old Furniture, English and Foreign," drawn by Mr. A. E. Chancellor; "Windows: A Book about Stained and Painted Glass," by Mr. Lewis F. Day; and "Alphabets Old and New," selected by Mr. Lewis F. Day. An illuminated alphabet, and "An Almanac of Twelve Sports for 1898," both by Mr. William Nicholson, are being brought out by Mr. Heine- mann. A new volume of poems, by the Rev. S. J. Stone, author of "The Knight of Intercession," will shortly be published by Messrs. Longman. The chief poem of the volume will be in seven cantos. The volume will be called "Lays of Iona." A new story by Miss Eliza F. Pollard, entitled "A Gentleman of England," is to be published by Mr. Addison. Mr. F. Anstey has placed with Messrs. Dent for publication his new work, entitled "Baboo Jabberjee, B.A." Stevenson's last novel, "St. Ives," which Mr. Quiller Couch is completing, will be published soon by Mr. Heinemann. The Free Quakers and the American War of Independence share the interest of a tale by Dr. Weir Mitchell, which Mr. Unwin will publish in a few days. Messrs. Methuen announce " Traits and Confi- dences," by Miss Emily Lawless; "A Creel of Irish Tales," by Miss Barlow; "Josiah's Wife," by Miss Lorimer; "A Passionate Pilgram," bv Mr. Percy White; "Lochinvar," by Mr. S. R. Crockett; and "Secretary to Bivne, M.P.," by Mr. Pett Ridge. "The Tormentor'' is the title of Mr. Benjamin Swift's new novel, which Mr. Unwin will publish. The title of Mark Twain's book has been altered to " Following the Equator." Two new stories by Mr. Henty —" With Frederick the Great" and "With Moore at Corunna "—will be published shortly by Messrs. Black. Mrs. Alice M. Dale has written a novel called "Marcus Warwick, Atheist," which Messrs. Kegan Paul will publish. It is in some measure a study of the criminal laws. Mrs. Pinsent is the author of "Job Hildred," a novel to be published by Mr. Arnold. "By the Rise of the River" is the title which "Austin Clare" has given to a volume of Northumberland tales and sketches which Messrs. Chatto are to publish. Mme. Sarah Grand's novel is to be called "Beth Book," and will probably appear at the end of this month. The publisher is Mr. Heinemann, who also announces novels by Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Harold Frederic, Mr. Stephen Crane, Mr. Robert Hichens, and Dr. Max Nordan. Mr. Justin MacCarthy's volume of stories, "The Three Disgraces," is due on the 28th. Mr. Lacon Watson has depicted the life of a small coterie, settled in one of the Inns of Court, in his new volume which Mr. Elkin Mathews is about to publish, entitled " An Attic in Bohemia." Miss Violet Hunt's new story, *' Unkist, Un- kind," which has been running in Chapman is Magazine of Fiction, will to-day be published in a volume by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. From the Atlanta Constitution (Georgia) :— Instead of wasting whole columns for or against authors, the critics would do well to pattern by the example of a certain Georgia literary society of which an exohange says: "There was a lively meeting of the literary club last night, at which the secretary and treasurer engaged in a wrestling match to decide which was the best poet—Tennyson or Kipling? The secretary was for Tennyson, the treasurer for Kipling. The latter threw the secretary three times, and Kipling won out."  ## p. 132 (#554) ############################################ 132 THE AUTHOR. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Return of MSS. WILL you allow mo to point, out in The Author a very real grievance to which even experienced writers are subject. I allude to the practice of accepting MSS. for con- sideration, by editors of reviews and magazines, and retaining them for many months, after which period they are returned to their owners as no longer available. Often such papers depend entirely for their value on being immediately taken up, and are quite valueless after the lapse of three or four months. I contend that an editor of a large periodical should either pay for the privilege of keeping MSS. by him in case he uses it, or should at once return it for use or con- sideration elsewhere. A very real hardship is inflicted on many who are unable to bear the loss of income by this very common delay in returning unaccepted work. So many journalists have seen their usual weekly contributions crowded out during the last few weeks to make room for "Jubilee" matter, whereby the paper has made a rich harvest to the loss of the everyday journalist, that I represent the opinion of many when I say—editors' drawers need prompter overhauling. . Hard Worker. II.—Criticism in Conflict. The amazing divergence of opinion expressed of late as to the literary value of certain works of fiction sets one pondering over what the true standard of excellence may be, and whether those who profess to assay with fidelity the pro- ducts from Brainland submitted to them for analysis are qualified for so responsible a trust. A daily journal which provides much service- able book "chat" for its readers, recently remarked ..." one is tempted to ask one- self ... of what possible use such con- flicting criticism can be in moulding, or at least guiding, the taste of the public in literature?" Of what use, indeed? many will feel disposed to echo. The uncomfortable fact is forced upon us that there must be something rotten in the state of Denmark when such wide clefts in critical unanimity are possible. How to unite these chasms with some more stable platform as foot- hold for the intelligent reading public is the poser now propounded. I imagine the solution thereof should be best left to the appraisers themselves. Meanwhile that body must not be surprised if the already somewhat impaired con- fidence in their judgments becomes even further oosened. Cecil Clarke. Authors' Club, S.W. 21st Aug. 111.—" Dictionary of National Biography" Dinner. In the last issue of this paper, under the head "Personal," occurs an account of Mr. George Smith's dinner " to his friends and the contribu- tors to the 'Dictionary of National Biography.'" I am surprised to find Tlie Author, like all the other papers, repeating this extremely inaccu- rate statement. As a matter of fact, the dinner was given only to one, the larger, section of the contributors. The women, some fifteen to twenty in number, who have worked upon the dictionary, many of them since the early volumes, were excluded from the invitation. And this not- withstanding a printed communication (the first in the annals of the magnum opus in which we have not been addressed as Dear Sir) received shortly before, stating that publisher and editor wished, to take an early opportunity of per- sonally thanking the workers who had assisted in bringing the conclusion so near in sight. That we have not yet mastered the man's art of dining I willingly concede (although our Jubilee dinner might seem to disprove this ancient legend, and to show we have an art of our own); but that our work should be thus publicly ignored and discounted on the score of sex seems alto- gether anomalous in this year of Jubilee, when all the nations of the world have agreed that a woman's rule over one of the greatest has been of unexampled success. From the one or two contributors who meekly repaired on July 8 to a gallery at the Hotel Mctropole, I gathered that some allusion to the absent workers was made by one or two of the "guests who were not contributors," but I did not learn that anyone proposed the toast of "Contributors who were not G-uests." More illogical productions than the cards issued to us, in common with numerous female relations of the staff, a few days before the enter- tainment, I have seldom seen. Headed by the magic words, "Dinner to the contributors, &c, &c„" they went on to request those contributors to honour their host by gliding in afterwards to "listen to the speeches." No one, I think, can have worked for years at this laborious task without feeling the most intense pride and interest in all the other far more distinguished workers, and the disappoint- ment at not sharing in the general felicitations was proportionately bitter. Charlotte Fell Smith. Great Saling, Essex. IV.—An Inquiry. Can you or any of your readers refer me to any bDok containing practical directions as to the  ## p. 133 (#555) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. l33 construction of plays, with a view to their pro- duction on the stage, a glossary of terms, a concise account of the technique of the play- wright and stage manager, &c.? I beg to take this opportunity to ask also: "Where is the best guide to correct punctuation? Last year reference was made in The Author to a work published for private circulation by some Oxford printer; and it was suggested that it might be a boon to many if the work could be obtained generally. Tyro. V.—An Unpaid Magazine Article. I wrote an article which appeared in the March number of a certain magazine. Two months afterwards I wrote to the editor to ask whether the publication of an article was, like virtue, its own reward. I was answered that it was not, and that the reward would come. Six months have now passed since the paper first appeared, and the reward has not arrived. Am I justified in writing again to demand it? Or ought I to sit down quietly and wait till I get it? M. OBITUARY. MR. SAMUEL LAING was a second Wrangler and second Smith's Prizeman in 1832, became a Fellow of St. John's, and was called to the Bar in 1837. He entered Parliament in 1852, after being for a time the private secretary to the President of the Board of Trade. In 1859 he became Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and as Finance Minister spent five years in India. On his return he resumed the chairmanship of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Board. His career as an author dated from 1863, when he published "India and China"; then followed " Prehistoric Remains of Caithness" (1865): his best known work, "Modern Science and Thought" (1885); a novel called " A Modern Zoroastrian" (1887); "Problems of the Future" (1889) ; and " Human Origins" (1892). Mr. Laing died on Aug. 6, at the age of eighty-six. Bishop Bickersteth, of South Tokio, who died in England on the 5th Aug., at the age of forty- seven, was the author of "The Church in Japan," "The Anglican Union," and "A Basis of Christian Union." The late Sir George Osborne Morgan, Bart, M.P., was the author of several legal and political work*, and the translator of "Hexameters of the Eclogues of Virgil." Mr. Richard Holt Hutton, editor of the Spectator, died on the 9th ult., after a long and painful illness. He was born at Leeds seventy-one years ago. His father was a Unitarian minister; Hutton also qualified for this ministry, but never filled a pulpit regularly, and soon relinquished preaching. For a brief period he edited the Unitarian organ, the Inquirer, and he also held the Principalship of University Hall until his health demanded a trip to the West Indies. Then he edited the National Review, a short-lived but brilliant quarterly. From this publication his book of "Essays Theological and Literary" was reprinted. These two volumes are now included in Messrs. Macmillan's Eversley Series. His other pub- lished works are: "Modern Guides of Thought," "Criticisms on Contemporary Thought," " Words- worth and his Genius," "Shelley's Poetical Mysticism," "Studies in Parliament," "Holiday Rambles" (jointly with his wife), "Scott" (English Men of Letters series), and a mono- graph, "Cardinal Newman." He also edited the works, of Bagehot. He was intellectu- ally influenced by F. D. Maurice, and at a later date was a strong admirer of Cardinal Newman. Mr. Gladstone called Richard Holt Hutton "the first critic of the nineteenth cen- tury." He "found" Mr. Swinburne, some of whose "Poems and Ballads" first appeared in the Spectator; and Arnold,Tennyson,and Mr. William Watson owed something to him as well. Mrs. Hutton (he was married twice) died two months ago. Mr. Colin Rie-Brown died on the nth ult. in his 76th year. His published works include "Glimpses of Scottish Life" and several volumes of verse. He founded London Burns Club, and was a friend of De Quincey. The late Rev. Edward Arthur Litton was Bampton Lecturer in 1866, the lectures being subsequently published under the title of "The Connection of the Church and the Old and New Testament." Among his other works was " Introduction to Dogmatic Theology on the Basis of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England." Miss Munro Ferguson, who died of influenza on the 13th ult., was a gifted lady, the author of several novels, and possessed a decided talent for verse-writing. The late Rev. Andrew Matthews, rector of Gumley, had written several works on natural history.  ## p. 134 (#556) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. LITERATURE INJTHE PERIODICALS. Mb. Robert Barr and His Public. Letters in Daily Chronicle for Aug. 24, 28, and 31. A Warning to Novelists. A Novel-Reader. New Review for September. Maeterlinck as a Mystic. Arthur Symons. Contem- porary Review for September. Are our School Histories Anolophobe? Goldwin Smith. North American Review for September. Wanted: A Philanthropist for Research. The Academy for Sept. 18. A New Criticism of Poetry. Contemporary Review for September. Novelist v. Reviewer. Cecil M. Allen. New Century Review for September. Sir Waltee Scott's Letter Bao. G. le Grys Norgate. Temple Bar for September. Gboroes Darien. Onida. Fortnightly Review for September. Mrs. Oliphant as a Novelist. Blackwood's Magazine for September. Longfellow with his Children. Alice Longfellow. Strand Magazine for September. Jean Inoelow. Helen C. Black. Englishwoman for September. When a story which has appeared in a maga- zine under one title, is published in a volume under another title, who is answerable to the public for the inconvenience that may result? A story of Mr. Robert Barr's, when sold for serial publication, was called "At War with His Workers," and ran its course under that title, but the editor wished to call the book "The Mutable Many." Mr. Barr gave his per- mission to the change, as he says, " I think an editor, who knows his public better than an author can know it, should be at liberty to make such amendments as he deems necessary in the serial he buys." But he suggested that the editor of Tit Bits (in which the story appeared) should refund 6s. to each of his readers who bought the novel under a misapprehension. Sir George Newnes immediately telegraphed a reply, in which he declined—with much good humour— Mr. Barr's proposal. Of course such an altera- tion has occurred before, witness Mr. Hardy's "Hearts Insurgent" being resolved into "Jude the Obscure." The text of much banter by "A Novel- Reader " appears to be that writers of fiction are pandering to public demand, and ciring for the ethic foundation rather than the aesthetic. The Victorian Era, according to this critic of novelists in the lump, is the Golden Age of Fiction, and there was a vague feeling abroad last June that 10,000 British novelists were sharing the Queen's triumph. On the other hand, there are not more than six novelists ("miserable usurpers") who have never congratulated America on her love of arbitration, and never advised Crete to take up arms against half the world. This little minority kes no thought of the public; for them " vast circulation" has no charm. But the faithful 10,000—to be one of them is to be great indeed, but it is difficult. One—the " successful novelist" —" must have a perfect mastery of that brisk market whereon is quoted 'the price per thousand,' and whose jargon suggests the opera- tions of the Wool Exchange. American copyright must keep no secrets from him, and the Colonies must be taught to yield him homage and profit. Above all, he must discover a trusty ' agent' who for a trifling percentage shall act the watchdog upon the shifty publisher, and shall be quick to squeeze the welcome fiver from the pirate journals of Australasia." Nor is this all. He is only on the threshold thus far; for he has next to learn how most accurately to "feel the public pulse," and it is in the triumphant performance of this delicate duty that be best displays his genius. Still, it seems he is 10,000 to six. Only six pretenders, who follow art to a great extent for art's sake; only six who are determined to drag from the English tongue all the music with which it is harmonious; only six who leap for joy at the proper snap of a phrase; to whose vision, as they write, the world of common statistics closes its windows; who think no more of literal fact than their readers, but present that which they have found in tli9 manner best suited to their artistic conscience. The "artistic conscience" is badly wanted, according to Professor Goldwin Smith, in American histories. An examination into the histories in use has convinced him that their special fault is not that they stimulate hatred of Great Britain, but that they are deficient in literary art. This is in reply to charges of Anglophobism from various quarters. Professor Goldwin Smith does not, however, among the accusers whom he combats, mention the indict- ment against American school histories which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine a year or two ago. But he makes the following statement regarding the construction of the books:— A large, and what appears a disproportionate, space is given, perhaps even in the later histories, to the Revolutionary War, and the details of that war, some of whioh, of course, are exasperating, since the royal armies unquestionably committed excesses, are narrated with disagreeable minute- ness. But it is not necessary to ascribe this to deliberate malice. The Revolutionary War does, in fact, fill rather a large space in the comparatively brief annals of the United States. Its chief actors are the national heroes and the national types of patriotic virtue. Its inoidents, or those of the war of 1812, are about the only matter by whioh an nngif ted American writer can hope to enliven his work and appeal to the imagination of young readers. It is not in American school histories alone that a disproportionate space is occupied by the annals of war. Thirst of martial glory ia nowhere extinot, and nothing is so picturesque as a battle. It is not easy to present in a form interesting to a child a Beries of political events and characters, the issues between Jefferson and Hamilton, the  ## p. 135 (#557) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i35 struggles between Adams and Jackson, or even the political contest with slavery. Nor can an ordinary writer lend piotnresqnenesB to the progress of social improvement, of commerce, or of invention. A writer in the Academy appeals for more support being given by this country to Oriental studies. In England, he says, a few unpaid chairs at the Universities is all that has been done for advanced studies; whereas in France there are schools subsidised on the ground of public utility, at which a student can obtain the best instruction at a trifling expense; in Austria, Italy, and Q-ermany, the same work is in part done by the Imperial and Royal Academies; while in America similar institutions, founded by individual generosity, are springing up every year. As the Treasury will hardly allow the British Museum enough money to bind its books, it is useless, says the writer, to expect any help from Government. What is wanted is some means by which those versed in advanced studies can find a steady, if small, market for their wares, such as is provided in France by foundations like the Musue Guimet. The providing of these facili- ties would, the writer says, be " a way in which some philanthropic lover of learning might do much to take away England's reproach as the most unkind country in the world to scholars." At the present time no publisher will risk the expense of publishing the result of the student's researches, for they can never appeal to any but a few readers. The philanthropist is to provide a certain sum every year, to be given to the author of advanced works dealing with any branch of study that he may affect, a committee deciding on the merits of the works. .£500—say the interest on ,£20,000—would suffice for the production of one large or several smaller works every year, and yet give a handsome reward to the authors. Poetry has been used very ill by the critics, says a Contemporary Reviewer. It was always thus, indeed, but the modern methods are novel. If a writer uses a quaint epithet from Milton, he is accused of plagiarism; the actual text of a poem may be parodied, and so rendered ridiculous. Then there is the log-rolling art, "in the greatest request among the younger members of the poetic brotherhood "; and, deadliest method of modern critical ill-will, there is the conspiracy of silence, now greatly in use. The writer of the article supports the suggestion of Mr. Charles Leonard Moore—the author of a half-serious paper in an American review—that critics should adopt a scheme of assigning so many marks to the various kinds of excellence which make up a poetical whole. The result, at any rate, would be to make it more difficult for a critic who is really ignorant of the elements of his art to pose as an omniscient judge. THE BOOKS OP THE MONTH. [August 24 to Sept. 23.—201 Books.] Agar, E. [War Office]. Methuen. 6/- Isbister. Boxburghe. Unwin. 6/- Unwin. 8/«. Religious Tract Society. Gardner. First Principles of Electricity and Magnetism. 3/6. 3 (i. 8/- Oxford Skcfflngton. Macmillan. Marshall Unwln. : filackwell. J. Bowden. Pearson. Bell. Richard Dent. Handbook of the German Army. 1/fl Eyre and Spottiswoode. Alcock, D. Doctor Adrian. 8 - Religious Tract Society. Amarga Naranja. The Settling of Bertie Merian. 6/- Bristol: Arrowsmith. Andrews, Frederic B. Yet. 5 - Unwln. Anderson, Msry. Tales of the Bock. 3/6. Downey. Anonymous (author of "Eric's Good News "). On the Edge of a Moor. 8/- Religious Tract Society. Anonymous (the author of " The Spirit of Love "). Daughters of the City. 3,6. Boxburghe. Anonymous. Posterity: Its Verdicts and its Methods. Williams and Norgate. Anonymous (" A Member of the Aristocracy "). The Art of Con- versing. 2/6. Warne. Armstrong, Annie E. Mona St. Claire. 3/6. Warne. Ashmead-Uartlett, Sir E. The Battlefields of The ssaly. !>/- Murray. 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Old Tales from Greece. 2/6.  ## p. 136 (#559) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. Crown 8vo., Cloth Boards, Silver Lettering, Price 6s. A LADY OF WALES. "AStopy of the Siege of Chester, 1645." BY THE Rey. VINCENT J. LEATHERDALE, M.A. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's -buildings, E.O. Demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s. 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Hap and Twenty-sis Illustrations, By II. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PART L Chapter L—The Land of Oold and the Way there. „ II.—Across Desert and Veldt. ,, IH,—Johannesburg the Golden. „ IV.—A Transvaal Coach Journey. „ V.—Natal: the South African Garden. ,, VI.—Ostracised In Africa. Home with the Swallows. PAET II.—BAMBLES IN EHODESIA. Chapter I.—Eendragt Maakt Magt. „ IL—Into the Country of Lobengula. „ III.—The Trail of War. ,, IV.—Goldmining, Ancient and Modern. „ V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. „ VL—To Northern MaBhonaland. „ VIL—Primitive Art The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-bnildings, Z.C. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 6s. HATHERSAGE: A Tale of North Derbyshire. . BY CHARLES EDMUND HALL, Author of " An Ancient Ancestor," Ac. RECENT VERSE. LYRICS. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered, price 6s. NORTH COUNTRY BALLADS. By HENRY TODD. Price 5s. TALES IN VERSE. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered, price 5s. SONGS OF THE CASCADES. By ERL VIKING. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 8s. Od. SONGS OF THE PINEWOODS. By ARTHUR CAMP- BELL. Price 3a. Gd. THE FAIREST OF THE ANGELS, and Other Verse. By MABY COLBORNE-VEEL. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. "Some of the shorter lyrics are much above the average, being clear in thought and musical in expression. The merits of the collec- tion are considerable."—The Bookman, THE WANDERER EN THE LAND OF CYBI, and other Poems (1886-93). By OLIFFOBD BKOOKS. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. POEMS. By THOMAS BARLOW. Crown 8vo., bevelled boards, gilt edges, price 5s. POEMS. By LEWIS BROCKMAN. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, 6s. 11 The balladB are full of the spirit and directness of style proper to the ballad."—Saturday Review, "Mr. Brockman is a writer of good poetic mettle, and no doubt the reading world will hear more of him yet."—Glasgow Herald. "The graceful smoothness of Mr. Lewis Brockman's poems."— Daily Telegraph. "He Is decidedly inventive, and often highly imaginative. . . . The element of originality pervades the book. . . . His long poem, 'Ronald's Cross/ is well sustained . . . it is like the plaint of the 1 Mariner,* and it holds us."— Queen. "A reader who values cultured sentiments and flawless versifica- tion will find much to admire,"—Scotsman. London: HORACB Cox, Windsor House, Bread's Buildings. E.C. Demy 8vo., with Map and Illustrations, price 10s. 6d. AN AUSTRALIAN IN CHINA: Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Acros China to British Burma. Bv G. E. MORRISON 11 Mr. Morrison is an Australian doctor who has achieved probably the most remarkable journey through the Flowery Land ever attempted by a Christian. ... He was entirely unarmed and unaccompanied, save for the coolies who carried his baggage. Such a journey—three thousand miles in length—could not fall to present many curious customs and as many curious people. But it is owing entirely to Dr. Morrison's graphic manner of description, and his acutely keen observation, that his travels are such a reality to the reader. This portly volume is one of the most interesting books of travel of the many published this year. It is frank, original, and quite ungarnished by adventitious colouring."—St. James's Budget. "One of the most interesting books of travel we remember to have read."—European Mail. "A very lively book of travel. . . . His account of the walk of 1600 miles from Chungking to Burma, over the remotest districts of Western China, is full of interest."—The Time*. u Dr. Morrison writes crisply, sensibly, humorously, and with an engaging frankness. . . . There is not a pago he has written that is not worth the perusal of the student of China and the Chinese."— The Scotsman. "By far the most interesting and entertaining narrative of travel in the Flowery Land that has appeared for several years."—The World. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream'a-buildings, E.G. London : Horace Cox, Windsor House, BreamVbuildings, E.G.  ## p. 136 (#560) ############################################ iv AD VER TISEMENTS. TIEIIE MERCANTILE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. (Manageress-MISS MORGAN.) 158, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from lOd. per 1000 words. Special Terms for Contract Work. All descriptions of Typewriting, Shorthand, and Translation work exeonted with accuracy and despatch. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE TYPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prioes. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest ; OPINIONS Of CLTEMTS.—Distinqcished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever seen." Lady of Title:—"The f work was wry well and clearly done." Provincial Editor:—" Many thanks for the Bpotleas neatness and beautiful accuracy." MISS GKNTKY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C Typewriting by Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (ESTABLISHED 1898.) Authors* MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors* References. TYPEWRITING ACCURATELY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED. rOSTAGE PAID. PLEASE GIVE TRIAL. MISS RAINES, 11. Falconer Chambers, Scarborough. Royal 8vo., price 16s. net. Sporting Days in Southern India: BEING REMINISCENCES OF TWENTY TRIPS IN PURSUIT OP BIG GAME, CHIEFLY IN THE JNADRAS PRESIDENCY. BY Lieut.-Col. A. J. 0. POLLOCK, Royal Scots Fitters. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY WHYMPER AND OTHERS. CONTENTS.—Chapters L, LL, and III.—ThoBear. IV. and V.—The Panther. VL, VII., and VIIL—The Tiger. IX. and X.—The Indian Bison. XL and XII.—The Elephant. XIII.—Deer (CervidB) and Antelopes. XIV.—The Ibei. XV. and XVI.— Miscellaneous.' Horace Cox, Windsor Bouse, Bream s-buildings, E.C. 1. G-XH.X*, TYPE-WHITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day. or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant; also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary AgentB, Hastings House, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.C. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 08 Issue 05 (October 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 05 (October 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-10-01-The-Author-8-5 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/309/1897-11-01-The-Author-8-6.pdf 3c27f7709d2584062dafcc86b605faee 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) 1897-11-01 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages Page range in volume 137–172 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18971101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbot\ {The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 6.] NOVEMBER i, 1897. [Peice Sixpence. (General Memoranda Literary Property— 1. Educational Report 2. Motcalf r. Conway 3. The Berne Convention On BringiDg out a Book— I. Do we want a Publisher? i. Another View New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood Notes and Newa. By the Editor. The Dignity of Authorship The Autumn Lists CONTENTS. PAOE ... 187 ... 139 ... 141 ... 142 ... 143 ... 144 ... 148 ... 150 ... 154 ... 156 The Tennyson Biography The Library Association. Presidential Address The Wisdom of 1772 The Historical English Dictionary Correspondence—1. "Literature." 2. Effect of Eeviews. 3. Novelist v. Reviewer. 4. Editor and Contributor. 5. Stamps for MSS. going Abroad 6. The Bight of Reply 162 PAOK .. 157 . 159 .. 161 .. 162 Book Talk Literature in the Periodicals Two Memorials The Books of the Month ... 1(4 , 1«7 169 , 170 PUBLICATIONS OP THE SOCIETY. 1. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of hooks. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 2. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed hy Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 3. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lilt. Eyre and Spottiswoode. i*. 6d. 4. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. ! THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. I ^ rpYPE PEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prieeB. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest § process. ^ J OPINIONS OF CLIENTS— Distinguished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever seen." Lady op Title:—"The J ^ work was very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." ^ 5 MISS GENTRY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C. ^ TYPEWRITING. Authors' MSS. accurately Copied from IOd. per IOOO words. EIGHTY unsolicited testimonials. MRS. BRAY, 53, BEDFORD ROAD, CLAPHAM, S.W.  ## p. 136 (#562) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^f)e g>octefg of Jluiljors (gncoxpoxateb). 8ib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C. J. M. Babbie. A. W. 1 Beckett. Robert Bateman. F. E. Beddard, F.B.S. Sib Henrt Berone, K.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. augustine blbbell, m.p. Rev. Pbof. Bonnet, F.E.S. Bioht Hon. James Bbtce, M.P. Bight Hon. Lord Bdbghclere Hall Caini. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Mabtin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. The Earl of Desart. PRESIDENT. GEORGE MEBEDITH COUNCIL. S.I. I Austin Dobson. A. CONAN DOTLE, M.D. A. W. Dubourg. Pbof. Michael Foster, F.B.S. D. W. Fbeshfibld. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Ridxb Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthont Hope Hawkins. P.C. | Jerome K. Jerome. Budtard Kipling. Prof. E. Eat Lankesteb, FJB.S. W. E. H. Leckt, P.C. J. M. Lklt. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Eev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Mbrivale. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Bet. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henrt Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Bight Hon. Lord Pirbright, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptiste Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Mot Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphrt Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Q.C. A. W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sir W. Martin Conwat. M. H. Spielmann. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conwat. D. W. Freshfield. Anthont Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lelt. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mns.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Mollot. Solicitors | Field, Boscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Sib A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Henrt Norman. Francis Storr. DRAMA. Henrt Arthur Jones (Chairma A. W. X Beckett. Edward Eose. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thbing, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. IP. WATT & SO 1ST, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. Stick in your Scraps with STICKPHAST PASTE. Heaps better than gum, 6d. and Is., with strong, useful brush. Sold by Stationers, Chemists, Stores, Ac. Factory, SUGAR I^O-A-TP COURT, E.G. WANTED. Advanced Lessons in Novel-Writing. State Successful Works. Replies will be considered Confidential. Address— "FICTION," Advertising Offices, 10, High Holhorn, W.C.  ## p. 137 (#563) ############################################ XT b e Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vin.—No. 6.] NOVEMBER i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, bnt on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOR some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amonnt of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both 'ides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, Bign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objeoted that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it iB known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of tho3e account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. N 2  ## p. 138 (#564) ############################################ 138 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. liT VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive ITi advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice Bought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such qnestions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, yon should take advice as to a ohange of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish, ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of coarse, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHOES' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon whioh its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that al$ communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by- appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days" notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in alt cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members arc invited to- communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of Tlie Author begs to remind members of the* Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the oost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6tZ. subscription for tho year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author Bhould reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It mnst also be distinctly under- stood that the Sooiety does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amonnt, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and Bave him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to tho following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 139 (#565) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. l39 or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £g 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Educational Report. Report of the Sub-Committee of the Society of Authors appointed to deal with the Publi- cation of Educational Works. Approved by the Committee. THERE is no literary property more valuable than a successful class book. The yearly consumption of such books in elementary schools may be reckoned by the hundred thousand, and even in secondary schools a class book of repute, such as the Public School Latin Primer or Bradley's Arnold, has a sale of from five to ten thousand copies a year. Such hits in educational books, no less than in other branches of literature, are, of course, rare, yet we could name ten eminently successful school books for one scholastic author who has made a considerable income by his writings. The reason is not far to seek. Hitherto the educational writer has, as a rule, been either a schoolmaster who regards what he makes by his pen as an unexpected bonus in addition to his regular salary, or else a distinguished specialist, who, at the request of a publisher, writes a primer of history or geography in his leisure hours, and is content, for a mere nominal sum, to dispose of a valuable property because it has cost him little time and trouble to create it. It may be argued that by so doing the scholar only wrongs himself, and that not only the pub- lisher, but the general public, benefits by his care- less generosity; as a matter of fact, it is only the publisher who gains. The published price of a book is not appreciably, if at all, affected by the consideration whether the author has been paid lio or jfiiooo for the copyright; but the terms that a publisher is willing to give are determined by what the leading authorities are willing to take. In this way the market price is lowered, and the out-put of educational literature is stopped. It ceases to be a paying profession. In all branches of literature the professional author must expect to be under-bid by the amateur, but the condi- tions under which educational works appear are in some respects peculiar. Very often the inducement to write is the need the author has felt for a certain manual or class book in his own teaching, and if he can find a publisher who will produce the book he needs, and relieve him of all risk, he is indifferent to any profit. Let us urge upon all persons connected with educational literature to take over into their own hands the management, in part, at least, of their own books. A study of the notes appended to this Report will perhaps open their eyes. These notes point out at least some of the dangers to be avoided. The leading principles to be insisted on are these:— 1. Never to sell the copyright of an educational book under any circumstances. 2. To arrive at an understanding what the agree- ment gives the publisher as well as what it gives the author. If the publisher refuses to give these figures, the author should either refuse to sign the agreement, or should take advice as to the cost of producing the book, and therefore the proportion the publisher proposes to reserve for himself. A sliding scale offers a certain kind of remedy. 3. The insertion of clauses in the agreement which would prevent the publisher from altering the book, transferring the book, or killing the book. 4. Provision for improved terms if the book becomes a success. And as a further security we should urge upon all authors of educational books to join the Society of Authors, and to sign no agreement without sending it to the secretary for revision. Notes on the Cases. The sub-committee appointed for considering the present condition of educational publishing have received and analysed a certain number of cases. Notes of the chief objections to the contracts and terms for publication investigated by them are epitomised below as follows :—  ## p. 140 (#566) ############################################ 140 THE AUTHOR. Deferred Royalty. 1. The worst feature that one observes after tabulating the agreements is the deferred royalty. The author is induced by the bribe of a small sum, generally =£25, to accept an agreement by which he actually gives the publisher many thousand—say, seven to ten—copies for himself, should the book succeed! After this, the author is to have 10 or perhaps 15 per cent. Let us, remembering that even with books actually carry- ing great risk the publishers never used to venture on asking for more than half profits, consider what this means. Most of these works are small books, pub- lished at 2s. or 2s. 6d. It must be a very expen- sive little book that, offered at 2,v. 6r/., would cost more than 6d. to produce in a large edition of 6000, including advertising. This means an apparent risk of .£75. As for the cost of advertising, the sum of JE10 spent in advertising means no more than ?d. a volume for an edition of 6000. As educational books are published, the publisher gets about is. yl. a copy or gd. a copy profit, taking, oi course, an average book of the size and price under consideration. So that in, say, 6coo copies lie gains .£250, less what he advanced the author, say .£25. In fact, this agreement says, practically to the author: "Yours is the book: it is your pro- perty, your estate: if I administer it I must have for the first 6000 copies nine times your share. Afterwards, at a 10 per cent, royalty, I am to have three times your share." What is the way to put an end to the accept- ance of these one-sided terms? The first thing is to pour a flood of light upon the situation, so that everyone shall clearly understand it. After- wards to refuse the agreement on such terms, and to take the book elsewhere. Amount oj Royalties. 2. Ten per cent, used to be considered a very fair royalty. This means, however, that, with a large sale, the publisher generally gets about three times what he gives the author! Deferred Payments. 3. It is a commou practice to makeup accounts to Dec. 31, and not to pay till three, four, or six months later. This should not be consented to. It means at least three months' enjoyment of the author's money, which is more than enough. It has been contended that a large part, if not the whole, of a publisher's working expenses are frequently defrayed by this mode of with- holding money due to authors for six months or a whole year. For instance, if a publisher has to pay £25,000 a year to authors, and keeps it back for a year, there accrues to the house the sum of ,£2500 (reckoning a commercial interest of 10 per cent.) out of which to pay their clerks, accountants, and travellers. A clause in one agreement, for instance, states that accounts are to be made up once a year— say, June 30, and rendered to the author soon after that date; and the money due is to be paid on or bt-fore Dec. 31 of the same year. Therefore the account of June 30, 1896, includes all sales from June 30, 1895. The author, therefore, has none of the money due for the sales of July, 1895, until Dec. 1896. He is kept out of his money for eighteen mouths! The fact has ODly to be stated in order to show the monstrous nature of the thing. Small Sums Paid to Great Scholars. 4. There is a certain series of books, all of which have run into many thousands of copies. It will hardly be believed that the publishers have actually offered one of our greatest living scholars ,£35 and ,£40 respectively for the preparation aod editing of two books in this series! Arbitration Clause. 5. In one or two cases the appointment of an arbitrator in case of dispute is provided for, and this may frequently prove useful. But it is of the utmost importance to point out that an arbitrator after the agreement is signed is frequently quite unnecessary, because the dispute is generally as to the keeping of the agreement, which is a simple matter for a lawyer's letter. What is wanted is an arbitrator before the agreement is signed. We would suggest that the secretary of the Society of Authors should be called in to approve every agreement on behalf of the author, to meet the publisher's representatives if need be, and to procure a settlement by some conveyancing counsel, perfectly indifferent to both parties, in case of difference. Remainder Stoci. 6. In one of the cases before us the publisher binds himself not to sell off the remainder stock for a certain time. After that time he can, if he pleases, kill the book in favour of some other on the same subject by selling the remainder stock. The clause should contain a proviso that the remainder stock should not be sold unless with the author's consent. This consent would, of course, be given if the book were clearly dead. Binding Clauses. 7. The author frequently contracts not to write another book on the subject. We never find, however, the publisher entering into a similar  ## p. 141 (#567) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. contract not to publish another book on the subject. It is essential that either both or neither of the parties to the contract should be bound by such a stipulation. Royalty Lowered. 8. There is often a clause about lowering the royalty in case of bringing out the book in America. Care must be taken that the lowering should be in proportion to the actual price paid by the public. Thus, in a 6s. book, a shilling on each copy is a shilling on 4s. 6d„ i.e., 22* per cent, on the pub- lished price. If the American edition is published at 75 cents, the corresponding American royalty should be 8d. Odd Copies. 9. In one case a publisher so far presumed upon the ignorance of his author as to insert a clause stating that for " odd copies " no royalty should be granted! In other words, if a book- seller ordered single copies of the work, the author was to have nothing. Rex ipsa loquitur. "13 as 12." 10. In some agreements the royalties have to be paid on the sale of "13 as 12." This means knocking off 8 per cent, from the author's profits, and, as the publisher does not sell 13 copies as 12, except in special cases where a batch is ordered, he must not account at this rate as if the practice were universal. A Good Agreement. 11. If a half profit system is ever a good system, then we have one good agreement in the following case actually before us: i. The author is provided with vouchers for every item of cost. ii. He is not charged with office expenses—both himself and the publisher paying his own. iii. The advertisements are detailed, with date and cost. iv. All the discounts are allowed in the account. v. It is a real bond fide, half profit system, with no secret profits, and everything fair and above board. vi. "Overs " are included in the account. This will be news to most of our readers. At any printing off of an edition the press runs on to make uptime. Extra numbers—called "overs" —are thus printed, and used to supply the place of spoiled copies. In the book before us there were in three editions seventy-eight " overs," the sale of which, supposing there were no spoiled copies, meant about ,£14. Never once in any publisher's account have we seen these " overs" entered and accounted for except in this. Sale of Copyright. 12. Perhaps the most unfair clause of these agreements is that which assigns the copyrights of the book to the publisher. The dangers behind this clause are unbounded. Above all things, an educational writer must keep the control of new editions. This he cannot do if the copyright is in the hands of his pub- lisher, nor can he prevent additions, alterations, and omissions to the book except by expensive lawsuits, which may, after all, go against him. Or the book might be transferred to some other house, where it would conflict with another book on the same subject. Such transfers are not unknown. Or the publishers might resolve not to re- edit the book in favour of a new one which might sell better. Right of Author to Re cdit. 13. One additional proviso should be added to the present notes. In a case where the author sells his copyright, a system of which the society gravely doubts the expediency, but which perhaps for some reason the author might desire to adopt, it is absolutely essential that the author should bind the publisher, in case a fresh edition is wanted, to give him the option to re-edit upon a fixed notice. The following clause appears in a publisher's agreement where he has purchased the copyright: The said author, in consideration of the payments and royalties reserved to him under this agreement, undertakes, as occasion may require, to edit new editions of the said work, and supply any new matter that may be necessary to bring- the information contained in the work up to date. This is very clumsily expressed. The author, so far as the words go, binds himself to re-edit, but the publisher, on the other hand, does not bind himself to ask the author to do so. If this be the proper construction of the clause, the author might find himself in the position of having his book re-edited by an incompetent hand with no redress. _.. II.—Alleged Infringement op Copyright. Metcalf v. Conway. A suit dealing with an alleged infringement of copyright was taken before the Chief Judge in Equity. The parties were Sydney Metcalf, plaintiff, and James Conway, defendant. Mr. F. J. M'Manamey (instructed by Messrs. Lane and Roberts) appeared for plaintiff, Mr. J. T. Lingen (instructed by Mr. W. H. Piggott) for defendant. In the statement made by plaintiff it was said that about the end of 18y6 the Public Service Board issued and published certain regulations in connection with certain competitive examiua-  ## p. 142 (#568) ############################################ 142 THE AUTHOR. tions to be held by the Board, and also certain directions to be observed by candidates, together with instructions for the guidance of persons appointed to superintend at such examinations. In Feb., 1897, the plaintiff printed and pub- lished an original work of thirty-two pages, entitled "A Guide to the Public Service Com- petitive Examinations," which was duly registered in accordance with the Copyright Act of 1879. Plaintiff was sole proprietor of the copyright of this work. Defendant was editor and part pro- prietor of a certain periodical published monthly in Sydney, called the New South Wales Educa- tional Gazette. About April and May last defendant printed and published, in the issues of the Gazette for those months, certain paragraphs about the said examinations, which, in the arrangement of the matter, abridgement of the statements, and otherwise, consisted almost ex- clusively of extracts from the plaintiff's said work, with slight variations. No authority or permission had been given by plaintiff for the use of his work, or of extracts therefrom, to defen- dant, or any other person, on behalf of or con- nected with the said Gazette, and the use made of plaintiff's work in the said monthly numbers was an illegal and unauthorised infringement of plaintiff's rights, and plaintiff had sustained great damage thereby. It was asked by plaintiff that an amount be token of the profits made by defendant by the sale of the said monthly nuuibers, that the damages sustained by plaintiff by the sale of the said numbers be ascertained by the Court, that defendant be ordered to pay to the plaintiff the amount of such profits and damages, and that defendant be restrained from disposing of any copies of the Gazette containing any portion or extract from "The Guide to the Public Service Competitive Examinations." For the defence it was not admitted that the work printed and published by plaintiff was an original work, and it was denied that what had been publislnd by defendant was an illegal or unauthorised infringement of the plaintiff's alleged rights. Defendant also denied that plain- tiff had sustained any damage by the publication of the same, and said that the sale of the book ceased prior to such publication, and that his book had become obsolete owing to alterations of the regulations in the examinations. It was also said that the alleged paragraphs consisted only of a verbatim copy of the examination 2^apers, of which many hundred copies had been published and distributed by the Government, and were public property, before plaintiff printed them in his book, and that defendant was himself the possessor of a printed copy sent by the Govern- ment of every question published in his Gazette, and were the result of no independent work 011 the part of the plaintiff, and were the mere re-publication of information which was open to all the world to publish and obtain from the same source. After hearing lengthy argument, his Honour said there appeared to have been no infringement of any kind, and he was satisfied that the suit haxl failed. The suit would be dismissed with costs. —Sydney Daily Telegraph, Sept. 10. III.—The Berne Convention. The following is from Le Droit a"'Auteur • Ratification of the Additional Act and of the Interpretive Declaration of Mav 4, 1896. Sept. 9, 1897. Certain circumstances having rendered it im- possible to execute, within the period originally fixed, the exchange of the ratifications of the Additional Act of May 4, 1896, modifying articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, and 20 of the Convention of Sept. 9, 1886, and the Xos. 1 and 4 of the Final Prvtovol attached to it, as well as the Declaration interpretive of certain provisions of the Convention of Berne of Sept. 9, 1886, and of the Additional Act signed at Paris on May 4, 1896, it has been unanimously agreed that the period originally fixed should be extended to the present day. In consequence of which the imdersigned have met to sign and to deposit the present deed. Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Monaco, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Tunis have ratified the two Acts. Great Britain has ratified only the Additional Act, both for the United Kingdom and for all the British Colonies and possessions. Norway has ratified ODly the Interpretive Declaration. The copies of these ratifications having been produced, and found to be in right and due form, have been placed in the hands of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, for deposition in the archives of the Ministry, this deposition being in place of the exchange of the said Acts. (The date, Paris, Sept. 9, 1S97, and the signa- tures of the representatives of the various countries, follow.) The Droit a" Auteur adds the following interesting note: According to the fourth article of the Additional Act of May 4, 1896, this Act will come into force three months after the exchange of the ratifications by the ratifying countries— that is to say, in all countries of the Union, with the exception of Norway and Hayti. It accord-  ## p. 143 (#569) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i43 ingly becomes law on Dec. 9, 1897. From that date it will form one whole with the Convention to which it is attached, so that it cannot be separ- ately denounced. The Interpretive Declaration becomes law as soon as it is ratified. It therefore applies to all countries of the Union, with the exception of Great Britain and Hayti, from Sept. 9, 1897. — ON BRINGING OUT A BOOE. I.—Do We Want a Publisher? 1. BEG to submit the following observations for the very serious consideration of readers: What does a publisher do for a book which could not be done by a clerk of intelligence suffi- cient to carry out a work of the most common routine? First; he arranges with the printer about the printing, with the papermaker about the paper, with the binder about the binding. These matters can be so adjusted that nothing is to be paid until the first returns of the book. It will be observed that experience makes the three arrange- ments perfectly easy and a mere matter of a few minutes. He then, before he decides on the number to be printed, subscribes the book in London as a kind of feeler or guide. He knows pretty well from the number thus taken how many will be taken by the country. The diffe- rence between the cost of production and the first subscription is the "risk" of a book. In the case of books attractive by their subject or by the reputation of their writers, it is needless to say that the risk is nil; that is to say, without counting money that may have been paid to the writer. The advertising follows. It needs very little intelligence to understand that very little advertising is wanted for a book which can have but a limited demand; and, still less to under- stand that it is quite useless to advertise in papers which either have a small circulation, or deal with subjects not concerned with that of the book in question. What else does a publisher do for a book? He has travellers who "push" it: that is to say, offer it to the trade, which is already ruined by taking books at prices which do not allow them to make a living profit on them. These things being so, why cannot authors recognise the fact that the publisher is no longer necessary, and that the present method of pub- lishing should be buried and regarded as a relic VOL. VIII. of bygone days when authors were few and the circulation of publications very limited? What is to-day required, if the pecuniary results of a book are to be apportioned justly to the source of production, is for all, great or com- paratively unknown, to create a publishing agency of their own, become their own pub- lishers, and dispense absolutely with the pub- lisher. To accomplish this would necessitate no colossal task, or present any insurmountable barrier. The only one principle of difficulty involved to some would be that every author must be liable for deferred payment on account of the first outlay in the production of his work. To do this it will be necessary for the agent to arrange for the printing and production in the author's name; he himself will not be personally liable for any expenditure. Otherwise his method of procedure would be exactly the same as that of the publisher. Of course, when a work has no marketable value, or is not appreciated by the public, no advantage would result, which is only natural, and would result in a loss under any circum- stances; but if there is any profit possible to be derived, it could be obtained under this system, when a heavy loss would be the only reward under present conditions; and an author would be recompensed up to the very hilt for his works, whereas now, even in the most favourable case, he is compelled to accept but a small proportion of the published price of his volumes. When the successful circulation of books on this system was achieved, it is obvious that the old methods would fall into complete disrepute and would be aban- doned. F. B. 11. On the above proposition— It may be objected that the agent would want a warehouse. But some publishers do not keep their books in a warehouse: they let them lie at the binder's till they are wanted: they are sent out by the binder. A few copies of each book would be sufficient. The details of management would be exactly the same in all respects as at present, save and except the very important—though essential— point that the selling price of the book would be divided between bookseller and author, the agent taking only his percentage. Let us see how this method would work with a book fairly successful. We take the 6». book—our most convenient unit. If 3000 copies were sold, the figures would come out approximately as follows: 1. The cost of production may be assumed tc- o  ## p. 144 (#570) ############################################ 144 THE AUTHOR. be i«. with advertising. There is before me a publisher's account showing cost of production of 1750 copies—without advertising, q\d. a copy. 2. The trade price, covering carriage, might be 3*. id. 3. The agent's charge on all moneys received would be \2\ per cent. 4. The price paid by the public would be 4*. 6d. £ s. d. Cost of production at i*., wilh advertising 150 o o Agent's charge 60 18 9 For the author 276 11 3 487 10 o By 3000 copies at 3*. 3d 487 10 o So that the three persons concerned, the author, the bookseller, and the agent, would profit in the following proportion: Author, .£276 iii. 3<?., i.e., a royalty of is. io\d., or 31 per cent., a copy. Bookseller, £187 10s., i.e., a royalty of is. 3d., or 20 per cent., a copy. Agent, £60 18*. gd., i.e.,a royalty of 4}d., or 7 per cent., a copy. Of course, the bookseller could be " squeezed," so as to afford a still larger profit to the author; but he has been squeezed too much already. It is .greatly to the interests of the author that the trade should be treated with far greater liberality than has hitherto been the case. Take the more common case, however, where the book produced only sells about a thousand copies. How will the figures come out? There lies before me a publisher's bill in which the cost of producing 1750 copies is =£70, without advertising: £ t. d. Cost of production of 1750 copies... 70 o o Advertising 20 o o Agent 20 7 o Author 52 3 o 162 10 o By sale of 1000 at 3*. 3^ 162 10 o i.e.—Royalty to the author, is. a, copy. Royalty to the bookseller, i*. 3</. a copy. Royalty to the agent, 5J. a copy. But, it may be objected, by such a method the newcomer would have no chance. Has he much chance now? Under this method the newcomer would take the advice of the Society's reader before becoming liable: it must be remembered that the liability which interested persons always represent as the whole cost of production, is nothing but the difference between the cost of production and the Jirst subscription. This difference, when booksellers recognise the agency and understand what it means, would speedily vanish. In addition to the machinery advised by " F. B.," it is suggested that a small board, unpaid, of men and women of letters should decide what books should be taken by the agency. A business or publishing agency which admitted all books, good or bad, would very soon become a mere machinery for the production of any stuff for which the writer chose to pay. From the outset the agency must possess authority and command respect. Apart from the question of author and pub- lisher, the present methods of publishing are in many respects antiquated and mischievous. The method advocated is simple and easy. It could be started in a single day and perfected in a month, provided that a certain number—not a great many—of popular and successful writers would adopt the method. The figures given above are only tentative and approximate: in the case of writers having a very large circulation the authors' royalty would be, of course, much greater. This is only one answer to the question of " Do we want a Publisher?" The method proposed will sweep away the whole tribe of small publishers. There will remain, however, the solid houses. For instance, it is not conceivable that any body of scholars should of their own will unite in the production of an encyclopaedia; a dictionary of biography; a dictionary of antiquities; the estab- lishment of an illustrated magazine, or any series requiring thought, management, and care for arrangement and detail. These things require, first, the mind, which watches the requirements, demands, and fashions of the day; the organiser; the administrator. The method of publishing recommended by "F. B. " seems to me very good, and extremely simple. But it is not the only answer to the question. We do want a publisher, and must have a publisher, for vast fields of intellectual work which a publishing agency could only attack if it had a large reserve fund at its disposal. But for the contributor to the various departments of general literature a publishing agency, managed intelligently, would remove the whole of the fric- tion, suspicion, and jealousy which, it cannot be denied, now exists in the relations of author and publisher. W. B. II.—Another View. In the following paper is attempted a sober discussion of the relationship between authors and their public, eliminating on the one hand the  ## p. 145 (#571) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 145 purely business speculations of large or small publishing houses, such as reprints, standard collections, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and so forth, and on the other hand all contentious questions as to what relation the Society of Authors, or other official body, shall bear or shall not bear toward facilitating the path of literary beginners. And to clear the ground, a few intro- ductory remarks on the function of the publisher are necessary. The function is twofold. It is that of entre- preneur—undertaker, as the economists say; it is also that of agent pure and simple. As entrepreneur the position of the publisher is not only unassailable, it is essential. In other words, this is the legitimate branch of the publishing business. In the production of a "series " or set of "lives," it is a mere matter of supply and demand, a speculation in which the publisher contracts for his literary wares according to the quality he desires, and purveys them to the pubbc. No one is compelled to do this class of work except at his own price, and if A.'s repute makes it essential that he and he only should be intrusted with any particular division of it, A.'s price has to be paid. If, on the other hand, anyone can do the thing, it falls into the class of literary unskilled labour, and is paid for accordingly. No amount of grumbling will ever alter this. In work of this kind the initiative belongs to the publisher, and he is accordingly and rightly master of the situation. In the second division of the publisher's func- tion, that of agent, the initiative belongs to the author, and therefore he, and he only, should have control. Now, the real mischief is that the pub- lisher always, the public generally, and the author often, allow the vast difference between these two very diverse functions of the publisher to drop out of sight. Add that few, we fear very few, literary people have the least idea of the most ordinary business transactions, and the spectacle of the publisher as autocrat need arouse no surprise. It is the working of this function that we propose to examine. Having defined the subject of our paper as dealing with books initiated by the author and written by him at his own proper charge, we arrive at the necessity for a fresh division of what is after all a very large subject. We have to consider (1) books written by authors of sufficient means to pay the real expense of printing and advertising them, and (2) books written by less fortunate authors who cannot bear any expenses whatever. There will be of course a few who are able to pay a certain sum towards cost of production, but for the purposes of the argument we will classify these VOL. VIII. under the second heading and treat them as (pro- ductively) insolvent. Let us consider the second category first. It is to be feared that for persons thus situated no drastic remedies can possibly be devised. Con- sider that almost everyone above a certain level is, in these days, capable of writing a book of some sort, just as everyone is able to daub a canvas, and set piano wires vibrating on some kind of preconcerted plan. It is the average talent that is thus seeking to perpetuate its existence. But it is unfortunately the average achievement that is of no earthly interest to any- body, and only those things can possibly attract attention which contain the element of progress, lifting us out of the old ruts on to the ridges, and permitting a new survey from that vantage ground. It is quite clear that the impecunious author must offer himself to the publisher—the publisher, be it remembered, operating in his first and legitimate function, the publisher as entrepreneur. And it is unfortunately equally clear that here the stern and inflexible maxims of commercial business will operate. In risky transactions the success- ful ones have to pay for the unsuccessful. That is no fault of the publisher. Were he a thing of iron and steel, a merepenny-in-the-slot mechanism, he could not be expected to give out more than he got in. And besides, the publisher works neither for hope nor glory—he wants dividends. There is little advantage to him if a book has high literary merit but lacks sale. Such things we believe have been known. He gains no renown. On the other hand, the author stands to profit largely by such a contretemps. Directly by kudos, indirectly possibly by work, which he would otherwise have lacked. We have desired to do justice to the publisher. It is to be feared many persons not only mix the two distinct functions we have referred to, but import into the question a very debateable and wholly foreign thing, viz., the desirability of pro- viding some kind of "foundation" whereby talented and deserving authors may have their first works subsidised. In the July Author, the letter of "E. W. H." furnishes us with an example of this. He wishes to see a most portentous phenomenon—an academy, a literary publishing company, limited, and a censorship pledged to "raise the tone of English literature —all in one. This is a large order. It is most desirable that all such schemes for stimulating the production of literature be left out of account in the discussion of the vexed question of the relations between Author and Publisher. It may be desirable to adopt the o 2  ## p. 146 (#572) ############################################ 146 THE AUTHOR. principle of the Prize Essay; it would be very feasible if only some philanthropic person would provide the funds; but it is utterly beside any question arising out of publishing considered as a serious business. We are, therefore, regretfully compelled to leave the unfledged author (with his pile of manuscript which he lacks means to put into print) diffidently seated in the awful presence of the Publisher operating as entrepreneur, and the best we can do for him—is to wish him success. • * » • # If we have hitherto been genially inclined towards the publisher, and have even mentioned the word "justice " in connection with his deeds, it is only because we have not yet considered the case of those authors able and willing to finance their own works, and requiring the publisher's assistance only in his second function—-that of agent. We may say at once that there appears to be in this direction room for sharp and drastic altera- tion of existing relationships. It is a very fundamental principle, not of pub- lishing only, but of most other things also, that "he who pays the piper has a right to call the tune." But when it conies to publishing books, it appears that the author is expected to pay and be thankful that the "house condescends to accept his money. This is no personal experience of our own; it is based upon facts accessible to everybody—the publications of the Society and the very interesting little histories they contain. Enough, however, of recrimination, which, though pleasant and helpful to the intellect, can easily be overdone, perhaps has already been overdone. The point is, what is the remedy? We will first collect the facts pertaining to the average production of a book, initiated by its author, and waiting in MS. form to be offered to the public. It will readily be allowed that the details of printing and binding are purely mechanical, and that the real crux of the problem is reached when the green and gold volumes stand in the printer's (or the binder's) warehouse at the disposal of the person who has paid for them. Those volumes have to gain the attention of the reviewers, and not only of the reviewers, but of the public; they have to be distributed through- out the kingdom, perhaps throughout the world, to the public; they have to be paid for by the public, and by more or less indirect channels the amount so paid has to be collected by the author. Not so simple a matter after all. It is manitlnit that the author, even were he willing, cannot hawk his own wares. He must, at every stage mentioned above, avail himself of the services of other persons, which services will have to be paid for. But the question at once suggests itself—shall he pay exorbitantly for those services; shall he, for the sake of those services, part with all right and control over his own property, or shall he establish a state of things by which those services shall bear a recog- nised and constant and modest market value, and himself be the sole person to benefit by any exceptional favour shown by the public to his work. In our opinion the author who is in a position to finance his own output has entire mastery of the situation, and is himself to blame if he allows others to make speculative profits to his detriment. He can effect this desirable change in one of two ways—by forming a healthy public opinion, by helping to establish a compact body of prece- dents, and thus entrench his position relatively to the existing publishing fraternity: in other words by consulting with and supporting the Society of Authors before and during every negotiation he undertakes, until the various ideals striven for have become matters of course, and this is perhaps, though the least heroic, the most obviously practical way; or he can originate or assist in originating a new organisation for reach- ing the public. By this we mean the establishment of a pub- lishing centre, whose business shall be entirely confined to publishing the works of its members at a fixed percentage on cost, or, more accurately, on receipts. Nothing whatever stands in the way of such an establishment. There is no mystery, no masonic secret in the art and craft of publishing that a competent man familiar with its ins and outs cannot be secured at a fair remuneration to undertake those details of business which, as we have said, no author can with any possibility, or at least with any regard to dignity, do for him- self? We speak, it is true, without knowledge of the inner life of publishing, but having had a somewhat varied experience of commercial affairs, it appears to us inconceivable that it should be unlike all other businesses, without energy and talent of management ready to be engaged by any holder of a sufficiently long purse. To deal a death-blow to the whole system of demands for transfer of copyrights, of exorbi- tant charges for printing, of inordinate and useless expenditure in advertising, is a very simple matter. It requires only a little courage. It requires only that a few, perhaps a very few, authors of repute shall countenance the forma- tion of a Trust on business lines, and shall con-  ## p. 147 (#573) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. sent to serve on its committee or directorate, in the face of the world. There must be many persons, probably very many, who desire to publish their works at their own expense, could they be assured that the working of such a Publishing Centre would be above suspicion, and would, on the other hand, not be regarded as an eccentric and doubtfully "respectable " avenue of publicity. As a business speculation it would undoubtedly pay well. The records of the Society show that. There would be fewer victims. If no good were done, at least no harm would be done, to the interests of those who would have otherwise fallen into the clutches of the greedier type of publisher. But such an undertaking must be a business oue, ran on business lines. There must be no Utopian ideas about publishing works of genius by unknown writers. In fact, no risks whatever must be undertaken, either from the experienced or the unexperienced author. Such a Trust would not in any sense supersede or render superfluous the work of the Society. On the contrary, however eminent the sponsors, however experienced the management, the lynx- eye of the Society should watch over its proceed- ings with as zealous care as if it were a publisher strongly suspected of impending bankruptcy. The Society is and should remain a regulating agency, no suspicion of other motives (pace "E. W. H." and others) should be allowed for a moment to sully its 'scutcheon. As well the Royal Society start a manufactory of microscopes! We are advocating no impracticable system of "co-operation." Co-operation as applied to the selling of cheese and the wholesale handling of tea is a great success, but it is a co-operation of consumers and not of producers. Indeed, for our purpose it is not essential that the capital required be held by literary persons at all. It is only necessary that it be countenanced by them, and, broadly speaking, supervised by some of them. As a matter of business the organising of a publish- ing Trust on the lines indicated would not be a difficult undertaking if set about in something like the following way. Seven or more persons, being authors of repute, meet and mutually agree to form a public com- pany for the publication of their own and others' works. They draw up or adopt a prospectus setting forth the objects of the Trust, which they declare to be as follows:— (i) The engagement of a competent and expe- rienced manager, familiar with the publishing trade, to undertake the business management of the Trust's affairs. (2) The production, i.e., printing, binding, Ac., of the works of authors who are willing to pay in cash for the work done, such printing, &c.f to be given out by the Trust to competent tradesmen by tender in the usual way, and the cost price—the actual net cost price, free of all rebates, dis- counts, and allowances—charged against the author. (3) The advertising of the author's work on an estimated scale to be previously agreed on with him (with the same provision as to net cost and cash payments by the author). (4) The introduction to the retail trade and Press (by the usual recognised methods) of the author's work, the coat of such introduction being charged against the author as a fixed percentage on the transaction. (5) The collection of moneys and the crediting of same to the author. (6) The author to pay to the Trust a fixed per- centage on receipts for its services. (7) The stringent limitation of the Trust's business to the publishing of works whose authors are able to pay in advance for the work to be done, or furnish approved guarantees for the said payment. It should not be competent for the Trust to undertake any business whatever of a speculative character. Thus far for the Trust. It is clear that pro- vided a sufficient number of works be published through its agency, it would be a financial success. But in consideration of the special purpose of the organisation, and to exclude the speculative com- mercial spirit as far as may be from its councils, two useful principles might be worked into its constitution. It should not be competent for it to pay bonus or dividend exceeding, say, 7 per cent., nor to increase its management expenses beyond a certain percentage of turnover. And the author. How would he benefit? 1st, by retaining absolute control over his own productions; 2nd, by an increased revenue from his work. And the effect of this control and increased value would reach favourably over the whole field of literary work. Did he desire to sell outright, and realise at once the prospective profits, the market price of such a "deal" would be affected in his favour by the increase in average profits that would thus have come to him. Yet we believe that the financial is the least important side of the question. Literature would gain a new freedom and a new dignity by shaking off the shackles of commercialism that at present have it strongly in grip. Not only the strong and prosperous would benefit, but many would be lifted out of the ranks of dependents into that of masters of their own work. When this reform shall have been carried out  ## p. 148 (#574) ############################################ 148 THE AUTHOR. it will bo time to consider the bitter cry of impecunious genius, and how best it can be assisted on to the ladder of fame. In this paper, already too long, the test of all theories, i.e., figures, cannot be gone into. In a future article, if the Editor is willing, the practical details of such a Trust can be threshed out. But it would be an interesting thing if those of the readers of The Author who would be prepared to support such an institution by publishing through it on the terms suggested would write to the Editor and say so. By this means the amount of support the scheme would receive may be tentatively gauged. We suggest that each reader of The Author ask himself this question: "Were a Trust instituted, the workings of which (freely open to the Society's inspection) tcere recognised to be abore suspicion, and whose entry into the icorld tcere to be countenanced by men of rejmtation, should I, in that case, be in a position to place my work in its hands, pay for the cost of production and advertising, and receive all the proceeds, less a percentage for the Trust's trouble." And when each reader has answered this question to his own satisfaction, let him embody that answer in a succinct phrase, and send it on a post-card to the Editor. N. C. NEW YORE LETTER. New York, Oct. 16. THE second volume of the " Literary History of the American Revolution" has just been published by the Putnams. Like the first volume, it gives a mass of information of the most interesting kind about the intellectual and artistic activities of our country at a time when it was most alive to real subjects. One who has any interest in the Revolution or in the origin of American literature should read the whole book; but if one were picking out the most salient poiuts he might call attention to Sam Adams, the character who counted for so much during his life, and was so much in the shade a little while after. Adams, although he wrote with correctness and distinction, had his greatest influence through the action of his mind on his contemporaries, but the historical tendency of the day is restoring him to his former im- portance. Tom Paine, the most remarkable pure journalist of the time, who seemed to voice the very feelings of the people from day to day, is another exceptionally interesting figure; and the poet Freneau, the first genuine poet of American democracy, stands out vividly. The production! of a certain number of dramatic works, both by the loyalists and by the Tories, is an enter- taining episode of the times. By the way, the most interesting dramatic success of the present season in this country, is that of Richard Mansfield in George Bernard Shaw's play of the American Revolution. Everybody goes to see it. and everybody comes away somewhat baffled. The general feeling is one of satisfac- tion, which promises that the drama will hold American interest for a long time. Of course^ the principal ideas in the play deal with human nature in its general aspects, but the two quali- ties of the American character, a love of praise for this country and a love of fair play, are so cleverly mixed up by Mr. Shaw with his alternate raps at the British and the Americans, that the- national element does count for something in the attractions of the play. As for Mr. Mansfield, it has always been something of a puzzle to many of his admirers that there seems to be no more interest in him in England than there is. Nobody in America can compete with him along his line of subtle critical characterisation, and the general feeling of dramatic experts that he is the first American actor in rank—at least if an exception be made of Joe Jefferson, who is so near the end of his career—is founded on a good deal of undoubted truth. In connection with this subject of patriotism, an interesting occurrence of the last few weeks may be mentioned. Three English poets were to be put among a list of names in the new Con- gressional Library at Washington, and the large Irish societies of this country fought hard to have Tom Moore among them. He was finally excluded upon the the ground that he once made a bitter attack on Thomas Jefferson. Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. have on their list of fall books some essays by Charles William Eliot, the President of Harvard University, who writes about American affairs, especially in their educa- tional, sociological, and political aspects, with the- authority of long and careful observation, in a. strong and simple style. Another Harvard pro- duction of interest, to the specialist at least, is a new edition, in five volumes, of Professor Child's great ten-volume work on English ballads. A limited edition of the last volume is to be pub- lished by itself in gorgeous form. The new firm of Doubleday and McChire has. started a device which seems to bring the pub- lishing business still nearer daily journalism. Upon the temporary paper cover of some of their books is printed a synopsis of the contents, intended to let the casual wanderer in the book- store decide whether he cares to purchase the  ## p. 149 (#575) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 149 work. Most of our newspapers now publish serial stories, in which each chapter is preceded by an abstract of everything that has gone before. McClure and Munsey in their new book-pub- lishing ventures, as well as in their magazines, illustrate the truth of Mr. Steffen's article, referred to in my last letter; they have jumped for a vacant field. Munsey goes frankly for the greatest number, without any pretence of refine- ment—in fact, with a rather aggressive declara- tion that he does not want to be coloured by any literary tastes. The McClure Company, on the other hand, are trying to give the people as much literary quality as they can without reducing their sales. At the other end of the gamut in periodical literature stands the Atlantic Monthly, which, in its last number, celebrated its fortieth anniversary, and declared that it should stand hereafter, as it has stood in the past, for literature pure and simple, and no considerations would turn it from that path. The new venture in England, Literature, is looked upon with much interest here, but the business man's point of view—that is the point of view of the practical publisher or business manager—is that the magazine is entering a field in which in this country the Nation is impregnable. The Nation, which stands as high here as anything of the kind could, not only treats literature in much the indiscriminating and severe way which Mr. Traill promises, but has the additional appeal of political interest: yet its circulation is less than ten thousand, mainly in the colleges, libraries, and clubs. There could not be a more distinct issue than that which is presented to-day between the temptation to this kind of success and those larger possibilities which lie in an appeal to the common people. It is by no means true that the most cultivated persons are all on the side of the exclusive and severe kind of criticism. One reviewer in New York, of very high standing as a professor of English, has recently sarcastically dismissed the Atlantic Monthly from very serious considera- tion, on the ground that literature was so much smaller than life. He much prefers Harper's and the Century and Scribncr's, which aim at the heart of the Philistine. It seems to me, however, that the representative quality of these publica- tions is lacking in vital interest. If you are going to mirror the interests of the people in- discriminately, a daily newspaper is a more faithful engine, and I for one do not see what the magazine of 300,000 circulation is worth as a half-way step between the newspaper and real literature. Mr. Bret Harte in an article this month makes a point which might seem in conflict with this position, but of course is not; for to put into real literary form what should have a strong and lasting interest for the simple man is an entirely different matter, and one of the highest objects that a writer can aim at. Mr. Harte says: "We may wish him to know of what our hero is thinking—he only cares for what he is doing; we may—more fatal error !—wish him to know of what we are thinking—and he calmly skips! We may scatter the flowers of our fancy in his way; like the old fox hunter in the story, he only hates 'them stinkin' vi'lets' that lead him off the scent we have started. Action! Movement! He only seeks these, until the climax is 'run down,'" The Saturday Berieic,s attack on Bret Harte, in which he was charged with carelessness and insincerity, opens an interesting question which is far from decided; but whether Mr. Harte has reached the end of his gamut or not, he has left American literature something that few writers of his generation can equal. The most popular books during the last summer have in them some rather interest- ing facts. It will be seen that the Am>-rican literary jingo has some reason for satisfac- tion, as American books occupy so much larger place than those of any other country. The old wail about the English novelist having two fields and the American novelist only one has been raised again, the writer saying that Mark Twain, Mary Wilkins, and Bret Harte, with perhaps two or three others, are the only Americans known in England; but the demand for fiction about local subjects is so strong here now, that if any writer does not get a good circulation for a story, it simply means that he has not been equal to the thousand untaken opportunities offered by the present American conditions. This writer, by the way, says that the royalties in this country average from ten to twenty per cent. The assets of the firm of Stone and Kimball are in the hands of the sheriff. It should be noticed that this firm is really Mr. Kimball's, Mr. Stone having set up his own firm of H. S. Stone and Co. in Chicago some time ago, and being extremely solvent. The question about the importation of books which has been raised here is set at rest by the following official answer from Washington to a private letter: "In reply to your letter of the 27th inst., I have to state that a book printed in a foreign language, with the exception of the title-page and the preface, is not exempt from duty, such book not being printed exclusively in a language other than English, as prescribed in paragraph 502 of the Act of July 24, 1897." Norman Hapqood.  ## p. 150 (#576) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. NOTES AND NEWS. ATTENTION is very earnestly invited to the report of the sub-committee appointed to consider the question of educational publications. Headers are especially entreated to place their report in the nands of educa- tional writers, and the latter are urged to place themselves in the hands of the secre- tary, and to submit to him a statement of their own agreements and their results. The report has been prepared after a long and careful investigation into all the facts that could be obtained. The committee will be very grateful for any additional information. This branch of literature is, from a business point of view, the most important of any. It rests with educational writers themselves whether they will follow up the lines of action indicated in the report. They may reckon upon every assistance possible from the committee. . The first number—by this time, the second number—of Literature is in everybody's hands, and is under discussion everywhere among those who write and those who read. The importance, to the former class, of a paper wholly devoted to literature and t-qual to its responsibility cannot be overrated, while to the greater class of those who read, such a paper ought to prove of inestimable value as a guide and counsellor. There is a third class: those who write reviews. For this class, which contains a great number of persons absolutely incompetent to write, criticism simply means not even a question of liking a book or not, but a chance of saying something smart. They know no canons: they have no standards: they are ignorant of the subject on which they write: a few of them are absolutely untruthful. If, for instance, one of the latter tribe reads these lines, he will be impelled to sit down and say that I call all reviewers ignorant and incompetent. That is the kind of falsehood which he always delights to write down. I am in hopes that this new paper, which has time to prepare its judgments, and can confide the work to competent hands, will act as a model and a standard, and will put a stop to some at least of the slipshod, spiteful and inaccu- rate stuff which we have to read in some papers. A leading article—the first by Mr. Augustine Birrell—on some literary subject: reviews and criticisms: a poem—this time by Mr. Rudyard Kipling: and the bibliography of some subject: this is the table of contents of Literature. For my own part, I am sorry to see no space devoted to correspondence. I am always of opinion that correspondence is a most important part of English journalism. In America there is little or none. By means of correspondence the world hears the opinion of specialists: the writers on the staff have the subject presented to them from every point of view: the judgment of the paper is deferred until it has been so presented: the paper is kept in touch with its readers. Where there is no correspondence, there must be authority: if there is no authority, the paper is naught. The old Saturday Review, for instance, had no corre- spondence. Its influence, therefore, was measured by the authority it commanded: the belief in the wisdom of an anonymous staff. Great as that authority at one time undoubtedly was, the paper never got the same hold of its readers as the Spectator with its columns of correspondence. It is from the letters in the Times—letters on all possible subjects, letters written by the greatest authorities and specialists—that its readers are mostly instructed; and, of course, the same thing must be said of other papers. Literature may do well as an anonymous, in- dependent organ, with an amount of authority, like that of the Saturday, measured by the general belief in the capacity and the integrity of the staff. On the other hand, the interests of literature are many: opinions vary on all kinds of points: will the paper be silent on these points? Consider the variety of topics always coming before our own paper, which takes charge of one side of literature only—what certain interested persons call the sordid side. There are the group of questions connected with copyright: trans- lation: magazines: play writing: novel writing: education: lectures: the various methods of pub- lishing: what is meant by royalties: the tricks and traps of the crafty: how to meet the tricks, and avoid the traps—one could go on for columns. If so much has to be said on the business side of literature, there will be as much on the purely literary side. For instance, there are the relations of editor and author: these want a great deal more examination and discussion than they have received. That is only one point. The rela- tions of literature to the public libraries: the distribution and dissemination of books: the introduction of standards: the share that poetry ought to take in education and reading—there are a thousand subjects of the deepest interest. Let us hope that in time the new paper may take the lead, with authority, in considering these and all other questions which affect the welfare of Literature and her followers. No anecdote in the Memoir of Tennyson has been more quoted than Mr. Aubrey de Vere's story of the three  ## p. 151 (#577) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. judgments on Bums delivered to himself in the course of a single day by judges no leBS eminent than Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Sir Henry Taylor, and their amusing mutual oontradiotoriness. Tennyson forgave " those stupid things, Burns's serious pieces," for the sake of the exquisite songs, perfect as a berry, radiant as a dewdrop. Wordsworth forgave " those foolish little amatory songs " for the sake of his " Berious efforts, suoh as ' The Cotter's Saturday Night.'" To Sir Henry Taylor both songs and serious efforts wero alike tedious and disagreeable reading. We venture to suggest that gentlemen like Sir Walter Besant, who are scandalised because all the reviewers do not agree about a new book, should ponder the moral of this story. These three oritios, at all events, were not men who had failed. Why, indeed, more uniformity should be demanded in literary oritioism than in philosophy, politios, and religion, one cannot quite see, especially as questions of taste are proverbially disputable. The above paragraph is taken from the St. James's Gazette of Oct. 23. Surely the conclu- sion to be drawn is not that drawn by the writer. He presents us with three critics contradicting each other. Now, a man may be a very fine poet and a very bad critic. Of these three, two were poets of the first rank: one a poet of a much lower rank. What are the poems of which they spoke? They are written in one branch of the many Scottish dialects—I believe I am right in thinking that the country people of the east of Scotland speak a tongue that is in many respects different from that of the west. However, they are in a dialect of which about 20 per cent, of the words have to be explained in a footnote for English readers. Is there any other reason wanted to account for the fact that three English readers have arrived at three different conclusions? If the three readers had taken the pains to master the language, they would not have arrived at conclusions so contradic- tory. I am quite sure that one to whom the Burns language has been familiar from childhood reads his verse with a joy and an appreciation which cannot be felt by one who has to "look out" the words. That is the true moral of the story. The writer says that "these three critics, at all events, were not men who had failed." The true critic, the man who brings to his work learning, reading, and canons of criticism; who is quick to appreciate; slow to depreciate; and abhors the criticaster's tricks, is never a man who has failed. Quite the contrary: he is a man who has succeeded. Again, true criticism is not a question of taste. And it is impossible—perfectly impossible—for a book to be charged by two critics with possessing qualities absolutely opposite. And the chief reason why criticism is so bad, and judgments so irreconcil- able, is that criticism is regarded as a " question of taste." It is very much to be desired that one of the very few living masters of criticism would VOL VIII. give the world such a treatise on the subject as would convince some of the young gentlemen who tackle literature with so light a heart that there is very much more in the "Gay Science" than the question of how they like a book—or the author. One reason why I welcome the new venture is the hope that Literature will become an example and a model of what modern criticism should be. And I beg the above-named young gentlemen to resist the temptation—I own it is strong—to abuse me for saying that there is no criticism in our papers. Because that would not be true. The real critic, one must add, is careful not to misrepresent, not to overstate, never to set down, in a word, a thing which is not true. I should like to call attention to what seems to me a new dodge, and one that ought to be put down at the outset. An unknown person sends to a man or woman of letters a request for an answer to some question—it matters not of what nature, frivolous or ostensibly serious. He requests that the answer mav be written on an inclosed card and forwarded to him The question is always something in general terms, on the face of it made up for the purpose, and evidently invented to cover the dodge of getting a large number of signed opinions out of persons more or less popular for some private purpose of the writer. I believe in some cases it means only autographs which may be after- wards sold; in other cases it means an album of opinions which may afterwards be sold. In some cases it may mean only a collection of opinions or autographs for private use. I venture to recommend that recipients of these documents put them at once, and without replying, into the wastepaper basket. The bookstalls along the quays of France— the quays of the "other" side, are going to be swept away, This is very sad. How many delightful mornings and afternoons have we all spent among those boxes where the books were laid out to catch the eye of the purchaser! How many retired professors, dilapidated scholars, and eager book-hunters will lose the principal occu- pation of their lives! Where will they go, the secondhand—the third and fourth hand—book- sellers? I fear we cannot invite them over here, otherwise the Thames Embankment cries aloud for the booksellers' boxes, but so far cries in vain. oio There seems to be a feeling in the minds of many that they ought to put on a show of indig- nation at what is called selling literature by the thousand words. The imagination is called upon p  ## p. 152 (#578) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. to create the effigies of an author counting his words and running up the value by the introduc- tion of a thousand words here and a thousand there. It is all part, they mournfully declare, of the spirit of sordid greed which has seized upon writers of all kinds, and especially writers of fiction. The indignation iB entirely wasted, for the simple reason that it is the publisher or the editor who speaks of MSS. as of so many thousand words, not the author at all, unless it is put to him in that way. The question of length is always, and must always be, of very great impor- tance to publisher or editor. In the case of a book the main thing to find out before a pub- lisher finally decides to bring it out, is the length it will make. He used to measure the length by sheets, and now, in some cases at least, he measures it by the thousand words. In the case of an article for a magazine, it is still more neces- sary to ascertain the length, because a magazine can only afford so many pages for the paper. Now, many writers, unpractised writers, have no knowledge at all of the connection between printed sheets and written sheets. It is, however perfectly easy for anyone to understand that his page of writing makes so many words, and that there are so many words in a page of the maga- zine. So that there is nothing sordid at all about an author counting his words, but, on the contrary, the action is necessary and a part of the business of literary work. Do the indignant moralists mean that a writer is to set down his thoughts, or to spin his story, without the least reference to the form in which it is to appear? But there is another side to the question. The writer is paid, they say, by the thousand words. Formerly he was paid by the sheet, and in the last century a guinea a sheet was the common rate of pay. Twenty years ago he was paid by the page—generally a pound a page; he is still paid by the page by some of the magazines, by others he is paid by the thousand words. I can- not, for the life of me, understand what it matters. For instance, I was invited some time ago to contribute to the pages of the Illustrated London News a story which should run three months. The editor meant, and he knew that I meant, written instalments, each varying in length from 6000 to 7000 words. He was not going to count the words, nor was I, because I knew very well how many pages of my writing, more or less, without actual counting, would be wanted. I mean that I was allowed just so much space, more or less, as would not reduce me to the necessity of counting. Another personal experience. I was invited to write a story by another editor, who said, simply, "I want it about so many thousand words." Again, he is not going to count the words, nor am I. Now, I ask what difference it makes whether, as in the one case, the editor wants so many instalments, and says so: or whether, as in the other case, the editor wants so many thousand words, and says so. Oh! but it is sordid to sell by the space. Is it? Then it is sordid for a barrister to take a larger fee for a long case than a short case. It is sordid for a doctor to charge by the visit. It is sordid i to be paid by the column: by the page: by the sheet. It is sordid, in fact, to be paid at all. And this old assumption is at the bottom of the whole talk. It is sordid to be paid at all. _____ This silly prejudice is a survival of the old feeling that it does not become a gentleman to take money for anything except rents first, and official salary next. Lord Lyttelton inarches into Dodsley's shop and presents him with his "Life of Henry II." Horace Walpole despises the author who is paid. Lord Byron, at first, is ashamed of taking money. Therefore we are to be ashamed of taking money, though we live by our pens: we are to talk about sordidness of authors' gains, while we grab at every farthing we can get. There was a pretence, formerly, that every lady drove out to a dinner party in her own carriage: nobody owned to a cab. There was formerly a pretence that no gentleman could carry anything in his hand: nobody would own to not having a man servant. There was formerly a pretence that it was degrading to write for the press: nobody would own to such a practice. These pretences are gone off to the distaut past: they are almost invisible. Is it not time to leave off talking about the sordidness of looking after our own affairs? To be sure the prejudice has so far retreated that it lingers now almost altogether among those whose affairs are not worth looking after. There is no one so keen to the necessity of preserving literature from any taint of commercialism as those who by no possible efforts of their own can bring their writings within the domain of commerciahsm. Some months ago I called attention in these columns to a very dastardly outrage committed upon Mr. Robert Sherard. Some person unknown, he complained, had been amusing himself with writing letters in his name, that is to say, pre- tending to be signed by him, to editors and pro- prietors of papers, abusing and threatening violence. This annoyance ceased for a time, and has again commenced. The manager of a certain  ## p. 153 (#579) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. newspaper syndicate has written to Mr. Sherard expostulating with him on a letter " from him" addressed to editors of papers in the North of England, and the editor of the Referee has received a letter signed "Robert Sherard" threatening to horsewhip him. The only way to meet a practice such as the above is a warning advertised extensively, with the offer of a reward. The poet who flatters himself that he has erected a monument more lasting than brass, may be reminded that his monument is made of paper, and that the paper now used is warranted to crumble to dust within a certain very limited period. The authority for this terrible warning is Mr. MacAlister, the hon. secretary of the Library Association, who curdled the blood of his hearers at the meeting of Oct. 20 by this fearful announcement. The paper used by the publishers and proprietors of the journals of to-day is made chiefly of sawdust: dust it is, and unto dust it will return. Imagine the whole of the Victorian literature vanishing, say, in five or ten years' time! Picture the despair of the immortal bard who sees, in his own lifetime, the destruction of his immortality! Think of the Keeper of Printed Books, when he discovers that the miles upon miles of Victorian books have all become, like the dolls, stuffed with nothing but sawdust: the life and spirit and breath of them gone! Nothing left but the bindings, and these in a condition so dilapidated as to have even their titles illegible. Where, then, will be the name and fame of our poets, essayists, and novelists? Who will be able to give reasons for his admiration of Tennyson or his worship of Browning? Mr. MacAlister says that he has written to the leading publishers, and that " most of them had frankly acknowledged that the paper used would not last, but complained that the modern craze for cheap, but at the same time highly- finished, papers was to blame." This is a grave charge, but it does not appear who the persons are who are affected by the craze. Certainly not the public, because they do not get their books any cheaper: the tendency is in the opposite direction. Certainly not the authors, who cannot desire to witness the reduction of their works to sawdust. There remain the publishers, who are thus accused of so great a craze for producing cheaply, that they put forth shoddy wares for sale which will only last a few years. Had anybody in this Society brought such a charge against publishers there would have been an outcry. Publishers, we should have been told, are beyond all suspicion of desiring to produce cheaply. Since the charge is brought by "leading publishers" we can only recommend it to the consideration of the Pub- lishers' Association. It will, no doubt, be re- ferred to a sub-committee for inquiry, and mag- nanimity in the matter of paper will be insisted upon. Meantime Mr. MacAlister proposed the following resolution:— "(1) That the Copyright Act should be amended by the addition of a clause stipulating that books sent to the copyright libraries should be printed upon a paper of approved specifica- tion. (2) That the libraries of the country should notify publishers that they would not in future purchase books unless the paper used came up to a certain normal standard. (3) That a committee should be appointed to consider the whole question, and to take such action as seemed to them most desirable." On this subject a good many suggestions occur. Thus, a first edition, or the whole demand for a twelvemonth or for five years, might be printed on paper certain to return to its original sawdust within a certain period—say, ten years. If any demand exists for the book after five years, then a new edition would be issued on durable paper. In this way the "crazed" publisher would be able to gratify his yearning after cheap produc- tion; the people who buy the book and never wish to read it again would be happy in feeling that it was sure to become extinct of its own accord, when its place on their shelves could be swept up; and the poet who saw him- self doomed to popular oblivion, just as much as if he had been a cheesemonger, would console himself by remembering that his rivals, the bad poets, would, like him, be plunged in Lethe. Charming verses will be written on tho Common Lot. How many books, do you think, survive the first five years? Look at the lists in the Athenmum of twenty years ago. Five years is a very long life, far beyond the average; a book which could put in a claim for durable paper would bo a veteran, tried and proved, a popular favourite—good for another ten years, perhaps for twenty, even for fifty. The death of Mrs. Katharine Hodges, at the age of sixty-nine, took place a few days ago at. Chicago. The name probably conveys very little meaning to most of our readers. Some, however, may remember how in one of the " rooms "—or inclosures—in the Women's Huilding at the Chicago Exhibition, Mrs. Hodges, an elderly lady, sat at a table covered with papers, ami welcomed, all day long, a stream of visitors to whom she distributed her papers ami told her tide and the tale of others. Her ease was tho tule of her treatment by a certain firm, of American pub-  ## p. 154 (#580) ############################################ »54 THE AUTHOR. lishers. I do not know what effect was produced upon the business of that firm by the disclosures of Mrs. Hodges, or whether that firm ever answered her charges: in this country an answer would have to be forthcoming, or the result would certainly be damaging to the business of the firm concerned. However, there is no doubt that many thousands of visitors left the Exhibition with the belief that Mrs. Hodges was a greatly injured person. After this courageous act, which took up her whole time while the Exhibition remained open, Mrs. Hodges founded an asso- ciation, called the American Authors' Protective Publishing Company. This company has pub- lished several works, but I am not able to ascertain how far it has proved successful in enabling American writers to do without a publisher. Mrs. Hodges was the author of several books: among them, a " History of Colorado," a " History of New York," "Fifty Years a Queen," and the "Life of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher." She was also a journalist of considerable repute. I first met her at the Chicago Exhibition, when her personality greatly impressed me for its earnest- ness and directness. She was not punishing or persecuting a publisher; she was maintaining a principle, the same principle, in fact, that we ourselves advocate continually: that the commer- cial side of literature must be governed by the same rules as obtain in all other kinds of business, so that to charge as expenditure what has not been expended is neither more nor less than common theft, and to trade upon the ignorance of an author is the part of a horse-coper or a thimblerigger, and should be considered as such by all honest people. Nor was she afraid, even in the States—where to fight a case in court is even worse, if possible, than it is here—to bring or defend an action, and to give evidence herself. She was, in a word, a brave and true and loyal woman. One who knew her well writes to me: "She worked to the last, with all her noble heart, for all that could tend towards helping writers, especially struggling journalists While she loved America, she never forgot her birthplace "—she was born in Kent—" nor her Queen, as her lost labour bears eloquent witness." Her "lost labour" was the book called "Fifty Years a Queen," which, if I remember aright, provided the subject for one of her circulars. I have spoken above of the educational sub- committee. Another sub-committee is now sitting to consider the question of book-selling general, and the discount system especially. As this is a subject which deeply interests all readers of this journal, I venture to suggest that if any of them have suggestions to make, or opinions to offer, or facta to contribute, they should without any delay communicate with the Secretary. The most important points are: (i) the probable effect of raising the price of a 6*. book from 4s. 6d. to 5*.; (2) the effect of "net " prices instead of a discount allowance for cash; (3) the expediency of allowing publishers the complete control of the whole book trade; (4) the effect of making book- sellers the mere servants of publishers; and (5) the interference with free trade. The following cutting has been sent to me. It is taken from the Middlesex and Hertfordshire Notes and Queries :— Lamb's Neglected Grave.—For long past it has been my custom to visit, onoe a year, Edmonton Churchyard, and to view the resting-place of Charles Lamb. The quotation "lies apart from the great city" is no longer applicable to Lamb's resting-place, for London has now orept up to Edmonton and surrounded it; and as for his grave, only those who know it well can succeed in finding it, surrounded and overtowered as it is by other graves. Its condition, when found, is not satisfactory, and something should be done to put it into, at least, decent order. A drawing of the grave and the monument was presented some years ago to the Authors' Society by Mr. Robert Bateraan, from a sketch made by himself. It hangs in the Secretary's office. I do not know how much it would take to keep the grave in order, but it would surely be a fitting thing for the Society to undertake this little tribute of gratitude and affection for the best loved of all English men of letters. I would suggest that someone should visit the place, ascertain what is wanted, and form a little committee for the purpose of getting a small fund and carrying out the work. I shall be very glad to receive any offers of assistance. It is not, of course, posssible for the Committee to expend their funds on this object, but, if we can get up a little committee among the members, we might submit the scheme to the Committee of the Society for their approval. Walter Besant. THE DIGNITY OP AUTHORSHIP. THE Spectator (Oct. 16, 1897) has been in- dulging itself, and pleasing its readers, with a really good old-fashioned grumble over the decay of the times, especially with regard to the "dignity of authorship." Formerly no author was allowed to put his name to what he wrote: he was expected to take humbly what- ever was given him. That gave him dignity, you see. "Mr. Blackwood," says the writer,  ## p. 155 (#581) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. •55 "expressly stated" — expressly is good — that although he made a principle " of giving prompt and liberal payment for whatever he published, he never would hold out money as the induce- ment to any man of ability to write." The author had only to accept what was tossed him with the gratitude which became his professional dignity. We understand that it is the dignity of a servant to accept whatever wages the master may offer. This, however, is now changed: "the author now employs the publisher." So low has his dignity sunk that he has now become an employer. Nay, more, "any of the dozen well-established novelists can sell his work years before a line is written. He contracts to furnish at such a date so many thousand words at so much per thousand. Nothing is specified as to the quality." Quite so. Pray, at what period in history was anything ever said about " quality" to a " well-established " novelist ?" There must be so many thousand words, which can be sold to the world as authentic John Smith." Well—but if they are authentic, why not? Should they be sold as " authentic " Dickens when they are John Smith? People want to read the John Smith whom they know and love, not auother anony- mous John Smith whom they do not know or love. The writer next laments that a magazine no longer commands the respect of the public on its own merits: this surely is not the fault of good writers, because a magazine entirely written by good writers would command enormous respect. The English magazine of the present day is falling into decay because it is not written entirely, or for the greater part, by good writers. Again, " the modern author writes for posterity, and bitter is his complaint if the editor should attempt to alter a line of his inspired effusion." Does the modern author really write for posterity? Surely, with examples as thick as autumnal leaves falling all round him, of writers once popular dropping into rapid oblivion, the modern author cannot expect immortality. Anthony Trollope, Lytton, George Eliot, are but seldom called for at the libraries; even Dickens and Thackeray are reported to be falling into neglect: Reade and Wilkie Collins are remem- bered by two or three books each: and that •m mortal work — what was it ? — of which so many hundreds of thousands were circulated three or four years ago—where is it now? No. One cannot l)elieve that the modern author writes for posterity. That he resents an editor's emendations, is quite another matter. It is part of the miserable decay of his dignity that he should not allow anyone to improve him. "The editor's rule is being rapidly reduced to one of acceptance or rejection." Not quite. There are magazines of which this cannot be said— may we mention the Nineteenth Century, the Contemporary, the Pall Mall, with some of the lighter ones whose editors are always planning and contriving in advance? There are, it is true, some of which the charge is true, but these are not the successful magazines. "The only things which influence popular opinion seriously are the anonymous journals." Is that really so? Then what of papers contributed by men who write on their own subjects? Could the writer seriously contend that a paper by a great man of science on his own subject—signed, say, by Professor Ray Lankester — would command less respect than an anonymous column in the Spectator? The writer sums up—the paper should be called "In Defence of the Anonymous," not "The Dignity of Authorship " :—" In the real reward of thought or dialectic vigour in magazine work, which is the power to influence other minds, they "—the modern writers—" are far worse off than were the gentlemen who, with not inferior talents, consented to sink their own personality in the collective unity of some organised and disciplined body of opinion. Free-lances may be very fine fellows, but it is drilled soldiers who win battles." The writer starts on one line and goes off on another. It is quite true that anonymous writing in an organ of repute may command very great authority and influence. The influence of the Spectator itself is a case in point. But the drilled soldiers may be good officers. If they are not only good officers, but known to the out- side world as such, they will command more influence by writing signed articles than by writing anonymously. That seems elementary. To return to the question of dignity. The decay of dignity is shown by the use of the new standard of measurement—words by the thousand instead of words by the page or words by the sheet. In the imagination of the writer, the man of letters is now laboriously counting his words, putting on a few or taking off a few. This is pure ignorance. The new standard is in fact a much more elastic way than the old one, as is stated elsewhere (p. 152). The alleged decay of dignity is therefore proved by the servile meanness of the author, who refuses any longer to take just what the great and magnanimous publisher chooses to toss him; and it is illustrated by the fact that he now employs the publisher instead of being employed by him! No wonder we live in a time of general decadence. Literature will never become great and grand and noble again till we return to the arched back and the bending knees.  ## p. 156 (#582) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. THE AUTUMN LISTS. THE following table of new books of the season has been compiled from the Publishers' Circular of Oct. 2. The table includes new editions as well as new books. The total number is 1941. In the classification fiction heads the list. It is needless, however, to point out that a great many under this heading are merely trifling little tales for children, or for school presents. Perhaps 120 may be subtracted on this ground as not being of general interest. When the new editions have also been subtracted there will remain about 250 books calling themselves new novels, and inviting the public to read them. Of other kinds the large number of classical, mathematical, scientific, and historical books mean niainlv educational books. Of children's books there are 178, but to this number must be added the stories already indicated published by the religious societies. Poetry seems to be slowly advancing—year after year. We may look forward to a time when the people will demand poetry as they now demand fiction. Essays are in small demand. There are two or three writers who are favourites in this branch but reputation for essay writing is extremely difficult to achieve. We note, of course, year after year, the in- creasing number of publishers. There are now sixty-five on the list. It is beginning, in fact, to be found out that publishing is about the best business going. We may expect to see this list more than doubled in a very short time. George Allen William Andrews Edward Arnold B. T. Batsford George Bell and Sons Bemrose and Sons Black, A. and C Blaokie and Son Blackwood and Sons Bliss, Sands, and Co James Bowden Burns and Oates Cambridge University Press Cassell and Co W. and B. Chambers Chapman and Hall Chatto and Windus Church Monthly J. and A. Churchill Clarendon Press T. and T. Clark James Clarke and Co Cotton Press J. M. Dent Gardner, Darton and Co. .. H. Grevel and Co Griffith, Farran, Browne W. Heinemann Hodder and Stoughton Home Words A. D. Innes Lawrence and Bnllen Crosby Lockwood and Son Longmans, Green Sampson Low, Marston Mocmillon and Co John Macqneen Methaon and Co National Society i heological. Mathematics. History and Biography. rcbitectnre. a g hildron s Books. 1 1 :ientific. S.s ED oetry. iction. oi I el ! S3 3 « 1 1 B ! i S 00 +j H 0 03 w PM P ■3 a J y 03 I 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 18 I 1 6 2 2 12 I 3 4 1 4 1 4 2 20 11 1 2 8 1 i 16 3 3 1 2 4 3 1 1 2 38 2 2 1 2 1 1 9 I 2 1 3 5 2 5 "9 2 4 12 1 8 27 3 18 5 11 4 I 6 2 4 54 5 1 6 2 6 1 1 2 1 25 3 1 2 5 1 1 13 7 1 3 11 23 '7 9 12 13 2 8 2 1 5 92 8 4 2 11 9 I 1 23 2 3 7 2 1 74 1 1 2 6 S 15 3 2 2 I 4 6 2 3 3 2 28 3 1 1 7 I 3 49 1 3 1 70 1 1 11 • 2 11 ■7 21 1 2 5 6 1 9 1 1 64 11 1 12 4 1 1 1 6 1 5 17 4 1 7 IS 1 1 7 3 2 2 2 33 8 2 4 1 1 6 2 6 3 1 10 1 30 8 1 »5 23 4 2 10 I 4 29 3 2 56 21 3 1 16 3 1 45 6 5 11 2 3 2 3 4 28 1 1 1 1 5 1 3 6 1 1 7 27 11 10 9 4 1 10 5 6 7 1 7 2 9 61 3 7 1 12 10 I 18 2 3 57 7 12 •9 13 3 «7 1 4 '7 93 1" 7 7 4 11 2 1 20 12 1 3 1 s  ## p. 157 (#583) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 157 T. Nelson and Sons J. C. Nimmo Ernest Nister David Nutt Oliphant, Anderson S. W. Partridge C.A. Pearson G. Philip and Son G. P. Putnam's Sons ... George Redway L. Reeve and Co Religious Tract Society Grant Richards Messrs. Rivington G. Rontledge and Sons Walter Scott Seeley and Co Service and Paton Skeffington and Son ... Smith, Elder, and Co. S.P.C.K Swan Sonnenschein ... W. Thacker and Co. ... Univ. C. C. Press T. Fisher Unwin Ward, Look, and Co. ... P. Warno and Co Theological. Classical. Mathematics. Scientific. History and Biography. Architecture. Letters and Reminiscences. Children's Books. Literature. | Poetry. Fiction. oi § 4ci *5 0 Sports. Total. GO a Art. a 2 K 17 9 28 1 2 1 3 1 8 14 14 4 13 2 4 7 S 3 3 40 5 3 2 2 2 1 '5 4 1 6 1 29 12 53 1 '5 16 1 II 1 I 1 "5 1 6 S 2 17 I 4 2 5 1 1 45 1 4 1 8 3 4 1 3 1 2 1 30 6 6 6 1 S 26 5 43 1 2 1 2 1 4 2 1 2 16 9 2 2 6 I 1 7 28 1 2 2 1 2 7 I 16 1 1 1 1 6 1 11 1 1 3 1 1 7 4 1 «3 1 >9 7 8 '5 5 6 6 2 6 2 1 1 29 9 3 3 18 3 36 2 2 3 32 14 2 4 1 6 66 3 1 2 4 1 11 «3 S 2 7 2 8 37 2 4 13 4 "4 7 5 49 1 3 I 1 IS '4 35 3 2 4 2 9 ~i 20 3 43 221 181 54 214 243 20 86 506 23 31 3 7' 178 45 48 1941 THE TENNYSON BIOGRAPHY.* THE biography of Lord Tennyson was pub- lished on Oct. 6, the fifth anniversary of his death. As Tennyson's letters to Arthur Hallain—" A. H. H." of these volumes—were destroyed by Hallam's father, the world now gets practically everything that can be looked for in respect of the life and letters of the late Poet- Laureate. Many fragmentary poems are pub- lished for the first time in the biography. The work lias had a distinguished reception every- where, and the Queen—to whom the Memoir is dedicated with a hitherto unpublished version of the lines to Her Majesty written in 1851 For, tho' the faults be thick as dust In vaoant chambers, I can trust. —has congratulated Lord Tennyson upon the success of his accomplishment. Personal recol- lections by Mr. F. T. Palgrave, Jowett, Tyndall, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Aubrey de Vere, and others, are included in the woi'k. * " Alfred, Lord Tennyson. A Memoir." By his Son (Hallam, Lord Tennyson). (London: Macmillan and Co.) The main facts of the late Poet-Laureate's life are well known; a notice in The Author may therefore be concerned lather with the rich anecdotal character of the Memoir. Tennyson and the Critics. The reception of his first volume of poems was so unsympathetic that he was inclined to take up residence in Jersey or the South of Prance, or Italy. He was "very sensitive," writes Jowett of Tennyson, "and had an honest hatred of being gossiped about. He called the malignant critics and chatterers 'mosquitoes.' He never felt any pleasure at praise (except from his friends), but he felt a great pain at the injustice of censure." He wrote to James Spedding in 1835 as follows:—" John Heath writes me word that Mill is going to review me in a new magazine, to be called the London Review, and favourably; but it is the last thing I wish for, and I would that you or some other who may be friends of Mill would hint as much to him. I do not wish to be dragged forward again in any shape before the reading public at present, par- ticularly on the score of my old poems, most of  ## p. 158 (#584) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. which I have so corrected (particularly 'CEnone ') as to make them much less imperfect, which you who are a wise man would own if you had the corrections. I may very possibly send you these some time." Aid after being persuaded by Mr. Gladstone to accept the peerage, he was eager "as soon as possible to get over the dis- agreeable results of the newspaper comments and abuse." This side of Tennyson is well illus- trated by the following anecdote he related about 1883 to Mr. Gladstone :—" I heard of an old lady the other day to whom all the great men of her time had written. When Froude's 'Carlyle' came out, she rushed up to her room, and to an old chest there wherein she kept their letters, and flung them into the fire. 'They were written to me,' she said,' not to the public!' and she set her chimney on fire, and her children and grand- children ran in—'The chimney's on fire!' 'Never mind !' she said, and went on burning. I should hke to raise an altar to that old lady, and burn incense upon it." The Author's Notes. A valuable part of the Memoir is the series of Tennyson's notes on his poems. "The coming of Arthur," we are told, " is on the night of the New Year; when he is wedded 'the world is white with May'; on a summer night the vision of the Holy Grail appears; and the 'Last Tournament' is in 'yellowing autumn-tide.' Guinevere flees through the mists of autumn, and Arthur's death takes place at midnight in midwinter." Some of the other notes are the following :— "In Memoriam."—It must be remembered that this is a poem, not an actual biography. It is founded on our friendship, on the engagement of Arthur 'Hallam to my sister, on his sudden death at Vienna just before the time fixed for their marriage, and on his burial at Clevedon Church. The poem concludes with the marriage of my youngest sister, Cecilia. It was meant to be a kind of "Divina Commedia," ending with happiness. The sections were written at many different plaoes, and as the phases of our intercourse came to memory and suggested them. I did not write them with any view of weaving them into a whole, or for publication, until I found that I had written bo many. The different moods of sorrow as in a drama are dramatically given, and my conviction that fear, doubts, and suffering will find answer and relief only through Faith in a God of Love. "I " is not always the author speaking of himself, but the voice of the human race speaking through him. After the death of A. H. H. the divisions of the poem are made by First Xmas Eve (section xxviii.), Second Xmas (lxxviii.), Third Xmas Eve (civ. and cv., eto.). "The Northern Farmer."—Kodon Noel oalls these two poems "photographs," but they are imaginative. The first is founded on the dying words of a farm bailiff, as reported to me by a great-unole of mine when verging upon eighty — " God A'mighty little knows what He's about, a'taking me. An' Squire will be so mad an' all." I conjec- tured the man from that one saying. The "Farmer, new style" (in " The Holy Grail " volume), is likewise founded on a bingle sentence, "When I canters my 'erse along the ramper (highway) I 'ears proputty, pro- putty, proputty." I had been told that a rich farmer in our neighbourhood was in the habit of saying this. I never saw the man, and know no more of him. It was also reported of the wife of this worthy that, when she entered the mile A manger of a sea bathing plaee, she slapt her pockets and said, "When I married I brought him .£5000 on each shoulder." Here is a specimen of his studies for his finished work :— (Babbicombe.) Like serpent coils upon the deep. (Torquay.) As the little thrift Trembles in perilous plaoes o'er the deep. (From the Old Bed Sandstone.) As a stony spring Blocks its own issue (tho' it makes a fresh one of oourse). (Fowey.) A cow drinking from a trough on the hillside. The netted beams of light played on the wrinkles of her throat. No Biography in "Locksley Hall." Replying to the writer of a book who had assumed that "Locksley Hall" was autobio- graphical, Tennyson said :—" I must object, and strongly, to the statement in your preface that / am the hero in either poem. I never had a cousin Henry; 'Locksley Hall' is an entirely imagina- tive edifice. My grandsons are little boys. T am not even white-headed; I never had a grey hair in my head. The whole thing is a dramatic im- personation, but I find in almost all modern criticism this absurd tendency to personalities. Some of my thought may come out in the poem, but am I therefore the hero. There is not one touch of biography in it from beginning to end." Jowett on Tennyson. Carlyle described Tennyson as "one of the finest looking men in the world." "I do not. meet in these late decades such company over a pipe!" Here is his picture by the late Master of Balliol:—" He was a magnificent man, who stood before you in his native refinement and strength. The unconventionality of his manners was in keeping with the originality of his figure. He would sometimes say nothing, or a word or two only, to the stranger who approached him out of shyness. He would sometimes come into the drawing-room reading a book. At other times, especially to ladies, he was singularly gracious and benevolent. . . . His repertory of stories was perfectly inexhaustible. . . . In the commonest conversation he showed himself a man of genius." Froude's Tribute. Of his happy married life ("The peace of God came into my life before the alter when I married her," he said); of his correspondence with the Queen; of his'intimacy with Browning,  ## p. 159 (#585) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i59 Thackeray, Dickens, Douglas Jerrold, Coventry Patinore, Edward Fitzgerald, William Allingham, George Eliot, with Bossetti and William Morris, and of many other relationships; of his admira- tion of Scott as having the finest imagination since Shakespeare; of his belief in the genius of Burns—his visit to Alloway Kirk, he owned, was the most treasured incident of an early journey through Scotland; and of his intense love for Shakespeare—of all these the volumes contain record. We may take leave of the biography here with quoting a letter written by the late Mr. J. A. Froude to the present Lord Tennyson: I owe to your father the first serious reflections upon life and the nature of it which have followed me for more than fifty years. The same voice speaks to me now as I come near ray own end, from beyond the bar. Of the early poem°, " Love and Death " had the deepest effect upon me. The same thought is in the last lines of the last poems which we shall ever have from him. Your father, in my estimate, stands, and will stand, far away by the side of Shakespeare above all other English poetB, with this relative superiority even to Shakespeare, that he speaks the thoughts and speaks to the perplexities and misgivings of his own age. lie was born at the fit time, before the world had grown inflated with the vanity of Progress, and there was still an atmosphere in which such a soul oould grow. There will be 110 such others for many a long age. THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION - PRESIDEN- TIAL ADDRESS. (Pro-a the Timet of Oct. 21.) THE Library Association, which was founded in 1877, began on the 20th Oct. its twentieth annual meeting in the rooms of the Society of Arts. The retiring president is Mr. Alderman Harry Rawson, and his successor in the chair is Mr. Henry Richard Tedder, of the Athenaeum Club. There were present Dr. Garnett, Keeper of Printed Books, British Museum, who introduced the new president to the meeting; Mr. J. Y. W. MacAlister, the hon. sec.; Mr. Douthwaite, of Gray's-inn; Mr. Charles Welch, of the Guildhall Library; Mr. Sidney Webb, Mr. Cyril Davenport, of the British Museum, and many others. Twenty Years' Progress. In the course of his address the President, after a brief reference to the great conference which took place in July last, said that he rejoiced to see present of the twenty-two members of the committee which organised the conference of 1877, Dr. Garnett, Mr. Douthwaite, and Mr. Wheatley. Of the others he was sorry to say only five remained. At the commence- ment the association professed that "its main object shall be to unite all persons engaged or interested in library work for the purpose of pro- moting the best possible administration of exist- ing libraries and the formation of new libraries where desirable. It shall also aim at the encouragement of bibliographical research." Before 1877 the British and American librarian had no means of exchanging experience with his fellows—no journal, no organisation. Among their publications were the handsome volumes of reports of their earlier meetings. Many regretted their disappearance. Their first attempt in the way of a journal was Monthly Notes, a modest and in many respects an adequate organ. Then came the more spacious pages of the Library Chronicle, edited by E. C. Thomas, a name ever to be remembered with affectionate regret. This was followed by the Library, for which they were indebted to Mr. MacAlister. The "Year Book" was a useful work, which at least ought to keep to its name. The "Library Association Series" contained some extremely helpful little treitises, which were not yet superseded by more ambitious attempts. As to growth in numbers, they began with a roll of 140; it was now about 550. Librarians were upon the eve of a great alteration in their position. They hoped shortly to be recognised by the State as belonging to one of the organised and professional classes. The council's report told them that a charter of incorporation would probably soon be granted by the Privy Council. In 1877 their roll included 217 names. In July last they numbered about 600 members, about seventy or eighty of whom came from America. Others were present from France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and Japan. He congratulated the association on the twenty- first number of the Library Journal, and among other publications of interest and importance to them were the catalogue of the "Bibliotheque Nationale," two volumes of Dr. Garnett's series; Mr. Ogle's and Mr. Burgoyne's interesting volumes, Mr. Pollard's "Bibliographia," and the British Museum catalogue of Shakespeare literature. Private Book-Collecting. As to modern private book-collecting, as he was addressing lovers of old and curious books and fine manuscripts, as well as librarians, the private collector as a factor in the formation of the public library should not be forgotten. It was not till the middle of the eighteenth century that book-collectors thought of prizing the dramatic and poetic literature of old England. One of the men who valued Caxtons as litonture  ## p. 160 (#586) ############################################ i6o Ulh AblHOll. was Stanesby Alchorne (died 1800), whose hooks were incorporated in Lord Spencer's library in 1813. 'Another was Sir John Fenn, who may be bracketed with the bibliographers Ames and Herbert, as a discoverer of old English dramatic and poetic literature. Next after him came the Duke of Roxburghe (died 1804), really the first who attached their due importance to the innumerable volumes and pamphlets in which English writers from 1400 to 1630 were lying neglected. This was the main feature of his col- lection, which was a very large one (30,000 volumes), and comprised several valuable manu- scripts of the old Anglo-French romances of the Round Table, which belonged as much to the literature of England as to that of France, and some books more decidedly foreign, including the famous Boccaccio of 1471. About the same period Michael Wodhull was collecting the books of the early presses, while the Rev. Mr. Crofts, Colonel Stanley, and "Don " Bowie were paying attention to old Spanish literature. Italian books had been for more than two centuries a favourite secondary pursuit with all English collectors, and it still maintained its vogue. William Roscoe kept up the tradition in a more special form, and it was not until the middle of the present century, or a little later, that Italian books began to decline in interest. The great Lord Spencer came into the field in the last decade of the eighteenth century, and spent over forty years in the accumulation of his marvellous library. The late Lord Ashburnham was of similar type, but his interest in books comprised a wider circle. The earliest traces of intellectual exercise were sought in MSS., the more ancient the more esteemed, while Morris cared little for MSS., except as examples of ornamental art during the twelfth to the fourteenth century. Lord Ash- burnham prized them for their contents, and, being also keenly alive to beauty, did not limit his appreciation of decorative MSS. to any par- ticular period. It was a remarkable test of his shrewdness and knowledge that he bought for £8000, over the heads of the British Museum authorities, the Stowe MSS., which the present earl a few years ago sold to the English Govern- ment for ,£45,000. The first of the great modern book sales was that of the library of Henry Perkins, dispersed in 1873, which was formed between 1820 and 1840. It consisted of only 865 numbers, but realised =£26,000. It included two copies of the Mazarine Bible—one (,£2680) on paper, now in the Huth Library, one (.£3400) on vellum, at one time in Lord Ashburnham's possession. Sir William Tite's library was large (about 15,000 volumes), and brought ,£20,000, and the sale was the second of the great modern book auctions, that is, of those in which a marked change in the prices of books began. It was formed bet ween 1835 and 1865, and was sold in 1874. It contained rare books which had passed through the Roxburghe, George Daniel, and other sales, Shakespeare quartos, English Bibles, in- cluding a Tyndall's "Pentateuch" of 1530-31, a blockbook " Apocalypse," and some Caxtons. The Beckford collection, of which the final sale took place thirteen years ago, was even then a marvel- lous gathering of books in all departments, except the purely English. The Duke of Hamilton's library, so far as printed books were concerned, was somewhat in the style of Beckford's-—general in character, but dashed with a by no means too prominent Scottish tinge. It was in the main gathered between 1780 and i860. The most striking books were the 1481 "Dante," with all the engravings, and the copy of Boyce's "Scottish History," printed on vellum for James V. The MSS. were, however, of matchless excellence, and unfortunately for the greater part secured by the Berlin Royal Museum. Amongst them were the celebrated "Dante" drawings by Botti- celli, and some glorious Italian illuminated works of the period of 1490-1510, besides a number of rare volumes from Burgundian and Rhenish monasteries in the eighth and ninth centuries, There was also the superbest volume of "Latin Gospels," written on purple vellum in letters of gold, in the eighth century, which had belonged to Henry VIII., but this came back to England in 1887 with several other MSS., which the Berlin authorities unwillingly sold to make up the purchase money of the whole collection. It is now in America. He next referred to the Thorold and the Osterly collec- tions. The late Earl of Crawford achieved the rare distinction of creating a library perfect in balance and completeness, representative of all branches of literature, art, and science, including the most modern books, as well as the finest examples of early typography and priceless MSS. in all languages and of all periods. The Librarian op To-Day. The first president, Mr. Winter Jones, gave in his conference address a remarkable general view of the whole field of librarianship. In twenty years the subject had become too extensive to be treated in the same manner, but he would venture to place before them a certain standard of excel- lence to which the librarian should aspire. It was rarely the lot of man to attain even a limited mastership in any calling, but it was within the compass of all to follow, even at a distance, in the footsteps of such a noble example of pro- fessional ardour and technical excellence as Brad-  ## p. 161 (#587) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. shaw bequeathed. No two libraries were exactly alike. No two University libraries, no two scientific libraries, no two rate-supported libraries had precisely the same income, appealed to pre- cisely the same public, were organised in precisely the same manner; and the qualifications of their respective librarians must also vary in as many ways. But the main qualifications were:—i. A good general education and a knowledge of several languages and literatures. 2. Next, pro- fessional training, kept up by converse with fellow- workers. 3. The study of bibliography was of paramount importance, and nothing was more absurd than to think that it could only concern rare, old, and curious books. Every printed volume in a library demanded full and exact description, and the contents of each book must be noted for the purpose of classification. 4. Love of books and reading. To the librarian reading was a duty, perhaps his first duty. He was not only the guardian of books, but had a higher office as a humble apostle of light and learning. In Milton's stately phrase, they should be " Enflamed with the study of learning' and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave men and worthy patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages." THE WISDOM OF 1772. (From "Joineriana," 1772). To The Author. WRITE not to the million, but to the under- standing few—so shall praise, in pro- portion to what you have merited, crown your endeavour. Invent not idle tales—more to seduce the heart than mend the morals. Be well assured your tale can do no harm, and promises much good. Write not for hire—that's pitiful, for the most part swelling vast volumes seldom to any profit save the bookseller's. Write not for the sake of applause, but for the sake of truth. On Books. Books, like friends, should bo few and well chosen. Books change their fashion, almost as much as apparel. There is nothing from which humanity derives so much honour. The greatest monuments of men are letters— they are not only the foundation of all, but they outlive all other. Books, to judicious ^compilers, are useful—to particular arts and professions absolutely neces- sary, to men of real science, they are tools—but more are tools to them. The Bookseller. He is generally a bad judge of everything—but his slupidity shines most conspicuously in that particular branch of knowledge by which he is to get his bread. Yet he takes upon him to cater both for the learned and unlearned, and, by the help of his bookmaker, provides plentiful messes of literature of all sorts—olios, fricassee and hashes without number and without taste. In other words, he is a cook without a pxlate. Yet the fate of the living author, in these abused and hard times, depends much upon the- caprice of this tasteless confectioner. On Literary Property. The property being once conveyed, whole and entire, from the author, for what is called a valuable consideration to the bookseller, he, the said bookseller, has an unquestionable right thereafter to multiply copies of the same after any form and manner as to his good liking shall seem best, for his own particular benefit and emolument, neither shall any have licence to utter, vend, print, pirate, abridge, hash, fritter part or parcel thereof, without the concurrence of him, the said purchaser. It is become a part of his freehold—and so I understand it to be accounted in every country in Europe—the Imperial, Royal, Ducal, or State privileges amounting to no less. He may sell, let; lease, mortgage the whole or any part thereof; he may convey in trust, give outright, devise by will. In case of any mis- fortune to himself, it becomes the property of his creditors. In the purchase thereof he hazarded a considerable part of their substance as well as his own, and it now devolves to them to make good deficiencies. But it seems it bears no title, at best an imaginary one. To the right owner, by purchase, whom it cost a thousand pounds, it is not worth a thousand pence; but to the thief, who stole it, knowing it to be another's property (there being no Law to hang such thieves) it has been worth far more than the first purchase. This appears to be a matter of some moment, upon several accounts, and, sooner or later, we hope will be thought an object worthy the atten- tion of the Legislature. I need say no more upon this head—much has been said upon it, within these few years, in the Courts of Chancery and King's Bench—but nothing has been effectually done, save that not  ## p. 162 (#588) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. only the usual but even enormous fees (too much in use of late, and advancing every Term) have been expended. At present the matter of literary property scarce amounts to any property at all, and leaves the case of authors a lamentable case indeed. For disappoint them of their booksellers and they are undone. Cry down the only market for literature, where shall they sell their ware':' Spoil them of the only patrons which modish folly and a dissipated age have left, what must become of them? They will no longer be able to wait upon ministers and managers in clean shirts and hose! Ragged and darned ones they have been contented to put up with a long while. But you would not, surely, reduce them once more to the painful necessity of hawking their histories and singing their ballads through the streets. THE HISTORICAL ENGLISH DICTIONARY. THE Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, the Rev. Dr. Magrath, Provost of Queen's, entertained at dinner on Oct. 12, in the hall of Queen's College, Dr. Murray, Mr. Henry Bradley, and others who have helped in the production of the Historical English Dic- tionary. Dr. Murray, in reply to the toast of the even- ing, gave a resumd of the work in which he was ■engaged, quoting the efforts of lexicographers of centuries ago. It was not until 1857, when Dr. 'Trench read his papers on the deficiencies of the English dictionaries and recommended the Philo- logical Society to make an effort to redress them, that the Dean and Dr. Furnivall and others took the work in hand; but Hartley Coleridge died before the letter A was completed. From that time, through various societies, dictionary work had gone on, but the interest in it fell off; and when he joined the Philological Society the move- ment had almost come to an end. In 1875 he received an offer for an effort to make a dictionary. Negotiations followed, and ultimately the Claren- don Press undertook the present work. New quotations by the million were sent in from all parts, and in 1882 began the serious work of making the dictionary. Three years later he .gave up his school work and came to Oxford; and since then, with the help of his assistants •and contributors, the work had been hastened in the Scriptorium. One of their most serious ■difficulties was to know what words should be put in and what should not. With regard to the ■time at which the dictionary would be finished, he saw it was stated that it would be finished about the year 1918. By a simple rule of pro- portion which he had worked out his estimate was that it would be finished about 1910; and with the additional strength that the delegates might perhaps give he saw no reason why it should not be finished by the year 1908.—Times. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—" Literature." IOBSERVE with great satisfaction that two important new departures in the conduct of periodicals will be taken in the newest of them, "Literature," of which I have just read the prospectus. They are: (1) Books sent, but not reviewed, will be at the disposal of the publishers for two months. (2) Books if reviewed at all will be reviewed within not much more than three weeks from being received. The first-named is one which I have before now advocated in The Author, and the example of " Literature" will, I hope, be followed by other periodicals. The Athenaeum, to my knowledge, has at least once returned an expensive unre- viewed book on the ground that it was "not in their way," but I believe the almost universal practice is for the proprietors of periodicals to sell for their own benefit all books received for review, whether reviewed or not and whether expensive or not. Surely this practice should be checked, if not discontinued. I have heard of cases in which the books are destroyed, but have not been able to verify them. It is also stated in the prospectus of " Litera- ture " that the price of all books sent for review will be stated, but I do not gather that it will be stated in the review itself, as should, I submit, be universally the case, but is, I believe, done in the Literary World and Bookman alone. The mention of the price in the review itself is not only a great convenience to readers generally—who fre- quently fail to find the book of their choice for the moment amongst a crowd of advertisements— but must also greatly assist the sale of a book. Oct. 12. ^ e J. M. Lelt. II.—The Effect of Reviews. Is it a logical conclusion that, because a very large number of a new work has been taken immediately on publication, hostile reviews have not injured the sale, as maintained in The Author (page 121)? How is it known that twice as many copies would not have been disposed of if  ## p. 163 (#589) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. favourable notices had appeared in the place of those that were adverse? And, since people buy the books before they have made themselves acquainted with their contents, how can the large sale show the approval of the public taste? I suppose that a desire to be able to join in discussions upon the latest production induces many to buy it, but who knows how many private purchasers in the end regret having spent their money and time over the work so far as their own entertainment in its perusal is concerned. Many, perhaps, would prefer that reviewers should not go further than giving information about a work, pointing out the author's errors as to fact, &c. Too often a reviewer uses a book as a peg on which to hang his own views for public inspection, whilst he adopts an ex cathedra style which is not pleasant, nor justified by his own superior abilities. F. R. [The above note contains three points. To the first the answer seems plain. In the case of a book by an unknown writer it is impossible to say how the circulation is affected by a hostile review. In the case of a known writer, when it is found that in spite of hostility the demand is as great as, or greater than, that of previous books by the same writer, the conclusion is, surely, that the reviewers' opinions have had no weight. The second point is that people do not buy books by unknown writers unless they are recom- mended to do so by their own friends after read- ing. All the persons who have been consulted on this point agree that such recommendation is the chief cause that makes a book to "go." The third point shows that the writer himself pays no regard to a critical opinion on any book. He says that many would prefer a mere "account" of a book. Well, so far as the public is con- cerned, that would, perhaps, be quite enough, but that would not be criticism, and there are still many who desire not to suppress criticism, but to lift criticism out of the fields of log-rolling, personal animosity, and office boy's work into which it has fallen in some of our organs.—Ed.] III.—Novelist r. Reviewer. I have read with considerable interest your allusion, in the October number of The Autlwr, to my article on " Novelist v. Reviewer," which appeared in the August number of the New Century Review. Will you forgive me for sug- gesting that your remarks miss entirely the main point of my argument? You quote a passage in which I say that " no critic would wilfully defame a good book," but in your comments on this you lose sight altogether of that most important word wilfully. I have, in my article, given reasons for the proposition advanced, and I still fail to see how these reasons admit of logical refutation. In speaking of critics, my article was, of course, meant to refer to those only who are com- petent to form an opinion of value upon the works they criticise. Many criticisms, and more especially those appearing in local newspapers, are written not by critics but by reporters, who are obviously in eVery way unfitted to act in a critical capacity. I entirely agree with you when you say that a critic should be a scholar; but I think his education should be conducted more or less with a view to that special branch of critical work which he proposes to undertake. Heaven forbid that reviews of novels should be written by a mere scholiast, a man almost invariably pedantic and ignorant of the world. The cntic should be essentially broad-minded. One should have read at least a thousand novels and five hundred miscellaneous books before beginning to review a single work of fiction. And the thousand novels should not be merely skimmed; each should be read with an eye to its technical construction, its style, and its psychology. You attribute to me the assumption that novelists are the sole traducers of the critics. This was certainly not my intention. I merely considered the case of the novelists as being the most common, and of greatest general interest. Again, you deny that the attacking force com- prises those only whose work has failed to win favourable reviews. But I never asserted that it was so. I simply remarked that it was from this class that the attacks "almost invariably 'r emanated. As a general rule it certainly is the adversely criticised authors who start the battle, but others may join in afterwards. Before closing this letter, I should like to emphasise one point which, it seems to me, has attracted less attention than it deserves. It is that critical notices are in so few instances written at the best moment for writing them. I believe it is a very common practice to write a review immediately after reading the book to be reviewed This I venture to think is too soon: one's opinions of a book should have time duly to allocate themselves, to find their proper level. Personally, I never—if I can possibly avoid so doing—review a book on the same day that I read it, and I never defer the writing of a review more than three days after reading the book. If this system be methodically pursued, there need be no diminution in the amonnt of work accom- plished, and the result is infinitely more satis- factory. Finally, may I suggest that the three great duties of a critic to himself are: to culti- vate the analytic faculty, to pay great attention  ## p. 164 (#590) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. to literary style, and to observe with care all that goes on in the world around him? It is by ■doing his duty to himself that a critic will best be able to do his duty to the public. Cecil J. Mead Allen. The Cedars, Exeter, Oct. 12. IV.—Editob and Contributor. I notice, periodically, in The Author, com- plaints as to editors retaining for many months MSS. offered for consideration, and then return- ing them as unsuitable without a word of apology. In the October issue "Hard Worker" complains of this practice. I have not yet seen any letters referring to the other side of the question, and as I think we ought to be perfectly fair in our dealings with the long-suffering editor, perhaps you will allow me to say that my short experi- ence has been the direct opposite. For the past three years I have been bom- barding editors with MSS., and am not able to charge any one of them with discourtesy or with unduly retaining a MS. Perhaps I may specially refer to To-Day, Chapman's, and Answers, as being most con- siderate to a totally unknown writer, returning MSS. within a few weeks if unsuitable, and promptly paying for those accepted; so that in this last important particular my experience does not coincide with that of " M.," who writes to you in the same issue, In one case where Answers had kept a MS. a long while a letter of apology came with it, and on my mentioning (in my reply) the length of time it had been kept, a further letter came with a request that I would send it back so that it might be made use of. Of course, I have had numbers of MSS. refused, that goes without saying; but I do not expect unreasonable things from such heavily-burdened fellow creatures as popular editors must be. I think, if writers would send in nothing but type-written matter, and be careful that their full name and address appeared upon each, and if stamps were affixed to each article or story for return if unsuitable, it would make our unfortunate editors' lives less a burden to them, and ensure for us more prompt attention. Fancy having to wade through and decide upon all the short stories which a popular magazine receives! _____ Alan Oscar. V.—Stamps for MSS. going Abroad. I observe that a correspondent of The Author wants to know where unused foreign stamps can be procured for the purpose of prepaying the postage of MSS. despatched to, and liable to be returned from, the United States or other distant lands. All the big stamp merchants have such stamps in stock, and they may also be bought at most of the offices at which foreign money is exchanged. The window of one such office, close to Charing Cross Station, is plastered with such stamps. Francis Gubble. VI.—The Right op Reply. A question interesting to authors, critics, and editors, but especially interesting to editors, comes on early next month for decision by a French tribunal. It involves a no less important matter than the right of reply. M. Dubout, a dramatic author, recently produced a play which was not a success. M. Jules Lemaitre, who does the theatrical criticism for the Revue des Deux Maudes, explained in that periodical why M. Dubout's "Fredcgonde" was a failure. The explanation was unsatisfactory to M. Dubout, and he claimed the right to reply to it. Now, French law is somewhat peculiar in the matter of this right. It gives it to any person whatsoever who, not having manifestly put himself out of court, may consider himself disparagingly referred to in a public print. And, further, it gives such per- son the right to have his reply inserted in the print inculpated to the extent of double the num- ber of lines employed upon the disparagement. By virtue of this law, M. Dubout claimed the right of replying to M. Lemaitre, to the fullest extent, in the Revue. M. Brunetiere, the editor, refused to insert his reply. Hence, an action at law. If M. Dubout wins, as he confidently expects, some very curious complications must necessarily follow.—Pall Mall Gazette. BOOE TALE- MISS BETHAM-EDWARDS has edited "The Autobiography of Arthur Young, with Selections from His Correspond- ence." In this volume, of which Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. are the publishers, many letters of eminent persons will be given for the first time, and will, it is expected, be an interesting and valuable addition to the history of the last forty years or so of the eighteenth century and the first twenty of the nineteenth. Two portraits of the famous traveller and two views will illustrate the work. A book on the "British Post Office," written by a member of the administrative staff, is about to be published by Messrs. Partridge.  ## p. 165 (#591) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Mr. Edwin Pugh has written " Tony Drum: a Cockney Boy," for publication by Mr. Heinemann shortly. Mr. Wickham Flower, F.S.A., is the author of a large volume—" Aquitaine: A Traveller's Tales "—which Messrs. Chapman and Hall will publish. Professor Robert K. Douglas has co-operated with Mrs. L. T. Meade in writing a series of stories dealing with social life in China. "Under the Dragon Throne," as the volume is entitled, will be published by Messrs. Gardner, Darton, and Co. Madame Sarah Grand's new novel, "The Beth Book," is due on Nov. 5. A volume of tales of the West Highlands, by the Marquis of Lorne, is announced by Messrs. Constable, under the title of "Adventures in Legend." The same firm will publish "The Pupils of Peter the Great," by Mr. Nisbet Bain. Mr. Anthony Hope has written a new romance, "Born in the Purple." It will appear serially, and a year hence in book form. Mr. William Le Queux is engaged on a new story, called " In the Day of Temptation." The work is to be in Messrs. Tillotson's hands for serial publication about March. Mr. A. Cotgreave, librarian of West Ham, is preparing a contents subject-index of a popular character to general and periodical literature. A work on "The Artists and Engravers of British and American Bookplates," by Mr. H. W. Fincham, member of council of the Ex-Libris Society, will be published shortly by Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. Signed examples of all periods will illustrate the subject, and some will be printed from the original copper plates. The Rev. J. Baly, late Archdeacon of Cal- cutta, is the author of a philological work which Messrs. Regan Paul have in preparation, and which will contain a pedigree of the greater portion of English words now in use. "Essays and Reviews in English Literature," by the Rev. Duncan C. Tovey, Clark Lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, is to be pub- lished by Messrs. Bell. A work entitled "Picturesque Dublin, Old and New," by Frances Gerard, will be published shortly by Messrs. Hutchinson. The fund organised by the Neie Age for a tribute to the memory of the late Mr. James Ashcroft Noble has been very successful. A portion of the sum has been used to raise a memorial stone over the grave in Wandsworth Cemetery, and the balance is to be devoted to the education of his children. Professor J. K. Laughton is editing a volume entitled "Twelve British Sailors, from Sir Francis Drake to Lord St. Vincent," which Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen are to publish. The contributors will include Sir Frederick Bedford, Captain Montagu Burrows, Admiral Markham, Sir Edmund Fremantle, and Admiral Colomb. For a companion volume dealing with "Twelve British Soldiers, from Cromwell to Wellington," Mr. Spencer Wilkinson, who edits it, has secured as writers Sir Archibald Alison, General Maurice, Count Gleichen, and other authorities on military subjects. The autobiography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B., from 1809 to 1897, will be published shortly", in two volumes, by Messrs. Bentley, with illustrations by the late Sir Oswald Brierly, marine painter to Her Majesty. The long-expected biography of Cardinal Wise- man, by Mr. Wilfrid Ward, will be ready shortly. Mr. Oswald John Simon is preparing a memoir of his father, the late Sir John Simon, serjeant- at-law, formerly M.P. for Dewsbury, who had interesting correspondence with eminent law- yers and statesmen, and took an active share in Jewish affairs. The Earl of Camperdown is writing a Life of Admiral Viscount Duncan, which Messrs. Long- mans, Green, and Co. will publish early in 1898. Mrs. Arthur Bell has prepared a memoir of Gainsborough, for which an effort has been made to trace many specimens of his work hitherto unknown. Gainsborough seldom signed his work. The book will be published by Messrs. Bell. A companion volume to "London City Churches " will be " London Riverside Churches," written by Mr. A. E. Daniell and illustrated by Mr. Alexander Ansted, which Messrs. Constable are to publish. Mr. Gerald Duckworth is about to terminate his connection with Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co., in order to set up, in company with a friend, as a publisher on his own account, under the style of Duckworth and Co. Messrs. Macmillan and Co. (Limited) have removed from Bedford-street to new premises in St. Martin's-street, W.C. (leading out of Leicester- square) . Miss Beatrice Harraden's "Echoes of Olden Days " is in the press for issue by Messrs. Black- wood in time for the children's Christmas season. The illustrations are by H. R. Millar.  ## p. 166 (#592) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Mr. H. B. Irving has written a study of Ju<lge Jeffreys. The book will appear after Christmas. Dr. Emil Reich has written a study of Hungary, its characteristic literature, and people, which Messrs. Jarrold and Sons will publish. In Mr. Cuthbert Hadden's work, "George Thomson, the Friend of Burns," to be published by Mr. Nimmo, the author will reveal that at the time when Thomson sent ,£5 to the poet he had only <£ioo a year, and was a married man with a young family. He will also show that Thomson did see Burns. Letters will be included from Scott, Hogg, Byron, Moore, Campbell, Beethoven, and others. Mr. Christie Murray has written a book describing his travels in the Colonies and America, which Messrs. Downey will publish, the title being "A Cockney Columbus." Two more volumes of the "Diaries of Sir Mountstuart Grant-Duff'' are to be published by Mr. Murray. The period covered is from 1873 to 1881, and they are to contain anecdotes of Tour- guenieff, Hans Andersen, Renan, Taine, Lord Melbourne, Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone, Jowett, Thackeray, Kinglake, Cobden, Bright, Kingsley, Newman, Gambetta, and other notabilities. Mr. Harry Furniss has drawn the illustrations for Miss Davenport Adams's story for the young, entitled "Miss Secretary Ethel," which will be published by Messrs. Hurst andBlackett. The book on etching, by Mr. William Strang and Dr. Singer, which was announced a long time ago, is now about to appear, published by Messrs. Kegan Paul. Professor Flinders Petrie has seen the final proofs of his work, " Six Temples at Thebes," which Mr. Quaritch is to publish. This includes the one inscription hitherto found in Egypt wherein the name of the people of Israel is men- tioned. Professor Petrie's account of his excava- tions last spring, under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Fund, is now being printed, and will be called " Deshasheh." Mr. Ernest Rhys is editing the " Hampstead Annual," an enterprise which will see the light this month. Among the contributors are Canon Ainger, Sir Walter Besant, Mr. Buxton Forman, Dr. Birkbeck Hill, Mr. H. W. Nevinson, and Mr. Frederick Wedmore. Hollandia, a Dutch weekly journal for all Hollanders abroad, will be published on the 6th inst. at no, St. Martin's-lane, London, W.C. It will be conducted by Mr. J. T. Grein. Chapman's Magazine has hitherto been devoted entirely to fiction, but future numbers will contain one or more articles by expert writers on subjects of immediate social, literary, or general interest. '• Philosophy and Psychology," writes a corre- spondent, "are not represented in the American list, given in the October number. Let me remove the reproach, if there is any, by informing you that Messrs. D. C. Heath and Co. are bringing out a book by Mr. John Adams on 'The Herbas- tian Psychology applied to Education.'" "On London Stones," a novel, by Catherine March ("Carl Swerdna"), author of "Cruel Kindred," " A Long Lane," "Snared," " A Year Between," &c, is announced by Messrs. James Clarke and Co. One volume. 6s. "Fidelis, and other Poems," by Mrs. C. M. Gemmer, has just been published by Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co. It is a pretty little book of verse, and we especially recommend the first poem, after which the book is named. A valuable prize recently offered by T. Winter Wood ("Vanguard"), of Paignton, Devon, has been awarded to W. B. Wallace for a poem on "Liberty." A novel by the late Mr. George Augustus Sala is about to be published by Mr. Unwin. The story is one of London life, and called " Margaret Forster." Mrs. Bird's book on Korea, is to appear from Mr. Murray this month. Mr. Fred. J. Whishaw has written " A Tsar's Gratitude," a story which Messrs. Longmans will publish. The Countess of Warwick has edited the report of conferences and a congress held in connection with the educational section of the Victorian Era Exhibition. "Progress in Women's Education in the British Empire," is the title of the volume, which Messrs. Longmans will publish. A correspondent to the Chronicle calls attention to another change of title. He says "' The Beetle: A Mystery,' a novel by Mr. R. Marsh (Skeffington) has previously appeared in Answers under the title of 'The Peril of Paul Lessing- ham.'" The correspondent wants to know the reason. "The Nurse's Handbook of Cookery," by E. M. Worsnop, assisted by Miss M. C. Blair, has just been published by Messrs. A. and C. Black. By a curious coincidence, the title of Miss Mary Wilkins' latest novel is the same as one written by Annabel Gray, called "Jerome," which was published in 1891 by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein.  ## p. 167 (#593) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 167 Messrs. Hutchinson are preparing to publish this autumn a novel entitled "For Love of a Bedouin Maid," by Le Voleur, author of a novel entitled "By Order of the Brotherhood" (which had a large sale both here and in the colonies). The story, which is one of adventure in the days of the first Napoleon, is illustrated with sixteen drawings by a rising young Sussex artist, Mr. Ernest Dyer. Mr. Ferrar Fenton, author of "St. Paul's Epistles" and the "New Testament in Current English," is about to publish, through Mr. Elliot Stock, of Paternoster-row, " The Book of Job in English." The peculiarity of this version is that it claims to be absolutely literal, and yet in the same metrical verse as the original Hebrew, and line for line. The sacred poem contains about two thousand lines. "John Gilbert, Yeoman," by Richard Gilbert Soans, is published by Messrs. Frederick Warne and Co. It is an historical romance of ye times of Cromwell, the scenes of which are for the most part laid in beautiful Sussex. "The Hand of His Brother," by Edith C. Kenyon, is about to be published by Messrs. Gay and Bird. Many of the scenes of this novel are laid in the picturesque neighbourhood of Hastings —the Lovers' Seat, the old Church at Winchelsea, Pett Levels, &c. "Stories from Italy," by G. S. Godkin, is about to issue from the press of A. C. McClurg and Co., of Chicago. This author writes out of the fullness of a long residence in Italy, and presents Italian character in a new and intimate light. The volume contains six or seven stories, different in action and scene, and yet connected here and there by the reappearance in the later tales of characters that had appeared in the earlier. LITERATURE INTHE PERIODICALS. The Publisher in Ireland. B. Blake. New Ireland Recieiv for October. The Celtic Mind. Sophie Bryant, D.So. Contemporary for October. John Dat. Algernon Charles Swinburne. Nineteenth Century for October. Latin Verses. Times for Oct. 8. Letter of Major Alex. B. Tulloch in Times for Oct. 16. The Harleian Library. J. M. Stone. Blackwood's for October. Edmond de Goncourt. Macmillan's Magazine for October. A New Academy. Macmillan's Magazinelor November. Letters of Dr. Holmes to a Classmate. May Blake Morge. Century Magazine for October. The Children's Book. Editorial Note in Harper's for October. Alfred Lord Tjsnnnyson. By Andrew Lang. Long, man's Magazine for November. By Stephen Gwynn. Macmillan's Magazine for November. By William Canton. Good Words for November. By Leslie Stephen. National Review for November. By Harold Spender. Fori nightly Review for November. By Agnes Grace Weld. Contempo- rary for November. What of publishing in Ireland? Is it like the proverbial snakes in Ireland? A writer on the subject tells us that it is, more or less, only that there is a great possibility ia it. Edinburgh, and Glasgow a little, still maintain a fair output for Scotland, but one does not often come across a book that has been published in Dublin or Belfast. While he is about it, the writer in the New Ire/and Review indulges in a scathing characterisation of what London—the centre of the publishing trade of the Kingdom—reads, and what she does not want to read. "As publishing is to so great an extent centralised in London, and is almost exclusively in the hands of Eaglish firms," he says, " there is a constant paralysing pressure exercised by trade influence against the development, even against the survival, of those peculiarly Irish gifts, to the splendour of which the literature of the English language owes so much. Anglo-Saxon readers will have nothing, we are told, except those slap-dash, tear-away tales of extravagant incident which are poured out in such profusion from the London Press; and in poetry the only quality they value is an obscurity sufficiently profound to be a good excuse for not reading it at all." And it is because such work does not suit Irish litterateurs ■—unless they "mortify their senses"—that Ireland's opportunity is created! Genuine Irish books, full of Irish wit and humour, will find a market, not only among the Irish in all parts of the British Empire, but among all the people to whom the modern Anglo- Saxon literature is oppressive or offensive. But this Irish literature must issue from Ireland, for, if published in London, it would inevitably be the fruit of perpetual compromise, which would deprive it of all virility. From a material point of view, England may have evolved a higher culture than Ireland, but where literature is con- cerned, says the writer, England cannot even claim equality. "In taste, fertility of imagination, humour—in fact, in all the gifts which are needed for the production of a great literature, Irish writers infinitely surpass those of England." A genuinely national literature for Ireland is wanted; not "a mealy-mouthed temporising literature, written by men who are afraid to speak out about those among whom they are obliged to live." The gifts of the Irish mind, meanwhile—its adaptability, its expressiveness—are the subject  ## p. 168 (#594) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. of a psychological study in the Contemporary by Dr. Sophie Bryant. A useful future for M. de Goncourt's new French Academy is not predicted by the writer in Macmillati's. Its design to encourage literature (although it excludes funeeionaries—i.e., civil servants—and poets) and to make war upon the Academy, is excellent. But so little does it encourage literature, that its president (M. Alphonse Daudet) is a distinguished novelist who needs no encouragement, while two of its members are practised journalists, who see the reward of their work at the week's end. M. Huysmans alone indisputably deserves his place. The critic is sarcastic at the expense of both the old and new institutes. The old—it will never lack esteem—is a gentlemanly club, which every Frenchman would be glad to enter, and bored when once he got there ; the Academic dictionary is an amiable and foolish pastime : not even forty angels could purify a language. The new includes the same elements in a state of less intensity; it is not to discuss literature, and will only save itself from boredom if it takes to collecting Japanese prints. In fact, genius holds aloof from Academies. To mention some, Balzac, Dumas, Gautier, Barbey d'Aure- villy, "could never have been elected to the Academy, because their talents set them too high above the decent level of mediocrity which is essential to a branch of the civil service"—the Academy being now a conspicuous department of State. M. de Goncourt's Academy will award the monthly prize to a mediocre piece of prose— for ten men at variance with themselves are not likely to make an admirable choice. They will quarrel as much as fifty men at their monthly dinner—men of letters are notoriously quarrel- some. The only regret is that M. de Goncourt himself is not here to enjoy the spectacle, because none was more skilled than he in half-irony. Above all, the writer concludes, the new Academy will never profit literature, since literature is too wayward to be fostered by endowment: Give a man a thousand pounds and a comfortable house, and probably he will refrain from that masterpiece which once was seething in his brain. Moreover, the very power of election prevents a simple honesty. The unhappy ten may perhaps discover Borne common ground of sociability, and shift their judgment from literature to life. But what- ever their fate they will eat their dinner disdained or for- gotten by the writers of France. They were ohosen to found an Academy, and they will never escape from a collection of coteries. "Are we to go on ■« ith Latin verses ?"—the question Mr. Lyttleton's pamphlet puts—is dis- cussed by a writer in the Times, who thinks that, on the whole, we are. There is no alternative classical subject that can take the place of classical verse-writing, and if the object and effect of it are such as the supporters of the present system assert them to be, it cannot be abolished without injury to classical learning. As for the schoolboy's ignorance the while, that may be, but he is sent to school to "learn t o learn"—to be grounded for the future. The question is not whether the making of Latin verses is directly useful and informing, but whether it is a valuable educational instrument. The answer is that it is such an instrument. Spenser, Milton, Addison, Gray, and other famous men wrote Latin verses. Major Tulloch is entirely with the writer of the article in sup- porting a thorough classical education, but observes that for those entering the military service modern languages are far more important than Latin verses. Is the children's book a useful, a good insti- tution P The editor of Harper s is among those who think that books written for children have done more harm than good. Children recognise a genuine thing almost as soon as we do, and they are "turning their backs upon the fictitious twaddle of little Joe and little Lucy, and the impossible goody-goody children of recent years." At the same time the editor makes a distinction between the literature merely for children, and that—the Grimm stories and the Andersen stories —about children. "We and all healthy-minded children" admire every bit of folk-lore and every legend that is touched with creative imagi- nation. The classmate to whom the few Holmes letters were addressed is the late Hon. Isaac E. Morse of New Orleans. The two were at Harvard together, afterwards met in Paris, and in the later days became fast friends at home. Holmes's letters (which could not be found when the "Life " was being prepared) are in a light, sometimes even gay tone, and discuss family affairs, the relations of the South and North, &c. In one case there is an interesting reply to a request for an opinion of some poems by Morse. "No one can fail of appre- ciating the feeling they show," Holmes wrote: "they have the truth which real sorrow crushes out of a sensitive and delicate nature, and which is the stuff that poetry is made of. . . . In art the lines are deficient, perhaps too much so to be offered to the surly criticism of the public. You will find this axiom of mine true, I think: the more personal and intimate are the feelings which a poet reveals, the higher art is required to justify their exposure. . . . They are too artless, too careless, too much like an extract from a private letter, to be made common property. I should not, therefore, recommend their publica- tion; but I am only one adviser."  ## p. 169 (#595) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 169 TWO MEMORIALS. Felicia Hemans. ANOTHEE meeting has been held of the members of the Felicia Hemans Memorial Committee at Liverpool under the presi- dency of Mr. Mackenzie Bell. It has been followed by a letter addressed to the editor of the Liver- pool Mercury, which we have great pleasure in producing in these columns, in the hope that the memorial will be supported by our readers. (To the Editors of the Liverpool Mercury.) Gentlemen,—It is gratifying that this city is at length awakening to the fact of its long neglect of the claims of Felicia Hemans to adequate local recognition. We do not forget that Liverpool has also been the birthplace of other prominent personages in literature—such as Clouyh, to name only one. But, nevertheless, it can hardly be questioned that Time, " the editor of editors," to quote a happy phrase of Mr. Alfred H. Miles in his "Poets and Poetry of theCentury," has awarded to Felicia Hemans a conspicuous and almost unique place in letters as an exponent in verse of simple emotion. Canon Blencowe, in his interest- ing note read at the meeting of the Memorial Committee on Fridiiy, rightly characterised her work as "unambitious "; but he added with truth, that it "always appeals to our best feel- ings," and, nowadays, though it is well that we should lay great stress on technical craftmanship in verse, it is also well that we should feel grateful to the poet who has touched our hearts, thus showing the possession of a gift beyond and, as we think, higher than any mere craftsmanship, however excellent. There is much force in the classical adage, bis dat qui cito tint. The Liver- pool public have now a good opportunity of show- ing in a practical way that they believe in it by subscribing at once to the Felicia Hemans Memo- rial, and also by giving any suggestions whereby the claims of a memorial to her can be brought to the notice of the poet's multitudinous admirers throughout the English-speaking world. Mackenzie Bell. oi_ W. H. PlCTON. Cjedmon, the Saxon Poet. This memorial has been undertaken by the people of Whitby, the place of Csedmon's resi- dence, if not of his birth. The Eev. H. D. Rawnsley, one of the promoters of the memorial, writes a letter to the Daily Chronicle on the doubt concerning Csedmon's existence. He adduces as evidence, first, the Venerable Bede, second, J. R. Green, the historian, and third, Mr. Stopford Brooke. We should be content with the evidence of Bede and the translation of his poems The memorial will consist of an Iona cross inscribed to the memory of the poet, set up on the Abbey Hill overlooking the town of Whitby. (The Editor of the Daily Chronicle.) Sir,—First let me thank you for your courteous notice of the meeting which inaugurated the pro- posed memorial to Csedmon, and then let me say in answer to your assertion that " there have been historical sceptics who have expressed doubts as to whether Csednion ever had a corporate exis- tence," that we at Whitby are obstinately con- vinced not only of Csedmon's actual existence, life work, and death here at St. Hilda's Abbey, but that we also look upon him as the founder of English poetry. Untd the Daily Chronicle disprove the statement of Bede and discredits such a careful historian as John Richard Green, or a man of such literary acumen as Stopford Brooke, we shall go on holding to our faith, and giving the reason for that faith that is in us. Bede was seven years old when Csedinon died in 63o, and no one grew to know Northumbrian history better than Bede. Bede lxad no doubt of the corporate existence of Csedmon. "There was in the Abbey of Hilda," says he, "a certain brother who had an extraordinary gift, and whose name was Csedmon "; and he continues, " Sweet and humble was his poetry; no trivial or vain song came from his lips: others after him strove to compose religious poems, but none could vie with him, for he learned the art of poetry, not from men or of men, but from God." John Richard Green had no doubt of the cor- porate existence of Csedmon. "The stern gran- deur of the spot—Whitby," says he, "blends fitly with the thought of the poet who broke its stillness with the first great song that English singer had wrought, since our fathers came to Britain." And the historian adds, "The memory that endears Whitby to us is not that of Hild, or of the scholars and priests who gathered round her . . . the name which really throws glory over Whitby is the name neither of king nor bishop, but of a cowherd of the house." Stopford Brooke has no doubt apparently of the corporate existence of Csedmon. "Csedmon,"' writes he, "is the first Englisman whose name we know who wrote poetry in our island of Eng- land, and the first to embody in verse the new passions and ideas which Christianity had brought to England . . . honour from all the English race, from all the poets, greatest of the English race, is due to Csedmon's name." It is something of this honour that the Whitby people are about to pay, by erecting a beautiful Iona cross inscribed to Csedmon's memory, upon  ## p. 170 (#596) ############################################ 170 THE AUTHOR. the Abbey hill overlooking the town. Such a memorial will be a recall to the beginnings of our English literature, and may be an inspiration to generations who pass up the church steps to the ruined abbey of St. Hilda.— Yours truly, H. D. Rawnsley. 4, West-terrace, Whitby, Oct. 25. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Sbpt. 24 to Oct. 23.-424 Books.] Alexander, lira. Barbara. 6/- Allanson-Winn, R. O. Boxing. 5/- A ntleraon, Robert. The Silence of God. Anonymous ("A Sexagenarian Rector together? Ac. 1/ White. Innes. 5/- Hoddcr and Stoughton. ). Whom God hath joined Kegan Paul. Anonymous (" Jim's Wife"). Gordon League Ballads. 2/t Skefflngton. Anonymous. Herbariom of the TTniverBity of Oxford. GU. Frowde. Anonymous (An Ex)wrt). A Lesson in Seeing. Gill and Sons. Anonymous. Ramji, a Tragedy of the Indian Famine. 1 - Unwin. Anonymous. The Rivers of Great Britain. Rivers of the South and West Coasts. 42/- Cassell. Anonymous. Within Sound of Great Tom. 5 - Oxford: Black well. Anonymous. Posterity; or, Democracy a.d. 2100. 2/6. Williams and Norgate. Anonymous ('-A. C. C") The Stray Notes of a Wayfarer. 2 6. Roxburghe. Anonymous ('-A. E."). The Earth Breath and Other Poems. 8/6. Lane. Anstey, F. Baboo Jabberjee, B A. 8/6 net. Dent. Anstev, F. A Tinted Venus. 6/- Harper. Arnold-Foster, H. O. A History of England. 6/- Cassell. Armagh, Celia. Joy Meredith. 5/- Hodder and Stoughton. Baigent, F. J. Registers of John De Sandale and Rigaud De Asserio, Bishops of Winchester (1316-1323). Winchester: Warren. Balfour, M. C. The Fall of the Sparrow. 6/- Methuen. Barbe, L. A. Kirkcaldy of Grange (Famous Scots). 1/6. Oliphant. Baring-Gould, S. (ed.). English Minstrelsie. 80 - Edinburgh : Jack. B«rker, Johnson. A Digest of Deductive Logic. 2 6. Methuen. Barlow. Jane. A Creel of Irish Stories. 6/- Methuen. Beanlsley, Aubrey (illustrator). Pope's' Beet, Joseph Agar. The Last Things. Bennett, W. H. A Primer of the Bible. Besant. Annie. The Ancient Wisdom. 'Rape of the Lock.'' 4/- net. Smithers. Hodder and Stoughton. 2/6. Methuen. Theosophical Pub. Co. Bigelow, Poulteney. White Man's Africa. 16/- Harper. Birch's Manual of Cycle Companies, 1899. First IsBtie. 5 - Simpkin. Bjura son, B. Captain Mansana and Mother's Hands. 3/- net. Heinemann. Blomlleld, Reginald. A History of Renaissance Architecture in Eng- land. 50'- Bell. Boisragon, Alan. The Benin Massacre. 3/6. Methuen. Bool-*, M. E. The Mathematical Psychology of Gratry and Boole. 3/- Sonnenschein. Bourdi'lon, F. W. Minusula (LyricsV 5/- Lawrence and Bullen. Bovill, Mii, and Askwith, G. R. "Roddy Owen." 12.'- Murray. Bradley, A. G. Sketches from Old Virginia. C/- Macmillan. Bradley, A. C. and Benson, G. R. Philosophical Lectures and Macmillan. Black ie. National Society. Heart Disease. Bailie re. Gardner, Darton. Chambers. Engl i sh E le m entary King. Murray. 7,6. Hodder and St. \llen. net. 17 ■ lift. If Remains of Richard Lewis Nettleship. Braine, Sheila E. The Luck of the Eardleys. Bramston, M. Told by Two. 2/6. Broadbent, Sir W. H. and Broidbent, J. F 10/6. Brock man, Jane- From Story to Story. 0,- Brooke-Hunt, Violet. Young King Arthur. Brooke, C. W. A. Religious Teaching in Schools, fid. Brousrh, J. The Early Life of our Lord 5/- Brue^ A. B. Providential Order of the World. Burgoyne, F. J. Library Construction. 6 - net. Bushby, D. C. The Royal Shepherdess and other Poems Digby. Bryden, H. A. Nature and Sport in South Africa. 6/- Chapman. Calvert, A. My Fourth Tour in Western Australia. Heinemann. Campbell, C. M. Deilie Jock. 6/- Innes. Canney, H. E. L. The Winter Meteorology of Egypt and its Tntluence on Disease. 8/fl net. BaillU■re. Cardella, G. For the Life of Others. A novel. 6/- Sonnenschein. Carey, R. N. Dr. Luttrell's First Patient. 5/- Hutchinson. €hunce, W. Children under the Poor Law. 7/6. Sonnenschein. Chang, Wo. England through Chinese Spectacles. 6/- Cotton Press. Cbarleton, R. J, Netherdyke, 6/- Arnold. Chetwode, R. D. John of Strathbourne. 3/6. Pearson. Church. A. J. Lords of the World. 6/- Blackie. Church, W. C. ITIvbscs S. Grant. 5/- Putnam. Coats. Jervis. The Master's Watchword. Glasgow: Maclchose. Cobban, J . Her Royal Highness's Love Affair. 3/6. Pearson. Coleridge, M. E. The King with Two Faces. 6/- Arnold. CoIliDgwood. Harry. The Homewixd Voyago. 3/6. S.P.U.K. Conway, R. S. (ed.). The Italic Dialects. 30/- Clay. Cookson, George. Poems. 4/6. Innes. Corder, Annie. The Wandering Albatross. 5/ Longmans. Cornish. C. J. Nights with an Old Gunner, and other Stories of Wild Life. 6/- Seeley. Couch. L. yuiller, A Spanish Maid. 6/- Service. Cox, M. B. Noal West. Jack'* Mate. 3/6 Gardner, Darton. Cowper, H. S. (ed.). Oldest Register Book of Parish of Hawkshead, LancB. 31(6. Bemrose. Crimpton. G. ' El Carmen. 6/- Digby. Craven, Helen. Catherine Cruiner. 6/- Innes. Craven. Lady Helen. Notes of a Music Lover. 6/- Bentley. Crockett, S. R. Lochinvar. 6/- Methuen. Cromarty, Deas. His Fault or Hera? 6/- Bentley. Cromie, Robert. The King's Oak. I/- Newnas Croskey, Julian. Mux. nr Lane. Crowest, F. J. Verdi: Man and Musician. 7/6 Milne. Curtis, Audrey. Plain Jeremiah. 2/- National Society. Cust, Lionel. Albrecht Durer. 7/6 net. Seeley. Dale, Darley. Chloe, 6/- Bliss. D'Anethan, Baroness A. His Chief's Wife. 6/- Chapman. Davis, Harding. Cuba in Wrar Time. 3/6. Heinemann. Dawson, W. J. Thro' Lattice Windows. 6/- Hodder and Stoughton. Debenham, Mary H. One Red Rose. 8/8. National Society. Deir, Andrew. When a Maiden Marries. 3/6, Digby. Desart, Earl of. The Raid of the" Detrimental.M 6/- Pearson. De Vere. Aubrey. Recollections. 16/- Arnold Drueiy.C. T. The New Gulliver. Roxburghe. Durham, Bishop of. Christian Aspects of Life. 7/6. Macmillan. Dzickonska, K. (tr.) Journal of Countess Krasinska. Kegan Paul. Eady, K. M. and Eady, R. The Boys of Huntingley. 2 6. Melrose. Ebers, Georg (tr. by Mary J. Safford.) Barbara Biomberg. 6 - Low. Eden, Charles H. Afloat with Nelson. Macqueen. Edmonds, W.J. Exeter Cathedral. 1/- Isbister. Ed ridge-Green, F. W. Memorv and Its Cultivation. 6 - Kegan Paul. Elliot, Anne. Where the Reeds Wave. 12/- Bentley. Ellis, E. S. Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas. 2/6. Cassell. Evans, A. J. and Fearensidc, C. S. England under the Later Hanoverians. 3/6 net. Clivc. Everett-Green, E. Sister: A Chronicle of Fair Haven. 5/- Nelson, Eyton, Robert. The Glory of the Lord (Sermons). 1/6. Nisbct. Farrar. F. W. The Herods. 3/6. Service. Fenn, G. Mauville. Frank and'Saxon. 5/- S.P.C.K. Fenn, G. Manville. Vinee the Rebel. 6/ Chambers. Ferguson, Sir S. Lays of the Red Branch. 2/- Unwin. Fichte, J. G. (tr. by A. E. Kroeger). The Science of Ethics. 97- Kegan Paul. Findlater. Jane Helen. A Daughter of Strife. 0/. Methuen. Finney, Violet G. A Daughter of Erin. 2/6. Blackie. FitzGerald. S- J- A. Stories of Famous Sjngs. 7/6. Nimmo. FitzGerald, S. J. A. A Tragedy of Grub-street and other Stories. 3/6 net. Redway. Flammarion, Camille. Lumen. 3/6. Heinemann. Fleming, D. Hay. Mary t^ueen of Scots. 7/6. Hodder and Stoughton, Fletcher, J. S. The Builders. 6,- Methuen. Florenz, K. (tr. from German by A. Lloyd). Poetical Gleanings from the Far East: Japanese Poems. 7/6. Low. Flower, W. Dante: A Defence of the 11 Divina Commedia." 3/6. Chapman. Forbes-Robertson, Frances. Odd Stories. 6,'- ConBiable. Ford, Marj-. Rome. (The Children's Study). 2 6. 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'• I have done my best to carry ont, and improve upon, the original scheme, with an intention of seleoting, arranging, and annotating, in a fashion most conducive to ready reference, all statutes applicable to and generally used in London or throughout the United Kingdom, down to the end of 1894." "In compiling the general index we have had in view the needs, not only of practising lawyers, bnt of Justioes of the Peace, Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Draftsmen, Literary Men, and generally of all English-speaking readers. The index is to a certain extent analytical, actual and sufficient information superseding mere indicatory reference, where this could be done with combined exactness and brevity." N.B.—Continued annually by J. M. Lely. 1895, 5s.; 1896, 10s. SWEET AND MAXWELL LIMITED, 3, Chancery Lane, London. STEVENS AND SONS LIMITED, 119 and 13Q, Chancery Lane, London. r-p-pq—pri MERCANTILE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. (Manageress-MISS MORGAN.) 158, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from lOd. per 1000 words. Special Terms for Contract Work. All descriptions of Typewriting, Shorthand, and Translation work executed with accuracy and despatch. Typewriting by Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, "W. (Established 1893.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' References. MISS PATTEN, TYPIST. 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. Authors' MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly PERMITTED TO MANY WELL-KNOWN AUTHORS. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particular on application. Telegraphic address: "Patzen, London." An Author, who has had experience of his work, wishes to recommend mm, wirraAM (TYPIST), 137, Pyle Street, Newport, Isle of Wight. He is a careful, Intelligent, and expeditious Copyist, at One Shilling per Thousand Words. AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD (The LEADENHALL PRESS LTD., Publishers & Printers, 50, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.) Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each. 60, per dozen, ruled or plain. Authors should note that The Leadenhall Press Ltd. cannot be responsible for the Iobb of MSS. by Are or otherwise. Duplicate copies should be retained. Printed and Published by Hoback Cox, Windsor House, Bream'a-bnildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 06 (November 1897) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 06 (November 1897) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1897-11-01-The-Author-8-6 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/310/1897-12-01-The-Author-8-7.pdf 14e2aea3cadc7f33e2cca4cc138bc5e2 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) 1897-12-01 Volume 8 Issue 7 Pages Page range in volume 173–200 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18971201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Uhc Butbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 7.] DECEMBER i, 1897. [Price Sixpence. General Memoranda The Society of Authors and the Discount Question . Literary Property— I. Report on Copyright J. The Cost of Production 3. Serial Rights 4. A Case 5. A Fancy Offer New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood CONTENTS. PASS PA8B ..ITS j Note* and News. By the Editor. 187 .. 175 Two Poems—1. Ishmael. 2. Light and Night 190 Correspondence—1. "Literature." 2. The Published Price. 8. .. 182 Current Criticism. 4. The Publisher's Header as School- ..182 master. 5. "The Scotsman's Library." 6. A Book Wanted 190 .. 182 Book Talk 192 ..184 ! Literature in the Periodicals 198 .. 185 1 Story Competition 198 .. 185 The Books of the Month 198 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., io«. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d< (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Societe des (Jens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigqe, late Secretary to the Society, i*. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigqe. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 7. Copyright Law Reform, An Exposition of Lord Monks well's Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. i*. 6d. 8. The Society Of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Sermany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ebnst Lunoe, J.TJ.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 172 (#602) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. lft)e $ociefg of Jluffrors (gncotporqfe&). PRESIDENT. C3-EOieC3:E MEEEDITH. COUNCIL. S.I. | Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Duboueg. Pbof. Michael Fosteb, F.E.S. D. W. Freshfibld. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund flossn. H. Rider Haooabd. Thomas Habdt. Anthony Hope Hawkins. P.C. | Jerome K. Jerome. Rudtard Kipling. Prof. E. Rat Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Leckt, P.C. J. M. Lelt. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. LoFTiE, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Herman C. Merivale. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.I J. M. Barbie. A. W. X Beckett. Robert Batsman. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. Sib Henrt Bebone, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Besant. auqustine blrkell, m.p. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.R.S. Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burohclere, Hall Caine. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colleb. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conwat. F. Marion Crawford. The Earl of Dbsart. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wakk. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbrioht, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. w. bapti8te scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. O. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Q.C. A.. W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Eoerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Rider Haooabd. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Frbshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doo. Henby Norman. Francib Storr. COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mus.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. J. L. Molloy. SUB ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spislmann. 8oUeitors f *"IBLD> Roscob, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields \ G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thbino, B.A OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. DRAMA. Henry Abthub Jones (Chairman). A. W. X Beckett. Edward Rose. j±. :p. watt & sonsr, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON. W.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. * TYPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prioes. Dnplioates of Circulars by the latest -*- process. OPINIONS OP CLIENTS.—Dibtihbuishrd Abthor:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever Been." Lady or Title:—"The work waa very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanlra for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." MISS GENTRY, KLDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C.  ## p. 173 (#603) ############################################ XL he Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 7.] DECEMBER 1, 1897. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. _ ^ Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOR some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property :— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements TOIi. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unleBS the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. HI. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things neoessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true : but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chanoe of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that thiB is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied o withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exohanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. Q 2  ## p. 174 (#604) ############################################ i74 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. i. ill VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is snch that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houBes—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the oountry. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society yo are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Seoretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE, "V/T EMBERS are informed: J3_L 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it Bubmits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon whioh its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. f 11HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the I Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Seoretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author oomplete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send thoir names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for Tlie Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances^ undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the- trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 175 (#605) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i75 or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years t Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble •f "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £g 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production " for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too •ften go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. THE SOCIETY OP AUTHOKS AND THE DISCOUNT QUESTION. THE Report printed below has been forwarded to Mr. C. J. Longman, president of the Publishers' Association, with the following letter from the chairman of the Committee of Management of the Society of Authors:— "Nov. 30, 1897. "My dear Longman,—In reply to your letter of July 6 re the publishers' and booksellers' pro- posals on the discount question, I now beg to forward to your Association a Report which has been presented to us by a sub-committee of our society appointed to consider and take evidence upon these proposals. The Committee of Manage- ment of this Society endorse and adopt the con- clusions arrived at by its sub-committee. I may add, however, that, independently of these detailed conclusions, we feel it impossible to give support to the joint proposals of the publishers and book- sellers as presented in the papers forwarded by you, on the broad ground that, even were it possible to carry them into effect—which remains an open question—they would, as we understand them, be in restraint of free trade and a fetter on individual liberty. It is with the greatest regret that we have come to a decision adverse to the wishes of your Association and to those of a large proportion of the bookselling trade, since the result of our inquiries and our own observations amply convince us that the distress among the country book- sellers is genuine and widespread. Thanking you for so kindly submitting the matter to the consideration of our Society, Believe me to remain, my dear Longman, Very sincerely yours, (Signed) H. Rider Haggard, Chairman of Committee of Management. P.S.—I shall be much obliged if you will con- sider the enclosed Report as confidential to your association until its appearance in The Author on Thursday next. To C. J. Longman, Esq., President of the Publishers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland." REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE. Report of the Sub-Committee ■ appointed by the Committee of Management of the Society of Authors to consider the Publishers'' and Book- sellers'1 proposals with regard to Raising Discounts. YOUR Committee have been constituted to inquire into and report upon a letter addressed to the Society on July 6th by Mr. C. J. Longman, President of the Publishers' Association, which is to the following effect:— "Stationers' Hall, E.C., July 6th, 1897. My dear Haggard, In accordance with a resolution passed item. con. at a special general meeting of the Publishers' Association, held on July 1st, I am writing to ask the attention of the Society of Authors to a matter which has for some time been the subject of anxious consideration in the bookselling trade. I need not go into the matter in detail, as the papers I inclose herewith, which I hope you will lay before your Society, contain full information on the matter in which we ask your co-operation. Briefly, we are anxious to assist the retail trade in the very serious difficulties which beset their business owing to the excessive discounts which are now given to the public in London and many other towns, though not in all. Although it is the retail trade only which are directly interested in the movement which we ask you to support, yet it is a matter of great importance, both to authors and publishers, that a numerous and flourishing body of retailers should exist throughout the Kingdom. I inclose six copies of a Report of the Sub- committee on Trade Terms to our Council, which contains the details of the proposal, and also six copies of the Publisher«' Circular for July 3rd, containing a report of the meeting on July 1st, which I have already mentioned. Great hopes are entertained among the retail booksellers  ## p. 176 (#606) ############################################ 176 THE AUTHOR. throughout the country that this movement will be carried to a successful issue, as has been done satisfactorily in France and in Germany. We trust, therefore, that we shall receive the hearty support of the Society of Authors. Should this be the case we have little doubt of the success of the movement, while in the contrary event the proposal must necessarily drop, to the deep disappointment of the retail trade. Should you desire it our Sub-Committee would be happy to meet you to give any further information you may desire. I am, yours faithfully, (Signed) C. J. Longman, President Publishers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland. H. Rider Haosaed, Esq., Incorporated Society of Authors." Your Committee having read the various documents and pamphlets placed before them, and having examined a numb, r of booksellers and representatives of trade societies, have now the honour to report: At the general meeting of the publishers on July 1st, the chairman, Mr. Longman, began by stating that "It is alleged by retail book- sellers, in town and country, that it is impossible for them to make a living profit by the sale of copyright books at the discount now given of 3d. in the shilling. . . . It is not stated that booksellers as a whole do not make a profit, but that the profit is derived from the sale of non- copyright literature, stationery, and fancy goods." (Publisher's Circular, July 3, 1897, p. 7). The proposals of the publishers to remedy the grievance were set forth by Mr. F. Macmillan at the same meeting as "Briefly, that the present trade terms should be given only to booksellers who agree to allow no more than 2d. in the shilling on ordinary books, and sell net l>ooks at full prices : and that those dealers who refuse to come into the arrangement, or who break their agreement, should be supplied at no better terms than scrip without odd books, or discount at settle- ment" (16. p. 8); or, speaking in plain terms, if a bookseller chose to sell the books at 25 per cent, discount, he would be selling them at cost price. Mr. Macmillan concluded by observing, "It is imperative that before entering into any arrange- ment with the Associated Booksellers as to this important question, we should approach the Society of Authors, should explain to them what it is that we and the booksellers propose, and should get them to agr^e with us in saying that the suggested action is taken in the interest of all connected with the commercial side of literature—of the authors who write books, of the publishers who bring them out, and of the booksellers who sell them to the public. I do not anticipate that there will be any difficulty in putting the matter before the Society of Authors in such a way as to induce them to coincide with our views and those of the booksellers" (ib. p. 8).* Your Committee desire at the outset to endorse the statements as to the present depressed state of the retail book trade. Injury to the bookseller must partly fall upon the author, since much of his own welfare is bound up with the prosperity of the bookseller. Many books, indeed, cannot be said to be effectively published until the booksellers are interested in them; and no bookseller can be said to be interested in a book unless he gains a fair profit from selling it. In the general interest of literature, moreover, it is important that the race of trained and intelligent booksellers in this country should not be crowded out of existence. While fully recognising and deploring the existing conditions of the bookselling trade, your Committee cannot recommend you to give the "hearty support" asked for in Mr. Longman's letter, and still more difficult do they find it to agree with Mr. Macmillan's much more decided assertion that "the suggested action is taken in the interest of all connected with the commercial side of literature." The discount question is not one of senti- ment. It is purely an economic question, and must be considered from a commercial point of view. It is produced by modern com- petition, and it is to be paralleled by examples in many other trades. Chemists and druggists make the same complaint of excessive reductions in the retail price of patent medicines and well- known drugs. Retrospect. So far in general terms. Before proceeding to consider the question in detail, and as it is affected by the conditions of the day, it if necessary to recall previous attempts made in the same direction. The first and most serious attempt to regulate the rate of discount was made in the years' 1848-52. On July 12, 1850, the following de- claration was signed by every bookseller re- * The exact words of the resolution referred to by Mr. F. Macmillan were: "That the present trade terms should be given only to those booksellers who pledge themselves not to exceed 2d. in the Is. discount, and to maintain the published price of Net Books. "Those who are unwilling so to pledge themselves to b» supplied at scrip, net, and no odd copy."  ## p. 177 (#607) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. •77 siding within twelve miles of the Post Office. Their number was 1200. "1. That we will not supply books at trade price, except to those who are in possession of a ticket. Special trades dealing occasionally in books connected with their trade, may be supplied with such books at trade price, at the discretion of each bookseller. "2. That, as a general rule, no greater allow- ance than 10 per cent, for cash be made to private customers unconnected with the trade or with publishing. "3. That, as a general rule, no greater allowance than 15 per cent, be made to book societies. "4. That we will not advertise, or ticket, at less than the publication price, copyright books, unless bond fide second-hand or unless depreciated by the publisher, or such as are notoriously unsuccessful. "We mutually agree that any one systematically acting contrary to these regulations, after remon- strance, shall be no longer considered entitled to the privileges of the trade." This engagement was broken as soon as made. The chairman himself (Mr. J. M. Richardson at that time) admitted that he supplied books to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and that the latter re-sold them to its members at cost price. Another prominent member supplied books to a college at 25 per cent, discount. A third supplied the books to form the Bank of England library at a similar discount; and so on. Certain country book- sellers would on no account be guilty of selling a book under its published price, but to be equal with their neighbours who had no such scruples, they fell upon the following expedient: "If a person asked one of them for a book, published at 2s. 6d. for example, it was offered to him at that price, but if he objected that he could get it at 2s. elsewhere, the vendor at once overcame the difficulty by cutting open a few leaves of the volume, or if it chanced to be cut when published, by allowing a drop of ink to deface it—the conscientious bibliopole being able to regard it in that condition as ' second-hand,' and therefore holding himself entitled, according to orthodox principles, to sell it at a reduced price!" In April, 1852, an important paper on "The Commerce of Literature " appeared in the West- minster Review. It was written by Mr. John Chapman. This article vigorously opposed the restrictive action of the publishers. The Times followed up the article; that great paper could not discover any valid reason for " this anomalous interference with the free course of competition and the natural operation of trade," and did not hesitate to call the methods of the publishers "an organised system of coercion." On May 6th, 1852, a meeting of authors was held at Mr. Chapman's, 142, Strand, Charles Dickens taking the chair. It was a very remarkable gathering. Amongst the men distinguished in literature and science who were present were Professors Owen, Newman, and Ansted, Mr. Babbage, Mr. Tom Taylor, Dr. Lankester, Dr. Arnott, and Mr. Crabbe Robinson. Letters concurring in the views of the meeting were read from Mr. Carlyle, Mr. John Stuart Mill, Mr. Gladstone, Professor de Morgan, Mr. James Wilson, M.P., Mr. Cobden, M.P., and others. From this meet- ing there arose the definite steps taken which ended in the abolition of the trade restrictions. Five resolutions were adopted, declaring that free trade ought to be applied to books as to all other articles of commerce; that the principles of the Booksellers' Association were not only opposed to free trade, but were tyrannical and vexatious in their operations, and had the effect of keeping the prices of books much higher than they would otherwise be; and that the retailer, not the publisher, should determine the retail prices. This was not enough. On April 30, 1852, a circular was issued by Messrs. J. W. Parker and Son, addrossed to leading authors, inviting them to send a reply to the following question: "If a retail bookseller, of ascertained credit and respectability, applies to your publisher for copies of any book in which you are directly or indirectly interested, which he is ready to purchase on the terms at which the publisher has offered them to the trade at large, but with the avowed intention of retailing his purchases at a smaller profit than that provided for between the wholesale rate and the retail price fixed for single copies, do you consider the intention to sell at a low rate of profit a good and sufficient reason why the pub- lisher should refuse to supply him with books which he is ready to purchase and to keep in stock at his own risk? All, with the exception of three, who were dubious, answered in the negative. Among those who then replied were J. S. Mill, Tennyson, Dickens, Carlyle, Qoldwin Smith, Herbert Spencer, Darwin, Charles Kingsley, Francis Newman, Babbage, Forbes Winslow, Cornewall Lewis, and Leigh Hunt. Finally the question was referred to a commis- sion, consisting of Lord Campbell, Dean Mil- man, and George Grote. The commission decided that the regulations were unreasonable and in- expedient, and contrary to the freedom which ought to prevail in commercial transactions.  ## p. 178 (#608) ############################################ 178 THE AUTHOR. This, then, was the opinion of the most distin- guished men in Literature, Law, and Science in 1852. In 1869 another attempt was made to impose restrictions upon the retail booksellers. This proposal was speedily dropped. Witnesses and Documents. Your Committee, in order to ascertain the facts and figures necessary for th«ir guidance, have received evidence from: 1. Mr. Thomas Burleigh (secretary of the Booksellers' Association), 370, Oxford - street, W. 2. Mr. E. Gowing-Scopes (secretary of the Retail Newsagents' and Booksellers' Union, 185, Fleet-street, E.C.) 3. Certain representatives of booksellers, viz.: Mr. Frederick H. Evans, of Queen-street, Cheapside, E C. Mr. Henry Glaisher, of 95, Strand, W.C. Mr. Henry W. Keay, of Eastbourne. Mr. Robert Maclehose, of Glasgow. Mr. N. V. Collier (Mr. Edward Stanford's), of Cockspur-street, S.W. Mr. Arthur L.Humphreys (Messrs. Hatchard's), of Piccadilly, W. Mr. John Stone ham, of Cheapside, E.C. 4. The Committee have also before them a pamphlet issued by Mr. William Heinemann, of 21, Bedford-street, W.C, who kindly forwarded it to them. 5. The evidence contained in various issues of the Publishers' Circular, together with a full account of the speeches of Mr. Frederick Mac- millan and others, setting forth the publishers' views on the subject. 6. An article that appeared in the Westminster Review of 1852, entitled "The Commerce of Literature." 7. A pamphlet by Mr. Thomas Bosworth, of 215, Regent-street, W., dated 1868. 8. The evidence from the Booksellers' Review and correspondence in the Times and the other papers on the subject, together wifh a ' mass of private and confidential letters written to the Committee. 9. They have also had before them the answers of members of the Council of the Society to the same question as that put in 1852 by Messrs. Parker. Evidence. The following facts and opinions have been elicited: 1. It has been stated that the larger book- sellers get better terms than the smaller. 2. "Office expenses" are by some booksellers 'estimated as high as 15 or 16 percent, on receipts. This item must obviously vary enormously. 3. It is stated that country booksellers obtain 10 per cent, discount, instead of the London allowance of 5 per cent., as a set-off against carriage. 4. Books that are non-copyright are sold to the trade at various prices. The most common terms are a little over half the published price. 5. It is stated that the increasing practice of the drapers in selling non-copyright books very cheaply—even under cost price—greatly injures booksellers. 6. Several of the most experienced witnesses stated as their conviction that the proposed coercion could not be carried out; although they were aware that in the case of magazines some- thing has been done in certain provincial towns by the Newsagents' Association. 7. The probable effect of raising the price was variously estimated. The public, according to many booksellers, will not mind the addition of sixpence or so: the public, according to others, will not pay an additional sixpence: the public, according to some, will readily pay a net price: according to others, will insist on getting dis- count. The truth appears to be that the public will have discount if they can get it. As for reducing the retail price, it is generally considered by the trade that the increased sale would not compensate the loss. 8. Several witnesses were of opinion that some form of "sale or return" would be very helpful. One practical proposal before your Committee was to treat books as magazines are treated, viz., to allow so many per doz. to be returned; the book- sellers, of course, to have the choice of books to be sent to them. In the case of highly priced books it is absolutely necessary that they should be sent on sale or return if they are to be shown to the public by the smaller country booksellers. 9. There seems to be a universal consent in the trade that it would be of no use to rearrange terms with publishers unless some way could be found to prevent further increase of discount. 10. The publishers fix the price of books. One witness suggested that the publishers should fix only the trade price, leaving the booksellers free to sell the books at any price they please. This is the custom with prayerbooks. 11. As regards the proposed regulation of the trade, it is urged, on the oue hand, that there is no fear of further coercion, and that booksellers cannot be worse off than they are. On the other hand, it is pointed out that booksellers desire immediate relief by the reduction of the discount, and that they do not realise the state of dependence in which the attainment of their desires would place them.  ## p. 179 (#609) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. '79 Causb8 of Depression. So far for the evidence. We have next to consider the causes of the present depression of trade. 1. The 3d. in the shilling discount is generally advanced as the sole cause. This, however, is not the case; there are other causes, and this discount is not universal. Where the practice prevails, it is quite clear that the small bookseller cannot live by the sale of copyright works alone. Booksellers, however, have brought this discount system upon themselves. Publishers do not appear to have recognised it in their trade prices. Book- sellers introduced the system, and there is no possible guarantee that they would not be com- pelled, in the future, by the necessities of com- petition, to render inoperative any improved terms of sale that might be introduced with a view to their benefit. 2. A second cause of the position of the book- seller is the depression of agriculture, which has inflicted such enormous losses on country gentle- men, cathedral and county clergy, and fellows of colleges, all of whom were formerly buyers of books. 8. The competition of other traders who have added books to their other wares. 4. The partial loss of the educational book trade, whether of elementary or of higher schools, which is now often carried on direct between schools and publishers. 5. The practice of many Free Libraries, which deal with the publisher or the wholesale agent direct instead of with the local bookseller. (i. The failure of the bookseller to meet the new demands for reading from the many millions added to the number of readers by the spread of education. The drapers, for instance, seem to have discovered a new stratum of purchasers. 7. A want of energy and "push" among book- sellers as a whole. It is quite evident that if the mass of people are to buy books they must have lK>oks attractively offered to them. Conclusions. In considering the condition of the trade, and the proposals of the booksellers and publishers, your Committee have come to the conclusion that the coercive measures proposed could not be carried out. This was proved in 1852. Evasion in every form was then, and would be now, practised by the discontented, and successfully practised now as then. In connection with the vital question of the possibility of enforcing upon unwilling booksellers a uniform and reduced discount, your Com- mittee think it necessary to draw attention to an VOL. VIII. aspect of the matter which frequently escapes notice. Let us suppose that the publishers decide to raise their terms or to refuse books to any bookseller who gives a discount of more than 2d. in the shilling. Many booksellers would gladly welcome the announcement, but others—amongst these the great London shops, who often sell in an hour as many copies of a popular work as a small country book- seller sells in a year—certainly would not. On the contrary, they would frankly endeavour to find some method of evasion. "But," reply the publishers, " since ex hypothesi we should all be united in action, evasion would be impossible. The would-be 25 per cent, discount man simply could not get his books to sell, cither from us, or from a wholesale distributor himself dependent upon us." It is in comment upon this assertion that your Committee feel it necessary to speak. The publishers' contention may be perfectly true con- cerning the publishers who now exist, though all publishers do not belong to "the Association ": it is completely shattered by the fact that nothing prevents other publishers from coming into existence—indeed, from coming into existence ad hoc. For example, the success of the publishers would be at the mercy of a single author whose new book was certain beforehand of a very large sale. Such an author is in no way dependent upon a publisher. He might publish his new book hiinself, publish it through a bookseller, through a printer, through a literary agent, or through a draper. Having done so, he would supply it to booksellers at cheaper rates than those previously charged for his books, and leave the booksellers to give what discount they chose. Thus, instead of retail discount being reduced by the combinaton of publishers, it might well be increased. Lest it be thought that your Committee is imagining an impossible state of things, we may call attention to two statements in the evidence before us. First, a retail bookseller, doing, perhaps, the largest business in the United Kingdom, seriously asked your Committee, " Why not start a branch of the Authors' Society as the Authors' Publishing Association?" Secondly, a witness of great experience, being asked whether booksellers would be prepared to deal with the author direct, replied: "The trade would be quite willing to deal with a popular author direct, providing he gave suitable terms. In my opinion, such a move would have astound- ing results." We know of no reason why the retailer of R  ## p. 180 (#610) ############################################ i8o THE AUTHOR. books should be fettered as to the prices he charges, more than the retailer of any other commodity. If it were found possible to enforce the present proposals, other and more stringent restrictions would, doubtless, follow, such as refusal to supply books to booksellers who bought of firms outside the Publishers' Association. The independence of the author would be seriously compromised by the existence of a close ring of publishers and booksellers, who might as easily dictate to him a royalty of 5 per cent, as to the bookseller a 2d. discount. If experience showed that the public, would pay without complaint the enhanced price of books caused by the lowering of the discount, the next step would be that publishers would be strongly tempted to use the monopoly thus created to go on augmenting the price of their wares. Thus a result of the present proposals would probably be that the individual book - buyer would have to pay more and more for his literature. It should be observed that, according to the figures given to us, a 6s. book, now sold to the public at 48. 6d., yields to the bookseller a profit of from lOd. to Is.; if sold at 5s., it would yield him a profit of from Is. 4d. to Is. 6d.; on the other hand, a book sold to the public at a net price of 5s., yields to the bookseller, by the present arrangements of the trade, a profit of Is. 0|d. Thepubbsher receives for a 5s.net book from 3|d. to 5|d. more than for a 6s. book subject to the discount system, whether the discount be 3d. in the Is., or whether it be lowered (as by the proposal under consideration) to 2d. The net system, therefore, being so much more profit- able to publishers, would tend to supplant the revised discount system, and the author must be prepared to rearrange terms with the publisher on this new basis. If proposals limiting the freedom of the retail bookseller are to be considered at all — a course of action which your Committee earnestly deprecate — they must be taken up by representatives of authors, publishers, and booksellers. In every such consideration or dis- cussion the whole question of book production will have to be freely and openly laid on the table, including actual cost of production, money actually spent on advertisements, &c, before anything definite can be arrived at as regards the proper proportion of profit to be assigned to the author, the bookseller, and the publisher. With regard to the pamphlet issued by Mr. Heinemann, and sent by him to your Committee: The German system there explained is a system of which it can only be said that no tiador in these islands could possibly adopt or endure it. While all other dealers and traders around him were free to do as they pleased with their own property, he alone would be a ser- vant and a clerk, ordered to sell as he was told or to be ruined. The pamphlet invites the closest attention, as showing the actual desire of some among the promoters of these measures. Your Committee believe that the Germanisation of the British Book Trade in- volved in these proposals would not be to the advantage either of the "commercial," or any other side of literature. Remedial Measures. Tour Committee venture to suggest the following as remedial measures: 1. An endeavour by local booksellers to get the whole of the local trade—school books, prize books, books for free libraries—and to reach the lower strata of readers by stocking and pushing the sale of cheap editions of sound literature. Greater energy and enterprise, as displayed in other retail trades, if the country book trade is to be saved from extinction.* 2. The development of a system of sending out on sale or return books protected in suitable wrappers or cases. 3. The publication of non-copyright books by booksellers for themselves. The printing and issue in an attractive form of such books would require little preliminary capital, provided there were an undertaking of the trade generally to further the sale of the series. 4. It is obvious that unless the retail book- seller himself knows the difference between good and bad style and workmanship in paper, print, binding, and illustration, he cannot direct the taste of his customers to purchases which, while securing for him a remunerative business, provide them with a collection of books of permanent and even increasing value. 5. It is suggested that country booksellers should add to their business that of selling second-hand books. 6. A great feature of modern trade in printed publications is the sale of magazines, and the consequent notable increase in the number of newsagents. It is suggested that the news- agent, who must (at present, at any rate) be a local tradesman, is destined to supplant the country bookseller, unless the latter, on his * Ono of our most capable witnesses—himself a book- seller—declared that the country bookseller who fails to make a living deserves to fail, and that the profits upon bookselling are sufficient to-day in the hands of a man of real intelligence, ingenuity, and industry to enable him to thrive.  ## p. 181 (#611) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 181 side, takes over the business of the newsagent, and adopts his methods, as, indeed, the more enterprising are already beginning to do. Pub- lishers, we think, will do well to bear this development in mind, and extend accordingly the system of issuing expensive books in cheap weekly or monthly parts. 7. The fusion of the Booksellers' Association with the Booksellers' Union and the sinking of minor differences, are desirable in the interests of the trade. your Committee venture to suggest that the Committee of Management of the Society of Authors should signify to the Booksellers' Trade Organisations aud other similar bodies their willingness to advise and assist in the discussion of trade questions if so desired. Tour Committee make the above suggestions as the best that have come to their notice, with- out, however, attaching undue importance to them. We cannot hope that the country book trade will be restored to prosperity by com- paratively superficial methods. Owing to the operation of economic forces, destined in the future to increase and not to diminish in energy, the old - fashioned methods of book- selling cannot possibly survive. Rapid- and cheap means of communication tend to place all small local dealers at a disadvantage, and no formation of trading rings, or limited monopolies of sale, can invert the normal development of the processes of trade. It is only by following and taking advantage of new opportunities afforded by that normal development that injuries suffered can be repaired. (Signed) A. VV. a'Beckett. P. E. Beddard. Walter Besant. Martin Conway. Henry Arthur Jones. Henry Norman. P. Storr. Henry R, Tedder. The Bookselling Question, As one who has had nearly forty years practical experience of the book trade, perhaps you would allow me to venture a suggestion that, if given effect to, might help very considerably to relievo the present unsatisfactory condition of the retail book business. The main pressure upon the town and, particu- larly, the country bookseller is felt in the risk he is made to run in stocking his shop with new copyright books. These, when asked for, he is expected to dispose of at so bare a margin ($d. in the is.) above the invoice price that insufficient VOL. VIII. profit remains to allow of a certain proportion of his stock failing to find purchase, but which he has to pay for all the same. Here it is the publishers might come to the help of the retailer by adopting the practice which so largely prevails in Germany of permitting the bookseller to obtain new books " on sale or return" for a limited time after publication. By this means the retailer is freed from loss on unsuccessful books, while the volumes are exposed to the public on his counter, and the author can count upon his work being brought within the purview of the book-buyer for a month or two after it has been published. This arrangement may not be an alto- gether agreeable one to the publishers, who have naturally a strong preference for the " buying out and out" system. They don't take kindly to "returns." Nevertheless, the proposed relaxation of the purchase terms would radically improve the pecuniary conditions of retail bookselling, and at the same time be a gain to the public and. to the author as well. _____ Ex-Publisher. Additional. [The following additional considerations are submitted by a member of the Committee.] The bookselling trade has been subject to two contrary, though not contradictory, tendencies of the age, the tendency to combination, and the tendency to differentiation, and by both these movements the present race of booksellers have been disastrously affected. The former move- ment, of which the Co-operative Stores are the concrete embodiment, will be considered in a later portion of this report. Of the tendency to specialisation, one result is such an integral feature of our inquiry that it must be clearly pointed out at starting. To the general public, booksellers form a single class, distinguished only by the extent of their business. Those behind the scenes know that they may be roughly divided into two distinct classes—those who deal in copyright books, and those who deal in non- copyright books. There is, of course, the hard- and-fast line between the two; the seller of new books will keep among his ware a popular reprint of a standard work, and the seller of reprints will speculate in a new novel bearing some well-known name on its title-page—there are not at the present moment more than half a dozen such names at most—and he will procure for his cus- tomers any new book they may demand, but he will not keep it in stock. But though the two classes may overlap, the distinction between them is essential. Thus among the hundreds of book- shops and bookstalls east of St. Paul's, we believe there is not a single boo_aeller, in the older and stricter sense of the word. And the b 2  ## p. 182 (#612) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. reason is not far to seek. In rough figures, the seller of copyright books makes 15 per cent, gross profits on his sales, the seller of non- copyright books makes anything from 2 5 to 50 per cent., or even more. This is a no less serious matter for authors than for booksellers. A book that is not dis- played can hardly be said to be published, and the vast majority of the population, all—in fact, except the inhabitants of great centres like London, Manchester, and Oxford—have uo oppor- tunity of seeing a new book, unless it happens to be in the Free Library, or they order it through the Circulating Library, and the class which makes use of these two agencies is not to any great extent a book-purchasing class. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Report on Copyright. THE Report of the Royal Commission on the Law of Copyright, which has been out of print for some ten years, has been reprinted, in consequence, we presume, of a fresh demand being caused by the proceedings in the House of Lords in connection with the amending Bill pro- moted by the Society of Authors last session, which passed the House after investigation by a Select Committee with the assistance of skilled witnesses. Since the first issue of the Report in 1878, con- solidation and amendment of the law have been three times attempted: first, in 1879, by the present Duke of Rutland, then Lord John Manners, on behalf of the Conservative Govern- ment; secondly, in 1886, by the Society of Authors in a Bill which was not brought before Parliament; and thirdly, in 1891, by Lord Monkswell's Bill, promoted by the same society after consultation of all parties interested, and read a second time in the House of Lords subject to the singular condition imposed by Lord Hals- bury, as representing the Government, that it should not be further proceeded with. Various amending Bills have also been introduced, notably that of last session by Lord Monkswell, which will be re-introduced in Parliament as soon as possible. All the Bills, whether consolidating or amending, have, as might be expected, been framed on the lines marked out by the Report of the Commission of 1878. The Bill of 1891 is prefixed by an elaborate memorandum summaris- ing its contents, and giving reasons for almost every alteration proposed; and the same course was pursued on a smaller scale in connection with the Bill of last session. Perhaps the best mode of procedure in the matter would be for Parlia- ment to pass the Bill with such amendments, if any, as may seem desirable, but to postpone its operation for a few months, before the expiration of which period a consolidating Bill repealing and precisely re-enacting it may also be passed. This procedure, which has the advantage of dis- tinguishing amendment from re-enactment, and of enabling the opinion of Parliament to be taken separately on amendments, was successfully fol- lowed in connection with the amendments of the law of lunacy which were placed on the Statute- book in 1889 and 1890.—Law Times, Nov. 13, 1897. II.—The Cost of Production. I have before me estimates from four printers of a certain piece of work. I tabulated these estimates, and compared them with the corre- sponding figures in the Society's "Cost of Production." Whenever I get accounts or esti- mates I always make this comparison, and always with the same result. And yet we find certain publishers gravely and impudently asserting that the figures in the "Cost of Production" are far too low: Composing Printing Paper for the Per sheet. Per sheet. whole work. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Society's figures 1 16 6 ... o 16 2 ... 28 7 o PrinterA i is 6 ... 1 4 6 ... 18 2 3 » B 1 16 o ... 1 40 ... 30 2 o „ C 2 5 o ... o 17 6 ... 18 o o ( (Lumped these items } 1, U > . , i IS II O (. togother) ) 3 The very low estimate of printing—16s. zd. a sheet—(see "Cost of Production," p. 28) is perhaps due to its being the charge for printing after stereotyping. Observe the wonderful unanimity of the charge for composing. As for the cost of paper, we must, it is evident, lower this item by 36 per cent., an immense saving. The Secretary showed me recently three accounts. They all came from the same house: they were all, under every head, lower than those of the Society's book. I think, with these facts before us, we need not distress ourselves with the complaints about our impossible figures. W. B. III.—Serial Rights. As serial rights have been steadily growing in importance, it has been found necessary from time to time to repeat in The Author the difficul- ties of dealing with this kind of property and the pitfalls that should be avoided. By serial publication is meant not publication in a series of books, but publication in the form  ## p. 183 (#613) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. »83 of periodical issue. Serial rights may be divided as follows. These are the common formB: :. Rights in Some important London maga- zine or paper. 2. Rights in some important American maga- zine or paper. 3. Secondary rights in England. 4. Secondary rights in America. 5. Rights in the Colonies and Dependencies of Great Britain. In selling any of these rights the author should be very careful of what he is selling, and of the date of publication. If the author is careless, he may find that he has sold all serial rights, that his story is being syndicated in the provinces and in America and is bringing in moneys that he could have put into his own pocket, or that his work is being con- stantly reproduced in serial versions in the same paper. Another result of this carelessness may be that he finds his work in serial form advertised at absurdly cheap prices, which may tend to depre- ciate the value of any fresh work from his pen. He may find again, that he has brought him- self within the toils of the 18th section of the Copyright Act. The 18th section runs as follows: "XVIII. And be it enacted, that when any pub- lisher or other person shall, before or at the time of the passing of this Act, have projected, con- ducted, and carried on, or shall hereafter project, conduct, and carry on, or be the proprietor of any encyclopaedia, review, magazine, periodical work, or work published in a series of books or parts, or any book whatsoever, and shall have employed or shall employ any persons to compose the same, or any volume, parts, essays, articles, or portions thereof for publication in or as part of the same, and such work, volumes, parts, essays, articles, or portions shall have been or shall hereafter be composed under such employ- ment, on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to such proprietor, projector, pub- lisher, or conductor, and paid for by such pro- prietor, publisher, projector, or conductor, the copyright in every such encyclopaedia, review, magazine, periodical work, and work published in a series of books or parts, and in every volume, part, essay, article, and portion so composed and paid for, shall be the property of such proprietor, projector, publisher, or other conductor, who shall enjoy the same rights as if he were the actual author thereof, and shall have such term of copyright therein as is given to the authors of books by this Act; except only that in the case of essays, articles, or portions forming part of and first published in reviews, magazines, or other periodical works of a like nature after the term of twenty-eight years from the first pub- lication thereof respectively, the right of publishing the same in a separate form shall revert to the author for the remainder of the term given by this Act: Provided always, that during the term of twenty-eight years the said proprietor, pro- jector, publisher, or conductor, shall not publish any such essay, article, or portion separately or singly, without the consent previously obtained of the author thereof, or hiB assigns: Provided also that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect the right of any person who shall have been or who shall be so employed as aforesaid to publish any such his composition in a separate form who by any contract, express or implied, may have reserved or may hereafter reserve to himself such right; but every author reserving, retaining, or having such right shall be entitled to the copyright in such composition when published in a separate form, according to this Act, without prejudice to the right of such proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor, as aforesaid." It will be seen from this that when the pro- prietor employs and pays (a most important feature) a writer on the terms that the copyright in the work done shall belong to such proprietor, then the proprietor can for twenty-eight years republish the work, but only with the consent of the author; but that the author may on the other hand expressly or impliedly retain his copy- right. The question of what would happen if nothing was said about copyright is left open. Does the author impliedly reserve it? One case decided in the courts seems to point to this view, but the question is still by good authorities considered doubtful. The author should always endeavour to have a special contract with regard to the sale of serial rights, and should under all circumstances try to avoid coming under the ban of the 18th section. The Society of Authors in their Copyright Bill which passed through the House of Lords last session, having been settled by a very strong committee of that House, have remedied this difficulty, and in that Bill have repealed the 18th section. The committee of the Society intend to use their utmost endeavours to push the Bill through, as they have the support of the Publishers' aud Copyright Associations and hope to succeed, but as the 18th section is still law it must still In- dealt with. If the author can sell both the American and English serial rights he must arrange for simul-  ## p. 184 (#614) ############################################ 184 THE AUTHOR. taueous publication so as not to lose t he American copyright. There are certain periodicals that publish long stories in single numbers. This is often the case with annuals. The author when selling to such periodicals should keep this point before him, as it is possible that such circulation may damage the book rights, and if this is likely he should secure an enhanced price. The author should never sign a receipt for moneys in payment for serial use which is so expressed as to convey the copyright to the proprietor. If an author does not understand what he is signing he had better take the advice of someone who does. He should be careful of the date of publication, for the very simple reason that the tale will be published in book form, and it cannot appear in this form until it has ran at any rate for some months as a serial. It is important for an author to arrange that the publication of one story does not conflict with the publication of another. There is the further question that many periodicals do not pay until publication takes place. This, of course, could not be delayed indefinitely, but the expense and difficulty of bringing the machinery of the law to work ought, if possible, to be avoided. Let the contract be quite clear by taking a little care in the beginning. Authors should be careful also that their MS. is sent type-written. If type-writing is too expensive, then the writing should be very distinct. There is no doubt, however, that a type-written MS. increases an author's chance of being read, and he should not neglect this chance. The author should always retain a copy in case of accidents, and should be very careful of the position and repute of the periodical he intends to deal with. An author when writing to an editor should clearly state what he is offering for sale. Thus: "Dear Sir,—I beg to offer you the enclosed for serial publication in number of , or any number that may be subsequently agreed upon." The author should also mention the price that he is willing to take, that is if he is particular on this point. If the tale is accepted without any further special stipulations, then it is accepted on the terms of the letter. It is important therefore to keep copies of letters. Lastly, and this is most important, do not assign to publishers when contracting with them for the publication of a book, "serial, &c, &c., rights," either on half profits or any other terms. The much-abused agent charges in nearly all cases between 5 and 15 per cent., whereas the publisher when undertaking this agency work for sale of serial rights charges anything from 2 5 to 50 per cent. He is, in addition, not nearly so competent as an agent to carry through this work, and in many cases does not even attempt to do so. As this work is really outside his publishing business he does not strive to make a good bargain in order to maintain the author's interests, but is willing to sell for whatever he can get, as he is reaping a large benefit from that for which he has not toiled. It would be possible to quote many clauses taken from various agreements in the Society's hands, but the following, as perhaps most typical, is chosen as an example: "That the publisher shall have the sole right to sell or assign the serial, American, Colonial, Continental translation and dramatic rights in the above work, and the publisher shall pay to the author one half of the profits from the sale of the same, such amounts to be payable as and when provided in Clause 5 hereof. In the case of stereo-plates, electro-plates, or shells with rights being sold, the net profits of their sale, after deducting the invoiced cost of their production, shall be received, divided, and paid over in the same way. Quires or bound copies sold to America shall come under Clause 5 hereof." IV.—A Case. The following case will no doubt be a very interesting one to members of the Society :— An article was sent to one of the best known evening papers on a certain subject, and shortly afterwards the writer obtained the following letter: Aug. 24, 1897. Dear Sir,—Your article on" "has been accepted by this paper, and will be nsed in due course,—Tours faithfully, (Signed) , Acting editor of the paper Two months later, without hearing anything in the meantime, the writer received the subjoined letter. He had naturally taken for granted that his article would either appear in due course, or in case of non-publication that the editor would at any rate pay him for it as it had been definitely accepted. It never entered his head that the  ## p. 185 (#615) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. •85 editor would not carry out the contract that he had entered into: ^ a ^ The editor of the" "regrets that he is unable to make use of the enclosed MS., whioh he accordingly returns with many thanks. The article has been returned to the paper, but nothing further has been heard from the editor up to the present date. The secretary of the Society will be pleased to give the name of the paper to any member of the Society who cares to verify this statement. V.—A Fancy Offee. Here is a publisher's offer of a fancy or sport- ing kind. A young writer has a MS. which he thinks likely to attract attention. He offers it to a certain firm; he receives the following pro- posal: 1. He is to pay down in advance «£uo. 2. The publishers will produce an edition of 1500 copies free of cost to the author. 3. After 100 copies have been sold, they will pay the author is. 6d. a copy royalty. Let us see how this works out. (1) On the sale of 500: £ s. £ s. Cost of production, say 100 o Royaltyon400at2*.6rf. 50 o Profit to publisher ... 47 10 197 10 (2) On the sale of 1000: Cost of production ... Royalty on 900 at2s. 6d. Profit to publisher ... I 10 0 87 10 100 0 112 10 72 10 IIO 0 175 0 197 10 285 (3) On the sale of 1500 copies: Cost of production ... 100 o Royalty to author on 1400 copies 175 10 Profit to publisher ... 97 o 285 372 10 By author no o Sale of 1500 at 3*. 6d. 262 10 372 10 £ *. So that, the author, by 500 copies, loses 60 o „ 1000 „ gains 2 10 „ 1500 „ „ 65 io The publisher by 500 „ „ 47 10 1000 „ „ 72 10 1500 „ » 97 ° Very likely the new writer accepted the pro- posal because he wanted his work to appear. Yet, you see, the publisher, who is completely covered from risk, gains =£72 io*. on a thousand copies, and the author £2 10s. I The fault of the agreement is that the royalty is paid by the publisher to the author instead of by the author to the publisher. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Nov. 16. THE questions of ethics and of business between authors and publishers are being discussed with as much liveliness now in the United States as they are in England. The latest contribution to the subject is an article by Professor C. G. D. Roberts, a minor poet of some reputation, in the Illustrated American. He makes some pleasant concessions to the human nature of publishers, but says that before the days of international copyright they acted like brain cannibals. One of his exceptions, the Harpers, who tried to pay Mr. Gilbert some- thing on account of one of his operas, had the cheque returned by him with a sarcastic letter! Rather entertaining light is thrown on the busi- ness of providing the public with what it wants by the prospectus for 1898, just published by Scribner's Magazine. A series of articles on great businesses is to be continued another year. The central idea of each article is to show what a tremendous lot of brains the men who run the business possess. Anything critical, anything which takes away from the magnificence of the impressions, is frowned upon. The idea is not unlike that which animates our so-called yellow journals, to get the reader excited, enthu- siastic, to give him what we call a sensation. Of course, that is only one part of a great magazine, though it is coming to be the principal part. Another of the Scribner's announcements is a con- tinuation of a series of articles which tell how a college graduate occupied himself with various humble employments and learned to know the people. This series has been very popular, and shows that there is rather wide taste for this condescending interest in all sorts and con- ditions of men. One of the more cheerful signs of the times as given by the fodder promised by the magazine is that, if a man is famous enough, he may write as well as he pleases. A poem is promised on Stevenson by James Whit- comb Riley, which will undoubtedly have life in it, and Kipling is to be a contributor. Henry Cabot Lodge will write a history of the American  ## p. 186 (#616) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Revolution in instalments, and it is interesting to notice that the principal emphasis is put on the pictures. The picture is becoming the central point, not only of magazines, but of a large part of the book-publishing business. The other day a writer was talking to a publisher about a forth- coming yolume. "I wish we could have that book," said the publisher, " it would go well; but the difficulty would be to make the pictures." Now, the book was a series of essays, requiring absolutely no illustration in the real sense, for pictures would do nothing to bring out the mean- ing of the text. The publisher's comment simply represented a judgment which is becoming an instinct. Another commercial feature of the treatment of literature is brought out by the Chap Book in its last number in connection with a matter of which I have already spoken, the great library of the World's Best Literature. The periodical calls attention to the fact that Abigail Adams has 25 pages and Addison 23 ; iEschylus 17 and T. B. Aldrich 37; Alfieri 12 and George W. Cable 20. The moral is very obvious, and besides, it has been clearly enough stated before. Clearly as we may see these unhappy elements of literary life, however, it is only decent to realise the strength of the temptation. Most of our publishers are exceptionally moral and high- minded men. They almost always succeed in deceiving themselves before they deceive the public. When a strong temptation to make a popular move comes up they reason about how much more good you can do by working with the prejudices of the populace than by working against them, and what bad taste and unkind- ness it is to speak evil of anybody. After a little course in this sort of thought, the habit of cater- ing to a large circulation becomes an easy one, quite in line with their convictions. While some men seem to lose their equilibrium in the business desire to stretch the maxim Vox Populi Vox Dei beyond its legitimate meaning, others lose it by too thorough distrust of the popular verdict. George Bernard Shaw, whose clever play "The Devil's Disciple" is running with unexpected success here, has taken the trouble to write an open letter, in which he shows how he is always right and the public always wrong whenever there is any difference of opinion about the success of one of his manwuvres. Now the particular thing which aroused bis wrath was not a moral or intellectual difference at all, but a very bad piece of execution, where human beings were made to act ridiculously in order to keep the outcome of the plot from being seen at a particular time. Mr. Shaw accuses the public of Philistinism, which whether true or not, is beside the mark. The audience in America, at least, and presumably elsewhere, is an un- critical mass of persons which responds to certain dramatic effects and fails to respond to others. It may put its judgment in intellec- tual terms, but what really causes the success or failure of the play is usually a matter of con- structive workmanship. Mr. Barrie's "Little Minister," now running in New York to remark- able houses, is an instance of practically perfect dramatic construction. The play is so well balanced and so neatly written, so without any superfluous touches, that even Mr. Charles Frohman's characteristic move of making one of the principal characters unimportant in order to pay only one prominent actor, fails to ruin the play. An instance, however, of how a bad play can be made to score some sort of a success is being given at the same time. "A Lady of Quality " is constructed in such a childish way, so full of idiotic speeches, long pauses, and affected explanations, that almost everybody is surprised that even Julia Arthur's acting carries the venture to success, but it does with the aid of a liberal allowance of scenery. One of our most intelligent actors, Minnie Madden Pisk, has just made a strong protest against what is known as the Theatrical Trust, an institution which does more to stifle original dramatic production than anything else in the country. It is under the control of two or three small-natured but successful business men, who control the largest theatres in all of the cities, and all of the theatres in some of the cities, and refuse to allow any play or actor there until con- cessions are made to them. Not one of these two or three men has any idea of art, or any ideal beyond money and large type for his own name in the playbill, and the result is disastrous. One trifling incident which happened a few weeks ago has been a good deal misjudged. "Les Miserables " was excluded from a course of reading in a Philadelphia school on account of supposed impropriety. The Journal des Debats say that commercial motives were uppermost in this move. A good deal has been done to favour American books, but nothing quite so ridiculous as that. The motive was honest, however foolish. It was a case of ignorant goodness. Norman Hafoood.  ## p. 187 (#617) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Keport of the Sub-Coruuiittee appointed to consider the publishers' proposals with regard to the discount question will be found in another page. The Committee was intended to be a representative one. In Mr. a'Beckett and Mr. Henry Norman, Literature and Journalism are combined. Sir Martin Conway is not only a distinguished traveller but he is also a distinguished writer on Art. Mr. Beddard, F.R.S., is a leader in science. Mr. Storr, editor of the Journal of Education, is an authority on all subjects connected with educational literature. Mr. Henry Arthur Jones very fitly represents the Drama. Mr. Tedder probably knows more about books and the history of books and their circu- lation than any other living man. Of the last member, myself, it would be false modesty to pretend, after five years' chairmanship of the Society, and six years' editing of The Author, that I do not know something of the subject. I hope that every member of the Society will read this Report very carefully, and will agree with it. The Sub-Committee, briefly, cannot adopt the proposals. There is every conceivable reason why they should not, and not one why they should, for— (i.) The 3(7. in the shilling discoimt is only one of many reasons, as is shown in the Report, for the alleged depression in the book trade. (2.) There is no depression in the book trade, which was never more flourishing, but a grave depression in the trade of the country bookseller. (3.) It would be impossible to carry out the proposed coercion. (4.) If it were possible, the reduction of a large body of men to practical slavery is a thing against which all Englishmen must protest. (5.) The system is in vogue in Germany, where it is a grinding tyranny. (6.) These reasons are enough, but the Report shows more. Should we, for instance, regard the proposal as the first step in an organised plan for placing the whole of the business of literature in the hands of the publishers H (7.) The next step would then be to prohibit booksellers from buying and selling any other than the books of the Publishers' Asssociation. (8.) That step would prevent the author from publishing at all, except through the Association. (9.) The Association would then be able to make any terms they pleased with authors. (10.) The slavery of the author following on that of the bookseller, would naturallv lead to the decline of literature. This anticipation is not by any means imagi- nary. There is every reason to believe that some such action is contemplated with the view of bringing royalties down to 10 per cent. What does a 10 per cent, royalty mean? It means several things. (1.) That the publisher on a 6s. book gives the author jd. and takes for himself is. nd. (2.) That no one except the few very successful men could live by writing. (3.) That a writer who now makes ,£2000 a year would be reduced to £800 a year. (4.) That a writer who now makes £600 a year would be reduced to £250. Of course similar reductions would be made in the magazines. If any other reason were wanted, we might find it in the consideration that the reduction of the discount by one penny in the shilling would increase the price of books in a corresponding degree, and therefore prohibit the sale. In a word, people will not pay 5*. when they have been accustomed to pay sixpence less. But the whole business is a question for book- sellers. If they agree among themselves in any town it is open and legitimate for them to do so. It is also to be observed, very carefully, that the proposals of the publishers do not cost themselves a single penny. On the other hand, as they contemplate the substitution of net prices for the present system, they actually mean to put a substantial addition of money into their own pockets. Thus, the 6«. book will become 5*. net. At present the publisher gets 3s. 6d. on an average for a 6s. book. At the net price he will get 3«. n^d. He therefore pockets 5|rf. by the change so benevolently advanced for the good of the book- seller, who takes for his share about $d. It is indeed disinterested. The question of the Publishing " Trust" must be kept over for a time. Action of some sort may be forced upon us sooner than was anticipated. Meantime many encouraging notes have been received, and I shall be glad to hear more if members, especially members whose works have been successful, will consider the scheme, or any scheme of a similar nature. It may, for instance, be found more easy to develop the trade outside the regular channels: to make drapers and others booksellers in reality of new and copyright works. _ I have received the following private letter from a member. It seems to me to concern all of us, not the editor of this paper alone; therefore, I have asked leave to publish it:—  ## p. 188 (#618) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. "I am always concerned when I read the annual report of the Committee to mark how slow the progress of the Society is. Do you agitate enough? Do you make the world of letters really understand that the Society does not exist for novelists only, as our enemies are fond of declaring: that it is not a fad or a sham distinc- tion or an affectation of this, that, or the other: t hat it is not a body which arrogates to itself the function of 'encouraging' literature, or " advanc- ing " literature: but that it is, on the other hand, a perfectly serious society, whose work is wholly devoted to the business aspect of the literary profession? If writers once understood and realised this they would all flock in. If they would be taught, at the same time, what the Society has already effected: how royalties have been doubled, trebled, quadrupled; how lying accounts have been checked; how the cost of production has been, for the first time, revealed to the world, having always before been studiously concealed—the intention being to trade on the ignorance of the author: how, for the first time, the author has found himself protected: then there would be no hesitation: every man of letters whose work was a property, however small, would become a member. And it would be the duty, even of those who did not want the services of the Society, to join for the sake of others. "General literature and fiction, I take it, are well represented on your list. I believe that education is very poorly represented. Why is this? Educational books are, commercially, the most important branch of letters. Your late report shows how widespread are the iniquities endured by educational writers. Why do they not become members in larger numbers? They have great interests, increasing every day, to defend. They seem to have received your educa- tional report with a kind of apathy. In business matters they are for the most part entirely at the mercy of their publishers. Yet they seem incapable of making an effort for themselves even by joining a society which would look after their affairs for them. It may be that some of them are afraid of publishers. If they themselves are of repute and in demand, they have no occasion to be afraid, because where there is money there are always business men to snatch at it. Some, perhaps, look on their books as a means of extend- ing their own connection: still, if their books sell, there are men of business always ready to take them over. My point is this: Why do not educa- tional writers give the Society a larger support P "Men of science, I am informed, do belong, but not all men of science. My own desire is to see the Society a catholic body, including men and women in all branches of literature—that is to say, in every line of intellectual endeavour, because every line has its own literature. Will not the members themselves take this view, and bring the claims of the Society before those who have not yet thought it worthy of support from themselves?" _____ I make no apology for criticising the critic, first because he ought to be criticised as well as the author; second, because in this case it is the Spectator, a paper which, more than any other, endeavours to present the whole truth to its readers. The paper to which I refer is a review of Putnam's "Authors and Publishers," a book which has been already noticed in these columns. The writer, after pointing out that the Messrs. Putnam do not like the literary agent, and quite failing to see the humourous nature of their objection, goes on to speak of the literary agent. He says, "After all, it is the author who, though he may not know it, pays the literary agent." Is it? Let us examine. The author hitherto has been made to sign agreements in complete ignorance of what they mean. It therefore follows, as a matter of course, that his ignorance has been made the means of getting a one-sided agree- ment. Much stronger language might be used, suitable for the great majority of cases. But this will suffice. The literary agent knows. That is the first thing. He knows. He therefore pre- vents his client from suffering through his ignorance. The publisher has to substitute a proper agreement. Who pays for that transaction? The author, whose property is perhaps doubled in value? Or the publisher, whose gains have shrunk by a half? Here are two cases, both of which are abso- lutely true: I. A. B. is a novelist of repute. He took a MS. to a certain firm, who offered him a certain sum of money. Fortunately he became suspicious. He went to a literary agent, who, the very same day, obtained from the very same firm four times their original offer! II. C. D. received a call from a publisher, who invited him to write a paper for a certain magazine. C. D. expressed his willing- ness to consider the proposal. The pub- lisher drew out his cheque book. "Let me say," he spread it on the table and took a pen. "Let me say—so much." He relied on the temptation of an out- ward and visible cheque. "My work," said C. D.," is in the hands of Mr. . He will call upon you." The literary  ## p. 189 (#619) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. agent called: the amount he arranged for was exactly five times the amount offered. Who paid the literary agent in these two trans- actions? Was it the author or was it the pub- lisher F And now, I hope, if the writer of that review sees this note he will alter his views as to the side which pays the agent. | If one thinks of the situation for a moment it becomes .self evident that so long as the literary agent exists, it is the publisher who pays him and not the author at all. For the literary agent exists for the purpose of obtaining fair terms for the author. The moment that the publisher of his own accord proposes those fair terms, the literary agent is not wanted: he has no locus standi: if the author knows that he has only to present himself to the publishers to receive equi- table proposals, there is no reason at all for the existence of the agent. That existence, in fact, is a standing proof that publishers as a body do seek to trade on the ignorance of the author, to get him to accept the very lowest terms they can venture to offer. Ten years ago nothing was more common than a royalty of 10 per cent, or even of 5 per cent. Where is now the publisher who dares to offer a royalty of 5 per cent.? Out of the difference between the old prices and the new the literary agent is paid—by the publisher. The Americans take a sensible view of the literary agent. I have before me a long slip from the New York Sun, describing the work .and the great success of the literary agent in this country. The writer, who is not accurate in all the details, begins with a statement which will be received with a smile :— The literary agent is one form of the middleman against whom little complaint has been heard. Maybe this oomes from the fact that he deals with writers who are apt to know little abont business matters. However that may be, it is certain that the writers accepted the middleman with enthusiasm. With his advent the traditional antagonism between publishers and writers lost its sharpest edge. Nor does the old spirit vent itself on the agent who serves as buffer between the opposing interests. The writers swear by him. The publishers are not unfriendly to him. He has never heard of the publisher's clerk who was put on to abuse the literary agent in a maga- zine; or of the publisher who called the literary agent a "canker," because he protects authors; or of the publisher who refused to deal with the literary agent—till he found he was obliged to do so; or of the publishers who go behind the back of the agent and try to trap the author into con- ducting the business himself. Whatever the American publisher may do, the English pufj lisher as a rule resents the appearance of the agent and would refuse to deal with him if he dared. In America, according to the Sun, the publisher is pleased to deal with an agent simply because he is a business man. As regards his work and functions, they are thus summed up:— The snocess of the literary agent here is easy enough tc understand, for he relieves the writer of the work whioh the latter was least capable of doing. The agent has time to make himself acquainted with facts whioh the writers wonld never have the opportunity of finding out. He knows, for instance, where books or stories of a eertain kind are needed and how badly they are wanted. He knows which magazine is buying material and spending its money and which is using only stuff that was bought long before. Among the publishers, he knows whioh firm is in search of a book on any particular subject, or, if a novel is wanted, what kind it should be. These are things which no writer has the time to find out, even if he oonld learn them. Knowing the situation as well as he does, the literary agent can demand better terms. It happens sometimes that a magazine may have enongh stories of adventure or travel to last for two or three years and yet be entirely withont stories of social life. In another office exactly the opposite condition may exist. The writer does not know this usually, and it is a waste of time to send to these places the sort of material which is not needed. But writers do this, and it of course moans a loss of time. The agent knows just where to place material so that it will have a show. One magazine has for the past two years paid out absolutely nothing for fiction and has used the large supply on hand. But writers are not supposed to know that, and the magazine had no idea of allowing it to become known. So writers continued to send stories right along, and the manuscripts were always returned. By placing work where it is most wanted and by attending to the business of writers, with a care which the writers themselves are not likely to show, the agents can get better rates and insure the sale of more matter. Since I have had an agent to take charge of my work I have as many orders as I can fill and get a cent more a word than I ever did before. The agent simply means the introduction of business principles into the business of publishing. One cannot understand why a publisher should resent his intervention save on the ground that he decides to go on the old system of trading in ignorance. If there is any other reason one would like to know what it is. I cut the following paragraph from the West- minster Gazette of Nov. 23 :— The old literary gibe, " Now Barabbas was a publisher" has been steadily losing point since the new generation of publishers arose. The London correspondent of the Western Daily Mercury hears of a case of confidence placed in one of the newest of our publishers by a novelist whose books sell by thousands and tens of thousands. This writer was so well satisfied with the fairness and even generosity displayed by the publisher in regard to his last book, that he has now given him his next work unreservedly, without contract or promise, saying that he will be per- fectly content with whatever cheque the publisher may ultimately send to him. This is a very pretty paragraph. First, we are  ## p. 190 (#620) ############################################ i go THE AUTHOR. informed that "since the new generation of pub- lishers arose" the old gibe has lost point. Does that mean that the older publishers were all robbers? I suppose that it is useless to ask whether the author of the remark has ever read a book issued by the Society of Authors, called "Methods of Publishing" The old gibe has cer- tainly not lost its point, Barabbas is among the new publishers as well as the old. Yet not even' new publisher—any more than every old publisher —is a Barabbas. There are new publishers who, if they can, will fleece and rob every author who is so unfortunate as to go to them. This is not a surmise or a suspicion. It is a grave, serious fact: and it is the reason why the Society must be carried on, and why literary agents exist. Next, for the story of the confidence case. A novelist whose novels "sell by tons of thousands "—■ there are not a dozen of them, so that it would be easy to "spot" the writer—is pleased with the fairness and "even the generosity" of his publisher. Generosity? I really had thought that we had done with the degradation of the word "generosity." Is the steward " generous " with his employer's money? Has this novelist no sense of self-respect at all? He has now given his next work unreservedly to his publisher, and will be content with whatever the latter is good enough o give him. Well, he can do what he likes with his own. If he chooses—1>eing the master— to become the servant: bein< the employer, to become the employe1: being the owner of a great estate, to give it to a steward: he can. At the same time, as I know the names of all the novelists whose works command a sale of " tens of thou- sands," and as I know, besides, how most of them manage their own affairs, I venture to express my profound disbelief in the whole story. Walter Besant. TWO POEMS. I.—ISHMAEL. Some men have souls like gardens: Fair plots of fruitful ground; Smooth lawns, and ways well orderM, With choicest blossoms border'd, And walls to fence them round. Oh, still and safe and fragrant! Fair homes of peace and lore! All things unoouth excluding. Free only to the brooding Of the great sky above. Tis said, by angel footsteps Those garden paths are trod— Angels, the sky forsaking, Tend every blossom, making A pleasure-place for God. I have walk'd in some such garden. How well it was, how meet'. Yet, down eaoh alley shining, With tears I wander'd, pining For wild things round my feet. Sweeter than thrush or robin, To me, the seagull's scream. Fairer the blacken'd heather That fronts the bleak moor-weather, Than that soft garden-dream! Ob, peace is not bo precious, Perchance, as is distress'. Forbid Thine angels, Father, To tend me! Keep Thou rather One unwall'd wilderness! II.— LlOHT AND NlOHT. Ligh t.! Light! Light! Mother of the wide-ey'd flowers, Mother of glad lips, and bright Dancing feet of the noon-day hours, Dancing with delight! Oh, the joy, the rapture (strong Thrilling thro'- the adoring air, When thy glory rides along Heaven's high ramparts Dare! Mother of ecstasy, mother of might, Come, sweet Light: Light, fierce Light! O intolerable gaze! 0 unslaked, relentless blight, Battening thine insatiate blaze On hidden roots of sight! Mercy! mercy! Mind and heart Writhe beneath the answering 6re. Mercy, mercy, Light' Depart, O thou first-born of Ire! O for darkness, dulness, Night! Hence, dread Light! B. K. B. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—" Literature." IAM delighted to see that the new publica- tion, Literature, print* the prices of the books reviewed in the review itself, and is issued with machine-cut pages, but regret that the publishers have not seen their way to placing the table of contents on the front page, as in The Author, the Spectator, and one or two other weeklies, but, alas! no dailies as yet. The important new departure in treatment of books sent for review and not intended by the editor to be reviewed (on which I commented in your last issue) is carried out as follows in the issue of Nov. 6: A considerable number of volumes, which will not be noticed in Literature, are at the disposal of publishers, and will be handed to anyone they may authorise to receive them. They will be otherwise disposed of if not called for by the 20th inst.  ## p. 191 (#621) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 191 The period during which the books are to be at the disposal of the publishers is, I think, shorter than that stated in the prospectus, but this altera- tion would be a small matter when the importance of the new departure—which cannot be too widely made known—is considered. As for the contents of the new publication, their praise (or blame) "is hymned by loftier harps than mine," but I will ask you to allow me to suggest, hpropos of the fourth volume of Dr. Pusey's life and its review (unhappily omitted from the table of contents) that four octavo volumes are too much for the biography of any man whatever, and the index to the fourth volume might well have been at least four times longer than it is. J. M. Lely. Nov. 7. II.—The Published Price. In the current number of The Author Mr. J. M. Lely writes as if the only periodicals that announce the prices of books in reviews were Literature, the Literary World, and the Book- man. Permit me to state that for many years past the Dundee Advertiser has regularly given the prices of all books reviewed, where these prices had been furnished by the publishers. I have forwarded the two most recent copies of the Advertiser in which reviews appear, and from these you will see how this announcement is made. A. H. Millar. Dundee, Nov. 11. III.—Current Criticism. Have you not admired Mr. Stephen's bold and original estimate of Tennyson in the National Review? Surely, in the din of indiscriminate eulogy, it is something to find the voice of a critic who can keep his head. One is reminded of Landor's comment on the " Ode on the Exhibition of 1862," where the grand old Pagan writes: "I wish our present roets would pay more attention to solid models, and less to hollow and light plaster. The Laureate could well afford to throw away the last verse, which, in fact, is two verses—an Alexandrine in an overall. Do not think I undervalue this excellent man o' poetry." Mr. Stephen is one of the few sincere and thoughtful critics who have seen that the real merit of the late Laureate is his technique and not his philosophy. If only he could have had Browning's mind, or Browning his incomparable art! You are perhaps acquainted with an anecdote which shows how much truer was Tennyson's own appreciation. Dining with John Sterling at Ventnor, about the time when his lovely little volume of lyrics appeared, he suddenly observed: "I don't think that since Shakspere there has been such a master of the English language as I," and when those at table looked round as if astonished, added calmly, "To be sure I've got nothing to say." I had this from one who was present; and it may be new, and not uninteresting, to some of your readers. Senex. IV.—The Publisher's Beader as School- master. Another terror for the unfortunate author! The manuscript of a novel which I submitted a few weeks ago to a well-known publishing firm has just been returned to me "declined with thanks." So far, so bad! But what is my amazement and horror, on turning over the pages of my work, to discover that the obliging "reader" has been amusing himself by giving gratuitous advice and making gratuitous correc- tions, and that page after page of the manuscript will have to be re-typed at considerable expense. On and off I have been scribbling for the press for a good many years, but this is the first time in my experience that a "reader" has assumed the post of schoolmaster as well. A broad state- ment against the work as a whole might have been wholesome, and perhaps tolerable; but the finicking manner in which this gentleman has played the critic is, to a sensitive author, simply unbearable. I cull one or two instances from many of this "reader's" method. I wrote colloquially, "A 'varsity man"; the correction is "university man." "Rubbish and commonplace" is the comment in another place. I am not even allowed the use of certain words, and for "pallid" my censor insists on " pale." As for punctuation, I am nowhere; and the self- appointed critic waxes diffuse on this subject. "Clauses in opposition," he says, "must not be divided by a full stop." Heavens alive! why not? He is rigid, too, on capital letters. I ventured to personify wind and rain, honouring them with a capital W and a capital B respec- tively. The "reader's" well-pointed pencil stabbed them through, and neat "l.c.'s dis- figured the margin for yards. Somehow I cannot escape the conviction that this gentleman has gained the critic's chair from the compositor's desk at a single leap. Bichard Free. V.—"The Scotsman's Library." Will you allow me to inquire among your correspondents and readers whether anyone knows a small book called "The Scotsman's Library"? I bought a copy of it in Edinburgh some years ago; it has lost its title-page; the  ## p. 192 (#622) ############################################ 192 THE AUTHOR. printer's name is D. Sidney and Co., Northuniber- iand-street, Strand. The only information I could obtain respecting its authorship is that it was compiled by "Mitchell of Aberdeen." I should be very glad to know who Mitchell was, who Sidney and Co. were, and whether they are non- represented by any publishing firm. F. Bayford Harbison. f ^Suffolk House, Weybridge, Nov. 14. VI.—A Book Wanted. May I suggest to authors through The Author that a book is much wanted describing and illus- trating the mansions of Great Britain, something after the style of "Baronial Halls," published in 1858, and "The Stately Homes of England," 1 inly that it should be very much more compre- hensive and complete than either? Owners would probably give a competent author considerable assistance. The work would probably comprise several volumes. It would be in great demand by owners, the various branches of their families, by local residents, solicitors and agents, as well as by the general public. C. P. Dowsett. 3, Lincoln's-inn-fields. London. BOOK TALK. MR. MORLEY is writing a work on modern political history, in which, we understand, much of the inner history of the Irish Home Rule movement will be revealed. It is probable that his monograph on Lord Chatham, for the "Twelve English States- men" series, will also, at length, be completed before long. The first volume of the important revised edition of Byron—prose and verse—will probably be ready about the beginning of February. It is being issued with the authority of the family and representatives of Byron, whose grandson, Lord Lovelace, and Mr. E. H. Coleridge are responsible for the laborious revision. There will be twelve volumes in all, and new material from the MSS. in the possession of Mr. Murray will be incorporated. Thus the first volume will con- tain several unpublished poems of Byron's early days, and some new portraits of him. The pub- lisher of the work is, of course, Mr. Murray. A series of College Histories of Oxford, and another of Cambridge, will be published by Mr. F. E. Robinson during the next two years, begin- ning early in 1898. Each book will be written by one connected with the College; the Oxford series will consist of twenty-one volumes, and the Cambridge of eighteen, price 54-. net each. Among the writers in the Oxford series are: University College, A. C. Hamilton, M.A.; Balliol, H. W. Carless Davis, B.A.; Queen's, Rev. J. R. Magrath. D.D., Vice-Chancellor of the University; New, Rev. Hastings Rashdall, M.A.; All Souls, C. Grant Robertson, M.A; Magdalen, Rev. H. A. Wilson, M.A.; Brasenose, J. Buchan; Corpus Christi. Rev. T. Fowler, D.D.; Trinity, Rev H. E. D. Blakiston, M.A.; Jesus, E. G. Hardv. M.A.; Wadham, J. Wells, M.A.; Pembroke, Rev. Douglas Macleane, M.A. The writers iu the Cambridge series include: Peterhouse College, Rev. T. A. Walker, LL.D.; Clare, J. R. Wardale, M.A.; Pembroke, W. S. Hadley, M.A.; Caius, J. Venn, Sc.D., F.R.S.; Corpus" Christi. Rev. H. P. Stokes, LL.D.; King's, Rev. A. Austen Leigh, M.A.; Queen's, Rev. J. H. Gray, M.A.; St. Catherine's, the Lord Bishop of Bristol; Christ's, John Peile, Litt.D., the Master; St. John's, J. Bass Mullinger, M.A.; Magdalene, W. A. Gill, M.A.; Trinity, Rev. A. H. F. Boughey, M.A., Fellow and late Tutor of Trinity, and J. Willis Clark, M.A. After a month, the late William Morris's Kelmscott Press will be no more. The type will be retained by the trustees; the special orna- ment will be discontinued; and in the British Museum the charming wood blocks will find a resting place. There are still some works to appear from the Press, however. Among them "Sigurd the Volsung," "Love is Enough," "The Sundering Flood," and "Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century." The last- named consists of thirty-five reproductions from books that were in the library at Kelmscott House. Last of all will come "A Note by William Morris on his Aims in Starting the Kelmscott Press," to which Mr. Coekerell adds a list of the books there printed. Mr. Wells's "War of the Worlds" will In- considerably revised, and several chapters added, for book publication, which will take place iu January (Heinemann). The author is writing a long novel of city life in the next century, to be entitled " When the Sleeper Wakes." Mr. Kipling will contribute " Just-So Stories" —about animals— to St. Nicholas during 1898. Mrs. Croker's new novel, to be published by Messrs. Chatto, is called "Miss Balmain's Past." Mr. Zangwill's "Dreamers of the Ghetto," is not expected lefore January. It will contain a character-sketch of Heine.  ## p. 193 (#623) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i93 Mr. Robert Chambers is writing " The Haunts of Men," which will appear early in 1898. Mr. William Le Queux's novel of Monte Carlo life, "If Sinners Entice Thee," is running in the Golden Penny and New York Truth. "Edna Lyall" is writing a romance of the period of William and Mary's reign. The action is in the North Country, and the title will be "Hope the Hermit," but the book will not appear for a year yet. Lady Gregory will publish shortly (Smith and Elder) the correspondence of her late husband's grandfather, the Bight Hon. William Gregory, Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1813 to 1830. New light on the government of Ireland during that period is promised in the work. A Life of the Prince of Wales is being prepared. Dr. Traill, the editor of Literature, is reported to be the author, but the ascription is not confirmed. The publisher is Mr. Grant Richards. The Life of Cardinal Wiseman, by Mr. Wilfrid Ward, will appear on Dec. 7 (Longmans). Mr. P. H. Emerson has edited a genealogical history of the family from the earliest times, which Mr. David Nutt will publish shortly under the title of " The English Emersons." The first volume (of four) of the Life of Spurgeon, edited by Mrs. Spurgeon and Mr. Harrald, who was the preacher's private secre- tary, will be ready about the middle of this month. A book on the Indian frontier warfare, from the pen of Major Younghusband, will be issued shortly by Messrs. Kegan Paul, in their "Wolseley " series. Commenting on the analysis of the books of the season, which appeared in The Author last month, the Globe says:— It is a little sad to find only 20 books of essays on this list. The essay is so exquisite a vehicle for the presentation of thought and fancy and pleasant personality, that one can- not bnt regret that its vogue is for the time over. Perhaps a better day will dawn soon. When the 20 volumes of essays are placed beside the 54 mathematical works our loss is made the more clear. Nor is it right for 221 theological books to assail ns in one Beason. The number of children's books is again vastly greater than it should be. Children are not to-day one whit happier, with all this reading afforded them, than they were a hundred years ago, with a nursery library of some poor half-dozen volumes. A poor half-dozen—but better thumbed than is the case with any- thing now published. Mr. Warington Smyth was superintendent of mines under the Siamese Government for five years, and he is about to publish, through Mr. Murray, a work on "Siam and the Siamese," with reproductions of his own sketehes Captain Count Gleichen, of the Grenadier Guards, who acted as Intelligence Officer to Mr. Rennell Rodd's mission to Abyssinia, has written an account of the expedition, entitled "With the British Mission to Menelik, 1897," which Mr Edward Arnold will publish immediately. "The great historic county of Bucks," as Beaconsfield, who knew the district well, called it, is the principal subject of Mr. J. K. Fowler's "Records of Old Times," which Messrs. Chatto and Windus are about to publish. Its character is variously social, historical, sporting, and agricultural. A series of volumes on modern schools of painting, under the editorship of Mr. Gleeson White, is announced by Messrs. Bell. The first, "The Glasgow School," will be by Mr. David Martin, with an introduction by Mr. Frank Newbery and sixty reproductions of paintings. Count Tolstoy's new book, translated by Mr. A. Maude, and to be published by the Brother- hood Company, Croydon, will be called "On Art." Mr. Arthur H. Neumann tells of his elephant- hunting experiences in East Equatorial Africa, in a volume which Messrs. Rowland Ward will shortly publish, with illustrations and a map. Captain Mahan, of the United States Navy, is publishing through Messrs. Sampson Low a work on "The Interest of the United States in Sea- Power, Present and Future." He will also con- tribute a paper to the third volume of Mr. Laird Clowes's History of the Royal Navy. Mr. Sidney Low has resigned the editorship of the -S'f. James's Gazette, and is succeeded by his assistant, Mr. Hugh Chisholm. Mr. Barry Pain has succeeded Mr. Jerome as editor of To-Day. "The Antipodean," a Christmas annual written by Australians, will be published shortly by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. Mr. E. S. Prior is dealing, in a book on English Gothic which Messrs. Bell will publish, with the evolution of an original and characteristic style from the style which, introduced by the Normans, was for a time common to England and Northern France. Mr. Gerald Horsley will illustrate Mr. Prior's work. The story of England's growth from Elizabeth to Victoria has been told by Mr. Alfred Thomas Story, in two volumes which Messrs Chapman and Hall will publish shortly, entitled "The Building of the Empire." There will he portraits of these two Sovereigns in photogravure, and upwards of 100 portraits and illustrations.  ## p. 194 (#624) ############################################ i94 THE AUTHOli. From the Pall Mall Gazette :— BALLADE OF THE PUBLISHING SEASON. Year by year, at the sommer's close, I watoh the Season of Books draw nigh, Troops of poetry, hordes of prose, Books, books, books for the world to buy. Can you wonder reviewers sigh i Think of the parcels strewn about, Cases for critics to test and try— MoBt of them books we could do without. • • * • But fiction—there is the stuff that goes: Novels and stories, piled on high, What becomes of them? Goodness knows Critics are hard to satisfy. Many are smitten hip and thigh (They sell the better for that, no doubt). Some are published only to die— Those are the books we conld do without. Envoy. Prinoe! Who writes this rubbish, and why '< All the lot should be put to rout, Save two or three; and you can't deny Most of their books we could do without. Mr. Frank Preston Stearns, an American, is the author of "Modern English Prose Writers," which Messrs Putnam will publish. Mr. T. B. Harbottle has during many years been preparing a dictionary of classical quotations. The work is nearly ready to be published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein. "The Gleaming Dawn," by James Baker, which has just gone into its third thousand, has elicited some remarkable letters from well- known Churchmen. The Bishop of London, in writing upon it, says: "It deals with a period of English history which is often overlooked. The connection of England with Bohemia is of great interest, and Peter Payne is a forgotten Englishman who deserves notice. I think your story is very true to the time of which it treats." The Bishop of Manchester also writes: "I have read ' The Gleaming Dawn' with great interest, and believe it may be profitable at the pi'esent time. It is written with great spirit and power." The Bishop of Hereford, Dean Farrar, and Archdeacon Sinclair also write of it in terms of appreciation and praise. Mr. Lawrence Gomme's lectures on " Principles of Local Government," delivered last year at the London School of Economies, have been revised and will be published by Messrs. Constable. The letter Z will be reached in the " Dictionary of National Biography" in the course of 1899. Another year will be occupied with getting out a supplement containing memoirs of persons who have died during the progress of the "Dictionary," and a general index. The relations of Scot', and the Ballantynes are discussed from a special point of view by the Rev. James Hay. of Kirn, in a work on Sir Walter Scott which he is writing. Scott, he contends, was ambitious of reaching the position of head of a great publishing house which should outrival that of Constable. An essay on bimetallism, by Major Darwin, is among Mr. Murray's forthcoming publications. Lord Charles Beresford and Mr. H. W. Wilson are writing the " Life of Nelson," and giving new letters, &c. Messrs. Harmsworth are publishing the work in parts. A new edition of Mr. Ferrar Fenton's "New Testament in Current English " is called for, and will be shortly issued. This will make the fifth edition of his "St. Paul's Epistles" and the second of the Gospels. A one-act play by Mrs. Clifford, the author of "Mrs. Keith's Crime," &c., will be produced at the Comedy Theatre in a few days. It is called " A Supreme Moment." The chief part is to be taken by Mrs. Bernard Beere. It has been translated into French by Mr. Walter Pollock with a view to its production on the French staj;e. An adaptation of one of Mrs. Clifford's stories was lately played in Paris. The author is herself dramatising the same story for home consump- tion. "A Woman Tempted Him," a story written by William Westall and syndicated by Messrs. Tillotson and Son, will be published by Chatto and Windus early in 1898. The same author is writing a story for Pearson's Weekly, and in the course of next year he hopes to complete a historical romance, begun some time ago, dealing with the same period as " With the Red Eagle," which is now in a third edition. Several illustrated poems by Miss Helen Marion Burnside are published as Christmas and New Year gift-books by the Artistic Lithographic Company, 13, Buuhill-row. Of these one entitled "A Cycle of Song" is also suitable for a gift-book for any season. The same firm also issues daily text-books, edited by Miss Burnside. Mrs. George Corbett has been one of the first to make copy out of the new goldfields, and her latest novel, " The Star of Yukon," is now running in serial form. It is being syndicated by Messrs. Tillotson and Son, and will be published in book form twelve months after the commencement of the serial run. Mrs. Corbett has also written a musical farce entitled "Back from Klondyke," which was enthusiastically approved by the West-end audience before whom it was produced on Oct. 21.  ## p. 195 (#625) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. i95 Jean Carlyle Graham hopes to finish a seven years' labour of love early in 1898. She wishes to present "The Words of Oliver Cromwell" on good paper, printed at the Edinburgh University Press, bound in comfortable volumes, with por- traits of Cromwell, his family, and correspon- dents. Only 100 copies will be printed, and she trusts that each free library in the British Empire will possess a copy, in order that the veriest man in the street may have, at last, a chance of knowing the mighty Englishman who strove to win for him hie individual liberty. "Many Memories of Many People," by Mrs. Simpson, daughter of the late Mr. Nassau Senior, is to be published by Mr. Arnold. The daughter was companion to the father, and with him dwelt among various distinguished people. A privately-circulated volume of the reminis- cences of Miss Grant of Rothiemurchus, after- wards the wife of General Smith, of Baltiboys, co. Wicklow, is now to be published by Mr. Murray, and is being edited by Lady Strachey, a niece of the author. A chief note of the book, which is to be called "The Memoirs of a High- land Lady," will be its light upon Scottish social life in the early part of this century. The author, however, also introduces the names of Mr. Perce- val, Mr. Canning, Lord Lauderdale, Shelley, Sir Walter Scott, and other notabilities. Dr. Max Nordau is very displeased with the Maupassant monument which Paris has just erected in the Pare Monceau. The monument is a bust on a pedestal, below which is represented a French woman reclining on a couch with one of Maupassant's novels in her hand. "The likeness," says the author of "Degeneration," "is almost terrifying. It has the low forehead, the short fleshy nose, the bristling moustache, the vulgar, coarsely sensual mouth, and the general expres- sion of a soldier on his Sunday out bent on gay adventures." Travel and adventure are to be the interests of a new magazine—the "Passport "—which Mr. Pearson will begin to publish, probably in the spring.—Mr. Newnes, at a much earlier date, gives to the world a monthly paper called the "Ladies' Field." Antiquarian Gossip is a new sixpenny monthly which will aim at making the study of antiquities popular. Mr. H. C. Cust contributes an introduction to the ninth of the reproductions of Tudor trans- lations, Philemon Holland's " Historie of Twelve Ceesars, Emperors of Rome," translated from Suetonius. The work will be issued (600 copies) early next year by Mr. Nutt. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Authors, Publishers, and Booksellers. The Times on the following dates: Article, "From a Correspondent," Nov. 9; E. Marston and K. MaoLehose, Nov. 10; the editor of the Bookseller and Messrs. Skeffington, Nov. 11 ; Secre- tary of the Society of Author?, Eev. Harry Jones, and W. Day, Nov. 12 ; The Writer of the Article, A Member of the Publishers' Association, M. J. B. Baddelcy, A Country Hook seller, Publisher's Reader, Alfred Wilson, Nov. 15; Leading Artiole, Nov. 15; The Writer of the Article, F.R.S., Andrew W. Tuer, Nov. 19. Thc Bookselling Question. Andrew Lang. Chap- man's Magazine for November. An Academy -of Letters. The Academy for Not. 6, 13, 20. Is it Literary Suicidei Daily Chronicle for Oct. 28. Tennyson. Hamilton Wright Mabie. Atlantic Monthly for November.—Blackwood's Magazine for November.— Tennyson in Ireland : A Reminiscence. Alfred Peroival Graves. Cornhill Magazine for November. Modern Education. Professor Mahaffy. Nineteenth Century for November. The Coming Literary Revival —I. J. S. Tunison. Atlantic Monthly for November. The analogy between the bookselling question of the early fifties and that of the late nineties is borne out in still another respect by the appear- ance of this controversy in the columns of the Times. If such a mild judgment may be allowed to one who has studied both series of letters, there is now a spirit of reticence and guardedness in expressing opinion in favour or against the proposed system of uniform discounts, which was not a pronounced feature of the letters of the earlier period. This may be, and probably is, clue, however, to the fact that the Society of Authors has the matter under consideration. One correspondent, Mr. Robert MacLehose, of Glasgow, does, indeed, attest anxiety and zeal, if these qualities be judged by the fact that, writing from the important bookselling centre of the West of Scotland, he is able to publish a reply to the Times article in the very next issue of that journal. The article "From a Correspondent" which opened the discussion, did not favour the new proposal of compulsorily making the discount 2d. in the shilling instead of $d. In the first place, he argued, a strong minority of the booksellers themselves is opposed to it. Let such be boy- cotted 'i But that was done in 1850, and yet the recalcitrant firms succeeded in obtaining the books they wanted; and it has been done now in the case of certain firms who persisted "in doing what they liked with their own," with the same result. Next, the proposal is one involving " thc well-being, nay, the very existence of the author." Were the rate of discount reduced, sales would drop; because the public cries aloud for cheap books. In this connection the writer places books outside the economic pale as being neither  ## p. 196 (#626) ############################################ 196 lllh AUTHOR. necessity nor luxury. Willy, nilly, the average book-buyer thinks that in this age of mechanical ingenuity books might be produced both in better taste and at less cost; and the writer goes so far as to say that, as a rule, sixpence more or less will decide whether a book shall be bought or remain unsold. Nor has salvation been found in the net system, which, he says has been "prac- tically abandoned owing to the rooted aversion of buyers." The writer plumps, therefore, for a cheaper book:— Matthew Arnold was generally accounted a visionary, bat he was eminently practical when he pleaded for cheap books. That way lies the true remedy for existing evils. Were a popular writer and powerful publisher to make the experi- ment of bringing out, let ub say, the six-shilling novel at 3s., the result would probably be gratifying beyond expecta- tion—provided, of course, the booksellers did not repeat their old folly. Tne history of popular literature proves that fortunes lie, not in high prices, but in big sales. The cost of production need not frighten anyone. The book of to-day is produced at a figure which even five years ago would have been thought impossible ; and the cheaper book could be produced at a yet lower rate without sacrifice of quality. What has been done in France with Buoh signal success can be done in England. With the three-shilling or the half-crown volume "every genuine reader," to quote Arnold again, " will feel that the book be cares to read he will care to possess." Would not that awakened desire of possession be the best of all auguries? Would it not, in fact, mean a final solution of all the difficulties whioh now hamper and oppress the book-trade? "A Member of the Publishers' Association" came forward with a case for the 6*. novel. He takes a recent popular book; he estimates the cost of production and advertising at is. 6d. per copy; he knows very well that it is under a shilling: this fact vitiates all the figures that follow. "A Country Bookseller " asks, what is the use of books being both "good" and "cheap" if the public is not to have a chance of examining them in booksellers' shops? The public ought to pay adequately for this service, and every town, large or small, support its bookseller. The Rev. Harry Jones, on his part, attributes the non-purchasing of books to the fewness of the booksellers, whom also he would have show their menu as attractively as the newspaper shop at the corner of a dirty street. The editor of the Bookseller credited the Society of Authors with having, in taking up with the matter, recognised the advantage that less-known writers would reap if booksellers were enabled to display their books; stated that, as a matter of fact, the author was a "wholly unimportant factor in the arrangement of trade terms" ; and was corrected on the following day by Mr. Thring for having assumed that the Society had assented to the new proposal—the fact being, of course, that the sub-committee had not yet issued its report. He supported the idea of coercion, pointing to the leading case of Germany as a shining example of "completest success " in this policy. Even at home, in places where the reduced discount had been now enforced, the public readily acquiesced in the arrangement, and the booksellers' turnover had in no way suffered. As for the cry for cheap litera- ture, to obtain this a wide circulation must be assured, and, except in the case of a well-known and popular writer, such wide circulation was usually impossible. Let the coercion be rigid, and recalcitrant booksellers would soon find resistance to be unprofitable. Apropos," Publisher's Reader" suggested that someone learned in the law should first say "whether it will be a sufficient protection for the Publishers' Association, should they resolve to follow the editor's advice, to declare themselves a 'trade union,' and register their association under the Trades Union Act of 1871." Mr. MacLehose intervened in defence of the net system, which, he said, so far from having been "practically abandoned," had grown quite remarkably within the last few years. Mr. M. J. B. Baddeley testified that his "Thorough Guide " series, notwithstanding the facts that the net price was printed on the binding and that big firms in London who advertised 25 per cent, dis- count on all books had boycotted these volumes, had been eminently successful all round. In answer to Mr. E. Marston, publisher, who said that whatever the published price might be the public expected their full 2 5 per cent, therefrom, Mr. Alfred Wilson, bookseller, said that the public certainly wanted to buy at the lowest price, but if they could get no discount they would be quite content to pay the published price if they thought the book worth it. Mr. Andrew W. Tuer contributed to the dis- cussion the interesting speculation that " books, like tea and tallow, may oue day perhaps be bought and sold by the pound," but, for a league of publishers to charge all booksellers alike would mean simply that another and more complacent race of publishers would arise. "Too many books and ' cutting' are ruining the book trade. Among the other letters was one of Mr. W. Day, a business man, who suggested a fresh way out of the difficulty, namely:— for the publisher to work out the exact net amount per book he gets from the large buyer, including odd books and extra discounts, and then, having arrived at the figure, for ever after charge this price, thus getting rid of odd copies and extra discounts, charging the bookseller who buys one book the same price as the man who buys 1000. The little man would thus have the same rate of profit as the big man, and would have a margin of profit to work upon. The country bookseller would be at a disadvantage still as com- pared with the London bookseller, as he would have to bear carriage in addition to the cost of the books.  ## p. 197 (#627) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 197 Everything turns, said the Times itself officially, on the point of whether the frugal and often impecunious book-buyer will be persuaded to forego the discount of 3d. Upon this it will not commit itself at the present stage. If the bulk of the leading publishers legally decline to supply books except on the basis of the 2d. discount, "it is not very easy to see how eveu the largest retail booksellers can continue to make a profit by selling at the larger discount." And if the case were properly put to him the aforesaid frugal book- buyer would probably recognise that his interests and requirements are best served by supporting the booksellers. After a reflection upon the general superiority of the provincial bookseller "whom many of us recollect," compared with his successor who to-day "ekes out a precarious existence by catering for the taste in trifles of customers whose taste in literature is nothing if not trifling," the Times concluded as follows: Meanwhile the " hungry sheep," who onee were wont to browse on the pastures of good literature, "look up and are not fed "—we will not continue the quotation, though it is not a little to the purpose. In any case we are satisfied that if the retail bookseller could be restored to his former ttatus and dignity in the world of letters neither authors nor publishers, neither booksellers nor book-buyers, would in the long run have any reason to complain of the result. It may be, as our correspondent has suggested, that the loss incurred by book-buyers through the proposed reduction of discount will have to be compensated in some measure by a general reduction in the price of books. But ... it is not perhaps amiss to observe that publishers probably understand their own business best, and that not many of them have been known to make their fortunes. Mr. Lang does not pretend, in his discussion of the question in eight pages of Chapman's Magazine, to give an opinion about the discount question, which, he says, " I am sensible is beyond my limited faculties." He is willing that his own royalties should be cut down, if that will make even one bookseller happy. But before "the few rich authors" will be equally charitable, publishers must have a trade union, and persecute the pub- lisher who pays the author more than a certain rate. Mr. Lang confesses, indeed, that he knows no remedy for devotion to discount but increased enerosity, and no specific against the circulating brary but the production of books which readers will desire to own—though verily the public "does not greatly want any book." But in the last case he appeals to "our great dealers in fiction." "Peddling science and history of belles lettres are ndgligeables. We therefore await the voice of the novelist on Discount." The custom of using bad paper in books—a subject which contains the possibility of " literary suicide "—has not offered any practical evidence up to the present at the British Museum. Dr. Garnett has not seen any consumptive books there, but probably the particular kinds of paper which hold the germs of decay have not been in use sufficiently long to permit of the disease show- ing itself. Mr. John Murray wonders whether poor land in England might not be employed to grow some fibrous plant which would make good paper at a cheap rate. Much of the paper now iu use he stigmatises as abominably cheap and nasty. The interviewer who has thus questioned several authorities on the matter supposes the case of a historian, three generations hence, going to the British Museum to consult Blue Books, which, as he takes them up, fall to dust in his hand; for Blue Books, on the authority of Mr. MacAlister, are the worst offenders. Such a prospect Mr. John Murray's father used to laugh over. "It will be the grand time for publishers," he would say, "when a book on falling from a table goes to pieces like a piece of china." Finally, the views of Mr. Frank Lloyd, of the great paper-manufacturing firm of Edward Lloyd (Limited), on this question of bad paper (which a committee of the Society of Arts is now consider- ing) possess a special interest:— There were one or two facts whioh might be taken for granted. A considerable proportion of the paper printed upon at present must be expected to prove wanting in the qualities of very lengthened endurance. He instanced paper made from wood pulp from which the resin had not been extracted. Technically this ingredient was called "mechanical wood," as distinct from wood pulp which had been purified by ehemioal process. Needless to say, paper made from the latter oost muoh more than paper manu- factured from the former. Now, paper in which there remained " mechanical wood " had for years been used in the printing of books. The Germans had done a good deal towards the introduction of this, but the great factor was the rise and development of popular literature. That meant the production of paper at less and less cost; otherwise there could not be the wonderfully cheap books. It was one thing or the other. Similarly it was only the cheap- ness of paper that made possible the size of the modern journal. "I am afraid," Mr. Lloyd summed up, " that after a hundred years a book would not bear handling if its paper had been of the nature to whioh I have alluded." The "coming literary revival" is coming on the other side of the Atlantic. There, the present is the age of the short story and the minor poet, two classes of literary art that " lack seriousness, if considered as an end in themselves," and "are characteristic of a tentative, a waiting age." Who is to write the great American novel, or the great American drama, or the great American epic? If the outline here given of the opportunities of genius be approximately correct, this much- desiderated American may never emerge. "The only lesson which America is now teaching the world in the ideal realm is precisely the lesson which von Hartmann has already put in words— namely, that the literature of the future is to be as the tarce which the Berlin business man goes g li  ## p. 198 (#628) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. to see of an evening by way of recreation." The writer would welcome a profoundly one-sided thinker who should arise and "shake to pieces the eminently respectable but fatally monotonous philosophy of the American schools." For him a search will be made over a wide area in another article. Professor Mahaffy discovers, in spite of national reforms in education, a decline in the quality of our reading: the great masters—poets, philo- sophers, historians, even novelists—set aside for the trivial, the sensational, the affected, the ephemeral. STORY COMPETITION. 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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) 1898-01-01 Volume 8 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 201–228 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XI b e Huthot. {The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. Vin.—No. 8.] JANUARY i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. Oeneral Memoranda. Literary Property— 1. The Discount (Question 1. The Law of Author and Publisher 3. The CoBt of Binding 4. The Copyright Association 5. Haddock v. Blackwood 6. Shelley's Publisher Russian Copyright. By Henry Cresswell New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood PAOK ... 201 ... 203 ... 204 ... 205 ... 205 ... 205 ... 207 ... 208 ... 210 Notes and News. By the Editor. A Chapter of the Past Mr. Balfour on the Novel International Relations of Authors Personal Correspondence—1. A Young Author's Grievance lished Price Book Talk Literature in the Periodicals The Books of the Month The p.* cik ... 211 ... 214 ... 217 ... 217 ... 218 Pnb- ... 218 ... 219 PUBLICATIONS OP THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., 10*. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8s. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. I. 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Eyre and Spottis- woode. i«. 6d. 8. The Society Of Authors, A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). i«. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2*. 6d. \  ## p. 200 (#634) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. §t)e g>ociete of Jtuffrors (gncotporateb). PRESIDENT. GEOBQE MEEEDITH. COUNCIL. The Eabl of Desart. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Duboubo. Pbof. Michael Foster, P.E.S. D. W. Fbeshfibld. Kichabd Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Eudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Eat Lankester, F.E.S. W. E. H. Lecky, P.C., M.P. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Bev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Sib Edwin Abnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Babbie. A. W. X Beckett. Eobebt Bateman. F. E. Beddabd, F.E.S. Sib Henby Beronb, E.C.M.G. Sir Walteb Besant. Augustine Bibrell, M.P. Eev. Prof. Bonney, F.E.S. Eight Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Eight Hon. Lord Bubghclxre, P.C. Hall Caine. Egebton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clayden. Edwabd Clodd. w. mobbis colleb. Hon. John Colliee. Sib W. Martin Conway. F. Marion Crawford. Eight Hon. G. N. Cdbzon, P.C, M.P. Hon. Herman C. Meritale. Eev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sib Lewis Mobbis. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Obmebod. J. C. Parkinson. Eight Hon. Lobd Pibbbight, P.C, F.E.S. SibFbedebick Pollock, Babt., LL.D. Walteb Hebbies Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. E. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.CL. Mrs. Humphry Wabd. Miss Chablotte M. Yongi. Q.C. A W. X Beckett. Sib Walteb Besant. Egeeton Castle, F.S.A. W. Mobbis Colles. COMMITTEE Chairman- OF MANAGEMENT. -H. Eider Haggard. Sir W. Mabtin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Henby Norman. Fjiancis Storr. COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villibrs Stanford, Mas.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. SUB ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sib W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. f Field, Eoscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. \, G. Hebbebt Thbino, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Tubing, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Pobtuoal Stbeet, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C DEAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. X Beckett. Edward Eose. Solicitors IP. WATT <Sc SO¥, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SUUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. YPEWEITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prioes. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest process. S OPINIONS OF CLIENTS— Distinguished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever seen." Lady op Titlb:—"The j work was very well aud clearly done." Provincial Editor:—"Many thanks for the spotless neatnesB and beautiful accuracy." MISS &KNTEY, KLDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C. T  ## p. 201 (#635) ############################################ TLhe Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 8.] JANUARY i, 1898. [Pbick Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notioe that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be Bent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects conneoted with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. IT^OR some years it has been the praotice to insert, in J every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &o., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pooket by charging for advertisements VOL. Till. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement, ni. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things neoessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few oopies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the ohanoe of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points whioh the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged whioh has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no oharge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. a 2  ## p. 202 (#636) ############################################ 202 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. "T7WERY member has a right to ask for and to receive Fj advioe upon his agreements, his ohoioe of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case ia such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Eemember that questions connected with oopyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not soruple to use the Sooiety first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon suoh questions for us. 3. Send to the office oopies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the bookB represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a ohange of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Sooiety you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services oan be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That Btamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Seoretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor ia always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects oonnected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write P Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to oommunioate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Seoretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Sooiety does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &o. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to oome, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 203 (#637) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 203 or dishonest f Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for throe or five years P Those who possess the "Cost of Production" are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of "doing sums," the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the oost of binding is set down in onr book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at JE9 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elaatio a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any Hums whioh may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there iB nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of frand; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—The Discount Question. 1. THE Publishers' Association having con- sidered the report of the Sub-Committee of the Society of Authors, published in The Author last month, has forwarded the following letters, which explain themselves :— "H. Eider Haggard, Esq., Society of Authors. "Dec. 9, 1897. "My dear Haggard,—I laid the report of your Society on the discount question before our council to-day, and the following resolution was passed: 'That in view of the report of the Society of Authors, the council feel that it is not possible for them to proceed with the proposed scheme in its present form, but they are not without hope that some other means of meeting the difficulty may be suggested.' I was requested to forward a copy of this resolution to you, and also to the Associated Booksellers.—I am, yours faithfully, "(Signed) Chables James Longman, "President." 11. "T. Burleigh, Esq., Hon. Sec. Associated Booksellers, 370, Oxford-street, W. "Dec. 9, 1897. "Dear Mr. Burleigh,—Tou have no doubt seen the report of the Society of Authors on the discount question. It was considered by the council of the Publishers' Association to-day, and I need hardly inform you that they greatly regret the authors' decision, for though the council were conscious of many difficulties in the way of carrying out the scheme, they were pre- pared to give it a fair and loyal trial if the co- operation of the Authors' Society had been secured. Although the present effort must be considered to have failed, the council hope that all who are interested in the circulation of books will continue to give the matter full and careful consideration in the endeavour to discover some practicable scheme. The following resolution was carried unanimously at to-day's meeting: 'That in view of the report of the Society of Authors, the council feel that it is not possible for them to proceed with the proposed scheme in its present form, but they are not without hope that some other means of meeting the difficulty may be suggested.'—I am, yours faithfully, "Wm. Poulten, Secretary." in. Mr. Burleigh, hon. secretary of the Associated Booksellers, has addressed the following letter to the secretary of the Publishers' Association:— 370, Oxford-street, London, W. Dec. 13,1897. Dear Mr. Poulten,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th inst., with the copy of resolution of the Publishers' Council. The disappointing condition of affairs will be considered at our next council meeting early in January. I trust the council and booksellers generally will support me in the determination to continue the struggle, until literature of a higher class can be profitably placed upon our shelves, and many authors, now smothered, obtain a better chance with the public.—Yours faithfully, Thomas Burleigh. Hon. Sec. Associated Booksellers. W. Poulten, Esq., Secretary, The Pubhshers' Association. IV. The following letters also explain themselves. The first is addressed to the secretary:— Dec. 5, 1897. Deab Sib,—I have belonged to the Society of Authors for some years, and I am much indebted to it for valuable advice given me on one occasion when I was in a position of great difficulty. But I so entirely disagree with the Report of the Sub- committee on the Discount Question, and am so anxious to dissociate myself from it, that I am  ## p. 204 (#638) ############################################ 204 THE AUTHOR. forced to resign my membership of the Society, as I now do. There is hardly any kind of business in which the evils of reckless competition have not been felt during the la>t half century, and remedies of various kinds have been sought after and adopted with success in many trades. To take their stand, as the Committee do, on the formulae which were current in 1852 about the " freedom which ought to prevail in commercial transactions," seems to me an absurd anachronism. Had it been clear that the Committee had accepted Mr. Longman's offer, and had met with the publishers' sub-committee in conference on the subject, I should attach more importance to their contention that the proposed organisation could not be carried out. I am sending a copy of this letter to the presi- dent of the Publishers' Association.—I remain, yours sincerely, (Signed) Wm. Cunningham. v. Dec. 6, 1897. The Rev. W. Cunningham.—Dear Sir,—I am in receipt of your letter, and have removed your name from the books of the Society for the reason that you disapprove of the Report of the Com- mittee on the Discount Question. The Committee did not take their stand "on the formute which were current in 1852." They have had a great amount of evidence before them, and it is on this evidence that they have come to draw their present conclusions. We did not meet the sub-committee of the publishers, because we had already the publishers' views in the fullest manner before us from the documents we had collected. We did, however, as you will see by the Report, have the views of booksellers of all classes, who surely are more concerned in the affair than the publishers. I must apologise, however, for going into these details now.—Tours truly, G. Herbert Thring. II.—The Law of Author and Publisher. An order was made last week by the Lord Chief Justice of considerable interest to authors and the publishing trade. It related to the deal- ing with copies of books remaining unsold upon the bankruptcy of a publisher. The decision come to was in the nature of a compromise, and lacks the authority of a judgment; but it is probable that the case may become a precedent, and the facts have therefore a special interest to those connected with literature. The plaintiff was Mr. Frederick Wicks, and the defendants Remington and Co. (Limited), Mr. Sidney Cronk, the liquidator of the company, and Mr. John Grant Macqueen, the purchaser of Remington's business. The company and its predecessors, Eden, Remington, and Co., had published and sold three editions of "The Veiled Hand," of which Mr. Wicks is the author, and had printed a fourth edition of 5000 copies. Between 2000 and 3000 of these remained unsold when the company went into liquidation. The company had also printed 5000 of "The Broadmoor Patient" and 5000 of " The Infant," by the same author, and had sold about 2000 of each. The defendant Macqueen therefore acquired posses- sion of some 8000 copies of the three works. The agreements made by Mr. Wicks with Messrs. Remington were agreements to print and publish only, and in each case the author retained the copyright. It is part of the established law that agreements of this kind are not assignable with- out the consent of the owner of the copyright, and that they do not pass to an assignee in bank- ruptcy nor to a liquidator of a company. Mr. Cronk, however, assigned the agreements, and sold the stock to Mr. Macqueen, who gave him an indemnity for all the consequences of this act. The correspondence showed that Mr. Wicks en- deavoured to procure from Mr. Macqueen some acknowledgment of his rights and some arrange- ment for the continuance of the sales; but his title to any participation in the proceeds of the sale was denied in the first instance by both parties. Later an endeavour to make an arrange- ment was promised by Mr. Macqueen, but Mr. Wicks was requested to wait until full considera- tion could be given to the matter. A few months later, nothing having been arranged, Mr. Wicks found his books on sale at Messrs Smith and Son's bookstalls at a slightly reduced price. He ascertained that some 1200 copies had been bought and paid for three months before without any consent on his part, and when he applied for an account it was refused. Some months after he was offered a third of the royalty stipulated by the original agreement on a part of the sales only, and the court was applied to. Pressure being put upon the parties by the Lord Chief Justice to make an arrangement, it was ultimately decided to take an order requiring Mr. Macqueen to bind the books to the satisfaction of Mr. Wicks, to sell them at prices agreed to by Mr. Wicks, to expend a reasonable amount in advertising the books, which amount would be fixed by a third person, and to pay to Mr. Wicks the amount acknowledged in the account rendered, and a royalty on future sales as stipulated in the origi- nal agreement respecting "The Veiled Hand." This agreement fixed the royalties at 1*. lod. per  ## p. 205 (#639) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 205 copy on the 10s. 6d. edition, and 9^. on the 3s. 6d. edition, to be increased to 2*. 3d. and io\d. respectively after the sale of 5000, which has been the case with "The Veiled Hand." The liquida- tor of the company, who, the Lord Chief Justice said, had assigned agreements that he had no power to assign, was ordered to leave in the hands of .the plaintiff five guineas paid into court.—The Athenmum, Dec. 25. m.—The Cost of Binding. Exception has been taken to our estimate of t,d. as the cost of plain binding. We have called attention to an increase in the cost of binding. This increase seems to belong to small orders. Those who have sufficient business to give large orders for cloth can still bind very cheaply. The following taken from a publisher's account shows what is actually paid for binding. There were 1328 copies bound, viz.:— 262, in paper, at id. 150 at 31*. 6d. a hundred, or $zd. a volume. 916 at 38s. 6d. the hundred, or $\d. a volume. The average amounts to 3^m«?.—i.e., a little over 3|rf. It is pleasant, after hearing frantic declarations that the work cannot be done at the price, to receive actual accounts showing that the work has been done at the price. IV.—Thk Copyeight Association. A service of plate was presented to Mr. Daldy on Dec. 9 by the Copyright Association in recog- nition of his services in the cause of copyright. The association, as is well known, has been in existence a long time. It consists of a few authors and some publishers: of late it has been working with the Society. It is now very much to be desired that the authors who are in the association should remember that the Society has done a great deal of solid work in connection with * copyright, and that a continuance of their membership might lead to complications with the Society, which should have the first claim upon their support. V.—Muddock v. Blackwood. (Before Mr. Justice Kekewich.) This was a copyright case of some importance. Two copyright actions had been brought, one having been commenced in the Chancery Division and the other in the Queen's Bench Division, but they had since been consolidated by an order in the Chancery action. The writ in the Chancery action was issued on Nov. 24, 1896, by the plain- tiff, Mr. James Edward Muddock, the author or and the registered proprietor of the copyright in a work called "A Wingless Angel," against Mr. James Blackwood, a publisher, and a firm of pub- lishers called J. Blackwood and Co., claiming an injunction, an account of profits, and delivery-up of copies in respect of a work published by the defendants under the same title, and being, in fact, a reprint of the plaintiff's work. On Dec. 10 the principal defendant, Mr. James Blackwood, wrote to the plaintiff offering to submit to an in- junction, to pay =£10 as damages, to deliver up all copies in his hands, and to pay the plaintiff's costs as between party and party. The plaintiff, however, refused the offer, and on Dec. 18 made a demand in writing on the defendants under sect. 23 of the Copyright Act, 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. 45), for all copies of the book unlawfully printed or imported; and then, on Dec. 23, 1896, issued the writ in the Queen's Bench action, claiming damages for wrongful conversion of copies of the book unlawfully printed without the consent of the plaintiff. Then he delivered a statement of claim in that action, and on Feb. 1,1897, obtained an order in chambers in that action transferring it to the Chancery Division, but expressly reserv- ing the costs of that action to be dealt with by the Chancery judge at the trial. On Feb. 8 Mr. Justice Kekewich, on the plaintiff's application, made an order that the two actions should be consolidated and proceed as one action, and in the consolidated action the plaintiff delivered a state- ment of claim, claiming an injunction, delivery up of all copies in the defendants' possession, an account of profits made by the defendants by the infringement, or, alternatively, damages in respect of the infringement, with an inquiry as to the amount thereof, £2 50 damages for conversion as in an action of trover, and costs. It appeared that the plaintiff had not published any copies of his work since 1875; that in 1886 the defendant Mr. James Blackwood bought the stereotyped plates of the work at an auction sale at Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's, of Leicester-square, and had used them without demur until last year. An account furnished by the defendant showed that in 1886 he sold 1010 copies at a total price of ■£38 199. g^d., and at a profit of £8 lot. 4$<Z.; also that in 1896 he sold 29 copies at a profit of £1 4«. 2d., his total profits thus amounting to =£9 148. 6\d. -. also that, after taking into account the purchase of the plates and repairs, amounting altogether to <£io, there had been a net loss on production and sale of the book of 58. $\d. Warrington, Q.C., and J. G. Joseph for the plaintiff, relied on sect. 23 of the Copyright Act, 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. 45) (Scrutton on Copyright, p. 246), which provides that "all copies of any book wherein there shall be copyright, and of which entry shall have been made in the said  ## p. 206 (#640) ############################################ 206 THE AUTHOR. registry book, and which shall have been unlaw- fully printed or imported without the consent of the registered proprietor of such copyright, in writing under his hand first obtained, shall be deemed to be the property of the proprietor of such copyright, and who shall be registered as such, and such registered proprietor shall, after demand thereof in writing, be entitled to sue for and recover the same, or damages for the deten- tion thereof, in an action of detinue, from any party who shall detain the same, or to sue for and recover damages for the conversion thereof in an action for trover." Renshaw, Q.C. and J. W. Baines, for the defendant Blackwood, referred to sect. 15, which enacts that " if any person shall, in any part of the British dominions, after the passing of this Act, print or cause to be printed, either for sale or exportation, any book in which there shall be subsisting copyright, without the consent in writing of the proprietor thereof, or shall import for sale or hire any such book so having been unlawfully printed from paits beyond the sea, or, knowing such book to have been so unlawfully printed or imported, shall sell, publish, or expose for sale or hire, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed for sale or hire, or shall have in his possession, for sale or hire, any such book so un- lawfully printed or imported, without such con- sent as aforesaid, such offender shall be liable to a special action on the case at the suit of the pro- prietor of such copyright, to be brought in any court of record in that part of the British dominions in which the offence shall be com- mitted." They submitted that the two sections were inconsistent, and that the plaintiff was wrong in claiming, as he had done, both in detinue and in trover, for, under sect. 23 he must select the one mode of action or the other, not both. As to the alleged profits made by the defendant, when the price of the plates and the usual trade dis- count were taken into consideration, it was clear there could be no profits. [Mr. Justice Kbke- wich.—I should think wingless angels would require some discount to make them fly. (Laugh- ter.)] The plaintiff had resorted to a "multi- plicity" of actions, when he might have sought relief by one action. The action had been, in fact, continued without any necessity, the defen- dant having offered all the plaintiff could justly claim. Mr. Justice Kkkkwich said it was somewhat strange that in the end of the year 1897 he should be called upon for the first time to say what was the meaning of sect. 23 of the Act 5 & 6 Vict, c. 45—whether the remedy given by that section was inconsistent with that given by sect. 15; but he supposed he was really called upon to do that because no counsel had suggested to him that there was any decision; and, moreover, the book on copyright which was in the bands of the pro- fession, and to which reference was usually made on all questions of copyright, did not give any case on the subject. Two points had been raised. First, it was said on behalf of the defendant that sect. 15 gave the proprietor of copyright a remedy by special action on the case: that that meant that this was the remedy which he was intended to pursue, except so far as his remedies at common law were not interfered with; that the offender under sect. 23 was a different person to the offender under sect. 15; that under sect. 15 he was dealing with a person who had " unlaw- fully printed or imported " a book in which there was a subsisting copyright, and that the other Kect., 23, provided a remedy against the accidental possessor of the infringing book, so as to give a right of action against that accidental possessor independently of his being otherwise a wrong- doer. That might b-j the right view, but the language of the sections was not sufficiently clear to compel his Lordship to adopt it. No doubt there were words in sect. 15 which were not to be found in sect. 23, and he was unable to suggest why the two sections should not have been put into one, and why they should have been sepa- rated as they were. But, on the other hand, he did not see why, because the proprietor of copy- right had a remedy under sect. 15 against the wrong-doer, he could not sue that wrong-doer, if so advised, under sect. 23. Then the next point was this. The book being vested in the pro- prietor of the copyright, sect. 23 said he "shall, after demand in writing, be entitled to sue for and recover the same or damages for the deten- tion thereof, in an action of detinue, from any party who shall detain the same, or to sue for and recover damages for the conversion thereof in an action of trover." That provided an alternative remedy; and the argument on behalf of the defendant was that the plaintiff claiming to sue • under that section must elect to sue either in detinue or in trover, and could not sue in both. That was an easier point than the other. There was an alternative remedy. It would, in his Lordship's opinion, be adopting an extremely narrow construction of the Act to say that the proprietor of the copyright in a book, knowing that a person had a certain number of copies in his hands and that he had sold other copies, could not sue that person in respect of the copies that he had detained, and also in respect of those that he had converted to his own jise. It seemed tolerably plain upon the Act itself, and in accordance with what was the appa- rent intention of the Legislature, that the two  ## p. 207 (#641) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 207 actions might be reduced to one action distributed in the way he had suggested—that is to say, the plaintiff might sue in detinue in respect of the copies the defendant had detained, and might sue in trover in respect of the copies he had sold and converted to his own use. Having got so far, the plaintiff in the present case, who was the proprietor of the registered copyright in a book called "A Wingless Angel," was entitled to sue under sect. 23, and to sue the defendant not- withstanding that he might have brought what was called " a special action on the case " under sect. 15; and he might have exercised his privi- lege of bringing an action on the case by pro- ceeding in the Chancery Division. What, then, was the plaintiff's remedy? In his Lordship's opinion he was entitled to the delivery-up on oath of all books in the possession of the defendant—that is to say, delivery-up, and also damages as in an action of trover for the books the defendant had sold. The defendant had sold twice. In 1886 he sold 1010 copies and realised .£38 19*. g^d., or, say, .£39, making a profit of £8 10s. 4%d.; and then he published the book again in 1896, and sold twenty-nine copies, and made a profit of <£i 40. 2d., which on his own showing was rather more than one-eighth of what he had made in 1886. His Lordship de- clined to order an inquiry as to damages. It would be almost wicked to send the case to the master or to an official referee to find damages for conversion; if necessary, he should have the inquiry before himself. Mr. Warrington had asked him to fix a sum, and if he added forty guineas for the whole, he thought he was giving the plaintiff as much as he was entitled to. The plaintiff was also entitled to an injunction as part of the order. Upon the question of costs, his Lordship said that the plaintiff might have obtained all the relief he sought by one action in the Chancery Division. He seemed, however, to have determined to multiply costs in every possible way, and his Lordship would do his best to mark his sense of that proceeding. He should therefore give him only the costs of the Chancery action; the costs of the other proceedings he must be ordered to pay.—The Times, Nov. 17. SHELLEY'S PUBLISHES. CHARLES OLLIER began his working life in Messrs. Coutts's bank, but a classical education had developed literary tastes, and these he first indulged by becoming a publisher. He had not been a year in business when, through Leigh Hunt—whose "Foliage," "Hero and VOL. VIII. Leander," and the second edition of " The Story of Rimini" he published—he was introduced to Keats, and the acquaintance led to his publishing the first poems of Keats in 1817. The book was not a success; Keats blamed the inactivity of the publisher, and went over to Taylor and Hessey with his subsequent works. With Shelley the case was different. It was due to Oilier that Shelley's "Laon and Cythna" was altered and converted into "The Revolt of Islam"; and, although the poet complained of that proceeding, all his subsequent works published in his life- time, except "Swellfoot the Tyrant," were brought out by Oilier. When Shelley sent his "Defence of Poetry" to Oilier in 1821, indeed, he wrote that " if any expressions should strike you as too unpopular, I give you the power of omit- ting them; but I trust you will, if possible, refrain from exercising this." Although his brother James was the man of business, the firm of Charles and James Oilier, of Vere-street, did not prosper. Li 1819 he published " The Literary Pocket Book," in which Shelley's poem of " Mari- anne's Dream" was first printed; and in 1820 he brought out the first part of " Oilier's Literary Miscellany, in Prose and Verse, by Several Hands." This publication, which, as the title- page said, was "to be continued occasionally," contained a remarkable article on the German drama by Archdeacon Hare, and another by Peacock on "The Four Ages of Poetry." As the latter, in which the writer regarded poetry as a worn-out delusion of barbarous times, provoked Shelley's "Defence of Pcetry," the following entertaining passage may be quoted as a taste of its quality. The year of writing is 1820:— In the origin and perfection of poetry, all the associa- tions of life were composed of poetio materials. With us it is decidedly the reverse. We know, too, that there are nu Dryads in Hyde Park nor Naiads in the Regent's Canal Bat barbaric manners and supernatural interventions are essential to poetry. Either in the scene, or in the time, or in both, it must be remote from our ordinary perceptions. While the historian and the philosopher are advanoing in and accelerating the progress of knowledge, the poet is wallowing in the rubbish of departed ignoranoe, and raking up the ashes of dead savages to find geegaws and rattles for the grown babies of the age. Mr. Scott digs up the poachers and cattle stealers of the anoient border. Lord Byron cruises for thieves and pirates on the shores of the Morea and among the Greek islands. Mr. Southey wades through ponderous volumes of travel and old chronicles, from which he carefully selects all that is false, useless, and absurd, as being essentially poetioal; and when he has a oommonplace book, full of monstrosities, strings them into an epic Mr. Wordsworth picks up village legends from old women and sextons; and Mr. Coleridge, to the valuable information acquired from similar sources, superadds the dreams of crazy theologians and the mysticisms of German metaphysios, and favours the world with visions in verse, in whioh the quadruple elements of sexton, old woman, Jeremy Taylor, and Emanuel Kant are harmonised into a T  ## p. 208 (#642) ############################################ 208 THE AUTHOR. delicious poetical compound. Mr. Moore presents as with a Persian, and Mr. Campbell with a Pennsylvanian tale, both formed on the same principle as Mr. Southey's epics, by extracting from a perfunctory and desultory perusal of a collection of voyages and travels, all that useful investiga- tion would not seek for and that common sense would reject. "Very clever, but false," said Shelley of Pea- cock's tilt against poetry. Shelley's " Defence" was originally intended to appear in the second part of "Ollier's Miscellany," but no second part ever appeared. Then Ollier's business was wound- up, and the " Defence" came into the possession of John Hunt, who prepared it for publication in the " Liberal," but that periodical also expired before it could be published. Meanwhile Oilier had become a literary adviser to Bentley, and he continued long in this position. He also contributed to magazines, and occasion- ally gave lectures on celebrated writers. He admired Shakespeare to such a degree, and held himself under such a loyal weight of obligation to him, that, says Hunt, "I have known him involuntarily measure persons, whom he other- wise respected, from head to foot if tbey ventured to maintain the least objection to the great poet; as though, in default of some possible intellectual cause for it, he was trying to discover some cause physical." As an author, Oilier possessed two faults in Leigh Hunt's eyes. First, he should have written more; and, secondly, he should have taken more pains to keep what he did write before the public. His first work was "Altham and His Wife: a Domestic Tale" (1818). Shelley wrote of this: "It is a natural story, most unaffectedly told in a strain of very pure and powerful English." Sir Walter Scott, in a critique which he wrote in the Quarterly Review on the novel of " Haggi Baba" in England, refers to the story of "Altham and His Wife" as furnishing pleasant authority for the telling of love-tales under umbrellas during a shower. Ollier's second book, "Iuesilla; or, the Tempter: a Romance, with Other Tales" (1824), Hunt said was "the best bit of diablerie in the language." So high an opinion was entertained of it by the authoress of "Frankenstein," that a publisher having proposed to piece out the requi- site size of a volume of stories from her pen by one worthy of its companionship, she said she should prefer this production of Mr. Oilier. Then followed "Ferrers" (1842), a romance on the execution of Earl Ferrers in 1760; "Fallacy of Ghosts, Dreams, and Omens, with Stories of Witchcraft, Life-in-Death, and Monomania" (1848), reprinted from Ainsworth's Magazine, and published by the author himself. Edmund Oilier, author, who died in 1886, was a son of Charles Oilier. EUSSIAN COPYBIGHT. AT present, no international copyright exists in Russia. Not only is the Russian Empire by far the largest and by far the most important of the European States outside the Berne Convention, but it is also without any private copyright convention with any other State. The readers of The Author will not require to be told what that implies. The results are, of course, as unsatisfactory to Russian authors as they are to the authors of other countries, all whose works are at the free disposal of the subjects of the Tsar. Even editors and publishers do not find it always convenient to be unable either to inhibit the unlimited introduction of translations of foreign works, or to get any protection for those which they have themselves brought out. In fact, the situation appears to be rapidly becoming intolerable. The object, however, of the present article is not to explain that the results of unlimited piracy are as unsatisfactory in Russia as elsewhere. That is a matter of course. But it is pleasant to be able to mention, on the other hand, that the Russians are beginning to realise that piracy is unsatisfactory, and that, in consequence, some steps in a more hopeful direction have been recently taken. For some time past pleas have been urged in favour of the renewal of the copyright conven- tion formerly existing between Russia and France. This lapsed upon the denunciation, in 1887, of the treaty of 1861. In 1893 M. Zola published in the Temps, "An Open Letter to the Russian Press." In 1894 both the St. Petersburg Society of Authors and the St. Petersburg Association of Publishers named commissions to consider pro- posals for some new legislation. The Musical Society of St. Petersburg and the Society of Artists took also similar steps. In the meantime the Russian Government had instituted under the presidency of Count Muravieff, then Minister of Justice, but at present of Foreign Affairs, a com- mission for the revision of the Russian code. Upon reaching the section relating to copyright, certain new regulations, in accordance with modern views, were proposed and submitted for consideration to various Russian societies com- petent to give opinions concerning them. More recently the text of the proposed legislation was communicated to the congress at Monaco, accom- panied by a letter from the Chancellor of the Russian Imperial Commission. This letter ex- plained that the projected regulations were by no means to be regarded as final, and that the right of translation, at present  ## p. 209 (#643) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 209 treated in a manner altogether inconsistent with the spirit of the Berne Convention, would probably be reconsidered and placed upon an entirely different basis. The Monaco Congress was naturally much gratified by the compliment paid it by the Russian Government, and a special commission of the association was nominated to study the proposals laid before it. Those who are specially interested in the subject will find lengthy and highly instructive articles upon it in the recent numbers of Le Droit d'Auteur, to which publication we are indebted for the facte briefly summarised in the following paragraphs. All literary, musical, and artistic works are to be protected. With some restrictions, copyright is accorded also to collections of national ballads, and of other folk-lore, hitherto orally transmitted (an excellent provision in a country so rich in folk-lore as Russia), and to editors of ancient manuscripts—the last without prejudice to editors of other manuscripts of the same work. Lectures, sermons, and public discourses are also to be copyright. Of judicial, municipal, and other public speeches of the same kind, the authors are to have a copyright, but the newspapers to be free to report. Laws and public regula- tions are not copyright. Both writer and receiver, or their heirs, have control over private letters. Amongst artistic works the following are particularly specified as protected—maps, plans, and architectural and technical designs. Photographs are protected, with some restric- tions. Unpublished literary and artistic works cannot be seized. Damages can be claimed for infringe- ment of copyright, whether wilful or uninten- tional. In the latter case the culprit is respon- sible only for a sum representing his actual gain. Proceedings before either civil or criminal tribunals will be easily taken. The owner of the copyright can proceed within a limit of three years after his discovery of the infringement of his rights. The penalty for illicit production of dramatic works will be forfeiture to the author of the whole of the gross receipts. Cession of a work does not include cession of the right of translation. Cession of right to publish a drama does not include right to perform. The author's rights are subject to certain restrictions. The entire reproduction of works of insignificant extent is permitted if they are reproduced in voluminous works of an original character. Reproduction in chrestomathies, or in similar works of a scientific or educational character, is also allowed. Periodicals are allowed to copy matter from the columns of others, pro- vided that the extracts are of small extent, not VOL. VIII. of a literary character, and not continuously drawn from the same source. All such extracts are to be accompanied by an indication of their origin. The interests of the author are also sacrificed to those of the musical composer. Words for music may be taken freely from any published work, unless the words have been written exclusively for setting to music, and the composer may sell the words with the music without restriction. For restrictions on the rights of artiste we must refer the rt ader to Le Droit d'Auteur. A literary work may be dramatised without the author's consent after a lapse of ten years from its publication. Respecting translation much remains to be desired. The author of a work published in Russia enjovs an exclusive right of translation for ten years, if this right is expressly reserved by a declaration on the title or in the preface, and if he publishes a tsanslation within three years after the appearance of the original work. Works simultaneously published in different languages are to be considered as original works in every one of these languages. When the right of translation has become public property, a translator has no power to inhibit any other translation of the same work. The duration of copyright will be the same as at present, the life of the author and fifty years afterwards. This applies also to music. Fifty years from the death of the author is the dura- tion of the copyright of posthumous works. Fifty years from the date of publication will be the duration for— (a) First editions of folk-lore; (6) First editions of ancient manuscripts; (c) The publications of universities, academies, educational institutions, and learned societies. The copyright of an anonymous or pseudony- mous publication has a duration of thirty years from the date of publication, unless the author declares himself within that period, in which case he acquires his ordinary rights. The duration of copyright for a photograph is five years only; for a translation it is the life of the translator and thirty years afterwards. The editors of periodicals, encyclopaedias, almanacks, and similar works, composed of the writings of different authors, have a fifty years' copyright commencing from the date of publi- cation. The contributors, without prejudice to their rights in the miscellany, may, unless the contrary has been expressly stipulated, reprint their works two years after their appearance in the miscellany. The author who has ceded his right for a single edition may, unless the contrary has been ex- pressly stipulated, publish a new edition as soon t 2  ## p. 210 (#644) ############################################ 2IO THE AUTHOR. as the first is exhausted, or, even if it be not exhausted, after five years; or at any time, if the work has undergone such modifications as will make it really a new book. These regulations will apply to all works pub- lished in Russia, whether the author be a Russian or a foreigner. They apply also to the works of a Russian subject published in a foreign country. No protection is given to the works of foreigners published outside the Russian Empire. Nor is any hint given of conventions ultimately to be concluded with other States. This would appear to indicate that complete non-recognition of the rights of foreigners is to be the rule. Happily, the letter of the Chancellor of the Imperial Com- mission leaves some hopes of an ultimate more liberal arrangement. Henby Cbesswell. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Dec. 17, 1897. ANUMBER of interesting changes in the tendencies of publishing are visible in the Christmas books this year, and they are nearly all encouraging. All of the leading houses are publishing less of those books which, intended exclusively for Christmas sale, are of flimsy and ephemeral character, with slight real interest. Trifles for children, and gift-books full of cheap illustrations and decorations, are not published by any but some of the weaker houses. Instead of that we see the solid books being advertised as especially suitable for gift-books. A few of the smaller houses, however, have just as large a supply of tinsel as ever. Among the solid books which seem to be especially popular for this par- ticular purpose are those on the popular aspects of science and philosophy, and especially on those branches of those subjects which can be treated in a half pictorial way, which explains an un- common amount of literature about birds and plants this year, and also explains the big Christmas demand for books on art and travel. The decoration is improving in the same way as the contents. Really rich and luxurious paper and binding are taking the place of the cheaper devices, although one wasteful tendency is notice- able—that of making the books so delicate that any reasonable amount of handling would ruin them. Perhaps of all the Christmas books, properly speaking, the two most conspicuous are Gibson's book on London (published by tbe Scribners) and "Joan of Arc," by Boutet de Mouvel, published by the Century Company. John Li Farge's "Artist's Letters from Japan" has attracted a good deal of attention, and it is a reminder that the growing familiarity with Japanese and French ideas in regard to decoration is responsible for much of the im- provement. One of the most interesting of all the solid books is the history of dancing from the earliest stages to our own times, published by Appleton and Co. as a translation from the French. The text itself is complete and intelligent, and the illustrations reproduce some of the finest works of art from the earliest times down to Sargent, Degas and Cheret. Among the books which will appear before a great while it must be said, to the credit of the cheap magazines and the cheap publishing houses, that the most interesting, to my mind at least, will be given by Mr. Munsey. It will be made up of a series of articles now running in the magazine which give the judgment of various writers of fiction on their favourite novelists. The date of the issue cannot be fixed until it is known when the series will be completed. Anthony Hope's article on Sterne, in the November number of the magazine, struck me as being the best piece of literary criticism of recent publication that I have seen anywhere. It suggested one rather gloomy conclusion for the professional critic, which is, that the man who sits down occasionally to express ideas which he has thought of for many years gives something more permanently worth while than most of the criticism which is written by men who turn everything they know into copy. This observation, by-the-way, has its relations to an article which Professor H. T. Peck has recently written, in which he says that the influence of the magazine on authors has been generally deteriorating, by inducing them to write too constantly. Except in the cases of genius, he thinks it makes no difference to the author, because he wouldn't do anything anyway; but where a man has genius he is ruined by the in- ducement to hasty work. The corresponding harm to the public is obvious. Mr. Howells, who has just returned from Europe, said while abroad that there was no one in this country whose good opinion was like that of Mr. Gladstone, able to make a reputation, and that Lowell's opinion in his closing years would have done more in that way than any other. Seeking the reason for this truth, the Nation thinks that it is because criticism here is too gentle, and that Mr. Lowell's influence lay largely in his freedom from the fault of indiscriminate praise, which is surely an explanation altogether insufficient to explain the lack of strong criticism here—-ather the effect than the cause.  ## p. 211 (#645) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 211 One queBtion that might with profit be dis- cussed fully in this country is the ethics of editing, which has received such thorough treat- ment from The Author. The degree to which some of the magazine editors change the words and ideas in signed articles, not only in those written by the less known men, but often in those written by some of the most prominent authors in the world is very marked. It would not he safe for me to give the facts too specifically. A subject about which I have found marked differences of opinion lately is that of dating books. One writer of long experience held that in publishing a book of essays it was decidedly better to date each essay, in order that the earlier ones might be recognised as not the latest product of the author's mind. Another man, of equal ability and almost equal experience, said that to date the essays, or in any way, as by an acknowledgment in the front of the book, to show that they had been published, would injure the sale, so strong is the desire for " something new." The literary success of the last few weeks in New York belongs to England. The enthusiasm with which intelligent people have received " The Princess and the Butterfly" is as much due to Mr. Pinero'8 literary qualities as to the dramatic ones. There is no doubt that the play has made a stronger impression on the minds of the intelli- gent people of New York than anything else which has been given here this year. Norman Hapoood. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Speaker once more kindly devotes two or three columns of abuse to this Society. It appears that we contain few men of recog- nised standing: that we are run by a small clique of busybodies: that we claim to determine the conditions upon which books shall be sold: that nine-tenths of the known authors of the country know nothing about the Society: that it is the desire of the Society to establish a fixed royalty for the author: that our Report on the Discount System is a masterpiece of inconsequential reasoning: and so on. Of course they put my name forward as the supposed leader in all this wickedness: to that I am quite accus- tomed. It is the old trick of representing the Society as consisting of one man. I only wonder that they ever allow any others to be connected with it at all. There are others, how- ever: the writer acknowledges so much, though, as he assures his readers, my friends, like myself, only " cater for the middle class." This is a very terrible charge. How is one to get out of it? Since, however, the middle class of this country furnishes the great bulk of readers: since from the middle class come all our men of science, of art, of literature; all our preachers, most of our leaders, all our engineers, lawyers, merchants—in fact, all the people who ever do any- thing— I really see no disgrace in "catering" for them. The Speaker, of course, " caters " for the aristocracy alone. I wonder how it is done. However, the true meaning of all this wrath presently appears when the writer wanders from his subject in order to talk about royalties. It is the increase of the royalty which inspires this real and genuine indignation. Now, it is certainly not true, as the writer says, that we have ever advo- cated a fixed royalty. We have, however, pub- lished the meaning of royalties—what they give to authors and what they give to publishers. These truths have given a great deal of dissatisfaction. It is undoubted that, thanks to the action of the Society, royalties have very greatly advanced; it is also true that certain publishers who used to offer a sweating royalty, say, of 5 per cent., have had to treble, and more than treble, their terms, or else to see books taken elsewhere. Other little trifles have also been secured to the author, such as dramatic rights, American rights, Continental rights, through the action of the Society in pub- lishing the facts of the case. Authors, again, have been kept out of certain hands to the great loss and detriment of those hands: light has been poured upon the meaning of production and its cost. In this way it is possible that dividends may have fallen in this or that company. Such a consideration suggests a very simple explanation if a paper should happen to be controlled by a publishing house. But, if the Speaker can reason at all on the subject, one would ask if any purpose is gained by all this invective? Is the Society one whit the worse for these attacks \ I believe not. Never has any associa- tion been more savagely attacked than the Society of Authors. Yet it is larger, stronger, and of better repute to-day than ever before. And the editor of the Speaker may ask himself if, by any of his previous attacks upon the paper, he has injured the Society in the slightest way? And we may ask, generally, all these persons, publishers or other- wise, who attack the Society, whether they find their own position improved by these attacks? And we may ask the whole world whether authors, like other people, are prepared to give up an asso- ciation which has so enormously advanced their own interests? . Let us remind our members that ten or twelve years ago a 10 per cent, royalty was the utmost  ## p. 212 (#646) ############################################ 212 THE AUTHOR. ever offered. Generally it was less—a 5 per cent, with something down. A certain very popular novel was once given to a publisher for .£50 in advance and a 5 per cent, royalty. That author's terms would now be 25 per cent. Look at the difference on a sale of a thousand. On a 5 per cent, royalty .£15 per thousand copies. On a 25 per cent, royalty ,£75 per thousand copies. On a sale of fifty thousand—it was more than that—there was a difference — clear gain — of £3000. And this is evidently the work of the Society which was the first to investigate the meaning of the figures and the corresponding meaning of royalties. Take, however, a more common case, the old royalty of 10 per cent, compared with that of 25 per cent. On 10 per cent, the sum of ,£30 for every thousand copies. On 25 per cent, the sum of J675 for every thousand copies. On a sale of fifty thousand—I repeat that the book in question was very popular—the author is a gainer of £1250. As to other services of the Society, we may speak of them at another time. Let the reader only consider that if the Society were to become extinct these figures would very speedily be lost and forgotten—and the old con- dition of things would be restored. I have before me certain remarks upon our estimates and figures in a new paper of which this is only the second number. It is called the Qtiilldriver. The writer speaks well of the Society, but complains that in The Author young writers are led to believe that the average circu- lation of a novel is 3000. Not so: the average is not spoken of; in preparing these figures we have nothing to do with the average, we have to deal with the possibilities. In dealing with, or speaking of, literary property we must consider actual, substantial literary property — which means the achievement of popularity: we must prepare agreements for possibilities — never, perhaps, to be realised, yet always possible. That is the meaning of our figures. When we assume a circulation of 3000 it is in order to provide for the possibility of that number. Nor can I believe that anyone is so foolish as to think that the majority of novels do actually attain this figure. When a young barrister enters upon his profession he considers the prizes: the great practice possible: the great reputa- tion; he then lays himself out, so to speak, for the attainment of this great practice: he does not consider the many failures which are, of course, possible for him as for any other. So a young writer should, and does, consider the great prizes open to him, though he may never arrive at them. That is, again, the meaning of the thousands introduced into our figures. The writer before me goes on to say that he has made a list of 150 writers well known to the public; that he applied to their publishers for information as to the circulation of their books; and that this information was actually supplied! This is a most wonderful thing. Publishers are confidential agents; they have no more right to reveal the secrets of their authors than lawyers those of their clients. It is conceivable that such a revelation might damage a writer very seriously, say, when one of deserved name and reputation was found to enjoy a very limited circulation. However, for some unknown consideration, all the publishers of the Hundred and Fifty are said to have betrayed their trust, and to have given the information asked for. The average circulation of the lot, says my writer, was 4535 volumes. Yes, perhaps. But is this the average of the whole army of novelists? Can it be considered as even approximately the average? Let us just examine the figures. There were 150 novelists selected; their average was 4535. This represents no more than 68,025 volumes. Consequently it cannot include Hall Caine, whose last novel circulated to the tune of 150,000 copies at least. Put him in: the average rises to 1444 copies for every one of the 151. Nor does it include Rider Haggard, whose most successful story means at least 120,000. Add Eider Haggard and the average for 152 goes up to 2224. Add "Treasure Island" with, I believe, 80,000, and the average for 153 is 2732. Add Marie Corelli with 80,000 (say) and the average goes up to 3234 for 154. Putin adozen others with a circula- tion of only 10,000 each and the average for 166 amounts to 3723. With these figures before us it becomes evident that the figures quoted cannot represent an average, which must include the successful as well as the unsuccessful: and that if, in The Author, we were to claim 3000 as an average we might perhaps be justified. We do not, however, advance any such claim. We are quite prepared to admit that most novelists fail to catch the public ear: in all professions it is only the small minority that succeeds; we are also prepared to admit that if we take the lower half of living novelists their average is very small. But then the lower half includes the unhappy people who believe that by paying for production they pay for publication, and that a printed book is a published book, and that every novel is a mine of gold.  ## p. 213 (#647) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The report of the Sub-Committee to consider the proposals made by certain publishers for the enslaving of the bookseller has been received by the world with apparent satisfaction. Our own members, with one exception, have not expressed any dissatisfaction at the result of the inquiry. The one exception sent a letter to the secretary, which he also forwarded to the Publishers' Asso- ciation. It is printed in another column. One would not deny to every member the right to his own opinion; but in cases where, as in that lately before us, the independence of literature, the dignity of men and women of letters, and their material interests, were all together threatened under cover of coercing booksellers: when, under the same pretence, it was sought to raise the price of books upon a public which already pays too much: in such a case it is above all things neces- sary that authors should stand together, and that they should sink their individual opinion and think only of the general good. That means that they should accept the decision of the Committee, which alone, remember, was able to hear the evidence. Mr. Cunningham says that the decision was arrived at by adhering to old arguments. That is not a correct statement of the case. The whole report has been published in this paper, so that readers may judge for themselves. Weight was certainly given to the opinions of the men of 1852—distin- guished men—all of whom have a right to be considered, even fifty years after the event. But the Committee were chiefly guided by the evidence before them, rather than by the arguments of 18 5 2; they learned and recognised the absolute impos- sibility of coercion: the degradation of the book- seller, who, if the proposed plan succeeded, would become a mere clerk and servant of the publisher: and the absolute certainty that the next step would be the degradation of the author. Indeed, the Times, in making a precis of the report, left out altogether the statement of the case in 1852, so little importance was attached by their reader to that part of the report. Mr. Cunningham disagrees with the report. That is to be lamented; but everyone must form his own opinion. He then, after acknowledging the valuable aid which he has received from the Society, withdraws from membership. This step shows that he has not the least esprit de corps, and that he owes no sense of duty or of brother- hood to others engaged in literary work. How could the Society have assisted or advised him but for the association of a great many who by their collective subscriptions enable us to provide offices, collect cases, get legal advice, and maintain a staff? How can such a Society be kept up if every member who disagrees with a report or with the action of the Committee immediately withdraws? Surely a certain amount of loyalty is required in the defence and the advancement of every cause— in our case more than any other, on account of the fierce resentment which has always met it on every side, and the unscrupulous falsehoods with which it is constantly assailed. The first thing necessary, however, is the feeling that every writer ought to support the Society not so much for the assistance which he may receive, or for gratitude for the assistance which he has received, so much as for the solid work which the Society has rendered to the material interests of litera- ture, and for the assistance which it is constantly giving to writers in trouble or in doubt. To do this effectively, we ought to have at least 2000 members—that is, 600 more than our present number. . Literary men will do well to take legal advice before accepting employment under the city of New York, if the experience of Mr. Charles Burr Todd, the historian of the city, counts for any- thing. In 1895 the Common Council was desirous of printing the early records of Dutch Man- hattan and English New York which were stored in ancient safes in the city library, and were fast going to pieces with age and handling. The Mayor appointed a committee to superintend their publication, the members of which previous to appointment met the Mayor in his office, and agreed to serve without pay provided they could have a secretary and editor to do the work, who should be paid, and they named Mr. Todd as such editor. The Mayor said he had wished Mr. Todd on the committee, but it was pointed out that the latter could not afford to serve without pay; to all of which the Mayor agreed. Mr. Todd was soon after appointed on the committee, and, with the understanding that he should be paid, accepted. Later the committee appointed him editor, agree- ing to pay him, though no sum was fixed. He served eight months and resigned, whereupon the committee voted him 150 dollars per month. The city refused to pay on the ground that the com- mittee were to serve for nothing, whereupon Mr. Todd sued for the amount. The case was tried before Judge Russell in the Supreme Court of New York, on Nov. 18, and the learned judge held that as Mr. Todd was a member of a com- mittee which was appointed to serve without pay he could recover nothing. Mr. Todd says that while this may be good law it is very poor equity and justice; that somebody laid a trap for him in order to get his services as editor for nothing,  ## p. 214 (#648) ############################################ 214 THE AUTHOR. and that altogether it is pretty small business for the second largest city in the world. He worked five years preparing his history of the city, for which he has received about one hundred and fifty dollars, and thinks if he per- forms other services for the city it should be willing to remunerate him. Waltee Be8ANT_ A CHAPTER OF THE PAST. THE following extracts from Babbage's "Economy of Machinery " are interesting at present:— (295.) . . . "A powerful combination, of another kind, exists at this moment to a great extent, and operates upon the price of the very pages which we are now communicating informa- tion respecting it. A subject so interesting to every reader, and still more so to every manu- facturer of the article which the reader consumes, deserves an attentive examination. "We have shown in Chapter XX., p. 166, the component parts of the expense of each copy of the present work; and we have seen that the total amount of the cost of production, exclusive of any payment to the author for his labour, is 28. tfd. "Another fact, with which the reader is more practically familiar, is, that he has paid, or is to pay, his bookseller six shillings for the volume. Let us now examine into the distribution of these six shillings, and then, having the facts of the case before us, we shall be better able to judge of the merits of the combination and to explain its effects. Distribution of the profits on a six-shilling hook. BayB at. Sells at. Profit on capital expended No. 1. The publisher, who s. d. s. d. accounts to the author for every copy received 3 10 4 2 10 per No. 2. Bookseller, who retails cent. 4 2 6 0 44 per cent. Or 4 6 6 0 33i Par cent. "No. 1, the publisher, is a bookseller, he is in fact the author's agent. His duties are to receive and take charge of the stock, for whieh bo sup- plies warehouse room, to advise the author about the times and methods of advertising, and to insert the advertisements. As he publishes other books, he will advertise lists of those s^ld by him- self; and thus by combining many in one adver- tisement, diminish the expense to each of his principals. He pays the author only for the books actually sold, consequently, he makes no outlay of capital, except that which he pays for advertisements, but he is answerable for any bad debts he may make in disposing of them. His charge is usually 10 per cent, on the returns. "No. 2 is the bookseller, who retails the work to the public. On the publication of a new book the publisher sends round to the trade to receive subscriptions from them for any number of copies, not less than two. These copies are usually charged to the subscribers, on an average, at about 4 or 5 per cent, less than the wholesale price of the book, in the present case they pay 4«. 2d. for each copy. After the day of publica- tion, the price charged by the publisher to the booksellers is 4*. 6d. Different publishers offer different terms to the subscriber, and it is usual after intervals of about six months for the pub- lisher again to open a subscription list, so that if the work be one for which there is a steady demand, the trade avail themselves of these oppor- tunities of purchasing at the reduced rate enough to supply their probable demand. (296.) "The volume thus purchased of the publisher at 4*. 2d. or 4*. 6d. is retailed by the bookseller at 6s. In the one case he makes a profit of 44, in the other of 33 per cent Even the smaller of these two rates of profit on the capital employed certainly appears too large. It sometimes happens, when a purchaser inquires for a book, the retail dealer sends across the street to the wholesale agent, and receives for this trifling service one-fourth part of the money the purchaser pays; and perhaps the retail dealer also takes six months' credit for the price which the volume actually costs him. It is stated that all retail books> Hers allow their customers a dis- count of 10 per cent, upon orders above .£20; and that, therefore, the nominal profit of 44 or 33 per cent, is considerably reduced. H this is the case, it may fairly be inquired why the price of £2, for example, is printed upon the back of a book when every bookseller is ready to sell it at £1 16s.; and why those who are unacquainted with that circumstance should be made to pay more than others who are better informed? Another reason has been assigned for the great profit charged upon books, namely, that the pur- chasers take long credit. This is probably a fact, and, admitting it, no reasonable person can object to a proportionate increase of price. But certainly, it is equally clear that gentlemen who do pay ready money should not be charged the same price as those who defer their payments to a very remote period. In the country there is a greater  ## p. 215 (#649) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 215 appearance of reason for a considerable allowance between the retail dealer and the public, because the profit of the country bookseller will be diminished by the expense of the conveyance of the books from London; but even in this case it appears to be too large when compared with the rate of interest which capital produces in other trades. (297.) "That the profit in retailing books is really too large is proved by two circumstances: First, that the same nominal rate of profit existed in the bookselling trade for a long series of years, notwithstanding the great fluctuations in the rate of profit on capital invested in every other business; secondly, that until very lately a multitude of booksellers in all parts of London were willing to be satisfied with a much smaller profit, and to sell, for ready money, or at short credit, to persons of uudoubted character, at a profit of only 10 per cent., and in some instances even at a still smaller percentage instead of that of 25 per cent, on the published prices. "It cannot be pretended that this high rate of profit is necessary to cover the risk of the book- seller having some copies left on his shelves, because he need not buy of the publisher a single copy more than he has orders for; and even if he do purchase more at the subscription price, he proves, by that very purchase, that he himself does not estimate that risk at above from 4 to 8 per cent. . It should also be remarked, that the publisher is generally a retail as well as a whole- sale bookseller; and that beside the profit which he realises on every copy sold by him in his capacity of agent, he is allowed to charge the author as if every copy had been subscribed for at 4«. 2d., and of course he receives the same profit as the rest of the trade for those retailed in his shop. (298.) "Now a certain number of the London booksellers have combined together. One of their objects is to prevent any bookseller from selling a book at less than 10 per cent, under the pub- lished price; and, in order to enforce this prin- ciple, they refuse to sell books, except at the publishing price, to any bookseller who declines signing their agreement. By degrees many were prevailed upon to join this combination; and the effect of the exclusion it inflicted left the small capitalist no option between signing or having his business destroyed. Ultimately nearly the whole trade, comprising about two thousand four hundred persons, have signed the agreement. "As might be naturally expected from an agree- ment so injurious to many of the parties to it, disputes have arisen, several booksellers have been placed under the ban of the combination, who allege that they have not violated its rules, and who accuse the opposite party of using spies, &c, to entrap them. (299.) "The origin of this combination has been explained by Mr. Pickering, of Chancery- lane, himself a publisher, in a printed statement entitled, ' Booksellers' Monopoly.' "The following list of booksellers has been copied from that printed at the head of each of the cases published by Mr. Pickering of the booksellers who form the committee for conduct- ing this combination: Allen, J., 7, Leaienhall- street; Arch, J., 61, Cornhill; Baldwin, R., 47, Paternoster-row; Booth, J.; Duncan, J., 37, Paternoster - row; Hatchard, J., Piccadilly; Marshall, R., Stationers'-court; Murray, J., Albemarle-street; Rees, O., Paternoster-row; Richardson, J. M., 23, Cornhill; Rivington, J., St. Paul's Churchyard; Wilson, E., Royal Exchange. (300.) "In whatever manner the profits are divided between the publisher and the retail bookseller, the fact remains, that the reader has paid for the volume in his hands 6s., and that the author will receive only 3s. ioe?.; out of which latter sum the expense of printing the volume must be paid, so that in passing through two hands this book has produced a profit of 44 per cent. This excessive rate of profit has drawn into the book trade a larger share of capital than was really advantageous, and the competition between the different portions of that capital has naturally led to the system of underselling, to which the committee above-mentioned are en- deavouring to put a stop.* "There are two parties who chiefly suffer from this combination—the public and authors. The first party can seldom be induced to take an active part ag linst any grievance; and, in fact, little is required from it except a cordial support of the authors in any attempt to destroy a combination so injurious to the interests of both. "Many an industrious bookseller would be glad to sell for 5«. the volume which the reader holds in his hand, and for which he has paid 6*.; and, in doing so for ready money, the tradesman who paid 4*. 6c?. for the book would realise, without the least risk, a profit of 11 per cent, on the money he had advanced. It is one of the objects of the combination we are discussing, to prevent the small capitalist from employing his capital at that rate of profit which he thinks most advan- * The monopoly cases, Nos. 1,2, and 3 of those published by Mr. Pickering, should be oonsulted; and as the pnblic will be better able to form a judgment by hearing the other side of the question, perhaps the chairman of the 00m- mittee (Mr. Richardson) would print those regulations respecting the trade, a copy of which Mr. Piokering states is refused by the committee even to those who sign thorn.  ## p. 216 (#650) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. tageous to himself; and such a proceeding is decidedly injurious to the public. (301.) "Having derived little pecuniary advan- tage from my own literary productions ; and being aware that from the very nature of their subjects they can scarcely be expected to reimburse the expense of preparing tbem, I may be permitted to offer an opinion which I believe to be as little influenced by any expectation of advantage from the future, as it is by any disappointment at the past. "Before, however, we proceed to sketch the plan of a campaign against Paternoster-row, it will be fit to inform the reader of the nature of the enemy's forces and his means of attack and defence. "Several of the great publishers find it con- venient to be the proprietors of reviews, maga- zines, journals, and even of newspapers. The editors are paid in some instances very hand- somely for their superintendence, and it is scarcely to be expected that they should always mete out the severest justice on works by the sale of which their employers are enriched. The great and popular works of the day are, of course, reviewed with some care, and with deference to public opinion. Without this the journals would not sell, and it is convenient to be able to quote such articles as instances of impartiality. Under shelter of this a host of ephemeral productions are written into a transitory popularity; and by the aid of this process the shelves of the book- seller, as well as the pockets of the public, are disencumbered. To such an extent are these means employed, that some of the periodical pub- lications of the day ought to be regarded merely as advertising machines. That the reader may be in some measure on his guard against such modes of influencing his judgment, he should examine whether the work reviewed is published by the bookseller who is the proprietor of the review, a fact which can sometimes be ascertained from the title of the book as given at the head of the article. But this is by no means a certain criterion, because partnerships in various publica- tions exist between houses in the book trade, which are not generally known to the public; so that, in fact, until reviews are established in which booksellers have no interest, they can never be safely trusted. (302.) "In order to put down the combination of booksellers, no plan appears so likely to succeed as a counter-association of authors. If any con- siderable portion of the literary world were to unite and form such an association; and if its affairs were directed by an active committee much might be accomplished. The object of this union should be to employ some person well skilled in the printing and in the bookselling trade, and to establish him in some central situation as their agent. Each member of the association to be at liberty to place any or all of his works in the hands of this agent for sale; to allow any adver- tisements or list of books, published by members of the association, to be stitched up at the end of each of his own productions, the expense of preparing them being defrayed by the proprietors of the books advertised. "The duties of the agent would be to retail to the public for ready money, copies of books published by members of the association. To sell to the trade, at prices agreed upon, any copies they may require. To cause to be inserted in the journals, or at the end of works published by members, any advertisements which the committee or authors may direct. To prepare a general catalogue of the works of members. To be the agent for any member of the association in treating respecting the printing of any work. "Such a union would naturally present other advantages, and as each author would retain the liberty of putting any price he might think fit on his productions, the public would still have the advantage of reduction in price produced by com- petition between authors on the same subject, as well as of that arising from a cheaper mode of publishing the volumes sold to them. (303.) "Possibly one of the consequences re- sulting from such an association would be the establishment of a good and an impartial Review, a work whose want has been felt lor several years. The two long-established and celebrated Reviews, the unbending champions of the most opposite political opinions, are, from widely different causes, exhibiting unequivocal signs of decrepi- tude and decay. The Quarterly advocate of despotic principles is fast receding from the advancing intelligence of the age, and the new strength and new position which that intelligence has acquired for itself demands for its expression new organs, equally the representatives of its intellectual power and of its moral energies; whilst, on the other hand, the sceptre of its Northern rival has passed from the vigorous grasp of those who established its dominion into feebler hands. "A difficulty has been stated that those most competent to supply periodical criticism are already engaged. But it is to be observed that there are many who now supply literary criticisms to journals whose political principles they disap- prove, and that, if once a respectable and well- supported Review* were established, capable of * At the moment when this opinion aa to the necessity for a new Review was passing through the press, I was informed that the elements of snoh an undertaking were already organised.  ## p. 217 (#651) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 217 competing, in payment to its contributors, with the wealthiest of its rivals, it would very soon be supplied with the best materials the country can produce.f" ME. BALFOUR ON THE NOVEL. MR. ARTHUR J. BALFOUR, M.P., pro- posed the toast of "Literature" at the fourth annual dinner of the Sir Walter Scott Club, held in Edinburgh on the 20th ult. He said it was hard to believe there was a time when the world did without novels, and, in its own opinion, did well without novels. Like tobacco and the daily Press, novels had now become a general necessity. It was an interest- ing speculation to reflect what the future of the novel was to be. He took it that there was hardly any instance in literature of any sub-class of composition being cultivated with success for an indefinite period. The cause of decay was commonly to be found either in the habit of driving peculiarities to excess so that the whole species of composition seemed weighed down by its own exaggerations, or else dying away in a kind of senile imbecility and perishing slowly amid general contempt. An example of the first kind they found in the death of the Elizabethan drama, and of the second in that particular kind of literature of which Pope was the greatest ornament. But as to the novel, if there were any signs of decadence, peihaps they should look for it in the obvious difficulty which novelists now found in getting hold of appropriate subjects for their art to deal with. Scott, however, had not only his unique genius to depend upon; he had the specially good fortune to open an entirely new vein. Where was the modern novelist to find a new vein? Every country had been ransacked to obtain theatres upon which their imaginary characters were to show themselves. They had stories of civilised life, of semi-civilised life, of barbarous life. They had novels of the natural and the supernatural; they had scientific novels, and they had thaumaturgic novels. So hardly set were they for subjects that even the quint- essence of dulness was extracted from the dullest t It baa been suggested to me that the doctrines main- tained in this chapter may subject the present volume to the opposition of that combination which it has opposed. I do not entdrtain that opinion, and for this reason—that the booksellers are too shrewd a class to supply such an admirable passport to publicity. But, should my readers take a diffe- rent view of the question, they can easily assist in remedy- ing the evil by each mentioning the existence of this little volume to two of his friends. localities, and turned into a subject of artistic treatment. Yet there was one aspect of human nature, and perhaps the most interesting of all, which for obvious reasons had been very sparingly treated by the novelists—the develop- ment of character extending through the life of the individual. A novel seldom or never—not in one case in a thousand—attempted to take an individual and trace what in natural science would be called his life history. It would be very inappropriate and very unnecessary to dwell upon reasons why this biographical form of fiction was difficult—he would not say impossible —and he certainly did not venture to foretell that any artist would be found who would be able to overcome them. Whatever be the future of the novel, they might always console themselves with the reflection that every great literary revival had been preceded by a period in which no revival could by any possibility have been anticipated by the closest critics of the time. He doubted whether any contemporary of Sydney could have foreseen Shakespeare; he doubted whether any- body living in the Commonwealth was likely to have foreseen Dry den in his maturity. He felt sure nobody living in the time of Johnson could really have foreseen Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Scott. But though the provinces of literature were many, the kingdom of literature was one; however diverse were the fields, they all furthered one cause. He did not pretend that literature necessarily softened the manners or carried all the cardinal virtues in its train. But it was the greatest engine for the production of cultivated happiness. It was daily producing more innocent and refined pleasure in every class in every country where education was known than any other source of pleasure. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF AUTHORS. IN the recent " Memoir" the evidences given of good feeling toward America and Americans on the part of Lord Tennyson have been noted in the papers. To be sure, one might ask, "Why not r And yet there were special annoy- ances from American sources which must have been particularly trying. An American man of letters visiting England, years ago, spent some time not far from Fresh- water. Knowing many of Tennyson's American and English friends, it would have been natural, perhaps, for him to obtain an introduction; yet he even kept away from Tennyson's end of the Isle of Wight. Meeting once, in London, the younger son of the Laureate, he told him he could  ## p. 218 (#652) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. tell his father that at least one American was not peering over his fences or shying stones at his Farringford chickens. The prying English tourist made himself a nuisance to the Laureate; but the tourist who came across the seas was, perhaps, a little more likely to be troublesome, owing to his greater enthusiasm and enterprise. But, however a sensitive bard may have resented intrusion upon his privacy, and whatever com- plaints of their inconsiderate countrymen some visiting Americans may at times have had to listen to, it is evident that good feeling for " kin across sea " was at the bottom of the poet's large heart. Some of his American friends are named in the book, but there were other American acquaint- ances, some of an earlier date than certain of those chronicled. There were Americans unknown to fame who met with warm welcome from the master of Farringford, and gained there a genuine, helpful, and lasting friendship. A pleasant chapter in the curiosities of English literature could be made of international literary relations—those between Scott and Irving, Emer- son and Carlyle, for instance. Such a chapter might include the friendship of American and English writers with individuals less distinguished of the opposite country. Some of the most inti- mate friends of the Brownings were Americans, and Lowell had English friends true and stead- fast. International relations of this kind do not depend upon any treaty; they ought to, and do, favourably affect the public opinion of the two countries. While writers on both sides have done much to fan the flames of unreasoned prejudice, men of letters, being often, fortunately, men of imagination, insight, and goodwill, have also stood for brotherhood, and not for the brutal inherited instinct of fight.— " Topics of the Time," Century Magazine Christmas number. PERSONAL. THE American Ambassador, Colonel John Hay, was the guest of the Omar Khayyam Club at its first dinner of the season, held in Frascati's Restaurant on Dec. 8, Mr. Henry Norman, the president, in the chair. His Excel- lency passed an eloquent eulogy upon FitzGerald's translations of the Quatrains. Omar was a Fitz- Gerald before the letter, or FitzGerald was a reincarnation of Omar. Each seemed greater than his work. Omar sang to a half barbarous province, FitzGerald to the world. Wherever the English speech is spoken or read the Rubaiyat had taken their place as a classic. He heard Omar quoted once in one of the most lonely and desolate spots of the high Rockies. Certainly, Omar could never be numbered among the great popular writers of all time. The suffrages of the crowd were not for the cool, collected observer, whose eye no glitter could dazzle, no mist suffuse. Mr. Augustine Birrell, Q-O, M.P., delivered an address at the Commemoration Service of Brown- ing, held at the Robert Browning Settlement, Walworth, on the 12th ult. The obscure poet of the obscure " Sordello," he said, had an influence on literature which was indescribably majestic. Like Carlyle and Tennyson, he never bowed the knee to Baal. Poverty they knew, and depression of spirit, but no one of them abated a jot or tittle of his pretensions, or ever asked the people what they wanted. Browning's religious belief was not attained through the dark and mystical passage of the Sacraments, but rather was the result of a firm belief in a personal God, and his strong faith in the soul of man. To call him a cheerful poet would be wrong. He was too well read in the literature of hell. But he was indeed a cheering poet. The Christmas dinner of the New Vagabond Club took place in Holborn Restaurant on the 10th ult. The company was very numerous, and included many ladies. Mr. Israel Zangwill pre- sided, and Lord Charles Beresford was the particular guest. Lord Rosebery, speaking at the annual meeting of the Scottish History Society, suggested that there should be a book of those dignities which were conferred by the Stuarts after their depar- ture from England in 1689. Owing to the pressure of the Jubilee year, the committee charged with the project of a memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson in Edinburgh did not make an urgent appeal for subscriptions in the year just closed. They will now shortly do so. As to the form the memorial shall take, a monument in St. Giles's Cathedral and another on Calton Hill are suggested. Professor Masson, who for thirty years occupied the chair of English Literature in the University of Edinburgh, has been presented with his portrait painted by Sir George Reid. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—A Young Author's Gbievancb. IRECENTLY read some letters in The Author complaining of the time taken by editors in returning rejected MSS. Personally I have always found that rejected MSS. were returned  ## p. 219 (#653) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. within a reasonable time, and it must be remem- bered that contributions sent in on chance are not invited. When, however, an editor has personally interviewed an author, and verbally arranged with him to accept a certain article for a certain number of a magazine, the author natu- rally looks for his article in—let us say, the number for June. The proof is sent to the writer some time in May, but on looking at the magazine in June he is often doomed to disappointment—at least if he is a young author feeling his way. None of his work appears. He calls on the editor, and is told that his article was "crowded out," but that it will appear in July. He looks again in the July number, but to no purpose. He is put off with the same excuse for three, four, or even six months. All this time he is obliged to stand out of his money. Of course such a thing could not happen to a well known man, but most of us must climb the ladder of fame by degrees. This is essentially a young author's grievance, and is felt by those who are entirely dependent on their pens. C. B. B. II.—The Published Peice. It is satisfactory to learn from Mr. Millar's letter in your last issue that the Dundee Adver- tiser, as well as Literature, the Literary World, and the Bookman, announces in the reviews themselves the prices of all b >oks reviewed. It may, perhaps, be hoped that this at present very rare practice may gradually become more general, and that publishers and authors will combine to encourage it by procuring the price to be marked on the binding, or a notification of the price to be sent out with the review copies, and by selecting as recipients of review copies those newspapers which adopt the practice. By the way, of the 379 "books of the month" catalogued in your last issue at page 198, I observe that no less than thirty-seven—about one-tenth of the whole—have no price affixed to them. How are the prices of the omitted thirty- seven to be ascertained? J. M. Lely. Dec. 20. BOOS TALE. ME. MACKENZIE BELL'S memoir of Miss Christina Rossetti will be pub- lished by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett early this month. Two offers of marriage, we are told, were made to Miss Rossetti, but the charming lady simply chose to be an "old maid." This volume will give for the first a little Italian "octave " written by her father, Gabriele Rossetti, in celebration of his " dear daughters" Christina a.nd Maria—" fresh violets, opened at dawn." Mr. Bell also records that Miss Rossetti and her brothers and sisters were accustomed to address their father invariably in Italian, his native language. Several portraits of the poetess will appear in the memoir, including, as frontispiece, a reproduction of the chalk drawing of his sister, which Dante Rossetti executed in 1866. The scene of Mr. Rider Haggard's new historical romance is laid in Holland in the days of William of Orange. He has also engaged to write for the Graphic a story of the Boers at the time of their great trek in 1836. It will be called "Swallow," and will commence in the above journal in the latter part of this year. Mr. Gilbert Parker has written a storv called "Mrs. Falchion." Mr. Max Pemberton has gone to the Balearic Isles, which will be the scene of his next story. Mr. E. L. Voynich, author of "The Gadfly," is about to visit Austria in order to collect material for a work dealing with contemporary life there. Mr. Henry Seton Merriman has written for Harper's Magazine, beginning with the January number, a novel entitled " Roden's Corner." The score or so letters which passed between Emerson and Sterling, and which were briefly noticed in The Author a few months ago, are now to be published by Messrs. Gay and Bird in book form, edited by Edward Waldo Emerson, and entitled "A Correspondence between John Sterling and Ralph Waldo Emerson." The letters appeared during last year in the Atlantic Monthly. Mr. William Black has completed his new novel, and entitled it "Wild Eelin; otherwise called Eelin of the Eyes like the Sea Wave." It will begin its course as a serial this month. Miss Lilian Goadby is retelling the story of Homer's Iliad for bovs and girls. The book, entitled "The Wrath of Achilles," will be pub- lished shortly by Messrs. Edwin, Vaughan and Co. Mr. Anthony Hope has written a sequel to "The Prisoner' of Zenda," entitled "Rupert of Hentzau." It is now running serially in the Pall Mall Magazine. Miss Emily Lawless is publishing with Messrs. Methuen a volume of Irish stories, entitled "Traits and Confidences."  ## p. 220 (#654) ############################################ 2 20 THE AUTHOR. Mr. Bram Stoker has written the first story— "Miss Betty," a seventeenth century romance— for a new fiction series, which Messrs. C. Arthur Pearson and Co. are projecting. This series aspires to give in each volume six shillings' worth of material for half-a-crown. Mr. Stoker's volume will appear this month. Succeeding volumes, to be issued at monthly intervals, will be by Messrs. W. L. Alden, Clive Holland, Joseph Hatton, Douglas Sladen, George Griffith, Fred. Whishaw, and others. Miss Adeline Sergeant has completed a novel called "The Lady Charlotte " for publication by Messrs. Hutchinson shortly. Mr. Grant Allen has written a story entitled "The Incidental Bishop." Mr. William Le Queux is staying at Milan, and writing a novol to be called "Scribes and Pharisees." Mr. Robert H. Sherard is writing the story of the Dreyfus case for an American magazine. "David Lyall's Love Story" is a volume of Scotch idylls which Messrs. Hodder and Stough- ton are publishing immediately. There has been much speculation as to the identity of "David Lyall," the author of this work and of " The Land o' the Leal." We believe she is a sister of Annie Swan (Mrs. Burnett Smith). The Christmas number of Good Words con- sisted of a novel entitled " The Looms of Time," by Mrs. Hugh Fraser. It will be published in book form by Messrs. Isbister during the spring. Mrs. de Courcy Laffan (" Mrs Leith Adams ") is writing a novel called " The Prince's Feathers: a Story of Leafy Warwickshire in the Olden Time," and a story of public school life entitled "The Gift of God." "A Voyage of Consolation" is the title of a new story by Mrs. Everard Cotes. Mrs. Pendler Cudlip (" Annie Thomas ") has a novel, "Dick Rivers," about to be published by Messrs. F. V. White and Co. She is engaged upon another, to be called "Between the Devil and the Deep Sea," and also upon a group of stories for Messrs. Tillotson. Mrs. Lovett Cameron's new novel "Devil's Apples," will be published this month by Messrs. White. Mr. R. Andom has written of cycling incidents and misadventures in a volume entitled "Side Slips" which Messrs. Pearson will publish. "Scenes from the Suburbs " is another humorous work by the same author, which will be published by Messrs. Jarrold. The books will appear in the spring, the former illustrated by Mr. A. Frederick, the latter by Mr. A. Carruthers Gould. A volume of Stories from soldier fife, by Mr. E. Livingston Prescott, will be published this month by Messrs. Warne. The author has now in hand a romance (not military), entitled " Dearer than Honour." Mr. Archibald Forbes's "Life of Louis Napo- leon" will be ready about the middle of the month. It will contain, among other illustrations, a drawing of the house which, prior to 1848, the future head of the Third Empire occupied in London. Mr. Richard Kearton, F.Z.S., is writing a series of sketches and tales of open-air life in the North of England. Dr. W. G. Blaikie is writing the life of the late Principal David Brown, of the Free Church College, Aberdeen. Professor Max MUller's recollections of royalty, and of musical, literary, and social life, which have appeared in Cosmopolis, will be published shortly in a volume by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co., under the title " Auld Lang Syne." The features of Cosmopolis this year will include, in English, unpublished letters of John Mill and notes of Coleridge; in French, the letters of Emile Ollivier to Richard Wagner, the correspondence of Marshal Magnan, and the memoirs of the painter Ingres; and in German, further correspondence of Tourguenieff. Mr. Meredith has written three " Odes in Contribu- tion to the Song of French History," entitled "The Revolution," "Napoleon," "Alsace- Lorraine," which will appear in the numbers for March, April, and May. The manuscript of "In Memoriam," given by the poet to the late Sir John Simeon, has been presented by the Hon. Lady Simeon to the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, Tennyson's own college, to which he intended it should fall. A volume of sporting reminiscences by Mr. Thomas Haydon will shortly be published by Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. Mr. R. Farquharson Sharp, of the British Museum, has compiled " A Dictionary of English Authors, Biographical and Bibliographical," being a compendious account of the lives and writings of 700 British writers from the year 1400 to the present time. Mr. George Redway will publish the work. English translations of two notable French works will be published shortly, simultaneously with the appearance of the originals in Paris.  ## p. 221 (#655) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 221 These are M. Zola's new novel "Paris," trans- lated by Mr. Vizetelly; and M. Huysman's " La Cathedrale," whose translator is Mrs. Clara Bell. Mr. William Archer and Miss Diana White have completed their translation, from the Danish, of Dr. Georg Brandes's critical study of Shakespeare. The important work "Industrial Democracy," upon which Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb have long been engaged, is to be issued by Messrs. Longmans on the 4th. Prince Henry of Orleans's book of travels, "Tonkin to India," is due this week from Messrs. Methuen. Sir Martin Conway's "Climbing and Explora- tion in the Karakoram Himalayas" (Unwin, 1894) having been translated into French and published serially in the Tour du Monde, is now issued, abridged, in book form, by MM. Hachette et Cie. Several of Mr. A. D. McCormick's pictures to the work are reproduced in the French volume. A propos the teaching of English literature in schools, the Academy notes that a recent school edition of Carlyle's essay, " The Hero as Divinity" (George Bell and Sons) is composed as follows: Introduction, 90 pages; Carlyle's Essay, 42 pages; Notes, 53 pages; Index, 4 pages. The essay thus forms about 22 per cent, of the whole, and our contemporary asks whether it is the powder or the jam. America sent over a story the other day, which had some appearance of actuality, telling of a popular music-hall artiste having been subjected to a kissing test. How many kisses could a woman stand? The limit of endurance was reached, if we remember the story rightly, at 547 or thereabouts. Our brisk Chicago contemporary, the Chap-Book, on the other hand, has just been discovering what it calls "the most thoroughly kissed young woman in English fiction." This curiosity, it avers, is the heroine Birdalone in William Morris's posthumous romance "The Water of the Wondrous Isles." She is pissed eighty-six times according to the analysis of the Chap-Book—fifty-two by men, and thirty-four by women and children. Here is a summary and description of the men's kisses :— 1 Merchant 4 Peasants 8 Servants Hands. Feet Face. Mouth. 4 ... ... 2 ... ... 0 ... ... 1 .. 0 ... ... 1 ... » ... ... 0 ... 6 ... 13 t 3 33 Mr. A. C. Benson is writing a biographical history of Eton and leading Etonians. Mr. Edward Marston will shortly have ready another book on outdoor life. There will be an Edition de lujce. The publishers are, of course, Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Mr. E. F. Benson is preparing for publication by Messrs. Methuen his story called "The Vintage," which has been appearing in the Graphic. It deals with the opening year of the Greek War of Independence in 1820. A new publisher. He is John Long, 6, Chandos- street, Strand. Mr. Long's programme is: "Fiction by popular authors; fiction by new writers of undoubted promise; works of travel; medical works; poetry that may appeal to the public." A re-edited and enlarged edition of Dickinson's "Glossary of Cumberland Words and Phrases" is to be published, by subscription, by Dr. E. W. Prevost, of Newnham, Glos. The work was origi- nally published by the English Dialect Society. Many words and phrases are being added in the re-issue. A special sub-committee of the Publishers' Association is considering the subject of title- pages. The late strike of printers in Edinburgh caused delay in the appearance of a number of books during the past month. One that has suffered postponement from this cause is the biography of the Prince of Wales, which Mr. Grant Richards now expects to publish early this month. The narrative is said to exhibit "a truly loyal and intelligent appreciation of His Royal Highness's career and his services to his country." The first representation of the play " Admiral Guinea," by Messrs. W. E. Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson, took place on Nov. 29 at the Avenue Theatre, London. It was produced by the New Century Theatre Company, and got a favourable reception. Immediately before the rising of the curtain Miss Elizabeth Robins delivered a prologue written for the oocasion by Mr. Henley, of which the following is a part: Once was a pair of Friends, who loved to chance Their feet In any by-way of Romance. They, like two vagabond schoolboys, unafraid Of stark impossibilities, essayed To make these Penitent and Impenitent ThieveB, These Pews and Oaunts, each man of them with his sheaves Of humour, passion, cruelty, tyranny, life, Fit shadows for the boards: till in the Btiifo Of dream with dream, their Slaver-Saint came true, And their Blind Pirate, their resurgent Pew (A figure of deadly farce In his new birth) Tap-tapped his way from Hades back to earth; And so, their Lover and his Lass made one. In their beat prose this Admiral here was done. One of this Pair sleeps Ull the crack of doom Where the great ocean-rollers plunge and boom, The other waits and wonders what his Friend, Dead now, and deaf, and silent, were the end Revealed to his rare spirit would find to say If you, his lovers, loved him for this Play.  ## p. 222 (#656) ############################################ 222 THE AUTHOR. Mrs. Sara H. Dunn has written "Sunny Memories of an Indian Winter," which Messrs. Walter Scott Limited will publish. Mr. W. E. Henley has resigned the editorship of the New Review, which hereupon ceases to be a monthly magazine. Uncertain health and the necessities of his own literary work have com- pelled Mr. Henley's retirement. The Review, completely transformed, will appear shortly as a weekly journal, price 3c?. Mr. James Britten retires from the editorship of Nature Notes, which he has conducted for six years. Mr. E. Heron-Allen is translating Omar Khayyam's " Rubaiyat," from the original Persian, Many quatrains not hitherto translated will be included, and the original Persian text will also be given page for page. Messrs. H. S. Nichols and Co. are the publishers. Early in the year an illustrated book of "Allegories," by Dean Farrar, will be published by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. He has in hand a more important work which will be called "Texts Rightly Interpreted." Gallant little Wales now comes in for its volume in the series of Stories of the Nations, published by Mr. Unwin. The writer of the history is Mr. Owen M. Edwards, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. The same publisher will shortly issue a volume entitled " The Welsh People," consisting of a series of essays, by Pro- fessor Rhys and Mr. Brynmor Jones, on the history, antiquities, ancient laws and customs, and the social characteristics of Wales. Mr. Oscar Browning is to write a life of Charles XII. of Sweden, which Messrs. Hurst and Blackett will publish. The same writer's Life of Peter the Great is on the point of publication by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. A century and a half is a long life for a news- paper. The Aberdeen Journal first appeared on Jan. 5, 1748, so that in a day or two it will have completed its 150th year. Some time ago it published a pamphlet recording its life-history. It was founded by a fellow-apprentice of Benjamin Franklin; its conductors bore an exciting patt in the romantic rebellion of '45; it chronicled the visit of Dr. Johnson and Boswell to Aberdeen and the north; and its office was visited by Robert Burns. In the United Kingdom only four other daily newspapers of to-day can call up a longer flight of years than the Aberdeen Journal. They are Leeds Mercury (1718), Bristol Times and Mirror (1735), Be/fast News Letter (1737), and Birmingham Gazette (1741). The oldest existing newspaper in the world is the Gazette de France (1631), for which Louis XIII. wrote an article. Mr. Inderwick W. Foster has published (Biscoke and Son, Richmond) a Bibliography of Lawn Tennis (1874-1897). The work contains titles and particulars of nearly 250 books, pamphlets, <fec, on the game of lawn tennis. Professor Buchheim, who has already contri- buted two popular volumes to Macmillan's " Golden Treasury Series," viz., "Deutsche Lyrike" and "Balladen und Romanzen," will shortly add a third volume, entitled, "Heine's Lieder und Gedichte," selected, and edited with notes and an introduction. We also hear that the professor, who, by-the-bye, has recently received the honorary degree of M.A. from the University of Oxford, is engaged on a monograph treating of the attempts made in this country and America to popularise Heine as a poet and a prose writer. Mr. Rider Haggard, at the request of the Com mittee of Management, has writteu a Christmas appeal for the Victoria Hospital for Children at Chelsea. It is called "A Visit to the Victoria Hospital." The Daily Chronicle has discovered a new poet—Mr. Henry Newbolt (London: Elkin Matthews, ii.) I have sent for a copy of his poems. Meantime, I venture to extract one poem from the columns of the Daily Chronicle in the belief that it will send all our readers straight to their booksellers to order a copy. DRAKE'S DRUM. Drake he was a Devon man, an' ruled the Devon seaa (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below P), Rovin' tho' his death fell, he went wi' heart at ease, An' dreamin' arl the time 0' Plymouth Hoe. "Take my drum to England, hang et by the shore, Strike et when your powder's runnin' low; If the Dons sight Devon, I'll qnit the port o' Heaven, An' drum them up the Channel as we drummed them long ago." Drake he's in his hammock an' a thousand mile away, (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below ?), Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay, An' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe. Yarnder lames the island, yarnder lie the ships, Wi' sailor lads a-danoin' heel-an'-toe, An' the shore-lights flashin', an' the night-tide dashin', He sees et arl so plainly as he saw et long ago. Drake lies in his hammock till the great Armadas oome, (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below P), Slung atween the round shot, listenin' for the drum, An' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe. Call him on the deep sea, call him np the Sound, Call him when ye sail to meet the foe; Where the old trade's plyin' an' the old flag flyin', They shall find him ware an' wakin', as they found him long ago. Early this year Sir Charles Alexander Gordon's "Recollections of Thirty-uine Years in the Army"  ## p. 223 (#657) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 223 will be published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein. Sir Charles was in the Mutiny, with Lord Elgin in China, and in Paris during the siege. A new edition of Whitman is to be published by Messrs. Putnam, with thirteen short poems that did not appear in the edition prepared by the poet shortly before his death. "Though you have put the finishing touches on the 'Leaves,'" said one of his friends to Whitman, " you will go on living a year or two longer and writing more poems. The question is, what will you do with these poems when the time comes to fix them in the volume?" "I am not unprepared," said Whitman, and I have a title in reserve—' Old Age Echoes'—applying not so much to things as to echoes of things reverberant, an aftermath." A translation of the Italian masterpiece, the "Pecorone" of Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, has just been published by Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen. Although it was published in 1558, this novel has never before been done into any tongue. The translation will be by Mr. W. G. Waters, and illustrations will be by Mr. E. R. Hughes, R.W.S. Here is a tale of literary appropriation from America. Mr. George Cable has been correcting an American editor as to the authorship of a certain poem. The editor had credited it to some one named George Cooper, but Mr. Cable recog- nised the poem, and wrote to the editor as follows: I have an impression that it was Coopered by quite another George. My impression is that it was written by myself twenty-seven years ago, on the occasion of the birth of my first child. If yon can't take my word for it, I can show yon the child. I am not a frequent versifier, and never should have prized this bit if it had not immediately, upon its first publication (in the New Orleans Picayune), begun a mad career of getting stolen—like " Helen of Troy" and others. It is only three days since I wrote to a Chicago publishing house to say that it was not written by Mortimer M. Thompson, as accredited in a volume called "The Humbler Poets." Let me tell you, oven the humblest poet "will turn." And I wish my consoious or unconscious trespassers would give this much-stolen trifle a respite. Zounds, man! have I done nothing else worth stealing? It's mortifying. Mr. Walter Wood has completed and delivered to Messrs. Tillotson and Son, for serial publica- tion, a military story which deals largely with Frontier warfare. The story will run for about three months and publication is to begin at an early date. This is the second military serial which has been written of late for Messrs. Tillot- son by Mr. Wood, who has just published a series of short stories in To-day. The issue of the "Literary Year Book" for 1898 will be edited by Mr. Joseph Jacobs. This annual, published by Mr. George Allen, now makes its second appearance. The editor this year has been assisted by two eminent bookmen, a popular novelist, and a well-known editor. Mr. Buskin's portrait will be the frontispiece. At the sale of the second portion of the library formed by the late Earl of Ashburnham, a remark- able price was paid for a Caxton. This is " Le Fevre (R.), a Boke of the Hoole Lvf of Jason, translated out of the French by William Caxton," circa 1477, black letter, small folio, a rare Caxton book, one of the earliest productions of the press at Westminster. The whole of the volume is genuine throughout, sound, and clean. It was formerly Richard Heber's, and was sold in 1817 for .£162 15s., afterwards for .£95 11*., and at the Heber sale for £87. The late Earl bought it from Payne, the bookseller. It now fetched the record price of .£2100, the purchaser being Mr. Pickering. Mr. John LI. Warden Page has written two papers, which he has also illustrated, for Travel. One is a description of the Great Fair of Nijni Novgorod, the other is callled " Up the Volga." The same author's new book on the "North Coast of Cornwall" (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.) is now ready, with twenty-one vignettes by the author, and a map. The price is 6*. net. Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to accept a copy of Miss H. M. Burnside's volume of verses and ly rics, "Drift Weed" (Hutchinson and Co). Messrs. Nelson and Son have just published two stories for children, written by Miss Burn- side, entitled "The Little V.C." and "The Lost Letter." LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Authors, Publishers, and Booksellers. Leading articles: The Times, Deo. 6; Daily Chronicle, Dec. 4; Publishers' Circular, Deo. 11 ; The 8peaker (" A Question of Discount") Dec. 11. Letters: "Z" and "Economist" in Times, Deo. 4; "Country Bookseller" in Daily Chronicle, Deo. 27; "Z." in Daily News, Dec. 7; Mr. Frankfort Moore, Mr. Frederick Evans, and " A Publisher" in Chapman's Magazine for December. What the Trade Thinks. Interviews with Mr. Burleigh, Mr. Frederick Evans, and others, regarding Society of Authors' Committee Report on Discounts: Daily Chronicle, Deo. 6. BOOKBELLINO: A DECAYING INDUSTRY. Neville Beeman. New Century Review for January. Literary Grievances. From various standpoints. And leading article. Morning Post for Deo. 18.  ## p. 224 (#658) ############################################ 224 THE AUTHOR. The Payment and Fostering) op Poetry. Glasgow Herald for Nov. 20. The Comino Litebabt Bevival. II. J. S. Tunison. Atlantic Monthly for Dooember. The Importation of German. Leslie Stephen. National Review for December. Commenting upon the "carefully-prepared report" of the Society of Authors' special Com- mittee on book-discounts, the Titnes agrees that "no compact can restore the country bookseller to his old position," and advises him to reshape his way of doing business and be to his customers more than a mere transmitter of orders. The contingency of an author publishing his books through a bookseller, through a printer, through a literary agent, or through a draper, the Times says " is not so very probable," although " there are authors powerful enough to defeat any attempt to fix the terms on which their books are to be sold." But, finally, our great contemporary states that " both authors and publishers are apt to overlook the interests and bias of the reader, who never was less disposed to fall in with proposals to put things right at his expense. For good books, which are rare, he does not probably pay enough, but for indifferent and ephemeral productions he is satisfied that he pays too much." The Daily Chronicle, in placing the facts and issues of the report before its readers, confesses also that it sees no way to an artificial enhance- ment of prices, and reads the country bookseller the lesson that if he would survive " he will be wise to lay to heart the suggestions made to him by the Society of Authors." In anticipating the concurrence of the Publishers' Association with the finding of the Committee, it observes that the relations between authors and publishers were never closer or more sympathetic than at the present moment; and "never was a mere author of the least merit so certain of a publisher and therefore of a chance to win for himself an audience ": Therefore neither publishers nor authors stand in need of any adventitious helps. The; would both oommit a fatal error if in an attempt to turn back the stream of irresis- tible economic forces, they tried to help a section of the retailers at the cost of the multitude of readers. "Economist," writing in the Times, thinks that if it is the interest of the author and the publisher to have their books on show in shops all over the country, surely the necessary steps ought to be taken by them and at their expense. As to any idea of restrictions upon the price at which a bookseller shall offer books to the public, we quote "Economist's " own words: The druggist is more necessary to the well-being of a country town than the bookseller, and, nowadays at least, he is usually a man more expensively educated. Yet he has to go outside his proper sphere, selling tobacco, hair- brushes, and any " fal-lals " that he can find room for. The reason is that the turnover even of his indispensable goods is not great enough to occupy all his time, or to furnish the inoome that he desires. The country bookseller merely suffers under a general disadvantage. It there are to be trade combinations to supply him with an inoome greater than the market affords, why not go back to pure medievalism and put on restrictions all round to make every tradesman happy. "A Country Bookseller" says that publishers could stop the anomalies to-morrow if they would forget the superstitious age and call twelve a dozen, giving to the poor what they give to the rich; if copyright publishers would sell five copies at the same rate each as twenty-five; and the non-copy- right man would sell twenty at the same rate as 200. We are assured by the Publishers' Circular that although " publishers have done all in their power to aid the retail trade," booksellers will not cease to agitate. Mr. Burleigh, the secretary of the Associated Booksellers, has said as much, indeed, to an interviewer. The booksellers—who are, of course, disappointed with the report— cannot give up the movement, he said, "unless they are to relinquish all prospects for them- selves." Mr. Frederick Evans spoke to the same effect. Mr. F. Stoneham, on the other hand, who represents the discount side of the trade, thought the report a very fair statement of the whole case. "It got together the essential facts governing bookselling, and, that done, its conclusions were inevitable." The recommendation of greater energy and enterprise in the bookselling trade is not, the Publishers' Circular considers, "to be taken seriously." The remaining criticisms which the organ of the publishing trade passes upon the report are contained in the following passage: Publishers are told they would do well to remember the development of the system of serial publication; in other words, they are asked to pay attention to a method of pub- lication whioh they have themselves called into existence and are carrying on. Collective wisdom could not go beyond that. Whether the bookseller can be converted into a news- agent, or the newsagent into a bookseller, readers may decide for themselves. It is true there are houses which now handle both books and newspapers in large quantities; but the results of a general adoption of the principle are, to say the least, a little doubtful. The Speaker acknowledges, in the name of the world, that the report is an "amusing document." Hasn't seen anything so amusing for a long time. The writer hurls at the Society of Authors, after some personalities, the state, ment that the whole question is one of money; and concludes with the assertion that the people of Great Britain begrudge every shilling which they spend upon literature, and the pro- phecy that"the middleman will disappear, leaving  ## p. 225 (#659) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 225 as his only memorial a thousand desolated homes, and the wholesale publishers will become more and more the masters of the great trade in books." Mr. Neville Beeman tells booksellers that they are chiefly responsible for their impecuniosity. They are incompetent to buy cautiously, and unable to sell in an intelligent manner. But in defence of the bookseller it must be said that many pitfalls are laid for him by those who should be his best friends. To take the author: he writes a good book; he becomes known by it; he is seized by the wicked literary agent, who "proceeds to make arrangements with as many publishers as possible, who are all keen to secure a rising man, and one fine morning the author wakes up to find he is bound to write so many words a day, whether he feels inclined or not, to fulfil the contracts which his master has concluded for him." Mr. Beeman uses the word "master" advisedly, his one objection to the literary agent ("a useful and even necessary adjunct to the literary man") being that he is "master" instead of "servant." The author, then, having scored a success with his first book, proceeds to turn out hurried and slipshod work; meanwhile the bookseller, buying on the original reputation, finds himself saddled with dead stock. Moreover, "there is no device, however low, that an author will not stoop to in order to puff and advertise himself to the notice of the bookseller." Mr. A. rides on his bicycle in velvet knickerbockers and lace frills. Mr. B. always drinks toddy while writing. Mr. De Bow sends a notice to the papers saying that he is off to Monte Carlo to study up local colour, but Mrs. De Bow secretly divulges the fact that poor Mr. De Bow is really at the British Museum getting h*8 local colour! The bookseller's grievance against the publisher is even more serious. "The bookseller has no one to blame so much for his present position than [sic] the publisher." In his selection of MSS. the publisher is guided, as a rule, by his readers, the greater number of whom — so Mr. Neville informs us — " are authors who have failed to make a living them- selves at writing." Readers, then, are full of cranks and fads in their choice of books. A publisher is perhaps unable to fill his autumn list with books of good merit, so he makes up with second-rate books. And as the publisher's traveller is persuasive, and the bookseller easily persuaded, the latter in the end is stocked up with books that do not suit him, and suffers a serious loss. A third sinner arraigned alongside the author and the publisher, is the Press, against whom Mr. Beeman makes charges in connection with reviewing. But we pass to the panacea which the writer suggests to the Book- sellers' Association: Instead of trying to mnlct the pnblio of extra pennies, which do the trade no good, and only drive away business, they should suggest to the publishers that they should Bupply a oopy of every new book to the Booksellers' Asso- ciation one clear fortnight before issue. The Association should appoint an expert to examine each book and report on its merits. Then to each member of the Asso- ciation a report would be sent, and, in the event of the book proving saleable, a short epitome of the plot should be printed on a leaflet for the bookseller's guidance. This would get over to a large measure, the item of bad stock. Following up Mr. Lang's article of the previous month, an author — Mr. Frankfort Moore — a publisher (anonymous), and a bookseller (Mr. F. Evans) give their views in Chapman's. Neither Mr. Moore nor Mr. Evans thinks that the reduc- tion of discounts to the public need necessarily mean a diminution of sales; and the publisher remarks that his class has nothing to gain by proposing to enforce " 2d. in the is.," but they wish to save the booksellers from ruin. An author, a publisher, and a critic air their re- spective grievances, by request, in the columns of the Morning Post, which devotes a leading article to their views. The author says the London publisher is " very much of a sheep; he lacks initiative." If one publisher gets a " boom" with a certain kind of novel, then nothing will serve either him or his publishing brethren but that kind of novel written by Tom, Dick, and Harry, till the reader is gorged. Publishers do not know how to advertise their books, and they do not offer them to the dying country bookseller on the principle of sale or return. The critic, too, is given over to a belief in fashions; and he is too generous to the established popular favourite, too grudgini; to the deserving writer who has not quite arrived. The critic, on his part, implores authors to lighten his labours by making their work either very good or very bad. Most of the books that come under his notice are pretty good, and he is overwhelmed by the the monotony of their average excellence. Finally, the publisher is on the whole well content except that he is troubled about the retail bookseller's condition. His remedy for this is suggested by the following confident conclusions: "To advertise a book at a fixed price and then to tell buyers privately that that is not the price is a sham and a delusion unworthy of our honourable calling. The price at which a book is published and advertised is the price the public should pay for it. The true solution is to fix a net price which the public must pay, and from which no bookseller can make any allowance whatever—and live. That is the conclusion of the whole matter." The Post finds the most interesting feature of these letters  ## p. 226 (#660) ############################################ 226 THE AUTHOR. the fact that the author and the publisher think poorly of the criticisms of the periodical Press, while the reviewer's complaint is merely that great works are rare, and bad work not so common as is supposed. It suggests that the general public would welcome "selection," and the practice of curtailing reviews of most books to a few words, saying whether they are worth reading or not. Anyhow, " there is evidently at present a magnificent opportunity for critics whose judgments can win the public confidence. To no man is a greater reward offered in the literary world than to him who can prove his judgment is so true and so fair that the public will be ready to read the books which he recom- mends." We noticed in this column some months ago the proposal of Mr. Le Gallienne that millionaires should endow the genuine poets of the country. He had thought, of course, of the State doing something, but abandoned the idea as hopeless, and turned persuasively to the millionaires, and offered them the opportunity of immortality by providing for the material wants of our singers. The Glasgow Herald, however, harks back to the State. The apathy of the public to poetry at the present day is very plain, and yet, says our Scottish contemporary, "there is probably no one among us that is so much of a Philistine or so pronounced a Platonist as to wish to see poetry starved out." To place all the proved poets of the day beyond the reach of want, and thus enable them to cultivate their poetical gifts with their whole mind, a not very extravagant annual sum would be required. The question arises, how to prove them; and here the Glasgow Herald writer sees the possible use of some body like the French Academy, which would raise the higher criticism from the slough of sheer com- mercialism into which it has fallen within the last quarter of a century. "If such a body were formed, the State would find in it, and ready to its hand, a committee of selection which would guide as to who are and who are not proved poets. Here, at all, events, is a suggestion for adding to the beneficent powers of the State which has in it no taint of Socialism." THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Nov. 24 to Dec. 23.—299 Books.] Abcrnethy, J. S. Life and Work of James Abernethy, 0. E. 7/6. Abbott, Jones. Abney, Captain. Scientific Requirements of Colour Photography. 1/- net. Frowde. 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Horace Marshall.  ## p. 227 (#661) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 227 Cox, the father of Rev. W. S. Evly Promoted: A Memoir. 2/6. Low. Oragg, A. B. HintB to Young Valuers. Land Agent s Record. Crawford, Arthur. Our Troubles in Poona and the Deccan. 14/- Constable. Greswlcke, Louis. Love's Usuries. 3/6. Drane. Crosland, N. Bumbles Round my Life, 1819-96. 7/6. E. W. Allen. Cuthbertson, Evan J. William Shakespeare. 1/- Chambers. D'Ache, C., and Wolseley, Hon. F. The Story of Marlborough. 10/6. Grevel. Danvers, F. C. (ed.). Letters Received by the East India Company from its Servants in the East. 21'- net. Low. Derbyshire, A. An Architect's Experiences. Manchester: Cornish. Dawson, W. J. The Endless Choice, 1/6. Nisbet De la Pasture, Mrs. H. Deborah of Tods. 6/- Smith, Elder. De Nolhac, Pierre* (from the French of). Marie Antoinette the Dauphine. 63/-net. Simpkin. De Salis, Mrs. Art of Cookery, Past and Present. 2/- Hutchinson. D'Esperance, E. 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Railway Bookstall * and all Booksellers. PHOTOGRAPHS-BIRTHDAY and SEASON CARDS from negatives by Ralph Dablinoto'i, F.R.G.8.. of ocenery. Ruins, ftc, in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt, Is., Is. 6d., 2s., 2s. Od. Mounted Specimen, post free, with complete list. Is. DARLINGTON <&e CO., LLANGOLLEN. Demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10a. 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Map and Twenty-six Illustrations. By II. LINCOLN TANGYE. Introductory. CONTENTS. PABT L Cuaptkr I.—The Land of Gold and the Way there. II.—Across Desert and Veldt. III. —Johannesburg the Golden. IV. —A Transvaal Coach Journey. V.—Natal: the South African Garden. VL—Ostracised in Africa. Home with the Swallows. PAST IX—EAMBLES IN BHODESIA. Chapter I—Eendragt Maakt Magt. ,, II.—Into the Country of Lobengula. „ m.—The Trail of War. ,, IV.—Goldmlning, Ancient and Modern. ,, V.—Sle Transit Gloria Mundl. „ VL—To Northern Mashonaland. „ VIL—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. London: Horace Cox. Windsor House, Bream'a-buildings, E.C. Crown 8to., with illustrations, price 6s., to be had of all booksellers. FOE HIS COUNTRY'S SAKE; or, Esca, a British Prince at the Court of Trajan. By L. M. P. BLACK. HORACl COX, Windsor House, Bream's-bulldlngs, London, E.O. RECENT VERSE. Cloth lettered, By HENBY TODD. LYRICS. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. price 5s. NOBTH COUNTRY BALLADS. Price 6s. TALES IN VERSE. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered, price 5s. SONGS OF THE CASCADES. By ERL VIKING. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. SONGS OF THE PLNEWOODS. By ARTHUR CAMP- BELL. Price 3s. 6d. THE FAIREST OF THE ANGELS, and Other Verse. By MAEY COLBOBNE-VEEL. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. Cd. Some of the shorter lyrics are much above the average, being s of the collec- tion aro considerable."— The Bookman. clear in thought and musical In expression. The meritB t THE WANDERER IN THE LAND OF CYBI, and other Poems (1886-93). By CLIFFORD BROOKS. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. POEMS. By THOMAS BARLOW. Crown 8vo., beveUed boards, gilt edges, price 5s. POEMS. By LEWIS BROCKMAN. Crown 8vo., oloth boards, 5b. 11 The ballads are full of the spirit and directness of style proper to the ballad."—Saturday Review. 11 Mr. Brockman is a writer of good poetic mettle, and no doubt the reading world will hear more of him yet."—aicugov Herald. "The graceful smoothness of Mr. Lewis Brockman's poems."— Daily Telegraph. M He is decidedly inventive, and often highly Imaginative. . . . The element of originality pervades the book. . . . His long poem, 1 Ronald's Cross,' is well BUBtalned . . . it is like the plaint of the ♦ Mariner,' and it holds us."—Queen. "A reader who values cultured sentiments and flawless versifica- tion will find much to admire."—Scotsman. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's E.C.  ## p. 228 (#664) ############################################ iv AD VER TISEMENTS. MERCANTILE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. (Manageress-MISS MOEGAN.) 158, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from lOd. per 1000 words. Special Terms for Contract Work. All descriptions of Typewriting. Shorthand, and Translation work executed with accuracy and despatch. TYPEWRITING. Authors' MSS. accurately Copied from IOd. per IOOO words. EIOHTY unsolicited testimonials. MBS. BRAY, 53, BEDFORD BOAD, CLAPHAM, S.W. T Y IF E -W RITIITG With Aoouraoy and Despatch. Authors' MSS. 9d. per IOOO words. Plays, Translations, Indexing, General Copying. MISS WAY, 33, OSSIAN ROAD, STBOUD GBEEN, LOUDON, N. MRS. Q- ILL TYPB-WBITINO OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from Is. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day. or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant: also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House. Norfolk-street. Stniml, W.O. Stick in your Soraps with STICKPHAST PASTE. Heaps better than gum. 6d. and Is., with strong, useful brush. Sold by Stationers, Chemists. Stores, Ac. Factory, 8TJGAK LOAF COUKT, K.C. Miss G-. XXA/\TI£.S, 178, OAKLET STREET, CHELSEA, S.W. Typewriting Accurately and Promptly Executed. A Floating Policy of Insurance. All MSS. received are Insured against loss or damage while being copied and on transit. Published every Friday morning; price, without Reports, 9d.; with Eeporta, Is. THE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now been established for over half a century, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The imports "i the Law Times are now recognised as the moat complete hteaor, «. 1. ,eries published. o. , r, a ,. , .Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E C Stem, O. Self and (Tom.-— Stockton, Frank R. The Gi\». Typewriting bt Ci.rrsyman's Daughter add Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 1893.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and General Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. Authors' References. MISS PATTHX, TYPIST. 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea. S.W. Authors' MSS. cabkfully transcribed. References kindly permitted to many well-known Acinous. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on application. Telegraphic address: "Patikn, London." AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD (The LBADENHALL PRESS LTD., Publishers & Printers 50, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.) Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each. 5s. per dozen, ruled or plain. Authors should note that Ths Leadenhall Press Ltd. oannot be responsible for the loss of MSS. by Are or otherwise. Duplicate copies should be retained. A N Elderly MAN, who for some years had a School in Hampstead, would thankfully UNDERTAKE TRANSLATION, or work of any kind requiring good classical scholarship, for the most modest remuneration. Address "A. B.,*' Care of The Author. TheTh? Artof I89?nd PubUahed °y Hobacb Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 08 (January 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 08 (January 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-01-01-The-Author-8-8 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/312/1898-02-01-The-Author-8-9.pdf ae50f216c913e7ec62bd05ce46770a49 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) 1898-02-01 Volume 8 Issue 9 Pages Page range in volume 229–252 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin TLhe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY I, if [Price Sixpence CONTENTS. General Memoranda Literary Property— 1. The Anflo-Oennan Copyright Ooovetition ... 2. Gcrraro r. Rldeal S. The Law of Author and Publisher 4. The Coat of Production 5. Cost of Binding '*. Copyright in Photographs 7. Schopenhauer on Authorship, Copyr fth' and Amendment of Copyright Law New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood The Birthday of the Alhamm PAOK 229 281 231 282 2'2 282 2:12 S'yle— 232 233 284 PA8B ... ise ... 237 ... 289 ... 23!l ... 240 ... 243 SotM and News. By the Editor. The Discount System Another Sporting Offer Personal A Sporting Offer Agreemont Books of W.<7 Correspondence.—1 Psper Corel lishlng. 'I The Fate of the Journalists' I'nion 6. Editor and Contributor. 6. Diseases in Fiction. 7. The Letter •* K." S. Question* and Answers... 244 Book Talk 247 Obituary t*l Books of the Month 2*1 2. The Problem of Pub- ■ Unknown." 4 Propose PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6s. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., io«. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8*. 6d. eacli (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Grlaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3.*. i. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By s. Squire Sprigoe, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost Of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigoe. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottis- woode. i*. 6d. 8. The Society Of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. •* 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2.?. 6d. i.  ## p. 228 (#666) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^ti)e $ocieip of Jlut^ots (§ncorporafe6) PRESIDENT. GEOEQE IMTZEIEtlEIDITIH:. COUNCIL. 3ir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Baerib. A. W. 1 Beckett. Robert Batsman. P. E. Bkddard, F.R.S. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Bebant. Algustine Birrell, M.P. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, P.R.S. Right Hon. Jameb Brtce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burghclere, P.C. Hall Caine. Egerton Cabtle, F.S.A. P. W. Clatden. Edward Clodd. W. Morris Colles. Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conway. F. Marion Crawford. Right Hon. G. N. Curzon, P.C, M.P. Hon. A. W. a Beckett. Sir Walter Bebant. Eoerton Cabtle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. The Earl of Desart. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Dubourg. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. D. W. Freshfibld. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gobse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hopb Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky, P.C, M.P. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.SA. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Counsel — E. M. TJnderdown, COMMITTEE OF MANAGE Chairman—H. Rider Haggard. Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. Herman C Merivalk. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbbioht, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bajrt., LL.D. Walter Herrieb Pollock, w. bapti8te scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Q.C. M ENT. Sir A. C Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Henry Norman. Francis Storr. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC C Villibrs Stanford, Mns.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumbnthal. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman). Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. ( Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. \ G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thring, B.A. OFFICES: 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. 1 Beckett. Edward Rose. Solicitors- .A.. IP. WATT &c SO IDT, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SCIUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON", W.C. I THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. f YPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest $ process. ^ ^OPINIONS OF CLIENTS —Distinguished Author:—"The moat beautiful typing I have ever seen." Laot of Titlk :—11 The $ $ work was very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatnesw and beautiful accuracy." S MISS GENTRY, TCI,DON CHAMBKRg, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C.? |T  ## p. 229 (#667) ############################################ ^Ibe Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY 1, 1898. [Pbicb Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, See. T riHE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all I remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOB some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they Bhould be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuges a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses,' unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both tides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figureB themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this groat success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, Bhould arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both Bides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those aooount books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be oharged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. u 2  ## p. 230 (#668) ############################################ 230 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. Ij^ VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive JjJ advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions conneoted with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and paBt accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the oountry. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- lence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE, MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms npon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailed application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in nil cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all oases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the oost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Seoretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Sooiety than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write P Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each mouth. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Sooiety does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they wonld give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 231 (#669) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 231 or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years P "Those who possess the 1 Cost of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any Bums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—The Anglo-German Copyright Convention. THE telegram appearing in the Times of Jan. 29, announcing the withdrawal of Germany from the Anglo-German Conven- tion for the protection of authors' copyright, refers to those treaties existing between Germany, Prussia, and England prior to the Berne Con- vention. Questions have arisen from time to time during the past few years as to how far these prior treaties had any effect on the articles existing between the countries under the Berne Convention. As stated in the telegram they have lost their legal force in Great Britain, and have now been declared null and void by the withdrawal of Germany. There is, however, one question, how far this withdrawal may have an effect on books published under these treaties prior to the Berne Convention, whether the with- drawal is retrospective, and in what way it may bear upon past publications. The secretary has written to the Foreign Office asking whether they can forward information to the Society on the effect of the withdrawal. II.—Gerrare v. Rideal. In the Westminster County Court on Thursday, Dec. 16, his Honour Judge Lumley Smith (Q.C.) and a jury had before them the case of Gerrare v. Rideal and the Roxburghe Press, in which the plaintiff Mr. W. Gerrare, an author, sued the defendant to recover the sum of £27, which amount, he contended, was due to him under an agreement with the defendants for the publication of a book entitled " Phantasms." The plaintiff was called, and said he entered into an agreement with the defendants to publish his book, and place it on the market for three months, the idea being that during that time it would be seen what the public demand would be for it. That arrangement was duly carried out and the book was withdrawn from sale on Lady- day, 1895; but in spite of his repeated applica- cations for a statement of account, he (plaintiff) had been unable to induce the defendants to supply him with one; and, although he felt sure that there was a considerable sum due to him in respect of sales, he was unable to get from the defendants any approximate idea as to what was due to him. It was within his knowledge that 1000 copies of the book were issued, half at half- a-crown, and the remainder at three-and-sixpence, and all he now asked for was a statement as to what had been done with them. He had paid the defendants £6~ for printing expenses, but they had failed to register the book, as they undertook to do by the agreement, and on that point alone he contended that he had suffered damage. He further complained that the defen- dants agreed to pay the artist for the frontispiece, but he (plaintiff) had been threatened by the artist with an action. At tliis point of the case his Honour remarked that the plaintiff's damages looked rather remote at the present moment, but it was quite clear that he was entitled to a proper account, and could, if he wished, have it taken by the Registrar. The Plaintiff.—I have applied time after time to the defendants during the past three years, but have been unable to get one. In cross-examination by defendants' counsel, the plaintiff swore most positively that he had never received an account of which that now pro- duced was a copy. He had on several occasions expressed his willingness to have the figures gone into by a chartered accountant, but he could get no satisfaction of any kind. Counsel for the defence said his clients were perfectly willing to have the account taken by a chartered accountant, and were willing to pay the costs of any gentleman whom plaintiff chose to name. The Plaintiff.—That is what I have been asking for for the past three years, and 1 have a letter to the effect. His Honour said it was quite clear that the plaintiff was entitled to a full account as to what had become of the books which were printed. The defendants could not expect to have things all their own way, even although they were pub- lishers. Plaintiff.—I have paid the defendants .£67 in respect of their expenses, and all I have received back is =£23.  ## p. 232 (#670) ############################################ 232 THE AUTHOR. In the end his Honour said he thought it was quite clear that the defendants had broken their agreement with the plaintiff, but as they had undertaken to supply him with a proper account, he would adjourn the case for that purpose. Defendants' counsel.—We will see that a proper account is rendered, but we should like the plaintiffs claim for damages settled. His Honour.—Well, the jury are here. You may go further and fare worse. If the jury give damages they must do so. In the end it was agreed that the jury should lie discharged without giving a verdict, on the understanding that the plaintiff was to be supplied with a proper account drawn up by a chartered accountant. . III.—The Law of Author and Publisher. Mr. Wicks' s case, of which we extracted a. report from the Atheweum last month, though it lays down no new principle, is of great impor- tance from its recognition by the Lord Chief Justice of England of the rule that the contract between author and publisher is of a personal character, and cannot be assigned by one pub- lisher to another without the consent of the author. The rule was first laid down so far back as 1855 in the case of Stevens v. Benning, and was acted upon last year in Griffith v. Tower Pub- lishing Company by Mr. Justice Stirling, who restrained the receiver of an insolvent company, in a debenture holder's action against the com- pany, from assigning the benefit of a publishing agreement without the consent of the author. In Hole c. Bradbury, which was heard in 1879, the same rule was recognised by Mr. Justice Fry, and it is now settled law, although contracts except those between author and publisher, and any others in which a person is employed "with reference to his individual skill, competency, or other personal qualification," can be assigned by either party merely on notice to the other. IV.—The Cost of Production. Here are certain estimates received by an author anxious to learn what his book would cost to produce. They are placed side by side for com- parison with the figures in the Society's " Cost of Production." It must be explained (1) that the composition includes three lines of small type for every page, which partly accounts for the difference betweenthe printers' estimates and that of the Society; (2) that the estimates are for a single book, whereas those of the Society are intended, as approximately as possible, to represent the figures obtained where a large quantity of printing is ordered—many books, that is, not one; and (3) that the estimates include a profit on paper and binding, which would be avoided by going direct to paper-makers and binders, and ordering in large quantities. Even with these additions to the cost, an edition of 1000 copies can be produced by a first-class London house at a cost of ,£21 less than the estimate of the Society. Twenty-Bix sheets at 320 words to a page. The edition to consist of 1000 copies. Society (P- 47)- £. t. d. £. 8. d. £. d. 4. Composing ) (per sheet) ) 1 18 6 . .. 2 2 0 . 1 «4 0 . 1 Printing 0 9 0 . .. 0 10 0 . 0 11 6 . .. 0 Paper ... 0 9 6 . .. 0 17 0 0 16 6 . 1 Moulding... 0 S 0 . .. 0 5 4 .. 0 6 0 . 0 Binding ... 0 0 5 ■ .. 0 0 6 .. 0 0 9* .. 0 IOI 8 8 [21 12 8 125 10 8 136 9 o * Half open. V.—Cost of Binding. It is no longer necessary to continue the note as to the increased cost of binding. Binding has not increased; it has gone down. There is before us an estimate from a first-class bookbinder for a single book, not for a number of books. The estimate, with a specimen showing excellent work, is 30.V. per 100 copies, i.e., 3 a volume. Now, if a large number of copies could be ordered at once, the cost would be very much less. Therefore, the price per copy estimated in the "Cost of Pro- duction" may stand till further notice. VI.—Copyright in Photographs. A case is reported in the Birmingliam Post which seems to consider the copyright in photo- graphs to be established as soon as the photo- graph is taken. If the case is properly reported the facts were as follows: A. B., the photo- grapher, took a portrait of C. D., who paid nothing for the first dozen, but did pay the ordi- nary price for the next dozen. Certain local printers then printed some 400 copies, either for sale or for distribution, whereupon the photo- grapher took the case before the Petty Sessions. The defence was that there was no written agree- ment. The Bench fined the defendants, and ordered them to give up the block. VII.—Schopenhauer on Authorship, Copy- right, and Style—Amendment of Copy- right Law. Schopenhauer's essay on authorship and style, ably translated by Mrs. Rudolph Dircks, and to be had for I*. 6f/. with a dozen of his other  ## p. 233 (#671) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 233 essays, contains so much that is good as to choice of a title, and avoidance of diffuseness and obscurity, that every author who can spare the time would do well to read it through if he has not already done so. But in saying that " writing for money and the preservation of copyright are the ruin of literature," he not only said what is not true, but flew in the face of our EDglish Copyright Act (passed in the fifty-seventh year of his age), which by its preamble declares its object to have been "to afford greater encouragement to the production of literary works of lasting benefit to the world." That Act now confessedly requiring amend- ment in certain particulars, as pointed out in the Report of the Royal Commission of 1878, a Bill to promote the more urgent amendments was prepared by members of the Authors' Society, acting in concert with representatives of the Pub- lishers' Association and the Copyright Associa- tion last year, and intrusted to Lord Monkswell, who carried it through the House of Lords, after an investigation (with the aid of witnesses) by a Select Committee, and has kindly consented to reintroduce it, as amended by that committee, in the approaching Session. It may reasonably be hoped that the House of Lords will again pass the Bill, but popular enthusiasm for it can hardly be expected to be warm enough to make success in the House of Commons a certainty. The Bill was printed at length, together with a memorandum of its contents, in an Author of last year. Shortly put, its effect is to make trans- lations infringements of copyright, to reduce from twenty-eight years to three the period at the end of which contributors to periodicals may separately publish their contributions, to simplify copyright in lectures, to prohibit abridgments without the consent of the owner of the copy- right in the work abridged, to make the dramati- sation of novels and the novelisation of dramas alike infringements of copyright, and to give a summary remedy for the infringement of dramatic copyright. Judging from the declarations of Lord Dudley in the House of Lords, on the second reading of Lord Monkswell's Bill, it may, perhaps, be hoped that the Government will come forward, in the forthcoming Session, with a measure of their own. "The Board of Trade," the noble lord is reported in the Times to have said, "would he quite ready to introduce a Bill, dealing not only with the amendment of the copyright law but also with its consolidation," when certain negotiations between this country, the colonies, and foreign countries should be completed. I would venture to suggest, however, that the consideration of amendment, apart from and prior to consolidation, would be for the interest of all parties concerned. Such a consideration would, in all probability, give us something before the end of the Session, whereas the consideration in one whole of a con- solidating and amending Bill would be only too likely to end in nothing. J. M. Lely. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Jan. 18. ONE of the members of a large publishing firm, having a house in England as well as in New York, said the other day that there was a rapidly growing interest in Great Britain in historical and literary works about the United States, especially in those which go into the causes of its development in various direc- tions. It is very probable that the scheme which the Macmillan Company is about to carry out will find almost as much attention on the other side of the water as on this. It is the publication of the sixth volume of Craik's "English Prose," dealing with the United States. The preparation of this volume and the amount of attention given to the different writers really involves the task of placing American prose writers in the order of their importance more carefully than has ever been done before. The work is in charge of Professor Geo. R. Carpenter, of Columbia, whose books on grammar and rhetoric, besides his occa- sional writings and college teaching, have made him well known. He is particularly fitted also to reach a final decision of this kind by tempera- ment, and to carry it out successfully by wide acquaintance with living writers. In selecting the men to criticise the authors he will draw somewhat on English as well as on the leading American critics. The task is somewhat simpli- fied by the fact that only dead writers will be dealt with. The longest space will be given to seven authors, namely, Hawthorne, Holmes, Irving, Lowell, Cooper, Emerson, and Poe. The selection of these seven for a little fuller attention than any of the others means practically that they are, from a strictly literary point of view, the most important authors that this country has produced. Personally, I should be inclined to doubt whether Irving and Holmes will in the long run find their places ahead of two men who come in the second rank. Of course, the authors are not divided off this way in the book, and the relative amount of importance attached to them is indi- cated by space only. That Emerson, Hawthorne, and Lowell come first would hardly be disputed  ## p. 234 (#672) ############################################ 234 THE AUTHOR. by anyone, and the originality of Poe, and espe- cially the very American originality of Cooper, probably make it safe to put them next. In the second class are Whitman, Thoreau, Franklin, Parkman, Motley, and Webster. Whitman is just now enjoying a special vogue, and it is impossible to form any valuable guess at the verdict of time in his case. New editions of his works have been issued recently, and another will be issued at once, and Whitman societies are forming in various parts of the country, with the same spirit of worship which marked the Browning excitement in a few of our cities some years ago. Thoreau is marked by the intense admiration of a comparatively small number of intelligent readers. Parkman and Motley, of course, owe their main value to their historical comprehension of the tendencies of American civilisation. The other two men are the ones who seem to me to belong in the very first rank of American literature; especially Franklin, who has been appreciated time and again for his common sense, judgment, and inven- tion, but much less than he deserves to be for his peculiar and permanent literary charm. The others who are admitted come in the third class, and include Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, Prescott, Lincoln, Washington, Jeffer- son, Samuel Adams, Mrs. Stowe, George WiUiam Curtis, Tom Paine, Chauning, Margaret Fuller, Hamilton, Madison, Phillips, Garrison, Sumner, and Calhoun. Of these writers it may certainly be said as a generality, that the earlier ones are far more interesting. Alexander Hamilton has an importance not only for what he thought, but for the way he expressed his ideas, which puts him very near the top in genuine literary interest. Edwards is among the most important figures for students of our life and literature to understand, for he represented Calvinism at its height as ably as Franklin represented common sense and Emerson Transcendentalism. Samuel Adams and Tom Paine and Margaret Fuller were all jour- nalists essentially. They all have a profound interest for that kind of strong, scattered influence on their times which American journalists have exerted and still do exert. Washington is in only by courtesy, I fancy, as his writing is common- place, and Lincoln is probably included mainly for one great speech. The importance of George William Curtis is a very difficult thing for me to understand. It is practically certain that when the volume appears it will give rise to more dis- cussion about the various landmarks of American literature than any book of recent times. Other works somewhat allied to this in interest will also be brought out shortly. Professor Moses Coit Tyler is preparing a volume on the literary history of the American Republic during the first half century of its independence, to be published by Putnam. The two volumes on the literature of the Revolution, also published by the Putnams, were so valuable in bringing these fertile fields within the reach of the ordinarv reader, that this new volume will attract especial attention. The same author will also publish a series of works, through the Putnams, called "A Century of American Statesmen," beginning with Jefferson and coming down to our day. The first volume will include chapters on Jefferson, Hamilton, Burr, John Randolph, Josiah Quiney, Madison, Monroe, Gallatin, Marshall, and John Quincy Adams. Senator Perkins has introduced into Congress a Bill proposing a change in the copyright law. by which six copies of every book published in the United States must be deposited with the Librarian of Congress iu order to secure copy- right, instead of the present number of two. One of these copies is to be given to the public librarian at Chicago, one at Denver, one at San Francisco, and one at New Orleans. It is said that this Bill is backed by the Librarian Association of Central California, which wishes to get books nearer home than the Congressional Library, and so proposes to steal them from the authors or publishers under forms of law. There is cer- tainly very little probability that the Bill will pass. There has been a good deal of agitation lately about the effect of the immense sale of books by the department stores on t he publishing business. A recent investigator finds that, although it is easy to get standard works very cheap in almost any one of these mammoth shops, uew books are much slower in finding their way to them. His optimistic conclusion is, that there will be plenty of business for the regular publishers at the same time that standard literature is brought at a cheaper price within reach of the large reading public. Norman Hapgooo. THE BIRTHDAY OF THE "ATHEN.EUM." ON Jan. i, 1828, the first number of the Atheiueum was published, the first editor, or proprietor, being Mr. James Silk. Buckingham. Teii years afterwards the paper passed into the hands of a member of the family with which it still remains. It was reasonable, and to be expected, that the present conductors of the journal should take the opportunity of congratulating themselves upon the long life and honourable record of their paper.  ## p. 235 (#673) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 235 It will be acknowledged, I think, that, although there may have been cases of injustice and incom- petence, even of personal spite—all of which it is extremely difficult to keep out of a literary paper—the Athenseum has deserved well of litera- ture during the whole of this long period. In some branches, especially that of poetry, there has been a very high standard of criticism, maintained to the present day with no falling off as to canons and standards, and with increased generosity and readiness of appreciation. It will also be acknowledged that the reviews of im- portant works have generally been confided not only to scholars of the branch of learning con- cerned, but also to men of fairness and justice. "But," to quote from the paper, "what the Athenseum specially claims to have inherited without change from the t-aditions of its founders is that deep sense of the enormous responsi- bility of anonymous criticism which is seen in every line contributed by the Maurice and Sterling group who spoke through its columns. While in a signed article the things said have the power of the utterer's voice and none other, in an unsigned article the speaker is clothed with all the authority of the journal in which he writes. Even for those who are behind the scenes, and know that the critique expresses the opinion of only one writer, it is difficult not to be impressed by the accent of authority in the editorial' we.' But with regard to the general public, the reader of a review article finds it impossible to escape from the authority of the 'we,' and the power of a single writer to benefit or to injure an author is so great that none but the most deeply conscien- tious men ought to enter the ranks of the anonymous reviewers. These were the views of Maurice and Sterling: and that they are shared by all the best writers of our time there can be no doubt." Some very illustrious men have given very emphatic expression to them. "There is one kind of mis- creant," said Eossetti, " a miscreant who in kind of meanness and infamy cannot well be beaten, the man who in an anonymous journal tells the world that a poem or picture is bad when he knows it to be good. That is the man who should never defile my hand by his touch. By God, if I met such a man at a dinner-table I must not kick him, I suppose; but I could not, and would not, taste bread and salt with him. I would quietly get up and go." Tennyson, on afterwards being told this story, said: "And who would not do the same? Such a man has been guilty of sacri- lege—sacrilege against art." When the Athenaeum was founded, the literary papers were regarded as "the mere bellows of the great publishing forges," used only to puff their books. The mere suspicion of such a thing is fatal VOL. VIII. to the authority of a literary paper. "Trade criticism " was the name of this blowing of the bellows. The Athenseum announced that it would be " under the influence of no publisher." Next to " Trade Criticism," the chief abhorrence of the early writers for the Athenseum was " the cheap smartness of Jeffrey and certain of his coadjutors." "From its commencement the Athenseum has striven to avoid slashing and smart writing. A difficult thing to avoid, no doubt, for nothing is so easy to achieve as that insolent and vulgar slashing which the half-educated amateur thinks so clever. Of all forms of writing, the founders of the Athenseum held the shallow smart style to be the cheapest and also the most despicable. And here again the views of the Athenseum have remainel unchanged." The Athenaeum rejoices in its early appreciation of Coleridge, Southey, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and others, There are still modern dragons to fight. "Trade Criticism " is not dead, although scotched. The "log-roller " is always with us—let us hope that he may keep out of the Athenaeum. The spiteful misiepresenter is also with us: and the " smart slasher." There are also two new dragons, neither of them to be despised: the critic who does not read the books he is paid to review, and the review that has an eye to the advertisements. This last is, perhaps, the modern form of " Trade Criticism." Publishers' advertisements ought not to be considered, because publishers must of necessity advertise in a literary organ of authority. The very honesty and fearlessness which some of them would fain see corrupted and defiled by dishonest puffs of their wares, make an advertise- ment in the columns of such a paper absolutely necessary to every publisher. Therefore, let us look to the fat layer of advertisements in each number of the Athenseum as a sign that its reputation and its authority are based upon a seventy years' record of honesty and competence, and fearlessness. One may take this opportunity of acknowledg- ing the position of the Athenaeum with regard to our Society. It was not to be expecteJ that attacks would not be made upon us by those persons whose interest it is to keep from writers the truth about the administration of their estates. The publication of such attacks we had no reason to resent, provided there was a fair field and no favour. There has been a fair field: our replies have always been inserted, with the result that the Society has advanced year after year always the stronger for every attack made upon it. Perhaps in another seventy years another cause for congratulation will be that the Athenseum x  ## p. 236 (#674) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. at the outset gave a fair field and no favour to men of letters ■when they were struggling towards independence. For this reason, if for no other, one reproduces with all good wishes for the future the words with which the Athenivum of Jan. i sums up its retrospect:—" We look back through our career and recall the writers whose talents have gone to make the journal what it is—writers like Charles Lamb, Landor, Thomas Hood, Maurice, Sterling, Carlyle, Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Douglas Jerrold, Mrs. Browning, Barry Cornwall, Mary Brotherton, Miss Strick- land, Sydney Dobell, Archbishop Whately, West- land Marston, Faraday, Sir William Hamilton, Sir Charles Lyell, and the rest. We remember the rise and fall of smart journal after smart journal, whose audacity or whose insolence or whose fireworks were to illuminate the course and eclipse all those old-fashioned drivers with the dull motto of ' honesty and fair play.' We look back, and we remember these things, and the future seems full of hope." W. B. NOTES AND NEWS. f 11HE best of the attacks by publishers, one of I which is dealt with in another part of this issue, is that they do the Society of Authors so much good. One would wish for one every week. They generally, besides, lead to side lights of an unexpected kind. Who, for instance, would have suspected that publishers are united together for the purpose of preserving the honour of the trade't Yet it must be so, for Mr. Heinemann says so. "We publishers," he declares, "are anxious—no class more so—to purge our ranks of black sheep if they exist." This is very good reading. We had hitherto been under the impression that publishers had neither the desire nor the power of "purging" their ranks of black sheep. Perhaps they have not the desire because they have not the power. However, let us see. If a publisher solemnly assures an author that the figures given in these pages and in the "Cost of Production" are wholly wrong and untrustworthy: that he cannot print on those terms, and that he cannot sell his books on the terms there presented; if, at the same time, he is disputing with another writer who knows whether a book can be produced on terms actually lower than those figures; if he is therefore a liar and a " black sheep," and if he was presented to the Publishers' Association as such, what would that body do "to purge their ranks of this black sheep "? They cannot forbid him to publish: they cannot forbid booksellers to sell him: they cannot forbid the public to buy him. Then what can they do Y What purgative medi- cine will they apply? However, it is pleasant to learn that there has arisen this new and unex- pected development in the direction of virtue. The Academy has made its selection of the two best books of the year. The judges have chosen a poet for the first prize. To Mr. Stephen Phillips has been awarded the first "crown " of 100 guineas; to Mr. W. E. Henley, for his *' Burns," has been awarded the second "crown" of fifty guineas. If Mr. Henley has ever derided the custom of "crowning " books, it is hoped that the arrival of this substantial coronet will change his views. To the younger man the prize will bring with it a great increase of popularity, with a corresponding demand for his works. It will probably lift him out of the unregarded class of minor poets into the front rank. There can be no doubt that, if this "crowning" of writers is continued, the honour will be derided by some and questioned by some, but it will be refused by none and it will be coveted by all. That the practice will produce a beneficial effect on literature I do not doubt, for the simple reasons that style and form will be the first things considered, and that young writers will have the necessity of attending to style and form kept constantly before their eyes. A lady sends me a letter from a daily paper in which the writer very humorously calls the atten- tion of a critic in that paper to the fact that Sir Walter Scott did not, as he stated, write the lines:— Thanks, dear sir, for your venison, for finer or fatter, Never roamed in a foreBt or smoked on a platter. He says: "They are the opening lines of a poem, ' The Haunch of Venison,' by a man named Goldsmith—to be precise, Oliver Goldsmith. This Goldsmith was a contemporary of a Dr. Johnson, an eminent lexicographer of the last century. If your reviewer takes an interest in English literature, he might do worse than buy a collected edition of Goldsmith's works." My correspondent speaks of "ignorant and incompetent reviewers." Yes; but this funny mistake does not prove either ignorance or incompetence. There is no end to the extraordi- nary mistakes which a journalist may make. I do not for a moment believe that this writer really thought that the lines were Scott's, but that he got confused for the moment. The mistake is too elementary to betray ignorance. Of course, it laid the writer open to the neat little letter from which I have quoted. My  ## p. 237 (#675) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 237 correspondent goes on to say that she has before her a " notice" in the same paper, so full of mis- statements that it must have been written by someone who had not read the book at all. Just so: it has been pointed out over and over again that no scale of pay—not the most lavish ever offered—will make it possible for the writers of short "notices" to read the books. The writers are not to blame: it takes the best part of a day for a book to be read and reviewed; when the review has to be compressed into a few lines, who can afford to spend many minutes upon it? This consideration seems to me perfectly simple and harmless: it has, however, been violently assailed. Would it not be possible to give up the short " notice" altogether, and to give instead a column "describing" the books—subject, length, price, illustrations, outline, and statement of its intentions and aims, and so forth? In the case of poetry, would it be impossible to give a specimen to show the author's powers, all this without a word of praise or blame? Eeviews, on the other hand, would be given only of books judged of sufficient importance to deserve one: they would be written seriously, they would be of reasonable length, and they would not be entrusted to friend or enemy of the author. A long review in a great daily is a prize for the author; to be considered important is a "crown- ing" of the book. Some change in this direction seems necessary unless the reputation of the reviewer and the influence of the review are to decay and die altogether. Mr. Birrell, Q.C., M.P., the Queen's Professor of Law, University College, will deliver a series of lectures on Copyright at the Old Hall, Lincoln's-inn, on Monday and Friday afternoons, at 4.30, beginning on Friday, Feb. 4, until the course is completed. These lectures—open to the public, without payment or ticket—will be very interesting to members of the Society, as according to the syllabus, in addition to other important matters, the present state of public opinion on copyright will be treated, the Authors' Society, the commercial value of copyright, and last but by no means least, the Society's amending Bill that passed the House of Lords last Session. A correspondent sends the following correc- tion: "With regard to the statement in The Author of Jan , 1898, that'ten or twelve years ago a ten per cent, royalty was the utmost ever offered,' I am informed of instances to the contrary (royalties of one-sixth and sometimes one-fifth of the published price) in the practice of one leading house between fifteen and twenty years ago. But, with the substitution of 'commonly' for ' ever' I still believe the original statement to be correct, and in that form it is sufficient for its purpose." o-c In order to strengthen the assertion referred to, in case it should be disputed, I referred the matter to one who knows better than myself the former practice as regards royalties. He assures uie that the statement is practically quite correct. "The former custom used to be a ten per cent, royalty with half the profits from American and Conti- nental editions. But there were certain excep- tions." Among them he mentioned one or two writers who were able to extort larger royalties. Walter Besant. THE DISCOUNT SYSTEM. IT was to be expected that the Report of the Society on the Discount System would be received with a certain amount of dissatis- faction, especially from those publishers who desire to enslave the bookseller, and those book- sellers who see no hope except in slavery. Among the letters and papers issued on the subject, there is one by Mr. Robert MacLehose, of Glasgow, which is remarkable for its extreme virulence. He says, among other things :— "The main ideas underlying the Report are three: (1.) That a very low place is to be given to literature generally. (2.) That the novel must be taken as the standard on which all calculations are to be based. (3.) That the pub- lisher is not to be trusted." The reason for the first idea is difficult to be gathered from his words. He quotes Mrs. Oliphant as saying that "Literature is now weighed by the thousand words, like a packet of tea," and says that the Society accepts the "gentle irony" in serious earnest. I wonder what he means, except that he is certainly muddling things. If literature is sold there is but. one way of selling it, by the book. Or, if we regard the author, by the MS. Does Mr. MacLehose mean that a poem by Swin- burne would be bought by an editor by the thousand words? Or does he pretend that the Society has ever said so? In the sale of papers and stories to magazines, undoubtedly length must be considered; whether length is reckoned by so many sheets or by so many thousand words makes no difference. The second point is that the Society has only considered the novel. The  ## p. 238 (#676) ############################################ 238 THE AUTHOR. average book considered is the 6s. book simply because it is a convenient and a common form. Afterwards he attacks our figures. The Report said the bookseller makes a profit of "lod. to a shilling in the sale of a book for 4«. 6d." It is impossible to state his profit exactly, because there are so many different prices. This, however, is acknowledged to be very near the mark. Mr. MacLehose says we are wrong because we have not reckoned the working expenses. But we do not reckon publishers' working expenses when we say that their profit on a book of the kind which pays a shilling royalty is eighteenpence when the sale is large. Nor do we reckon the author's working expenses. The next " idea" is that the publisher is not to be trusted. Very well. That is most true. The confidence that should be reposed in a publisher is neither more nor less than should be reposed in any other man of business. When property is administered, as a book, for its creator, the same precautions must be observed as in any other form of business. One does not "trust" the man in the street when he proposes to take your house and to fix his own rent—if he pays any. We are quite right in pointing out all the dangers and all the possibili- ties of over-reaching, or of trickery, or of fraud; and no honest publisher has any reason to be offended at the attitude which we recommend in business of this kind, an attitude which he himself assumes in every other kind of transaction. Therefore, of the three " main ideas" advanced by this gentleman the first two are silly stuff, and the third is not only a simple precaution, but a simple necessity. Of course when a writer sits down with the intention of finding materials to feed his wrath upon we expect incoherence. The Bookseller contains half a dozen letters, chiefly from country booksellers, on the question. These letters express strong disappointment for the most part: indignation with some. One writer says that it was a "gigantic mistake of the publishers to consult the authors in any way whatever." In other words, the administrators of property are not to consult the owners! One writer, however, Mr. Simms, of Bath (where the great number of booksellers seems to show a healthy condition of trade), takes a more sensible view:— As regards the Publishers' Association, I believe their policy (defeated for the present) to be, if not illegal, at least unwise and doomed to fail ultimately. Of what other busi- ness besides the bookseller can it be said that the owner of goods bought and paid for is liable to dictation as to how he Bhall dispose of them to his customers P It is rumoured that other means are to be resorted to to bring about the desired equalisation of discounts. If bo, they will fail, as other schemes have done, and deservedly so. I don't admit the con- dition of the country bookseller to be so very desperate. Only let him face the difficulty and fight it manfully. Leaving alone the new book trade, which is not worth his notice, let him take up the "remainder" and second-hand business (books of the day), the chief reprints which in these days are made bo attractive, and copy the tactics of his neighbour the draper, who with his unjust "Wonderful Bargains," "Alarming Sacrifice," Ac, arrests the attention of passers-by to "compel them to oome in "—and inasmuoh as the draper does not scruple to sell books and stationery, so let the bookseller add to his stock purses and haberdashery, or anything else (their name is legion) which oomea under the title of fancy goods. By these means he may hope to leave off deploring his sad fate, and find life after all to be worth living. The Committee advocated a great extension of the sale or return system. It already prevails to a certain extent. A bookseller, however, com- plains that a certain publisher will send on sale or return seven copies to count as six: but if, say, only five of them are taken and he returns two, he is not allowed the odd copy: i.e., he pays as if he had ordered five separate copies. The follow- ing seems a practical suggestion. "Here is a suggestion. Let publishers send out broadcast to the trade advance copies bound in brown paper. If these were stocked, they could get orders for bound copies. The difficulty of sale or return is the enormous proportion of soiled copies. I am just closing an account, and we are bothered by a number out on sale or return, as to which we cannot get any certain information, and I can understand that to publishers this is a difficulty." The whole system of thirteen as twelve is intro- duced for the apparent benefit of booksellers, and is used by some publishers—pray observe the word some, because the next thing will be for some interested person to proclaim that all are charged with the offence—-as a means of grinding the author. Thus he enters in his agreement that royalties are to be paid on thirteen as twelve. This is equivalent to a reduction of 8 per cent, on the author's returns, of which, perhaps, half goes into the publisher's pocket, for he does not sell all, or anything like all, at thirteen as twelve. I believe that the two agents whom we recommend to our members are awake to this little trick. The following extract was quoted in the Daily Chronicle from the New York Nation. We copy it with gratitude to both papers for publishing so fair and sensible a summary of the case: The real difficulty, from the point of view of a cIobc corporation, or ironclad agreement, among publishers, is that there is no law, human or divine, by which they have the sole right to print and sell books. This truth was set forth with much force by the committee of the Authors' Society. Granting the desirability of keeping up the prices of books, there was no way of compelling a popular author to do it. If he knew that he oould sell 20,000 copies at  ## p. 239 (#677) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 239 one dollar as against only 5000 at two dollars, he would have the publishers at his mercy. He could print his book himself, or get a draper or a department store to do it. And if it were said that he would be kept out of the regular ohannels of the trade, the answer would be that one of the big shops often sell more books in an hour than a country book store does in a year. It thus appears that book publishing is, in the nature of the case, not a business which can be monopolised or made into a trust, even if the majority of authors were willing to see it done. ANOTHER SPORTING OFFER. IN the December number of The Author was published a proposal called a "Sporting Offer." This was the offer which was made the subject, as may be seen in another column, of many inventions by our amiable and imaginative well-wisher Mr. Alfred Nutt. There is before us another offer of precisely the same kind, The publisher humorously proposes to produce an edition of 2000 copies at 3s. 6d.: and to give the author a royalty of is.6d. a copy after 250 are sold. He is, however, to advance the sum of £112. The beauty of this arrangement is that, under the most favourable conditions, viz., the sale of the whole 2000 copies, the author realises on the whole transaction the magnificent sum of e£i 5 or so, while the publisher gets all the rest. Are there, really, people bound to accept such a proposal? When a writer pays the publishers for the pro- duction of his own work—a thing no one should do except under very exceptional circumstances— he makes the publisher simply an agent for its sale. What should he do then? (1) He should get an estimate from the pub- lisher of the full cost of production. (2) He should get another estimate from a good printer. The latter to be some check on the former. (3) It is best to deliver the book bound and ready for sale to the publisher. This avoids dis- putes and suspicions. (4) The author should then pay the publisher a royalty cr percentage—say 12 J per cent.—on the sales. Now compare the difference between this method and the one proposed in the agreement before us. On the most favourable terms, the sale of 2000 . copies—say 1950—of a 3$. 6tl. book would pro- duce the sum of about ,£210. We then have: • Cost of production, say £112, since that sum was asked for. Publishers' com. at i2| per cent., £2(1 54-. Author, £71 i$s. instead of £15. At the same time it must be remembered that a VOL. VIII. MS. which no publisher will accept is very doubt- ful. Most probably the sales would not amount to anything like the whole edition of 2000 copies. PERSONAL. LADY MURRAY has just purchased (accord- ing to the Daily Mail) near Autibes, in the Riviera, a large house which she pro- poses to convert into a home of rest for authors and artists, of any nationality, in poor health and circumstances. The following are the rules :—■ 1. That the health of the applicant is such as to make a winter in a mild climate necessary, or at least advisable. 2. That he is unable to obtain this without such assis- tance as he will find here. 3. That his medical advisers are able to give a fair hope that, with the benefit of a winter abroad, he will be ablo to return to his work. 4. That those admitted pay their journey out and back and £ 1 a week for board and lodging. Personal washing, extra fires and lights, and wine, will be charged extra. No dogs allowed. Applicants should address Lady Murray, at the Villa Victoria, Cannes. This year the Home will be open from Feb. 1 to May 31, and in future years from Nov. 1 to May 31. Mr, William Black wrote the following letter to the Scotsman in reply to Mr. Balfour'.s recent speech on novel-writing :— At this pacific season of the year, would you allow a perfectly obscure person to endeavour to calm the perturbed spirit of Mr. A. J. Balfour f He appears to be agitated about the probable future of the novel. At Edinburgh the other day be spoke of " the obvious difficulty which novelists now find in getting hold of appropriate subjects for their art to deal with": and again he said, with doubtful grammar, " Where, gentlemen, is the novelist to find a new vein? Every country has been ransacked to obtain theatres on which their imaginary characters are to show themselves off," and so forth. Mr. Balfour may reassure himself. So long as the world holds two men and a maid, or two maids and a man, the novelist has abundance of material, and there is no need to search for a "theatre " while we have around us the imperishable theatre of the sea and the sky and the hills. If Mr. Balfour cannot master these simple and elementary propositions, then it would be well for him to remain altogether outside the domain of literature, and to busy himself (when not engaged in party politics) with somo more recondite subject—say, bimetallism. The Royal Institution has received £'1000 from Mrs. Louisa C. Tyndall, the widow of the late Professor Tyndall, "as an expression of his attachment to the Institution with which he was so long connected, and of his sympathy with its objects." The money will be employed for the promotion of science. y  ## p. 240 (#678) ############################################ 240 THE AUTHOR. A SPORTING OFFER AGREEMENT. ri^HE following is a comment upon certain I remarks of ours on an agreement (see The Author of December, 1897). Another agreement on similar lines is considered in the present number (p. 239). The letter appeared in the Academy, and was followed by certain obvious remarks from the editor of this paper. Nobody heeds statements made by The Author,Q) which are as little likely to mislead as those, let me say, of La Libre Parole or the New York Sun. But copied into your columns under the title of "A Faulty Agree- ment" they may do some mischief. It is worth while, therefore, to examine this characteristic example of The Author s method of dealing with figures. In the agreement criticised the publisher asks the writer to contribute <£no to the cost of pro- ducing 1500 copies of his work, and the result arrived at, according to The Author, is that the publisher makes close upon M100 profit without risking a penny, whereas the writer in return for his risk only nets X'65. Now, in the first place, the cost of production is set down at, "say, £100," an assumption based upon nothing but the conviction that the publisher must inevitably be trying to swindle the author. (2) Let us see if we can test its validity. As the book produces 3s. 6f/. to the publisher, it must be published at 6s., and may be assumed to be a crown 8vo. of 12 sheets of 32 pages, or 388 pages at least.(3) The binding of 1500 copies at 5*7. each (a low figure) works out at £31, paper for the same number (36 reams of double crown at 155.) at £27, so that only £42 are left for composing and machining 388 pages. I will not say this price is impossible, but it is very low, and it allows absolutely no margin for corrections (which may safely be estimated at from £7 to £10), nor for the printing of prospectuses, circulars, order forms, &c, nor for the postage of gratis copies, nor, most remarkable omission of all (and one which the Academy should surely have spotted), for advertising. Unless the author differs greatly from his kind, and the publisher is less squeez- able than most of his fellows, this last item may be put down at £20 at least. In other words, the cost of production assumed, in order to create a prejudice against the pub- lisher, to be £100, is almost certainly from £130 to £140, and may, if author and publisher believe in advertising, reach any figure up to £200. So much for tht basis of The Authors calculation. (') Then why pay so much attention to them '{ Hardly a month passes without someone declaring that no one heeds the statements made in The Author, and then proving most forcibly that he does heed them verv much. (■') There is not one word or hint that any "swindle" was attempted. The agreemeut was quite open. The author had only to examine into its meaning, and then to accept or reject. It is really very unfair on publishers for one of them- selves to sniff out a swindle with such alacrity. (3) He lays down a rule, observe. He states that it is the rule that a certain book must lie at least 388 pp. in length. There is no such rule. A great many books of the kind are very much shorter: the average is very much less, according to the experience of the Society. Observe, also, that if this "rule" is proved base- less, down go the whole of Mr. Nutt's figures. There is no such rule. There is no such obser- vance. There is no such custom. The length varies as in the old-fashioned three-volume novel, whose length varied from 100,000 words to 300,000 words. Here are some examples taken from my own shelves. They are for the most part writers accepted and popular. I do not buy, as a rule, novels except by such writers :— Pages. Sheets. Rudyard Kipling, "The Light that Failed". 248 or 15J Becke, "The First Fleet Family" 271 „ 18A Barri' A Window in Thrums" 267 „ 14!  ## p. 241 (#679) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Now for some further developments. The sale of the entire edition is assumed to bring in .£262 10s. to the publisher (ieoo copies at 3*. 6d.), so that nothing is deducted for copyright purposes, nothing for traveller's and office copies, nothing for gratis copies to the author, nothing (how came you, Mr. Editor, to pass over this omission'() for review copies! According to The Author's calculation the young writer's work has sold without being circularised, without being adver- tised, without being reviewed. Lucky young writer, and yet he and The Author are not happy. (4) We are now in a position to substitute for the misleading figures given by The Author the following approximately correct ones :— Pages. Sheets. Stanley Waterloo, "A Man and a Woman" 321 „ 20 Mark Twain, "Prince and Pauper" 332 „ 20} Couan Doyle," Brigadier Gerard" 334 „ 21 Besant, "Citv of Refuge" 312 „ iyi J. O. Hobbes", " Some Gods, &e." 296 „ 185 Rider Haggard, " Nada" 295 „ 18i „ "Allan Quarter- main" 278 „ i7i "Montezuma's Daughter"... 295 „ i8£ The average length, then, of eleven novels, all by popular writers, so far from being at least 388 pages, is 295 pages; while the average number of sheets, so far from being as Mr. Nutt says, 24 sheets of 16 pages, i.e., 12 sheets of 32 pages, is 18^ sheets. It would be quite easy, of course, by looking about, to find many longer: it would also be quite easy to find many shorter. The average, in my own opinion, as well as that of the secretary, is about 17 or 18 sheets. For further proof here is a list taken from the books standing on a club table. There were thirteen novels of one volume, all appearing to be 6*. books. One of them, "Peter Halkett," only reaches 264 pages by using very large type. God's Foundling 316 Peter Halkett..'. 264 Count Antonio 337 Christie Murray's "Tales" 271 Pride of Jennico 346 Martha Washington 283 Miss Balmaine's Past 324 Folly of Pen Harrington 248 A Hard Woman 346 The Tormentor 288 Traits and Confidences 372 David L* all 302 Way of Marriage 308 The average here is 30S pages and 18J sheets. (*) All this is absolutely without foundation. Allowance was made for such advertising as would be spent on such a book, and for review and other copies.  ## p. 242 (#680) ############################################ 242 THE AUTHOR. On the sale cf 1500 copies ("') — £ s. Cost of production, say 140 o Royalty to author on 1400 copies (allowing 100 for gratis copies), at 2*. 6d 17; 10 Profit to publisher 39 10 £ 355 o By author no By sale of 1400 (allowing 100 for gratis copies), at 3.V. 6d 245 355 o Ex hypothesi the author risks A'no and gets ■£175 10s., or =£65 10s. profit, the publisher risks ^30 and gets ,£39 10*. profit. But if he adver- tises beyond the figure of ,£20 his risk is increased pro tauto, and if the advertisement charge rea ches the figure of ^50, his possible profit is reduced to a vanishing point. The bargain, assuming the entire edition to be sold, is a hard one for the writer, but it is not the iniquitous one denounced by The Author. Moreover, no mention is made of the possible failure to sell 100 copies, in which case tho publisher gets nothing for his risk. True, the writer is in the same plight, but he has at the least the satisfaction of seeing his book published, a satisfaction conceivably worth £\oo to him, but under no circumstances worth any- thing to the publisher, unless, indeed, the work has a scholarly value, and he issue it for the benefit of science. I ask you, sir, and readers of the Academy generally, if it is advisable to give the sanction of your support to statements which can only be cleared from the charge of unfair animus by a plea of gross and ignorant carelessness ? (") Alfred Nutt. 11. To my notes, which are the substance of my reply iu the paper, Mr. Nutt makes a lame defence. He states :— '• I do not wish to take up the . tcademy's space by showing that the other assumptions made by The Author in order to arrive at its imaginary balance-sheet are just as reliable as the one I have examined. One assertion, however, is too characteristic to be passed over. I pointed out that The Author made no allowance for review and presentation copies, and I estimated thern at 100. Sir Walter asserts that only forty would be used,(r) and that this number would come out of the ' overs.'(8) I can assure him that the nominal 'overs' do little more than compensate for the inevitable 'shorts' on a long number. On an edition of 1500 I should think myself lucky to (5) All these figures are bowled over by the simple fact that there is no such " rule " as that assumed, and that the average is much less than that advanced for the purpose of destroying the figures of The Author. (") There is neither unfair animus nor gross and ignorant carelessness. The former is cer- tainly manifest in Mr. Nutt's production. As to the latter, no—He is not ignorant. (7) I did not say that " only forty would be used," but "I estimate for such a book forty copies." That is not quite the same thing. (8) I did not say that "this number would come out of the ' overs.'" I said that " probably " on  ## p. 243 (#681) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 243 get a clear twelve or fifteen over the nominal number (on an edition of 500 copies, which I have just issued, I get one over), and these have to be reserved against the inevitable chapter of accidents, returns of damaged copies, &c, the loss entailed by which would otherwise fall upon the book." in. Again Mr. Nutt comes forward. He now says, wisely leaving figures alone, "I do not see that I can say anything fresh. So far from fixing upon this or that detail, (8) I stated, in the broadest way, a charge, which Sir Walter Besant makes absolutely no attempt to meet. Let me restate it —finally, I hope.(10) A publishing proposal is sub- mitted to The Author; whether that -proposal be fair or not obviously depends upon the special circumstances of the case—extent of the work, presence or not of illustrations, quality of paper and binding, amount expended in adver- tising, &c." an edition of 1500 there would be enough to meet the demand. I did so with some knowledge of " overs." (") Look back. Why, his letter is all detail. (10) Very good. This proposition can be met with the greatest ease. There was no need of inquiry because it was very well known what kind of work was offered to the publisher. There was no need of asking what we knew already. Mr. Nutt never reads The Author. Just a copy now and then by accident falls into his hauds. We congratulate him on having the good chance of always finding something to make him fall into an unholy rage. Perhaps, at the same time, Mr. Thring has been engaged in reading Mr. Nutt's agreements. BOOES OP 1897. rpHE Publishers' Circular has issued its I usual classified list of books published in 1897. The numbers show an increase of 1010 over those of 1896. We must expect this increase to go on, because the readers are every year increasing by leaps and bounds. Every department shows an increase, except those of Arts and Sciences, Voyages and Travels, and Pamphlets. If we consider that a single edition of 1000 copies represents the average circulation, then 7,926,000 books have been bought and sold during the year. If 5.?. be the average price, this represents a total of £1,981,500 spent on new books and new editions, without counting old books, which would, perhaps, come to as much again. These figures are quite likely to be wrong, but, some time since, certain publishers were questioned as to the average book trade, and some put it down at ,£3,000,000. If, however, a list were compiled of all the books announced (not advertised) in the columns of a London daily, it would not give anything like these figures. For instance, the novels would include only those issued by London publishers, which are, practically, all that need be considered. These alone would certainly not amount to 1000; and so with other things. A more important column is that of the new editions. They represent not new editions of books of 1896, but new editions of all the books that form English literature from the very beginning. There are probably among them Chaucer, Milton, Pope, Cowper, Defoe, Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, Wordsworth, Keats. There are also among them Barrie, Conan Doyle, Hall Caine, Ian Maclaren, and many others. The new editions of the year include probably the whole corpus of English literature that is thought worth preserv- ing, except such things as Anglo-Saxon and Early English Literature, Theology, Philosophy, History, works of scholarship, and works which are only wanted and only read by students on special subjects. Ought " year books and serials in volumes" to be counted? If so, we ought surely to include Army Lists and Law Lists, and the Cambridge Calendar.  ## p. 244 (#682) ############################################ 244 THE AUTHOR. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Paper Covers. IS there any reason why it pays publishers in America to issue, at the same time, two editions of their books—a dollar edition in cloth, a quarter-dollar one in paper covers—while English publishers bring out only a single 6s. edition \ I would put in a plea for paper covers. There are numbers of persons who do not care to belong to librarips and cannot afford to lay out money in expensive books that they may or may not like; just as there are many who would never buy one that would not look well on their book- shelves. It seems a pity all classes should not be catered for here as in America. X. II.—The Problem op Publishing. Ten years ago nothing was more common than a royalty of 10 per cent., or even 5 per cent. "Where is now the publisher who dares offer a royalty of 5 per cent. '<" I quote from the Decem- ber Author. I believe a 10 per cent, royalty is still very commonly offered to authors who have made no particular mark, and many are glad enough to get it. I refused it for a book I wrote a year and a half ago, and have since had no offer at all! My first novel was a success, and several pub- lishers wrote to me asking to see my second. This was instantly snapped up It was not a success, although critical persons declared it vastly superior to my first. The third has been going the weary round for eighteen months, and seems doomed to go on for ever, despite the judg- ment of several readers (unknown to me person- ally) who have praised its literary merit!" Not likely to be popular" is the usual verdict. I wa3 a year studying my characters and think- ing over this novel; another year writing it. Three years and a half have gone by. How can I stand out for a 15 or 20 per cent, royalty? Is it not natural that, as I feel convinced this is the best work I have done—the most care- ful, thoughtful, and ambitious—I shall be ready to jump at any chance of getting it published't Is it surprising that I am inclined to say to a publisher, "Give me what you can after expenses are paid; only let my book see the light"? What is to be done? I can't make a publisher share my conviction, and unfortunately it is a fact that a book may be good and yet not sell. Of course, I can wait a few more years, but the MS. is getting very dog-eared, and I paid nearly ,£6 for having it typed. It has to come out, and I can't afford to pay for its production. What then p It must he given awav—if I can find anyone to accept it1 One of the Unarrived. III. —The Fate of the "Unknown." A friend of mine recently proposed to submit a MS. novel to a London publisher. In the course of the publisher's reply, he said, " I regret to say that it would be useless to send it (that is, the MS.) to me, or, I imagine, to anyone else, to publish, unless you are prepared to incur the risk and expense. Novels by 'unknown' writers are not the sort of books we care to take up as a commercial speculation." So the murder is out at last! Hapless authors, anxious for fame and cash, are deluging the publishers with manuscripts good and bad, new and old. The average publisher courteously permits the anxious author to forward his manu- script, and, after the lapse of a decent period, courteously returns it to him again. Here, however, is one publisher who has the courage of his convictions, and declnres that if you happeu to be " unknown " you must remain "unknown" for .ever, unless your pocket is deep enough to pay for the production of your own work. O shades of Dickens and Scott! Other authors, please copy! ^ Richard Free. IV. —Proposed Journalists' Union. Although your organ is primarily intended for the interests of authors, you have, I believe, before now generously permitted the bitter cry of the poor journalist to be heard in its columns. Will you allow me, then, to appeal to my brothers and sisters of the trade or profession—or whatever they like to call it—of journalism, to consider whether some union may not be formed to compel (of course, by moral, not legal, pressure) the pro- prietors of magazines and weekly journals to pay cash for the literary goods they purchase, or, failing this, to pay higher terms for credit. If this became the custom, instead of as now, a favour, the editor of a magazine would no more keep a contributor waiting six months or twelve months for productions he has purchased than he would his butcher or baker. Of course, I know very well that objections will be raised: "pro- prietors naturally want a turnover for their money;" that "if they cannot purchase goods upon the present system, they will buy a much more limited stock, and so indirectly injure the casual contributor." I do not propose to take up your space by any reply to such arguments, beyond saying that if editors, &c, did purchase articles in smaller quantities, used them within more reason- able time, and paid for them on acceptance, the  ## p. 245 (#683) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 245 mass of genuine literary bread-winners would be immeasurably happier and better off. All that is needed is for each contributor in sending in his article to stipulate for such a price upon im- mediate payment, and for a higher price for pay- ment on publication, with the result, as a rule, of payment on acceptance. The Strand Magazine—all honour to it—in- variably pays upon acceptance if requested, yet such journals as are considered beyond reproach in their treatment of contributors decline to make any payment till publication, which may mean waiting a year, perhaps two years, for one's money. Still in Grub Street. V.—Editor and Contributor. 1. 1 have just had an experience with an editor which might be of use to other beginners, if you thought it worth mentioning in The Autlwr. I sent a MS. to him in Jan. 1896. A year later I wrote inquiring for it, as I had heard nothing from him. He replied that the MS. was accepted, and would be published and paid for in due course. I wrote again this January, asking when it would be published. The MS. was then returned, with a letter to say that the old editor had gone abroad, and the new editor apologised for the delay in returning it. I had, in my letter to him, mentioned the date on which it was accepted. I then wrote to Mr. Thring, and he replied that the new editor had no right to return an accepted MS. unpaid, but unless an Inland Revenue stamp was attached to the form of acceptance within a fortnight after receiving it I should be heavily fined. I have had MSS. accepted by many magazines, but have never yet had the form of acceptance stamped, and do not quite understand about it. Should the form be returned to the editor for its stamp? I might add that I am not pursuing this case, as the sum due to me would probably not cover the fine. A. I. 11. A propos of the letters which have recently appeared in The Author on the subject of "Young Authors' Grievances," the following may serve to show to what extent young and unknown writers are often subjected to incon- venience and annoyance by the loss and delay of their MSS., and I regret to say that editors of prominent and well-known periodicals are invari- ably the worst offenders. Exactly sixteen months ago, I sent a MS. to the editor of a well-known magazine (having pre- viously obtained his consent to do so, I may mention), and in a few days I received a letter informing me that the article had been accepted. Very patiently I waited, almost daily expecting to receive the proofs, but when three months went by, and these had failed to put in an appearance, I wrote to the editor. He replied that the article was accepted and due notice of publication would be given me. Several weeks went by, and I heard nothing farther, and wrote again, but received no reply. At length T wrote again, but, to insure a reply, I inclosed a stamped addressed envelope. This had the desired effect. The editor replied: "If a contributor does not receive his MS. back within a week he may conclude his article has been accepted." Then he went on to state that he could not give exact date my effusion would appear, but "it should be put forward." This was in the early part of '97, and from that time to this I have heard nothing more concerning my unfortunate contribution. In conclusion, I might add that I lost no less than four MSS. in twelve months. The first, a story of 3000 words, was sent to a certain weekly (now defunct) and never returned. The second, a story of 4000 words, was submitted (by request) to the editor of a certain Christian paper, and has never appeared in print or been returned to me. The third, specially written for a well-known weekly, met with a similar fate; and the last, a story of 8000 words, written by request of the editor for the '96 Christmas number of a prominent weekly, reached the editorial offices quite safely, but has not since been seen or heard of. And I cannot do anything to recoup myself for the loss I have sustained, for the simple reason that I am one of a vast multi- tude of struggling writers who cannot afford to offend those who sometimes "give us a show." F. J. M. VI.—Diseases in Fiction. With reference to the letter in the July number on "The Mockery of Realism," has not H. K., as well as Dr. Conan Doyle, been more severe on novelists than they deserve? At least, I would contend that the convention as to diseases applies only to heroes and heroines; minor characters, so fur as I can see, being left perfectly free to have any ailment, above or below the diaphragm, that Fate, in the form of a realistic novel-writer, chooses to send them. Then even for the more romantic personages, the list is a little longer than H. K. makes it. Think of cholera, for instance, a disease which kills off subordinate characters without mercy and sometimes brings a tragical  ## p. 246 (#684) ############################################ 246 THE AUTHOR. end upon the hero. Frank Headley in "Two Years Ago" describes its first attack: "Can you conceive a sword put in on one side of the waist, just above the hip-bone, and drawn through, handle and all, till it passes out at the opposite point?" And with cholera you may kill anyone but the heroine. I don't think it is allowable to dismiss her in that way, unless in a very short story, such as Rudyard Kipling's "Without Benefit of Clergy." Spinal diseases are frequently useful. Poor wicked Adelaide in "Ravenshoe" breaks her back, and the same accident has happened, with more or less of lingering agony afterwards, to many of my acquaintances in fiction. The heroic parson in "It is Never too Late to Mend" suffers from jaundice; and Maisie, in "The Light that Failed," according to Dick Heldar's account, was "a bilious little body." Gastric fevers, typhoid fevers, and typhus itself, all with the seat of illness below the belt, are by no means denied to novelists. Argemone, in another of Charles Kingsley's novels, died very realistically, of typhus. Miss Haleombe had typhus fever at a very critical moment; and Robert Blackmore gives an interesting account of a typhoid illness treated successfully by the heroine with yeast. You will observe generally, however, that it is only when these are epidemic that they become dignified illnesses. If introduced in any arbitrary way, apart from the impressiveness of a wide- spread pestilence, you must make it very clear that it was through some self-denying action or other that your hero or heroine fell a victim. It would be interesting to know how much truth there is in Miss Nightingale's dictum, that persons dying of hurts above the diaphragm are inclined to be bright, cheerful, and religious, while those hurt below have a tendency to despon- dency and gloom. This might suggest a very reasonable explanation of the novelist's preference. If one wishes a heroine to be saintly, or a hero strong-souled, it is manifestly wiser not to handi- cap them by giving an illness that would operate in the wrong way. How much better to visit them only with the lung affections and heart troubles, keeping gout and liver diseases for those unimportant elderly folk whose fractious- ness will not hurt the pathos of the story. Again, should one not consider, even for Realism's sake, that diseases of the lumbar regions do not as a rule attack persons in early life, that is, until the hero and heroine days are over? Imagine any heroic young man or charming young woman of our acquaintance being un- fortunate in love matters, and thereupon develop- ing gout, or cancer, or dropsy! Whereas a young woman neglecting her health and pining in a love disappointment, in real life, is extremely likely to fall more or less into a consumptive state. And fretting, brooding, overstrain of all the emotional faculties, has a real tendency to pro- duce an actual heart trouble. The romantic school has a very fair founda- tion of fact to go upon. Speaking as a constant and warmly grateful friend of novelists since the age of seven, may I take the side of the "third class passenger " and the multitude "who only ask to be amused "? We don't require that our heroes and heroines should l>e invulnerable; we can even stand a great deal of blood-shedding at times. If they get soaked in a boat-upset, or lose their way in a storm, we are quite prepared to hear of rheumatic fever. If they visit infectious fases, from the best of motives, they do it at their own risk and must take the consequences. Then, with scarlet fever, brain fever, heart disease, spinal troubles, bronchitis, pleurisy, inflammation and congestion of the lungs, besides every manner of violent accident to choose from, surely the most medically and siu-gieally-minded of romancers should be satisfied. I do not say, like Marianne Dashwood, that a man is absolutely disqualified for a lover if he has felt a twinge of rheumatism and wears a flannel waistcoat, but why should H. K. wish to see every hero only in the guise in which dear Alan Breck presented himself to the good wife, "A fine, canty, friendly, cracky man, that suffered with the stomach, poor body!" M. C. V. New Zealand, Aug. 17. VII.—The Letter "E." The letter "e" seems to be in a condition of unrest at he present time. As we have no Academy to settle our orthography for us, it would be interesting to know who does settle the fashion of our spelling; and one would like to suggest to these unknown powers that it would be only con- siderate if they would advertise the changes they introduce in some conspicuous place, the first column of the Times for instance. As things are, one may wake up some morning and find that what was right the day before is now frowned upon by examiners, and vice vcrsd. Now, this is hard upon those who still have to face exams., unless due notice be given of the changes inaugu- rated by the powers who arrange these matters. For example, a few years ago, only a few, it would have been the worse for the examinee who ventured to spell "forego'- without the "e "; though he would have been as much in the right as he is to-day, when he would be held guilty if he put it in!  ## p. 247 (#685) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 247 The letter " e" is being gradually eliminated from words in which it is either superfluous or incorrect, and, of course, "forgo" has no more right than "forget" to an "e" in the first syllable ; Dr. Pusey, we believe, clung to the last to the middle "e" in "judgment" ; but there is not much beyond old association to be alleged in its favour here. If, however, "e" is being ousted from some words, it is in turn superseding "a " in others; though upon what grounds it is hard to see. Thus fashion, or some other power, appears to have decided that we shall henceforth write "ascendent," "dependent," "descendent," &c, no matter whether employed as substantives or adjectives. Is this a change for the better, or does it not rather savour of literary atavism? Surely these, and similar words, come to us immediately from our Norman ancestors, who had adopted them from the Latin. It was they who substituted the " a" for the " e," as we have substituted the "a" in the word "liar," and for a similar and sufficient reason — to prevent ambiguity. The Trench have, of course, both dependent and dependant—the third person plural, aud the present participle; and, as we use the latter as an adjective, it seems a mistake to ignore the source whence we have taken it. Can it be that we desire to forget the Norman Conquest, and remember only the Roman? And, more important inquiry still, is fashion presently going to require us to write "be- havior," "favor," &v.? Absit omen. The very look of them sets one's teeth on edge. S. G. VIII.—Questions and Answers. Ioh will verscbmery.cn diesen schlag, das weiss ich: Uenn was vemchmerze nicbt der Mensch r I have long wanted to know where the above lines come from, and how they came to be written. Could any correspondent of The Author kindly tell me through its pages? I have a faint idea that Goethe wrote them after the appearance of some unfavourable review of one of his early poems. Is there anv foundation for this? References of some kind or another are so often J wanted that perhaps The Author might somejday, with advantage to its readers, start a column of " Questions and Answers." Querist. BOOK TALK. DR. ALEXANDER B. GROSAKT, the author of the volume on Robert Fergus- son in the "Famous Scots" series (Oli- phant, Anderson, and Ferrier) is engaged, with the assistance of a staff of contributors, upon a complete history of Scottish literature from its earliest period. The literary partnership between the late Alphonse Daudet and Mr. R. H. Sherard (says the Academy) yielded a story which is shortly to be published in Mr. Sherard's English transla- tion. The original plan was for Daudet to dictate, and for Mr. Sherard subsequently to elaborate. But the dictated matter was so good and self-sufficient that Mr. Sherard wisely left it as it stood. The story will be called " My First Voyage: My First Lie." It is a reminiscence of the author's boyhood. A book by Mr. H. Z. Darrah, on " Sport in the Highlands of Kashmir," is about to be published by the firm of Rowland Ward, Ltd. Dr. Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer, is writing the narrative of his travels and adventures in Central Asia. Messrs. Methuen and Co. will publish the book in October. Mr. Trevor Battye's new book, " A Northern Highway," will be out shortly (A. Constable ami Co.). It is dedicated to the Emperor of Russia. One of the events of the past month has been the publication of an English translation of "II Trionfo della Morte" (" The Triumph of Death "), by Gabriele d'Annunzio, the Italian poet and novelist. The author expressed to a Paris correspondent lately his belief in his mission for "the propagation of joy" in the world, but in reviewing the work the Daily Chronicle remarks that he takes a queer way of setting about this. Mr. Henley's now famous essay on Burns, in the Centenary edition, has been reprinted at 1*. by Messrs. Jack, of Edinburgh. The book would have looked better had the pagination for it been done specially, instead of being merely transferred from the larger volume. Dr. Andrew Clark is editing for the delegates of the Clarendon Press the "Brief Lives, chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey between the years 1669 and 1696." There are 400 of these Lives, and they will be published now for the first time in their entirety. Mr. William Bayne has written a volume on James Thomson, the author of " Rule Britannia," for the "Famous Scots" series.  ## p. 248 (#686) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Mr. Michael Davitt is writing a book about his recent visit to Australia (Methueu and Co.). Professor Knapp is bringing to a completion his minute labour of several years upon a biography of George Borrow. The book will be published by Mr. Murray. Mr. Sidney Jeffrey has written the life of Dr. J. E. Taylor, the naturalist, who was curator of Ipswich museum and editor of Science Gossip. Messrs. Chatto and Windus are the publishers. Mr. Kinloeh Cooke is writing a memoir of the late Duchess of Teck. A full biography of the late Mr. Henry George is being written by his son, who is also getting out. "The Science of Political Economy," the work left by the reformer at his death. Mr. John Charles Tarver, author of "Some Observations of a Foster Parent," has written a series of essays on secondary education, which will l>e published bv Messrs. Constable under the title of " The Debatable Land." The author of the biography of the Prince of Wales, which appeared anonymously during the past month, is Miss Marie Belloc (Mrs. Lowndes). Mr. Conan Doyle's novel, "The Tragedy of the Koroski," which has been revised since its appearance in the Strand Magazine, will lie pub- lished to-day, and Mr. Stanley Weyman's latest novel—" Shrewsbury "—on the 4th inst. Mr. W. S. Maugham, the author of " Liza of Lambeth," has written a second novel, dealing with a revolution in an Italian town of the fifteenth century. Miss Rosaline Masson, daughter of Professor Masson, is the author of a volume entitled " A Departure from Tradition, and other Stories," which Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. are about to publish. A new story by Miss Mary Angela Dickens will shortly come from Messrs. Hutchinson, under the style " Against the Tide." Mrs. Cou'son Kernahan has written a story of medical life entitled "Trewinnot of Guy's," which will be published by Mr. John Long. It is reported from Northampton that Sarah Grand's "The Beth Book" has been refused a place in the free library there. The chairman of the committee admitted that he had not read a line of the book he objected to. A novel by Miss Norma Lorimer, entitled "Josiah's Wife," will be published shortly by Messrs. Methuen. Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co., will publish immediately Mr. Pereival Pickering's new novel. "The Spirit is Willing "; a volume of sporting reminiscences of Arthur M. Binstead and Ernest Wells, edited by the former; and a book of "Tales of the Klondyke" by Mr. T. Mullett Ellis. Mr. Kipling's new volume of short stories will not appear until the autumn. The author ha< gone to South Africa for a holiday. He has written a long novel called "The Burning of the Sarah Sands." Mr. David Christie Murray is about to publish through Messrs. Chatto and Windus a new story entitled "A Race for Millions." Mr. Owen Rhoscomyl's new story, to be pub- lished by Messrs. Pearson, is of the Elizabethan period, and entitled "The Veiled Man." Mr. E, W. Hornung has written "Young Blood," for early publication by Messrs. Cassell. Another story to apj>ear early from the same house is Mr. E. S. Ellis's " A Strange Craft and Its Wonderful Voyage." Miss Annie Thomas has written a story called "Dick Rivers," which will be published by Messrs. P. V. White and Co. This firm also have nearly ready " For Liberty," by Mr. Hume Nisbet, and "the Induna's'Wife," by Mr. Bertram Mitford. Mrs. Gertrude Atherton's new novel on Anglo- American marriages is to be published by Messrs. Service and Patou. Miss Braddon's new story, " Rough Justice," will be issued in a few days by Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. A volume of devotional verse by Mr. Lawrence Housman will be published shortly by Mr. Grant Richards, the title being "Spikenard: a Book of Devotional Love Poems." The Poet Laureate (says the Globe) who is spending the winter near Florence, is working upon a new book, "a Tuscan sequel" to his charming " Garden That I Love." A full-sized volume of verse by Mr. Henry Newbolt is promised for the autumn, to be pub- lished here by Mr. Elkin Mathews, and in America by Mr. John Lane. Mr, Newbolt s "Admirals All," which will be included in the forthcoming book, lias gone into an eighth edition. The first number of the Outlook, a new three- penny weekly review of political, social, and literary life, which is to be edited by Mr. Percy Hurd and contributed to by many well-known writers, is due on the 5th inst.  ## p. 249 (#687) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 249 An American paper quotes the following un- published verses by Whittier, from the album of Mr. C. F. Adams, the author of " Leedle Yawcob Strauss," and other Anglo-German poems :— "As on wave-washed sand or the window's frost I write, and the reoord will soon be lost; And the Spider, Forgetfulness, weave and wind The paper parcels I leave behind; Yet I sometimes think, though spiders spin, And frost will melt, and the waves wash in. That the thousand albnms whieh hold my rhyme Will baffle even the teeth of time; And that, snngly lodged in some maiden's chamber Or grandame's trunk like a fly in amber, Will evermore somewhere be found in city or Country the name of John G. Whittier.'' Mr. W. P. Ryan deals in a forthcoming work with nearly all the prominent authors and schools of the day, and with such subjects in satire as "The Great Young Man, and the New Style of Literary History," "The New Doom of Nar- cissus," and "The Devil and a Modern Knight- Errant." The book will be published by Mr. Leonard Smithers, and will be called " Literary London: Its Lights and Comedies." Mr. Pinero's recent play, "The Princess and the Butterfly," will be issued shortly in the series Mr. Heinemann publishes. Messrs. W. Thacker and Co. have taken over a number of publications from Messrs. Neville Beeman, Limited, who are giving up business as publishers. Mr. W. Hall White (otherwise " Mark Ruther- ford") who edited the recently published "Description of the Wordsworth and Coleridge MSS. in the possession of Mr. T. Norton Long- man," has written "An Examination of the Charge of Apostacy against Wordsworth," which will be published immediately by Messrs. Long- mans, Green, and Co. Mr. Vernon Blackburn, musical critic of the Pall Mall Gazette, has written "The Fringe of an Art: Appreciation in Music," which will be published by the Unicorn Press on the 15th inst. There will be portraits of Mozart, Berlioz, Gounod, and Tschaikovsky. Lord Archibald Campbell has written " High- land Dress and Ornament," a volume which Messrs. Constable will have ready immediately. The following are among other works to issue from this house:—" The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe," by Mr. E. Young; "Book of Travels and Life in Ashantee," by Mr. R. A. Freeman, illus- trated by the author's drawings; an account of "Andre'e's Balloon Expedition," by two members of the expedition to Spitzbergen in 1896; and "Two Native Narratives of the Mutiny in Delhi," translated from the originals by the late Mr. Charles T. Metcalfe, C.S.I. Mr. Hardy has collected a number of his short stories, which will be published shortly in a volume. "C. K. S.," in the Illustrated London News, states that Mr. Hardy is engaged on another long novel, which will not be on the lines of "Jude the Obscure" and "The Well-Beloved." Mr. Edward A. FitzGerald has arranged with Messrs. Methuen and Co. for the publication of the record of his explorations in South America. The author returned to England a few weeks ago, after an absence of fourteen months. His expedi- tion succeeded in climbing Mount Aconcagua (23,000 feet), the highest ascent ever made, lx'sides lesser peaks. Memliers of the party suffered a great deal of hardship. The book will be enriched with many unique photographs, and ■will contain records of the flora and fauna of Argentina. The publishers expect to have it ready early in the autumn. The Idler has become the property of Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co., publishers. The Ruskin Society of Birmingham has begun the issue of a quarterly magazine, called Saint Georyc. Mr. Elliot Stock is the London pub- lisher. Our contemporary, Nature Notes, goes straight to Wordsworth and Shelley for a case against the eating of larks, thus: Can it be imagined that Wordsworth, after finishing his ode with "Type of the wise who soar, but never roam; True to the kindred points of heaven and home" could sit down to a dish of larks. Or Shelley? Would the author of "Teaoh me half the gladness That my brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow. The world should listen then, as I am listening now!" call for lark pudding? There is no more reason for poets to be squeamish about their victuals than other folk of refinement. Oysters, beefsteaks, geese, and so on, are quite fitting as bardic nourishment, at any rate until honoy-dew and the milk of Paradise be brought to market; but if Wordsworth or Shelley ate larks, faith receives a Bhock indeed. We observe that the Shakespearean (6d. monthly), which is just beginning a new volume, is now published by the Roxburghe Press. Miss M. Dormer Harris has now in the press a book dealing with municipal history. The title of the volume, which forms one of the "Social England" series published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenscheiu, and Co., is " Life in an Old English Town: The Story of Mediaeval Coventry." The city in question is very rich in MS. records,  ## p. 250 (#688) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. particularly in those belonging to the fifteenth century, and the volume contains much that has lieen hitherto unpublished. Messrs Bliss, Sands, and Co. will shortly pub- lish a new novel by A. B. Louis, entitled " A Branch of Laurel." The plot is founded on events occurring in the reign of Louis XIII. Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sons are to publish immediately a book on " Millais and his Works," by Mr. M. H. Spielmann, the editor of the Magazine of Art. In addition to a chapter on Sir J. E. Millais' life and an appreciation of his art, Mr. Spielmann has written a picture-by- picture comment of the works of the late president, now being exhibited at the Royal Academy, as well as on the numerous pictures l>y the artist not included in that collection; and there will be a chronological list of Sir J. E. Millais' oil pictures of which trace can be found. Permission has also been granted to include in this volume the important article, reproducing Sir John Millais' opinions on art, written hy the late president for the Magazine of Art, and not hitherto republished. A list will t>e added of those pictures which have been engraved. The book will be fully illustrated from many of the late j (resident's most interesting and important pictures. Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to accept a copy of "The Pink Tulip," by Caroline Stanley. Mr. Bernard Wentworth, author of "The Master of Hullingham Manor," is engaged upon a new novel, to be published serially next year, entitled " Anne Pentargen; or, the Spirit of the Tor," a tale of the Cornish moors. Mr. Went- worth had a short story, entitled " Allerton Farm," in the Christmas number of the Cornish and Devon Post. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton's romance " Across the Salt Seas," which ran last year in the Nary and Army Illustrated, will appear in volume form in the spring, Methuen and Co. being the London publishers, and Stowe and Co., of Chicago, the American ones. At the same time Mr. Bloun- delle-Burton will commence a new historical novel in a London paper, to be followed by another in the autumn, while he has also engaged to furnish two modern novels of adventure to other papers during the year 1899. Raymond Jacberus, author of "Common Chords," has written for the Sunday Heading for the Young Magazine (Wells Gardner, &c), lieginning with the January number, a story e ititled " Ups and Downs." Also, for Sunshine Magazine, beginning with the January number, a school story entitled "The Odd Number." "Common Chords" is now in its second edition. Messrs. Harper and Bros, are publishing " The Story of Hawaii " for J. A. Owen—Mrs. Visger. As Mrs. Owen Visger lived for some years in the Hawaiian Islands, and has kept up a close correspondence with relatives living in Honolulu ever since, she is well informed as to that little republic and its people. Some years ago she published a book on child life in Hawaii called " Our Honolulu Boys," but it has long been out of print. Her new book will be illustrated. Mr. Henry Charles Moore, author of "The Dacoit's Treasure," is writing a historical novel, having for its central figure Alompra, the warrior king of Burma, and founder of the late Burmese dvnasty. Alompra is frequently mentioned in ""The Dacoit's Treasure." The fifth edition, revised throughout and slightly enlarged, of Mr. Rice Holmes's " History of the Indian Mutiny," the appearance of which has been delayed by the recent strike in Edin- burgh, will be issued immediately by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., who have taken over the publication of the work. The type has been re-set, and new maps and plans have been prepared. A district fresh to English holiday makers, and reached as easily as the Ardennes, will be opened up in "New Walks by the Rhine," by Percy Lindley, whose "Walks in the Ardennes " and "Walks in Holland " did so much to popularise new Belgian and Dutch touring grounds. Starting from the Rhine mouth at the Hook of Holland, "New Walks by the Rhine" will cover the picturesque wooded and rocky side valleys of Rhineland, from the Ahrthal, near Cologne, to the Neckarthal and the "Blue Alsatian Moun- tains" of the Vosges; and will include the districts of the Tauuus, Eifel, Odenwald, Huns- ruck, and the Palatinate. Living is said to be as inexpensive in some of these districts as in the Ardennes. Mr. J. F. Weedon will sujjply the illustrations. The fourth—new and popular—edition of " The Care of the Sick at Home and in the Hospital: A Handbook for Families and for Nurses," by the late celebrated surgeon-physician, Dr. Th. Bill- roth, is in the press, and will shortly be ready for issue. The translation by J. Bentall Endean was specially authorised by Dr. Billroth, and the new edition has been revised and enlarged. It will be published by Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.  ## p. 251 (#689) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 25i OBITUARY- THE Rev. C. L. Dodgson, better known iu literature as "Lewis Carroll," died at Guildford 011 the 14th ult., aged sixty-five. Graduating at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1854, he was appointed in the following year Mathe- matical Lecturer to the College, which post he occupied up to 1881. He held a Senior Student- ship since 1858 to the end of his life, and took orders in 1861. Mr. Dodgson was ambitious of a reputation in mathematical works, of which he published several in the early sixties, and subse- quently, "Symbolic Logic" appearing in 1896. In 1865 the most popular work of "Lewis Carroll," "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," one of the best known of books for the young, was published, with forty illustrations by Tenniel. It has been translated into German and French. Equally a favourite was the sequel, "Through the Looking- Glass, and What Alice Found There" (1871). Among later works of a similar character were "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876), which was republished in the volume, " Rhvme and Reason" (1883); "Sylvie and Bruno"" (1889), and its "Conclusion" (1893). "Lewis Carroll" was very fond of children — poor or rich—and delighted to entertain them in his rooms at Christ Church. A link connecting the present with the days of Lamb, Hunt, and Keats, is severed by the death of Mrs. Mary Cowden Clarke, author of the well known " Concordance to Shakespeare," and many other works. Mrs. Clarke was taught Latin by Mary Lamb, and heard Hunt read Dogberry's charge to the watchmen, and scenes from Sheri- dan's "Rivals." The daughter of Vincent Novello, she married Charles Cowden Clarke in 1828. The Clarkes saw a good deal of Coleridge, Dickens, and Jerrold, among others; and in " My Long Life," her autobiography, published last year (Unwin), Mrs. Clarke recalls these associa- tions. Her husband, with whom she annotated an edition of Shakespeare and did other work, died in 1877 at the age of ninety. Mrs. Clarke died last month at Genoa in her eighty-ninth year. The Very Rev. Henry George Liddell, formerly Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, died at his resi- dence, Ascot, on the 18th ult., in his eighty- seventh year. He was Head-Master of West- minster in 1846, and Vice-Chancellor of his Univer- sity from 1870 to 1874. In 1892 he resigned the position of Dean after thirty-seven years' service, as he felt no longer able for the duties. As an author his name will be identified with the Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon; and he also wrote a " History of Rome." THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH, [Dkc. 24 to J.^N. 22.—191 Books.] Addleshuw, P. Tho Cath'xii-iil Caurch of Exeter. 16. Bet], Akerman, W. Eip Van Winkle, and other Poems, 5'- Bell. Allan, James. Under the Dragon Flag. 3/6. Heinemann. Allen, F. II. Nature's Diary. 5/- any and Bird, Amateur Angler, The. "On a Sunshine Holyday."' 1/6. Low. Amours, F. J. (ed.) Scottish Alliterative Poems. Scottish Text Society. Andrews, William (ed.) Bygone Norfolk. 7/6. Andrews. Anonymous ("J. R. C") Leet we Forget. 1/- net. Simpkin. Anonymous (author of Tho Lando' the Leal"). David Lyalla Love Story. 6/- Hodder and Stoughton. Anonymous. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales 19 6. Richards Anonymous ("S. E. B.C.") Stewart Clark 7,6 BiUliere, Anonymous. Judicial Decisions affecting Building Societies. Vol. II. 5/- Building Societies Association Anonymous (author of " Pruo "). A Barren Victory. 16. Steven? Arch, Joseph. Story of His Life, by Himself. VI - Hutchinson. Archbishop and Bishops of Westminster. 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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) 1898-03-01 Volume 8 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 253–276 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbot\ {The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 10.] MARCH i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PAOE General Memoranda 253 Our President's Birthday 255 Literary Property— 1. General Meeting 255 2. Authors and Debontute-holders 257 3. The night to Destroy 257 V Pirated Music 257 New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood 257 Mr. Nutt Again 289 Notes and News. By the Editor 260 pas ■ Questions and Answers 262 The Criterion of Literary Excellence. By D. F. Hannigan ... 203 Correspondence. — 1. "The Gentle Answer "! 2. A "Bold" Agreement 3. The '• Bluggy" Element. \. Proposed Journalists' Union. 5. The Haunch of Venison. 6. An Appeal to Editors 7. Forego and 1 orgo. 8 Who Bids Highest? 9. A Young Author's Grievance. 10. Honour Among Reviewers. 11. Style and Substance 265 Book Talk 26!) Literature in the Peiiodieals 272 The Books of the Month 275 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., ios. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8«. 6d. each (Bound); Vol. V., 6s. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry GHaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 4. The History of the Sooiete des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprioge, late Secretary to the Society, is. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2*. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottis- woode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A. Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). is. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lunge, J.U.D. 2s. 6d.  ## p. 252 (#694) ############################################ 11 AD VER TISEMENTS. ^l)e §>ociefp of Mutyoxs (gncotporateb). PRESIDENT. O-EOBGE MEREDITH. COUNCIL. The Earl of Drsart. Austin Dobson. A. Cohan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Dubourg. Prop. Michakl Foster, F.R.S. D. W. FRE8HFIBLD. Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Qosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. RUDYARD KlPLING. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Lecky, P.C., M.P. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mub.Doo. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Barbie. A. W. 1 Beckett. Robert Bateman. F. E. Beddabd, F.R.S. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. Algustinb Bibbell, M.P. Rev. Prof. Bonney, F.R.S. Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Right Hon. Lord Burghclere, P.C. Hall Caine. Egebton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clayden. Edwabd Clodd. w. mobbis colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Mabtin Conway. F. Mabion Crawford. Right Hon. G. N. Curzon, P.C, M.P. Herman C Mekivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lobd Pirbrioht, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Feederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herbies Pollock, w. bapti8te scoone8. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Spbigge. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Stobr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. A. W. X Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. MORBIS COLLES. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge Hon. Counsel — E. M. Undeedown, Q.C COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—H. Rider Haggabd. Sir W. Mabtin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. Anthony Hope Hawkins. J. M. Lely. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C Villiers Stanford, Mus.D. (Chairman) Jacques Blumenthal. Sir A. C Mackenzie, Mus.Doo. Henry Nobman. Francis Storr. Solicitors f ^IELD> Boscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. o %ct ors | q Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones (Chairman). A. W. a Beckett. Edward Rose. -street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thbino, B-A. OFFICES: 4, Pobtugal Stbeet, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C .A.. IP. W^TT &c SOF, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON", W.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. f TYPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest ^ process. ^ OPINIONS OP CLIENTS.—Distinguished Author:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever Been." Lady or Title:—"The , work waB very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." MISS &ENTKY, ELDON CHAMBKR8, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C.  ## p. 253 (#695) ############################################ XL he Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. io.] MARCH i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances nhould be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be Bent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. 1/^OR some years it has been the practice to insert, in f* every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &e., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals bis true character, and Bhould be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the oost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both "ides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true : but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on tbe chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may oome. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none tor exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. Z 2  ## p. 254 (#696) ############################################ 254 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. ~T7> VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive JjJ advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of hiB business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions oonneoted with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. MEMBERS are informed: 1. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. That it submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree- ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene- rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured will be forwarded upon detailod application. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works only for those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days' notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi- cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence; does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray postage. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a "Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a " Register of Wants and Wanted" is open. Members are invited to communicate their requirements to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to Btate that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. 11HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6«. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive ehort papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send thoir names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any khid, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communioate to the Editor any points connected with their work whiob it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch iB aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in. which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors' Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-oourt, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do thiB, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest  ## p. 255 (#697) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 1 CoBt of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any gums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. THE Secretary would be obliged if those members of the Society and others who have entered into dramatic contracts would kindly forward to him copies of the same, together with any notes showing the difficulties to which dramatic authors are exposed. The Secretary, at the desire of the Committee, is undertaking a work dealing with dramatic and musical contracts on the same lines as the "Methods of Publish- ing " already issued by the Society. Those members of the Society who have state- ments of account involving the cost of production would oblige the Secretary by forwarding the statements to the offices of the Society, together with a sample of the page of the book if possible. The Secretary is undertaking on behalf of the Society a fresh edition of the " Cost of Produc- tion." All information, therefore, from members and others will be useful. At the General Meeting of Feb. 17, Mr. Perry Coste asked how many members had replied to the circular letter on the publication of the list of members. The Secretary was unable at the moment to give the number, hut promised to look up the point. He has now done so, and finds that between eight and nine hundred members sent in an answer to the circular. From private inquiries it would appear that those who did not reply desired no change. It is, indeed, obvious that those who wanted a change would have taken this opportunity of expressing their desire. OUR PRESIDENT'S BIRTHDAY. ME. MEREDITH received the following letter on Saturday, Feb. 12. It was a private letter, was signed by thirty men and women of letters, but was not sent from the Society, where the occasion was unfortunately not remembered :— "To George Meredith: "Some comrades in letters who have long valued your work send you a cordial greeting upon your seventieth birthday. "You have attained the first rank in literature, after many years of inadequate recognition. From first to last you have been true to yourself, and have always aimed at the highest mark. We are rejoiced to know that merits once perceived by only a few are now appreciated by a wide and steadily growing circle. We wish you many years of life, during which you may continue to do good work, cheered by the consciousness of good work already achieved, and encouraged by the certainty of a hearty welcome from many sympathetic readers. "(Signed.) J. M. Barrie, Walter Besant, Augustine Birrell, James Bryce, Austin Dobson, Conan Doyle, Edmund Gosse, R. B. Haldane, Thomas Hardy, Frederic Harrison, "John Oliver Hobbes," Henry James, R. C. Jebb, Andrew Lang, W. E. H. Lecky, M. Londin, F. W. Maitland, Alice Meynell, John Morley, F. W. H. Myers, James Payn, Frederick Pollock, Anne Thackeray Ritchie, Henry Sidgwick, Leslie Stephen, Algernon Charles SwiNr burne, Mary A. Ward, G. F. Watts, Theodore Watts-Dunton, Wolseley." Mr. Meredith, acknowledging it in a letter to Mr. Leslie Stephen, wrote: "The recognition that I have always worked honestly to my best, coming from the men and women of highest distinction, touches me deeply. Pray let it be known to them how much they encourage and support me.'' LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—General Meeting. f~|"\HE annual general meeting of the Incorpo- | rated Society of Authors was held on Feb. 17, at 4 p.m., in the rooms of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, 20, Hanover-square, W Mr. fl. Rider Haggard  ## p. 256 (#698) ############################################ 256 THE AUTHOR. took the chair. Amongst those present were the following:— Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, Mr. A. W. a Beckett, Mr. "j. M. Lely, Mr. Egerton Castle, Mr. P. W. Clayden, Mr. Henry Norman, Mrs. George Corbett, Lady Colin Campbell, Mrs. Alfred Baldwin, Mr." A. E. W. Mason, Mr. Silas K. Hocking, Mr. Mowbray Marras, Mr. Edwin Pugh, Mrs. Pennell, Mr. Edward Rose, Mr. Mackenzie Bell, the Rev. Dr, S. Kinns, Miss H. M. Stanton, Mr. Perry Coste, and a great many other members. Mr. Hagoard, on rising, apologised for the absence of Sir Martin Conway, who, as Chairman of the Society for 1898, ought to have occupied his position. He then proceeded to comment on the report of the Society. He stated that the Society was in a flourishing condition, and had elected 180 members during the past year. He went on to explain how the work of the Society had increased enormously during the past year, but he was sorry to say that there were still a good many authors who did not belong to the body. He hoped that all authors would stand by their profession, since even, although individually they might not benefit by the action of the Society, yet collectively they did so benefit, and he trusted that all members present would do their best to establish amongst other authors that esprit dc corps which was necessary to support the profession, and to raise it to its proper status. He submitted that all those members who placed their cases in the Secretary's hands should be pre- pared to carry them through the courts, as it was useless for the Society to take up serious action on behalf of its members if that action was ulti- mately liable to fail owing to the member con- cerned not being desirous of giving evidence. He then stated that the Society had on behalf of its members carried through certain claims against bankrupt papers, but had been unsuccess- ful in obtaining any satisfaction from such papers. The committee now proposed to try and pass a short Bill by which contributors to magazines should be reckoned as preferential creditors, together with clerks, servants, and other em- ployes. He put forward, as an instance, the case of a magazine which fell into difficulties, then issued debentures, the debentures being taken up by people interested in the company. The com- pany becoming involved, the debenture-holders foreclosed, and although the goodwill of the magazine was sold for a large amount the con- tributors were unable to obtain anything, all the money being absorbed by the debenture debt. This was a very unsatisfactory position so far as the authors were concerned. He suggested that if members in the first instance referred to the Secretary with regard to the papers to which they were contributing it would be very possible that they would get such information as would prevent them from further dealings with such papers, and thus they might be spared a very unpleasant position. Mr. Haggard further mentioned that the Society had a short Copyright Bill before Parliament which they hoped to be able to pass through the Commons. The Bill had already- passed the second reading in the House of Lords this Session on the 14th inst., and the Society would use their utmost efforts to secure its passage through the House of Commons. He quoted Lord Knutsford's speech with reference to this Bill. The quotation ran as follows: "Viscount Knutsford thought that there was just a chance that a Bill like that now before their Lordships might get through the other House. On the other hand, a Copyright Consolidation Bill, such as the noble Earl had referred to, would have little or no chance of passing." The Chair- man next referred to the discount question which had occupied the work of a sub-committee of the Society during the autumn, and he repeated the reasons for the Society having been unable to adopt the publishers' suggestions—viz., that in the first instance the committee had come to the decision from the evidence before them that no preventive measures would prove effectual, but would always be evaded, and that apart from this question the proposals of the publishers were really an interference with the doctrines of free trade. He also pointed out that the com- mittee had deemed it unwise from the answers they had received to publish a list of the members of the Society. Before sitting down he asked whether any member had any comment to make on the report. Mr. Perry Coste then rose and asked some questions. It was stated in the report that only one-third had consented to the ptiblication of their names. He would like to know how many had actually answered, as it might be deduced that those who had not answered had given their consent by silence. The Chairman pointed out that he could not at the moment reply to this question, not having the figures at hand, but that the numbers would be printed in The Author. In answer to further questions, he stated that it was not a fair deduc- tion to draw that those who had not answered had desired the publication of their names. Another question referred to the publication of some suggestions made by Mr. Perry Coste in The Author on the occasion of the last annual meeting. He wanted to know whether any members of the Society had expressed an opinion upon them, and the Chairman replied that no one  ## p. 257 (#699) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 257 had written to the Secretary with regard to the matter. After this discussion a vote of thanks was proposed by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kinns and seconded by Mr. Silas K. Hocking, to the Chair- man, and carried unanimously. Subsequently a vote of thanks was also passed to the Committee and the Secretary for the work they had done during the past year, and this was responded to by Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins. II.—Authors and Debenture-Holders. The following letters have appeared in the Daily Chronicle, addressed to the editor of that journal:— "Sir,—I quote the following from your report of the meeting of the Society of Authors yester- day :— The Chairman dwelt on the hardships of eontribntors to a certain periodical—cited as an example, and also name- less—who had been unable to get paid for articles, althongh the society had taken np the matter. To meet such a con- dition of things, it was proposed to promote a Bill in Parliament. The object of it—and here were the typical details - would be to give contributors to periodicals, np to a limited amount, a precedence over debenture-holders in instances where the periodical was conducted by a limited company. "Why should authors have precedence over debenture-holders? Take my own case, for instance, which is probably connected with the periodical referred to. I was induced to take over debentures for a considerable amount, had to pay up fully all calls, never received the last year's interest for them, and am required by my fellow- authors to 'take a back seat.' 'In the name of all that's inflammable,' as Mr. Pickwick says, where is the justice or reason of this? Such a proposal savours of childishness.—I am, &c, "Geo. B. Burqin. "Feb. 18." "Sir,—In reply to Mr. Burgin's letter, pub- lished in your issue of the 21st inst., it seems clear that he must have known something of the inner working of the company to which he refers, otherwise he would not have taken over the debentures. He will reap his reward when the debenture-holders are paid in full out of the sum realised by the sale of the company's assets. Other contributors will not be similarly protected. But if the Bill of the Authors' Society had been passed into law before this particular case arose, he would not have needed to protect his own interests by becoming a debenture holder, and other contributors would have enjoyed a protection of which he apparently now possesses a monopoly. Most magazine writers are not capitalists, but humble folk working with brain and hands for their daily bread. They are eminently deserving of a protection similar to that extended to the wage-earners attached to any industry.—Yours faithfully, "Martin Conway, "Chairman of the Authors' Society. "Feb. 22." . III.—The Eight to Destroy. A member of the Society forwarded a MS. to a publisher about a year ago. The publisher stated that he was unable to undertake the publication of the MS. at his own cost, and asked the author to send stamps for its return. This the author neglected to do through inadver- tence. Nearly a year afterwards he received a post card from the publisher stating that unless stamps were sent for the return of the MS. he would have to destroy it. The position taken up by the publisher is legally unsound. Even though the MS. may be forwarded to him without his expressed desire, he is bound to take ordinary care of it. If he wittingly burnt or destroyed the MS. it would be a case of the grossest negligence, and he would be liable to the author for the value of the MS. This is clearly the legal position, and authors are referred to the number of The Author of Feb., 1897, where Counsel's opinion on the matter was fully set forth. _ IV.—Pirated Music. The Daily Mail for Feb. 8 announces that the music publishers of London are going to appeal for Parliamentary protection against the sale of pirated songs at a very cheap rate in the streets. There has been a meeting of the publishers, who have presented a memorial to the Home Secretary calling attention to the publication of these pirated editions. The piracy is not only of the music and the words, but of the words separately. It is hoped to get an Attorney-General's fiat to institute criminal proceedings under the Printers' Act against the offenders. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, Feb. 18. ~]^TO publisher does more for American litera- ls ture than Houghton, Mifflin and Co. Their Riverside Literature Series has a particular popular value in putting the best works of the country within the reach of every- body, usually with valuable notes. Their last volume, just published, includes a number of tales and poems by Edgar Allen Poe, and has an introduction by Professor W. P. Trent, who  ## p. 258 (#700) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. recently published a book on "Southern States- men of the Old Regime." Professor Trent points out what is undoubtedly true, that Poe's position is unique among our authors for the exaggerated praise ■which he has received ou the one hand, and the absurd detraction which he has received on the other. Professor Trent thinks Poe's critical work is dead as literature, but that his poetry stands much higher. These volumes are published at fifteen cents in paper and forty cents in linen. Another recent publi- cation in this series is, the great debate between Robert Young Hayne and Daniel Webster, oue of the most dramatic occurrences in American history. A book on America, which is soon to be pub- lished in England, by Mrs. Atherton, is a reminder that this lady is taken very much more seriously in England when she writes about American affairs than she is by Americans. As her book is on the subject of "American Wives and English Husbands," it may be recalled that the Scribners published a novel last fall called "American Nobility" by a Frenchwoman. It can hardly be stated too often that almost all the departments of American life which he touches are discussed with greater accuracy by Mr. Bryce than by any other foreign critic. It is well known by this time that the Mac- millan Company is extending its field rapidly, especially along the lines of American literature. Among their recent books are, "A History of the United States," by Professor Channing, of Harvard, and some essays on the "Civil War and Reconstruction," by Professor Dunning, of Columbia. At the same time that they go in for such sterling works, their desire to build up a very large business is leading them into what it leads so many publishers into—the issuing of a lot of inferior work. A volume on "American Literature," by Professor Katharine Lee Bates, of Wellesley, for instance, adds nothing to any subject treated in it; and there are a lot of novels, books of travel, &c, without the least value, published purely for immediate sale. I do not call attention to this in order to disapprove of it, but merely to mark one of the results of extending the American business of such a promi- nent house. The same firm has just published a work on "The Finances of New York City," by Edward Durand. Among the most interesting books which will be published within a month or so is a collection called "Emerson, and other Essays," by John Jay Chapman, to be put out by the Scribners. Mr. Chapman is a young lawyer who has recently gone into politics to a certain extent, and also into magazine criticism, in both of which fields he is attracting decided attention. His essays on Browning, Whitman, Stevenson, Michael Angelo's last sonnets, and other literary subjects, are some- times erratic, but always vigorous. The Scribners are also about to publish a book called " The Eugene Field I Knew," by Francis Wilson, which is a story of a long and intimate friendship between the Chicago poet and the only one of our younger actors who is especially known for his interest in literature. Francis Wilson j>lays in the broadest musical farce, but, outside of the theatre, his life is spent in a house full of the best books, and he is a man of real culture. Another book just out, worth mentioning for observers of our literature, is "An Introduction to American Literature," by Henry S. Pancoast, published by Henry Holt and Co. "The Hon. Peter Stirling," by Paul Liecester Ford, is in its sixteenth edition. The success of this book points to the popularity of a field which has been much exploited in American fiction. Politics are now in a formative, interesting, and important state, giving the best kind of material to the novelist. Doubtless the only reason that more use is not made of them is that so little is known about them practically by the kind of people who do our writing. In connection with the talk about Stephen Phillips, it may be noticed that more poetry is read in this country than is commonly supposed. Of course, fiction leads by far, but poetry stands comparison with any other form of literature. Of 543 manuscripts submitted to a Boston publish- ing house in 1897, 212 were fiction; next came verse, 69. There were 44 books for young people; and the remainder were essays, history, travel, biography, and religious works. Our young pub- lishers are showing themselves particularly willing to put out volumes of verse which have any merit. Two subjects connected with the book market in this country have recently been fully dis- cussed by correspondents in the New York Times. One on " The Best Books for Children " resulted in nothing of any value, only a very long collec- tion of lists having nothing in common; but an article by Mrs. Sherwood—a sort of social autho- rity in the newspaper world—ou "What Society Reads," was so plausible that it raised an interest- ing amount of indignant protest. Her opinion was that the smart set reads mainly the most lurid, sentimental, and entirely trashy novels of the day, and that literature of any solidity or worth, even in fiction, is practically unknown in the fashionable circles. Taking all this with a grain of salt, it is yet undoubtedly true that the people in this country who are most conspicuous socially, lack altogether the literary  ## p. 259 (#701) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 259 taste and training which society has in some other lands. The bound volumes of the principal magazines of 1897 suggest some of the individual features. In the Century Magazine the most conspicuous features are Dr. Mitchell's latest novel and Gen. Porter's scries of articles on " Campaigning with Grant," which is the extension of the war paper idea which sent the circulation of this magazine so ripidly upward a few years ago. This maga- zine has, perhaps, more poetry than its rivals, but almost all the verse now published here is without value. - Its miscellaneous articles include many sporting papers and tales of travel. The Scribner's Magazine runs to serials more than any of the others. "The Conduct of Great Busi- nesses," "Undergraduate Life at the Colleges,' Gibson's articles on London, are among them. Harper's has a less definable character than either of the others. It is run more by instinct—by a general feeling or mood of the hour; but pictu- r< st|ue descriptive articles and fiction of the safe and original kind are prominent in it. In the drama some recent English work has been successful, and some decidedly the reverse. Mr. Esmond's "One Summer's Day," which John Drew has just brought to New York, after giving it in other cities, has fallen more flat than that popular actor's productions usually do. "The Tree of Knowledge," on the other hand, by E. C. Carton, is having a steady though not an extreme success. If England is to see " The Conquerors," it will find that whatever success it has is largely a sneers de scandalc, of a rather cheap sort. As a general rule, where indecent drama pays in New York, it is because the large mass of floating population supports it. These 300,000 strangers who are in the city every day, go out of curiosity to see what residents of the city have Ion c since tired of. Norman Hap<*ood. MR. NUTT AGAIN. TN writing to the Academy in Deceml>er last, I Mr. Nutt began by saying, "Nobody heeds statements made by The Author, which are as little likely to mislead as those, let ine say, of La Libre Parole or the New York Sun." In the n< xt letter he says: "I am not a reader of The Author. I do not think 1 hare seen more than two numbers in my life." The italics are ours. A few lines further on he speaks of the "base- lessness of many statements made" in The Author. Yet he never sees it or reads it: he has only seen two numbers. Further on he says that those statements "have since been repeated in VOL. VIII. The Author without one word of qualification." Yet he never sees The Author. Now, in the face of these assertions, which one mint with sorrow describe as unmannerly, Mr. Nutt sends me a long letter about the case which I have exposed already. He asks me to print this letter!!! \ shall not do so, because he cannot in reason wish to set his case in a better light in a paper which nobody heeds, and partly because everything that has to We said upon his last letter has been said—except one point, on which there will perhaps be something more to be said next month. I would only extract from it two passages, which would be amusing if they were not somewhat pitiful. You remember how, in the Academy—see Last month's Author—he laid it down that a 6s. book contained 388 pages "at least." I called attention to the word "at least," because by means of that limitation he thought he would bowl over our figures. He now calls it an " average." No: nothing at all was said of an average. He also endeavours to call away attention from the main issue by offering to get up a jury to decide how many " overs" there are. What can any jury tell us that we do not know? Of "overs" there may be many—few—none. That is all that can be said. On Kisk. In consequence of Mr. Nutt's assertion that The Author has stated on several occasions that "publishers always recover their outlay and never make any losses," I have been looking back through the pages of The Author. I cannot find that statement made even once, not to speak of repetitions. I do find, however, several state- ments on the subject of risk. Thus I find, Vol. I., p. 165: "The publisher, who very, very seldom knowingly runs any risk at all, may lose, because in all trades there are mistakes made, on one or two books, but as the general result of a large business he is certain, as his business is now conducted, not to lose." This was in answer to an argument that he might have no risk on one or two books, but that, on the whole, there is risk. My point was the exact eon- verse. And it is most certainly true, as the Hourishing condition of the trade shows, and the number of new publishers constantly springing up. If it were not true the trade would collapse. But that is not what Mr. Nutt says I stated. Again, Vol. I., p. 209, it is stated: "In no trade need there be fewer losses than in the publishing trade. They very seldom—it cannot be repeated too often, or be too strongly asserted—they very seldom take any risk whatever." When we see publisher after publisher expecting the writer to A A  ## p. 260 (#702) ############################################ 260 THE AUTHOR. pay for production: when the young writer goes from one to the other in vain, the truth of this statement becomes manifest. Fortunately there are exceptions. Again, in Vol. II., p. 108, I pointed out that the publisher's risk, where there was any, was the liability, not the outlay, less the first returns. In other words, if the book costs .£100, and the first three months' returns were £ 101, there would be no money paid, and no risk; if .£99, there would be a risk of £1 to be covered by following sales. In the same volume, p. 179, I call Mr. Putnam to account for saying "that the Authors' Society contend that the publishers never take any risk." For "never," I say, he must put "rarely," and then it will be true. And again, p. 146, I call the attention of Mr. Lang to a passage in which he accuses me of say- ing that "there is no risk in publishing." Plenty of risk, but very few publishers take a bit more than they can help. All this, however, is not what Mr. Nutt alleges. Now, I have been through the first four volumes, and this is what I find. It is all most perfectly and absolutely true. But it is not what Mr. Nutt alleges. I am now, however, waiting for a reply to my last letter, the fourth he has received on the subject, inviting him to tell me where he' found those passar/es tchich he quotes. W. B. NOTES AND NEWS. [N another column will be found a note from the Secretary, inviting readers to send him (1) copies of dramatic or musical agree- ments; (2) copies of publishers' accounts where t he author had consented to an administration of his property on a profit-sharing agreement. In the latter case it would be well to lend the Secre- tary a copy of the book, in order to ascertain the size of the page, the form of the type, the quality of the paper, and the true cost of the binding. If readers will only help in this manner, the new edition of the "Cost of Production" may be greatly helped. For my own part, as I was Chairman when the first edition was produced, I know what great pains were taken to get at the facts. I also know that nothing the Society has ever done has produced such widespread benefits to writers: that the figures liave been most impu- dently denied: but no denial has ever been accom- panied by any proof: that estimates such as the three published in last month's Author have proved the general correctness up to the hilt, and t hai printers have expressed themselves (privately) as quite willing to execute work in bulk, not by single volumes, on these figures. At the same time I have always felt somewhat dissatisfied with them: they were always put forward as approximate, I wanted to be nearer the truth, and now I think we shall get nearer. The result will be, I believe, to show that pro- duction costs less than what we advanced. The composition will be perhaps more: the machining certainly less: the paper very much less: the binding less. As for the advertising, that was put down in the rough at ,£20 and ,£30. Now for an ordinary book — say of essays, memoirs, minor travels, biography, &c.— or for the kind of novel which is certain not to get beyond seven or eight hundred—of which there are a great numl>er— the average publisher does not advertise to any- thing like that extent. He may exchange with monthly magazines for nothing: but as regards advertisements for which he has to pay, .£ 10 is about his limit. And this means $d. a volume on such a sale. On the other hand, in the few instances where a book has a wide circulation, instead of £20 the advertisements mav run up to £50 and more. I have seen a note, which I neglected to cut out, in a certain paper, to the effect that a pub- lisher, or some publishers, design the establishment of small book shops about the town. This seems like a deliberate attempt to extinguish, once for all, the retail bookseller. Perhaps they propose to recognise in this way the fact of his extinction. But he is not dead yet, and perhaps he will recover. We have suggested certain steps, and are ready to suggest other steps, by which his position may be improved. These recommenda- tions are in the hands of the Booksellers' Associa- tion. They have tried the publishers, and have received from them the recommendation to become their slaves. I venture to think that if they will turn to the authors in a conciliatory spirit, things might be arranged which would really advance their cause—which is the cause of those who write, but not necessarily the cause of the middleman. Meantime the book shops might teach their proprietors the kind of risk which the booksellers run daily. It should prove a whole- some lesson. A member of the Society sends me a collection of reviews of two books by himself. There are nine of the first and dozens of the second. They are all laudatory; some are enthusiastic. They all appeared in journals of good standing—some of the highest standing. Why, asks the author, have my books, in spite of these reviews, proved financially disastrous? This is a question which has lx>en put by many writers. The answer seems  ## p. 261 (#703) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. to be, first, that people no longer care much for the "opinions" of reviewers. Their authority has very greatly decreased. If further proof were wanted, cases might be adduced of books virulently attacked by reviewers which proceeded immediately and without the least check to a great circulation. One is not blaming the reviewer, but stating the position. What is the reason for the decay in the authority of the review? The critic of the day is not so savage as his prede- cessor of the earlier part of the century. He is more polite, and he does not, as a rule, jump upon every book as if it was a personal enemy. He is, I think, a more competent critic and a safer guide. How, then, has it come to pass that he is so little regarded? I have talked this matter over with many journalists. I find that their opinion is the same as my own. The decay of authority in the literary columns is mainly due to the prevalent desire to review everything that is published. Now, as has been pointed out in this paper before, it is impossible—perfectly im- possible—by any conceivable rate of pay, to get a reviewer to read a book which he has to discuss in a dozen or twenty lines. The result is often a weak stream of generalities, with a word of fault-find- ing, a thing quite easy for any book ever written, whether it be read or not—and only vague words of praise, because praise if it is sincere must be based on actual reading. All journalists seem to be agreed on one point: there must be a selection of books for review as there is a selection of news and letters and communications. There are still admirable reviews in the daily papers, but even their authority is lowered by the column of short notices and paragraphs which do not even tell the reader the nature, the bare outlines, of the book reviewed. A publisher may say that if he sends a paper all his books he expects something in return. It has been reported that some of them hint at the value of advertisements. As regards the latter argument, it is certain that books must be advertised, and that they must be advertised by preference in those journals whose literary autho- rity stands high. As regards the value of all the Press copies, it must be remembered that if they belong to works which do not sell largely, the value of the Press copy is the value of the remainder copy—that and no more: that in the few instances where they belong to successful works, their value, which is represented by the trade price of each, not the advertised price, would be fully repaid, and a hundredfold repaid, by a single serious review devoted to one out of twenty. ^ We are constantly told that we are not a book- buying nation. Yet when figures get into print they are amazing: there are, for instance, over 400 publishers in London alone: many of them are quite small publishers: some are companies which publish religious books: some are pub- lishers of cheap educational books: taken all together they produce about 6000 books every year, which, counting only one edition of one thousand to each, shows that 6,000,000 copies are published at least, if not sold. It is not possible to arrive, even approximately, at the numbers actually bought by the public, but as publishers produce books to be sold, it is probable that we may reckon on the sale of three-fourths of that number, namely, 4,500,000 copies. In addition, there is the sale of books of current literature and that of non-copyright works. It is quite impossible to estimate the number of books belonging to the latter class. Sometimes, however, there are gleams of light. Thus -. a writer in Chambers's Journal speaks of the enormous sale of Scott. He says that of their cheap editions, Messrs. A. and C. Black, between 1851 and 1890, sold 3,000,000 copies. This statement is very much below the mark. I am enabled to state that the sale of their sixpenny edition between 1866 and i8yo amounted to the enormous number of five millions and a half! Other publishers have produced editions of Scott which have also, perhaps, sold by millions. But Scott is not the only writer who has attained universal popularity. What about Dickens r What about Marryat? What about individual books, such as "The Woman in White": "The Cloister and the Hearth": "The Mill on the Floss," &c.? When our free libraries are every day crowded with readers: when all the available books are taken out and read at home: when books are printed ready for circu- lation, if they are not circulated, by the million, we cannot be accused of being a people who do not read: we cannot be accused of being a people who do not buy books. The meaning of the " tax" commonly supposed to be laid upon publishers alone by the rule of supplying a copy of every book, or every new- edition, to five libraries has never, I believe, hitherto been examined or pointed out. A recent letter in the Times made a series of most amazing statements which nobody challenged. Indeed, another writer called attention to the figures as "fair," which was still more amazing than the previous statement. 1. The writer first gave as his conclusion that the average price of a l>ook is 5? As to  ## p. 262 (#704) ############################################ 262 THE AUTHOR. that average, inquiry can lie made when the source of his discovery is accessible. Let it pass, however, for the present. He then says that when a publisher sends a book to the libraries he loses 5*. by every volume. That makes, for 6000 volumes, £7 500 a year. He next assumes that there has been the same output of books every year for the last sixty years, an assump- tion which naturally enables him to put the publishers' "tax" at a very high figure indeed. i. "The publisher loses 5*. by every book pub- lished at that price which he gives away." Tiet us take the statement. The trade price of a 5s. book is generally 2*. lod. What the publisher loses, there- fore, is not 58., but 2s. lod. But a great number of books are now pub- lished on a royalty. On such books the author's royalty would be, say, I*. The publisher's loss is, therefore, not 5.V., nor 2s. iod., but is. lod. But, again, most books, the vast majority of l>ooks, do not sell right out. Many leave "remainders" which are sold at a few pence each. Now, in every rase where there is a remainder there has been no loss by this ta.v at all. For instance. If an edition of 1000 has been printed, and after the sale is over there are twenty copies remaining, which with the five given to the libraries make twenty-five, the demand has not been equal to the supply by twenty-five copies. How, then, can there be any loss on these five copies 3. The tax would appear to be a burden when the demand is greater than the supply, but even then new editions come out, to be followed by remainders in the long run. It is, therefore, a tax which, if it is real at all, is very small. 4. It is also real when authors print their own works for which the demand is equal to the supply. 5. It appears also to be real in the case of expensive editions, though even here the consideration of the remainder may apply. But the whole of the argument as implying a hardship on publishers is condemned by the existence of the remainder stock. It is rather late in the day to call attention to Mr. William Archer's Lecture on Living Poets— rather on the younger living poets. It was remark- able for the display of a generous spirit of appre- ciation, and a desire, quite unusual among critics, to find out in a poet all that is ljest in him. When a poet is a poet, he would have that man praised for the strength of his work when it is strong, not condemned for his work when it becomes weak: and at the same time he showed himself ready to receive with extreme intolerance the rhymester who is not a poet. The passages he quoted assured a great many living poets of his regard for them as poets. Walter Bksant. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Versohmerzen werd' ich diesen Schlag, das weiss ich, Demi was verschmerzte nicht der Mensob. T11 HE above lines are by Schiller, and are to lie I found (in a slightly different form to that quoted by "Querist" on p. 247 of The Author) in "Wallenstein's Tod," Act V., Sc. 3. Coleridge, in a note to his own translation, adds the literal rendering :— I shall grieve down this blow, of that I'm conscious: What does not man grieve down p A reference is given to the passage in Fliigel'.s Dictionary (4th edit. i8gi), under "verseh- merzen." J. E. Sandys. St. John's College, Cambridge. I beg to answer the question asked by "Querist" in The Author for Feb. The quotation is taken from Schiller's " Wallen- stein's Tod," Act V., Sc. 3. The words are put into the mouth of Wallenstein himself, and the passage in full is as follows :— Vereohmerzen werd' ich diesen Schlag. das weiss ich, Denn was verschmerzte nicht der Mensch; Vom H<"<ohsten Wie vom Gemeinsten lernt er sioh entwihnen, Denn ihn besiegen die gewalt' gen Stnnden. Bexley. Stella M. During. I think I can answer the question put by your correspondent "Querist." He asks where the following lines come from :— Ich will versohmerzen diesen Sohlag, das weiss ich, Denn was verschmerzte nicht der Mensch. I believe that they come from Schiller's "Wallenstein," Act V., Sc. 1, and that they rightly run as follows :— Yerschmerzen werd' ich diesen Schlag, das weiss ich; Denn was verschmerzte nicht der Mensch? Coleridge in his "Wallenstein " translates them thus :— This anguish will be wearied down, I know; What pang is permanent with man? And he adds in a note that this is "a very inadequate translation of the original." Liverpool. C. B. Roylance-Krnt.  ## p. 263 (#705) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 263 MB. BUSKIN AS PUBLISHER "f I ^HE publication of Mr. Ruskin's books is I an experiment which, should not be omitted. It is well known that tbe author has been his own publisher for many years; but the details of the concern are not generally known. There was no special friction between the Messrs. Smith and Elder and the author of 'Modern Painters' which led to the change. It was a matter of principle, far deeper than could possibly be involved in a passing dispute. It was simply that the author felt that the men who produced books did not get their proper share of the rewards, and that the public did not get the full value of their outlay. And the reason, he felt, was that too great a propor- tion was swallowed up in the transit from author to public. Therefore, it seemed clear that the remedy should be found in the establishment of closer contact between writer and reader. Here was his problem, and he resolved to experiment. "Fortunately, Mr. Ruskin had discovered a man after his own heart on whom he could rely for help. This man was a working-man student he had met in his drawing class at Great Ormond- street, in whom he thought he saw possibilities of better work. He had at once taken him in hand, and later business developments have shown the instinct to have been a right one. It was in 1854 that the Professor and his future publisher first met, and during the three suc- ceeding years their relationship was of the closest kind. George Allen was taught engraving and etching by Mr. Le Keux, who had done some exquisite work for Mr. Ruskin, and then some mezzotint instruction was given by Thomas Lupton, who had been engraver to Turner. "Having obtained his engraver and otherwise useful man, the next thing was to get his printing press and make arrangements for binding. These were all established in the beautiful and quiet village of Orpington in Kent, and the master personally presided over the works for several years. It was a gigantic undertaking, and critics laughed at the publishing business ' planted in the middle of a country field'; but it became a pheno- menal success. "The first book issued was 'Fors Clavigera,' and an early number of that work contained the following explanation:— It costs me £V> to print 1000, and £5 more to give yon a pictnre, and a penny off my sevenpence to send yon tbe book; a thousand sixpences are £2b; when yon have bought a thousand ' Fors' of me, I shall therefore have £5 for my trouble, and my Bingle shopman, Mr. Allen, £5 for bis; we won't work for less, either of us. And I mean to sell all my large books, henceforward, in tbe same way, well printed, well bound, and at a fixed price; and the trade may charge VOL. VIII. a proper and acknowledged profit in retailing the book. Then the public will know what they are about, and so will tradesmen. I, the first producer, answer, to tbe best of my power, for the quality of the book—paper, binding, eloquence, and all; the retail dealer oharges what he ought to charge openly; and if the public do not choose to give it, they can't get the book. That is what I call legitimate business. "Since then the business has steadily increased, and, when such big undertakings as the produc- tion of a new edition of ' Modern Painters' and 'The Stones of Venice' were proceeded with, the accommodation of the Kentish village was found insufficient, and a London house had to be opened. The main work, however, of the making of the books of Mr. Ruskin is still done amid the pleasant surroundings of the village of Orpington."—From "Character Sketch of John Ruskin," in the Revieic of Reviews, Jan. 15. THE CRITERION OP LITERARY EXCELLENCE. THE question recently raised by Professor Courthope, as to the extent to which the principle of authority may be introduced into the province of literature, is one of more than academic interest. Owing to the fact that in our own time criticism has run riot, and, in some cases, actually degenerated into the mere expression of egoistic partiality, it is assumed that differences of taste are in their nature irreconcilable and incomprehensible, and that, therefore, there can be no criterion of literary excellence. Now, this notion rests on a fallacy of the worst description. The ignorance or incompetence of individual critics should not lead us to the false conclusion that loose or bad criticism has any intrinsic value. The appreciation of literary productions requires not merely education, but a rare faculty for dis- tinguishing between superior and inferior work. The tendency to praise or dispraise either a poem or a novel indiscriminately—or perhaps through interested motives—of which unfortunately we find too many examples nowadays, cannot be too strongly condemned. If criticism had not become such an " unweeded garden," the irrespon- sible or dishonest reviewer would be treated as a species of blackleg, and would be deservedly banished from the world of letters. There is such a thing as sound criticism, and the just appreciation of authors and of their specific works is entirely within the range of possibility. The whims or prejudices of indivi- duals can in no way modify the truth of this pro- position. Mr. Alfred Austin may regard Byron B B  ## p. 264 (#706) ############################################ 264 THE AUTHOR. as the greatest poet of the nineteenth century, while Professor Dowden may dogmatically assert that the author of " Childe Harold " is " dead and buried." The opinions of these gentlemen do not determine the question as to Byron's real place amongst poets. Nor is a collection of such opinions entitled necessarily to greater weight, however distinguished may be the persons who happen to give expression to them, unless they are found to be based on critical canons which are logically indisputable. For this reason, nothing can be more grotesque than the hysterical violence with which Mr. Swinburne in some of his attempts at criticism deuounces poets whom he dislikes and eulogises those whom he admires. Unreasoning likes and dislikes are as fatal to right judgment in dealing with literary works as they are to our true knowledge of human life and character. Curiously enough, this subject has hitherto received no attention from writers on aesthetics. It must be acknowledged that Mr. Buskin in his "Modern Painters " did something to enable us to apply fixed principles to the pictorial art; and yet his exaggerated estimate of Turner shows that he himself was not exempt from that enslavement to blind prejudice which is the worst vice of a critic. It may seem a perilous thing to lay down that every production which comes under the head of literature may be subjected to an infallible criterion. Such a statement appears, at first sight, opposed to the experimental method of reason- ing, of which Mill was the most noteworthy representative. But literature is not a matter of experiment. It is essentially the pursuit of an ideal, and when it ceases to have any ideal, it ceases to be literature. This explains the failure of M. Zola's attempts to establish a school of fiction on a purely materialistic and experimental basis. Novels may be transcripts of life; but, if they are only transcripts of human animality, they are utterly false, for they ignore the essen- tial elements in man's being. The Bougon- Macquart series will be regarded by posterity as sawdust—the mere skin and bones of humanity. Even -the late Guy de Maupassant, whom M. Zola claimed as a disciple, threw off the yoke of materialism, and in "Pierre et Jean" and "Mont-Oriol" showed that he recognised will and conscience as factors in human existence which could not be overlooked. What, theu, is this criterion which should be applied to every literary work, and which, if properly applied, will unerringly determine its worth? We may lay down four canons, or rules, on the subject:—A literary work should have unity of idea; it should have cohesion of structure; it should enlarge or enrich our knowledge of life or of the universe; and it should be written in a style possessing either originality or distinction. No work which fails to comply wirh these canons can ever be ranked amongst the masterpieces of literature. If we apply the test to Shakespeare, we shall find that his greatest plays fulfil the requirements of the rules above laid down. For instance, it cannot be denied that " Hamlet" and "Macbeth" exhibit unity of idea and cohesion of structure ; that they add to our knowledge of the human heart, and reveal the workings of the passions in a new light; and finally, that they are written in a style at once dignified and marvellously original. The same observations may be made with regard to Goethe's "Faust." Coming down to writers of a later epoch, we find that the canons we have formulated may be applied to a book like "Gulliver's Travels," though scarcely to a work such as "Bobinson Crusoe," for Defoe, with all his wonderful gifts as a story-teller, had a commonplace style, and certainly "the light that never was on sea or land" does not cast its radiance over his rather prosaic narrative. According to our standard, "Tom Jones " must be considered a masterpiece of fiction. Of course Balzac's "Comedie Humaine," viewed in its tout ensemble instead of being taken in fragments, will harmonise with our canons of criticism. The poets of the century will be found nearly all to fall short of the highest standard of literary excellence, if the rules we have formulated be correct. Perhaps the only exceptions are Cole- ridge's "Ancient Mariner," and two works of Shelley, "The Ceuci" and "Prometheus Un- bound." Byron's magnificent " Childe Harold," and his astounding serio-comic epic "Don Juan" (if such a description of it is allowable) are, after" all, only fragments. Wordsworth, too, has produced only an immense fragment in "The Excursion"; and in any event the inequality of his style causes the work to fall short of per- fection. It may be dangerous, having regard to the tenacity of old-fashioned prejudice in favour of individual authors, to pursue the subject much further. Scott will always have his admirers ; but none of the Waverley novels will stand the test of our criterion. It might not unjustly perhaps be claimed for Thackeray that, in " Vanity Fair" and in "Esmond," he produced works which satisfy even this high standard of literary excellence. Ji unity of design and beauty of style alone could constitute a work of com- paratively slender dimensions a masterpiece of fiction, Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter" should  ## p. 265 (#707) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. take rank beside the greatest works in prose literature. These remarks are only tentative, for the diffi- culty of the subject is obviously enormous. Even if our general propositions be correct, their application is by no means easy. It is, however, useful to point out the path along which the critic ■of the future should travel. Personal predilection must give place to rational compirison and conscientious appreciation based on clearly- defined principles before anything like a science, •or even an art, of criticism can be said to exist. It is time that the clamorous " ego" should dis- appear from the pages of reviews, and that those who write about books should realise their organic character and the necessity for dealing with them as systematic expressions of human intelligence. D. F. Hannigan. CORRESPONDENCE. I. —" The Gentle Answer "! IRECEIVED, with a returned MS., the following printed communication from the Illustrated American Office, New York. It is in such contrast to the brevity of the English ■editorial style, and contains so much which literary beginners would do well to remember, that you may like to print it. E. L. A. Dear Sir,—We thank you heartily for the favour you have shown us in submitting this contribution. We have carefully examined it, and are sincerely sorry that it does not seem available for our use. Of course you are Aware that many considerations besides intrinsic quality must govern the acceptance of contributions. Among these considerations are the policy and scope of this journal, the space at our disposal, the matter already on hand, the previous treatment of the same theme, and the length and style of the article. Much admirable fiction is reluctantly declined because of length or because of variation from the type desired. Great numbers of pleasing and interesting photographs are returned because of pecu- liarities which make good reproduction impossible. All contributions submitted are appreciated and are thoroughly considered. On account of the limits of the editors' time, we beg that the absence of criticism or of specified reasons for the return of contributions will in all oases be kindly ■excused.—Respectfully yours,—The Editors. II. —A "Bold" Agreement. Last year I sent you a copy of an agreement from a certain firm. At that time I could not lay my hands on the enclosed copy. Yesterday I came across it, and I gladly send it to you, as it is only by showing up these publishing gentry that simple aspirants can be put on their guard. The agreement I send is too glaringly bold to take in, I should fancy, the greatest ignoramus breathing. Still, it is as well that you should see it. If I may do so, let me urge upon beginners the necessity there is for their seeking good advice before their first long effort is submitted to a publisher. Quite recently I had a reader's opinion, for the comparatively small fee of a guinea, on a story. That opinion was favourable, but the reader very candidly pointed out a flaw in the plot. The opinion was, I say, flattering, but the flaw marred the technicality of the narra- tive. Now, had I sent the MS. on its rounds, and had it been sent back to me again and again, I would, in all probability, have had some nasty things to say about stupid publishers who could not appreciate talent! The reader has put me on the right track, and I will know, when the pub- lishers say "No," that they have their hands too full to be bothered with my first decent effort. We never t>ee ourselves as others see us; nor can we realise how our grand ideas, exciting scenes, and sprightly dialogues read until an utter stranger, and one competent to offer an opinion, gives an estimate of our work. S. R. Dear Sir,—We have given the work our careful atten- tion, and our opinion of it being favourable, we have decided to offer you the following favourable terms for its pro- duction and publication, viz.: That, in consideration of a payment from you of £66 (.£36 on signing the agreement and ^£30 when you see the last proofs), we agree to produce your book, publish it at the popular price of 3s. 6d., hand- somely bound in cloth, gold lettered, good paper and type, and print a first edition of 1000 copies, to be followed by further editions as demands warrant. The expenses of all future editions would be borne entirely by us, you receiving half the profits. The above amount would constitute your sole outlay, the copyright remaining your property. Author to receive two-thirds of the prooeeda of sales on the first edition. It may be, perhaps, superfluous to mention that adver- tising, reviewing, and all the other technicalities of pub- lishing necessary for placing the book on the market, would have our especial care. We should advertise the book at our sole expense to the amount of .£10, thus bringing your name and the work well before the public —Faithfully yours, and Co. [This agreement has been sent to us, word for word the same, dozens of times. There was formerly one "firm" practising in this way. There are now two.—Ed.] III.—The "Bluggy" Element. In looking over the magazines of the day, I am reminded of an old woman who objected to her new minister's preaching on the ground that she liked to hear sermons t hat made her spinal marrow creep, for, judging by the popular taste in litera- ture, the majority of people appear to be of the same opinion. Take up almost any magazine, is there a page which does not harrow the reader's  ## p. 266 (#708) ############################################ 266 THE AUTHOR. feelings with tales of horror and crime; and, us if the pen were not powerful enough to this end, the pencil is called to its aid, and picture after picture portrays scenes of murder, bloodshed, and every conceivable horror, so that no point of misery shall miss its mark. To the sensitive reader half an hour with the magazines is as depressing in its effects as a visit to the cave of Trophonius to those who of old consulted the oracle. Instead of being cheered and calmed to face and endure the trials and vexations of life, he is led into regions dark with despair, where Thousand phantoms joined— Prompt to deeds accursed the mind. L S. IV.—Proposed Journalists' Union. Your correspondent "Still in Grub Street" has perhaps not considered that by paying after production, when dealing with authors not known to them, editors gain a certain amount of protec- tion against fraud. Not very long ago I came across a story of my own that had come out anony- mously in the St. James's Gazette a year or two before, elegantly illustrated, and under a name certainly not mine, in a monthly periodical. I communicated, of course, with the editor, but it was too late. It was not his fault, of course, that he had not read it before, and the person who had sent it to him had pressed for early payment, received it, and quitted his address. The fraud is so simple that payment after an opportunity has betn given for possible detection is the only safeguard an editor can have, and what little experience of editing I have had myself has increased my belief in the necessity for it as a general rule. Where the writer is known to the editor, I firmly believe that by paying cash he could as a rule oblige the writer with profit to himself, as most writers would accept a smaller price if it were a case of " money' down." E. A. A. V.—The Haunch of Venison. If the writer of the " neat little letter" quoted in this month's Author be correctly reported, it would seem that even he might know his Gold- smith better. Six mistakes—" to be precise," four wrong words, and two which have been mulcted of the elisions due to them—are surely more than a fair allowance for a couple of lines. There may be other versions, but the one which I possess is as follows :—■ Thanks, my Lord, for your ven'son, for finer or fatter, Ne'er ranged in a forest, or smoked in a platter. As to the letter "e," I notice that the printer of the Atheneeum is befogged by the changes now in progress, and spells " forbears "—substantive- —without the " e," which is its just due. S. G. VI.—An Appeal to Editors. I believe that The Author is widely read by editors of the best kind. Some of them are unable to effect such reforms as I venture to- suggest here; to others, who have the power, they may not have occurred. Reform No. 1 is the acknowledgment by post- card of the receipt of MS. within a reasonable time of its coming to hand. Registering MS. is an unnecessary expense, as no perfectly sane author sends out a MS. without keeping a copy. Reform No. i is already followed by one paper to this writer's knowledge. Reform No. 2.—The return of MSS. within a reasonable time. Six months is not a reasonable time; three months is as long as a decent fellow who has thought about the matter will keep a MS., or allow his subordinates to do so. As an addendum to Reform No. 2, I would respectfully suggest that an editor who keeps a MS. which deals with a passing topic, a moment longer than is necessary, ought to be kicked; and that the said editor who disregards applications for its return, whether civilly and reasonably couched or inspired with righteous indignation, ought to be kicked again, and harder. May the writer be allowed to add here that, when he says kicked, he means kicked. Reform No. 3.—That an editor who has decided to retain a MS. for publication should, wherever it is possible (and how often is it otherwise ?), intimate his intention to the writer; otherwise the author must waste time and money over the wretched paper or magazine till either his MS. is published or returned. The signatory, for example, whose output is large and returns in- considerable, spends shillings weekly, which he can't afford, and wastes unnumbered hours in looking through his papers. An objection may be taken to this reform, that all editors are careful and all are honest, so that the author need not trouble to see to the appearance of his MS., since the cheque's the thing, and that will come along right enough. The objection may be dismissed, and the objector as idealist or ass, ac- cording to taste, which brings me to Reform No. 4.—That the editor through his subordinate should always specify in respect of what article, appearing in what medium, and on what date the payment is made. That author is in a parlous state, whom, though the most jaded of hack writers, the joy of appearing in print has ceased to stimulate. More, his published work is an advertisement for him and he has a right to a  ## p. 267 (#709) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 267 copy of it . An alternative Reform No. 4 is that the editor shall order that a copy of the publication in which a contribution apjiears shall be sent to the contributor. I am aware that is sometimes done, but how often? Reform No. 5.—That an editor shall not embezzle postage stamps sent to him in good faith by his contributors for quite other purposes. Or that if he does, by right omnipotent, so deal with the postage stamps, he shall not deduct id. from a remittance for the cheque. The objection that the office boy collars the postage stamps may be dismissed. The contributions are not sent to the office boy, and the cont ributor has no cognisance of him: the editor is the responsible person. Reform No. 6.—That the editor shall wash his hands before reading MS., since re-typing costs money and re-writing time. Reform No. 7.—That the editor shall give the MS. of the unknown outsider as much considera- tion as he does to that sent in to him by his friends, his acquaintances, and the " doosid smart chap" he vaguely recollects Tomkins of the Weasel introduced to him about two in the morning at the club. Note.- The signatory declines to be fathered with any ridiculous inferences, as that he believes all editors have dirty hands, that they all see that kissing goes by favour, that they all steal postage stamps, and so forth. He wishes them, however, to grasp the initial fact that contributors are as much entitled to fair treatment as bootblacks. >>m_ Balbus. VII.—FoKEGO AND FoROO. Will you allow me to point out to yt»ur corre- spondent "S. G." that he confuses two separate words, "forgo," meaning "to go without,'- and "forego," meaniog " to go before." The place of the latter has been taken by "precede," and the word, hardly survives except in the adjectival use of its past participle, "a foregone conclusion," a survival due probably to the circumstance that the past participle of "precede" is not capable of being employed in the same sense. No person surely with any claim to education would write "a forgone conclusion "; but there are, perhaps, some who have failed to note the erroneousness of "a reward foregone." Clementina Black. VIII.—Who Bids Highest r There is a question which perplexes me, and may perplex other young authors. Perhaps you may think it worth while to answer it in the columns of The Jut/tor. Am I justified in submitting a MS. to two editors or publishers at once? That is to say, do I, by the act of sending it to A. B. for inspection, enter into any understood contract that he shall have the refusal of it? I cannot see that I do. but friends with whom I have discussed the m ttter appear to think otherwise. Suppose that I do send two copies of a MS. simultaneously to A. B. and C. D., I do not make either of them a formal offer of the MS., because I mention 110 terms. They would not, presumably, be justified in using it without an agreement. I send the MS. in order that, when they have inspected it, negotiations may Ihj opened if desirable. It is clear that I should know much better how to negotiate with A. B. if I knew what C. D. was willing to give me. I am at liberty to withdraw the MS. from either A. B. or C. I), at any time, and why not withdraw it from on! in conse- q> ence of an advantageous offer received from the other Y An employe of any kind does not, I believe, hesitate to negotiate for two posts at once, up to the point of entering into a definite en^a^ement. Am I mistaken in considering the two cases to lie parallel? M. C. A. [As to the above proposal, there seems no reason why a person who has anything to sell should not offer it to a dozen people at once and accept the highest otter. There are, however, certain considerations which make it undesirable that this method should be adopted generally by authors. First of all, at the outset the first impulse of the better class of publishers would be to send the MS. back if they knew that it was offered to other houses at the same time. But if the practice became common they would have to adapt them- selves to it, as they have adapted themselves to the literary agent, after declaring that they would have nothing to do with him. In the second place, we have always strongly recommended authors to put their business relations in the hands of business men. The literary agent might very well inform a publisher that he intended to offer the work to others and that he should take the best offer, but such a method of procedure seems to come better from a man of business than from the author himself. There are other reasons why this method should not be adopted, except by those who know the position and character of the publishers. One is that certain publishers are people with whom no one should be connected in any way; that is to say, it is quite certain that they will "best" the author by some trick or other if they can. Another is that there are publishers who do not stem able to circulate the books which they have produced. A third reason is that there are others  ## p. 268 (#710) ############################################ 268 THE AUTHOR. whose credit is shaky and who might offer large terms in order to get a book, and in the long run be unable to carry them out. These three con- siderations are extremely important, and the ordinary author cannot be expected to know any- thing about them.—Ed.] IX.—A Youno Author's Grievance. "C. B. B.'s " experience is not unique. It took me some years to collect the notes for an article. When the article was written it was accepted, but I had to wait nearly another eighteen months for publication—and for my money. Another article has been in an editor's hands nearly twelve months. I know not if it is accepted. All the time I am precluded from offering that or any similar article elsewhere. "C. B. B." speaks of contributions sent in on chance. And of course many good articles are sent to just the wrong magazines; because it tak> s an author a lifetime to find out the special needs of all the different publications. Cannot some of this chance be eliminated? Conld not The Author publish a list of magazines, noting the particular lines which they affect? And further, as it is the practice with some, especially scientific, magazines not to pay anything for contributions, could not they be listed to prevent wasted efforts !J Agency between authors and editors might do much to direct MSS. to the right channels, but agents will not work for unknown authors. Even "the Authors' Syndicate works only for those whose work promises a market value.'' This s^ems to shut out the young author, for he scarcely knows if his work does possess a market value. Even the highest class of scientific work is shut out, for though it is piiblished, and sometimes at great cost, the poor author gets nothing. J. I). X.—Honour among Reviewers. "Pay no attention to reviews," wrote Matthew Arnold to a charming contemporary poet and essayist; "leave thorn to your publishers." A very humble member of the authors' craft ventures to put an interpretation of his own on Arnold's counsel, and to say with emphasis to his fellow workmen: Never reply to a reviewer. Last year Sir Martin Conway gave his opinions on the ethics of reviewing in a remarkable letter to The Author. His contention was that a reviewer had an indubitable right to condemn a book in one journal and to notice it favourably in another. To anyone familiar with "Little Dorrit," it was impossible not to be reminded of the opinions of Mr. Henry Gowan on his absent friends. Here would lie a tolerable specimen: "Jones is an ass; yet he's the dearest, kindest, brightest, fellow in the world." However, the significant question raised by Sir Martin Conway in The Author, and dealt with in a less apprecia- tive fashion by Mr. William Archer elsewhere, » as the fact that one man may have the power of reviewing the same book in a considerable number of wholly independent newspapers. And here it is that the author should be on his guard. A man may have devoted months, perhaps years, to a single work: in some instances that work may have involved him in the necessity of travel and residence abroad: as a rule he has common sense enough to know that the result , like all mortal results, is far from perfection; yet he offers his book with a conscience fairly at ease to the public. It may fall into the hands of a jaded reviewer, who makes a dozen slips in a* many lines. The author, full of his own subject, and armed, as he thinks, at all points, is amused, and undertakes to set bis critic right. The truth is made clear, the author triumphs; but he little knows at what cost to himself. Those who, either in social life or in the world of letters, engage with such light hearts in murdering the reputations of others, are usually the most thin-skinned of creatures themselves. There is no man more restlessly vindictive than a critic whose ignorance has been publicly exposed. Unhappily, the system of reviewing referred to gives him all the advantages he requires for soothing his mortified self-esteem, among these advantages being the consciousness that while nobody but the author and his publisher would ever think of reading a favourable review, every man and woman acquainted with the author pores with joy over one which is hostile to him. So the reviewer, armed at all points in his turn, goes on his way complacently. In one journal after another, and with ever increased remorse- lessness, he pursues his victim. And thus what seems to the unwary a practical unanimity of censure is frequently no more than a cloak for the active malignity of one man. The advice, then, cannot be too often repeated: under no imaginable provocation answer a re viewer. Ne Obliviscari. XL- -Style and Substance. Pray do not take amiss what I am going to say; let me assure you that far from lteing a fault-finder your persistent adherence to facts in matters relating to publishers and their ways affords me quiet mirth, waxing into something like glee as the gridiron gets hotter and hotter; and I join in the laughter-provoking discomfiture  ## p. 269 (#711) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 269 of a foe who, from behind a bush, tries to wing a poisoned arrow into your ranks. Speaking of the Academy "Crown" you remark, " That the practice will produce a bene- ficial effect on literature I do not doubt, for the simple reason that style and form will be theJirst things considered, and that young writers wi'l have the necessity of attending to style and form kept constantly before their eyes." The dangling before the eyes of young men of a £ 100 or a ,£50 prize may be a proper incen- tive to the cultivation of literature as a profession —i.e., as a means of living, but surely not for that higher mental culture which seeks the enlarge- ment of the understanding, of power to compre- hend that which lies within the range of man's ken. Style and form are graceful adornments, but what of the body they are to adorn? Is the carver of a graven image to rank higher than the discoverer of a great truth? Is mental conception and development to maturity—the creator—to be veiled in presence of the artist? Clear eyes and lissom fingers are very good tools to work with, but how superficial of themselves. There can be no room for doubting which of the two is the better for both old and young to aim at, and I can well believe that you, sir, would insist upon a writer having in him some solid matter upon which to exercise his art. Would it not then be well to point out to youthful aspirants—and others—the necessity of paying some attention to mental achievement l>efore indulging in artistic display? Then, possibly, readers might lie spared some enormities which a tickle fancy, owning no allegiance to reason and disdaining probability, inflicts upon their too receptive minds. The vagaries of unbridled imagination when decked out in the newest "style" and finest "form" of modern art. are fascinating, but a trifle misleading. But all that doesn't matter if there is only—" money in it," and it " catches on." Highbury, N. Ed. Vincent Heward. BOOK TALE. ITERANCES MACNAB," the author of a 1 work entitled "On Veldt and Farm: In Bechuanaland, Cape Colony, the Trans- vaal, and Natal," published about a ypar ago, has now written a work on British Columbia, over the greater part of which she has travelled alone. The point of view of the book is indicated by its title—"British Columbia for Settlers." It will )«; published by Messrs. Chapman anil Hall. The writer is a Miss Praser, and is of the family which created Fraser't Magazitie. Sir William Flower has collected a number of his essays on natural history and such subjects, whic'h will form a volume to be published shortly by Messrs. Macmillan. Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., is writing a novel of the Elizabethan age, which Mr. Unwin will bring out. The scene is laid in western and north-western Ireland, and the title of the 9tory is " A Queen of Men." Mr. O'Brien is already the author of one work of fiction—" When We Were Boys." A translation of Ferdinand Gregorovius's work on the Emperor Hadrian is being done by Miss Mary Robinson, and will be published in a volume by Messrs. Macmillan, and entitled " The Emperor Hadrian: A Picture of the Roman Hellenic World in His Time." Professor Pelham, of Oxford, has written a preface for Miss Robinson. Mr. Harold Spender is gathering the fruits of two summers spent in the high mountains of the Pyrenees, in a volume to be published next month by Messrs. Innes. An account of the Republic of Andorra will be given. Mr. Llewelyn Smith will contribute appendices and illustrate the book. Mr. Spender is a member of the Alpine Club. A three-volume work on West Africa, is being pushed forward for publication by the Imperial Press, Limited, in view of the universal interest in that part of the world at the present time. The author is Major A. F. Mockler- Ferryman, who has large experience in these regions. British East Africa is the subject of a work by Mr. W. W. A. Fitzgerald, which the firm of Chapman and Hall are to issue immediately. The author travelled during over two years through the coast lands there on a special mission from the Imperial British East Africa for tin- purpose of exploring and reporting upon the agricultural and other capabilities of these little- known countries. In the book there will be twelve maps and sketch maps and numerous illustrations. The eminent cricketer, Dr. W. Q. Grace, is writing his reminiscences. Mr. Bowden will publish the volume during the summer. A new novel by Sir Walter Besaut, entitled "The Changeling," begins in Chapman's Magazine for March. Professor John Milne has written a volume on earthquakes for the International Science Series, published by Messrs. Kegau Paul.  ## p. 270 (#712) ############################################ 270 THE AUTHOR. Miss Menie Muriel Dowie (Mrs. Norman) has written a novel, which is about to appear, called '• The Crook of the Bough." It is to a large extent a study in the difference of the Eastern and the Western temperament, the action taking place in the Balkans and in London. The conclusion, if the quotation from Mr. Watson on the title-page be an index to this, is that the two types are well-nigh irreconcileable. The author studied the Eastern character from life during a journey to the Balkans two years ago. Mrs. Steele is at present staying at Lucknow. Her next book will probably deal with the plague and the famine in India. Mrs. Humphry Ward's new novel is likely to be ready in May. Studies of childhood, by Miss K. Douglas King, will be published by Mr. Lane in the form of a volume of stories, entitled "The Child Who Will Never Grow Old." Count Tolstoy is not now to issue his expected novel, as his attitude towards the purpose of the Btory—which was to be a study in sex morality —has undergone a change. A novel entitled "The Philanthropist," by a new writer, Miss Lucy Maynard, is to be published by Messrs. Methuen. "The Consecration of the Hetty Fleet" is a new novel by Mr. St John Adcock, which Messrs Skeftington are to publish soon. Mr. John Buchau is writing a Jacobite storv, to be called " A Lost Lady of Old Years." He 'is also preparing for publication a collection of short stories, which will be entitled "Grey Weather." 1 Mr. Buchan's Chambers's Journal serial, " John Burnet of Barns," is to be published by Mr. Lane. A travesty of Mr. H. G. Wells's " The War of the Worlds" has Ix-eu written by Mr. C. L. Graves and Mr. E. V. Lucas, entitled " The War of the Wennses." Mr. Bret Harte's "Tales of Trail and Town" will be publish? 1 by Messrs. Chut to and Wind us this week. Miss Arabella Kenealy has written a new story, entitled " Woman and the Shadow," which will he published in a few days by Messrs. Hutchin- son. The heroine of this story by the author of "Dr. Janet of Harley-.street," lives for a time en fami lie with some aristocratic connections who have a title but no money. For this association with blue blood she pays liberally. Mr. Fergus Hume has a new novel in twelve sections, entitled "Hagar of the Pawnshop," about to l>e published by Messrs. Skeftington. Within the next few days, Mr. Ernest G. Henham's new novel, "Tenebrae," will be pub- lished by Messrs. Skeftiugton. "Under One Cover" is the title of a collection of stories by Mr. Baring Gould, Mr. Henhain, Mr. Richard Marsh, Mr. Fergus Hume, and others, which Messrs. Skeftington are publishing. The last books to come from the Kelmscott Press will be " Love is Enough," and " A Note by William Moiris." They will appear on the 24th inst. The former will have two illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. "Hints for Eton Masters," is a volume by the late Mr. William Cory, who was connected with the famous school from 1845 to 1872. The Oxford University Press is about to issue the work, which makes rather a wider appeal than its title suggests. Mr. Lewis Sergeant, who has finished an his- torical sketch of "The Franks," for the Story of the the Nation Series, has entered the ranks of novelists. His first essay in this field, "The Caprice of Julia" (Hurst and Blackett ), deals partly with theatrical life. Stage life is also dealt with, though not from what may be willed the strenuous point of view, in Mr. Francis Gribble's new novel, which Messrs Innes are to publish, called "Sunlight and Limelight." Mr. Meredith is revising his Essays and Poems for publication in May in the collected edition of his works (Constable), which will then be com- pleted. Curiously, Mr. Meredith had lost sight of a poem which appeared in the Pull Mall (lazelle ten or twelve years ago, and which was lately recalled to his recollection by a fellow guest reciting it to him at Mr. Edward Clodd's seaside residence. A second series of "The Law's Lumber Room," by Mr. Francis Watt, is to be issued shortly from the Bodley Head. Among the articles are "Tyburn Tree," "Some Disused Roads to Matrimony," "The Border Laws," and " The Serjeant-at-Law." Mr. Lewis Day is at work on a volume of "Alphabets Old and New." It will consist of illustrations, with short letterpress descriptions. "Studies on Many Subjects," by the late Rev. Samuel Harvey Reynolds, vicar of East. Ham from 1871 to 1893, and author of "The Rise of the Modern European System," is about to be pub- lished by Mr. Edward Arnold  ## p. 271 (#713) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 271 Mrs. Ritchie, the novelist's daughter, is to write an introduction to each volume of the biographical edition of Thackeray's works which Messrs. Smith and Elder are about to issue. New examples of the letters and drawings of Thackeray will be given, and reproductions of a number of little known portraits, including those by Maclise which the Garrick Club are lending. M. Max Rooses, keeper of the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp, has undertaken to continue the publication of Rubens's correspondence, the first volume of which appeared in 1887 by the care of his colleague, the late M. Charles Ruelens, whereas the second,extending from 1609 to 1622, is now about to be published. He asks, by means of the Times, that the private possessors, as well as the custodians of public collections, who have any autographs of Rubens, should advise him of their existence. The Daily News is moved with concern for the English of the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament. In the first place, a reference was made to expenditure which is beyond "former precedent." On reading the following sentence the term in apposition to " elsewhere" is naturally inquired for: "A portion of the Afridi tribes have not accepted the terms offered to them, but elsewhere the operations have been brought to a successful close." In the reference to Crete it was stated that: "The difficulty of arriving at an unanimous agreement upon some points has unduly protracted their deliberations (i.e., the deliberations of the Powers), but I hope that these obstacles will before long be sur- mounted." What obstacles? As "the diffi- culty" is the subject in this sentence, "that obstacle" would appear to be the appropriate phrase. Our contemporary observes also "an unanimous agreement." Mr. Arthur Waugh is publishing through Mr. Arrowsinith a volume of verse entitled " Legends of the Wheel." The "wheel" is of course the bicycle. A book on Harrow School, edited by Mr. E. W. Howson and Mr. Townsend Wamer, and containing contributions by Harrow masters and old pupils—among the latter Lord Crewe, Sir Henry Cunningham, Sir Charles Dalrymple, M.P., Mr. Walter Long, and Mr. Chandos Leigh, Q.C.—is to be published by Mr. Edward Arnold. Earl Spencer, chairman of the governors, writes a preface to the work. Mr. MacAlister,the hon. secretary of the Library Association, has received an intimation from the Home Office to the effect that Her Majesty and Council have been graciously pleased to grant a royal charter of incorporation to the Library Association. In October next (says the Illustrated London News) Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton will publish the first number of a new religious periodical under the title of Ian Maclaren's Magazine. It will bd edited by the Rev. John Watson (Ian Maclaren) and Dr. Robertson Nicoll, and it is understood that the former will henceforth confine his writings to it. "Mirabeau," by Mr. P. F. Willert, will be the next volume in Messrs. Macinillan's Foreign Statesmen Series. Professor Michael Foster and Professor Ray Lankester are editing the papers contributed by Professor Huxley to the journals of the Royal, Linnean, and other societies. There will be three volumes, the first of which is due. A number of the papers appear in the edition of his works which Professor Huxley arranged shortly before his death. Canon Rawlinson's biography—largely made up, however, of diaries—of Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson, will have a preface by Lord Roberts. We mentioned some time 6ince that the Glasgow Weekly Herald offered ten guineas each for short serial tales in five instalments, and one guinea for short weekly tales. The offer for short serials has now been withdrawn, and the editor has been compelled to warn contributors of weekly tales that so many excellent examples of these have been received and accepted that contributors need have no hope of tales appearing earlier than twelve months after thev are accepted. The Brotherhood Publishing Company is now circulating, under the title "What is Art r" a translation of a work by Count Tolstoy. This title was anticipated in 1885 by Mr. J. Stanley Little, and used by him for a book on art, published by Swan Sonneuschein. Mr. Little has had in preparation for some time past a second edition of his work, and there seems to be some prospect of a conflict of title. Count Tolstoy's book was originally announced as " On Art"; but it issued from the press in this country under the title to which Mr. Little has certainly the prior claim. Messrs. Seeley and Co. have recently published a new historical romance by Mrs. Marshall, "In the Choir of Westminster Abbey in the Time of Henry Purcell." It will be followed shortly by a story of "The Queen of Hearts " (the Princess Elizabeth) by the same author. Mrs. Marshall's works are published in the Tauchnitz edition, and are translated into German and French.  ## p. 272 (#714) ############################################ 272 THE AUTHOR. The fifth volume of the " English Catalogue of Books" will be published very soon. It covers the years 1890-1897. The editor invites authors who have published books within these limits to send him, c/o. Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., Fetter-lane, the full titles, sizes, prices, year and month of publication, with the author's and publisher's names, as soon as possible. Another serial by Jean Middlemass, entitled "In Storm and Strife," is about to appear in the newspapers of the National Press Agency. The author's "Blanche Coningham's Surrender," has just been published by Messrs. White. Mr. Alan Oscar, the sea story writer, has written for the Strand Magazine a true sea story, recounting one of his own experiences. It will be illustrated by the author. In "The Devout Pilgrim's Guide to the Holy Land in the Way of Prayer," by Elizabeth Harcourt Mitchell (Church Printing Company, 11, Burleigh-street, Strand. 5*.), Mrs. Mitchell has tried to turn the thoughts of tourists in Palestine towards the devotional aspects of their tour, and hopes to make the work a companion to Murray and Baedeker's guides. Written at the request of the English Bishop in Jerusalem, it gives a very short account of each place, then the whole of the Scripture narrative concerning it, so that a hurried horseman need not wait to look out texts. This is followed by a short reflection and act of devotion, and sometimes Dy a few religious verses. A list of English churches in the Holy Land gives it a practical value. The German rights of Mr. Charles Lowe's historical romance of the Seven Yeais' War—"A Fallen Star; or, the Scots of Frederick "—kavn been acquired by the Deutsche Verlagsantalt of Stuttgart and Leipzig, which will shortly issue a translation from the pen of a distinguish°d German litterateur. Mr. Lowe has written for the Northern Newspaper Syndicate a series of ten articles on " Our Future King," which are also to appear in booklet form. "Heroes of the Reformation" is the title of the newest of new series. The first volume will be "Luther," by Professor Eyster Jacobs, of Philadelphia. In appearance the volumes will resemble those of the "Heroes of the Nations" series by the same publishers—Messrs. Putnam; and they will be issued at the rate of three per annum. Mr. Bernard Wentworth, author of "The Master of Hullingham Manor" and "Allerton Farm," had a blank verse poem in the Western Mail of Jan. 15, entitled " Anti-Agnosticism: A Vision." Another poem by the same author was published in the Western Mail of Jan. 29, 1897, entitled "Tintagel, by the Cornish Sea." This has passed into a second edition in booklet form, published by Messrs. Weighell and Co., Laun- ceston. An inscription to the memory of one Richard Hill, a contemporary of Shakespeare and an alderman and mayor of the town, who died in 1593, has been brought to light by the work of restoring Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon. The first sentence over the rudely carved raised tomb is a Hebrew text from Job, the next is Greek, and the latter part of the inscription is as follows:— Hore lieth intombed the corps of Richard Hil, A woollen draper being in his time; Whose virtves live, whose fame dooth floriah stil, Thovgh hee deaolvi-d be to dvst and slime, A mirror he and paterae may be made, For evch as shall svekcead him in that trade; He did not vse to sweare, to glose, either faigne, His brother to defravde in burguninge; Hee woold not strive to get excessive gaine In ani cloth or other kinde of thinge: His servant. S. I., this trveth can testilie. A witness that beheld it with mi eie. Two novelties in the book world of the past month have been a book by Charles Dickens and one by Mr. Buskin. The Dickens volume, published by Mr. George Bedway, consists of a number of scattered papers, most of which appeared in Household Words, which have been collected by Mr. F. C. Henvon, who is well known for his research in everything that re'ates to the great novelist. Mr. Ruskin's book, published, of course, by Mr. George Allen, consists of a series of lectures on landscape, delivered at Oxford in the Lent term, 1871. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS- Public Libraries, Authors, and Pub- lishers: Views of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Lecky.—Mr. J. A. Steuart on Bookselling and Reviews.—Newspapers and the Libel Law.—Count Tolstoi on Maupassant and Fiction. The principal subject of discussion during the past month has been the relations of authors and publishers to free libraries, upon which the views of Mr. Herbert Spencer and Mr. W. E. H. Lecky have been given. Mr. E. Marston vented the question in the Times by setting forth certain figures upon what he called the "enormous tax"  ## p. 273 (#715) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 273 that publishers have to pay in being obliged to present to the nation five copies of every book that they publish. He estimated that, during the eight years, 1890-97, 250,000 volumes have been thus presented to the British Museum and the four other public libraries of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Dublin, which, if taken at the average published price of 5*. per volume, amounts to .£62,500; or, extending the period to the whole of Her Majesty's reign, 1,500,000 books, equal to •£375,000. As to this estimate, see " Notes and News," p. 261. Mr. Herbert Spencer pointed out that (exclud- ing non-copyright books) the burden is not borne mainly by the publishers; it is borne in chief measure, and often wholly, by the authors. Mr. Spencer goes on to say :— It is borne indirectly by the antbora in all tboae cases where there is sold the copyright of an edition, or where there is an agreement to pay half profits or a royalty; for in all such cases the publisher, in estimating the expenses of publication, sets down the gratis copies to be distributed, including among these the copies for the public libraries. This is one of the items which together form a total on the basis of which the amount offered to the author, under either form of publication, is calculated. And hence, whatever burden the cost of the five copies may be to the publisher, that burden is practically transferred to the author when settling the terms. But the burden falls directly upon the author in all cases of publication by commission. In the publisher's accounts the author is debited with the five copies, as he is with all gratis copies distributed on his behalf. The tax is levied by the nation on him whether he makes anything by his book or not, and no less when it entails on him a loss. During the firBt twelve years of my literary life every one of my books failed to pay for its paper, print, and advertisements, and for many years after failed to pay my small living expenses—every one of them made me the poorer. Never- theless, the forty millions of people constituting the nation demanded of the impoverished brain-worker five gratis copies of each. There is only one simile occurring to me which at all represents the faot, and that in but a feeble way—Dives asking alms of Lazarus! Mr. Lecky took an opposite side. I am always reluctant to differ from anything which Mr- Herbert Spencer writes, but I earnestly trust that the old and well-established obligation of sending a copy of all books published in the kingdom to five public libraries may not cease to be limited to the British Museum. It is scarcely possible to overrate the importance to those who are engaged in literary research of having accessible libraries where they are certain to find all such books easily and gratuitously, and I should much regret if this privilege were confined to London students. The tendency to centralise literary life in the metropolis is already more than sufficiently strong, and suoh a measure would certainly increase it. In this, as in most things, we have to strike a balance between good and evil. In the case of valuable illustrated books which are printed in small numbers, the present system is no doubt a hardship; but as the chief expense of a book is laying down the type, the cost of the few additional copies is in most caBes trivial. A little known writer who has sterling merit will almost certainly find readers in a public library, who will repay his outlay by helping to accelerate the period of his popularity; and even when books remain permanently un- remunerative it is often some satisfaction to their authors to know that they have found a dignified resting-place. In my opinion any change that made these great libraries less complete than at present would be a serious calamity to literature. To the above letter Mr. Herbert Spencer makes the following re[dy :— Mr. Lecky rightly says of the required gifts to libraries that11 the cost of the few additional copies is in most cases trivial." To Mr. Lecky it has always been so, and it is so to me at present; but it is not so to the struggling author, *ith whom for long years it is a question whether he will sink or swim. Moreover, his first loss is the parent of a second and larger loss. The few copies which the State takes from him are used by it to intercept the buyers of many copies. After the year of grace during which his book is withheld, numbers who would otherwise purchase it read it at the museum library, and already a loser, he loses much more. While agreeing with Mr. Lecky that facilities for literary research are very desirable, I do not agree that they can be achieved only through public institutions. Fifty odd years ago some men of letters and others (Mr. Carlyle being a chief mover) set up the London Library for the purpose of facilitating research, the British Museum library failing in sundry respects to meet their needs. From the London Library books may be taken home; fifteen may be had out at a time, and if any book a student wants is of appreciable value it is bought for him and afterwards put on the shelves. The library has now 175,000 volumes and grows at an increasing rate. Of course it is far from all-embracing. But, had there existed no public libraries: had the felt need prompted establishment of it a generation or more earlier; had its claims then become widely known, as they would; had it received, as it now does, gifts of books and of private libraries, as well as probably dona- tions and bequests of money, it would by this time have gone far to fulfil all the requirements. It is true that we have not, like the Americans, millionaires who found universities or build magnificent observatories. Still, there are instances of the required public spirit; and when we learn that in 1890 charitable bequests reached over .£1,000,000, that within the few preceding years bequests for art galleries and oollectionB had reached over half a million, and that London and Edinburgh and other places have recently witnessed kindred gifts, it is not an over- sanguine calculation that, under pressure of the need, an institution like the London Library, earlier founded, would before now have grown to vast proportions, quite meeting the want, and would have accumulated a fund .(.£200,000) the interest of which would suffice to purchase copies of all new works. But now from this Bide issue let me return to the main issue. Grant that to facilitate literary research there must be public libraries. Does it follow that these must be recruited by oopies of all new works taken from their authors under penalty r Is it not possible that copies may be bought? Admit the want, and the first question arising is : By whom shall the cost of satisfying it be borne? Shall the public who profit by the books bear it, or the authors who have laboured to produce the books P Shall the tax be paid by the many millions benefited, or by the few hundreds who benefit them P As implied above, I accept neither alternative. But, assuming that one must be accepted, then I say that in equity the burden should be borne by the State with its hundred millions of revenue, and not imposed on a small class of men, most of them needy,  ## p. 274 (#716) ############################################ 274 THE AUTHOR. and many of them passing their lives " in shallows and in miseries." Among the variety of opinions current on the question of the value of reviews, comes Mr. J. A. Steuart's advice to booksellers to utilise these more than they do. The editor of the Publishers' Circular, in a paper in the Fortnightly for February, estimates the whole present position of the commercial interests of literature, and he counsels more push being exhibited in the retail trade to advertise books. "At present," he remarks, "the advertising is left wholly to the publisher, a circumstance which may have sug- gested to the Authors' Society that hint to the retail trade about energy and enterprise." The man in the street does not read reviews, but it is the business of booksellers to parade these reviews before him, with practical results. "I know one bookseller who, when he finds a eulo- gistic review of a new book, instantly cuts it out and displays it in a conspicuous manner. He tells me the system is a gratifying success. Could other booksellers not follow his example?" Mr. Steuart views with disfavour the recommendation of the sub-committee of the Society of Authors that booksellers should bring out new editions of non-copyright books on their own account: "It would merely mean the creation of a publisher and the spoiling of a bookseller; and of pub- lishers we have no scarcity, either for old books or new." Mr. Steuart finally observes that it is clearly to the interest of all concerned to have a prosperous retail trade; and he agrees with the secretary of the Society of Booksellers that the work of reform is but beginning. Reference was made in The. Author a few months ago to the dangerous simplicity of getting up actions for libel against newspapers, and to the remarks of the Lord Chief Justice upon the frivolity which often distinguishes the grounds for such actions. The Daily News states that the list for the Hihvy Sittings on the Queen's Bench Division contains thirty actions for libel, mostly against newspapers. Anyone who brings an action against a leading newspaper is sure of getting his costs and damages if he succeeds; if he fails he may be, and very often is, unable to pay the costs either of the journal against which he has proceeded or of the solicitor who has taken up his case on speculation. The Daily News is satisfied that the result of a case tried before Mr. Justice Hawkins the other day, following as it does the actions recently laughed out of court by the Lord Chief Justice, warrant us in believing that happier days have really at last dawned upon journalists. A Bill was introduced last Session by Mr. Boscawen to amend the law, and it is being brought in again this year. It is supported by members of all political parties, including Sir Albert Rollit, a Conservative; Mr. Frederick Wilson, a Liberal; and Mr. T. P. O'Connor, an Irish Nationalist. The first clause provides that particulars of the libel or libels, with dates, must be endorsed on the writ. This is to give the defendants an opportunity of at once apologising or paying money into court without waiting for the next stage, the statement of claim, and thereby incurring needless expense, which may l)e very considerable. The second clause allows of alter- native pleadings. The law at present, for no assignable or intelligible reason, forbids alterna- tive pleading in actions of libel, and in actions of libel alone. In an article on " Maupassant and Fiction" in the February numlier of Chapman's Magazine, Count Tolstoi represents this writer as having, in all his novels subsequent to "Bel Ami," bowed to the theory that in a work of art it is not only of no moment to have a clear conception of right and wrong, but that, on the contrary, an artist must igncre all moral considerations, and that there is even a peculiar merit in his power to do so. The theory set forth above is not only supreme at present in a Parisian circle, but amongst artists everywhere; it is fashionable. More, Count Tolstoi thinks French authors are at fault in the matter of describing their nation. "For France to exist as we know her, with her truly great acquirements in science and art, and her civic, national, and moral improvement of humanity, the working people which has main- tained and is supporting this France upon its shoulders must be composed not of brutes, but of men with great mental capacity." If we turn, meantime to M. Bastide's pjaper in the Fortnightly for February (" Cacoethes Literarum") we get the suggestion that in France literature is a disease. There is a ministry of fine arts; theatres are subsidised ; numerous pensions and still more numerous honours granted; anyone may dabble in literature; there is no risk whatever. "The novel's objective, even exteriorily," says Count Tolstoi, " is the description of one or many com- plete human lives, and therefore the writer of a novel must have a clear and fine conception of what is right and wrong in life." This De Maupassant had not; but, fortunately, he wrote short stories, "in which he did not cramp himself by the false theory he had accepted."  ## p. 275 (#717) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 275 THE BOOES OF THE MONTH. [Jan. "24 to Feb. 23.—262 Books.] Adams, Brooks. Law of Civilisation and Decay. 7/6 net Macmillan. Allen, A. V. G. Christian Institution!. 12'- T. andT. Clark. Anderson, J. G. Manual of French Prose Construction. 5/- Klackie. Anonymous (** Lucus a non Lucendo "). Ray a from the Starry Host. A/. Roxburgbe. Anonymous. Novels and Novelists. 7/fi net. W H. Allen. Armitage. E. Pictures and Drawings selected from the Works of. Low. Bliss. Richards. O. Allen. Blackwood. Burns and Oatea, Blackwood. Head ley. Macmillan. Oliphant. Dulau. Macmillan. Unicorn Press. £8 net or £» 8s. net Atherton, Gertrude. His Fortunate Grace. 2 6. Atkinson. A. G, B St Botolph. Aldgate. 5 - net. Attwell, H. Panaies Irom Frencb Gardens. 2 - Audon, H. W. Higher Latin Unseens. 2/6. AvK White. A Noble Revenge. 8/6. Baden-Powell, Sir G. The Saving or Ireland. 7/6. Baker, W. K. John T. Dorland. 67- Bates, Katharine Lee. American Literature. 6/- Bayne, W James Thomson (Famous Scots). I/G. Baedeker. Karl. Spain and Portugal. 16 - Bailey, L. H. Lessons with Plants. 7/6. Barsac, L. Shadow and Fireflies. 3 6 net. Batiffol, P. (tr. by A. M. Y. Baylaj). History of the Roman Breviary. 7,6. Longman. Bengougb, Maj.-Gen. H Preparatory Battle Formations. 1 - net. Gale and Polden. Benson, E. F. The Vintage. «/- Methuen. Bet ham-Ed wards, M. (ed ). Autobiography of Arthur Young. 12 G. Smith, Elder. Bet bam-Ed wards. M. A Storm-rent Sky. G/- Hurst. Bickersteth, E. Our Heritage In the Church. C/- Low. Birtt, W. B. By the Roaring Reuss. 5/- Constable. BlennerhaaBctt, Sir Rowland. University Education in England, France, and Germany. 1/- Murray. Bodley, J. E. C. France 21/-net. Macmillan. Bogg, E. The Border Country. Leeds: E. Bogg. Bo las, T. 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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) 1898-04-01 Volume 8 Issue 11 Pages Page range in volume 277–304 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980401 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XTbe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESA2TT. Vol. VIII. No. ii.] APRIL i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PASS! PASB General Memoranda and Warnings 277 , The Cost or Production.—I. Another Set of Estimates. II. The From the Committee 278 BrilUh Wctklg and the Chairman 289 Literary Property— Notefl and News. By the Editor 291 1. A Proposal from the Booksellers. By T. Burleigh 270 The Society's Dinner 2. Lord Berachell's Bill. 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Habion Crawford. P -ht Hon. G. N. Cubzon, P.C., PRESIDENT. GEOEGE MEEEDITH. COUNCIL. S.I. | The Earl of Desart. Austin Dobson. a. conan dotle, m.d. A. W. Duboubg. Prof. Michael Foster, P.E.S. D. W. Fbbshfibld. Bichabd Garnett, C.B., LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rideb Haooabd. Thomas Habdt. , P.C. | Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jebome K. Jebome. Rudtabd Kipling. Prof. E. Rat Lankester, F.R.S. W. E. H. Leckt, P.C. J. M. Lelt. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Rev. W. J. Loftie, P.S.A. Sib A. C. Mackenzie, Mas.Doc. M.P. I Pbof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Hon. Counsel — E. M. Undebdown, Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middlbton-Wake. Sib Lewis Mobbis. Henbt Norman. Miss E. A. Ormerod. J. C. Pabkinson. Right Hon. Lobd Pibbbight, P.C, P.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LLJ>. Walteb Hebbies Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Floba L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squibb Spbigge. J. J. Stevenson. Fbancis Stoeb. William Mot Thomas. H. D. Tbaill, D.C.L. Mbs. Humphbt Wabd. Miss Chablotte M. Yonge. Q.C. A. W. X Beckett. Sib Walteb Besant. Egebton Castle, F.S.A. W. Mobbis Colles. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Sib W. Martin Conwat. D. W. Freshfield. J. M. Lelt. H. Rider Haggard. Henbt Nobman. Anthont Hope Hawkins. Fbancis Stobe. ART. Hon. John Collieb (Chairman). Sib W. Martin Conwat. M. H. Sfiblmann. SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiebs Stanfobd, Mus.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. „ .. .. f Field, Roscoe, and Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. eoi rn 1 G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. DRAMA. Henrt Abthub Jones (Chairman). A. W. 1 Beckett. Edwabd Rose. OFFICES: Secretary—G. Herbert Thring, B_A. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. JL. IF. WATT &c SOIN", LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SttTJAEE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. f REWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prioes. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest I process. £ 1 n-DTWTOTIsOF CLIEHTS.—DiSTiKQCiSHKn AcTHOtt:—"The most beautiful typing I have ever Been." Lady of Title:—"Tha | a work waferT we" lncl clearly done." Pbovinoial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." 5 I 'JVLISi '"T< V. EIJDON CHAMBER8, 30, FLEET STREET, E.G. > IT  ## p. 277 (#723) ############################################ b e Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. n.] APRIL i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert 1'hring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ijm Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOE some years it has been the praotioe to insert, im every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notioes, &e., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to bo observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in whioh the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of. putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. VIII. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objeoted that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books whioh belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. C C 2  ## p. 278 (#724) ############################################ 278 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE TEE SOCIETY. I. Ill VERT member has a right to ask for and to receive Pj advice upon his agreements, his choioe of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the condaat of his business or the administration of his property. If the advioe sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the oase is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon suoh questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proveB unfavourable, you should take advice as to a ohange of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the oase of fraudulent houses—the trioks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advanoing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. THE services of the Authors' Syndicate may be secured by members upon terms to be arranged between themselves and it. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6». 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points oonnected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to Bend them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, 4c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? H they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly asrist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of Bending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishoneet? Of oonrse they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of oourse, we have not included any sums whioh may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. FROM THE COMMITTEE. THE Roxburghe Press Limited, has, we understand, gone into voluntary liquida- tion. All claims on behalf of members of the Society against the company should, therefore, be sent in to the Society's offices as soon as pos- sible. Mr. Justice Wright has ordered the con- tinuation of the voluntary winding-up under the supervision of the court.  ## p. 279 (#725) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 279 It should be further stated that Stories Limited has also gone into liquidation, and a liquidator has been appointed under the Companies Acts for the purpose of winding-up the company. All claims should at once be sent in to the Secretary's offices, as the matter is in the hands of the Society's solicitors. G. H. Thbinq, Sec. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—A New Scheme of Publishing. ME. T. BURLEIGH, hon. sec. of the Book- sellers' Association, has communicated to the Committee the following scheme of a new system of publishing. The objects of the following scheme are— (1) To give booksellers the same profit off all books (except educational books at 6s. and under) that they at present receive off 6s. novels; while the publishers are not asked to give better terms than they do at present. (2) To enable booksellers to charge more for credit than for cash. Scheme, I. Odd books to be abolished, and all books to be supplied at the average present terms. II. The invoiced price of each book to be the lowest cash price to the public. [This rule not necessarily to apply to books supplied in bulk to schools and school boards.] Thus— (a) Nett books would be invoiced at full published prices. (6) Novels and similar non-nett books at 6*. and under, would be invoiced at 25 per cent, off published prices. (c) Non-nett books above 6*. (on which the price to the public does not need to be "cut so fine") would be invoiced at not more than 2d. in the is. off pub- lished prices. III. A minimum trade discount of 20 per cent, to be allowed at settlement to those booksellers who ayree not to sell books to tlie public below tlie invoiced price, and to them only. (In the case of educational books published at 6s. and under, the discount at settlement might be 15 per cent, instead of 20 per cent.) The settlement discount for prompt payment might be arranged by publishers and booksellers individually; for, from the following figures it will be seen that a publisher could give, in addition to the minimum discount of 20 per cent., an additional i\ per cent, for prompt payment, and yet receive as much as he does at present. Books above 6s. Present Terms. £. s. d. £ s.'d. 3 Books at io». 6d., 7s. 6d 1 2 6 13/12^ n io«. 6d., 7«. 6d 4 13 9 13/12 „ 1 o«. 6d., js. 6d 4 10 o 10 6 3 Less s per oent o 10 3 9 16 o Suggested Terms. 29 Books at 10s. 6d., 8a. gd ^12 13 9 Less 20 per cent 2 10 9 10 3 o Novels at 6«. and under. Present Terms. 3 Novels at 6s., 4s. 2d 012 6 7/6J „ 6s., 4s. 2d 1 7 1 7/6i „ 6»., 4s 1 6 o 3 5 7 Less 5 per oent o 3 3 324 Suggested Terms. 17 Novels at 6s., 4s. 6j 3 16 6 Less 20 per cent 015 3 3 « 3 Educational books at 6s. and under. Present Terms. 3 Books at 6s., 4s. 2d o 12 6 7j6\ „ 6s., 4s. 2d 1 7 1 13/12$ „ 6s., 4s. 2d 2 12 1 4 11 8 Less s per oent 047 4 7 1 Suggested Terms. 23 Books at 6s., 4s. 6d 5 3 6 Less 15 per oent o 15 6 480 Adding these together we get— Present Terms. Suggested Terms. £ s. d. £ s. d. 9 16 o 10 3 o 324 3 1 3 471 480 £17 5 5 <*'7 12 3 But nothing is allowed in these estimates for travellers' terms given on present rates, which would amount to say 1 per cent, on the whole account. Deducting this amount off present terms, and 2 i per cent, off the total of the sug- gested terms, we find— Present Terms. Suggested Terms. £ $. d. £ 1. d. 17 5 S 17 '2 3 Deduct 1 per Deduct z\ per cent 034 cent o 8 jo .£17 2 1 .£17 3 S  ## p. 280 (#726) ############################################ 28o THE AUTHOR. Pro Forma Account. Messrs. A. B. C, booksellers, Oxford, in account with Messrs. X. Y. Z., publishers, London. A trade discount at settlement will be allowed only on condition that these boohs are not sold to the public under the invoiced prices. Acceptance of these books is to be deemed an agreement to these conditions. £ s. d. £ a. d. 3 A.'a Travels in America, nett I 16 O 4 B.'a Africa, 12». 10s. ■■ 200 12 E.'a Algebra, 6s. 4s. 6d. = 214 o 12 F.'a Novel, 6s. 4s. 6d. = 2 14 o £2 14 o £6 10 o 15 per cent, off £2 148 080 £260 20 per cent, off £6 10s. 1 6 o £5 4 o 260 £7 10 o The total of the above account brings about 21 per cent, more to the publisher than the present terms. May I point out: 1. That all booksellers are offered books upon the same terms, whether they are 2d. or 3d. dis- counters. It is open to anyone to refuse these terms. 2. The abolition of the odd copy enables the smaller bookseller to stock, without ruin, a few of each. It also makes "sale or return" possible. As already pointed out, with the odd copy, this is a delusion. 3. Competition amongst publishers is left open because the settlement discount may be raised by bargain between individual publishers and book- sellers. A suggestion has been made that the Book- sellers' Association should be advised by a professional reader. But I think "sale or return" covers it. There is no risk taken, the bookseller can judge for himself whether the book will suit his trade. For position of shop and personal connections are considerations that count a good deal—what would do for me at one place is useless at another—and many good in one are useless in another. This applies specially to poetry, theology, short biographies, and such books as are not talked about, but not to large ones, such as " Tennyson's Life," Lord Eoberts'" India," Bryce's "Impressions of South Africa." These are bought if seen by casual visitors (mostly to give away) upon the strength of the name. T. BuBLEIGH. II.—Lord Hersc hell's Bill. The Copyright Bill of Lord Herschell, "to con- solidate and amend the law relating to copy- right," unfortunately appears without any preliminary memorandum, so that it is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the old law from the new. Lord Herschell is one of the few surviving members of the Copyright Commission of 1878, and while in the House of Commons, obtained leave, in conjunction with Mr. Edward Jenkins, to introduce a Bill to codify the tangled law of this subject, so that he moves in the matter with an authority second to none in the country. We see no reason, however, to change the opinion, which we have more than once expressed, that amendment should, in the case of copyright law, precede consolidation, and not be mixed up with it. Lord Monks well's Bill, which passed the House of Lords last session after examination by a Select Committee, and has lately passed a second reading in that House, was framed on these lines, and we hope that the Government will assist its passing as soon as it reaches the House of Commons. An article by Mr. Thring in the current number of the Fortnightly Review summarises this Bill, and fully gives the reasons for preferring it, at the present juncture, to a consolidating one. Lord HerschelFs Bill contains fifty-three clauses and repeals nineteen Acts, amongst them being what we take to be Lord MonksweU's Bill when it shall become an Act, the figures "61" standing by themselves in a. schedule of Acts proposed for repeal, of which the last is " 51 & 52 Vict. c. 17, the Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act, 1888." The principal amendments which Lord Herschell's Bill will effect are the change of the term of copyright from forty-two years, or the life of the author and seven years, to the duration of the life of the author and thirty years after his death, the restriction on abridgments, the reduction of the period after which contributors to magazines may publish separately from twenty-eight to three years, the summary pre- vention of unlawful hawking of copyright works, and a curious allowance of republication in this country of any article of political discussion which has been published in any newspaper in a foreign country "if the source is acknowledged." —Law Times.  ## p. 281 (#727) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. HI. — Copyright. — Short Notes on Lord Herschell's Bill (1898) so far as it Relates to Artistic Works. Communicated to the Copyright sab-committee of the Incorporated Society of Authors. The intention of this Bill is favourable to the art producer. It seeks to treat the man who expresses his thought on canvas with a paint-brush as it treats the man who expresses his thought on paper with a pen, and to give him equal rights over and protection for the property he has created. This is just, and has been the object steadily kept in view in the various Bills for amending the present law introduced by Mr. Hastings, Mr. Agnew, Lord Monkswell, and others. Before examining the mode of carrying this ♦bject into effect, it may, however, be observed that whereas in literary work registration is a condition precedent only to enforcing the author's rights, in artistic work it is a condition precedent to the rights themselves. In other words that the author need not register until he has cause to take legal proceedings; whereas the artist can get no redress or compensation for wrongful acts committed before registration. The commandment "Thou shalt not steal " is read, "Thou shalt not steal 'registered work.'" Registration has always been a pitfall to the artist. It has been a boon to the pirate, who can by examining the register ascertain whose brains he may pick with impunity. It lias doubtless been of great use to the legiti- mate art publishing trade in easily and cheaply supplying prim/1 facie proof of title to copyright in cases of infringement by photographers of copyright in works engraved or otherwise repro- duced by them. But this trade advantage would still be available were registration optional or precedent to action only, as in literature, which it is suggested it should be. The art publisher is a man of business and would register if he found it worth his while so to do. Thirty-six years' experience has shown that the artist is not, as a rule, a man of business and does not register, though he often suffers from his neglect. Indeed, as there are many thousand original works of art exhibited every year, to say nothing of the unexhibited, and of these, as it is impossible to predict which will be of value for reproduction, it is not to be expected he should go to the expense and trouble of registering bis works. It would seem more reasonable without recourse to the register to presume the copyright to be in the artist until the contrary is shown. An art publisher who has acquired it by assignment in writing can have no difficulty in proving his title —whether registered or not—but he probably would register for the sake of convenience. The only difficulty that could arise would be in the case of "commissioned work," where no written assignment of copyright is now by law, or in the present Bill, required to invest the commissioner with the copyright. It is submitted that there is no essential or inherent diffierence between work executed on commission, and work that is sold. Both are the offspring of the artist's brain expressed by him in concrete form in his work, and it seems reason- able that in the absence of special agreements, control and command of reproduction should be equally his in either case. He is the natural guardian of his own work, and the person to whom the art publisher would, as a matter of course, apply if he wished to engrave his work— while the purchaser or other owner of the paintin/ can, independently of copyright, sit on his picture, as a mortgagee can on his deeds, and defy both painter and publisher—though as a matter of fact most owners like to have their picture engraved, as it enhances its value. The distinction between an agreement to buy an unfinished work and a commission to paint one —maybe from an existing sketch—is often very slight, and yet upon this distinction depends the ownership of the copyright. This anomalous treatment of commissioned work owes its origin to a natural desire to protect the subjects of portraiture (which is chiefly com- missioned work) from the danger of multiplica- tion and sale of their likenesses without their consent; which it was anticipated might result from the control being left in the hands of the artist, and as photography was included in the Fine Art Act of 1862, this fear was not ill- founded. It was a clumsy expedient, and does not work well in practice. For instance, some years ago it was desired to engrave a subscription portrait of the popular master of a well-known hunt which had been presented by the hunt to his wife. It had been painted on commission. Who owned the copyright? The body of subscribers or the hon. secretary, who was their mouthpiece in arranging with the artist? Again, there are many commissioned pictures that are not portraits. A large collector, who owned many such, got into money difficulties, and sold his collection to meet his liabilities. The copyright in these remained vested in him. Suppose him to have died, shortly after the sale.  ## p. 282 (#728) ############################################ 282 THE AUTHOR. so poor that no one cared to administer his estate. No one could make a title to the copyright of any of these pictures. Then came the difficulty about replicas. Several well known R.A.'s, now deceased, were notorious for multiplying copies of their most popular works, generally for America or the Col lonies. Unless by chance any of their works were painted on commission, the owner, who may have paid a long price for a work he considered unique, was liable at any time to find in the market other examples of the work, of the same size and in the same material as his own; nor was it always certain which was the original in point of date. The simplest and most consistent plan of meet- ing all difficulties seems to be that adopted by the Royal Academy of Arts in their Bill, and. followed by the Bill Lord Monkswell introduced for the Society of Authors, namely, in the absence of special agreement, to give the copyright in all cases to the artist, but to safeguard both com- missioner and purchaser alike against replicas such as could imperil the identity or value of the original work; and in the case of portraits, to forbid, in the absence of special agreement, all reproductions in any form of art without the consent of the person by whom or on whose behalf the portrait was paid for. This mode of dealing with the subject not only recommends itself to artists but to purchasers, dealers, and art publishers, as may be gathered from the fact that Mr. Agnew (now Sir William) one of the largest purchasers and dealers in the kingdom, put his name on the back of the Bill prepared by the Royal Academy of Arts, and that it was approved amongst others by some leading members of the "Printsellers' Asso- ciation." With these objections to the scheme and general form of the Bill, it seems unnecessary to criticise its provisions in detail. It is, however, evident on the most cursory perusal of this Bill that if its general scheme of treatment were unfortunately adopted, much alteration of detail would be necessary. For example. Who can say when an original work of art first comes into existence? It may be possible to say approximately wrhen some par- ticular figure subject has become so far advanced as to indicate the intention of the painter. But in the case of a landscape — such as one of Turner's, for instance—a few touches of high light and a dark cloud, often painted on varnishing day, after the work lias actually been hung on the walls of the exhibition, will totally change its composition. Again, I have known figure subjects first come into existence in pen and ink on the fly leaf of an old letter, and even on the blotting- pad at the old "Art's Club." This difficulty arises from the draftsman having in his mind the particular piece of painted canvas rather than the design of the artist expressed on that canvas, which design is- capable of being expressed in many other forma of art. "Design" is, I think, only mentioned once in the Bill (clause 21), and is not defined or interpreted. The old stumbling-block "publication" appears again in this Bill. "Publication " is applicable to engravings and other reproductions; but it has been found to give rise to much trouble when applied to original works of creative art, capable of alteration even after completion. One more criticism of detail. Under this Bill the subsequent purchaser of a picture originally painted on commission could not without sub- jecting himself to the risk of penalties lend it for such an exhibition as that lately held at Burlington House of the works of the late Sir John Millais. He would have to get the consent of the person for whom it was originally painted or his representatives—people probably unknown to him, and who might even be trustees of a marriage settlement, committees in lunacy, or trustees in bankruptcy. Basil Field. March 23, 1898. IV.—" Recent Attempts at Copyright Legislation." The Secretary of the Society, Mr. G. H. Thring, has contributed to the Fortnightly Review for March a paper in which he briefly traces the history of Copyright legislation in this country and describes recent attempts made at mending or consolidating the various Acts passed from time to time. It has been found that many of our readers take a practical interest in the question. They are referred to the article itself, which they are recommended to preserve separately as a useful resume of the whole question. In the year 1896 a sub-committee was appointed by the Society of Authors to consider the question of consolidating and amending the Copyright Acts. "The question of applying for a full, consolidating, and amending Bill was very seriously discussed, and finally, for several reasons, set aside." Here we are referred to the opinion of Sir Courtenay Ilbert: Experience shows that, under existing conditions of English Parliamentary Government, consolidation should not be combined with substantial amendment of the law. Where a Bill aims both at consolidation and at amendment,  ## p. 283 (#729) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 283 it is practically impossible to confine proposals for amend- ment to the new provisions as distinguished from those which are merely reproductions of existing law. The whole Bill becomes open to criticism and amendment in com- mittee, and if the subject is in the least degree contentions, the chances of passing it are very small. Where amendment of substance, as well as of form, is needed, one of three courses may be adopted. An amending Bill may be introduced, and, when passed, followed by a con- solidation Bill. Or, when the provisions of the amending Bill are past the committee stage, they may be embodied in a consolidation Bill. This course was adopted with the Housing of the Working Classes Aot, 1890, and the Public Health (London) Aot 1891, but is attended by many risks, and is difficult to combine with the more recent practice of referring consolidation Bills to a joint committee of both Houses. Or, lastly, it may be more expedient to make • onsolidation precede substantial amendment, an assurance being given that re-enactment of the existing law is notin any way to prejudice or preolude future amendments. The fact is that simplification of the form of the law facilitates amendments of substance. Mr. Thring points out, further, that a Bill embodying the question of consolidating Acts of Parliament is never likely to be brought forward, except by the Government: It is no longer a question of obtaining uniformity for different kinds of literary and artistio property, and for the methods of dealing with them in Great Britain and Ireland. There is the wide question further involved of the British Colonies, which question, a little time back, reached a very acute stage with regard to the reproduction of oopyright books in Canada, and there is the still wider question of International copyright under the Berne Convention. To have a full knowledge on these points, it is absolutely necessary to be behind the scenes, and to know the negotia- tions of the Colonial and Foreign Office that have been or may be pending. The Society, therefore, wisely settled to bring forward a small amending Bill which might deal with the points which were in most pressing need of amend- ment. A Bill was accordingly prepared, with the support of a committee nominated by the Pub- lishers' Association, and another by the Copy- right Association It was read in the House of Lords for thf> third time last year. Unfortu- nately, the secretary of the Copyright Association summoned a committee in the autumn to consider a full Consolidating and Amending Bill. This Bill has been pushed forward and been brought into the House of Lords at the beginning of this Se ssion concurrently with the Bill of the Authors' Society. It is feared that the Government will show some support to the Bill of the Copyright Association, as they know it will be impossible to push the measure through both Houses, and that, therefore, the (to them) worrying question of Copyright Legislation and Imperial Federa- tion will be postponed indefinitely. Mr. Thring states that the Society of Authors refused to join the proposed joint committee for the promotion of the Bill on the grounds that it was impossible to pass it ■. that it would injure the Amending Act: VOL. VIII. that the draftsmanship was doubtful: that it con- tained clauses materially differing from those already approved iu the Amending Act: and that amendment must come before consolidation. In other words we had a good Bill as far as it could be: there was a chance of passing it. As to the Bill itself, it is marked private and cannot be discussed. Since Mr. Thring wrote this article the Consolidation Bill has passed the second reading in the House of Lords, and is, therefore, in print. The Copyright Committee of the society are now further considering what course it should advise the society to adopt in order, if possible, to save the situation. Mr. Thring concludes his case with the following words: Where suoh serious questions as the position of Great Britain and Ireland with its Colonies, and with other countries in the universe, have to be discussed, it is not only fitting, but absolutely necessary, that the party representing public opinion at the time should take np a subject so vast and so important. It cannot possibly be of any avail that a few gentlemen, honourably known as pub- lishers, or highly gifted as authors, should solemnly sit down to discuss a consolidating Bill without any recognised legal adviser or Parliamentary draftsman, and without any previous and laboured inquiry into the copyright laws. V.—Copyright in Germany. A notification as to provisions for the execution of the Convention respecting the formation of an International Union for the protection of works of literature and art, concluded at Berne on Sept. 9, 1886, has recently appeared in the official "Central Blatt," and will be of interest to British authors, Ac. The following is a translation :— The treaties which existed between the German Empire and several German States on the one part, and Great Britain on the other part, relative to the protection of copyright in works of literature and art, were put out of force on Djc. 16, 1897. For works of British origin, which have hitherto been dealt with in accordance with the provisions of those treaties, the follow- ing regulations, based npon S. 2 of the Ordinance of 29th Nov., 1897 (Reichsgesetzblatt, p. 787), respecting the execution of the Convention for the formation of an International Union for the pro- tection of works of literature and art, concluded at Berne on Sept. 9, 1886, shall apply in regard to the stamping and registration of the specimens and apparatus described therein. S. 1. Whosoever shall be in possession of copies or specimens of works of literature and art (writings, pictures, drawings, musical compositions, works of sculpture), which on Dec. 16,1897, had already been D D  ## p. 284 (#730) ############################################ 284 THE AUTHOR. produced, or were 011 that day in course of pro- duction, shall be under the obligation, should he desire to sell or distribute the same, to submit them for stamping to the police authorities of his place of residence on or before March 31, 1898. Booksellers, commission agents, &c, who may be in possession of such copies or specimens, can submit them for stamping on behalf of the pub- lishers or of their clients without producing a special power of attorney. S. 2. The police a\ithorities shall keep an exact list of the copies or specimens submitted to them in the form indicated by the enclosed model (marked A), and shall stamp each separate copy or specimen with their official seal. S. 3. Whosoever shall be in the possession of appa- ratus of the kind described in s. 1, No. 1, of the Ordinance (such as moulds, engraved plates, lithographers' stones, stereotypes, &c), and desires to continue using them for the production of copies—at most until Dec. 31, 1901—must submit such apparatus for stamping to the police authorities of his place of residence on or before March 31, 1898. The copies produced by means of the stamped apparatus need not themselves be stamped. If desired, however, this also can be done. Any person who wishes to have such copies stamped must submit them to the police autho- rities on or before Dec. 31, 1901. . S- 4- The police authorities shall keep an exact list of the apparatus submitted to them in the form indicated by the enclosed model (marked B.), and shall stamp the apparatus with their official seal in such a manner as to injure them as little as possible, while guarding against the possibility of the erasion of the stamp. They shall also, if copies produced by such apparatus are submitted to them for stamping, keep an exact list of such copies, according to Model A., mentioned in s. 2, and stamp each separate copy with their official seal. S. 5. The police authorities are not called upon to determine whether the production of the copies or the use of the apparatus was permissible; on the other hand, they shall refuse the stamping in case they ascertain that the copies or specimens referred to in s. 1 or the apparatus referred to in s. 3 did not yet exist on Dec. 16, 1897, or that the printing of copies had not yet commenced on that day, or that the copies described in s. 3 have been produced by means of unstamped apparatus. S. 6. The list shall be sent in by the police autho- rities to the competent central authorities within six weeks after their completion, and shall be pre- served by the latter. A notice on the part of the police authorities that no copies or apparatus have been presented for stamping is not neces- sary. S. 7. No fee shall be charged for the registration and stamping of copies or apparatus. For the Imperial Chancellor. (Signed) Nieberding. Berlin, Feb. 3, 1898. A. List of Copies presented for stamping to the undersigned police authorities. No. Date of Pre- sentation. Name or firm of person presenting copies. Title of tbe writ- ings, pictures, eom- positions. <fec. Number of List of Apparatus (moulds, plates, stones, stereotypes, &c.) presented for stamping to the undersigned police autho- rities. B. copies stamped. Name or firm of person presenting apparatus. Title of the writ- ings, pictures, com- positions, Ac., to be produced by the apparatus. Description and size of No. Date of pre- sentation. the apparatus. VI.—A Law Book's Copyright. Chancery Division.—Before Mr. Justice Romer. Palmer v. Effingham Wilson and Simonson was an action by Mr. Francis Beaufort Palmer, the author of "Company Precedents," a well-known work on company law and practice, against the defendants, Effingham Wilson (publisher) and Mr. Paul Frederick Simonson (barrister), for the purpose of establishing that a book on " Deben- tures and Debenture Stock," recently published by the defendants, was an infringement of the plaintiff's copyright in "Company Precedents," and for an injunction and damages. The case was heard, and occupied the whole of the sitting of the court on Tuesday, and it was now con- cluded. Mr. Levett, Q.C., Mr. Swinfen Eady, Q.C., and Mr. Dickinson were for the plaintiff; and Mr. Farwell, Q.C., and Mr. Scrutton for the defendants. The plaintiff and the defendant Simonson both gave evidence on affidavit, and were cross- examined, and at the conclusion of the learned counsel's speech for the defence, the judge, with- out calling on the counsel for the plaintiff to  ## p. 285 (#731) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 285 reply, asked whether the plaintiff would be dis- posed to make any concession to the defendant in respect of the copies already printed. This the plaintiff's counsel stated that he was quite ready to do, and after some discussion the following order was made by consent: The defendants, their printers, agents, and workmen to be restrained by the order and in- junction of the court from printing, publishing, selling, delivering, or otherwise disposing of, or advertising or exposing for sale the said book of the defendant Simonson, or any copy or copies thereof, and any book containing any passage or passages copied, taken, or colourably altered from the plaintiff's said books, and from doing any other act or thing in invasion or infringement of the plaintiff's said copyright in his said works. The defendants to pay the costs of the action, and also .£50 by way of damages to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff to allow the defendants to sell 300 copies of the defendant's book, including those already sold.—Extracted from the Daily Telegraph, March 3. VII.—Directions for Securing Copyrights. Under the Revised Acts of Congress, including the Pro- visions for Foreign Copyright, by Aot of March 3, 1891. 1. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, photograph, or chromo, or a description of the painting, drawing, statue, statuary, or model or design for a work of the fine arts, for which copyright is desired, must be delivered to the Librarian of Congress, or deposited in the mail, within the United States, prepaid, addressed Librarian of Congress, Washington, D.C. This may be done on or before day of publication in this or any foreign country. The printed title required may be a copy of the title page of such publications as have title pages. In other cases the title must be printed t.vpressly for copyright entry, with name of claimant of copyright. The style of type is immaterial, and the print of a typewriter will be accepted. But a separate title is required for each entry, and each title must be printed on paper as large as commercial note. The title of a periodical must include the date and number; and each number of the periodical requires a separate entry of copyright. 2. The legal fee for recording each copyright claim is 50 cents, and for a copy of this record (or certificate of copyright under seal of the office) an additional fee of 50 cents is required, making 1 dollar, if certificate is wanted, which will be mailed as soon as reached in the records. TOL. Till. For publications which are the production of persons not citizens or residents of the United States, the fee for recording title is 1 dollar, and 50 cents additional for a copy of the record. Certificates covering more than one entry in one certificate are not issued. Money orders, bank cheques, and currency only taken for fees. No postage stamps received. 3. Not later than the day of publication in this country or abroad, two complete copies of the best edition of each book or other article must be delivered, or deposited in the mail within the United States, addressed Librarian of Congress, Washington, D.C, to perfect the copyright. The freight or postage must be prepaid, or the publications enclosed in parcels covered by printed Penalty Labels, furnished by the Librarian, in which case they will come free by mail (not express), without limit of weight, according to rulings of the Post-office Depart- ment. Books must be printed from type set in the United States, or from plates made there- from; photographs from negatives made in the United States; chromos and lithographs from drawings on stone or transfers therefrom made in the United States. Without the deposit of copies above required the copyright is void, and a penalty of 25 dollars is incurred. No copy is required to be deposited elsewhere. The law requires one copy of each new edition, wherein any substantial changes are made, to be deposited with the Librarian of Congress. 4. No copyright is valid unless notice is given by inserting in every copy published, on the title page or the page following, if it be a book; or if a map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, engraving, photograph, painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design, intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, by in- scribing upon some portion thereof, or on the substance on which the same is mounted, the following words, viz.: "Entered according to act of Congress, in the year , by , in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, or at the option of the person entering the copyright, the words: Copyright, 18—, by — ." The law imposes a penalty of 100 dollars upon any person who has not obtained copyright who shall insert the notice, " Entered according to act of Congress," or "Copyright," or words of the same import, in or upon any book or other article. 5. The copyright law secures to authors and d d 2  ## p. 286 (#732) ############################################ 286 THE AUTHOR. their assigns the exclusive right to translate or to dramatise any of their works; no notice or record is required to enforce this right. 6. The original term of a copyright runs for twenty-eight years. Within sir months before the end of that time, the author or designer, or his widow or children, may secure a renewal for the further term of fourteen years, making forty- two years in all. Applications for renewal must be accompanied by a printed title and fee; and by explicit statement of ownership, in the case of the author, or of relationship, in the case of his heirs, and must state definitely the date and place of entry of the original copy- right. Within two months from date of renewal the record thereof must be advertised in an American newspaper for four weeks. 7. The time of publication is not limited by any law or regulation, but the courts have held that it should take place " within a reasonable time." A copyright may be secured for a projected as well as for a completed work. But the law pro- vides for no caveatt or notice of interference— only for actual entry of title. 8. Copyrights are assignable by any instrument of writing. Such assignment to be valid, is to be recorded in the office of the Librarian of Congress within sixty days from execution. The fee for this record and certificate is 1 dollar, and for a certified copy of any record of assignment dollar. 9. A copy of the record (or duplicate certifi- cate) of any copyright entry will be furnished, under seal of the office, at the rate of 50 cents, each. 10. In the case of books published in more than one volume, or of periodicals published in numl>ers, or of engravings, photographs, or other articles published with variations, a copyright must be entered for each volume or part of a book, or number of a periodical, or variety, as to style, title, or inscription, of any other article. To complete the copyright on a book published serially in a periodical, two copies of each serial part as well as of the complete work (if published separately), should be deposited. 11. To secure copyright for a painting, statue, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, a definite title and descrip- tion must accompany the application for copy- right, and a mounted photograph of the same, as large as "cabinet size," mailed to the Librarian of Congress not later than the day of publication of the work or design. The fine arts, for copyright purposes include only painting and sculpture, and articles of merely ornamental and decorative art should be sent to the Patent Office, as subj ects for design patents. 12. Copyrights cannot be granted upon trade marks, nor upon names of companies, libraries, or articles, nor upon an idea or device, nor upon prints or labels intended to be used for any article of manufacture. If protection for such, names or labels is desired, application must be made to the Patent Office, where they are regis- tered, if admitted, at a fee of 6 dollars for labels, and 2 5 dollars for trade marks. 13. The provisions as to copyright entry in the United States by foreign authors, &c, by act of Congress approved March 3, 1891 (which took effect July 1, 1891), are the same as the fore- going, except as to productions of persons not citizens or residents, which must cover return postage, and are 1 dollar for entry, or 1.50 dollar for entry and certificate of entry (equiva- lent to 4*. 5c?. or 6*. 7<1.). All publica- tions must be delivered to the Librarian at. Washington free of charge. The free penalty labels cannot be used outside of the United States. The right of citizens or subjects of a foreign nation to copyright in the United States extends by Presidential proclamations to Great Britain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and Portugal; and Americans can secure copyright in those countries. For this direct arrangements must be made abroad. The Librarian of Congress cannot take charge of any foreign copyright business. 14. Every applicant for a copyright should state distinctly the full name and residence of the claimant, and whether the right is claimed as author, designer, or proprietor. No affidavit or witness to the application is required. Office of the Librarian of Congress. Washington, 1895. VIII.—A Question and an Answer. Feb. 8, 189S. A man is offered by a publisher a certain per- centage on the published price of a book. The author accepts this, believing, as one would naturally suppose, that the book was to be pub- lished subject to the usual discounts to the trade. The publisher produces the book as a nett book, and pays the author on the published price; but. of course, receives a much greater amount for himself than he would have done if it was subject to the usual discounts. Has the author any right of "objecting on the grounds that he signed the agreement believing that the book was going to be published subject to the usual discounts"?  ## p. 287 (#733) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 287 Reply by the Society's Solicitor. I would say—if there is no express or implied obligation to the contrary in the contract—the publisher can sell without the usual trade dis- counts (assuming, of course, he acts in good faith). When I say implied, I refer to implication from words used in the contract, not from the ordinary course of business. If there be any express or implied obligation to sell subject to usual dis- counts, and the publisher breaks this, the author's remedy would be for damages (the most palpable damages would be if he could show that the publisher had sold fewer books in con- sequence); it would not give him a right to repudiate the contract, or to claim a higher royalty. 36, Lincoln's-inn-fields, London, W.C. Feb. 9, 1898. IX.—Old Friends. Our readers may make a note that while our old friends often quoted in these columns still continue, the principal partner has retired from it, and is now carrying on business apparently on the same lines. The flavour or aroma of the old firm clings to the new. I have seen two of his letters. The first begins in the old familiar way by stating that " I have received from my reader the report on this work, and it is sufficiently favourable to induce me to make you the following offer," &c. The offer means that the author has to pay a certain sum of money—in the case before us .£75. The publisher proposes to spend ,£30 on advertis- ing the book; the remaining £45 is to pay the cost of production. The author is to receive three-fifths of the "net proceeds" of sales. The publisher is to print 1500 copies. As the book is to be published at 3*. 6d., it is presumably a good deal shorter than the average 6s. novel. Let us see what the "cost of production" may mean. We assume, for want of further informa- tion, a book of small pica of 12 sheets of 16 pp., or 6 sheets of 32 pp., and we copy from an esti- mate before us, somewhat lower than our own— remember that the figures are only guess work, but this is an average. If the book is longer the cost would be greater. Composition, £2 7*. 6d. per sheet £ s. d (6 sheets) 14 5 o Printing, £1 7s. (6 sheets) 8 2 o Paper, at 2\d. per lb 8 9 9 Binding, say 120 copies to begin, at 4</ 2 o o 32 16 9 Of course the publisher is not obliged to bind more than are wanted. We have put the demand at 80 copies, and the "press " at 40. The "net proceeds" of sales may mean any- thing. In another letter before us the same publisher has received from his reader "a favourable opinion on the whole" of the work. He offers therefore to produce 3000 copies; to bind in attractive cloth as demands warrant; to publish at is. 6d.; to spend .£20 in advertising the book; and to pay the author two-thirds of the "net proceeds" of sales. In return the author is to pay £65. It is impossible to speculate as to a book at this price, which may mean anything. We remark, however, that the trade price of such a book would be about iod., so that on the most favourable terms—if the whole 3000 were sold, less fifty presentation and author's "copies "— the lucky author would actually make about ,£17— all for himself. What the publisher would make, one knows not from ignorance of the book. X.—A Copyright Action. In the Westminster County Court, Hudson and Others v. Stead was tried by Judge Lumley Smith, Q.C. The action was for an injunction to restrain the defendant from selling, in a volume of " Penny Poets," a poem by Mr. Coulson, which was the property of the plaintiffs. It was sub- mitted that care had been taken to include only those poems for which leave had been obtained from the authors or proprietors, and that the sale of the book was stopped on the plaintiff's com- plaining. In the end an injunction was granted, the counsel stating that he did not ask for damages, but for the sale of the poem to be stopped. NEW YORK LETTER. New York, March 18. PROBABLY there is no way in which the literary taste of this country, and espe- cially of this city, has been illustrated more clearly this year than in the fate of the various efforts to produce the literary drama. The total result seems to indicate that our public is becoming more cultivated, to have more taste for dramatic literature, at least, than it has had formerly, although, at the same time, the season's experience shows how far we have to go before we shall be anywhere near even, in dramatic standards, with Paris, Berlin, or even London. It has to be remembered, in studying the part which literature plays on our stage, that the  ## p. 288 (#734) ############################################ 288 THE AUTHOR. accidental presence of great actors counts for much. A generation ago Shakespeare was much nore prominent than he is to-day, largely because Edwin Booth and Lawrence Barrett were then alive, and to-day what position he has is due largely to the fact that while Madame Modjeska remains, among the older actors, to give us the best plays, a few of the younger ones, of whom Julia Marlowe is the most successful, have Shakespeare in their repertories; and Richard Mansfield and the Daly Company always give us more or less of the higher drama. The public taste is, of course, represented to some extent by the success of these players, but it is also repre- sented largely by the iron power of the Theatrical Syndicate, the leading member of which, Charles Frohman, although he is a popular man, liked by all his friends, has absolutely no element of art or culture in him. He is a mere good-natured speculator, loyal to his friends, willing to star an actor whom he likes, if it can possibly be done, willing to fight any actor, however high, whose business interests are opposed to his. He measures success by receipts, and it is a very open question here now whether he really represents the American public, or simply rules it as a big grain speculator may control the price of wheat. There will have been by the end of this week three productions of "As You Like It" in New York this season; one by Modjeska, one by Daly, and one by Miss Marlowe. Modjeska has not yet given hers; Miss Marlowe, with a poor com- pany, played Shakespeare in the true traditions; Mr. Daly, with a good company, killed the whole spirit of the play by the over emphasis and lack of proportion which characterises the acting of all players who have come under his con- trol. Richard Mansfield plays "Shylock" and "Richard III." everv year. Mr. Daly also put on "Twelfth Night," and did it far better than the earlier comedy, for the simple reason that the cast fitted it better, and that Miss Rehan, feeling a melancholy element in Viola, refrained from the exaggerated gambol in which so much of her art consists. More Shakespeare, however, has been given at a little Italian theatre on the Bowery than anywhere else in the city, and, indeed, the repertory at that theatre is the highest we have, including the German and French, as well as the English and Italian classics. Next to it comes our German Theatre, with much the best acting in town, and the list of plays, which is still better than any English-speaking theatre here has, although it has been getting steadily worse for several years, owing to the growing taste of the younger Germans for the kind of farce which forms so large a part of the American diet. The other classic authors who have had a showing here this year are Schiller, Sheridan, Wycherley, and Congreve. The main thing brought out by these productions was that Schiller's "Mary Stuart," given as Modjeska gives it, has, with all its poetry, more real dramatic theatrical interest than most of the plays which are built nowadays purely for the theatre. The Restoration comedies and the "School for Scandal" were so butchered at Daly's and by the company of students who produced "Love for Love," that no conclusions could be drawn, except that it is mere folly to subordinate the dialogue in these plays to a kind of rapid action made by running around the stage and sticking in extra exclamations. More significant, perhaps, than any list of the classics which survive, is the fate of the new plays. Among those which have literary elements "The Little Minister" is far the greatest success, but it is more a success for Miss Maud Adams than for Mr. Barrie. Indeed, the play is injured essentially by the subordination of the character of the minister in order to let Lady Babbie stand easily in the foreground. Next to that, the " Lady of Quality " comes; but the play itself has been a failure, at least to judge from the critics, who have agreed almost unanimously that it was a wretched piece of Philistinism, badly constructed, carried to success by Julia Arthur, excellent stage management, and a good company. The " Princess and the Butterfly" was a surprise. When Mr. Daniel Frohman put it on he believed, so it is generally understood, that the piece must lose money because it was of too fine a humour to be popular. It was so successful, however, that it was making more money when it was taken off than it was a month earlier, it has been necessary to give extra matinees of it since, and there is a possibility that, when the company goes on the road next month, the demand for this play will force the "Tree of Knowledge "—which is to be in the repertory— almost off the boards. Mr. Daniel Frohman, although he is a business man, differs from his younger brother in having some sincere interest in the better class of modern drama, and nothing has pleased him more for a long time than the unlooked-for popularity of Pinero's comedy. Richard Mansfield also scored a heavy success with one modern play, "The Devil's Disciple," by George Bernard Shaw, which is the best find he has made in years. It is the general opinion that this succeeded, however, less for its good qualities, which are very high, than for the melodramatic ones, which dis- tinguishes it from "Arms and the Man," which was anything but a success last year. Mr.  ## p. 289 (#735) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 289 Mansfield, however, is such a believer in the possibility of making a living without cheapen- ing his art, that he has bought the American rights to " Cyrano de Bergerac," and will produce it next year. Only a few weeks ago we had a really encouraging experience with "El Gran Galeoto," for although this Spanish play was given at a little theatre off the beaten track, its success was much greater than was expected. Ibsen has had a singular fate. "John Gabriel Borkman " failed utterly, but the Norwegian always succeeds at our German theatre. Miss Elizabeth Robins is probably going to test our taste for him with a series of revivals later in the season. Although this, perhaps, is not a showing to be particularly vain of, there is much of encourage- ment in it for us, since our stage has been in so bad a way that its degradation is one of the most common topics of conversation. The effect of the long run system, and the cheap flimsy plays favoured by the syndicate, is no worse for the public than it is for the actor. Our best young actors hardly know where to turn to get the training which alone can give them artistic futures. With Mr. Daly they can learn only the Jumping Jack style; and under Mr. Frohman, who controls most of the country, they have to train themselves, and can only act shallow parts, and few of those. A company of American actors are just about leaving to give " The Heart of Mary- land" in England. One of the parts is taken by Mr. E. J. Morgan. He is a young actor who has never distinguished himself very noticeably, but, after a year spent in New York theatres, I thought that he was the most striking example of what opportunity means in the drama. He has no gifts that are great, but he has an all-round sincerity, force, and fineness, which is exactly what is far more needed than individual bril- liancy, and what would be immediately appre- ciated and brought to the front if we had reper- tory theatres properly conducted. If Sir Henry Irving or Mr. Alexander, for instance, took him in hand, much might be done with him. Norman Hapgood. THE COST OF PRODUCTION. I.—Another Set of Estimates. WE gave in February three actual estimates showing that the cost of production had, in some branches at least,and on the whole, 3ne down since the appearance of the Society's ok on the subject. Yet there are some papers who continue the same belated cry that the Society's figures are impossible. We are able this month, thanks to one of our members who has placed actual estimates obtained by himself in our hands, to furnish five more estimates, of which three are under the Society's figures, one very little above, and one considerably above. The book is one of 20 sheets of 16 pages each: or 10 sheets of 32 pages: the type small pica: twenty-nine lines to a page, and " 3jjni by 5im." The number of copies is to be 3000. We first place the figures of the Society :— £. s. d. £. s. d. Composition, £1 ys. 6d. per sheet of 16 pages, or £2 15s. per sheet of 32 pages 27 10 o Printing, £1 12s. 4<J. per sheet of 32 pages 16 3 4 43 '3 4 The other estimates were as follows:— £. *. d. £. g. d. (1.) Composition per sheet of 32 pages, £2 5«. 3d 22 12 6 Printing, £\ is. per sheet of 32 pages 10 10 o 33 2 6 (2.) Composition, at £2 4*- 22 o o Printing, at £ I ys. 13 10 o 35 10 o (3.) Composition, at £2 ys. 6d 23 15 o Printing, at £1 ys 13 10 o 37 5 0 (4.) Composition, at £2 12« 26 o o Printing, at i!i iSs 19 o o 45 ° ° (5.) Composition, at £3 3s 31 10 o Printing, at £1 16* 18 o o 49 10 o The lowest of these estimates is £10 less than that of the Society. Then follows the question of paper. In the "Cost of Production" the paper is estimated by the sheet. The more common way of calculating is by the pound weight. It is found that for such a book as we are con- sidering, one ream of paper prints 1000 copies of 32 page sheet with some sixteen overs. Therefore a book of 10 sheets = 320 pp. requires ten reams. How is this expressed in pound weight? A ream of paper varies in weight from ioolbs. to i3olbs. The lower weight may be accepted as an average. Therefore ten sheets (— 320 pp.) will require from 1000 to i3oolbs. The price of paper is now from 2d. a lb. to 2\d. a lb. A very good paper can be had for 2\d. a lb., and that at 2d. is considered by many to be quite good enough. £ s. d. £ s. d. So that at 2d. a lb. the paper varies from 8 6 8 to 10 16 8 and at 2Id. a lb. ..10 8 4 to 13 10 10  ## p. 290 (#736) ############################################ 290 THE AUTHOR. Or, for 3000 copies it varies £ s. d. M s. d. (1) at 2d. a lb. from 25 o o to 32 10 o (2) at 2\d 31 5 o to 40 12 6 The cost given in the Society's book is ,£46 10s. The binding, set down in the Society's book at id. a volume, or =£50, is to be done for this book at 3frf. a volume, or £45. Now consider the whole. Society's The new figures. estimate. £ 1. (I. £ s. d. Composition 27 10 o ... 22 12 6 Printing 16 3 4 ... 10 10 o Paper 46 10 o ... 31 5 o Binding 50 o o ... 45 o o £140 3 4 £109 7 6 Therefore, compared with the Society's figures, the new estimate shows an actual saving of £30 15*. lod. And this, not on bulk of work, but on a single book! Corrections are left out. The author, if he is wise, will have very few. Let us say £5 for this item. Advertising has been left out. It is well to advertise some books widely, it is foolish to spend much money on advertising others. We have already exposed the meaning of advertising—let us repeat it. If 3000 copies are printed—• An expenditure of £10 means *sd. on each copy. That of £20 means 1 Id. on each copy. That of £30 means 2±d. on each copy. But if the first 1000 are to bear the whole expense of the advertising, then— An expenditure of £10 means \%d. on each copy, and of £20 means 3 ></. on each copy. A book which will not be persuaded to "go" after £20 has been spent in advertising it, in addition to the publishers' free exchanges, his free list, the help of the circulating libraries, and the reviews, will probably not go at all. II.—The British Weekly and the Chairman. 1. The following is an extract from "The Correspondence of Claudius Clear" appearing in the British Weekly :— The Authors' Society information published on this subject is not to be trusted. If anyone doubts this, I will ask him to find for me a single publisher in London who will differ from my judgment. Of course, if you say that all publishers are rogues and thieves, the question is not settled, but if it be admitted that a single honest man exists in the whole publishing trade, the question is settled, for nobody will bring forward any man who has had practi- cally to do with books who does not know that the figures in the " Costs of Production " are useless. 2. The following letter from Sir Martin Conway appeared on March 19th in the British Weekly:— Claudius Clear and the Authors' Society. To the Editor of the British Weekly. Sir,—I have only just seen a communication in the British Weekly of March 3, signed "Claudius Clear," in which I read that the "Authors' Society's information pub- lished on the subject"—of the " Cost of Production "—" ie not to be trusted "; and, in another place, is " useless." The figures given in the " Cost of Production " were not invented by the Authors' Sooiety. They are actual esti- mates furnished to the Society by printers; or furnished by printers to authors. This fact has been 3tated so often that it is truly surprising to see the old charge reproduced. If your correspondent will tell me any better way of arriving at the truth than by getting estimates from printers, I shall be glad to hear of it. These figures sometimes prove to be over the mark; seldom under. In the February number of The Author, three estimates for printing and binding the same work were quoted, all by first-class houses; all three much under the total cost given in the " Cost of Production." The Secretary has at the present moment in bis hands, for immediate publication, five estimates for another book, of which three are much under that given in the "Cost of Production" for a similar MS. with the same type, size of page, number of words in a page, &c. When printers, who determine the " Cost of Production," begin to send in estimates above those given by the Sooiety in their book and in The Author, the figures now given by the Society will be altered. Meantime your readers may depend upon getting from us the exact figures, neither invented nor altered, furnished by printers of town and country, for every kind of book, and all the commonly used kinds of type.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Martin Conwat, Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Incorporated Society of Authors. 4, Portugal-street, W.C., March 18. 3. The Editor of the British Weekly appended the following comment:— Our contributor invited the Authors' Society to find any publisher who would Bupport its statements. If Sir Martin Conway will find one, we shall be very happy to hear him. If he cannot, the inference is obvious. There is either (1) no honest publisher, or (2) no competent publisher in this country.—Ed. B. W. (4.) To this comment the only reply is that the business of the Authors' Society is to find, by printer's estimates, the cost of producing different kinds of books. The Society, having ascertained the facts from printers and others, publishes these facts in the interests of authors: it has nothing to do with the opinions of publishers on these facts. If any publisher says that he cannot get these figures, then the only reply is that, if he goes where the Society got them, he can. "Claudius Clear" means, perhaps, that the Society invents these figures. Indeed, that seems the only mean- ing that can be put upon his words. At all events, if it is to be a question whether publishers are "rogues and thieves," or the committees and  ## p. 291 (#737) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 291 secretaries of this Society, the side taken in these pages would probably lean in the former direc- tion. But the question does not arise, because ublishers have not denied the accuracy of these gures. NOTES AND NEWS. JAMES PAYN is dead. His death has called forth a spontaneous and unanimous voice of regret and praise which makes one think better of the world. His, indeed, was the ideal literary life—one of devotion and unwearied industry, one without envy, malice, or jealousy. Of him it may be written, that he never uttered a word of malice: that he never grudged a rival his success: and that he neither log-rolled nor depreciated. The following notes I have already contributed to a little causerie of my own. I seem to have known him for the greater part of my life. As a fact, I have only known him personally for twenty years. In the late fifties, however, when I was an undergraduate, I often heard about him. He used to turn up at his own College (Trinity) from time to time, and his stories—the delight of the Combination Room— were sometimes retailed to me by a friend, then one of the Junior Fellows. He was a companion of other friends of mine in the Lakes when he was compiling his Guide Book, which he wrote, I believe, without climbing a single hill, for Payn was always singularly averse from bodily exercise. However, without meeting the man in the flesh until the seventies, I used to hear about him constantly. In letters he has tried almost everything, and succeeded in every- thing he has tried. He has written excellent verses; he has told excellent stories; he has written charming cauteries; but, above all and before all, he has been a humorist born. That way his genius lay; no modern writer has been a greater humourist than Payn. He bubbled over with good things; he made humour out of every- thing. As for any of his work surviving, who knows? If a story of the keenest interest, admi- rably constructed, filled with excellent characters, is likely to survive, then there are half a dozen books by Payn which will eurvive. I should be sorry, indeed, to institute any odious comparison between the work of the younger men and the work of Payn, but at least one may that, for brightness of dialogue, sunshine of atmosphere, artistic construction, the former have a great deal to learn from the elder writer. A delightful companion, a man full of kindliness, who has never said an ill word of anyone, who has always delighted above all tilings, when he was an editor, in finding out young writers and advancing thein. What did I say above? The younger writers have indeed a great deal to learn from James Payn. I remember, for instance, about sixteen years ago, receiving from Payn an advance copy of a certain new book. He asked my opinion upon it. I read it all one Saturday evening with enormous delight. For he had found a new man, and with characteristic rejoicing he was eager that his "find" should be shared by other people. The book was " Vice Versa," the first of many books by another humorist of the front rank. It is generally believed that literary men are jealous of each other. That was not James Payn's case; he has never been been capable of jealousy or of venom, or any other of the vices supposed to be inherent in the profession. In a single word, Payn has always been a " gentleman of letters" through and through. I think that he will not readily be forgotten even by the people who never met him personally. In another column will be found more figures and more correspondence as to the " Cost of Pro- duction." The case for our figures is this: 1. They are actual estimates obtained from printers of acknowledged standing. Any attack upon the figures is therefore a charge of false- hood directed against the managers of the Society. 2. The figures given in the "Cost of Produc- tion" were estimates obtained six or seven years ago. 3. Since that time prices of machinery and paper have gone down, the latter enormously. 4. The figures given on p. 289 show that the estimates in 1898 are lower than those of 1891. 5. The duty of the Society after ascertaining these figures was to make them public in the interests of their members. If an author obtains an estimate or a charge exceeding these figures, from a publisher, he now knows what to think. 6. At the same time it must be remembered that there may be reasons for choosing a specially expensive paper or an expensive binding. Also, that, as the difference in the estimates proves, it is impossible to give more than the average estimate. . Is it quite impossible for after-dinner speakers —even persons unconnected with the manage- ment of literary property—to speak of the Society of Authors with something like regard for facts and for decent manners? At the recent dinner of the Correctors of the Press, there is reportcl a speech by Sir Henry Craik. Now, to begin with, P fi  ## p. 292 (#738) ############################################ 292 THE AUTHOR. Sir Henry Craik is a responsible person; he is not one of those persons who are expected to kick at the publication of the facts. He is a K.C.B. and an LL.D.; he is Secretary of the Scotch Education Department. He has written a Life of Swift; he has also written a work on the State and Education; and he has copied out "Selections" from various writers. In a word, he is a man of apparently solid parts. Now how does this responsible person allow himself to speak of the Society of Authors? Tbis is what he is reported as having said: (1.) "The Society of Authors had told them that the publisher was a needless invention." The Society of Authors has never to my know- ledge said anything of the kind. (2.) The Society of Authors had told them that "the chief duty of the author was to make himself a sprightly commercial agent, who brought the most worthless wares to the dearest market." This statement seems to me a statement as to the Society's position, which I should be very glad to see the Committee take up seriously, if it were possible. One such case seriously undertaken, and carried through, would put a stop at once and for ever to such misrepresentations. "Marguerite" writes to state that from her own experience editors are courteous, and pub- lishers ready to explain the reasons of their deci- sion as to her MSS. One editor told her that her MS. was not rejected on account of any want of literary merit, but solely because he was already "full up." She has received other letters fr.-m other editors equally courteous in tone. There- fore, she says, " all civility is not reserved for the other side of the water, as E. L. A. seems to imply." Did E. L. A. imply so sweeping a view of the matter? One is very glad to print these testimonials to the courtesy of many editors, the existence of which has never been disputed, while the discourtesy of other editors is still insisted upon. As regards publishers, "Marguerite" gives the letter in full, which accompanied the return of her MS. It informs her, with far more consideration than is generally the case, that, while the book is "pleasant, it is too slight for separate publication." "Marguerite " says that she will send her next MS. to the same firm. This shows the value of a little politeness, which costs nothing. At the same time politeness, one would point out, is not the only quality which makes a firm desirable for an author. The new journal, the Ontlook, noticing certain remarks of mine on the new Literary Year-Booh made in another paper, says that I would not allow "any author even to murmur under his breath au unkind word of another." This is hardly the way I should like it put. My contention is simply that one writer ought to observe towards another writer the same attitude of courtesy and good breeding that is expected of one barrister towards another; or of one medical man towards another. That is a reasonable claim, surely, and not too much to ask—simple courtesy. As a gloss upon this proposition I would point out that the fact that a poet or a novelist, an antiquarian or an essayist, does not necessarily possess the faculty of criticism: and does not, therefore, exercise by right the utterance of judgments upon other poets, or novelists, or essayists. The critical and the literary faculty do not, in other words, mean the same thing. As regards the Year-Book (see p. 293) before us, there are two questions quite distinct. (1) Is it decent or desirable to present in the Literary Year-Book a wholesale attack upon living literary men and women? And (2), if it is decent and desirable, is Mr. Joseph Jacobs likely to be accepted as quite the proper person for the job? _ Mr. Anthony Hope's experiences in the United States, otherwise pleagant, have had their seamy side in the publication of certain paragraphs in certain papers, quoting words which he did not use, and opinions which he never held or expressed. In a letter to the New York Critic Mr. Anthony Hope indicates in the concluding paragraph, with- out naming him, the real offender. It is not the obscure journalist who invents things for the sake of creating a little excitement who is to blame, it is the editor who allows their inventor to continue on his staff. He says—the italics are mine: "I suppose it is not customary to attempt to sift paragraphs of this description in any way before publishing them as facts. Lf some such process is not altogether impossible in a newspaper office it xcould seem to be desirable. In the pre- sent state of affairs a wise man treats all para- graphs as more or less amusing fiction; probablv this is only taking them in the spirit in which they are offered by their ingenious authors." The portrait of Mr. Herbert Spencer, which representatives of the literature, philosophy, and science of the country asked that he should allow to be painted as a mark of congratula- tion upon the conclusion of the "Synthetic Philosophy," is now at length finished. Professor Hubert Herkomer, R.A. has painted the portrait. Mr. Collins declares that "all who know Mr. Spencer will agree in praising it both as au admirable likeness and as a work of art." It will  ## p. 293 (#739) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 293 The Rev. E. A. Abbott, D.D. Grant Allen. William Allingham, F.R.C.S. William Archer. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., &c. Mrs. Gertrude At her ton Sir Eobert S. Ball, LL.D., F.R.S. Eobert Bateman. A. W. a Beokett. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. The Rev. Canon Bell, D.D. E. F. Benson. Mrs. Oscar Beringer. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Sir Walter Besant. W. H. Besant, Sc. D., F.B.S. Miss M. Betham-Edwards. Ponlteney Bigelow. Augustine Birrell, Q.C., M.P. The Rev. Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., Ac. Oscar Browning. Prof. C. A. Bnchheim, M.A., LL.D. Mrs. Mona Caird. Lady Colin Campbell. The Very Kev. the Dean of Canterbury. Rosa Nonchette Carey. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. Sir William Charley, Q.C., D.C.L. Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S. P. W. Clayden. Mrs. W. K. Clifford. Edward Clodd. The Hon. John Collier. Sir W. Martin Conway. Mrs. B. M. Croker. Francis Darwin, F.R.S., &c. Sir George Douglas, Bart. Prof. E. Dowden. The Very Rev. the Dean of Durham. The Rev. J. Earle, LL.D. Basil Field. Prof. Miohael Foster, F.R.S. Richard Garnett, C.B., LLD. "Maxwell Gray." H. Rider Haggard. Prof. J. W. Hales. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Miss Beatrice Harraden. Silas K. Hocking. "John Oliver Hobbes." Jerome K. Jerome. Henry Arthur Jones. J. Scott Keltie, LL.D. Mrs. Edward Kennard. Prof. E. Ray Lankester. W. E. H. Leoky. J. M. Lely. Mrs. Lynn Linton. The Right Hon. Sir John Lubbock, Bart., P.C., D.C.L. "Edna Lyall." The Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sidney Lee. J. Norman Lockyer. The Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., P.C., &o. Phil May. Justin McCarthy, M.P. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. The Rev. C. H. Middleton- Wake. Miss Jean Middlemass. F. Frankfort Moore. Arthur Morrison. "E. Nesbit." Henry Norman. W. E. Norris. Max Pemberton. The Right Hon. Lord Pir- bright, P.C., F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. William Pole, F.R.S. Morley Roberts. Edward Rose. W. M. Rossetti. Sir W. H. Russell, LL.D. Miss Adeline Sergeant. The Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat, Litt. D., &o. Herbert Spencer. M. H. Spielmann. S. S. Sprigge. Sir John Stainer, Mus. Doc. Bram Stoker. Francis Storr. "Annie S. Swan." The Right Hon. Sir Richard Temple, Bart., P.C., G.C.S.I., &o. W. Moy Thomas. The Right Hon. Lord Tenny- son. Sir Henry Thompson, F.R.C.S. John Todhunter, M.D. "Mark Twain." The Rev. Chas. VoyBey. Charles Waldstein, Litt. D., &o. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Theodore Watts Dun ton. Peroy White. J. McNeill Whistler. Major-Gen. Sir Charles Wilson, K.C.B., &c. I. Zangwill. be sent to the next exhibition of the Royal Academy. It is proposed to offer the picture to the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery for hanging upon their walls. It is hoped that this may be long deferred, as the gallery does not exhibit portraits of the living. The trustees and directors of the National Gallery of British Art agree to exhibit the portrait upon their walls during Mr. Spencer's life. Walter Besant. THE ANNUAL DINNER. E Annual Dinner of the Society of Authors will be held in the Venetian Room of the Holborn Restaurant on Monday, May 2, at 7.30 p.m. The chair will be taken by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of London, P.C. . Tickets for the Dinner will be 1 guinea, inclusive of everythiug. The formal notice of the Dinner will be sent out to each member in the course of a day or so. The following ladies and gentlemen have kindly con- sented to act as Stewards of the Dinner: "THE LITERARY TEAR-BOOK." THE new volume of the "Literary Tear- Book " * is before me. The first volume contained faults of omission which were inevitable at the outset. The new volume has filled up some of the omissions, and has given many additions; but it suffers from a failure on the part of the editor to understand what such a book should be. Its primary function is to supply all kinds of information that may be of use to those who follow the Literary Profession. Its clientele is not the outer world at all: the outer world does not greatly care about the details and manage- ment of the Literary Profession; it likes to have its books, papers, articles, poems, &c, supplied without asking how they come. The "Literary Tear-Book " is addressed, in fact, solely to literary folk, a thing that must be carefully considered by everybody concerned in its production. This being so, the editor has, in my judgment, committed a very grave error in choosing to begin his work by a misplaced attack upon the Profession at large, and upon members of the Profession individually. It is an age, he begins, benevolently, of " machine- made books and of reclame-made reputations.-' What are the "machine-made books Y What life have they Y What success Y Who publishes them? Who buys them Y What encouragement is there for the manufacture of machine-made books? Surely an editor who laments the * "The Literary Year-Book, 1898." Edited by Joseph Jacobs. (London: George Allen. 3s. 6d.)  ## p. 294 (#740) ############################################ 294 THE AUTHOR. machine-made book might at least explain, with a few illustrations, what he means. Again, whose are the reputations made by reclame F There must be a great many of them according to the editor, because this is an "age" for them. One knows the names of one or two persons who have done, or are doing, their very best to advertise themselves, but they have failed, as a rule, to achieve the admiration they desire. Where are they, then, these reputations of reclame for which this age is so famous? Let us imagine, if we can, a professional book intended for lawyers, which should begin by telling its clientele that they know no law, and that their reputation is made by reclame; or a book intended for the medical profession, which should begin by saying that all doctors are quacks; or a book intended for the army, which should begin by lamenting the decay of courage among our officers! We cannot imagine such an absurdity. Yet this is exactly what has been done for the literary profession by the editor of the "Literary Year-Book." He actually begins by scattering, broadcast, attacks upon the work of the very people to whom he looks for support! And, which is worse, he seems to think it the function of the "Year-Book" to depreciate the very profession which it is meant to represent and to support! In the course of his Introduction, for instance, the editor asks how many of the 7000 books of last year will survive. So put, the question certainly involves the assumption that they ought all to survive. But, consider. Out of the 7000 at least ninety-nine in a hundred are books produced for the needs of the day; as the educational, technical, and scientific books: books for children: the magazines and journals. Of the remainder it will be time enough in twenty years to ask how many books of those published for more than the needs of the time, as poems, plays, essays, fiction, have survived from 1897. There are other charges of less importance but, unfortunately, equally out of place. "Nowadays a writer sends forth his message into the air with no definite target to aim at." What does that mean? If a man has a message to deliver he wants no target. If he has an arrow to shoot he does want a target; but not if he has a message. It means that the editor proposed to say something disagreeable and has said it. "There has been no literature in 1897." That is a comfortable assertion; it is especially calcu- lated to please the people for whom the " Year- Book " is published. The editor says that he has "stated and proved " it. I see the statement, but not the proof, which has somehow dropped out. The novelists will be, above all, pleased with the book, for the writer demonstrates that they are all in a decaying, or decayed, condition. How- ever, one need not follow the Introduction any further. Considered as an introduction to a "Year-Book" of Literature, compiled entirely for literary folk, it is certainly lamentable. This fundamental error of supposing that criti- cism of any kind—even real criticism—is wanted in such a work is carried throughout the volume. There are, for instance, half a dozen photographs of authors. Each is accompanied, not by a simple statement of the writer's work, which is all that is wanted in a Year-book for the Profession, but by an attempt at smart criticism of the writer, with a pat on the back or a snub, either of which is unasked and out of place. Then follows a list of fiction for 1897, which is incomplete. Here, again, the editor remains under the delusion that his judgment has been invited. Nobody wants his judgment or his selection. A Year-Book wants neither criticism, nor selection, nor judgment. It wants facts. The editor should take his judgment and his selections to any of the literary and critical journals, where they might be accepted and where they would not be out of place. I hope that in the third volume of the " Year- Book " the proprietors will recognise the broad and simple fact that it is not the function of the book to abuse and insult the very people for whose use it is produced. Common politeness is due to your customers. The " Year-Book " should fill a very important function indeed. That is the reason why these remarks are offered ; but one is hardly encouraged to recommend it when one finds what is offered. I do not like to quote the remarks made on Mr. Hall Caine, on pp. 24, 25, while on p. 2 5 Mr. Seton Merriman, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling —the writer actually speaks of the "moderate height" of " The Light that Failed"—the "mode- rate height!"—George Gissing, Anthony Hojie, S. E. Crockett, Louis Stevenson, Henry James, Marion Crawford, Richard Le Gallienne, and Olive Schreiner, all come in for the appreciation of this genial editor. This is sweeping enough: but there are other broad and comprehensive strokes of the broom by which the editor jjroves to his own satisfaction that there has been no literature in 1897. But in that case if there is no literature, what is the use of a "Literary Year- Book "? Why is it published? And why all this trouble to compile lists, and arrive at information as to the management of the Literary Profession? Surely, a profession which is from beginning to end an imposture and a quackery, does not demand a book of its own. The sooner it is dis- couraged, swept away, and made unprofitable, the better for the world.  ## p. 295 (#741) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 295 Lastly, there is an attempt made to give the birthdays of literary people. Would it not be better to confine the attempt to the dead? I find myself, for instance, honoured with a birthday. I am stated to have been born on All Saints Day. I was not born on that day. Nor was I born in the year mentioned. The editor kindly gives me eight years of life more than I can claim. I have thought it necessary to speak plainly as to this unfortunate work, partly because it is most important to the Craft that we should have a good Year-Book, such as may be useful for reference and for facts: partly bocause the laudable attempt to produce such a book by Mr. George Allen should be recognised, and the need of such a book, properly prepared, should be acknowledged: and partly because in the Intro- duction I am named as one of those who gave advice. I remember a little correspondence with the late editor, Mr. Aflalo, but not with Mr. Jacobs, and I have no recollection at all of offering him any advice. My memory, however, on this point may be at fault. In any case I have to dissociate myself entirely from this ill-advised and unfortunate attempt to convert the " Literary Year-Book" into a medium for attacking the followers of Literature. W. B. THE "TAX" UPON PUBLISHERS- (I.) JI iHE following is an extract from the I Manchester Guardian on the subject of this alleged tax :— "Another matter about which a great deal of nonsense has been talked of late is also handled very plainly by the editor of The Author. This is the so-called 'tax' upon publishers of five copies of • each copyright work which have to be presented to the chief libraries of London, Edin- burgh, Dublin, Oxford, and Cambridge. The editor runs a sharp pin into the bubble of a grievance, and makes it instantly collapse. 'Most books,' he says, ' the vast majority of books, do not sell right out. Many leave "remainders," which are sold at a few pence each. Now, in every case where there is a remainder there has been no loss by this tax at all. . . . The tax would appear to be a burden when the demand is greater than the supply, but even then new editions came out, to be followed by remainders in the long run. It is therefore a tax which, if it is real at all, is very small.' We should be exceedingly sorry in any case to see the free supply of books to the four great libraries out- side London cut off, for they serve a population to which the British Museum is not available." (II.) The following paper, which shows American opinion on the matter, has been com- municated to the editor by the author, Mr. S. H. Ranck, Librarian of the Enoch Piatt Free Library, Baltimore. It is part of a paper read at a conference of the American Library Associaton, held at Denver, Colorado, in August, 1895 :— "The modern idea of the librarian is that of the distributor, rather than the keeper of books; but the idea of the ' keeper' is not entirely lost. Almost every librarian feels that he owes some- thing to his successor and to the public of the future. He believes that he ought to preserve for them as complete a record as possible of every human activity—the life and the work of the people of his day. In this view the library is a museum of civilisation, accumulating and preserving the results of human progress or degeneration. Nevertheless, the work of collecting and preserv- ing is important, and many libraries are doing it for their communities, as far as it lies in their power; but the larger the community and the greater the number of books, the more difficult such a task becomes. "Too many librarians, however, impressed with the importance of the work of collecting and pre- serving for the future, attempt to do too much. Libraries in the same community overlap each other in a way that is often wasteful; and, on the other hand, they neglect to preserve matters of importance. Almost everything depends on the whims or tastes of the persons who, for the time, may happen to be in charge of the library. It seems that the time has come when libraries should have a very clear understanding of the work each one is to do in the line of collecting for preservation. "Many of our public libraries of a popular character add from five to fifteen thousand volumes every year, and they must do so to supply the demand for new books, and to do the work they ought to do; but how many of these books will be so much as even remembered by the most intelligent general reader one hundred years hence? The library that continues buying ten thousand volumes a year for a century, and preserves them, as almost every library is now doing, will then have over a million books, a number that is exceeded by only two or three libraries in the world to-day. "The expense of administration and the inter- ference of tens and hundreds of thousands of unused volumes, will force most of our libraries to carry only a working stock. These librariet  ## p. 296 (#742) ############################################ 2g6 THE AUTHOR. must discriminate, and they should not attempt to collect and preserve, except in very limited fields; but there ought to be a few libraries whose particular work should be that of gathering and saving for the future. These few should have every opportunity of getting all the mate- rial within their field, so that they could be depended upon, for all time, to have everything within their intended limits. "To show the need of systematic collection for preservation, to point out a method to insure a more reasonable degree of completeness and safety, and, at the same time, to make such a collection more accessible to the students of this and succeeding generations, is the purpose of this paper. "Books of local interest and value are con- stantly published, but they do not get into the regular channels of the trade, and so they are lost to the libraries and to the future. This state of things must continue so long as present methods are followed. In how many States is there a library with anything like a complete collection of the books, not to mention news- papers, pamphlets, &c, published within, or relating to, the State? There is not a library in the State of Maryland where one-third of the several thousand books published within her borders before the Civil War can be found. The same is true, I know, of other, and no doubt to some extent of all, the States. "You may say that most of these books de- serve to be forgotten. It may be true, but never- theless they were once a part of the life of the people. Do we believe that the census should enumerate only the 'important' men of the nation? As a record of the life of a people a complete collection of their books is fully as important as the enumeration and classification of every man, woman, and child. As no one can select the 'important' people for the census returns, so no one can select the 'important' books for a collection that must represent the intellectual life of the people: for we should be constantly repeating the experience of the critics who would have denied the earlier works of a Wordsworth, or a Byron, and many other great writers, when first their works appeared, a place on library shelves. "The Constitution of the United States pro- vides that the Congress shall have power 'to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.' In accordance with this power our copyright laws have been passed. Such laws are wise, and they should apply to citizen and alien alike. These laws give the owner of the copyright a great monopoly, and one that increases in value with the growth of population, of general intelligence, and of libraries. Even now a publisher can safely count on disposing to libraries alone of a considerable edition of a very ordinary book; and there is an ever growing demand for larger editions. To obtain this copyright the owner must pay a fee of one dollar and deposit two copies of the book in the Library of Congress (national library) at Washington—all of which is very well as far as it goes. "But our copyright law provides only one depository for the United States, On the other hand, an Act of Parliament provides five for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and before the convenience and rapidity of travel by railroad there were eleven. The British law requires that a copy of every edition of a book must be delivered to the British Museum, 'bound, stitched or sewed together, and upon the best paper on which the book is printed.' Furthermore, 'copies of every edition of every book published must, if demanded, be delivered to an officer of the Stationers' Company for each of the following Ubraries: the Bodleian Library, the Cambridge University Library, the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.' From this source, in 1893, as stated ihthe annual report, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, received 39,619 items. "And now be it remembered that the area of Great Britain and Ireland exceeds the area of the single State of Colorado by less than 12,000 square miles—Colorado contains 103,925. On the other hand, the population of the United States is nearly twice that of the British Isles. On the basis of population the United States should have, at the present time, ten depositories for the five of the British. Of the twenty or more political divisions of Europe, though only one exceeds the United States in the number of its inhabitants, a number of them have more depositories. "Again, the area of the United States (includ- ing Alaska) and the area of Europe are so nearly equal that the annexation of the single province of Ontario would make the two areas almost exactly the same. We are forced to believe that in the course of a few centuries, at the very most, the number of people in the United States will exceed the present number in Europe, about three hundred and fifty millions, an average of one hundred per square mile. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island already exceed this average— the average per square mile in Massachusetts and Rhode Island being 278 and 276 respectively.  ## p. 297 (#743) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 297 One depository is not enough for such a vast number of people, nor for such a large area. "Whilst there are a dozen or more languages in Europe, each with its own distinct literature, in the United States the English language is common to nearly all the people; and, if present tendencies continue, the proportion of people in America, who will express their thoughts in Eng- lish, will be greater a hundred years hence than it is now. A great multitude of intelligent and educated people, speaking a common language, require more than one depository for the pro- ducts of their intellectual life. "Under the present arrangement the student of the history of California must cross the conti- nent if he wants to find all the copyrighted books that are now published in the State, or relating to it, and a hundred years hence his need to go to Washington will be even greater; for books have a curious way of disappearing. Can the National Library at Washington assure the student of 1995 that all the books relating to California of to-day will be there? Is it safe to risk every- thing in one place? A national library is sub- ject to all the ordinary risks of any library, with the additional risk of loss by an act of war. We need only recall the history of our own National Library, burned by the British in 1814, and Washington terrified by hostile armies during the civil war. The carefulness and foresight of ordinary business affairs demand that all should not be risked in one place. •' All these difficulties and dangers of a single depository can be overcome by an amendment to the law of copyright. The law should provide for more depositories. How many more will be largely a matter of judgment. It should provide first of all, that every State may be assured that it can get, within the State, a copy of every work that is copyrighted by one of its citizens. Where it should be deposited would be for each state legislature to decide—the State Library, the State Historical Society, or the Library of the State University, suggest themselves as proper places." LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Local Colour according to Taste — A Word to Magazine Writers—The Short Story. The historic advice "verify your quotations," may be varied or supplemented by the warning, "Confirm your cabled agreements by letter." Mr. H. G. Wells has suffered at the hands of an American editor—a Boston editor, no less. When he agreed with one of the New York daily journals for the serial publication of his story "The War of the Worlds," he stipulated that no alterations should be made in the text of the story without his consent. The editor of the Boston Post saw the story running in the New York paper, and cabled to Mr. Wells an offer for the reproduction of it " as New York Journal." To this Mr. Wells replied " Agreed." Nothing fur- ther transpires until Mr. Wells receives a cutting from a chipping bureau acquainting him with the fact that his story " as applied to New England, showing how the strange voyagers from Mars visited Boston and vicinity," was appearing in the Post. He writes a letter in the New York Critic protesting in the most emphatic way against this manipulation of his work in order to fit it to the requirements of the local geography. An encouraging word for magazine writers is said by one of themselves—an old hand—in the National Review. He calls his article "The Sorrows of Scribblers," and admits, as an evidence of his own experience in climbing the "hill of Parnassus," that he has a desk full of super- annuated and unappreciated talent—fifty manu- scripts which he fondly turns over in reflective moments as if they were old love letters. He preaches patience with editors. They are quite alive to a good thing when they can get it; t here is, as a rule, no regular staff on a magazine, but "a fair field and no favour." Periodicals as a whole do not pay so well as papers, and journalism is a better staff than magazine hack writing. "If literature, as a living, may be compared to sweeping a crossing, then periodical writing may be likened to a crossing in a suburb where few men come and go, and journalism to that of a busy street in the City." Here is a piece of general advice that is tendered among this magazine con- tributor's "confessions " :— As far as possible, avoid all personal dealings with editors and publishers. Should you be shabby, they may (for after all they were once men) think less of you; should yon be in evident want of money, they will cut your price down: should you be nervous, they will paralyse you; and, beyond all else, their one and very reasonable desire will be to get rid of you as soon aB possible, and on the easiest termB. No; always send everything by post; it is by far your best chance. Though manuscripts, like curses, came home often to roost, so quickly—especially should they happen to be poetry—as to be a tribute to the postal service, still the post is your best friend. Mr. Frederick Wedmore writes in the Nine- teenth Century upon the Short Story, and disowns the favourite definition of this as "a novel in a nutshell." On the contrary, he claims it as a separate thing, and involving the exercise almost of a different art. So. that it is quite an absurd reward to speak of a short story as " a promising little effort," " an earnest of better things." The  ## p. 298 (#744) ############################################ 298 THE AUTHOR. short story, says Mr. Wedmore, "admits of greater variety of form than does the long novel, and the number of these forms will be found to be increasing." Plot, or story proper, is no essential part of it. But it may be, as a long story is, in the narrative form, or in the first person (though this should be used very charily), or in the rare form of letters. Forms which by common consent are for the short story only, are simple dialogue, and the diary form. The latter must be used charily, and is not suffered gladly. '' It is for the industrious who read a good thing twice, and for the enlightened, who read it three times." The lighter work leans oftenest on the form of all dialogue; the graver, on the form in which there is no dialogue at all. Compression is indispensable; every sentence must tell. As to the tendencies of the day, Mr. Wedmore observes that among the better writers more care is being given to expression, to an unbroken con- tinuity of excellent and varied style. "The short story, much more than the long one makes this possible to men who may not claim to be geniuses, but who, if we are to respect them at all, must claim to be artists." The profession of the literary pessimist is already overcrowded, and Mr. Wedmore predicts that the short story at its best will return to a spirit humane and genial, sane and wide. OBITUARY. MR. JAMES PAYN died on March 25, at his residence in London. Born at Cheltenham in 1830, and educated at Eton, Woolwich Academy, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he made a beginning in authorship in his undergraduate days with a little volume of l>oetry called " Stories from Boccacio." Another lx>ok of verse was published in 1855, and was favourably received. Household Words and Chambers's Journal began to take stories and articles from him, and in 1858 he succeeded Mr. Leitch Ritchie as editor of the latter magazine. In its pages appeared, in 1864, the story "Lost Sir Massingberd," which proved a great success. He had already published "The Foster Brothers" (1859), and "The Family Scapegrace" followed in 1869. These were the first fruits in a literary career singularly industrious and successful. Others that may be named of his fifty or so pub- lications are "Like Father, Like Son" (1870), "By Proxy" (1878), "Two Hundred Pounds Reward (1879), "For Cash Only" (1882) and "The Burnt Million" (1890)." Mr. Payn's latest work was "Another's Burden," published last year. In 1882 he became editor of Cornhill Magazine, succeeding Mr. Leslie Stephen, and held this position until failing health compelled his retiral in 1896. He was literary adviser to Messrs. Smith. Elder, and Co., and well known to readers of the Illustrated London News by his weekly " Note-book " in its pages. In "Literary Recollections," published in 1884, and "Gleams of Memory," in 1894, he gave to the public- clearer knowledge of a character which was always popular with them, and good-natured and cheery in its outlook. Nevertheless Mr. Payn was never physically strong. The chief relaxation of his busy life was found in whist playing, at which he was an accomplished hand. The deaths have also to be recorded, during the past month, of Sir Richard Quain, the eminent physician, and author of the "Dictionary of Medicine"; Mr. Aubrey Beardsley, the young artist and writer, whose work was identified largely with the Yellow Booh and the Savoy; and Zacharias Topelius, the most distinguished author and poet of Finland. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—" Americans Cannot Stand Criticism." IAM always interested when Americans attempt to "spoke my wheel," although not always moved to comment. But I think that Mr. Norman Hapgood should explain why it is that if the people of the United States do not "take me as seriously as the English people do," I cannot write an article for a newspaper, much less a novel, without throwing the entire United States Press into a ferment. Some two years ago I published a letter in the London Chronicle in which I rashly instituted comparisons between Englishmen and American men, to the advan- tage of the former—solely on account of the many more generations which had contributed to their building; and although the most exciting and important presidential election of recent years was at its height, I received a sufficient number of abusive articles from the American Press to paper a good-sized flat. And when "Patience Sparhawk and her Times" appeared, there were only two papers that did not arise and vociferate at it—the Boston Herald and Town Topics. In fact, I have had a similar experience in a greater or less degree with every book I have published, although the antagonism of the United States Press has been far more persistent and loud-voiced since I came to England to live. The reason is a simple one. The Americans cannot stand criticism from anyone. But criti- cism from an American-born who has taken up  ## p. 299 (#745) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 299 his residence in a foreign country, and thus gained two ears instead of one, irritates and worries them out of all self-control and perception of justice. If I romanced about them they would, beyond doubt, ignore me, but as I have never in a single particular deviated from the truth nor been guilty of an exaggeration, they have tried every possible method to frighten me into the peaceful realms of obscurity. Of course there are Americans and Americans. A large and enlightened class understand that the country needs an impartial critic more than any country on earth. I hope I shall never do the United States an injustice, but I shall certainly not be deterred from telling the truth about it in every book I write. Gkrtrude Atherton. 22, Granville-place, Portman-square, W. II.—An Experience with a First-class Firm. I am a beginner in literature, but I have, as in duty bound, joined the Authors' Society, and take The Author. I read therein of the ways of pub- lishers, which seem to be various and occasionally crooked. In the cases that are given, the name of the publisher is not printed, and, although there is a notice that the name and address of the firm can be obtained at the offices of the Society, I am too far from London to be able to identify them. I have, however, formed the impression that, in most cases, the firms to which unfavourable atten- tion was drawn must be small ones of little note, and that with the greater firms the usual methods of business obtaining in other branches of trade were observed, and that one was, so to speak, safe with them. My recent experiences have consider- ably undeceived me, and they may be of interest to my fellow members. Some three or four years ago I wrote two articles on a certain not very well known episode in history, which articles were published in a magazine of old standing and high reputation. The articles had a great success, though in no way pertinent to current affairs. Very shortly after I obtained more material, and I proposed to the publishers of the magazine to combine the old articles and the new material into a book to be illustrated. The suggestion was accepted, almost effusively, and I wrote the book. I was at that time very busy with other affairs, and it was written hastily. It was sent to the publishers, but I subsequently wired to my agent in England to withdraw it from them, and send it back for correction. I may say that I live three weeks' journey away from England. The MS. was returned, and the publishers wrote to say that the book was full of charm, but was hastily written and wanted balance. If I would re-write it they would be glad to have it sent to them for consideration. It was accord- ingly re-written very carefully, with a due regard to balance, and sent to the publisher. The revised MS. must have reached them in the first week of June, 1897. By October no answer was received, and I wrote and asked my agent at home to find out what the publishers were doing. At last in December the publishers answered. There was now no complaint about want of balance, no, the book was a great credit to me, and had fascina- tion, but they could not publish it because the subject was not one likely to be popular. To properly estimate the value of this astonish- ing remark it must be remembered that the gist of the book had been published in the magazine and had attracted great attention; the publishers had accepted at once the suggestion to make a book of the articles,and had mentioned their terms; six months before the final delivery of the MS. they had seen the book, and the only objection was that it wanted balance. The subject is not an ephemeral one, and was no more before the public in 1893 and 1895 than in 1897. If the final reason of the firm be correct, it simply means that they knowingly encouraged me to waste much valuable time writing a worthless book. In any case, their reason for keeping the book for seven months, although aware of its subject and its consequent worthlessness, and thereby preventing me offering it to another firm before the close of the publishing season, is not explained. This is a first-class firm at the very head of the business of publishing. It may be that this is the usual treatment that a young writer may expect, it may be that in the publishing world there is nothing unusual in this. I do not—perhaps happily—know the pub- lishing world and its ethics. But I may say that if indeed this sort of thing is common, the ethics of the publishing world are very different to that of other worlds, with which, fortunately, I am better acquainted. H. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Qaem Deas vult perdero, prias dementat. IBEG to thank your three correspondents for their answers to my question, and to apolo- gise for my bad German, the blame of which must fall on me and not on the printers' reader. As I have been so successful in asking one question, I will now venture to ask another. The  ## p. 300 (#746) ############################################ 3oo THE AUTHOR. Latin words above—where do they come from, and in connection with what were they written? I have twice heard a very learned man declare that to give their authorship is impossible. I would, however, hazard the suggestion that the words should run iambically thus: Qaem Jupiter vnlt perdere, dementat prins, and that they have survived by citation from some lost writing of Publilius Syrus, whose "Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur" shows how much better his matter could be than his metre. Querist. PERSONAL. ON the occasion of his seventieth birthday (March 20) Dr. Henrik Ibsen was pre- sented by a group of English friends and admirers with a handsome set of silver, consisting of a ladle, a loving cup, and a small cup. The letter which accompanied the gift was signed by Mr.Wil- liam Archer and Mr. Edmund Gosse on behalf of the forty subscribers—"a few from among the many in England," they wrote," whom your execu- tive skill has stimulated and your intellectual intrepidity encouraged." A propos of the medallion to the late Poet- Laureate, which is to be erected in Lincoln Cathedral, Canon Rawnsley asks, in a letter to the Daily News, if it would not have been feasible to obtain by national subscription the little old manor house at Somersby. "Many in America and England," he observes, "would delight in years to come to see that old bird-haunted home of the greatest of Victorian poets still unchanged, and to find unharmed the Somersby house and garden that was a very haunt of nightingales." Sir William Fraser, formerly Deputy Keeper of the Records of Scotland, who died a fortnight ago, has bequeathed to the University of Edinburgh ,£25,000 for the foundation of a Chair to be called the Sir William Eraser Professorship of Ancient History and Paleography; £ 10,000 for the pur- pose of the library; and one-half of the residue of his estate, which is expected to amount to between .£9000 and £ 10,000, for general require- ments, bursaries, research, publications, &c. Mr. Arthur W. a Beckett, who is a member of the Committee of Management of the Society of Authors, has just been unanimously elected chairman of the London district of the Institute of Journalists. BOOK TALK. HER WILD OATS" is the title of a novel which Mr. Thomas Burleigh, of 370, Oxford-street, has recently published for John Bickerdvke, author of "Daughters of Thespis," "Lady Val's Elope- ment," &c. The scene of the story varies between the Upper Thames and London, and the book contains a slight theatrical interest. Mr. Thomas Burleigh's name is familiar to authors at the present time, owing to his post as secretary of the Booksellers' Union. He has the premises where for many years a publishing business was carried on by Mr. David Stott. On May 2, 1898, it will be fifty years since Queen's College, London, opened its doors for women. This was the result of a plan originally discussed by Charles Kingsley, Alfred Tennyson, Hullah, Maurice, Mrs. Marcet, Mrs. S. C. Hall, &c, for the better teaching of girls, and Queen's College thus became the pioneer of all higher education for women. How times have changed in these last fifty years! An educated woman is no longer the exception, but the rule, the result being that women are now to a great extent able to earn their own livings and work honourably at professions. In commemoration of the jubilee, Mrs. Alec. Tweedie originated the idea of a memorial booklet, comprised of articles by old college students on their own professions, and undertook its editor- ship. This little volume will be sold at the College for the benefit of the building fund, and in its pages will be found the original lecture by Rev. Frederick Denison Maurice on the " Objects and aims of the College," a resume" of the half century's work by Miss Croudace, the Lady Resi- dent, besides articles on medicine, music, art, classics, literature, journalism, cookery, laundry work, hospital training, mathematics, the stage, &c., by well known women writers. A serial novel, called "Whips of Steel," by Annabel Gray, is now appearing as a feuilleton in the columns of the Daily Mail. There will presently be issued from the ofBces of the European Mail another work from the pen of "Sundowner," entitled "Tarns from the Never-Never." The volume will contain some three dozen "yarns from the Australian back- blocks." A volume containing two stories by Mr. Henry James will be published early in the summer by Mr. Heinemann. "Perish the Bauble," a shilling novel of an exciting nature, will be out in May, published by  ## p. 301 (#747) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 301 Vincent Clare, 71, Wendover-road, Harlesden, N.W. It is by Frances Hariott Wood. "Comedies and Errors " is the title chosen by Mr. Henry Harland for a new volume of short stories, which Mr. John Lane will publish for him shortly. Sir Edward Grey, M.P., is to contribute a volume on angling; Dean Hole one on gardens; the Marquis of Granby one on sport and wild life in a northern county; and Mr. George A. B. Dewar one on sport and wild life in Hampshire and the New Forest, to a new series of books on country life which Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co. have projected. This is to be called the Haddon Library. The Marquis of Granby and Mr. Dewar will edit the series. Mr. Dewar wrote "The Book of the Dry Fly," which appeared a year ago. Sir Martin Conway's new book, " With Ski and Sledge over Arctic Glaciers," will be published in a few days by Messrs. Dent. It is, of course, a result of the author's recent explorations in the interior of Spitzbergen. Mr. Alfred Bussel Wallace has written "The Wonderful Century: Its Successes and Failures," which Messrs. Sonuenschein will publish on May 15. It will give a short descriptive sketch of the more important mechanical inventions and scien- tific discoveries of the century, and discuss the intellectual and moral failures. Sir James Ramsay, Bart., is engaged on "The Foundations of England: a History of England to the Death of Stephen," which Messrs. Sonnen- schein will publish. The child-labour in British industries is the subject of a book by Mr. Frank Hird, entitled "The Cry of the Children," which Mr. Bowden will publish. "The Progress and Prospects of Political Economy," by Professor J. K. Ingram, and "Labour Colonies," by Professor Mavor, are to be published by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. Captain Shadwell, of the Suffolk Regiment, who acted as a special correspondent on the North-West Frontier, has written "Lockhart's Advance through Tirah." The volume will be published shortly by Messrs. Thacker. An earlier chapter in Indian history is dealt with by Mr. J. W. Sherer, whose volume, entitled " Daily Life during the Indian Mutiny," Messrs. Swan Son- nenschein will publish next month. Mr. Sherer is an old Anglo-Indian civil servant, and the author of the novel " A Princess of Islam." Among the works to be published during the spring by Mr. Henry Frowde (the Clarendon Press) is "Lectures and Essays," by the late Professor William Wallace. Messrs. Chapman and Hall are publishing "The Song of Solomon," with twelve full-page collotype plates and numerous head and tail pieces by H. Granville Fell. Mrs. Humphry ("Madge" of Truth) has written "Hints: A Book for Women and Girls," which Mr. Bowden is to publish shortly. Besides his new novel called " Robin Hood," which Messrs. Harper Brothers are to publish, Mr. Barry Pain will be represented this season by a book entitled "Tompkins' Verses," which are contributions on topical subjects, and have been appearing in the Saturday Daily Chronicle for the last year or two. Professor William J. Knapp's Life of George Borrow, which has already been announced, will not be ready until the autumn. Mr. Murray is the publisher. Dr. Robert Wallace, M.P., who was at one time a Presbyterian divine and afterwards editor of the Scotsman, is writing his reminiscences, and has entered into an arrangement with Messrs. Bliss, Sands and Co. for the publication of the book. Mr. John A. Doyle is responsible for the "Memoir and Correspondence of Susan Ferrier," which Mr. Murray is to publish. Susan Edmon- stone Ferrier is of course the author of " Marriage," "The Inheritance" and other novels. Sir Walter Scott, whose friendship she enjoyed, used to be credited with the authorship of her tales. She died in her native city, Edinburgh, in 1854. A biography of W. G. Wills, poet, dramatist, and painter, by his brother, the Rev. Freeman Wills, will be published by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. The correspondence of an aunt of the Queen is being edited by Mr. Philip C. Yorke, and will be published by Mr. Fisher Unwin. This aunt was the Princess Elizabeth, who became by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg; and most of the letters in the forthcoming volume were written to a lady friend, Miss Louisa Swinburne. The title of Lieutenant Peary's book on his Arctic explorations will be "Northward over the Great Ice." It will be in two volumes, and have 800 illustrations. Messrs Duckworth, Henrietta-street, who will publish Mr. Wheeler's book, are a new firm, and the following are some of the books they have arranged for:—" Studies iu Biography," by Mr. Leslie Stephen; "Tom Tit Tot; or Savage Philo- sophy in "Folk-Tale," by Mr. Edward Clodd; "Cricket," by the Hon. R. H. Lyttelton; "A History of Rugby School," by W. H. D. Rouse; novels by Miss Clemence Housman, Charles Kennett Burrow, John Sinjohn, Mrs. W. K. Clifford, and Edward H. Cooper; and a volume  ## p. 302 (#748) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. of verse bv Miss Margaret Armour, entitled " The Shadow of Love." Mr. Sidney Pickering has written a story of an educated gentleman, who seeks refuge from the conventionalities of English society by becoming a tramp of the road. The title of the book is "Wanderers," and Mr. James Bowden will pub- lish it. Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Co. will publish "Mrs. De La Eue Smyth," by Riccardo Stephens, M.B., CM. A novel by Mr. Archer P. Crouch, "For the Rebel Cause," a tale of the Chilian civil war, is to be published by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Co. A new story by "Alan St. Aubyn," will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus in a few days. The title is "Fortune's Gate." This firm also announce "The Heritage of Eve," by H. H. Spettigue. Mrs. Gertrude Atherton's new novel, "The Calif ornians"; a work by Mr. H. B. Marriott Watson, entitled " The Heart of Miranda "; and another from Mr. Le Gallienne, entitled "The Romance of Zion Chapel," are to be published by Mr. John Lane. Among forthcoming novels to be published by Messrs. Hutchinson are Mr. Douglas Sladen's "The Admiral," a romance of Nelson, for which, as a considerable part of it is laid in Naples in 1798-9 at the place of Sir William and Lady Hamilton, the author has gone to Naples to verify a point; "The Millionaire," by Mr. F. Frankfort Moore; "A Bachelor Girl in London," by Miss Q. E. Mitton; "The Renunciation of Helen," by Mr. Leader Scott; "An Angel of Pity," by Florence Marryat; "Mars," by Mrs. S. D. Barker; "Adrienne," by Rita; and "In the Shadow of the Three," by Miss B. L. Tottenham. Fiction to come from Messrs. A. D. Innes and Co. will include the following volumes:— "Children of the Mist," by Mr. Eden Phillpotts; "A Woman's Privilege," by Miss Marguerite Bryant; "The Island of Seven Shadows," by Roma White; "The Indiscretion of Lady Asenath," by Mr. Basil Thomson; and "The St. Cadix Case," by Esther Miller. "The Keepers of the People," a romance, by Mr. Edgar Jepson, will be published this month by Messrs. Pearson. Professor Hugh Walker, of St. David's College, is engaged upon a history and criticism of English literature in relation to national life, from the end of the Georgian period to the present day. The work will be published by Messrs. G. Bell and Sons. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Feb. 24 to March 23.—316 Books.] Adamson, W. Life or Rev. Jts. 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London: 8IMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. Ltd. Railway Bookstalls and all Booksellers. PHOTOGRAPHS—BIRTHDAY and SEASON CARDS from negatives by Ralph Darlington, F.R.G.S., of scenery. Ruins. &o., in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt, li.. la. till., 2a., 2s. 6d. Mounted Specimen, post free, with complete list. Is. D.A.RLI^rGrTOJSr Sc CO., LI^NGOr.I.KISr. Demy 8vo., cloth boards, price 10s, 6d. IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA. Travels in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. With Map and Twenty-six Illustrations. By H. LINCOLN TANGYE. CONTENTS. Introductory. PART L Chapter I.—The Land of Gold and the Way there. ,, II.—Across Desert and Veldt. ,, III.—Johannesburg the Golden. „ IV.—A Transvaal Coach Journey. „ V.—Natal: the South African Garden. ,, VI.—Ostracised in Africa. Home with the Swallows. PART H.—RAMBLES IN RHODESIA. G'UAITIR I.— Eendragt Maakt Magt. IL—Into the Country of Lobengula. HI.—The Trail of War. IV.—Goldmining, Ancient and Modern. V.—Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. VI.—To Northern Mashonaland. VII.—Primitive Art. The Misadventures of a Wagon. Index. London: HORACK Cox. Windsor Hoii.», Rream's-bnildlngs. E C. Crown Hvo., with illustrations, price 6s., to be had of all booksellers. FOE HIS COUNTRY'S SAKE; or, Esca, a British Prince at the Court of Trajan. By L. M. P. BLACK. Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream't-buildingi, London, E.O. RECENT VERSE. LYRICS. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD. Cloth lettered p price 5s. NOETH COUNTRY BALLADS. By HENRY TODD. Price 6s. TALES IN VERSE. By Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD Cloth By ERL VIKING. By ARTHUR CAMP- lettered, price Z SONGS OF THE CASCADES. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s.* 6d. SONGS OF THE PINEWOODS. BELL. Price 3s. 6d. THE FAIREST OF THE ANGELS, and Other Verse. By MARY COLBORNE-VEEL. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 8s. 6d. 11 Some of the shorter lyrics are much abovo the average, being The merits of the collec- tiui light i sider nusical in expi "—The Bookma, THE WANDERER IN THE LAND OF CYBI, and other Poems (1886-98). By CLIFFORD BROOKS. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s. 6d. POEMS. By THOMAS BARLOW. Crown 8vo., bevelled boards, gilt edges, price 5b. POEMS. By LEWIS BROCKMAN. Crown 8vo., oloth boards, 5s. M The ballads are full of the spirit and directness of style proper to the ballad."—Saturday Rericic. 11 Mr. Brockniau is a writer of good poetic mettle, and no doubt the reading world will hear more of him yet."—Glasgow Herald. "Tho graceful smoothness of Mr. Lewis Brockman's poems."— Daily TtJearaph. "He is decidedly inventive, and often highly imaginative. . . . Tho element of originality pervades the book. . . . His long poem, 1 Ronald's Cross,' is well sustained . . . it is like the plaint of the * Mariner,' and it holdB us."—Queen. "A reader who values cultured sentiments and flawless versifica- tion will And much to admire." London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's Buildings. E.C  ## p. 304 (#752) ############################################ iv AD VER TISEMENTS. THE MERCANTILE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. (Managerees-MISS MORGAN.) 158, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from lOd. per 1000 words. Special Terms for Contract Work. All descriptions of Typewriting, Shorthand, and Translation work executed with accuracy and despatch. TYPEWBITIE"Q "With Aoouracy and Despatch. Authors' MSS. 9d. per 1000 words. Plays, Translations, Indexing, General Copying. Specimens of Woek and Testimonials on Application. MISS WAY, 33, OSSIAN ROAD, STROUD GREEN, LONDON. N. TO AUTHORS. Col. ROBERT W. ROUTLEDGE, late Managing Director of George Routledge & Sons Limited, will be pleased to receive MSS. with a view to disposing of them. From his long experience in the Publishing Trade, Col. Routledge has special facilities for placing- literary work, advising as to rates of payment, drawing up agreements, &c. Terms on application. Temporary Office: 4, BACQUKT COURT, FLEET STREET, K.C. MRS. GILL, TYPE-WHITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED J883.) Authors' MSS. carefnlly copied from 1b. per 1000 words. Duplicate copies third price. Skilled typists sent out by hour, day, or week. French MSS. accurately copied, or typewritten English translations supplied. References kindly permitted to Sir Walter Besant: also to Messrs. A. P. Watt and Son, Literary Agents, Hastings House, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.C. Stick in your Scraps with STICKPHAST PASTE. Heaps better than gum. 6d. and Is., with strong, useful brush. Sold by Stationers, Chemiets, Stores, Ac. Factory, SXJC^AR LOAF COURT, K.C. MISS GK DAVIES, 178, OAKLET STREET, CHELSEA, S.W. Typewriting Accurately and Promptly Executed. A Floating Policy of Insurance. All MSS. received are Insured against loss or damage while being copied and on transit. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1898. Being a Statistical Book of Reference for facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Benefices than any ever yet given 'o the public. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Typewriting bt Clergyman's Daughter and Assistants. MISS E. M. SIKES, The West Kensington Typewriting Agency, 13, Wolverton Gardens, Hammersmith, W. (Established 1893.) Authors' MSS. carefully and promptly copied. Usual Terms. Legal and Qeneral Copying. Typewritten Circulars by Copying Process. AUTHORS' REFERENCES. TYPEWRITING. TRANSLATIONS, PROOF CORRECTIONS Unexceptionable References. Care and Accuracy guaranteed. Usual Rates. ESTABLISHED SIX TEARS. MISS J. P. STRANGE, 3, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C. AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD (The LEADENHALL PRESS LTD., Publishers & Printer* 50, Lead en hall Street, London, E.C.) Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each. 5s. per dozen, ruled or plain. Authors should note that The Lkadknhall Press Ltd. cannot be responsible for the loss of MSS. by Are or otherwise. Duplicate copies should be retained. THE KNIGHTS and KINGS of CHESS. By the Eev. G. A. MACDONNELL, B.A. With Portrait and 17 Illustra- tions. Crown 8vo., cloth boards, price 2s. Gd, net THE ART of CHESS. By James Mason. Price 5s. net, by post 6s. 4d. London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E.C. 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. 08 Issue 11 (April 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 11 (April 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-04-01-The-Author-8-11 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/315/1898-05-02-The-Author-8-12.pdf b33ce80fd5d58c016813db527a937df3 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) 1898-05-02 Volume 8 Issue 12 Pages Page range in volume 305–332 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980502 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Uhc Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 12.] MA.Y 2, 1898. General Memoranda and Warnings Literary Property— 1. Lord Monkswell'a Bill 2. Canadian Copyright Law 3. The Cost or Production 4. Title Pages Thirteen as Twelve New York Letter. By Norman Hapgood Notes and News. By the Editor Feuilleton—Too Sharp for Once CONTENTS. PACE ... 305 ... E06 ... 307 ... 308 ... 308 ... 308 ... 309 ... 310 ... 318 [Pbich Sixpence. Notices to Correspondents Mr. Asqulth on Criticism Personal Questions and Answers Correspondence —1. The Boxburgbe Press Limited. 2 right in Titles 3. A Warning to Writers. Literary Year-Book 1S9»." 5. Editots and Contributors. 6. The Publisher's Assistant 321 Literature In the Periodicals 325 Book Talk The Books of the Month 330 FAOI 815 819 320 381 No Copy- 4. "Tho PUBLICATIONS OP THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1897 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members, 6*. 6d. per annum. Back numbers are offered at the following prices: Vol. I., 10*. 6d. (Bound); Vols. II., III., and IV., 8«. 6d. each (Bound) j Vol. V., 6f. 6d. (Unbound). 3. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Moeeis Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 1 The History of the Societe des Qens de Lettre3. By S. Squire Spriqqe, late Secretary to the Society, i*. 5. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, Ac, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 21. 6d. 6. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spriooe. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 7. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill of 1890. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lelt. Eyre and Spottis- woode. is. 6d. 8. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Walter Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). 1*. 9. The Contract of Publication in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. By Ernst Lukge, J.U.D. 2S. 6d.  ## p. 304 (#754) ############################################ AD VERTISEMENTS. ^f)e g>ociefp of Jlufljors (gncorporafeb) Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. J. M. Barrie. A. W. X Beckett. KOBEKT BaTEMAN. F. E. Bbddard, F.B.S. Sib Henry Bergne, E.C.M.G. Sib Walter Besant. augustine blrrell, m.p.| Eev. Pbof. Bonnet, F.B.S. Biqht Hon. James Bbyce, M.P. Bight Hon. Lord Burqhclere, P.C. Hall Caine. Eoebton Castle, F.S.A. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. W. Mobris Colles. Hon. John Collieb. Sib W. Mabtin Conway. F. Marion Cbawfobd. Eight Hon. G. N. Curzon, P.C, M.P. Hon. PRESIDENT. QEOEGE MEEEDITH COUNCIL. The Eabl of Desart. au8tin dobson. A. Conan Doyle, M.D. A. W. Duboubq. Pbof. Michael Foster, F.E.S. D. W. Fbeshfibld. Richard Gabnett, C.B., LL.D. EDHUND GOS8E. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Jerome K. Jerome. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Bay Lankester, F.B.S. W. E. H. Lkcky, P.C. J. M. Lely. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. Bev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. Sir A. C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc. Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. Counsel — E. M. Underdown, Herman C. Merivale. Bev. C. H. Middleton-Wakb. Sir Lewis Morris. Henry Norman. Miss E. A. Ormbrod. J. C. Parkinson. Right Hon. Lord Pirbrioh*, P.C, F.R.S. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. W. Baptists Scoones. Miss Flora L. Shaw. G. R. Sims. S. Squire Sprigqe. J. J. Stevenson. Francis Storr. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Mrs. Humphry Ward. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Q.C A. W. 1 Beckett. Sir Walter Besant. Egerton Castle, F.S.A. W. Morris Colles. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Sir W. Martin Conway. D. W. Freshfield. J. M. Lely. H. Rider Haggard. Henry Norman. Anthony Hope Hawkins. Francis Storr. ART. Hon. John Collier (Chairman) Sir W. Martin Conway. M. H. Spielmann. Solicitor/— SUB-COMMITTEES. MUSIC. C. Villiers Stanford, Mas.D. (Chairman). Jacques Blumenthal. DRAMA. Henry Arthur Jones {Chairman). A. W. X Beckett. Edward Rose. Field, Roscoe, and Co., Linooln'a Inn Fields. G. Herbert Thring, B.A., 4, Portugal-street. Secretary—G. Herbert Thring, B.A. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. OFFICES: J±. F. W^.TT & SOILST, LITERARY AGENTS, Formerly of 2, PATERNOSTER SOUARE, Have now removed to HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, "W.C. THE TEMPLE TYPEWRITING OFFICE. TYPEWRITING EXCEPTIONALLY ACCURATE. Moderate prices. Duplicates of Circulars by the latest ^ process. £ OPINIONS OF CLIENTS.—Distinguished Author:—"The moBt beautiful typing I have ever seen." Lady of Title:—"The ^ work was very well and clearly done." Provincial Editor :—" Many thanks for the spotless neatness and beautiful accuracy." ^ MISS GENTRY, ELDON CHAMBERS, 30, FLEET STREET, E.C.  ## p. 305 (#755) ############################################ XT be Butbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. VIII.—No. 12.] MAT 2, 1898. [Pbice Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Autliors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot bo accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOR some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against whioh they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to oarry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. Till. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a Bpecial charge for " office expenses," nnlesB the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possiblo for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great sueeess for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; bnt which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there Bhall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged whioh has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all disoounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the lame time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he Bigns it. E E 2  ## p. 306 (#756) ############################################ 3 06 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE'SOCIETY. I. in VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive l^J advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is Buch as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the cose is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not Bcruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society yon are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the beat interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise npon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action npon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author oomplete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for The Author should reaoh the Editor not later than the 21 Bt of each month. All persons ongaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to oommunieate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Oflice without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society docs not, under any circumstances, undertako the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year p If they will do this, and remit the amount, if BtUl unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Sacretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask thomselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? "ThoBe who possess the 'Cost of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per oent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made npon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any Bums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Lord Monkswell's Bill. OUR French contemporary Le Droit d'Au- teur, the organ of the Berne Bureau of International Copyright, to whose valuable columns we have been not a few times indebted for intelligence of the highest moment, published in March an article on recent copyright legisla- tion in England of a kind most encouraging to ourselves. Continental literary circles, where, naturally enough, the difficulties of British legislation are not clearly understood, have felt some doubts concerning the value of Lord Monkswell's Bill at present before the House of Lords. In States where codification has become traditional, and  ## p. 307 (#757) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 307 amongst foreign authors, who have sometimes suffered injustice in consequence of the confused and inadequate nature of the copyright laws of Great Britain, it is not singular that opinions should have been expressed rather in favour of a thorough revision of our copyright statutes than of an enactment calculated to remove some of the present most pressing difficulties. And this will be the less wondered at when it is remem- bered that amongst ourselves the fact that the revision of the whole copyright law could not be expected to pass the House of Commons except as a Government measure has been over- looked. With the various views which have been expressed the Droit cTAuteur deals in a short article, beginning with an appropriate reference to Mr. Herbert Thring's recent contri- bution in the Fortnightly Review, and then pro- ceeding to sketch the situation, and to speak of the difficulties in the way of the improvement of our legislation. It will be unnecessary to repro- duce here the r&sumi given of Mr. Herbert Thring's article. We may pass over the exposition of the difficulties in the way of reform with which we are ourselves but too familiar; only remarking that this subject is handled with an admirable impartiality. But we should like to call the attention of our readers to the two following passages. One expresses the views of the writer in Le Droit cTAuteur: Respecting the plan of campaign choaen by the English Society of Authors, whioh is, if possible to carry through some well defined and urgently needed reforms, before pro- ceeding to codification, this is a question of tactics, regarding which it is not our place to express an opinion. The English- men interested in these matters are here in a better position to judge than we. Tn the other, near the end of the article, we have the views of a French editor: views expressed in terms which cannot be other than highly gratifying to all supporters of Lord Monkswell's Bill and the Society's action: The same view is maintained by our contemporary, Le Progrea AHUtique (March 3, 1898), in whioh the editor, M. Maurice La Riviere, writes: "Whilst admitting that partial revisions applied to matters already regulated by several different legislative measures present serious incon- veniences, as well as risks of legal inconsistencies and contradictions, often of a kind to be deeply regretted, we cannot, at the same time, avoid asking ourselves whether it does not amount to sacrificing the substance for a shadow if we decline to take advantage of the limited but definite ameliorations which would result from Lord Monkswell's bill, in order to wait—God knows how long—for a codifica- tion of the English copyright laws. The question is, perhaps, a disputable one from the point of view of the English themselves; but respecting the interests of foreigners, and more particularly those of French dramatists and men of letters in general, it appears to us that every one Bhould without hesitation support the immediate and definite adoption of the project of the English Society of Authors." II.—Canadian Copyright Law. An important meeting of the Canadian Copy- right Association was held in the Board of Trade committee room yesterday (March 11). Mr. Dan. A. Bose, vice-president, called the meeting to order, and, in opening the proceedings, referred to what had been done in the past in order to secure a proper copyright law in Canada, and place the present unsatisfactory state of things on a better footing. The subject had been thoroughly threshed out, and there was no opposition from either political party. It was not a political matter at all, but one of ordinary business and straight justice. There was every reason to suppose that it could now be satis- factorily settled. A draft bill had been prepared as a result of several conferences between the Canadian Copyright Association and Mr. Hall Caine, who represented the British authors. The principles of that measure had been assented to by both sides of the House of Commons. There would, therefore, seem to be no reason why it should not pass into law. It was not a matter that need take up much of the time of the House, seeing that the righteousness and expediency of the measure were conceded. He therefore trusted that a united effort would be made to secure this desirable result. Mr. George N. Morang said that in the present ripe state of the question it would seem to be a want of judgment on the part of the association if vigorous steps were not at once taken with a view to relieve the publishing trade from the inconvenience and injustice under which it suffered from the incidence of the present law, or rather the want of it. The publishing trade had made headway under serious difficulties, and it deserved some attention. He moved "That in view of the importance of the publishing interest in Canada, which now gives employment to a large number of persons, and in view also of the great injustice and inconvenience occasioned by the chaotic state of copyright in Canada, imme- diate steps be taken to urge on the Govern- ment to settle the question on the basis of the draft bill agreed upon by this association, as representing Canadian interests, and by Mr. Hall Caine, as representing the British interests, and that the executive of this association take requisite action in the matter and interview the Government at once." The resolution was seconded by Mr. A. S. Irving. Mr. J. Murray said that, in order that the enterprise might proceed with success, it was requisite that the sinews of war should be pro- vided. The association had shown no hanging back in this respect in past times, and he did not anticipate any difficulty on that score now. He  ## p. 308 (#758) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. moved "That the executive committee be autho- rised to take steps to collect funds to promote the work of the association." The resolution was seconded by Mr. R. L. Patterson.— Toronto I for Id, March 12. __0<-^_ III.—The Cost of Production. In the note on the Cost of Paper in the last Author it is stated that a "ream of paper varies in weight from loclb. to 1301b." This leaves a wide margin of choice, but it is better to make it still wider by inserting the words "suitable for a fa. volume of 10 sheets of 32 pages." IV.—Title Pages. At a recent meeting of the Publishers' Associa- tion the Report of the Committee on Title Pages was received and discussed. The Report (says the Publishers' Circular) was in the following •words :— The Committee held meetings on Tuesday, Oct. 26; Tuesday, Nov. 2; and Thursday, Nov. 18; and unanimously agreed on the following recom- mendations, viz.:— (1) Date. («) That the title page of every book should bear the date of the year of publication, i.e., of the year in which the impression or the re-issue of which it forms a part, was first put on the market. (6) That when stock is re-issued in a new form, the title page should bear the date of the new issue, and each copy should be described as a "re-issue," either on the title page or in a bibliographical note. (c) That the date at which a book was last revised should be indicated cither on the title page or in a bibliographical note. (2) Bibliographical Note. That the bibliographical note should, when possible, be printed on the Lack of the title page, in order that it may not be separated therefrom in binding. (3) Impression, Edition, Re-issce. That for bibliographical purposes definite meanings should be attached to these words when used on a title page, and the following are recommended: Impression.—A number of copies printed at any one time. When a book is re- printed without change it should be called anew impression,to distinguish it from an edition as defined below. Edition.—An impression in which the matter has undergone some change, or for which the type has be en reset. Re-issue.—A republication at a different price, or in a different form, of part of an impression which has already been placed on the market. (4) Localisation. When the circulation of an impression of a book is limited by agreement to a par- ticular area, that each copy of that impres- sion should bear a conspicuous notice to that effect. Addendum. In cases where a book has been reprinted many times, and revised a less number of times, it is suggested that the intimation to that effect should be as follows, e.g.:— "Fifteenth Impression (Third Edition)." This would indicate that the book had been printed fifteen times, and that in the course of those fifteen impressions it had been revised or altered twice. The report was adopted. THIRTEEN AS TWELVE- IT is reported that attempts are being made to pay royalties on the principle of 13 as 12. In other words, if a royalty of 20 per cent, is agreed upon it is proposed to pay a royalty on 12 copies out of every 13 copies sold, or on 100 copies to pay for 92. That is to say, the author is to receive a royalty of only 18 j0s per cent. What is the justification of this imposition? The practice, it is said, of giving the trade an allowance of 13 as 12. But this is only done when the bookseller orders a dozen of one work or a dozen volumes of the same publisher. Now with the declining condition of the bookseller's trade, such orders are growing fewer and fewer every day. The distributing firms doubtless send in such orders, and get these allowances, but the average bookseller does not. Of that there can be no doubt. In other words the allowance of 13 as 12 by no means covers the whole sales. Therefore, to demand of the author to give up 8 per cent, because such an allowance is made in certain cases is simply an attempt to trade upon ignorance. In the next place, it may be argued fairly that the author has nothing to do with the publisher's trade arrangements. His royalty is a fixed charge on the book like the cost of printing and paper. But there is another consideration of vital importance. The royalties are now mainly based upon certain tables published some time ago in The Author, which opened the eyes of the literary world as to the meaning of the royalties they  ## p. 309 (#759) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 309 had been offered and had received. Now these tables were prepared on the understanding that the allowance of 13 as 12 was universal. Thus the price of a 6*. book to the trade was considered to be 4s. 2d. less 10 per cent, and 13 as 12, bringing the price down to 3s. 6d. very nearly. The figures thus appeared as follows: 1. The cost of a 6*. book in large numbers was set down at i*. In The Author of April, p. 290, the cost of a certain book of average size was, not estimated but, actually quoted as charged and paid for at gi^d. a copy. To make it up to a shilling ,£35 would have to be spent in advertising. 2. The price to the trade was set down at 3«. 6d. A list of prices obtained from a book which had a circulation of many thousands was fur- nished a few months ago by a certain firm of publishers, which showed that while the dis- tributing firms paid less, the trade paid more. The average was almost exactly 3*. 6d. Perhaps, when the distributing firms take a larger propor- tion the average will be nearer 3s. 5<7. 3. The profit of the book was therefore 2s. 6d. The tables of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 per cent, royalty was calculated on those figures. But if after the royalty was allowed on the 13 as 12, the publishers claim it again, they actually have it twice over. And a royalty of 20 per cent, in the old agreement should be one of 21 f per cent. For the next number of The Author new tables will be prepared, first, without reference to the allowance at all, and next, recognising it and altering the figures accordingly. But these must not be altered over again. NEW YOKE LETTER. New York, April 14. THE business of syndicate sale of literary matter, especially fiction, has had an exten- sion in the purchase by John Brisben Walker, editor and owner of the Cosmopolitan, of the Bacheller Newspaper Syndicate. He will not only do the business formerly done by the concern in sending out New York letters, woman's pages, &c, to provincial papers, but will also do a business similar to that now done by the McClure Syndicate, selling the Sunday papers all the stories which he buys for his magazine. Mr. McClure frequently allows these Sunday papers to print instalments of serials before they appear in the magazine. The general idea is that a story which has been in the maga- zine has been seen all over the country, whereas its appearance in the few newspapers has very little effect on the readers of the magazine. Mr. A. F. Jaccaci, the art editor of McClure's Magazine, is about to make a trip to the Western States to see half a dozen young writers whom he thinks promising. He said that he would like to have McClure's Magazine do for America what has been done in England by certain editors in discovering new writers, and he thinks those who need encouragement are almost all in the West, as a young m m who gets any kind of a start in New York receives so much attention, and has so much demand for his work, that he is likely to be spoiled. This theory, if it were to be weighed carefully, would, of course, need con- siderable mitigation. It is on the whole true, however, that two influences exist side by side in the literary as well as in the general life of this city. A person of any real ability in letters, or even of a factitious cleverness, is likely to become the centre of enough attention for him to dwell on if he wishes to; but, on the other hand, the city is so big, with so many diverging groups of life, that almost nobody has any individual importance, and it is more frequent to hear the loneliness which this con- dition produces dwelt upon, than the self- consciousness which is engendered by our keen appreciation of literature of any grade. Among the writers who are just beginning their careers, the author of " The Imported Bride- groom, and Other Stories," which is to be pub- lished by Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. immediately, gives some genuine promise. Abraham Cahan is a young Russian Jew of high ideals and of an intensely serious nature. A large part of his life has been spent among the people of what we call our Ghetto. He is now doing regular work on the Commercial Advertiser, broadening his experience by knowledge of the varied sides of city life which newspaper reporting opens up to one. His attitude towards his surroundings is interesting, as being typical probably of the majority of serious Russians in this country. He feels entirely out of sympathy with the American temperament. The fundamental indifference and jocosity with which it takes everything, treating politics and literature with the same curiosity and the same carelessness, shock him. I fancy that he will not do his best work until his point of view as a foreigner vanishes, and he sees the American spirit from the inside rather than from the outside, enjoying it, however much he may desire to change it in detail. Mr. Henry James, who published an interesting article on literary opportunities in America in Literature a short time ago, has also some-  ## p. 310 (#760) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. ■what of an external point of view, in spite of his knowledge of America and his cleverness. Pro- bably nobody, however discriminating, who has not given himself up essentially to our life as it is, can speak about it in a tone which shall seem intimate and convincing to the Americans themselves. Mr. James picks out two things for special emphasis, the business man and woman. Now, those are very obvious elements of life, but it is almost certainly true that to the most sensitive and deepest people who are living in the rush of this life, it would not occur to project the business man and his special problem into the foreground in our general feeling of American life. What there is a vague and strong desire for in our literature, is not the use of these obviously literary opportunities, but the expression of some- thing more deeply characteristic, which shall give principles and shades of thought and feeling which exist throughout a whole city, or a whole social class, or the whole country. The method of writing a story about a grocer or a stockbroker, or the member of a trade union, has been tested for a good while without producing any other result than a demonstration of the fact that the hero of the novel ought to be an individual and a man, rather than a tradesman or a professional. I do not mean, of course, that his occupation should not appear in the novel, but that it should not be the essential element of it. There was a rather discouraging outcome to Miss Elizabeth Kobins's attempt to introduce Ibsen to her native country. Instead of a series of performances here and in Boston, she gave but one, "Hedda G abler," at a matinte in New York. Her supporting company was a fairly good one, thoroughly rehearsed, and the resulting performance was the best all-round presentation of an Ibsen play that I have ever seen, her own acting being better than that of anybody who has played in Ibsen here recently, with the single exception of Mr. E. J. Henley, who is now in England. In spite of these favourable conditions the success was only moderate. The audience was made up of literary people and actors, and con- tained none of the element which would support a play for any length of time. The criticisms in the Press were almost without exception as hostile as they were shallow. We are on the road to learn something about technical excellence in the drama, but we evidently shall refuse to learn it from the Norwegian. One way in which we get some instruc- tion is an absurdly dishonest one. There is a prejudice against old plays here. If an actor wished to put on Dumas's "Kean," his manager would protest vigorously. Charles Coghlan, therefore, makes an awkward, but almost literal translation of it, and advertises it as practically a new play, merely founded on an old drama, and is drawing crowded houses. Only Monday one of our most cultivated actresses, Minnie Madden Fiske, put a play on the stage, a translation from the German. The translator's name was con- spicuous, but the original author was thought of so little importance that he was not mentioned. Almost the only purely original dramatic work of any note which has been done here within the last two or three years is Mr. Gillette's " Secret Service," with which you have had an opportunity in England to become well acquainted. There is a general feeling, although as yet no definite signs, that the conditions are ripe for the poetic drama, and the success of " Cyrano de Bergerac" has encouraged that belief. Mr. Richard Mans- field, easily the leading actor in America along certain lines, will take the part. One of the notable figures in American life and letters has just retired from his principal courses at Harvard. Charles Eliot Norton has long stood pre-eminently for old world culture, and a. lack of sympathy with the elements of life around him. His method has been not to pick out what he could find in America that was vital, or beauti- ful, or capable of being used to good purpose, but to talk continually about what was ugly or crude, and to contrast it with remote opposites, ranging from Greece to Burne-Jones. He has doubtless done good as well as harm, but his influence has been academic and slight, as that of any man must be who takes the situation before him in such a narrow closet fashion. Norman Hapgood. NOTES AND NEWS. ANOTE in the Athenseum states that owing to the war and the continued excitement it is certain to create, many books planned for the autumn will be kept back by the pub- lishers in the United States. My own forecast in the matter is that the excitement over the war, which will go on increasing, will not prevent books from being read, but quite the contrary. A war wakes up the whole nation: it not only calls forth anxiety, hope, exultation, resolution, tenacity, and other emotions and passions, but it seizes on every faculty and calls it into action. As to the influence of a long war on literature, remember that in the long war of Great Britain with France, from 1793 to 1814, a great part of which, so far as operations on land were concerned, was only partially successful, our literature was enriched by work from Wordsworth, Coleridge,  ## p. 311 (#761) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3ii Southey, Lamb, Byron, Scott, Kogers, Landor, Shelley, Godwin, James Hogg, Leigh Hunt, Jeremy Bentham, Frances Burney, Mrs. Barbauld, Thomas Campbell, Edmund Burke, and a great many more. How far the excitement of war stimulated these writers I do not know; but I think that it kept them from going to sleep. It is in times of peace that people desire nothing: neither to create literature nor to read it: the national body is apt to grow fat; the national mind to grow torpid. I venture to prophesy that after the first few weeks of the war excitement the demand for new literature will not only know no abatement, but will greatly increase. The most dead, dull, and dejected time in the whole history of English literature was that of the early Thirties—a period of profound peace. At one time, I believe in the autumn of 1832, there were hardly any books published at all. It was at that time, I believe, that the world finally rebelled against the rubbish that was forced upon the book clubs as fiction and poetry. The society novel fell never to be revived; the tales in verse fell; and the book clubs fell, to be revived, perhaps. They broke up, and their place has never since been filled up. I remark, again, that this was, after many years, a time of profound peace. Many years ago I was talking on this subject with the late George Bentley. He assured me that, from his own recollection, during the excite- ment of the Crimean War, followed by that of the Indian Mutiny, the demand for books was to a marked degree greater than during the years before. When peace returned, he said, a depres- sion of the book trade set in and lasted for a long time. . Mr. Asquith spoke so well the other day on criticism, that it is a pity he did not take the next step, and show what criticism ought to do in art and literature. The opposition of " critical" and "constructive" he showed to be fallacious. That, indeed, is easy to show. It is possible to be like Goethe, critical as well as constructive: it is pos- sible to be, like Matthew Arnold, a fine poet as well as a great critic: it is, however, possible and much more common to be a fine critic, and to possess no constructive power whatever. The function of criticism is not, he insisted, at times of intellectual torpor and stagnation, a form of intellectual gymnastics. And it is absurd to say that critics are failures in literature. Quite so: it is, however, perfectly true that a large number of professed critics are failures in literature, inasmuch as they have been proved VOL. vni. unable to do anything good. Mr. Asquith quoted Matthew Arnold: "The critic must know the best that is known and thought in the world, and by making this known create a current of true and fresh ideas." Let us accept this as a starting point. The next thing is that the critic shall understand what is best when he sees it. With this object a good deal of preparation is necessary. The true critic must be, to begin with, a fine Greek scholar, a fine French scholar, if not also a fine German scholar. He must have in his mind certain canons for his own guidance: he must know what has been done in the various branches of imaginative literature, history, belles lettres. How many critics have we who could pass an examination in these subjects? Let me add to these remarks of Mr. Asquith certain dicta of Professor Saintsbury, who, above all others, is jealous as to the position and true functions of the critic in literature. He offers two or three test questions. Thus : "What idea of the original would this critic give to a tolerably instructed person who did not know that original? How far has this critic seen steadily, and seen whole, the subject which he has set him- self to consider? How far has he referred the main peculiarities of that subject to their proximate causes and effects? How far has he attempted to place, and succeeded in placing, the subject in the general history of Literature, in the collection of authors of its own department?" These are questions worth considering. Indeed, the whole essay is one which young writers—even those who do not intend to become reviewers—should read and ponder. "I think," he adds, "that if I were dictator, one of the first non-political things that I should do would be to make the order of reviewers as close a one, at least, as the bench of judges, or the staff of the Mint, or of any public establishment of a similar character." I think that it is time to withdraw the word criticism from the short notices of books which fill up our papers. They may be guides, but they are not criticisms: guides if written after honestly reading the book; misleading pretences if not. In such notices we want to know if a book is worth buying: what it contains: if it will instruct us: if it will interest us. A critic is not wanted for this work. A courteous gentle- man, ready to appreciate, slow to condemn, and incapable of misrepresentation, is the writer who should be employed for such work as this. There are one or two "hands" that might be indicated as already at work on these lines, and I hope there will be more. r r  ## p. 312 (#762) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. In another column 'will be found a ommunica- tion from Mr. Herbert W. Smith, treating on the general questions on which we have published so many communications. He mentions three great grievances: (i) delay in considering MSS.; (2) delay in payment; and (3) unequal remuneration. He would "compel " an editor to return MSS. within a month. How would he compel him? If a writer offers an editor a MS., he may make it a condition that it is to be returned or accepted within a certain time. It is for the editor to accept that condition or to refuse. Most editors would refuse. Surely, too, allowance must be made for the mass of MSS. showered upon the editor. With regard to the second grievance, this is a real one. A writer has his MS. accepted; he may have to wait for months. I know a case in which a MS. was accepted by what used to be called a magazine of the first class. It appeared two years afterwards. Accepted MSS. ought to be paid for when they are accepted. Here, again, the writer can propose his own conditions; the editor, for his part, cau accept or refuse. As for the third complaint— that of unequal remuneration—I would ask our correspondent to name any occupation at which remuneration is equal. There is no " legitimate" rate of pay for magazine or other literary work. Some journals would shut up at once if they had to pay at the same rates as the better class organs. But here, again, writers have the matter in their own hands. If they know that a journal pays badly why send their contributions? If they plead necessity, then, ahis! there is no answer. In every profession there are necessitous persons, and there are sweaters to prey upon them. I hope, however, that those who road this com- munication will reflect (1) that, unless necessity compels them, they can propose their own condi- tions; and (2) that there is no way possible of "compelling" editors to alter their methods. Miss Betham-Edwards, in her book of "Remi- niscences," places on record the condition on which her first novel, "The White House by the Sea," was published. The book was issued in 1857 and its last edition appeared in 1891. It has thus had forty years' run:— I must here for once and for all make it qnite clear that I do not in the very leaat reflect npon anyone else bnt myself throughout the history of this transaction. The important, I may say the only, object I had in view was to get my book well put before the pnblic—which it was, my payment being in kind, instead of money, that is to say, I received twenty-five copies of new one, two, and three volnme novels. For a young writer the bargain cannot be called a bad one. My work was well printed, well bound, well advertised, and presented to the world in excellent com- pany. The curious part of the business is this: before me lies the original edition in two handsome volumes dated 1857, beside it the last pDpular edition dated 1891. Bet veen those two dates, a period of just npon thirty-five years, the book hid contrived to keep its head above water, that is to say, had been steadily reprinted from time to time j yet from its first appearance to the present day, when it is still selling, not a farthing of profit has accrued to the author. That the author should still think that the bargain "cannot be called a bad one," is truly wonderful. That there was nobody but herself to blame is certainly quite true. That any firm of publishers should offer to buy the whole copy- right of a work which might prove a well and a fountain for years to come, for twenty-five books seems incredible. Yet on another page—in the Feuilleton—appears a story of a publisher of to-day trying to get the copyright of a new writer's first book on terms no better. Miss Edwards's twenty- five works were worth nominally quite as much as the fifteen guineas offered by the publisher of to-day. oii A writer in the Morning Post has a few remarks touching Sir Henry Craik's unfortunate exhibition at a late dinner: The Secretary of the Scottish Education Department is reported to have said: "The Society of Authors had told them that the publisher was a needless invention, and . . . that the chief duty of the author was to make himself a sprightly commercial agent, who brought the most worthless wares to the dearest market." These utterances may have been rather free generalisations, and might oertainly mislead those members of the public—by far the largest class—who do not trouble their heads much about literary affairs. No one who has taken the least interest in the controversy over the ethios and practices of authors and publishers can, however, have failed to under- stand what Sir Henry Craik intended to convey, though his language was undoubtedly somewhat exaggerated. What Sir Henry Craik intended to convey can only be gathered from what he said. Now, the Society of Authors has never to my knowledge told the public that the "publisher is a needless invention." I have consulted the Secretary, who knows nothing of such a statement. It is a direct allegation, and can have no other meaning than what it says. As for the other allegation, it is difficult to meet it except by a direct denial. For what is the work of the Society of Authors? It is to define and to maintain literary property. In order to do this, it has set itself to investigate, and to publish, everything connected with literary property. It has made, or is making it, impos- sible for publishers to take advantage of superior knowledge or to trade upon ignorance. That is the chief business of the Society, and the fact that it is doing this business effectively is the cause of the wrath that springs in the minds of certain publishers at the mere mention of the Society.  ## p. 313 (#763) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The same writer calls attention to certain words of mine, in which I ask who are the persons stated to try for a reputation by reclame, by self-advertising. The writer says: "Yet, possibly, when we reflect that some tolerably popular novelists of to-day produce three, four, five, or more books in a year, and how many writers never seem to lose any opportunity for an interview or a paragraph about their domestic affairs, some clue to the riddle may suggest itself." I am as much at a loss as ever. Who are the novelists who produce " three, four, five, or more" novels in a year? I declare that I do not know any novelist who produces work at anything like this rate. It seems to me absolutely impossible. Consider. Although the average one-volume novel is not more than half the length of the old three-volume novel, its length varies from 60,000 to 100,000 words. It would be difficult to produce more than two such novels in a year. But we are told of novelists writing "three, four, five, or more." Then, again, who are the writers who are always getting an inter- view or a paragraph about their domestic affairs into the paper? What papers admit these details? And why do the editors allow these personal notes to appear? I really think that we ought to blame the editors, and not the novelists. At all events, in The Author there have never been any personal matters other than the announce- ments of new boots. Walter Besant. FEUILLETON. TOO SHAEP FOE ONCE. I. "T HAVE brought you, Sir," said the young I man, "a MS." He spoke as if it was the most unusual thing in the world for a MS. to be brought to that house. And he laid it on the table with something of a slap. He was humble in his manner, in spite of that slap: not humble in his dress nor in his appear- ance, which were entirely commc il faut. He was humble because he was now offering for acceptance or rejection a work which had occupied his whole thoughts and his whole time for a year and a half. He believed in his work: but he was anxious, because as yet he had shown it to no one. Of course it was a novel : every ambitious young man now attempts that form of Literature and Art; although he knew it not, his work possessed the first quality necessary for success: it was real: everything in it was drawn from real life, and the pages vibrated with the reality VOL. VIII. of truth. This, however, he knew not, and he brought his MS. in doubt and anxiety. "I've too many MSS. already," said the pub- lisher, curtly. "And I've lost too much money already. I lose by everything that I publish." "In that case I will take mine elsewhere. I am sorry to have disturbed you." He took up his bundle, clapped it under his arm, and turned. "Since you always lose you're an unlucky house." "Stay." The publisher — the Controller of Destiny—the Compeller of Fame—looked at the card—it told him nothiug. "Is this your first work, young gentleman?" "The use of the phrase 'Young gentleman' is not warranted by your position or your acquaintance with me," replied the author. "But it is my first attempt." "Ah! Your first work. So. A publisher can confer no greater service upon a young man than in producing his first work. No greater service. Eemember that. I am always doing the most good-natured things, but there — one gets no credit. Now, as regards your first production— your first—crude it is, no doubt, and full of faults. Still I can—I can—well—I can submit it, if you please, to my reader. There!" He swelled out his face, and really looked as if he was conferring some great and self-denying favour. ,: If he should happen to recommend it—he recommends one in a hundred—I might be disposed—I don't know—the risk is terrible, of course—you would not mind paying down a hundred pounds or so towards the first cost?" "You can produce the whole work for less than .£80, and a great deal less after subscription." The young man took up his bundle again. "What do you mean by asking for <£ioo? Certainly not." "Stay, Sir—stay," said the publisher. "You have no money, perhaps. Dear! Dear! Thit is a pity, because, to a beginner, no system is more equitable. I am, myself, all for equity—all." "I will leave it with you, then, for three weeks. At the end of that time you must give me an answer." He turned and went away brusquely. "Humph !" said the publisher, tossing the MS. into a corner. "Mighty independent! An impudent young Beast! As if it's a favour to me offering his stuff! But he wants his work published. I'll be even with him, somehow." II. Three weeks later the young man presented himself again. "I am come," he said "for your decision as to my MS. left with you three weeks ago." F F 2  ## p. 314 (#764) ############################################ 3'4 THE AUTHOR. "Your MS.? Tour MS.? We have so many, Sir, that I am not able without . Ah! That was the title, was it? Truly." He rang the bell and ordered the clerk to bring the reader's opinion on a work with that title. He received it, glanced over it, and handed it across the table. "There, Sir, is my reader's opinion. Tou will observe that it is favourable—perhaps too favourable. The optimistic character of my reader, in fact, loses me many hundreds a year— many hundreds. I assure you he will like every- thing." The young man read the opinion through. He coloured with pleasure. The reader spoke of it in very high terms. He believed that there was a future for the work, and said so. "Tou must not take his opinion too literally," said the publisher. "He admires everything. I shall have to get a new reader if this indiscri- minate praise goes on" "Well, sir, your decision?" "I return to my original proposal. Pay me .£100 down, and I will release you of all respon- sibility, and will bring out your novel." "And the proceeds?" "On a first novel this is unnecessary. I cannot undertake to make any returns of sales." "Then I take my work elsewhere." "Oh! Young men are so impetuous. Why stand in your own light? Well, I will give you, say, half the profits." "I take my work elsewhere." "Sir, this is very hard. I try to meet you half way, and you answer me in a manner which, I must say, is unmerited. What would you have? A royalty? Many authors do very well with a royalty. Shall we say 10 per cent, after 800 copies are sold?" "That gives you about five times the profit that it would give me." "Dear, dear! How can authors get such foolish ideas? It is, I suppose, that abominable Society of Authors which has been corrupting your mind. What do you know about office expenses, rent, travellers, clerks?" "You've got a clerk and a half, two rooms, and no travellers. Try again." "Well then, you would like to sell the work right out. That, after all, is the best plan, is it not? No anxiety: no trouble: no nasty accounts to breed bad blood between author and pub- lisher." "I might—for a proper price." "Young man, I am the judge of what is a proper price." "Are you? I will give you my opinion on that subject when you make an offer." The publisher looked at him curiously. Yes: he was above all things eager to get his work published. "I might make an offer. First book: risk of total loss: danger of complete neglect: new novels come out now at the rate of three or four a day: who can hope to stand up against such competition? Young gentleman, in that optimistic account of your MS.—I am sorry I snowed it to you—one point was passed over. Believe me, the true way to judge of a work is to find out what in the reader's written opinion is left out. I cannot find, Sir, the word 'stimulating.' I always find that success depends more upon the stimulating power of a work than upon anything else. When a novelist comes to me, I say, 'Is it stimulating?' My reader clearly thinks that your work is not stimulating. That, of course, materially detracts from the value of your MS. Still I am ready to make an offer? Let me see. Oh, I said first book:—have you some friends who will log-roll it?" "Thank Heaven—No." "Dear! Dear! And he blasphemously thanks Heaven! No literary connections. Heavy out- lay. Probably no returns at all. JNo influence, I suppose, at the libraries? None. Tut, tut. Dear me. Travellers—as I said before—accoun- tants, clerks—messengers—rent, taxes—well—I can offer you—" Again he looked at the man sharply. Yes, he was quivering with anxiety for the production of the MS. "I can make you the very handsome offer of Fifteen Pounds for the entire copyright with all rights—American, Con- tinental, and dramatic — of the MS. in my hands—" "What?" "Fifteen guineas. Did I say pounds? I meant guineas. I always give guineas. I am all for generosity, and—" "Keep your generosity, Sir. I have not asked for it. Give me my MS." The publisher rose solemnly. He laid his finger upon the bell; but he did not press it. "Sir," he said "you stand at the parting of two ways. I press this bell, and you are lost. I do not press the bell, and Fame and Fortune await you. Pause!" "Ring your damned bell," said the author. "In that case"—he pressed the button. "I have rung." He sank back into his chair and joined his fingers. "You have brought it on yourself, Sir—on your own head. John, bring the MS. to which this opinion refers." The young man seized the bundle and strode out. "Now," said the good man, " if the Publishers' Society was what it ought to be, there would be a Eing. I joined it hoping that there would be »  ## p. 315 (#765) ############################################ THE AUTHOR, 3'5 Ring. Then no one would give any more. And then the fellow—Impudent Beast !—would have to give in—to my price. Ah! It is a badly con- ducted world!" m. Three months later there were seen on every bookstall, and in every bookshop, piles of a new novel. It ran through fifty, sixty, seventy editions of a thousand each. It was a gold mine. The reader called to see his publisher. "Pity," he said, "that you let it go out of the house. I praised it as highly as I could. I thought you would have jumped at it." "I did. I offered him—Ha!—noble terms- royal terms, and he refused them. Flung out of the room he did, with insulting words." "Well, as I said, it's a pity. They advertise this morning the 146th thousand. And you might have had it. What's the matter?" For his esteemed principal fell back in his chair with a white face. "Get me a glass of something—brandy—any- thing. Yet I offered him royal terms—royal— I believe I've got a chill—it's gone straight to the liver. A hundred and forty-six—forty-six —a hundred and forty-six thousand. And I might have had it. I'm sure it's gone straight to the liver, and it might have been mine—mine —mine!!!" NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. ABOUT two years ago a list was published in The Author of Notices to Correspondents, taken from various papers. Owing to application being made by many of our members for a renewal of the list, we have much pleasure in publishing the list below, which has been collected during the past two months from the papers referred to. As the question of MSS. sent to papers is, of course, of the greatest interest to our members, we think it worth while, at the same time, to reprint Counsel's opinion which was obtained on behalf of the Society about a year ago. "Editor and Author. "1. I am of opinion that if a manuscript be sent to the editor of a magazine without any previous request or agreement, the editor is not responsible for its loss while in his possession unless the loss be due to some gross negligence on his part. So long, however, as the manuscript remains in his possession the editor is bound to return it on demand, and the publication in his magazine of a notice that he will not return manuscripts does not, in my opinion, alter his liability in this respect towards an author who was not cognizant of such notice when he sent in the manuscript. "The editor's responsibility for the manuscript while in his possession is, in my opinion, that of a gratuitous or voluntary bailee, who is answerable for loss through his gross negligence, but not for any ordinary neglect. (See 1 Smith's Leading Cases, 10th edition, pp. 189, et seq.) If the manuscript has been lost, the onus lies upon the author to show that the loss was caused by the editor's gross negligence, for which alone the editor is answerable. (See Story on Bailments, 9th edit. s. 410, and the cases referred to in the notes there.) "If the manuscript was in the editor's posses- sion when its return was demanded, the editor is liable, in my opinion, to an action of detenue if he refuse to return it. Evidence that the editor received the manuscript would raise a presump- tion that it was still in his possession when the demand was made. But the editor could rebut that presumption by proving that the manuscript was lost prior to the demand. The editor would not escape liability by proving that he had improperly destroyed or wrongfully parted with the manuscript (see Jones t\ Dowle, 9 M. & W. 19), or had lost it through his gross negligence (see Reeve v. Palmer, 5 C. B., N.S. 84). But it would be a good defence for the editor to bhow that before its return was demanded the manuscript was lost without default on his part (see 5 C. B., N.S. pp. 85-89), or in some manner which could not be ascertained. In the latter cases the editor would not be liable unless the author could adduce affirmative evidence of gross negligence (see Powell v. Graves, 2 Times L. R. 663; Howard v. Harris, C. & E. 253). "2.1 am of opinion that if in the particular case referred to the author sent his manuscript to the editor in ignorance of the existence of any such notice as that which is in the magazine, then the editor could not successfully rely upon the notice as a defence to any action brought against him. In this case the notice would, in my opinion, be immaterial, but, of course, the editor might have a complete defence on other grounds, such as those I have already referred to in my answer to the first question. H the author saw or tnew of the notice before he sent his manuscript, I think he would be held to have sent it on the terms of such notice: (see Parker t\ South- Eastern Railway Company, 2 C. P. D. 416; Richards v. Rjwntree (1894) A. C. 217). The exact part of the magazine in which the notice is inserted is immaterial, except in so far as it renders it more or less likely that the author in fact saw or did not see the n tice, assuming that he ever saw the magazine.  ## p. 316 (#766) ############################################ 316 THE AUTHOR. "3. I am of opinion that the burden of proving that the author was cognizant of the notice would lie upon the editor. "T. Willes Chitty." The List. Academy.—No rejected MS. returned under the old man- agement, bnt the practice now is to return them under the usual conditions. Address, 27, Chancery-line, W.C. Anecdote3. —Important.—All Manuscripts and Drivings submitted to the proprietors of Anecdotes are subjeot to the following conditions:—!. Articles must be legibly written or typed on sheets of convenient size, and on one side only. 2. The name and address of the author rr artist must be conspicuously written upon the first or lust page, or upon the front or baok of each drawing. 3. Exoept for prize competitions, no MSS. below 500 words will be considered, and no MSS submitted for prize com- petitions will be, under any cironmstances returned. MSS. submitted for competition, and not sucoesfnl in gaining a prize, become the property of the proprietors of Anecdotes 4. An envelope addressed and sufficiently stamped, must be sent with each instalment of MSS. unless the same has been definitely ordered in writing by the Proprietors of Anecdotes or the editor of the publication to which it is submitted. 5. Every effort will be made to return MSS. and drawings complying with the above conditions, but in no case will the proprietors hold themselves responsible for any MSS. or drawings submitted until the article or story or drawing has actually appeared in one of the Anecdotes publications. Answers.—Anyone sending MS. must enclose stamped and addressed envelope for return, otherwise it will neither be read nor returned. The writer must also vouch for the originality of the contribution, and give his full name and address. Articles must be short. Address, "Answers," MSS. Department, Tudor-street, E.C. Athenaeum.—Will accept artioles of a literary character, if suitable. MSS. returned if stamped and addressed envelope be enclosed. Address, Bream's-buildings, Cursi- tor-street, W.C. Bazaar, Exchange and Mart.—Artioles accepted on almost any subject, if of a thoroughly practical kind, cot otherwise. Addressed and stamped envelopes must be enolosed for return of rejected communications. Address, 170, Strand. Belgravia.—All MS3. should be addressed, prepaid, to the Editor of Belgravia, Strand, W.C. Every MS. should bear the writer's name and address and be accompanied by postage stamps for its return if not accepted; but the Editor cannot hold himself responsible for any accidental loss. The Editor cannot undertake to return rejected poems. Black and White.—The Editor, whi!e open to consider MSS. and sketches, will not be responsible for their return. Contributions should be accompanied by stamped and addressed'envelope. Address, 33, Bouverie-Btreet, E.C. Cwell'l Family Magazine and CasseU's Saturday Journal.—Articles on almost any subject, if popular and interesting. Stamped and addressed envelope must be enolosed. Address, Cassell and Co., Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate-hill, E C. Chums.—Important !—The Editor of Chums will not be responsible for the return of rejected manuscripts. If a stamped and addressed envelope is sent with the contri- butions the Editor will alwajs endeavour to return them; bnt when stamps are not sent, manuscripts can in no- case be returned. *„* The Art Editor cannot undertake to return sketches sent on approval unless they are accompanied by an addressed envelope sufficiently stamped. Cornhill.—Any MSS. sent to the Editor are carefully con sidered, and when not accepted are returned, if stamped and addressed envelope be enolosed. Address, Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co., 15, Waterloo-plaoe, S.W. Country Gentleman.—The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the return of any MS. sent so him. Pay- ment will only be made for those contributions which have been previously arranged for. Daily Chronicle.—The Editor cannot guarantee the return of MSS. or sketches submitted for consideration, and in no case will rejected matter be returned unless accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. Daily Graphic.—Will return rejected contributions pro- vided a sufficiently stamped and directed envelope is enclosed. Editor will not hold himself responsible for loss or damage. Address, Milford-lane, Strand, W.C. Daily News.—Worked by a staff which is generally full. No rejected communications returned. Address, Fleet- street, E.C. Bcho.—Worked by a staff which is generally full; still, suitable MSS. would no doubt be considered. Address, 22, Catherine-street, Strand, W.C. English Illustrated.—MSS. sent but not accepted must be accompanied by a wrapper, when they will if possible be returned. Address, 198, Strand, W.C. Evening News and Post.—-Worked by a staff generally full, but the Editor will return all MSS. if a fully stamped and addressed envelope be enclosed. Address 12, White- friars-street, E.C. Family Reader.—We cannot guarantee the return of rejected manuscripts. Figaro.—-The Editor will be pleased to consider articles, paragraphs, stories, and verses suitable for insertion. Accepted contributions will be paid for at our usual rates. The Editor will not accept any responsibility for MSS. sent in, but when a stamped and addressed wrapper is enclosed every care will be taken to return rejected con- tributions. Only writers who have a knowledge of English, and do not depend upon slang for effeot, will be likely to obtain advantage from this notice. Fortnightly Review.—MSS. not returned. Articles type-written are more likely to be read. Address, II, Henrietta-street, Covent Garden, W.C. Gentlewoman.—The Editor is generally too well supplied to accept more contributions, but no doubt suitable articles would be considered. A stamped envelope should be enclosed. Address, Arundel-street, Strand, W.C. Globe.—Communications may be returned if accompanied by stamped and addressed envelope; but the Editor will not be responsible for them. Address, 267, Strand, W.C. Graphic.—Stamped and addressed envelope must be enclosed. Address, 190, Strand, W.C. Guardian.—The Editor is not necessarily responsible for the opinions expressed in signed articles, or in articles marked "Communicated" or "From a Correspondent." The very frequent disregard of our rule about the return of MSS. compels us to restate it in a slightly different form:—No MS. oan be returned unless a stamped and addressed envelope is sent in the same oover as that which contains the MS. Stamps alone, or a stamped and  ## p. 317 (#767) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 317 addressed envelope Eent afterwards or in another cover, are not sufficient. Hospital.—AH MS., letters, books, for review, and other matters intended for the Editor should be addressed The Eaitor, The Lodge, Portchester-square, London, W. The Editor oannot undertake to return rejeoted MS., even when accompanied by a stamped directed envelope. Household Words.—The Editor cannot be responsible for loss or damage, though every care is taken of MSS. As there is a large number of contributions sent to this office, some time must elapse before notice is taken of them. Address, 12, St. Bride-street, E.C. Idler.—All stories and articles receive immediate consider- ation; but they must be short (type-written preferred). Address, Bedford-street, Strand, W.C. Illustrated Bits.—All letters intended for the Editor should be addressed "Editor, Illustrated Bits, 158, Fleet-street, London." No notice will be taken of anony- mous communications, and no letterB will be answered by post unless accompanied by a stamped directed envelope for that purpose. To Artists.—Drawings whioh refer to humorous sub- jects may be submitted if accompanied by stamps for return if not accepted. All sketches are paid for at time of acceptance. Address, "Art Editor," The Bitteries, 158, Fleet-street, London, E.C. Illustrated London News.—Stamped and addressed envelope must be enclosed. Address, 19S, Strand, London, W.C. Illustrated Sporting- and Dramatic News.—The Editor cannot be responsible for any contribution eent when not solicited by him. Address, 14S, Strand, London, W.C. Irish Field.—The Editor will be pleased to receive and consider, for purposes of publioat:on, any photographs or sketches of incidents connected with matters of sporting or general interest. Articles of a similar nature will also be considered and paid for upon their appearance in type. Contributions will be returned where stamps are enclosed, but while due care will be taken, the Editor declines to make himself responsible in any way for their Bafety or re-delivery. All such communications should be accompanied by the name and address of the sender— not necessarily for publication. Where speoial rates or conditions are expected these must be stated beforehand. The Editor begs to state that he deolines to hold himself in any way responsible for the safety or return of any- thing to anyone. Jewish World.—The Editor of The Jewish World will not in any case be responsible for the return of rejected . contributions. He will, however, alwayB be prepared to consider MSS. and sketches that have a distinctly Jewish interest, and where stamps are inclosed, and name and address of sender legibly written on the manuscript, every effort will be made to return rejected contributions promptly. MS3. must be clearly written on one side of the paper only. Lady.—Does not return any contribution. Address, 3j« Bedford-Btreet, Strand. Lady's Pictorial.—Appropriate articles might be received if well written and short; stamped envelope for return.— Address, 172, Strand, W.C. Lancet.—It is most important that communications relating to the Editorial business of the Lancet should be addressed exclusively "To the Editors," and not in any oaBe to any gentleman who may be supposed to be con- nected with the Editorial staff. It is urgently necessary that attention be given to this notice. It is especially reqneBted that early intelligence of local events having a medioal interest, or whioh it is desirable to bring under the notice of the profession may be sent direct to this offioe. Lectures, original articles, and reports should be written on one side only of the paper. Letters, whether intended for insertion or for private information, must be authenticated by the names and addresses of their writers, not necessarily for publication. Local papers containing reports or news paragraphs should be marked and addressed " To the Sub-Editor." We cannot undertake to return MSS. not used. Land and Water.—No rejectel MSS. returned. Address, 24, Bedford-street, Strand. Lifa.—C jmmuaicationa as to the literary contents of this paper should be addressed to the Editor; those referring to advertisements and other business matters to the- Manager. We cannot hold ourselves responsible for the Bafety of any unsolicited contribution, but if a stamped envelope is inolosed with any manuscript, we will do our best to ensure that, if not accepted, the mi nuscript shall be returned to the writer. London Reader.—We cannot undertake to return rejected manus .'ripts. London Society.—MSS. Bent to Editor should bear the name and addresB of the writer, and must be accompanied in all cases by a stamped directed envelope for their return if unsuitable. Copies should be kept of all- articles. Every care is taken of the papers forwarded by correspondents, but no responsibility is assumed in oase- of accident. The Editor cannot undertake to return rejected poems. All communications Bhould be addressed - to the Eaitor of London' 8ociety. Longman's Magazine.—The Editor prefers to have the eubject of an article submitted to him before MS. is sent. Stamped and addressed envelope should be enclosed with MS. in case of rejection, when it will be returned. The Editor cannot be responsible for loss. Address, Editor, Longman's Magazine, 39, Paternoster-row, E.C. Magazine of Short Stories.—The Editor is always willing to give consideration to short dramatio stories (not exceeding 2000 words in length) and to smart,, chatty, anecdotal articles dealing with matters or with' people of to-day (from 400 to 1400 words). Humorous- drawings that are submitted to him also reoeive oarefuV attention. Such stories, articles, and drawings must be original. Every effort will be made to return rejected contributions promptly, provided that stamped addressed envelopes or wrappers are enclosed; bnt the Editor does not hold himself responsible for any MSS. or drawings with which he may be favoured, nor will he undertake to. return them unless this condition has been observed. Moonshine.—The humble petition of the Editor of Moon- shine showeth that whereas your Petitioner is in the habit of receiving large number of manuscripts, yclept (i' the vulgar) MSS., as hereinafter set forth. That your petitioner is unable tj use ali MSS. that are so sent him. That your Petitioner, for lack of time and opportunity, and the stress of occasional'y retiring, as who should say, to rest, cannot enter into correspondence with authors of rejected MSS., even though, by neglecting to send covers, suitably directed and stamped they may not have had their efforts returned, and may thereby be moved to. indignation. That your Petitioner will endeavour to return manuscripts when thns accompanied, but your Petitioner prayeth that (as well for their own security as for the forwarding of certain moneys in case of acceptance) his friends w.ll kindly write on the MSS.  ## p. 318 (#768) ############################################ 3i8 THE AUTHOR. ipsissima their reverend, respected, and worshipful names and fall addresses; and will recollect that the office of Moonshine is at No. 2, Bouverie-street, over against Fleet-street, in the City of London. Morning.—Cannot be responsible for the return of rejected MSS., bnt stamped and addressed envelope ought to be enclosed in any case. Address' 19, St. Bride-street, E.C. Morning Advertiser.—Does not return rejected MSS. This, like all the daily papers, has a permanent staff. Address, 127, Fleet-street, E.C. Morning Leader.—Any communication must be accom- panied by name and address of the sender, and stamped and addressed envelope inclosed for return. Address, Stoneoutter-Btreet, E.C. Morning Post.—Cannot return rejected MSS. Address 346, Strand, W.C. National Review.—Correspondent's name and address must be written on MS , and stamps inclosed in case of rejection for return of contribution. Address, 37, Bed ford-street, Strand, W.C. Nature.—The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. No notioe is taken of anonymous com- munications. Nineteenth Century.—Rejected contributions not re- turned. Address, Messrs. Sampson, Low, and Co., Fetter- lane, London, E.C. Novel Review.—All books and magazines intended for review must reach the office not later than the 15th hist, addressed to The Editor. MS. will be returned if stamps are sent. The Editor will not undertake to be responsible for MS. in case of loss. All communications should be addressed to the Editorial and Advertising Offices—18, Tavistock-street, Covent Garden, London. Our Home. -Contributors are informed that while every care will be taken of their MSS., and unsuitable matter will be returned if accompanied by stamped addressed envelope, the Editor does not hold himself responsible for the loss or delay of unsolicited contributions, and advises contributors to keep a copy of the MSS. These should have address on back, and the number of words should be stated. Pall Mall Gazette.—Sketches and all communications are considered, and when stamps and address are enclosed, the Editor will endeavour to return rejected MSS. Address, 18, Charing-oross, W.C. Fall Mall Magazine. — Articles on any interesting subject aocepted if really good; stamped and addressed envelope shonld be enclosed. Address, 18, Charing-cross- road, W.C. Pearson's Magazine.—Accepts interesting articles on general subjeots, and short stories, which will be returned on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. Address, Henrietta-street, W.C. Pearson's Weekly.—Articles on any interesting, curious, or popnlar subject have a good chance of acceptance if well written. Address, Henrietta-street, Covent-garden, W,C. Piccadilly.—The Editor cannot be responsible for the safety or return of manuscripts forwarded for approval. Subscribers are particularly requested to forward all communications concerning changes of addreBS or addi- tional oojies to the publisher. All communications for the Editorial Department of Piccadilly should be addressed to the Editor, 24B, Craven-street, Strand (end of Northumberland-avenue, opposite the Hotel Me'tropole). Pick-Me-TJp. — The Editor of Pici-Me-Up is willing to consider MSS. and drawings forwarded to him. While he cannot accept any responsibility in regard to their eafe keeping, he will make every effort to return rejected communications if stamps are inclosed. Short stories should not exceed 1500 words, and drawings should be humorous. The Editor will be pleased to Bee artists personally on Monday and Friday mornings, at the New Editorial Office, 28, Maiden-lane, Strand. Punch does not on any consideration whatever return rejected matter, even though stamps are enolosed. Address, Fleet-street, E.C. Road.—Owing to the increasingly large number of MSS. and drawings sent in to the Road, the Editor wishes it to be clearly understood that he will not undertake to use or return any MSS. or sketches sent in to him without his written instructions. All books, photographs, and samples of goods for review must be addressed to the Editor, and to no one by name; and no individual is authorised to promise " Notices " under any pretext what- ever. The Road is on sale everywhere, and can be obtained at all Smith's bookstalls throughout the United Kingdom. In the United States of America the Road is on at all the principal news-stands, and it is also ob- tainable on the Continent, and in India, South Africa, and the Australian Colonics. The advertisement tariff will be forwarded on application to the manager. The publish- ing, advertisement, and subscription offices will be re- moved to 41 and 42, King-street, Covent Garden, W.C, after the beginning of the New Year. Rod and Gun.—The Editor of Bod and Gun does not, in any case, hold himself responsible for the return of rejected contributions. He is, however, always glad to consider MSS. and sketches; and, where stamps are enclosed, and the name and address are written on the manuscript, every effort will be made to return rejected contributions. The Editor desires to state that he cannot enter into correspondence regarding MS. To Ouk Colonial Readers.—The Editor is at all times glad to consider any accounts of colonial sport sub- mitted to him. St. James's Gazette.—The Editor cannot undertake to hold himself responsible for the return of rejected con- tributions. Saturday Review.—No contributions returned in any case. Suitable artioles might be accepted. Address, 38, Southampton-street, Strand. Scraps.—Short paragraphs on out-of-way subjects mostly desired. MS. returned if stamped and addressed en- velope enclosed. Address, Red Lion-court, Fleet-street, E.C. Sketch.—Any Bhort stories, not exceeding 2500 words in length, will be considered. Rejected MS. returned if stamped and addressed envelope or wrapper inclosed. Address, Manuscript Department, 198, Strand, W.C. Society.—The Editor is compelled to announce that he will not be responsible for any MSS. sent to him, nor will he guarantee their return, even if stamps are enclosed for the purpose. Authors should therefore keep copies of their contributions if they value them highly. Speaker.—MSS. not returned, when cent unrequested. Address, 115, Fleet-street, E.C.  ## p. 319 (#769) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 319 Spectator.—No MSS. returned in any case. Address, 1, Wellington-street, Strand, W.C. Spinning Wheel.—The Editor will be glad to consider any MS. likely to be of interest to the readers of this paper, either short stories of 2000 words in length or short articles. The Editor wishes to remind contributors that, if MSS. are to be returned in case of rejection, stamps must accompany them. Stories.—The Editor of Stories will be pleased to consider, with a view to publication, short original stories or articles. Under no oiroumstances, however, can he hold himBelf responsible for MSS. submitted for his considera- tion, but where stamps are inclosed every effort will be made to ensnre the prompt return of rejected contribu- tions. Accepted matter, whether Btories or articles, if original, will be paid for at the rate of One Guinea per 1000 wordB, unless otherwise arranged for. Payments for contributions are made on the date of publication of each issue. Every MS. must bear the name and address of the writer, which should be legibly written on the first page. Contributors should see that their MSS. are properly fastened, otherwise the leaves are liable to get mislaid. It must be distinctly understood that the setting up in type of any story or article does not necessarily imply acceptance, and payment will in no case be made, except on publication. Copied matter is not required, and anyone sending it in as original will be liable to proseontion. All matter paid for becomes the absolute property of Stories, Limited. Strand.—Stories of strange experiences, &c, might be sent to this paper, and articles on general subjects. Returned if not accepted, if stamped and addressed envelope en- closed. Address, Southampton-street, Strand, W.C. Sun.—Our Guinea Story.—The stories printed in these columns are contributed by readers of the Sun. Anyone may send an original story not exceeding 1200 words, and for eaoh one we use we shall pay the author £1 is. Un- suitable MSS. are returned if stamped and addressed envelopes accompany them, but we oannot enter into any correspondence regarding contributions sent us. Sunday Chronicle. — Should any difficulty be expe- rienced in obtaining the Sunday Chronicle, oomplaints should be made to the Chief Office, Mark-lane, Man- chester. On all business matters communications Bhould be addressed to the firm, and not to any indi- vidual member thereof. No notice will be taken of anonymous letters. Every communication should be authenticated with the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Articles, stories, sketches, verses, and other contributions should be addressed to the Editor, who, however, does not hold himself responsible for the return of rejected manuscripts. Where stamps are inclosed, and the name and address written on the manusoript, every effort will be made to promptly return unaccepted articles.—E. Hulton and Co. Times.—Does not return rejected communications. Address, Printing House-square, E.C. Tit-Bits.—The Editor of Tit-Bits cannot hold himself responsible for the return of any manuscript which may bo submitted to him. He will, however, always be glad to consider any contributions which are sent; and, when stamped addressed envelopes are enclosed when the manu- scripts are submitted, every effort will be made to return rejected contributions. Contributors are specially re- quested to put thoir names and addresses on their manu- scripts. United Service Gazette.—We would draw the attention of our correspondents to the importance of writing legibly, and on one side of the paper only. MSS. cannot be returned unless aocompanied by stamps. University Extension Journal.—The Editor cannot undertake to return rejected communications unlesB stamps are inclosed for that purpose. Vegetarian.—The Editor of the Vegetarian cannot hold himself responsible in any case for the return of MSS. or eketcheB. He will, however, always be glad to oonsider any contributions which may be submitted to him; and, when postage stamps are enclosed, every effort will bo made to return rejected contributions promptly. Con- tributors are requested to put their names and addresses on their manuscripts. Address, 33, Paternoster-row, London, E.C. Westminster Gazette.—The Editor of the Westminster Gazette cannot hold himBelf responsible in any case for the return of MS. or sketohes. He will, however, always be glad to consider any contributions, literary or pictorial, which may be submitted to him, and, when postage- stamps are enclosed, every effort will be made to return rejected contributions promptly. Contributors are specially requested to put their names and addresses on their manuscripts. Address, Tudor-street, Wbitefriars, E.C. Wheeling.—Any articles sent in on subjects suitable for the columns of Wheeling will be considered on their merits, but we wish it to be distinctly understood that contributions will not be paid for unless remuneration has been stipulated for and arranged in advance. Rejected MS. will be returned when stamped addressed envelope is forwarded. Wheels.—The Editor will be pleased to consider snch literary contributions and sketches as may be sent him, and to pay for such as are accepted. All MSS. should be typewritten. While not holding himself responsible for the safety of anything submitted, every effort will be made to promptly return rejected matter, provided that sufficient stamps be enclosed to cover the postage. Woman's Signal. — All communications intended for insertion must be written on one side only of the paper, and the writer's name and address must be given, not necessarily for publication. The Editor cannot answer correspondents privately, except on the business of the paper strictly. H a stamped and addressed wrapper be attached to a manuscript offered for publication, it will be returned if declined; but the Editor oannot be respon- sible for the accidental loss of manuscripts, and any not accompanied by a wrapper for return will be destroyed if unaccepted. Space being limited, and many manusoripts offered, the Editor begs respectfully to intimate that an article being declined does not necessarily imply that it i* not considered an excellent composition. MR. ASQUITH ON CRITICISM. THE Eight Hon. H. H. Asquith delivered the annual address to the students of the London Society for the Extension of Uni- versity Teaching on the 23rd ult., in the Mansion House, Lord Mayor Davies presiding. Prefacing his lecture by remarking that the number of students assembled there was a refutation of the  ## p. 320 (#770) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. fears of those who doubted whether it were pos- sible to transplant into London soil the methods of our ancient Universities, Mr. Asquith asked them, upon the threshold, to disabuse their minds of one or two misleading or narrow asso- ciations which had grown around the term " criti- cism" in popular thought and speech. It was, of course, true that there had been eminent men in whom their own want of success in the sphere of action or production had at once stimulated and soured the critical faculty. But it was not in that dwarfed and distorted sense they used the word. Denigration, whether it sprang from baffled rivalry, from a morose and cynical temper, or from honest shortsightedness—often amused, was some- times useful, might now and then, in the hands of a writer like Junius, exhibit some of the highest qualities of literary art; but it was not criticism, No antithesis was commoner than that between criticism and construction. A great artist might be incapable of criticism, and a good critic might be incapable of creation. But neither in the individual nor in the generations of men did the one set of gifts exclude the other. Criticism, in the true sense, had a positive, as well as a negative function. By discriminating between that which is true and false, between good and bad art, between reality and imposture, by deter- mining between the ephemeral idols of fashion and recalling the wandering thought to the worship of true beauty and greatness, it became a vitalising and energising principle. It per- formed the double duty of solvent and stimulant. There was no emptier fallacy than to suppose that criticism was merely a form of intellectual gymnastics, or the business of second-rate minds. "The business of criticism," as Matthew Arnold says, "is to know the best that is known and thought in the world, by, in its turn, making this known to create a current of fresh ideas." Like every other form of intellectual activity, it might be specialised withiu the confines of a definite subject matter. So it was, for instance, in the textual criticism of literature, and in the aesthetic criticism of the arts. Both had at various times fascinated and absorbed the best intellects of the race. The Stephenses, the Scaligers, the Casaubons were but the most conspicuous figures in a huge army of confessors and martyrs to a new literary faith, the rank and file of which had been depicted with incomparable fidelity and pathos in Browning's "Grammarian's Funeral." The science of textual criticism was constantly annexing new territories, and developing wider and more penetrating methods; and in its appli- cation to sacred literature, and to the slowly deciphered records of the great religions and civilisations of the East, it had achieved in our own time some of its most memorable results. The blunders of great critics woiild be a fascinating subject in the hands of Mr. Leslie Stephen or Mr. Birrell. Not only Johnson, but Richardson and Goldsmith failed to see anything in *' Tristram Shandy "; and Scott, after his "Lady of the Lake" had been pubbshed, said that Joanna Baillie was the great poet of the century. Other examples were frequent. Mr. Asquith concluded by advising the students to study great models like Shakespeare, on whose anniversary they had met, and then to "work at the smithy " them- selves, and not to form judgments by the modern and vulgar rule of payment by results, -»«3 PERSONAL. ABOUT ,£40 has so far been raised for the purpose of erecting a memorial in Wooton Waven Church to William Somerville, the author of "The Chace." Among the subscribers are Lord Rosebery, Lord Tarborough, Lord Leigh, and Sir Walter Gilbey. The committee in charge of the proposed memorial in Liverpool to Mrs. Hemans have decided to keep the subscription list open until June 30, and they invite half-crown and shilling subscriptions from admirers of the poet who may be unable to give more. The honorary treasurer of the fund is Mr. Theodore Brown, 26, Exchange- street East, Liverpool. Nearly £100 has been, subscribed. Mr. Oswald Crawfurd is to be literary editor, and Mr. Edwin Obver general editor, of a weekly review on the lines of the late National Observer, which is about to be issued, price one penny, and entitled the London Review. Replying to the toast of "The Visitors" at the 17th annual dinner of the Press Club, presided over by Mr. John Corlett, on the 2nd ult., Mr. Anthony Hope referred to the law of libel. It seemed to him that there was much necessity for amendment of the law directed towards the prevention of frivolous and black- mailing actions against newspapers, but at the same time it was of great importance that they should take pains to show that they did not wish for any weakening of the law of libel, for only where there was a firm administration of that law was importance attached to what the Press might say. With regard to the department called Criticism, speaking for those very hand- maids of Uterature, writers of stories to amuse idle hours, he could say that many depended upon the Press, because it was in their power, in the beginning at all events, to give to the young  ## p. 321 (#771) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 321 writer a start or to prevent him having a "fair show." He was not going to say that the reviews were always absolutely right, but real pains was given to the work, and he met constantly young writers who had found in the reviews an incen- tive and a new power to them to pursue the career in which they had set out. In connection witli the National Burns Memo- rial and Cottage Home, Mauchline, Ayrshire, a Scottish gentleman resident in England has offered to give <£ioo to help to complete the endowment, provided a few more can be got to do likewise before the Home is opened on May 7. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Quem Dkus Vult Pkbderb, Pbius Dementat. IEXTRACT the following from the letter of a learned friend. According to some this saying is a free paraphrase of a passage in Sophocles' Antigone, 632-5, which runs: Thanks to somebody'a wisdom, a famous mot has been published, viz.: "That bad appears good to him whose wits God rains." Joshua Barnes, Professor of Greek at Cam- bridge, published in 1694 an edition of Euripides, including the Fragments, among which he gives one with this literal Latin version: At quando Numen miserias paret viro Mens laeaa primnm. In his first index, Barne3 refers to the frag- ment under the heading, "Deus quos vult perdere, dementat prius," its first appearance in England. Boissonade, a Frenchman, altered this, so as to make an iambic, into Quos vult Jupiter perdere dementat prius. From the fact of its usually appearing in the latter form, it probably came to be regarded as an old Latin iambic, which it is not. For one thing, it would not contain the word "dementat," which is d'une tret petite latinite', and occurs only in Lactantius, tenth century. The above seems to be the most likely origin. Malone, in a note on BoswelPs Johnson, anent "Quem Deus," says : "Perhaps no scrap of Latin whatever has been more often quoted than this. The word ' demento' is of no authority. After a long search, some gentlemen of Cambridge found it among the fragments of Euripides, where it is given as the translation of a Greek iambic: "ov 0£os 61\a. ajroAccmi irpioTa uiro<f>pcvai." ■ But (1) this is not an iambic; (2) there is no word diro<f>pcvai in Greek, or anything like it; (3; nobody has, from that day to this, been able to discover this particular fragment, which " the gentlemen of Cambridge" grubbed up. Faute de mieuu; the Barnes explanation seems to be the best. S. G. H I may be allowed from mere memory to answer your correspondent "Querist," the line "Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat" was the subject of a rather prolonged correspondence in the early times of Xotes and Queries, perhaps in the fifties; and the line was discovered in a Latin translation from some Greek tragedian, indeed, I think it was in Barnes's Euripides. J. Earle. Oxford, April 6. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Roxbttkghe Peess, Limited. IN December last, as the outcome of correspon- dence with the above-named firm of pub- lishers, formerly of 15, Victoria-street, West- minster, I forwarded to this address two MSS., one of which was returned me in January, whilst the second was, as stated in a letter from the manager, retained " for further consideration." Not hearing anything concerning the fate of the second MS., I made it my business when I was in town to call at the ofiices and see the manager, who went under the name of Mr. Charles F. Rideal. I did not see the manager, but I interviewed a man in possession of the furniture, and I think I may say that I saw about the last of the furniture before it came under the hammer. The man in possession could give me no idea as to the where- abouts of the manager, or as to the possessor of my MS. As there are doubtless numerous pro- vincial authors in a bke situation to myself, you would be doing a number of persons a service if you could give us some idea as to how to proceed with a view of recovering what, if not seen again, would represent heavy losses to many struggling authors. Provincial. April 16. __=_=^__ II.—No Copyright in Titles. I recently had occasion to offer a mild remons- trance against the employment of a title which clashed with one already chosen by myself for a short tale. A record of my efforts and ill-success to establish a claim to what I fondly imagined to be my own property may not be without interest to writers. The moment the usurping name was advertised  ## p. 322 (#772) ############################################ 322 THE AUTHOR. I wrote to the publishers calling their attention to the fact. Their reply was that, as the work had been sent out for review, they were sorry to say nothing could be done. They added that as my story was not issued in book-form, and was some years old, I was not likely to be " injuriously affected" by the coincidence. This was, no doubt, perfectly true. But it did not appear to me to weaken my case, and I was bold enough to repeat the belief that I might, if so minded, enforce a withdrawal of the name. Sub- sequently I was told how it was " impossible " to prevent the use on a book of a title which had been previously appropriated for a short tale. The firm also remarked that it "would be glad to think otherwise," but there really appeared to be "no copyright in titles." Alas, this seems to be so, and I must perforce bow my head in uncon- vinced submission. It is hard lines, all the same. I cannot but think some scheme might be devised whereby the most difficult and important choice of a title should be secured to its creator, say by registra- tion or affidavit upon full, or even part, comple- tion of MSS. Perhaps some fellow-sufferer of the goosequill can indicate a plan which would spare novelists much repining? Cecil Clarke. Authors' Club, S.W., April 16. [The plan is quite simple. It is to place the matter, if any injury has been sustained, in the hands of a solicitor-—or the Secretary of the Society.—Ed.] III.—A Warning to Writers. May I draw your attention to the following facts as a warning to English writers? Last year a letter, typed on paper with the words "New York Herald, New York," printed on it, and purporting to come from one "Wallace Wood," on behalf of the Herald, was received by a friend of mine. It asked him to do a piece of literary work for the "Herald's Symposium on the World's Best Poetry." He did this piece of work, and sent it to "Wallace Wood, the New York Herald, New York." No reply was received, and, of course, no remittance. He then made inquiries at the Herald office through a respectable American solicitor, who writes him: "I saw the editor, who told me that the Herald had never had such work in mind, and that Mr. Wallace Wood must be one of the many swindlers who have used their (the New York Herald's) name in this manner." In justice to the New York Herald, and as a warning against " Mr. W. Wood" and others of his kidney, I beg you to print this letter in The Author. P. York Powell. Oriel College, Oxford, April 4, 1898. The New York Herald, New York, May 1. Dear Sib,—Would you kindly join the Herald Sym- posium on "The World's Beat Poetry" or the "Hundred Finest Poems" by mentioning the names of from six to twelve short poems in the Spanish language which you would consider as of the highest excellence, worthy to be regarded as classic and standard, or of best value to humanity, together with such criticism or suggestion (one to two hundred words) as may occur to you. Copies of this letter are sent to scholars of universities throughout the world. Very sincerely yours, Wallace Wood. IV.—' The Literary Year-Book, 1898." I regret to agree with you as to this work. It is a pity; for a really good book of the kind is much needed and would certainly pay. The Directory of Authors, oddly enough, reminds us of John Wesley's heaven: we find many welcomed therein whom we should have expected to see excluded; while several authors of repute are conspicuous by reason of their absence. But, whatever may be the errors of the editor, Mr. Joseph Jacobs, excess of politeness is not one of them. My name and address were given in the "Year-Book" for 1897, but are unaccountably omitted in that for the present year. I wrote a courteous note inquiring the reason, but have not beeu favoured with a reply. Now, I am a bond fide author, have published a book, and contri- bute to some dozen magazines, &c. I cannot, therefore, see why my name should be removed from the Directory by Mr. Joseph Jacobs. Scriptor Quidam. V.—Editors and Contributors. 1. I notice in your latest issue that you give an excerpt from and comments upon an article in last month's National Revieto on this vexed question. This article I have not read in its entirety, though I have read about it and extracts from it, because the National is not taken in the public library here, and it is too expensive, alas, for me to buy. I do not know, therefore, whether the writer has touched on two phases of the question which to me seem very important, and the latter of which I do not remember to have ever seen dealt with. (1) The inordinate time MSS. are often kept (a) before being returned rejected, (6) before, if accepted, being inserted, no notice too generally being given in latter case. In regard to "a," the great grievance here is  ## p. 323 (#773) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 323 when the article is in any way topical or dep in- dent for its interest on a subject of passing moment. But even if otherwise, if not wanted it should be returned as quickly as possible, and in as cleanly and respectable a condition as sent; unfortunately only too necessary a provision this latter. In the case of "b," I have known an editor accept an article, hoard it up for months, and then insert it in a more or less truncated state, without consulting the author in the matter at all. Often this latter gentleman is impaled upon the horns of a dilemma. He may badly want his article inserted without delay, but if he writes to an editor who has had it in his pos- session some time, with a request to that effect, the possibility is that he will have his work re- turned upon his hands, and perchance be unable to sell it elsewhere. It is dangerous for a struggling outsider in journalism to exchange any certainty for an uncertainty. The only thing is to write to the editor a polite note, taking it for granted that he has accepted the piece, and asking when he will insert it. This letter though may be ignored, or simply have the effect of a request for a return of the MS. Editors could put good MSS. from outsiders in much quicker if they liked. The fact is they keep such in reserve while they try on that patient dog, the British public, a lot of rotten, stodgy, inept stuff, not worth the paper it is printed on, much of it "lifted." That I have had some personal experience of this matter you may gauge from the following: I submitted to a certain editor, the editor of a weekly paper, with stamped addressed envelopes, in 1896, a story and article, which have never been returned me and never used. I have been frequently in communication with this editor since (a very decent fellow as his tribe goes), and he has used a certain quantity of my work, more or less, as I would have desired it; but though I have constantly referred to this tale and article, I have never learnt anything about their fate, and here we are approaching the middle of 1898. Am I too impatient? I may say other pieces have been kept from ten months downward in the same quarter. And I badly want the money for them—there is, of course, no payment until insertion; yet I dare not ask for them back, in case I should not be able to dispose of them else- where. The most I can do is to hint that I think it time some at least of them were used. Now, as to grievance (2), namely, the habit which most editors have of not sending proofs of articles where at any rate such articles are short, their idea being that they can fully supply any deficiencies in such pieces. But my experience is that they cannot — that they leave in errors that the writers themselves would certainly correct in proof, that they never attempt to bridge over hiatuses or prune real redundancies or super- fluities. Perhaps this is because most editors are careless as to the symmetry and technique of an article, which is to every decent writer all important, especially if his name is brought into connection with it. Would you believe it, that an editor once allowed me to make a most common quotation from Moliere and mis-ascribe it, while he passed my reference to a dean as " the rev." without any " very "? These poor fellows! Of course they do not know, but why do not they send us proofs and allow us to protect our work, particularly as I have found they regard an author who sends in suggestions, subsequent to submitting his article, for emendations and amplifications of it, as a nuisance. And worse, do not act on such. Expeeto Ceede. II. May I, through the medium of your columns, call the attention of divers editors to a grievance that I and other occasional contributors to their pages have to suffer through the lack of a little thoughtfulness on their part. I refer to the un- necessary mutilation of inoffensive MSS. When, to have MSS. typed costs about is. a thousand words, or, say, 5 per cent, of the author's receipts, it is, I consider, somewhat wanton of the powers that be to tear off the front and end pages, write in pencil the approximate length as measured by their own columns on the body of the MS., and then, after a few weeks have elapsed, return the remnants—sans clip, saw cover, sans an apology. Then, with regard to the editors and proprietors of journals published in the United States, I would ask if it would not be possible to induce them to copyright their productions in England, or otherwise protect them from the scissors of a certain class of their English brethren. The great popularity of the article made in the States, though conducive to large dividends for English shareholders, is a distinct hardship on the struggling native author, whose pen remains idle while that of the editor of the 20 per cent, paying journal fiercely splutters as he feverishly alters countless "Chicagos," innumerable "Illinois," and multitudinous "Maines" into his beloved "Cottonopolis," "One of the Midland Counties," or " A well-known seaside resort." An Unofficial Receiver—of Editorial Regrets. hi. "Don't take to literature if you've capital enough to buy a good broom, and energy enough to annex a vacant crossing," is the advice of Mr. Grant Allen. Pessimistic as it may appear, its truth will not  ## p. 324 (#774) ############################################ 324 THE AUTHOR. •be contested by those who, devoid alike of pecu- niary and social influence, have striven to make headway in the profession for which their natural qualifications fit them. It cannot be denied that the position of an unknown literary producer with regard to the man who employs or rejects his services is humiliating in the extreme. The dealer to whom he takes his wares may detain them unconscionably, use them at his own price, nay, even destroy them, without compunc- tion. Until the productions of writers, of what con- dition whatsoever, are recognised both by law and public opinion as property that cannot be stolen, under-valued, or contemptuously handled without .incurring punishment; until the entire literary community, and not merely the acknowledged leaders of it, are accepted as a body of labourers worthy of their hire, the advice of Mr. Grant Allen will continue to be sound. The heads of the literary profession are in positions to enforce fair play; there are, also, publishers and editors who value their own credit too highly to take advantage of a writer's obscurity or ignorance. But as one of the rank and file, I am almost daily brought face to face with abuses that do not perhaps affect the leaders. There can never be anything businesslike and satisfactory in literary pursuits until the following obstacles are finally surmounted: 1. Delays in considering MSS.—I have had a manuscript under consideration nine months; and frequently pass three, in speculating as to the probabilities of ever beholding it again. 2. Delays in payment.—Here, again, the bewildered novice has just cause for outcry, seeing that while one editor pays on publication, another will postpone settlement until the poor author has given up hopes of ever receiving his due. 3. Unequal remuneration.—Why should one editor offer a guinea a column where another stops at five shillings for the same article? With regard to obstacle 1, every editor should be compelled to return rejected MSS. within the month, or pay for it at recognised rates. Other- wise how is the author to know with any degree of certainty when he is at liberty to offer the work elsewhere; and how is he to calculate his income when he has no means of judging what his MSS. are worth? The editor who keeps a MS. nine months before publishing it, and only pays after publication, as compared with the editor who ju-cepts the MS. and pays for it within the month though not publishing it for nine months, robs the author of eight months' interest. 2. With regard to obstacle 2, then, there should be a fixed regulation dealing with the question of settling up. Payment on publication means nothing; since publication may not be till six seven, eight, nine, or even more months after acceptation. The only system of treating the author fairly in this case seems to me that, should his MS. be kept long enough to imply acceptation, it should be paid for within a stipu- lated time dating from its receipt. 3. As regards unequal remuneration. There is this to be said. If a journtl cannot afford to remunerate its contributors at a legitimate rate, it is on a level with the bogus theatrical company and the absconding manager, and should be smashed up. Shopkeepers, manufacturers, men of business, in a large way or a small, making money or losing it, must pay their staff ordinary salaries. Their own profit his nothing to do with the case. Innumerable journalistic specu- lators, like the bogus theatrical manager, com- mence operations without capital. Should their venture succeed, it is probable they will pay contributors. Should it fail, as it invariably does, contributors are the last to be considered. Other ventures linger out a miserable existence, stealing " copy" where they can, paying ridicu- lous trifles when obliged to cash out something. Trade conducted on such principles is fraudulent; and there are scores of periodicals that, so far as minor authors a<e concerned, simply live by fraud. By compelling editors to return or pay for MSS. within a certain fixed time these swindlers would be circumvented. Should it be argued that the literary staff of a journal is not large enough to cope with the amount of unsolicited contributions forwarded within the time specified, I answer simply such literary staff requires enlarging. Bankers, mer- chants, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and professional men generally, are forced to maintain a staff in accordance with their requirements. It is only newsj>aper and magazine proprietors who are allowed to "sweat" their literary employes without remonstrance. An editor whose time is insufficient to permit of his conscientiously read- ing his MSS. and dealing with them promptly, is no credit to the firm for whom he works. At the present moment, and in spite of the efforts of the Society of Authors—which will, I hope, be the instrument of effecting great and permanent benefit to the profession of letters—a class of labourers perhaps the most enlightened, industrious, and patient, in existence, suffers indignities, wrongs, and scandalous treatment such as the most ignorant, idle, and unruly member of a trades union would resent quickly and fiercely.  ## p. 325 (#775) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 325 I write as an author; but I am not incapable of entering into the views of the editor. I have occupied the editorial cbair; but not, I sincerely trust, with the supercilious self-sufficiency and blind disregard both of businesslike and courteous treatment so many editors display in their deal- ings with contributors. Contributors, even un- solicited contributors, are not beggars. Is it not high time editors, simple and wise, just and unjust, honest and dishonest, were forced to acknowledge this little fact? Hebbebt W. Smith. VI.—The Publishee's Assistant. A few days ago I received a (written) letter from the offices of a well-known publisher herald- ing the return of a manuscript, and I am loth to allow that letter to perish altogether unnoticed. It was brief, but it contained sufficient cause of offence. In it I was addressed as "Dear," plain and simple, without the distinction of a name, while that of my book was incorrectly given, and the whole not considered worthy of signa- ture. Now, I am not an absolute beginner, and, although I had had no previous dealings with the firm in question, I corresponded with them on the subject of my story before giving them the first refusal. They retained it from January until March, and it occurs to me that if ten weeks were required for its perusal, ten minutes might have been allowed for the writing of a civil letter; the one which I received would have been returned without comment but for the probability of its falling into the hands of the writer. I have no doubt the publisher's assistant is responsible for such cases, for the heads of the great firms are invariably courteous in personal dealings (or such, at least, has been my experi- ence). But there seems no sufficient reason that the disheartening experiences of young writers should be aggravated by insolence of the typo referred to, and I wish that the numerous pub- lishers who evidently read The Author would give the matter their consideration. E. K. S. LITEEATUEE IN THE PEEIODICALS. Unmabketableness of Vebse.—An Author's Confession.—The Eelioious Novel.—The Teaching of English. "T1THY is verse not read?" is the ques- Y V tion propounded by the Daily News (April 18), and left unanswered. The journal is reviewing a volume of poems, and contrasts the popularity of fiction with the un- marketableness of verse. Mr, Henley is the author in question, and he has stated, in explana- tion of this volume being all that he has to show in the matter of verse for the years between 1873 and 1897, that, "after spending the better part of my life in the pursuit of poetry, I found myself (about 1877) so utterly unmarketable that I had to own myself beaten in art, and to addict myself to journalism for the next ten years." His case, says the Daily News, stands for many more, and "if work of this quality had appeared in prose it could never have gone begging." True, Mr. Henley's publisher rejoins tbat sales have been not so very bad, and two correspondents suggest that the subjects treated are fitted rather for prose treatment. But to our contemporary it appears an inevitable conclusion that editors know that readers no longer care for poetry. It suggests that we may be going through some process of decisive change in literary forms. At any rate, "there is more verse than ever nowa- days," and "there is less acceptance for it than ever." A disappointed author (though not a poet) makes a statement of his experiences in the April pages of the New Century Review, by way of bidding farewell to literature. "Julian Croskey," the pseudonym under which this gentleman has appeared in authorship, adopted the literary profession deliberately as a means to an end. He had been in the Chinese Customs service, and attempted to raise a rebellion, for which he was sent to prison on being handed over to the British Government. He next conceived the idea of raising a party of gentlemen to adven- ture into China and exploit the country. To secure the gentlemen confederates he must get into society. To get into society he determined upon authorship. In three months he wrote twenty-six magazine articles and two books; starvation, fever, and isolation then brought him to the London Hospital. Coming out of hospital, he next borrowed .£50, took a small room near Hampstead Heath, living on tinned meat and opium, and, although " full of creativeness," wasted a year "in what I thought the more important duty, the composition of my bible and military scheme of conquest." This over, he began to send out his slum work, placed three or four articles, two tales, and a book. His agree- ment with the publisher specified two or three other books which he was to supply, " so that if I had taken to literature then I should at once have been launched. I, however, neglected my part of the agreement, and. let my opportunity slide." In the following year he sent out his military book. Publishers admired it, and said it would not pay;  ## p. 326 (#776) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. one firm offered to accept it if the author would bear part of the cost. "I consequently withdrew it," says the author, "feeling that it would be time enough to publish it when I had made my entree into society by fiction. This was on a par with the rest of my folly, for the book is now useless, as my heart is no longer in its tenets." Another book—of "recollections "—was to be accepted if he would tone down its style. He did not tone down the style, and therefore let that opportunity also go by, but he acknowledges now (being older) that the style was abominable. He was prepared to make good use of his third year, when a catastrophe happened. He accepted a clerkship, at the instigation of his people, who insisted on his earning a "reasonable living," and took pains to secure him a berth. From Hampstead Heath he migrated to Blooms- bury, and after office hours he worked at a piratical novel. He sent the first part to a publisher, who said it was too realistic for a "boy's book." "Boy's book" being too much for the author, he never sent the publisher the remainder, "and when the book was finished I had lost confidence, and was afraid it was far too audacious." Its fate afterwards was, being cut up into magazine stories, while books on the same lines had been appearing in the meantime and meeting with success. He gave up his clerk- ship, determined to face poverty and work again; and "from the spring of '95 onward," he says, "I have drifted from my ambitions and knocked myself to pieces." Still, he placed another book, and articles, earning ,£70 during 1896. Among his misfortunes was writing the first of a series of detective stories for a new magazine, and the magazine never appeared; sending illustrations to a magazine and getting his article back with- out them. He changed his pseudonym; he changed his address; he did not read magazines, and therefore is still ignorant whether some of his articles have appeared or not. He placed two tales with a certain magazine, "neglecting again a lucrative opening for a series. My opportuni- ties were excellent for a professional scribbler, but I would not make it my profession." Here is the catalogue of some results:—"I believe I have five tales accepted somewhere which are yet to appear, but I have burnt my records and cannot recall them. I have asked one editor if he would pay me in advance, but have had no reply. I have absolutely wasted six years. I have wasted, indeed, the first thirty years of my life." And the moral of it? This: "if you would succeed as an author, be one and nothing else. If you can beg, borrow, or steal as much as .£50 a year, cut yourself off from everything and write." A member of the Anglican clergy, the Rev. Anthony Deane, attacks "the whole genus 'Religious Novel' " in the April number of the National Review. Religion, he contends, should surely be one of certain subjects which should still be considered to be outside the novelist's pale. He cites instances of technical blunders in description of religious ceremonies, and accuses "writers of irresponsible fiction " of having cari- catured the clergy and the ordinances of the Church, but he appears satisfied that" after alL no one takes these books very seriously, and they do not influence, nor are they intended to influence, the general public's estimation of the Church in the slightest degree." Mr. Deane thinks that the legitimate domain of the novel to-day—that is to say, outside "certain subjects," of which religion should be one—is extensive enough, the limits far wider than those within which Thackeray and Dickens were content to be bound:— If our religion (saya Mr. Deane) is something more than a vague sentiment, or a hazy aspiration—if it is deep, if it is real, if it is saored to us—the " religions" novel, in whioh Biblical narratives are eked out with mawkish sentiment and glaring vulgarity, in which Divine ordinances are cari- catured, must needs seem nauseating and disgusting. If, again, we value the traditions of our literature, if we are aniiona that its future should be not unworthy of its past, we cannot but deplore this lowering of the accepted standard of taste—we cannot but regret that well-known writers, for the sake of selling gigantic editions, should be ready to pander to depraved likings, and be prepared, for the sake of making a sensation, to fling all notions of decency and reverence to the winds. The question of teaching historical English grammar is presented by Mr. Mark H. Liddell in the Atlantic Monthly as one of paramount neces- sity if we are to preserve the power of our lan- guage to formulate our thought aptly, clearly, and easily. "Our present system of studying English literature from the standpoint of New English grammar," he says, "is creating for ua two languages where but one has existed in the past—a formal language of literary expression more or less transcendental, and an informal language of every-day life, practical, familiar, simple, direct" :— In the case of the Bible, the one has already become a sacerdotal tongue full of anomalies in syntax and idiom, and set apart as a sacred Bpeech because of its obsolete- pronouns and outgrown verb forms. The homely speech of an early Christianity which sought inspiration in the humblest walks of life has thus beoome artificial, and has got separated from actual experience. It now stands in need of a gloss almost as much as the Vulgate did when, in answer to the homely cry "Givo us the Soriptures," Tyndale translated it into the speech of everyday life. When the historical development of the English language and literature is once clearly under- stood, says the writer, this artificial process will be at an end. It will also lead to a fuller appre-  ## p. 327 (#777) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. ciation of much of our best literature. Mr. Liddell avers that in a recent imposing book on the history of English literature which speaks of the influence of Chaucer's harmonious and scien- tific versification, there are in the ten lines quoted five forms of expression that Chaucer could not have used, two that he did not use, and one that no writer or speaker of English has ever used. Says Mr. Liddell: "The critic could not read inU-lligently the poetry he was criticising—a dis- qualification which one feels ought to be a serious one. If the writer had chosen the history of Greek poetry for his field, he would have been laughed out of court for such efforts." BOOK TALE. MR. HERBERT SPENCER is engaged revising "Principle* of Biology," and writing additional chapters for the work. One of these, entitled "Cell-Life and Cell- Multiplication," describes the revelations which late years have witnessed respecting the processes of cell-division and cell-fertilization. Mr. Spencer contributes to the May number of Xatural Science an article on the subject, and prefixes it with a note in which he says:—" Study of the facts and hypotheses, as set forth in recent works, have suggested to me some interpretations which I have not met with. I have thought it as well to publish them now: not waiting for completion of the first volume of the " Principles of Biology "; as this will be long delayed, even if ill-health does not prevent completion of it." Mr. J. Arthur Gibbs has written a volume on country life in Gloucestershire, which is to be publishei by Mr. John Murray under the title •' A Cotswold Village." Messrs. Duckworth have just ready a volume of articles by Mr. Norman Hapgood, who con- tributes the New York Letter to T/ie Author every month. It is entitled "Literary States- men and Others," and deals with Lord Rosebery, Mr. Morley, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Henry James, Stendhal, Merimce, American art criticism and American cosmopolitanism. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., has written a memoir of the Hon. Sir Charles Murray, K.C.B., which will be published by Messrs. Blackwood. At periods in his long life (1806-1895) Sir Charles was Master of the Household to the Queen, Consul-General in Egypt, and Minister at the Courts of Persia, Saxony, Denmark, and Portugal. His adherence in 1834-35 to a hunting "nation" of Pawnee Indian?, in whose lodges he lived for several months, is another episode in his interesting career. Many unpublished letters from Carlyle, Lord Brougham, Samuel Rogers, Alison, Praser, and others will be given in the memoir. Sir Charles Murray was at one time a constant frequenter of the famous breakfasts of Rogers at 22, St. James's-place. Mr. H. B. Wheatley, of the Society of Arts, is the author of a volume on " The Prices of books," which will form one of the Library Series pub- lished by Mr. George Allen. Sir George Robertson has written a history of th3 defence of Chitral from the point of view of those inside the fort. The work, which Messrs. Methueu will publish, will also give a connected narrative of all the stirring episodes on the Chitral frontier in 1895. At the time of the siege Sir George Robertson was, of course, British Agent at Gilgit. The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund will shortly have ready a work by Mr. Frederick Jones Bliss, Ph.D., explorer to the fund, entitled " Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894- 1897." Among the ten chapters there will be one on the chronological bearings of the excavations, another on the wall from the Protestant cemetery to the Jewish cemetery, and a third giving a historical sketch of the Wall of Jerusalem. The book will contain plans and illustrations by Mr. Archibald Campbell Dickie, A.R.I.B.A. Sir Wyke Bayliss will have ready in a few days his study of the likenesses of Christ. It is to be called "Rex Regum," and published by Messrs. Bell. Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson, who was formerly President of the Aristotelian Society, has written a work, which will run to four volumes, entitled "The Metaphysic of Experience." It will be published shortly by Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. Dr. Robert Munro, F.R.S.E., has written a volume on Prehistoric Scotland, which will be published by Messrs. Blackwood in a style uniform with their County Histories series. The Diary of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who played chess with Napoleon at St. Helena, is expected to be published in a few months. Malcolm, after seeing much service at sea, and commanding in the North Sea during the Waterloo campaign, was appointed to the St. Helena station in 1816 in order to prevent the prisoner from escaping. "Interludes" will be the title of a volume of popular lectures on musical subjects, by the late Professor Henry Banister, which Messrs. George  ## p. 328 (#778) ############################################ 328 THE AUTHOR. Bell and Sons will issue shortly. The work has been edited by Professor Stewart Macpherson, of the Royal Academy of Music. The forthcoming volume of the Social England series, published by Messrs. Sonnenschein, will be "Life in an Old English Town,'' by Miss M. Dormer Harris. It deals especially with the history of Coventry in inediseval times, contains illustrations taken from old prints and other sources, and facsimiles of ancient MS8. A short guide to Coventry will be included. Mr. Lionel Cust has compiled, and Mr. Sidney Colvin edited, a history of the Society of Dilettanti, telling its social life and its antiquarian and artistic enterprises fr< m 1732 to the present day. Only 350 copies will be printed, and 100 of these are reserved fov the members of the society. Messrs. Macmillan are the publishers. Dr. Emil Reich's volume on Hungarian litera- ture is now nearly ready for publication by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons. In their series dealing with periods of European literature, and edited by Professor Saintsbury, Messrs. Blackwood will shortly issue "The Augustan Ages," by Oliver Elton; and later, "The Fourteenth Century," by F. J. Snell. Other volumes arranged for are "The Dark Ages," by Professor W. P. Ker; " The Transition Period," by G. Gregory Smith; "The Mid- Eighteenth Century," by J. Hepburn Millar; "The Eomantic Revolt," by Professor C. E. Vaughan; "The Romantic Triumph," by T. S. Omond; and " The Later Nineteenth Century," by Professor Saintsbury. A series of essays on Church Reform, edited by Canon Gore, will be published immediately by Mr. Murray. Among the contributors are the Dean of Norwich, whose subject is "Pensions for the Clergy," Rev. Dr. Fry (" Church Reform and Social Problems "), Mr. Justice Phillimore ("Legal and Parliamentary Possibilities"), Lord Balfour of Burleigh ("The Actual Methods of Self-Government in the Established Church of Scotland"), Canon Scott-Holland, and Canon Gore. An annotated edition of the " Lyrical Ballads" of Wordsworth and Coleridge, by Mr. Hutchinson, of Trinity College, Dublin, will be published by Messrs. Duckworth in this the centenary year of the original publication of the work. Mr. Edmund G. Gardner has written a critical work entitled "Dante's Ten Heavens," which is intended mainly to serve as an introduction to the "Paradiso." The author is a Cambridge man. Messrs. Constable are the publishers. "The Early Relations between Britain and Scandinavia" is the title of a work by Dr. Hans Hildebrand, Royal Antiquary of Sweden, to be issued by Messrs. Blackwood. It consists of the Rhind Lectures in Archaeology for 1896. Mrs. Meynell and Mr. William Hyde are joint- authors of an artistic work called "London Impressious," which Messrs. Constable will issue shortly. Mr. Hyde is also doing twenty illustra- tions for Mr. Meredith's " Nature Poems," which is to appear in the collected edition of Mr. Mere- dith's works published by the same house. Mr. Horace Hutchinson, the well-known autho- rity on golf, has written a gossipy volume on the pastime, which will be publi.-hed by Messrs. Methum under the title " The Golfing Pilgrim." A popularly written work on Cricket by the Hon R. H. Lyttelton will be published by Messrs. Duckworth on an early date. Mr. Pitt Lewis, Q.C., delivered recently in Middle Temple Hall a historical lecture on the Temple. It is now about to be published in a revised and expanded form by Mr. John Long. A fourth and uniform edition of Mr. James Baker's well-known West Country story, "By the Western Sea," will shortly be issued by Messrs. Chapman an 1 Hall. It appears at an apropos moment, when so many will be visiting Lynmouth and its lovely neighbourhood. Mr. Trevor-Battye's new book, "A Northern Highway of the Tsar," is due from Messrs. Constable. Messrs. Smith, Elder and Co. have begun the issue of an edition of Thackeray's works with biographical introductions by his daughter, Mrs. Ritchie. There will be thirteen volumes, which will appear at the rate of one per month. Every- body knows, of course, that Thackeray requested that his life should not be written; therefore, what Mrs. Ritchie does is merely in each volume to give the public little glimpses of the author. The first is " Vanity Fair," which the publisher issued on April 15. "I cannot help thinking," she remarks, "that although 'Vanity Fair' was written in 1845 and the following years, it was really begun in 1817, when the little boy, so lately come from India, found himself shut in behind those filagree iron gates at Chiswick, of which he writes when he describes Miss Pinker- ton's establishment." During the publication of the work, Thackeray wrote as follows to his mother: Towards the end of the month I get so nervous that I don't speak to anybody scarcely, and once actually got up in the middle of the night and came down to write in my  ## p. 329 (#779) ############################################ THE AUTHOR 329 night chimee; but that don't happen often, and I own that I had a nap after dinner that day. And he writes on July 2, 1848:—"'Vanity Fair' is this instant done, and I have worked so hard, that I can scarcely hold a pen and say God bless my dearest old mother." Concerning the original of Becky Sharp, Mrs. Ritchie only says: One morning a hansom drove np to the door, and out of it emerged a most charming, dazzling little lady dressed in black, who greeted my father with great affection and brilliancy, and who, departing presently, gave him a large bunch of fresh violets. This was the only time I ever saw the fascinating little person who was by many supposed to be the origin il of Becky; my father only laughed when people asked him, but he never quite owned to it. He always said that he never conecioualy oopied anyone. Novels to be published by Messrs. Macmillan include "A Philosopher's Romance," by Mr. John Berwick; "The Concert Director," by Mrs. Blissett; "The Man of the Family," by Miss Emily Phillips; "The Forest Lovers," by Mr. Maurice Hewlett. New novels by Mrs. W. K. Clifford and Mr. Edward H. Cooper are in the hands of Messrs. Duckworth for early publication. The late Mr. James Payn's novel, " By Proxy," is about to be published in a sixpenny edition by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. The same firm have acquired the copyright of Mr. Payn's " A Modern Dick Whittington," and will issue a 3*. 6d. edition of it. Theatrical life in London, which has been the subject of numerous works of late, will also be the theme of Mr. Leonard Merrick's new novel, "The Actor Manager," which Mr. Grant Richards will publish. "Men, Women, and Things," is the title of a volume of stories by Mr. F. C. Phillips, which Messrs. Duckworth are to publish. Mr. Vincent Brown has written a novel entitled "Ordeal by Compassion," which Mr. Lane will publish. The author issued, through Messrs. Ward and Lock eighteen months ago, a novel called "My Brother." His new work is a study of a man who does ill, and finds his punishment lie in being compassioned. Sir Courtenay Ilbert is issuing, through the Oxford University Press, a digest of Indian statute law up to date. In existing works the subject is only carried down to the year 1873. Mr. Sydney J. Murray has written a treatise on money which aims at giving a popular exposition of the various technicalities which confront the investor and the speculator from time to time in the course of actual transactions. It will be called "A Popular Manual of Finance," and published by Messrs. Blackwood. Lord Farrer, who is of course a monometallist, is about to issue a voluma entitled "Studies in Currency." "Blastus, the King's Cliamberlaiu," one of Mr. Stead's recent Christmas numbers of the Review of Reviews, is to be reprinted in the form of a six-shilling volume and published by Mr. Grant Richards. The first number has appeared of the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature, edited by Mr. H. Frank Heath, which is a resuscitation of the Modem Language Quarterly of last year. It is published by Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co., price half-a-crown. Amongst the articles are "An Elizabethan MS. Colle -tion: Henry Con- stable," by Professor DowJen; "Alphonse Daudet," by Mr. Charles Whibley; "Historical Notes on the Similies of Dante," bv Professor W. P. Ker; "The Influencj of Goethe's Italian Journey upon his Style," by Professor Herford; and " Erne Niederliindische Paraphrase des Veni Sancte Spiritus," by Mr. Robert Priebsch. In- cluding a classified list of recent publications, the magazine contains ninety pages. Mr. Heath is assisted by Dr. Braunholtz, Dr. Breul, Mr. I. GoUancz, Mr. A. "W. Pollard, Professor Walter Rippmann, and Professor V. Spiers. The frontis- piece to the number is a portrait of Dr. Furnivall, who attained his seventy-third birthday on Feb. 4. Next July (writes the Naples correspondent of the Daily News) Signor Crispi will consign to the English publisher, who has acquired the copy- right, the MSS. of his memoirs. They form nine volumes of MS. pages, each volume numbering 400 pages. The first part recounts the polemics between Mazzini and Cavour, which werj sum- marised by Crispi for the French journals of the period. The second part treats of the idea of unity and the autonomy of Sicily. The third relates to the disembarkment at Marsala and the provisional government in Sicily. The other five parts treat of events from i860 upwards. There will be a special portion dedicated to the part Crispi had in the Triple Alliance. In view of his pulpit Jubilee, Messrs. Horace Marshall and Son are publishing, under the general title of " Studies in Text," six volumes, by Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple. The first volume is now ready. Another kind of book by the same author is in the press, and will be published at once by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. The title is "Christian Profiles in a Pagan Mirror." A pagan lady visits England for the purpose of discovering what Christians believe, what they do, and  ## p. 330 (#780) ############################################ 33° THE AUTHOR. •wherein they differ from other people. This book is her report. Mr. Charles Bright's work on "Submarine Telegraphs," their history, construction, and working, will be published on May 2. It will appear in one volume, super royal 8vo., 780 pages, with a good number of plates and maps. The publishers are Crosby Lockwood and Co. Mr. Bloundelle-Burton's new novel entitled "Across the Salt Seas " was published by Methuen and Co. on March 21 last. In her "Reminiscences," just issued by Mr. Redway, Miss Betham-Edwards, poet, novelist, and writer on French rural life, glances back through sixty years, and gives a racy account of England in "the good old times," and records her life in France and Germany. She has been the confidante of George Eliot and the friend of Listz, to mention only two of the celebrities. Mrs. Eentoul Esler's new book has just been published by Mr. John Long, of 6, Chandos- street, Strand. It tells how the old Edenic theme, "It is not good that man should be alone," was treated in ten modern instances. The book is entitled "Youth at the Prow." The biography of the late Bishop of Wake- field, Dr. Walsham How, is being written by his son, Mr. F. D. How, and will probably be ready, at Messrs. Isbister's, early in the autumn. Dr. C. Harford Battersby is writing a biography of Mr. Pilkington, of Uganda, which will be pub- lished immediately by Messrs. Marshall Bros. One of the most interesting questions to politi- cians is the relations between the Indian Govern- ment and the tribes on the North-West and Western frontiers of India, from Chitral to Baluchistan. It is the subject of a forthcoming work entitled "War and Policy on the Indian Frontier," by Mr. Stephen Wheeler, who wrote the volume on the Ameer in the "Public Men of To-day" series. He will sketch the history of the tribes, and give an account of the military expedi- tions which have been necessary; geography and ethnology will also be dealt with. Religious works to appear shortly include: "Jewish Life After the Exile," by the Rev. Professor Cheyne, to be published by Messrs. Putnam; and "The Hope of Immortality," by the Rev. J. E. C. Welldon, Head Master of Harrow School (Seeley). Dr. Forbes Winslow has written a book on "Mad Humanity," for Messrs. Pearson. Mr. Arthur Thomson will write the volume on "Heredity" for the Progressive Science S ries, published by Messrs. Bliss, Sands and Co. A series of memoirs of American politics, by Mr. Coit Tyler, of Cornell, in the first of which Monroe and his doctrine are discussed, will be published by Messrs. Putnam. Reviewers who have habitually to deal with books at very short notice, will be grateful to Messrs. Service and Paton for the introduction of a useful practice. In sending out a book lately this firm appended to their printed notice the following:—" Note.—The leaves of this copy have been cut for the convenience of the reviewer." Professor Max Midler's works are being pub- lished in a collected edition, at the rate of one volume per month, by Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. In a preface which appears in the first volume (" Natural Religion ") Professor Muller says that the chief object of all his literary labours has been "to show that with the new materials placed at our disposal during the pre- sent century by the discoveries of ancient monu- ments, both architectural and hterary, by the brilliant decipherment of unknown languages, and the patient interpretation of ancient litera- tures, whether in Egypt, Babylonia, India, or Persia, it has become possible to discover what may be called historical evolution, in the earliest history of mankind." "Phil May's Annual" is to be published in future by Messrs. Thacker, who will issue the summer number, enlarged, this month. This firm has taken over the publications of the late firm of Neville Beeman, Limited, including Mr. Laird Clowes's Naval Pocket Book. THE, BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [March 24 to April 23.—273 Books.] Aldous, J. O. P. (en.). Physics. Elemontary. 7/6. Macmillan. Anderson, Izett. Yellow Fever in the West Indies. 3/6. Lewie. Anderson, Mary. In tbe Promised Land. 6/- Downey. Anonymous. The Little Christian Year (Unicorn " Books of Verse," II ). S/6 net Unicorn Press. Anonymous (*4Ono who speaks concerning the Church1'). The Excellent Lady Kyrius. 2/6. Wells Gardner. Anonymous (tr. from French). The Beign of Terror (under Marat and Bobesplerre). 16/- net. Smtthers. Anonymous. Scenes and Life in the Transvaal. 52/6 net Art Photograph Co. Anonymous, rriesthood in the English Church. 1/- S.P.C.K. Anonymous. The Queen's Empire. Pictoiial and Descriptive. Vol. I. 8/- Cassell. Armitage-Smith, G. Tbe Free Trade Movement and its Results. 2/0. Blackie. Astrup, E. Wiih Peary near the Pole. 10/6. Pearson. Bell, J., and Wilson, 8. Practical Telephony. 2/6. Electricity Office. Barlow, W. 8. L. A Manual of General Pathology for Students and Practitioners. 21/- Churchill. Barrister, A. Story of the Schoolmaster's Sister, .to. 1/- Cox. Beresford, Lord 0., and Wilson, W. II. Nelson and His Times. 9/- Eyre and S. Besant, Sir Walter. King Alfred the Great Cd. Cox. Binstead. A. M., aLd Webs, E. A Pink 'Un and A Pelican. 21/- net Bliss.  ## p. 331 (#781) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 331 Binyon, L. Porphyrton. and Other Poems. 8/- net Bichards. Binyon, L. Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists, Ac, In Depart- ment of Prints and Drawings in B. M. Vol.I. British Museum. Blackwell. G. Law of Meetings 2/6 net Butterworth. Blayney, Owen. The Macmahon. 6/- Constable. Bodkin, M. McD. A Stolen Life. A Novel. 6/- Ward and Lock. Bodkin, M. McD. Paul Beck. 8/8. Pearson. Boothby, Guy. The Lust of Hate. 8/- Ward and Lock. Bottone, S. B. Badiography and the X Bays in Practice and Theory. S> Whittaker. Bourne, G. A Tear's Exile. 3/6. Lane. Bowack, W. M. Formation of Philosophical Opinion and the Future Mind. Edinburgh: Thin. Brazier, M. A Twofold Sin. A NoveL 2/6. Dlgby. Bright, Wm. The Law of Faith. 6/- Wells Gardner. Brough, W. Open Mints and Free Banking 8'- Putnam. Brownlie, Bev. J. (ed ) Hymns from East and West. Nisbet, Bryant, E. M. Kitty Lonsdale and some Eumsby Folk. 8* Kelly Bullock, C. Prebendary Wlghtman and Mrs. Wightman. 1/6. Borne Words Office. Burgess, J. J. H. Tang. A Shetland Story. Lerwick: Johnson and Greig. Burton, J. Bloundelle. Across the Salt Seas. 6/- Methuen. Bnrton, the late Sir B. F. The Jew, the Gypsy, and El Islam. 21/- Hutchlnson. Buxton, E. N. Short Stalks. Second Series. Stanford. Byng, M.. and Bell, F. O. Popular Guide to Commercial and Domestic Telephony. 2/6. Whittaker. Byron, Lord, The Works of. Poetry. Vol. I. Ed. by E. H. Coleridge. 6/- Murray. Cadman, H. Harry Druldale. Fisherman. 8/6. Macmillan. Csldlcott, 0. Tho Way About Warwickshire. 1/-net Iliffe. Cameron, Mrs. Lovett. A Difficult Matter, c. - Long. Campbell, H. Bospiratory Exercises in the Treatment of Disease. 7/6. Ballliero. Capes, B. Tho Lake of Wine. 6/- Heiuemann. Carr, J. A. Life-Work of Edward White Benson. 6/- Stock. Chadwick, G. A. Pilate's Gift, and Other 8ermons. 5/- Beliglous Tract Society. Chalmers, J. Fighting the Matabele. 8/6. Blackie. Cheetham, T. A. Elementary Chemistry. 1/6. Blackie. Choster, Norley. StorleB from Dante. 8/6. Warne. Churchill.W. Tho Celebrity. An Episode. 6/- Macmillan. Churton, E. T. The Sanctuary of Missions. 4, 6. Longman. Clark, Frances E. The Great Secret. 1/- Sunday School Union. Clarke, H. S., and Wasner, C. Tho Century Beciter. C/6. Warne. Clarke, H. W. The City Churches. 15/- net. Simpkin. Clifford, Hugh. Studies in Brown Humanity. 6/. Richards. Collins, W. E. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 08 Issue 12 (May 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 08 Issue 12 (May 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049239455</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-05-02-The-Author-8-12 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/317/1898-06-01-The-Author-9-1.pdf 915932377792781f2656659a189d2b20 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) 1898-06-01 Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages Page range in volume 1–28 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980601 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ^Tbe Butbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. IX.—No. i.] JUNE i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Seoretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOB some years it has been the practice to insert, in every number of The Author, certain "General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, Ac, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a olause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the samo allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give np American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an anthor to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those aaoount books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all disaounta shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to th secretary before he signs it. B 2  ## p. 2 (#14) ############################################### 2 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. Ij^VEEY member has a right to ask for and to receive ■ "J advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, yon should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. NOTICES. E Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6i2. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for Tlie Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work whicb it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 1 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pooket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. LITERARY PROPERTY. I. — The Position of British Authors in Germany. WITH reference to the statements that appeared in the newspapers in the Spring with regard to the International copyright question with Germany, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has transmitted to the secretary of the Society of Authors the accompanying note, to be laid before the Society, which has been received from the German Ambassador relative to the position of British authors in Germany. rjxa  ## p. 3 (#15) ############################################### THE AUTHOR. 3 [Copy. Translation.] German Embassy, London, April 28, 1898. My Lord,—In your note of the 23rd ult., Your Excellency asked for information -on certain doubtful points in connection with the legal posi- tion of English authors as regards their right to protection against the reprinting or reproduction of their works, under the laws now in force in Germany. Your Excellency observed, in particular, that when the old Conventions ceased to have force in England, the same protection was continued there to German works as they had enjoyed while those conventions were in force. Similarly, in Germany properly acquired rights are protected quite as effectively, although in a different manner. For English works which, until Dec. 16 last, were protected in Germany under the old Conventions, have since enjoyed the protection given by the Agreement of Berne and the Supplementary Act of Paris. As the provisions of the new Conven- tions referred to are in some respects much more favourable, English interests are not in any way injured by this arrangement. Germany does not ask English authors or their heirs to go through any formalities in order to have the pro- tection of their works continued. The Imperial Decree of Nov. 29, 1897, and the notice in the Central-Blatt of 1898, page 85, only contain transitional provisions intended to protect the legitimate interests of German tradesmen against the retrospective force of the Agreement of Berne; they are based on the same principle as the reservation made in sect. 6 of the Inter- national Copyright Act, 1886: (" Provided that, where any person has before the date of the publication of an Order in Council lawfully pro- duce any work in the United Kingdom," &c.) I have the honour to communicate these explanations to Your Excellency in accordance with instructions received, and I beg to refer you, for information in detail, to the enclosed paper of replies to the questions contained in the enclosure to your note of the 23rd ult. My Government trust that these explanations will completely remove all the doubts which, as Your Excellency states, have arisen from the form of our withdrawal from the Copyright Conven- tions between Germany and England. I have, &c. (Signed) P. Hatzfeldt. The Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., &c. [Copy. Translation.] Replies to the Questions of Her Majesty's Government. 1. In Germany English authors who have hitherto been protected in accordance with the Conventions no longer in force are now protected in accordance with the Agreement of Berne. For, according to Article 14 and No. 4 of the Final Protocol, that Agreement is applicable to all works which have not yet become common property in their country of origin. The pro- tection of English works is not in any way diminished by the circumstance that the Agree- ment of Berne has taken the place of the old Conventions; on the contrary, the Agreement of Berne is in some respects more favourable to English works. In particular, the authors of the older English works also will in future be pro- tected against translations under Article 1, sect. 3, of the Paris Supplementary Act of May 4, 1896. It follows from what is stated above that, in consequence of the termination of the Conven- tions, English works have in some respects obtained a protection in Germany which they did not enjoy before. This circumstance made transition regulations necessary, for which No. 4, paragraph 3 of the Final Protocol of the Agree- ment of Berne was taken as a basis. It is possible that some one in Germany may, while the old Conventions were in force, have made use of, or been about to make use of, an English work for purposes of gain, quite legally, because, as the law then stood, there was no prohibition. One case is of practical importance. A certain English work which was not protected, or was no longer protected, against translation in Germany, was translated without the sanction of the author or his representative. According to general prin- ciples, which are followed in Great Britain as well as in other countries, a change in the law, that is in this case the newly introduced protection of English works against translation, must not have the effect of preventing interested parties in Germany from benefiting by arrangements law- fully made by them. Steps have, therefore, been taken to make it lawful within certain limits for the parties concerned to do certain things which it was lawful for them to do until the termination of the Conventions, but which, if special regula- tions had not been made, would have been an in- fringement of the rights of English authors. In particular, it was necessary, in view of the exten- sion of the protection against translations, to give permission for the distribution of translations of old English works which were lawfully made to continue. The sole object of the Imperial Decree of November 29,1897 {Imperial Gazette, No. 787) and the Notice of February3,1898 {Central-Blatt, No. 85) was to meet these cases. 2. According to the regulations referred to above, the distribution and sale of impressions of an English work lawfully made are allowed, although the work now enjoys in Germany the  ## p. 4 (#16) ############################################### 4 THE AUTHOR. protection of the Agreement of Berne, in conse- quence of the termination of the Conventions. The copies must, however, have been stamped before March 31 of this year. If this condition has not been complied with the distribution of the copies is illegal; if the rule is infringed the copies are confiscated, and the persons responsible are punished if the infraction is wilful or the result of carelessness. Similarly, the employment of moulds, plates,. &c., which were in existence before the termination of the Conventions will be considered to be a reprinting or illegal reproduc- tion of the protected English work, unless such moulds, plates, &c., have been stamped before March 31 of this year. The authors of works which have already obtained protection in Germany under the Con- ventions which are no longer in force enjoy the rights conferred by the Agreement of Berne. The date (Dec. 31, 1901) mentioned in section 3 of the notice of Feb. 3, 1898, has nothing to do with such cases; that date cannot affect any works except such as were not protected at all in Germany by the old Conventions. In cases in which works of this kind have now obtained pro- tection the protection is limited, under section 1, No. 1, of the Imperial Decree of Nov. 29, 1897, but this limitation comes to an end on Dec. 31, 1901. 3. So far as English works have already been protected in Germany under the Agreement of Berne, no change has taken place. The new Regulations only deal with the application of the Agreement of Berne to English works which have obtained the protection of the Agreement only in consequence of the termination of the old Conven- tions. 4. As stated under 1, the Agreement of Berne is now applied automatically in the case of all English works which were protected in Germany under the late treaties; its retrospective force is only limited by the transition provisions referred to above. 5. As appears from what has gone before, stamping is not a condition on which the protec- tion of English works in Germany is made to depend. On the contrary, it is only prescribed for cases where, in accordance with the transition provisions, persons wish to continue to make use of old copies or plates, Ac., without the sanction of those who possess the authors' rights over the English works concerned. Accordingly, the stamping was not to be carried out by the English authors or their heirs, but by the Germans inte- rested. Under these circumstances it does not appear how the English parties would benefit by an extension of the period allowed for stamping. 6. Stamping is provided for in the case of copies and plates, &c., which are in the possession of Germans, and it was therefore laid down that it was to be carried out in Germany. The measure does not extend to copies and plates, &c., which have been produced in Great Britain by persons who have authors' rights over English works. There could therefore be no question of sending the objects from England to Germany and back. ^ II.—The Cost of Production. The book in question contains 24 sheets at 16 pages the sheet, or 384 pages in all, including 8 pages of preliminary matter and about 40 illus- trations in text. The type is pica—320 words to a page. The binding is quite plain cloth. The estimates obtained were from three town houses and one country house. The variations were very great. Thus the composition was estimated at 42*., 39*., 24.?., and 19*. respectively. The printing for 2000 copies was estimated at 17s. 6d., 30*. 0ff/., and 18*. respectively, and by the fourth house, for 1000 copies, at 10*. The paper for 2000 copies, 174'., 12s. 6d., 7*. yd., and 8*. 6d. a sheet. The binding—crown 8vo.—was put at 6d. and 6\d. The cost finally arrived at was 6d. There were certain notes and preliminary matter in different type, and there were many illustra- tions in the text, which ran up the price of the book. Without the illustrations the 2000 copies were bound to cost as nearly as possible .£150, or is. 6d. a copy—without advertising. In this case there are circumstances which, required that the expense of advertising should be very little: in other words, the announcement of the book could be made by other channels than those of the journals and newspapers. The "Cost of Production" (seep. 47) gives the following figures:— £. s. d. Composition, 24 sheets at £1 ge 34 16 o Printing, 24 sheets, (per 1000 copies), say 15* 18 o o Paper, at £2 16s. a sheet 67 4 o Binding at gd 75 o o 195 o o The following table presents the figures for 2000 copies :— Society's First Second Third Fourth Account House. House. House. House. £. s. d. £. b. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. S. b. d. 34 16 0 50 12 0 32 8 0 28 16 0 54 12 0 18 0 0 ,20 17 0 38 8 0 21 12 0 • «7 4 0 ",!) 12 0 36 0 0 40 18 0 44 4 0 75 0 0 54 0 0 57 4 0 50 0 0 * Estimate for 1000 copirs, £13; for 2000, would be about £20.  ## p. 5 (#17) ############################################### THE , AUTHOR. 5 III.—-West of England Booksellers. At a meeting of booksellers which took place at Exeter on May 5, when it was decided to amalgamate the trade in the West, the following resolution was adopted:— That this meeting of West of England Booksellers, while regretting that the scheme submitted last year by the Publishers' Association to the Authors' Society has not been adopted, hereby approves of the principles contained in the new scheme recently submitted to the Council of the Publifhers' Association. ANNUAL DINNER. THE annual dinner of the Society of Authors took place at the Holborn Restaurant, on Monday, May 2, and was altogether a very successful function. The Bishop of London took the chair, and was supported by two hundred members of the Society and their distinguished guests. The toasts of the evening were limited to four:—"The Queen," "The Society," "The Guests," and " The Chairman." After the Bishop had proposed the health of the Queen he proposed the prosperity of the Society of Authors in a very apt and amusing speech. He stated that he thought that the use of after-dinner speeches was merely to give the people in the room something to talk about. He stated that authors, in spite of all that had been said about them, were a very harmless class of the community. To show that that truth was permeating the youthful mind his lordship told a little story of a boy who wished to enter the Navy. When the lad heard his father speak of the risks of the present war he assumed a pen- sive air and said he did not think he would go into the Navy after all. He would be a poet—it was less dangerous. There was a little moral in all this, as you would expect. In nothing had the harmlessness of authors been more displayed, until recent times, than in their very slight efforts towards unity for their own interests. They had long been content to accept what might be offered them. They had, however, found defen- ders, and authors owed a debt of gratitude to Sir Martin Conway and Sir Walter Besant for their efforts on behalf of the craft. (Cheers.) A society which had for its object the securing of due remuneration for labour was one which would command the sympathy of all Englishmen. The Society had done good in this direction, and also in the giving of good advice to literary aspirants. It was this function of the Society which was specially valuable to the community. The business of the Society had been con- ducted with a practical spirit which would; do credit to the Stock Exchange. (Hear, hear.) The time might come when publishers would compete for the productions of authors and be willing to pay any price for them, but until that happy period arrived all literary aspirants would do well to avail themselves of the services of the! Society. (Cheers.) Sir Martin Conway, Chairman of the Society for the current year, then made a speech in reply* He regretted that Lord Roberts was not discharg-, ing the duty which fell to his lot. He made an official statement with regard to the business that the Society had been carrying on through the current year, and mentioned the fact that two Copyright Bills were at present before Parlia- ment. He, however, remarked that neither of them, he was afraid, would be likely to pass at present, but the justice which they were designed to work would, he hoped, be before long realised! Mr. Sidney Lee, the editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, in a very apt speech then proposed the health of the guests, mentioning them in turn, especially referring to the American Ambassador, who was present that evening not only as representing seventy millions of English readers, but as also representing the literature of a great country. The toast was coupled with the name of Lord Welby, who made an appropriate reply. Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins proposed the health of the Chairman, and, after the Bishop's reply, the company . adjourned to another room, where a conversazione was held until a late hour. ME. BRYCE ON THE BOOK TRADE. MR. JAMES BRYCE, M.P., presided at the annual dinner in connection with the BookselL rs' Provident Institution, held in the Holborn Pestaurant on May 7, and pro- posed the toast of "Literature." Many ways, he said, were suggested by which the booksellers might be saved, and one was that the number of books should be curtailed, as there were many which the country did not consume. The litera- ture of a country was the best proof of the posi- tion and learning in that country; and the test of the intellectual level of a town was to be found in the number and contents of the shelves of the booksel'ers' shops. No persons could form - so good an idea of what the intellectual condition of the people was as those who distributed the books. Booksellers could thus form a lively and more direct idea of what the people thought and what kind of taste should be addressed to them.  ## p. 6 (#18) ############################################### 6 THE AUTHOR. He had found no persons who were such capable critics as those who sold books. Booksellers could often influence the taste of tbeir customers by advising what to buy, and selling good books. They were always in a position to impart valuable instruction to those who bought books. The plethora of books was becoming a serious difficulty to booksellers. They did not know what to put in stock, or how to select the books they could recommend. It had been suggested that a penal law should be enacted against the multiplication of books. A difficulty would probably then arise with regard to the respective liability of author and publisher—perhaps only the author should be punished. They must have all remarked how very mild the criticisms had become in our day; perhaps that in a way accounted for the number of books issued. With all this plethora of books they must remember that the publication of newspapers and magazines was going on with increasing vehemence. But people read newspapers in a totally different spirit to what they read books. When they read a newspaper, they picked the thing up and threw it away when it was done with; but they read a book with a view of assimilating the subject with which it dealt, while they gave up the habit of bringing the mind to bear upon what they read in newspapers. This habit reacted upon the way they now regarded a thoughtful book. Was it possible to do anything to stem the tide, and enable books to hold their ground better as against newspapers and maga- zines? He thought their friends, the publishers, should try publishing books somewhat cheaper. That might be a revolutionary proposition; and they might be told that there was a lion in the path, namely, the circulating library. In his opinion, the circulating library was an enemy to all; and they must try to fight it. The issue of cheap books could not be fairly said to have been tried until some work by a well-known and popular author was taken, and the first edition published in a cheap form. The first generation of authors might be losers, but let the heroic suffer. He ventured to believe that the experi- ment would succeed, and there would be consola- tion to the author in knowing that he had more readers than at present. A large proportion of the best books were produced without any idea of profit being derived from them. If they took the best thousand books, very few of them would not have been written, even if the author had known beforehand that he was not going to get more than he actually did. If publishers made books cheaper, they would be bought to be read and kept, and would serve the next generation. This, he believed, would do a great deal for the inextinguishable well-being and the literary level of our country. They would be able to develope and build up the taste of the people. There was, perhaps, too great a tendency in the present day to look after material great- ness, and men's minds were led away from literature. They might become proud of their gold, but their was nothing which gold could produce which could furnish them with so much reason for pride as the literature of England. He believed that, in the long run, a nation would be judged by her literature; that alone could pro- duce a strong nation, a high-souled nation, and it was only such a nation that could produce and read a splendid literature. THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND. THE Duke of Devonshire was the chairman of this year's anniversary dinner (the 108th) of the Royal Literary Fund, which took place on the 17th ult., at the Hotel Métropole, and was attended by a distinguished company. The Chairman, in giving "Prosperity to the Royal Literary Fund," with which he coupled the name of Lord Crewe, the president of the corpo- ration, made at the outset of his remarks a refer- ence to Mr. Gladstone's connection with the fund: that great man, he said, eminent as an author and still more so as a statesman, whose career they all regretted to know was now rapidly approaching its end. They could only express their admiration, respect, and sympathy for that illustrious Englishman, and it would be a melan- choly satisfaction if those sentiments could be made known to the dying statesman. Proceeding, the Duke of Devonshire said he could only attribute his being called upon to preside over that dinner to his position as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and as President of the Council. From that point of view he was tempted to ask the elementary question, Why should the writing of books be encouraged and the demand for modern literature be stimulated ¥ But a clear and broad distinction might be drawn between science on the one hand and art and literature on the other. It might be that modern brains were better than those of old times, but science at least was progressive, and new methods and in- creased certitude and accuracy had assuredly been obtained. The knowledge* of the forces of nature was ever increasing, and the limits of the science of the future could by no forecast be determined. The same thing probably could not be said of literature and art, and it might be  ## p. 7 (#19) ############################################### THE AUTHOR. 7 that we were no further than the men of 2000 years ago. In charm of style it might be that we were not superior to the writers of antiquity, or even to our immediate predecessors. It might then be asked why we should seek to divert men to a comparatively barren field instead of the more productive one of science. The answer might, perhaps, be found in the sentence that man does not live by bread alone or by knowledge alone. The speculation as to the destinies and life of nations was more interesting, it might be, than any scientific research. We should try to realise what would be the condition of things if men should desist from writing and depend on the mental nutriment supplied by the past. If modern literature did not produce the highest masterpieces, it at least spoke to us in our own language and expressed our own ideas. The age or nation which should cease to produce books would soon lose the faculty of admiration of the past; and the training which enabled us to appreciate would urge to the effort of emula- tion. It was not in the direction of the extinction of authorship, then, that intellectual ,excellence was to be obtained. The object of the Society was to secure to authors as a class the benefits which under the old system of private patronage were enjoyed by the few favoured ones of the great. Publishers now to some extent took the place of patrons, and to neither, perhaps, was Byron's gibe applicable that either of them was a Barabbas. Hobbes and Locke might never have been what they were had it not been for the patron. The relation of Lord Shaftes- bury and Locke must have led to the increase of political tolerance and liberality of thought. Patronage, however, had gone. It had unques- tionably done good work to an author here and there, but it had never given strength and dignity to a profession. This Society, which had to some extent succeeded to that office, might claim to have perpetuated the advantages, and to have avoided the evils of private patronage. THE HISTORY OP THE BLACKWOOD PUBLISHING HOUSE * WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, the founder of the publishing house, learned book- selling in his native city of Edinburgh, picked up experience in Glasgow and then in London, and returning to the Scottish capital in * " William Blackwood and Hia Sons: Their Magazine and Friends." By Mrs. Oliphant. (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood and Sons.) VOL. IX. 1804 (being then twenty-eight years of age), started business on his own account. He speedily won a reputation " as a safe and steady man of business, not given to flights of fancy, but full of enthusiasm for literature." The first book he published was his own catalogue—the compiling of catalogues was an important part of book- selling in those days, when old books were kept for sale as well as new ones issued. This notice of Mrs. Oliphant's last book has been in type for some time, but pressure upon our limited space has kept it out. The book is remarkable in the first place as showing how a writer, even of the present day, when writers are by no means so dependent on the publisher as they were, may be dominated by a publishing house as by the hand of fate. The distinguished author who wrote this history did so with a certain breathless admiration which is to us inconceivable. Mrs. Oliphant says that the first Blackwood was an enthusiast for literature. Very likely. Most successful publishers are. The more successful, the more enthusiastic. The few who have become bankrupt are not so enthu- siastic. The book, however, is also remarkable for certain side lights upon men of letters during the first half of the century. Murray and Blackwood.—The Magazine. In 1811 Blackwood became agent of John Murray. "You have the happiness of making publishing a liberal profession," he wrote to Murray, who was treating with Byron about this time, "and not a mere business of pence. This I consider one of the greatest privileges we have in our business." Again, in a letter the London publisher writes to his Edinburgh representative about the magazine, there is an interesting light upon what was the ideal for a magazine of that day:—" Let us take public estimation by assault, by the irresistible effect of talent employed on subjects that are interesting, and above all, I say to collect information on passing events. Our editors are totally mistaken in thinking that this consists in laborious essays. These are very good as accessories, but the flesh and blood and bones is information. That will make the public eager to get us at the end of every month." Blackwood was able, through the agency of James Ballantyne, to place Scott's "Tales of a Landlord" in the offer of the London publisher. A quarrel arose between the Great Unknown and Blackwood, partly owing to the latter's habit of suggest- ing improvements upon the later scenes in Scott's work. In 1817 the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine was begun under the joint editorship of Pringle and Cleghorn, but it did not realise Blackwood's expectations, and after No. 6 a c  ## p. 8 (#20) ############################################### 8 THE AUTHOR. new series was commenced, with Blackwood as his own editor. In the first number appeared the famous " Chaldee Manuscript," said to have been concocted by Wilson, Lockhart, and others, although Hogg in after years claimed the greater share in it. Blackwood was designated in the article "the man clothed in plain apparel," Lockhart was "the Scorpion which delighteth to sting the faces of men." "Don Juan" and the Scotch Editor. Blackwood stuck at "Don Juan," and broke with Murray over it. His reasons are given in a letter he wrote to Maginn:—" I do most cordially agree with you that I deserve quizzing for refusing to sell' Don Juan,' and should not be spared in the article. The only apology I have to offer to you is this, that it proceeded partly from pique and partly from principle. When the book was published by Murray, I was just on the point of breaking with him. I had not had a letter from him for some months. He sent me copies of the book per mail, without either letter or invoice, so that when I received them I was not disposed to read it with favourable eye. I did read it, and I declare solemnly to you, much as I admired the talent and genius displayed in it, I never in my life was so filled with utter disgust. It was not the grossness or black- guardism which struck me, but it was the vile, heartless, and cold-blooded way in which this fiend attempted to degrade every tender and sacred feeling of the human heart. I felt such a revolting at the whole book after I had finished it, that I was glad of the excuse I had from Mr. Murray not writing me, for refusing to sell it." Idolatry of Wilson. Wilson was almost a religion in Blackwood's. Mrs. Oliphant quotes the following letter from Landor to the publisher:—" Pray do me the favour to inform your compositor that if ever again he has the impudence and audacity to alter a let'er or a point of my writings he shall see no more of them! In the first page he has put the name of Wilson after those of Homer, Shake- speare, and Dante. Now, I never have spoken otherwise of Wilson than as a man of varied and great genius; but if I mentioned him with Dante and Shakespeare, I not only should compare dissimilars, but bring his just claims into ques- tion. I believe he himself would be the very first to blame my imprudence." De Quincey's Humour. De Quincey had not yet become a contributor to the magazine when he wrote the following letter to Blackwood :—" If Wilson and Lockhart do not put themselves forward for the magazine, I foresee that the entire weight of supporting it must rest on my shoulders. I see clearly that I must be its Atlas. For excepting our friend Gillies's translation (from a cursed dull thing though), and excepting that spirited political article at the end, a more dreary collection of dulness and royal stupidity never did this world see gathered together than the December number exhibits. Positively it would sink any work in the world. No, no! I see clearly that I must write it all myself—except one sheet which I will leave to Gillies, and a few pp. to the other man." The editor took this seriously, and replied that he could only excuse it "by supposing that you were hardly awake when you wrote it. When I apply to you to be the Atlas of my magazine, it will be time enough for you to undertake the burthen. And in the meantime, I must beg leave to say that if you cannot send me anything better than the ' English Lakes,' it will be quite unnecessary for you to give yourself any further trouble about the magazine." Thackeray on Himself. Thackeray was a "rejected contributor" of Blackwood's. The Rev. James White, of Bon- church, introduced him to the firm. "He is the cleverest man of all the London writers, I think—his name is Thackeray ; a gentleman, a Cambridge man." "He is shy, I suppose, for he said he wished you would invite him to contri- bute. He is also literary reviewer in the Times." The invitation was not forthcoming, and Thackeray at length made the following offer :— "Some years back you used to have pleasant papers in Blackwood called 'The World we Live in.' I should be glad to do something of a like nature, if you are disposed to accept my contri- butions. No politics, as much fun and satire as I can muster, literary lath (sie) and criticism of a spicy nature, and general gossip. I belong to a couple of clubs in this village, and can get together plenty of rambling stuff. For instance for next month Courvoisier's hanging (I'll go on purpose), strictures on C. Phillip's speech, the London Library, Tom Carlyle and the Times, Bunn's new book, of which great fun may be made, and an account of Willis that may be racy enough. H the project smiles upon you, as the French say, please write me word. I can't afford to begin and send the MSS. in advance, for if you shouldn't approve the design my labour would be wasted, as the article would be written for your special readers, and no good next month." "G. E. is such a Timid Fellow." "I am happy to say that I think your friend's reminiscences will do," wrote John Blackwood to  ## p. 9 (#21) ############################################### THE AUTHOR. 9 George Henry Lewes, with reference to "Scenes from Clerical Life." He proceeded to criticise some points in "Amos Barton," and wound up by saying that, if the author was a new writer, he begged to congratulate him on being worthy of the honours of print and pay. So well did George Eliot conceal her identity, that she actually met and entertained one of the brothers Blackwood without disclosing the secret. The following incident is not dated, but this is Major Black- wood's letter after a visit to the Lewes pair:—" I have just returned from Richmond. G. E. did not show; he is such a timid fellow, Lewes said. He was very pleasant, and talked in a very hand- some way of his connection with us, saying of all editors ever he had to do with—and he had to do with many—you and Lord Jeffrey were the most agreeable. I saw a Mrs. Lewes." Only when an impostor claimed the authorship of " Adam Bede" did George Eliot reveal her identity to the publisher. The meddling of the proof reader called for a protest from George Eliot:—" The printer's reader made a correction after I saw the proof, and, though he may sometimes do so with advantage (as I am very liable to overlook mistakes), I in this case particularly object to his alteration, and I mention it in order to request that it may not occur again. He has everywhere substituted the form 'the Misses So-and-So' for the 'Miss So- and So's,' a form which in England is confiued to public announcements, to the backs of letters, and to the conversation of school-mistresses. This is not the conversational English of good society, and causes the most disagreeable jolt in an easy style of narrative or description." William Blackwood, the founder, died in 1833, and his sons succeeded. Letters from Bramwell Bronte bear witness that Robert Blackwood was scant in his sympathy with the humours of authors, no notice being taken of Bronte's letters or poetry. On the death of Alexander, and Robert's health being delicate, Major William Blackwood was taken into the business to assist John. The history of the house is brought down to 1861 by Mrs. Oliphant's work. A third volume is to appear later from another hand. •:».<- THE NEW PATRON. (See page 7.) (HE Muse rose to welcome her visitor. "I fear," she said, "that I have not the honour—" "I am your new Patron," said her visitor, roughly. "Can't you read the papers? Didn't VOL. IX. you read that the Duke of Devonshire Baid I was your Patron?" "My new Patron? I have had so many. Princes and nobles and great ladies have been my Patrons in the past. Scholars and artists and persons of culture have been my Patrons in late times. But who are you?" "I say that I am your new Patron." "Are you a Prince or a great noble?" "No. I am a publisher." "What is a publisher?" She turned upan him eyes that compelled the truth. "It is a middleman," he replied, surlily, "who sells the Muse's b.oks to the bookseller, and puts most of the money in his own pocket." "But you said that you are my Patron." "So I am. And your master as well. What money have you? Hand it over. I will keep it for you. None? Then set to work. Come, there must be no idling. You must set to work and at once. I shall call to-morrow to know how you are getting on. I am your new Patron. Remember that." Next day he called again. "Well, where is the work? You've had time to write a dozen poems since yesterday." "I have done nothing." "Nothing? What? You've wasted all that time? Why, your time is my money. You've been wasting my money! Nothing?" "I have been walking in the meadows listening to the birds and watching the flight of the clouds." "Oh! This won't do, you know, at all. This will never do. I only became your Patron with the intention of making you work. This time I shall lock you in." He did so, and left her. The next day he called again. She had written nothing again. "I cannot work in prison," she said. "I must be free, or I cannot write." "Look here," he said. "This is getting serious. I've got to maintain you, because I'm your new Patron, but you've got to make money for me. They are clamouring for more work from your pen. Are you going to do it, or must I starve you into submission?" She sat down and wept silently. She made no appeal to this man with a face like a rock, and a voice like the siren of a steamship for harshness. He came next day. She handed him a poem. "Ah!" he said. "You can do it if you like. Now, this is worth—no, I shan't tell you how much. Very little indeed, if you reckon up the travellers' and the office expenses, and the adver- tisements, and the rent and the taxes, and the clerks. I don't think anything will be left at all, c 2  ## p. 10 (#22) ############################################## IO THE AUTHOR. except perhaps a shilling or two. You will have to do with that. As for me, I shall lose. But I am contented to lose. I always do lose. But so long as one is a Patron one cares about nothing else." She took the shilling humbly. "Now go to wort again," said the Patron. "Lord, what easy work is yours! You sit down and go to work with zeal. Let's have no more nonsense about walking in the meadows or on the mountains or listening to the birds. Just set to work." He left her again. Next day he called for more: every day he called for more: he did not observe that the Muse was growing pale and thin: he thought of nothing but the poem which he could take away and sell, putting the money in his own pocket. She was pale and thin because she was overworked and underfed, because she was kept away from the open air and the sunshine, and made to work all day long within the four walls. One day he came furious, bursting open the door. The Muse was seated with her head in her hands. She did not turn or notice him in any way. "Look here," he shouted, " What you gave me yesterday is rubbish: there is nothing in it but the rhyme and the sound. No one will buy it. Do you hear?" he shrieked. "No one—no one —no one will buy it—Do you hear that?" She made no reply. He seized her roughly by the shoulder. Her head dropped back. Her arm fell: the poor Muse was dead. Her new Patron had killed her. NOTES AND NEWS. LET me apologise to Mr. Punch for allowing it to be stated, in the list of magazines and journals published last month, that he does not return contributions. Two or three letters have been sent to me on this subject. Mr. Punch does return them, but only on the condition that they must be accompanied by a stamped and directed envelope, cover, or wrapper. This notice appears, and has for some time appeared, on the front page of every number. Readers will therefore take heart, and send their pro- ductions. I think, however, they will find it difficult to do better than Mr. Punch's staff. It is now some years since the last appearance of the Benefactor. He came then bringing blessings to the amateur and the beginner. It is well known that thousands of papers are every year rejected by editors, and' thousands of MSS. are every year refused by publishers. He promised, out of his benevolence, to bring a remedy for the unhappiness and the disappoint- ments caused by these rejections. His remedy, so far as the publication of books was concerned, consisted in offering to print—he called it "pub- lish"—the works at the author's expense. The amateur and the aspirant do not as a rule under- stand that printing is not publishing: some of them accepted the Benefactor's offer: what became of them afterwards is not known, but can be imagined. They hid away the " accounts" which ran much as follows: £ s. d. To printing, binding, &c. (as per agreement), i000 copies 120 0 0 To advertising (as per agreement) 45 o 0 165 00 To Press copies 50 ") Author's 20 > 0 0 0 Sales, none ) 165 0 0 But he was a great Benefactor, and gave his authors every chance. He also had an amateur magaziue to which his friends were allowed to contribute. It was a shilling magazine. The contributors were all paid for their articles. They were paid by a method of great benevolence. They received so many copies—say fifty—for which they paid sixpence each. These copies they could sell to their friends at a shilling each so that they cleared twenty-five shillings by the transaction. The magazine, however, languished. il I recall this little history, because I have before me the prospectuses of two new amateur maga- zines. Perhaps the Benefactor has returned. The first of these deals with a paper called the Pioneer, the first number of which was promised for May 7. I have not yet seen a copy. The following is its own announcement: One of the greatest necessities of those entering the Pro- fession of Letters, but one hitherto entirely unprovided for, is a Weekly Magazine devoted to the publication of the preliminary contributions of those amateur writers and literary aspirants who are as yet unconnected with the Professional Press. The Pioneer will be, as its name implies, the first magazine published to fill this vacancy in journalism, each of its subscribers having the privilege of contributing to its pages; but, in order that each con- tributor shall have the opportunity of frequent publication, the right of contributing will be strictly limited to the first 300 subscribers. All MSS. sent in by a registered contributor will be pub- lished and paid for; one-third of the profits of each issue,  ## p. 11 (#23) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 11 from sales and advertisements, being divided amongst those who contribute the matter appearing in snob, issue. In guaranteeing to publish all MSS., the conductor reserves the right to amend or correct any MSS. which does not attain the necessary standard of literary excellence. All contributions will bear the author's name or nom de plume, and all contributors will be included seriatim in the series of portraits and biographical notices of Our Contribu- tors, which will form an interesting feature of the maza- rine. The following description of matter is in immediate request for the first issue, and MSS. may be S9nt when for- warding subscriptions: SHOET STORIES (1000 to 1500 words), POEMS, INTERESTING ARTICLES, Ac. Should you desire to contribute, it will be necessary that your application (on form below) should be sent in without delay, as the privilege of contributing can, under no circum- stances, be extended beyond the first 300 subscribers regis- tered. The subscription is is. 6d. a quarter, which will not break anybody. As an enlargement of the original plan the conductor proposes to print a directory of his 300 contributors, and send it with a copy of the Pioneer to the editors of all the magazines in the country. They will naturally peruse the Pioneer with the keenest interest and will hasten to engage the services of its contributors at large salaries. . Let us, however, consider how the amateur magazine will work. It is to be written by 300 hands who will pay each is. 6d. a quarter or 6s. a year. This makes .£90 a year as a beginning, towards the expenses. There will, however, be the circulation. But who is going to buy a magazine written by amateurs and beginners? Probably there will be no circulation. But there will be the advertisements. Advertisers want some cir- culation. So far the cost of the paper, which means not less, one would think, than .£20 a week apart from contributions, seems a long way from being provided for. However, leaving that consideration aside, I would ask young writers what good they will do to themselves by appearing in the pages of an amateur magazine. They may be quite certain that if their work is good enough it would be taken by a "pro- fessional" journal, while one fails to see what advantage they derive from seeing and letting others see their immature productions. As to editors perusing the Pioneer, or even looking at it, they may put that out of their thoughts altogether. I shall be glad to hear further about the new Benefactor. There is another prospector in the field. This time it is an Association of Amateur Authors. It has a secretary and an office near our own, viz., Portugal-street Buildings. The Association laments that there is always the " same difficulty experienced by each fresh writer, the same weary wait and delay before he can make a start. The Association offers— (1) To criticise MSS. for readers. This is exactly what our Society has been doing for years. (2) To publish the member's writings in the Association's monthly paper—again the Amateur Magazine—" if their merit warrant" the produc- tion. The Comhill and Longman's and the rest of them do just exactly the same thing: they will publish these papers "if their merit warrant." (3) They will tell their members where they are most likely to succeed. Our reading branch has done the same thing for years. (4) They will charge a guinea for subscription: if the subscriber wants the "Magazine Advan- tages " he must pay two guineas. (5) They expect members to take as many copies of the Magazine when they have papers in it as possible. . A letter in another column advocates the Amateur Magazine. The writer says that "at pre- sent a young writer has no means of obtaining that skilled revision of his work, which would make it acceptable to editors, and would show him his faults." Nowthis Society has for many yearsoffered to do this kind of work and does actually do it, with results quite satisfactory. If our friend would only send up his work we shall obtain exactly the revision and criticism that he requires. How would an Amateur Magazine help him? His papers in print would not show him his faults more plainly than his papers in MS. It is a mere dream to suppose that editors would turn to the magazine for authors. The papers would be for the most part weak and flabby, because writers worth considering would never think of appearing in its pages: it would, indeed, do a writer much damage if he were known to write for such a magazine, while it would be impossible to make such a magazine pay. The only way—there can be no other way—for a writer to succeed is to send good work to an editor. The best way, if he wants his work revised, is to get an opinion from the Society's reader. The following is a note from the Academy :— The best comment on Mr. Bryoe's speech concerning the need for cheap literature, at the booksellers' dinner, comes from a Birmingham firm. "Mr. Bryce," writes our corre- spondent, " spoke of a general lowering of prices; it is in- structive to note that his ' Holy Roman Empire' was first issued at 6s.; the second edition was gs.; the third, 78.6<i.; and this was followed by a library edition at 14s."  ## p. 12 (#24) ############################################## J.2 THE AUTHOR. Well, but is it a comment on Mr. Bryce at all? For, was Mr. Bryce ever consulted as to the price of his book? I very much doubt it. I imagine that the editions were 'changed about as to price without consulting him at all. If, how- ever, he was consulted, it would still not be a comment on his plea for cheap literature, because it is absurd to suppose that the mass of the people would wish to buy that scholarly work, the " Holy Roman Empire," even if they got it for sixpence. Cheap literature can only exist if the people for whom it is published buy it; but they will certainly not buy what they cannot understand. Therefore cheap literature must always be something that the people wish to read; down to their level, perhaps; in some respects, as witness the returns of the free libraries, by no means such a bad level. The hope of the future is that the free libraries will gradually improve the taste of the people. Thus the limitations which at present confine cheap literature within narrow limits will be enlarged. In other words, only a book which appeals to the people can be issued at a cheap price, because only with such a book will the lowering of the price extend the number of buyers. But the general run of new books published at 6s., i.e., 4*. 6d., do not circulate on an average more than 600 copies or so. These books would not gain a single additional purchaser if they were published at sixpence, and the lowering of the price would simply mean the impossibility of producing the work. Many hundreds of such books now pub- lished every year, arrive at a circulation of no more than six or seven hundred. They bring in to the publisher a small profit. If the price was lowered they would cease to appear. Their loss would not hurt the authors much, but it would hurt the publishers a great deal. On the other hand, when a book is by an old and established favourite the people buy it up by the hundred thousand if it is offered at sixpence. Then comes the question whether it is worth while to publish the former class of books at all. I have always maintained that it matters nothing how many books are pub- lished. The world may be trusted to make its own selection. The only persons to be considered are the booksellers who are so ill-advised as to buy them —sometimes. If out of a hundred books ninety- nine die in the same season as their birth, still the hundredth is left, and of the ninety-nine, which of us has bought a copy? For my own part I buy a great many books. I never buy a new book until I hear about it in conversation. Yet if the ninety-nine books had not been published, per- haps we should have missed the hundredth. These remarks apply not to novels only but to every kind of book. I said last month, quoting a writer in the Morning Post, that I could not understand how any novelist could produce three, four, or five novels in a year. Most novelists of my acquaint- ance are contented with the production of one a year, or with three in two years at the most. Certain names and facts have been sent to me, and I have caused an examination to be made into the rate of production of the writers owning these names. I find that, in two cases, six novels were produced by the author in a single year! In more than two, five; that the average of one writer is from four a year; of another one three; and of several writers two. These facts surprised me a great deal. I thought that I knew most of the working of the novelist's profession, but this rapidity of production is new to me. Also, the critic of the Morning Post was right, and I tender him my apologies for questioning his statement. As regards the works these parties produced, some of them, by one writer at least, are short shilling stories, which can hardly rank as novels. Of the rest one can only say of novelists, as of everything else, that one may outstay his welcome. I can conceive no better way of making a circle of readers tired of a writer than for him to bring out a new book three or four times a year. The Royal Literary Fund has had its annual dinner. The Duke of Devonshire spoke of the followers of literature as he understands them; namely, so many helpless paupers dependent chiefly on the doles of the fund, and on those of the publishers, whom His Grace most Graciously described as the patrons of the author. Now I want to protest against the whole business—the speech of the Duke, which was based on pure ignorance, and the conduct of the Fund. It is a most useful institution; it relieves a good many people; they are authors, it is true, but they are not, as a rule, authors of the slightest distinc- tion. A good writer, in these days, as easily gets a good living as a good doctor. He cannot, of course, make a colossal fortune like a man in business; but he is not a pauper, nor a depen- dent, and, except in very rare cases, he does not apply to the Royal Literary Fund for help. I want that point recognised in public. At present, year after year, men of letters are publicly spoken of as if they were all dependent for their liveli- hood upon the doles and alms of the Royal Literary Fund. Now, I repeat, and it cannot be repeated too strongly, that the great mass of the working men and women of letters have no more need of  ## p. 13 (#25) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 13 the grants made by the Fund than the great mass of barristers stand in need of their corre- sponding association. They do not live from hand to mouth. If they are seized with sudden illness there is money in the bank. I do not claim for them that many of them can make fortunes—even a moderate fortune; and I think that most of them die in harness. I do claim for the average writer who is generally more or less of a journalist—writes for the magazines; perhaps edits something; is perhaps a novelist or a specialist, or an educational writer—that he lives well and like a gentleman, that he also lives cleanly and soberly, that he has no more need of asking the charity of the Literary Fund than he has of going into the workhouse. Who are the people to whom the Fund is useful? There are —always with certain sad exceptions—people who have the slightest possible reason for calling themselves authors. They are necessitous; in many cases without any fault of their own. By all means let them be relieved; but do not take their cases as examples of the starving condition of the literary profession. Now, I speak from my own knowledge, because I sat on the council of the Fund for three or four years. The next point is that the administration of the Fund must be radically altered. At present it is administered, not by the literary profession, but for the literary profession. It is degrading to us that people should be sending round the hat for us, especially as we don't want it. If we must go round, hat in hand, to take up a collec- tion, let us at least do it ourselves, and not ask noble dukes and lords to do it for us. Imagine the pride and pleasure of Lincoln's Inn if a dinner were held once a year to collect money in order to give doles to necessitous barristers. You cannot imagine it. Then think of the pleasure and the pride with which literary men regard the annual collection made for necessitous writers. There are, and there must always be, certain unfortunate persons in the writing line, Let the Royal Literary Fund intervene to give them assistance; but let it be managed in secret, both the assistance and the need for it. The world need know nothing about it. The resig- nation of half a dozen members and their substitution by actual literary men, is all that is wanted. We should then, as a matter of course, put a stop to the degradation of the dinner, and wash our linen at home. The list of Birthday Honours has been given to the world as usual. This list is looked for by a large section of the world with great curiosity and interest. Those who are going to appear in it know the fact beforehand, and are not, there- fore, so anxious. As for the anxiety of people generally, it has been attributed to one's natural fear that friends may be in the list. Since we cannot ourselves expect to be in the list, we naturally do not desire to see our dear friends receiving Honours. Of course, the old ialk about distinctions and honours has quite gone out; twenty years ago people who had not been offered anything were loud in their contempt of those who received anything. It was too thin, even then; the talk is abandoned now; it is quite un- derstood that all Englishmen would very much like to receive a distinction of some kind. It is also quite certain that a great many Englishmen really believe that they deserve a distinction. If we examine the list before us, we find that it con- tains no more than forty-eight names out of the sixty millions in this island and the Colonies. Of these, political claims and services—they are not always the same—supply eight names; wealth, with probably some political reasons, four; special services, five; the Civil Service, ten; the Colonies, four; the Diplomatic Service, five; foreign service, eight; Science—one branch only —one; Law, one; and Music, one. The Army and the Navy will be provided for, I suppose, in another Gazette. Now, there are many—very many— branches of intellectual achievement that employ the energies of my countrymen; in some of them they constantly make discoveries, inventions, and achievements, whicn are of the greatest import- ance to the human race generally, and to this country in particular. Such, for instance, are engineering, science in all its branches, architec- ture, art, literature also in all its branches, educa- tion, scholarship, mechanics, philosophy. There are names in all these lines of work that are held, by those who know the subjects, in the highest honour. Where are these names in the Birthday List? They are conspicuous by their absence. But it is urged these things bring their own reward. Very true. Also that distinctions are not needed for the distinguished. Are, then, these forty-eight persons chosen for their obscurity? Certainly, outside the Civil Service, few know the names of those who are constantly raised to honour from that branch of the service. Dis- tinctions, it is true, cannot confer honour on the distinguished. They do not. They may teach the world, however, that certain forms of achieve- ment are worthy of honour. I suppose that the first place of honour in a nation is due to the statesman, and the second to the captain, but the third belongs to the man of literature, science, or art. And I maintain that it is the duty of a statesman to make the nation understand that  ## p. 14 (#26) ############################################## '4 THE AUTHOR. these branches of intellectual achievement do really confer honour upon the country. In another column will be found a precis of a recent article in the Daily Telegraph, with a commentary upon it from the Academy. I un- fortunately saw neither—but the remark quoted from the Telegraph certainly does not show knowledge up to date of the publisher's methods. The passage is thus reported: "Having paid a good deal more than he ought for one book, the publisher has to pay less than he ought for another. His successes, such as they are, have to make up for his losses." Now, there are but one or two publishers who buy their books, i.e., buy them at a proper price calculated on the sale of the author's books: the rest give royalties. In no case has it ever been known that the royalty given to a successful author was greater than, or equal to, the difference between the trade price and the cost of production: in other words, the publisher is certain, in even the largest royalties given to such an author, that he will get back the cost of production with a margin. It is not by large royalties to successful authors that the publisher loses. And in the case of unsuccessful authors it is difficult to understand how they can make up the publisher's losses—for they consti- tute his losses. _ _ The Publishers' Circular questions my opinion about war time and publishing. It was not, how- ever, my opinion: it was the experience of an old and experienced publisher; the experience of the war time of 1855-1857. As for the present slack- ness, the months of May and June are always slack: I should be of opinion also that the feverish rush to hurl new novels upon the market is producing its natural effect. The world will not buy an unlimited quantity of novels: booksellers are not so rich that they can afford to load their shelves with a mass of books which they cannot sell. A little slackness ought to make publishers reflect on the dangers of over-pro- duction. In the year 1832 the novel market was absolutely destroyed by the lavish production of bad work. I strongly recommend to the Book- sellers' Association the adoption, for their own protection, of the cheap, convenient, and effective method which I proposed to them some months ago. This method would save them a great many thousands a year, and it would be an effectual bar to the production of rubbish. The Morning Post returns to the subject of Sir Henry Craik's allegations concerning the Society. This after-dinner speaker, it will be remembered, said, among other things, that the Society of Authors called the publisher a needless inven- tion. Now, the Society of Authors has never said anything of the kind. The writer in the Morn- ing Post says that, " the opinion that an intelli- gent agent would do for the novelist all that the publisher can do, at far less cost to the author, has again and again been expressed." By the Society of Authors? Never once. In the pages of The Author a good many opinions are advanced and freely discussed: these are not the utterances of the Society. In every number, in a prominent place, the Committee announce that they are only responsible for the statements signed officially by the Secretary. They have never sent to the papers any opinion or theory to the effect of the words quoted above. Again, The Author does not, as the writer in the Morning Post thinks, "criticise publishers" generally: it publishes their agreements and explains what they mean: it exposes tricks: it does not treat the "average publisher as a knave," because it does not speak of the " average " publisher at all. At the same time the tricks and over-reachings, and trading on ignorance, exposed in the columns of The A uthor, prove that there are a good many knaves in the trade: some of them, as I know from per- sonal examination of documents, occupying high places in the trade. As for Sir Henry Craik, if he thinks it a worthy rule to "indulge in little conscious exaggerations," as the writer in the Morning Post kindly puts the case, it is his business. Take, for instance, this allegation about pub- lishers being needless. My own private opinion, which in no way expresses the collective opinion of the Society, is this : The trade of publishing is purely mechanical, especially in those cases where the author is "established." Now, in every branch of literature there are authors by the dozen who are " established ": that is to say, their works are certain of being taken in more than sufficient quantities to pay for the cost of produc- tion. There is absolutely nothing done for their books by the publisher which cannot be done by a distributing agent, whose commission must be paid and nothing more. And then he becomes a publisher, so that it is absurd to say that a publisher is needless. Some two or three years ago a publisher sent to a certain paper what he tendered as his figures. He spoke of a book which had had a very large sale: he asserted that after paying his expenses he was left with no more than Sd. a copy on the book. No more than Sd. a copy! What had he done for his 8d.? Nothing. His clerks' and office expenses had aJl been deducted. He was drawing Sd. a copy an  ## p. 15 (#27) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. many thousands for the mechanical work done by his clerks. What a splendid business! Now, a distributing agent would have done the whole business for a commission, including the clerks' work. The distributing ajent will be the general publisher of the new literature of the future. There will remain, of course, the great works undertaken by the great capitalists. Walter Besant. RECIPE FOR AJRJMMEB NOVEL. [In spite of the war excitement in New York, space is found in the newspapers for this kind of fun. It is to the World of that city that our readers must give their thanks if they find it amusing.] : By Harold R. Vynne, Who '. 'Is an Expert Plot Chef and ; Verbiage Salad-Maker. Incentives.—(i) The necessity of keeping one's mind occupied; (2) the prornise of cash on delivery of manuscript; (3) the desire to do somebody up. Ingredients.—One or more characters taken from real life—preferably bad characters, because they are much more readily portrayed than good ones and are always less tame. An American heiress with a record as a jilt and a predisposi- tion to heart failure. A foreign nobleman with fringe on his trousers and a mortgage on his ancestral real estate. A poor but honest lover, who refuses to commit forgery to wear crease3 in his trousers. A pert widow with a corking divorce record and a propensity for making trouble. A proud and vulgar parent of the heiress, who kicks the poor but honest lover in the neck and lends the foreign nobleman money. A summer home of the heiress. Horses and carriages. Whisky, wine, and beer. A yacht or two, golf links and a dog. Ginger ad lib. Method.—Get into your story with a startling event of some kind, a dog fight in the Broadway in which the losing pup is backed by the heiress's father, or a game of craps in which the foreign nobleman goes broke. Make it a rule to have something sensational happen in every thousand words, if it's only a birth or a thunderstorm. Never forget that the publisher won't come down with the check unless he sees his money coming back. A summer novel should be pitched in a summer scene. Pitch the parent's summer home in the mountains and the heiress into the lake. Then when the poor but honest lover rescues her, let the foreign nobleman rob him of his clothes while the lady is unconscious, chloroform him into insensibility and impersonate her saviour himself. Invite the nobleman to dinner and send the poor but honest lover to jail on a charge of going in swimming without a bathing suit. Engage the heiress and the nobleman to marry and let the lover gnash his teeth on the bars of the cell until the frisky widow helps him to break jail and tells him the heiress is his long-lost sister. Have the lover go crazy at this stage of the game, marry the widow and go up to see the old gentleman with a proposition that he recog- nise him legally as his son, divvy up the estate and give the foreign nobleman leave to go and blow himself full of air with a bicycle pump. The old gentleman might opportunely throw a fit here, and in his fall and clawings kick a hole in a piece of rock, disclosing a cave in which repose certain family documents showing that he is his own grandson, that the poor but honest lover never had any parents or sisters, and that the family fortune belongs to a millionaire. This will justify the foreign nobleman, who has no love for pauper women, in running violently down a steep hill and breaking his face on the rocks, while the disinherited heiress, certain at last that the poor but honest lover loves her for herself alone, may persuade him to divorce the widow and marry her instead. A fine point in morals may be drawn here by showing that the widow, with the divorcing habit strong upon her, hates to be divorced herself when it comes to a show-down. A thrilling if improbable anti-climax may be secured by having the millionaire give all the money back to the bride and bridegroom and act sufficiently astonish- ing to justify the old gentleman in celebrating his son-in-law's luck. The yacht mentioned in the list of ingredients is for no particular purpose except to prove that a summer novel cannot be written without one. The dog is to try the novel on before it goes to the publisher. If the dog dies the manuscript is sure of acceptance. Remarks.—If this is to be your first essay in novel-writing (and only amateurs write successful novels nowadays) remember that as an unknown writer you cannot possibly be over-advertised. Presuming, therefore, that you are writing your novel at a summer resort of some sort, it will pay you to roar on all occasions on the subject of your literary achievements and intentions. Lose- no opportunity of letting people know what you are doing. Write all your copy with a stylographic pen on the hotel piazza, and when your proof-sheets arrive spread them out on the lawn to dry and  ## p. 16 (#28) ############################################## i6 THE AUTHOR. throw croquet balls at the typographical errors until a crowd gathers to inquire into your occupa- tion. In this way you secure advance discussion for your book and possible profit besides. Most people who meet an author they believe to be crazy will buy one of his books when they strike it on a news-stand. Be careful in the matter of dress. Emile Zola writes all his novels attired in pyjamas and a skull cap, and Laura Jean Libbey hers in a gingham Mother Hubbard with leather ruching at the throat and wrists. The preparation of a summer novel demands some attention to appropriate clothes. Fit your costumes to the situation of which you write. If the chapter is to describe a storm at sea or a private hullabaloo in the cabin of a yacht, never touch your pen to paper until you've donned a silk shirt, white ducks, and a patent-leather belt; if it's a "hop" that needs touching up write in evening dress, no matter if it's broad daylight and the people around you are in bathing suits. This, of course, supposing that you are a man. If you are a lady summer novelist, this writer would not attempt to advise you in the matter of dress, because women at summer resorts always wear the nicest clothes they've got, anyhow, and an authoress of any talent ought to be able to write a passionate story equally well in a Worth creation or in a piece of calico. Such female novelists, however, judging by their work, discover increased dramatic intensity in the exercise of eccentric physical effects. In describing a tropical love scene the authoress may produce wonders of thought by coiling her ankles about her neck and fanning her face with her feet. Or she may secure inspiration for whole pages of witty dialogue between two or more of her female characters by hanging two cats over a fence rail and taking down their remarks in shorthand. Lastly, when your book is printed and on sale, be sure and buy a copy of it yourself. It is not fair that the publisher should go entirely without encouragement. MR. NUTT AQAIN. WE have had nearly six months of Mr. Nutt: six months trying to get out of him a direct and plain answer to a plain question. The question arose out of an assertion made by this gentleman. He said, writing in the Academy of Jan. i : (i) That it had been asserted in The Author that "publishers always recovered their outlay, and never made any losses "; and (2) that " the statement had since been repeated in The Author without one word of qualification." Observe, if you please, the exactness of the phrase, " without one word of qualification." The words were therefore offered as quotations. The reader was clearly invited to consider them as quotations. It is interesting to note that, before making these " quotations," Mr. Nutt says he has not seen more than two numbers of The Author in his life. Strange that one number should contain the first paragraph quoted, and the second its repetition, "without one word of qualification "! However, on Jan. 5, my solicitors, Messrs. Field, Roscoe, and Co. wrote to Mr. Nutt, asking for the exact references to the two passages quoted, and reserving the right of publishing the corre- spondence. Mr. Nutt replied that he was out of town, and must defer an answer till his return. No answer came. Such a little thing as the truth of an allegation is, of course, easily for- gotten. We allowed him five weeks, and then a reminder was sent by Messrs. Field, Roscoe, and Co. Mr. Nutt then wrote expressing the deepest indignation at receiving a letter from solicitors. Now, he did not express any indignation when the first letter came from the solicitors. He said, however, that he was ready to give information to the proper person. I therefore wrote to him myself, as the proper person, merely repeating the questions. That is, I repeated his alleged quotations, and asked him where they could be found in The Author. He replied (Feb. 25) that he could not give the references "off-hand " — he had only had five weeks to look for them! He also sent a quantity of remarks which had nothing to do with the question, I sent a repetition of my letter, again asking for those references. He replied, a week later, that he could not get at all the volumes of The Author. I informed him that Mr. Thring would lend him the volumes. And I wrote a third letter again asking where those references were. Meantime I had answered in The Author his general charges, and the various assertions he had made in the Academy. He now sent me a long letter, saying nothing about the references, and demanded publication of this letter in The Author. His demand as a right I would not allow. How- ever, I referred the matter to the Committee. The Committee informed him that when he had answered the first question, and had either produced the references to The Author for the  ## p. 17 (#29) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. n alleged quotations or had withdrawn the charge, they would be prepared to consider any remarks he might wish to make in The Author. The reader will be by this time prepared to hear that no answer has been forthcoming to the original question, and that those references have not yet appeared. Mr. Nutt made a complaint to the Committee about his letter to the Academy having been piinted in The Author without his permission, as if when a person is attacked he should ask permis- sion of his assailant before he quotes the words containing the charge! This correspondence explains itself. The alleged quotations from The Author I cannot find—no one else, so far, has been able to find them. Mr. Nutt alleges that they were in The Author: he has not yet receded from his position: he has now taken six months — his last letter was dated April 18 — to find the passages, and if he has been unable to find them, he is unaccountably shy about disclosing this fact. When a man advances positively that another man has publicly stated certain things, and that he has repeated these things " without a word of qualification," there are three courses open to him: either to prove that allegation by giving the exact references; or to withdraw it with an apology; or, failing both courses, to accept the conclusion which is natural. W. B. A SONG FOB A BOSS- Ro;e asks for a rhyme ?— Why, did she but know it, There is never a poet Bat sings her, some time! 2. Only mention her name: The sweetest of fancies, Ballades and romances, Are set to the same. 3- Only open and read: The daintiest pages, In bards of all ages, To Rose are decreed. 4- Moore, Shelley, and Keats, Austin Dobson—the darling! Thrnsh, linnet and starling, Kose-singing one meets. 5- Rose asks for a rhyme ?— There is never a poet, (Their rose-gardens show it), But sings her, some time! New Zealand. Mary Colbobne-Vekl. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Qaem Deus vnlt perdere dementat prius. ON returning from abroad, I learn from The Author for May that the number for April included an inquiry as to the source of the above quotation. But for my absence, I should have written a month ago to state that " Querist" is undoubtedly right in supposing that the proper form of the line is Quern Jupiter vnlt perdere dementat prius. Something like this may be seen in the index to the edition of Euripides published by Professor Barnes in 1694, but the actual words (as just quoted) are to be found in the work of another Cambridge professor of Greek thirty-four years earlier. In Duport's "Gnomologia Homerica" (1660), p. 282, the words are added in paren- thesis immediately after the Greek quotation orav 8' 6 8a.tp.iov avSpi iropaivr) nana, tov vovv lf}Kaol/t irpinov. The Greek is preserved by Athenagoras, "Sup- plicatio pro Christianis" chap. 26, p. 138, and (with the addition of u f3ov\tvtTai) by the Scholiast on Sophocles, "Antigone," 620. It is entered among the Adespota in Nauck's "Tragicorum Grrecorum Fragmenta," No. 455. There is a close parallel to this fragment in another quoted by the Attic orator Lycurgus, contra Leocratem s. 92 :— orav yap opyil &aip.6vuiv j3\airrn riva, tovt avro irpSiTov, i£a<paipeiTai <j>p€vSiv tov vovv tov eV0A6V' £is Si Ttjv xeipw Tptirtt yv<Iip.rjv, iv tiSrj prjSev <m, aftapraytu This longer fragment is placed among the Ades- pota by Nauck (No. 296). Valckenaer, in his note on Euripides, " Hippolytus," 322, is inclined to ascribe it to Euripides, while Barnes (without any external authority) actually prints the shorter fragment among the remains of Euripides, and in his index (as already noticed by S. G.) has the heading "Deus quos vult perdere, dementat prius." The Latin, in the form" Quem Jupiter" &c., has never been traced to any earlier work than Duport's "Gnomologia" (1660). In the editions of Athenagoras earlier than that date, e.g., in the edition printed by H, Stephanus in 1557, I observe that the Greek is translated differently. I have little, if any, doubt that the Latin version in the "Gnomologia" is Duport's own. His work shows how familiar he was with the Vulgate, and he was probably aware that "demento" in the sense of "dementem facio," though not used by any classical author, was to be found in the Vulgate version of Acts viii, 11. Duport does not generally translate his Greek  ## p. 18 (#30) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. quotations into Latin, but he does so in the case of a fragment of Euripides on p. 28, and a frag- ment of iEschylus on p. 200. Thus it is highly probable that here, in the case of another tragic fragment, he is similarly offering a rendering of his own. In composing this rendering he pre- sumably had in mind a parallel passage from Publilius Syrus: Stnltnm facit Fortuna quern vult perdere. St. John's College, . E. Sandys. Cambridge, May 9. I looked up this topic for the May number, but thought my notes might be unnecessary. I find, however, that some points still require settling. The letter of " S. G." is good, though not complete, and the reference of Mr. Earle to Notes and Queries applies to the very first volumes of that serial. Being limited to my own library, I shall not quote what is elsewhere. But first, for the verb "dementat," which is either transitive or intransi- tive, and is very rare. It occurs in Lactantius of the early fourth (not tenth) century, and tells how the persecutor Diocletian "semper dementabat," or behaved like a madman; i.e., was demented. I discover only one other example of the verb "demento," and that is in the Latin Vulgate of Acts viii., 11, at which place we read that Simon Magus had for a long time stolen the wits of the Samaritans; "dementasset," had demented them. Here the verb is transitive, and certainly not classical, although it accords with the common Latin proverb, the varying forms of which are of equal value. As for the saying itself, its first representative seems to be in the "Legatio " of the learned Athenagoras, who wrote in Greek his plea for Christianity late in the second century. He maintains the goodness of God and His works, and, as I understand him, ascribes other works to Daemons who, in his opinion, are evil. Here it is that he introduces a Greek quotation, from an author he does not name, in this way: "For God does not incite to what is contrary to nature, 'But a Daemon when he devises any harm against a man first injures his mind.'" The Latin of Joshua Barnes may do for this, but my copy of Athenagoras sticks to the word "Daemon," and the annotators uphold it, rightly, as I think. (See the Oxford edition of Athenagoras, 1706). The fine edition of the Benedictines (Paris, 1742) also refers the dementing process to demons. Your wise readers will draw their own inferences. In conclusion I may mention the "Beautiful Thoughts from Latin Authors," by Dr. Ramage (p. 791. London, 1879), where a little critical acumen is needed. So "here I make an ending," and am, &c., B. H. C. LITERATURE IN THE PERIODICALS. Cheap Books—The Daily Telegraph's Bai> Opinion of Current Fiction—Modern Lan- guage Teaching—Letters of Charles Lamb —Parasitical Literature. MR. BRYCE'S suggestion for cheaper books is discussed in a leading article by the Daily Telegraph (May 11). So far from depreciating the statesman's view of the pre- ponderance of newspaper reading, this great organ goes the length of saying that it is "quite an arguable point whether the newspaper will not end by swallowing up the magazine, as it has already succeeded in establishing its popularity at the expense of books," Were it not for the great circulating libraries, says the writer, the produc- tion of books would be more perilous still. And then, in demonstrating why books are dear, he proceeds to support the theory so often advanced, that the successful book is the publisher's contra for the unsuccessful ones. "Having paid a good deal more than he ought for one book, the pub- lisher has to pay less than he ought for another; his successes, such as they are, have to make up for his losses; while in such an unhealthy state of things, the young writer of promise has a peculiar difficulty in getting even a hearing," Nor would publishers extend their own sales by lowering their prices. Books have their own clientile, and it is true of nearly every kind of book, that those who want it will pay the price, and that its issue at a "popular" price will not attract a larger circle. For the rest the Tele- graph has a really bad opinion of the origin and nature of novels. Oar bookstalls are flooded with works of fiction, mostly written by women—often mi grammatical, largely worth- less in character, and wholly devoid of any reasonable interest. They are produced because in nine cases out of ten the anthoress pays for the production. They are reviewed because critics are more generous to-day to the average novel than they have been in any other period of our literary history. They are sold because the assumption still continues to be held—and is, indeed, to some extent borne out by facts—that fiction written by women is read by women, in country houses, at the seaside, or in foreign places of fashionable resort, where no other form of literary work has a chance of entering. In the Academy (May 21), J. E. H. W. controverts the above statements almost entirely. True it is, he says, that the great mass of our half-instructed population are quite contented with magazines and newspapers, " but then the-  ## p. 19 (#31) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. great mass of our half-educated population never did buy books." Publishers do not depend upon the circulating libraries; the latter "do not buy books in large numbers; as a rule they have no need to; naturally they have no wish to." The standard of new fiction is above the " average "— "an average which is no longer correct." And even supposing that a publisher pays more than he ought for one book, "how does this affect the young author? Where the risk is so great it is almost a wonder that a new writer obtains any- thing at all for his first work. If he can find a publisher to take the chance he is indeed fortu- nate. If his book is a great success, he has his reward: he can dictate his own terms in future." The Daily News says that publishers have only themselves to thank if best books are not more in demand; and tells them that, when they have mastered the secret of the cheap newspaper, they will bring out the cheap book. "The novel at a guinea and a half died hard in this country; the novel at five or six shillings still cumbers the earth." Mrs. Lecky writes on "Modern Language Teaching in Longman's Magazine for June, and recommends all who are interested in the progress and education of our people, to take to heart these words from a recent speech of Sir William Har- court: "The present defect of English education, from the top of the scale to the bottom, is our neglect of the cultivation of the modern lan- guages of the nations of the world." Our method has been wrong. Mrs. Lecky praises the Gouin method of teaching, which proceeds by gradual development. It is based on the natural pro- cess by which every infant begins to speak— that is, by learning the sounds through the ear before it knows how to read and write—and it makes the verb the pivot of the teaching. Eegarding the Universities Mrs. Lecky says " it seems an anomaly that honours can be obtained in modern languages at Oxford without a viva race test, and that for the Cambridge tripos viva race also is optional, and that the results do not affect the class." Mr. E. V. Lucas has been publishing in the Cornhill Magazine (May and June) correspon- dence between Charles Lamb and his friend Robert Lloyd, the Quaker, and partner in the bookselling and printing business of Knott and Lloyd at Birmingham. The letters are full of good things. One of them shows Lamb's fondness for London to have been quite equal to that of Dr. Johnson. "Give me the old book- stalls of London," he exclaims, " a walk in the bright piazzas of Covent Garden. I defy a man to be dull in such places—perfect Mahometan paradises upon earth! I have lent out my heart with usury to such scenes from my childhood up, and have cried with fullness of joy at the multitudinous scenes of life in the crowded streets of ever dear London." In his last letter, dated January i, 1810, he gives an affecting picture of his home at 4, Inner Temple-lane. "The feeling of home, which has been slow to come, has come at last. May I never move again, but may my next lodging be my coffin." Among his literary criticisms is that he "seems to miss" in Pope's "Iliad" translation "a certain savage-like plain- ness of speaking in Achilles—a sort of indelicacy. The heroes in Homer are not half civilised: they utter all the cruel, all the selfish, all the mean thoughts even of their nature, which it is the fashion of our great men to keep in." A writer in Blackwood's for May casts the conscientious biographer into a very offensive light. He calls the literature "parasitical," and applies such terms as "questionable" and "destructive familiarity" to the kind of biography to which nothing is too insignificant to include. "It is good to know how any distinguished man looked and lived, and good to learn the conditions amid which his day's work was done. But it is enough to know him as friend knows friend; it is un- necessary, even undesirable, possibly offensive, to share the relationship and knowledge of his valet or his nurse." CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Editors and Contributors. 1. MAY I make a few remarks on the List of Rules of Editors, published in your issue of May 2, for the sake of the young beginners in literature whose lot and whose risks are becoming worse as their numbers multiply? I have myself very little to complain of with regard to editors, who seem far better than their laws. I have been almost invariably kindly and courteously treated. It has however happened once or twice that my MSS. have been lost letters unanswered, payments forgotten, &c. I notice that it is increasingly common for editors to repudiate all responsibility for MSS. Most of those in your List decline to return MSS. altogether; some, if stamps and envelopes are sent, endeavour to return them. Many insist on type-written copy. I know the worries of editors, and the rubbish they have to deal with, and the rules are made to save them trouble; all the same the worries to the author are greater and much more serious. Authors have a right to complain of these rules.  ## p. 20 (#32) ############################################## 20 THE AUTHOR. MSS. are the author's bread. They are perish- able goods; they are submitted on approval, and this seems the only way to bring author and public together. In the editor's office they may be lost, burnt, or, worse, gutted; and there are the risks by post also. It may be replied, authors must retain copies of their MSS. But, as many MSS. have to travel a good deal for various reasons (was it not Currer Bell whose first work had to be sent to a dozen successive publishers'{), I submit that this is a "sweating" system. An author may make a copy, or pay a typist to do it—and type-writing is certainly costly. He sends up his MS.; it is not returned—that is the rule—neither is it used. After a time, and after losing the return stamps, he sends off the other. Similar fate. How many copies is the poor young author to keep on the chance of rejection? Then there is the question of using the MS. elsewhere. How long is the author to wait till the editor or the publisher's reader has made up his mind? There is yet a worse risk, that, during the interval, the "guts" of the MS. are stolen, the material and the idea used up by the publisher's sister, or cousin, or aunt, and the original author has no redress. It is manifestly hard and contrary to the rules of business to send goods on approval without a guarantee, or to keep goods without paying for them, or to neglect to inform the owner whether his goods are marketable in that particular place or not. Especially in journalism both are fre- quently done and suffered; and often when the MS. >** returned, the "moment" is past, and the subject has no chance. Many authors are of opinion that since sending up MSS. on approval is the only way, editors ought to be bound to take responsibility; and compelled, after agreeing to examine a MS., to return it or to pay for it within a certain fixed time. I should say a fortnight ought to suffice for decision in the case of a book, and three days in that of a newspaper article. I also have to corroborate another correspon- dent's complaint—that MSS. are returned damaged. I have seen in publishers' rooms a MS. being read in company with a sandwich, for which it served as a plate. I have had MSS. returned to me marked with grease, and unfit to send elsewhere. It appears to me that, if a humble typewriter can afford to protect against loss, damage, or fire (and I hope cribbing), MSS. entrusted to her by a floating policy of insurance, the proprietor of a journal or a respectable publisher can do the same, and such insurance ought to be a sine qua non. M. E. Hawei?. ii. Mr. Herbert W. Smith sends a communication unfortunately too long for publication. He says, in answer to the question: "How would he compel the editor to do this or that ?"—that he would compel him by unanimous action on the part of authors. He thinks that the time has arrived for authors to take united action. I have long thought so, but I do not see many signs of such united action. One thing is hopeful, however: with men and women of letters action need not be universal. Everything that a trades- union can effect would be brought about by the union of fifty or sixty writers whose works are commercially valuable. On the score of unequal remuneration Mr. Smith claims that all trades are equal. But literature is not a trade. All professions are unequal: all works of art are unequal. Is a man who writes a play which runs a month to be paid as much as a man whose play ruus three years? Is the youngest artistwho exhibits in the Academy to be paid as much for his picture as the most distinguished R.A.? Dudley Warner once advocated the foundation of a literary union in which all the members should receive the same wages. A minimum scale of pay for magazine work would be a most desirable thing from many points of view, but it is im- possible to enforce it except for certain writers whose work is in vogue. Mr. Smith concludes as follows :— "At the present moment neither law, public opinion, nor etiquette affords relief against the small worries, humiliations, and peculations to which the rank and file of authors are often subjected by unscrupulous, lazy, careless, and grossly ignorant dealers in their goods. "Were the Society of Authors to determine in consultation with editors of repute upon a definite understanding with regard to delays in consider- ing MSS., delays in payment, and unequal remuneration, they would have achieved an end of very great importance. What respectable editors decreed, the tag-rag and bob-tail would find it expedient to obey. With growth and authority on its side, the Society of Authors might find itself capable of striking offenders ' off the Rolls' in due time." in. My only reason for troubling you again is that several points have occurred to me since I wrote to you, particularly in view of the valuable com- munications you print from "An Unofficial Receiver—of Editorial Regrets," and Mr. Herbert  ## p. 21 (#33) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 21 W. Smith. The first-named writer refers to a grievance of the highest importance—i.e., the work of native authors being excluded from columns which are used for the reproduction of articles stolen from American periodicals. Besides this the work of native authors is excluded from columns used, inter alia (I) for articles, tales, jokes, and pictures stolen—totally or in part as regards first-mentioned — from other English papers, and from all manner of foreign papers, the editor thinking, most erroneously, that if he acknowledges the source of such he is acting in an unexceptionable way; (2) for advertisements, even of the journal itself or of another publica- tion issued from the same office; (3) for the work of persons who are not genuine native authors, but belong to one of the following divi- sions—(a) individuals who have attained celebrity in some other walk, and are therefore exploited as writers by editors; (6) blacklegs, usually poetasters, who work, such as their work is, for nothing; (c) persons, usually poetasters again, who could not possibly have got their lucubra- tions accepted if they had not been relations or friends of the editor, or been able to bring some influence to bear on him—(4) for matter repro- duced from some back number of the paper itself or a sister periodical. In no other business in the world could this crambe repetita take place. In regard to what Mr. Smith says as to the pay- ment per column for articles, this should also be pointed out: A paper commences by paying, say, £1 is. a column. This is when its circulation is small, but it makes no addition no matter how large its circulation grows, and this though some of the contributors, whose payments it does not increase, have been the main creators of its prosperity. Another thing: the most tenth-rate actor can get free passes for himself and a friend to theatres, yet no editor thinks of putting even his best contributor on his free-list. In conclusion, I may say that before I die I hope to see some at least of the following reforms effected :—(1) Every line contributed to a paper paid for, including correspondence and matter contributed in competition; (2) every journalistic post put in the market, and not handed through backstairs influence to some played-out hack, some mere reporter, 'Varsity man or Scotsman; (3) no one but a qualified and registered journalist allowed to sell MSS. to a paper, just as only admitted solicitors can sell legal skill and know- ledge : these as a first instalment. Experto Ceede. P.S.—I should like to add that I think it should be made a penal offence for an editor to appropriate ideas from an article he does not accept, unless* before doing so lie had arranged to pay the author therefor. I could mention the editors of papers that make no scruple of doing this. IV. A correspondent, "J. C. G\," writes in reply to the letter of Mr. Herbert W. Smith, to the following effect: (1.) Unsolicited contributions are not amongst the requirements of journals. (2.) All journals have a regular staff engaged to do the work. (3.) Unsolicited contributions are of "the nature of an aggravation and an impertinence." (4.) Editors try sometimes out of courtesy to read the MSS. sent in, but have to desist out of regard to the interests of the journal. (5.) He suggests that it would be well to write and offer the editor first. [These points are put in the form of questions. Well, a simple reference to the table of contents for the last few months of any magazine would prove that there is no such thing as a regular staff to do the work. Out of every six months follow- ing, it would be extremely strange were the same name to occur twice. Contributions, as may be seen from the list published in our last number, are expected from writers uninvited. Editors practically undertake to read them all. To ask an editor if he will look at a MS., would be to give him double trouble, because he professes to read everything sent.—Ed.]. II.—Mr. Punch and his Contributors. I consider that the writer of the article in your last issue, treating of the ways in which various journals undertake to deal with the MSS. of their contributors should have taken the trouble to verify his statements. I invite him to refer to the cover of Punch, where he will find this notice :— "Communications or contributions, whether MS., printed matter, drawings, or pictures of any description, will not be returned unless accom- panied by a stamped and addressed envelope, cover, or wrapper." The writer of your article stated that they would not be returned under any conditions. I will ask you to be good enough to correct his inaccuracy by publishing this letter. A Member of the Staff of Punch. III.—The Roxburghe Press, Limited. In this month's issue of The Author a corre- spondent asks for advice as to how to proceed  ## p. 22 (#34) ############################################## 22 THE AUTHOR. with a view of recovering his MS., which he sent to the Roxburghe Press prior to that company's failure. I am informed by a member of the late staff of the Roxburghe Press that if " Provincial " and others in a like predicament apply to Messrs. Singleton and Co., of 4, Staples-inn, Holborn, the desired result will be obtained. May 18. Fred. J. May. IV.—"The Author" in the Libraries. I think you would receive many more com- plaints from struggling free lances as to the way they are treated if The Author was only read more extensively among them. As a matter of fact it ought to be in every public library in the Kingdom, whereas even in London, as far as my experience of a year back goes, it is only to be found in the Clerkenwell Free Library. In this town it is not taken by the authorities of the library but is presented to them, and naturally the donor pleases himself about when he brings it. E. C. Cheltenham. V.—Unmarketableness of Terse. The statement of Mr. Henley with regard to the sale of poetry urges me to air a long-felt grievance. Poetry does not sell for the simple reason that its price is prohibitive. Circulating libraries will not provide modern poetry, free libraries have very little, and the consequence is that, as wealth and a love of literature unfortu- nately seldom go together, modern poetry remains unread. I deeply deplore my own ignorance of our present poets, but I see no way of remedying it, as I cannot afford to buy their works at 5s. a volume. If they would but produce their poems at popular instead of prohibitive prices I am sure that they would find a public eager and willing to buy. One would have thought that the lesson had been learnt by now that a large circulation of cheap books pays better than the sale of a few expensive volumes, but the poets do not seem to realise it. F. M. K. VI.—The First Book. Although a loyal member of the Authors' Society I sometimes wonder whether a young and unknown writer is wise in abiding by the prin- ciples advocated by that society too rigidly. In the May number of The Author appears a short story telling how a young writer is offered .£15 158. for the copyright of his first book. Twelve years ago, before I left Cambridge, and before I was out of my teens, I wrote a story for a boys' paper. I was paid 30s. a number, but was careful to retain copyright. When the story was completed I sent it to a big publishing house. The reader's report was most eulogistic, but the house did not care for reprints, and I was requested to write a new story on the same lines. The pressure of journalistic work pre- vented this, but shortly afterwards another pub- lisher offered me £2 5 for the story. He wanted all rights. I believed in the story—I still believe in it. I rejected the offer. I have since sent my story to several publishers, but have not been able to get it read. The result is that it will probably never be published in book form. Now, had I accepted that offer of £25, and the book had succeeded, would not my position be better than it is to-day? I should probably now be living in Paris, writing fiction—the work I love—instead of toiling at mere journalistic hack work for £4 or .£5 a week. _i: H. J. A. VII.—Proposed Journal for Young Authors. I have forwarded you some circulars re the Pioneer paper, to which, I understand, you will refer elsewhere. May I be allowed to say, by way of comment, that a large number of young "literarv aspirants " are certain to eagerly accept the offer of " Mr. Leigh, M.P.A.B.A. "? For there is no doubt that a paper "run" on somewhat similar lines would be of immense benefit to the "ambitious unknown." It should be remembered that a young and able, but inexperienced, writer has at present no means of obtaining that skilled revision and alteration of his work which would not only make it acceptable to the editors, but would show him his faults, and how they might be avoided or corrected. These faults he has to find out for himself—if he can—often after years of failure, poverty, and bitterness of spirit. What hundreds of struggling writers will look, probably in vain, for "Mr. Leigh, M.P.A.P.A.," to accomplish, the Society of Authors could and should do, for those young authors whom it desires to help; that is, establish a journal in which their writings may appear, a journal, let us say, supplementary to The Author, to be called "The Young Author." A fee, to be made as low as possible, would be paid by the writer for the correction of his MS. and the cost of its insertion. The articles must, of course, be short, and the editor would have the option of returning such as were hopeless, or required too much alteration. The paper should be edited by a capable and sympathetic senior, and be regularly forwarded to the magazine editors, &c. The reading matter should be copyrighted, and the articles be eligible for republication by payment.  ## p. 23 (#35) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 23 The " Young Author " should be published at cost price, the profit from advertisements, writers' fees, and the sale of copies being arranged to balance the cost of production. I would suggest, as another feature of the paper, an "Answers to Contributors" page, where readers' opinions on short stories or articles, poems, <fcc., should be published on pay- ment by the writer of a small fee, thus adopting the present system of the Society in retail, instead of wholesale. I am aware that this sketch of the scheme is crude, and requires considerable working out. I have refrained from all argument in favour of my ideas, and from any elaboration of them, out of respect for your valuable space. H. A. Spurr. VIII.—Jane Austen. The following letter appeared recently in the Times -.—Among the distinguished natives of Hampshire who are buried in Winchester Cathe- dral there are few names more worthy of record than that of Jane Austen; yet the only memorial of her (beyond the stone slab which marks the site of her grave) is a brass tablet let into the wall, which was placed there by her nephew and biographer, the late Rev. J. E. Austen Leigh, in 1870. We feel that we shall be appealing to a large circle of warm admirers, who have been charmed and cheered by her work, if we ask for subscrip- tions to enable us to fill one of the windows in the Cathedral with painted glass in her memory. The selection of the window will depend upon the amount of support that we may receive. The cost of a window in the Lady Chapel is estimated at £600, one in the nave .£300. We may add that our proposal has the cordial approval of the Dean of Winchester. Contributions not exceeding five guineas may be paid to Messrs. Hoare, 37, Fleet-street, London, who have kindly consented to act as treasurers of the fund. northbrook. Selborne. W. W. B. Beach. Montagu G. Knight. BOOK TALE. THE DUKE of ARGYLL is bringing out, through Mr. Murray, a little book on "Organic Evolution," which is the result of a controversy he held with Mr. Herbert Spencer a short time ago. Mr. Barrie has written an introduction for the posthumous volume by Mrs. Oliphant, "A Widow's Tale and Other Stories." It takes the form of an appreciation of the author and her works. Mrs. Humphry Ward's new book is to be published on June 10. Its title is "Helbeck of Bannisdale." A story of Cornish life, by Mr. J. H. Pearce, will be published shortly by Mr. Heinemann. "Ezekiel's Sin " is the title. A translation of M. Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac" is being brought out by Mr. Heine- mann. Owen Rhoscomyl has written a Welsh story, entitled "The Shrouded Face," which Messrs. Pearson will issue immediately. Maxwell Gray's new book, to be out imme- diately, is called "The House of Hidden Treasure." Mr. Joseph Hocking has been to Ireland col- lecting materials for a romance based upon certain aspects of monastic life. The story will be called "The Scarlet Woman," and will first run serially. Mr. Hocking regards it as the most important he has undertaken. Mr. Richard Davey has written a book on Cuba, entitled " Cuba, Past and Present," which will be issued by the firm of Chapman and Hall in a short time. The author has travelled in the island, and discusses its history from the begin- ning up to the present day of its difficulties. A work on the taking of Khartoum is already promised from the pen of Mr. G. W. Steevens, the special correspondent of the Daily Mail, and author of " The Land of the Dollar" and' Egypt in 1898." Mr. Henry James's new volume of fiction is to be called "The Two Magics." It will be pub- lished by Mr. Heinemann in the autumn. Mr. Henry Savage Landorhas in great measure recovered from the terrible injuries inflicted upon him by the Tibetans, and the experiences of the journey will be told in his book which Mr. Heine- mann will publish in the autumn. It will be translated for simultaneous publication in French, German, Hungarian, Bohemian, and probably Russian and Italian editions. Mr. Leslie Stephen's "Essays" will be pub- lished in the autumn. Mr. Stephen Gwynn has written a volume entitled "Tennyson: a Critical Study," which Messrs. Blackie will publish in their Victorian Era series. Other works in this series will be  ## p. 24 (#36) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. "Ireland during the Victorian Era," which will be written by Mr. J. A. R. Marriott: "Pruden- tial Societies and Industrial Welfare," by Mr. E. W. Brabrook; and "Gold Discoveries and their Influence on Commerce," by Mr. Moreton Frewen. New biographies are also in preparation by Messrs. James Nisbet and Co. They include, by Major Sharp Hume, " The Great Lord Burghley: a Study in Elizabethan Statecraft," which is based largely upon public records, and on family papers at Hatfield and Burghley; by Mr. Hillaire Belloc, "Danton"; and by Mr. J. A. Hobson, " Ruskin as a Social Reformer." A monograph of Mont Blanc has been written by Mr. Charles Edward Mathews, who has climbed the mountain eleven times and by five different routes. Mr. Mathews is a former presi- dent of the Alpine Club, and has made a special study of literature on the subject of his work. It will contain illustrations by Signor Sella and others, and be published by Mr. Unwin under the title "The Annals of Mont Blanc." Two volumes of the definitive edition of Byron have been published by Mr. Murray—the first of the Poetry, edited by Mr. Hartley Coleridge, and the first of the Letters and Journals, which Mr. Rowland Prothero has edited. The latter con- tains 168 letters down to Aug. 22, 1811; while for the same period Moore's edition contains sixty-one, Halleck's seventy-eight, and Mr. Hen- ley's of eighteen months ago, eighty-eight. A mass of material dealing more or less directly with Byron's life has for the first time been accessible to Mr. Prothero, it having been accumu- lated by Mr. Murray's father and grandfather. "Through the letters," says Mr. Prothero, "a truer conception of Byron can be formed than any impression which is derived from Dallas, Leigh Hunt, Medwin, or even Moore." In his preface the editor quotes the following letter of Byron's father, written to his sister Mrs. Leigh when the poet was but three years old. It is dated from Valenciennes, Feb. 16, i79i,andthe only reference to his son throughout a whole bundle of letters to the same correspondent is contained in it: Have you never received any letters from me by way of Bologne? I have sent two. For God's sake send me some, as I have a great deal to pay. With regard to Mrs. Byron, I am glad she writes to you. She is very amiable at a distance; but I defy you and all the Apostles to live with her two months, for, if anybody could live with her, it was me. Mais jeu de Mains, jeu de Vilains. For my son, I am happy to hear he is well; but for his walking, 'tis impos- sible, as he is club-footed. Jane Austen's works are being published, in a Winchester edition of ten volumes, by Mr. Grant Richards. A feature is to be made of the production, and the printers, Constable, of Edin- burgh, will use the same type as they did for the Edinburgh edition of Stevenson. Mr. Zangwill's separate volumes, "The Bachelors' Club" and "The Old Maids' Club," will be published in one by Mr. Heinemann under the title " The Celibates' Club." "George Egertou's" first long story is about ready. It deals with women's life and work, both in this country and in America, is called "The Wheel of God," and will be published by Mr. Grant Richards. Mr. Conan Doyle is publishing through Messrs. Smith Elder a volume of poems under the title "Songs of Action." Simultaneously with the opening of the Wagner cycle at Covent Garden this month, when so- many of the Bayreuth methods .and appliances will be in use, Mr. Edwin O. Sachs is issuing a large folio volume entitled " Stage Construction." It will contain two hundred drawings, photo- graphs, and diagrams of the great stages of Europe and London, and in his introduction the' author of the monumental "Modern Opera Houses and Theatres " will deal with scenic art and the various developments of stage equip- ment. The book will be published by Mr. Batsford. "Cycling for Everybody," by the well-known authority Mr. Lacy Hillier, is a new book which Messrs. Chapman and Hall are to issue imme- diately. Professor George Henslow has written a book, to which Professor Skeat contributes an introduc- tion and notes, on "Medical Works of the Fourteenth Century." This consists of tran- scripts from four manuscripts of the time of Wiclif and Chaucer, three of which are in the British Museum, and the fourth in the possession of Professor Henslow himself. They illustrate the crudeness of the mediaeval conceptions of the value of plants as drugs, and the recipes are remarkable for the general absence of any men- tion of the nauseous substances recommended by some apothecaries of a later day. The work will be published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Mr. Lawrence Binyon is issuing a "Second Book of London Visions" soon in the Shilling Garland series published by Mr. Mathew. The "First Book " appeared two years ago. Mr. R. Lydekker is following his work on " The Deer of all Lands " with a companion sumptuous volume on " Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of all Lands." It will contain, like the earlier work, a  ## p. 25 (#37) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 25 number of photographs by the Duchess of Bed- ford, who possesses at Woburn a fine collection of deer and wild animals. Mr. Cunninghame Graham is writing a book on his recent adventures in the south of Morocco. Disguised as an Arab, he attempted to reach the "sacred city" of Tarudant, the capital of the Sua province; but, while crossing the Atlas mountains, he was recognised as a European and taken prisoner. His book will be called " Mogreb El Acksa." The first volume of the "English Dialect Dic- tionary," edited by Professor Joseph Wright, and published by Mr. Henry Frowde, is now com- pleted. It contains 17,519 simple and compound words and 2248 phrases, illustrated by 42,915 quotations, with the exact sources from which they have been obtained. Mrs. Richmond Ritchie gives some further interesting details of Thackeray in the second volume of the biographical edition of his works, namely, "Pendennis," which was published a fortnight ago. Thackeray wrote to his mother in the summer of 1848, proposing that they should take a house at Brighton, " or somewhere where I can work upon ' Pendennis,' which is to be the name of the new book." He suggested a house at .£60 a year: As for the dignity, I don't believe it mitterj a pinch of snuff. Tom Carlyle Uvea in perfect dignity in a little .£40 honse at Chelsea, with a snuffy Scotch maid to open the door, and the best company in England ringing at it. It is only the second or third chop great folks who care about show. "And why don't yon live with a maid yourself?" I think I hear somebody saying. Well, I can't; I want a man to be going my own messages, which ocoupy him pretty well. There must be a cook, and a woman about the children, and that horse is the best doctor I get iu London; in fine, there are a hundred good reasons for a lazy, liberal, not extravagant, but costly way of life. The third and final portion of the great Ash- burnham Library was sold at Sotheby's during the past month. The bidding was keen, and the prices remarkable. Among the notable lota sold were a good copy of the First Folio Shakespeare (1623), .£585, bought by Sir Arthur Hodgson for presentation to the Shakespeare Library at Stratford-on-Avon; a fine and perfect copy of the rare Third Folio Shakespeare (1664), ,£190; two books from the press of the first printer who set up in the City of London, William de Machlinia, namely, "Speculum Chiistiani" (about 1484), .£230, and a Book of Sentences from Terence in Latin and English, thirty-two leaves, £201; a very rare example of Caxton's press, "Speculum Vitse Christi," one of three perfect copies known (about 1488), .£510; an uncut copy of the first edition of Sir Walter Scott's "Waverley" (1814), .£78, a record price; a beautiful set of the first five editions of Walton's "Compleat Angler" (1653 to 1676), .£800; an imperfect copy of Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales," from Caxton's press (1478) wanting seventy- seven leaves, .£230; a fine and perfect copy of a very rare Caxton, "The XII. Proflites of Tri- bulaeyon" (1490), a pamphlet of thirty-two pages, .£310; a fine copy of the first edition of "Valturius De Re Militari" (1472), remarkable as being the first book with woodcuts executed in Italy, .£219; an imperfect copy of Gower's "Confessio Amantis," printed by Caxton (1483), wanting forty-one leaves, £100; Voraigne's "La Legende Dorce les Saints et Saintes" (Paris, 1493), with 158 richly-painted and illumi- nated miniatures and figures of saints, .£165. The whole collection took twenty days to disperse, and the sale first began in June last year. There were 4075 lots, which realised .£62,712. Mr. Martin A. Buckmaster has written a text- book on "Elementary Architecture," which will certain thirty-eight full-page illustrations, and be published by the Clarendon Press. Mr. F. G. Kitton's work "Charles Dickens and His Illustrators," which is nearly ready, will contain a number of unpublished letters relating to the illustrations, by Dickens and the various artists engaged upon the novels. The principal contributors are of course Cruikshank and "Phiz," wh i between them illustrated seventeen of Dickens's books. About forty drawings in pen and ink, pencil, and wash by these artists are to be given for the first time in Mr. Kitton's work, which will be published by Mr. George Redway. Geoffrey Mortimer has sold serial rights of a tale, "The Misanthrope of Mor Ynys," to the Weekly Times and Echo. The story is one of adventure among the fisherfolk of an island off the coist of Carnarvonshire, and the opening chapter will appear at the end of this month or early in July. Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell's new children's story, "When I was a Little Girl," will be published in the autumn by the S.P.C.K. It is partly auto- biographical, the adventures of a naughty child. Mrs. Cuthell's soldier-children story, "Only a Guardroom Dog," is in a second edition. Mrs. Pennell is writing a volume on litho- graphy, the invention of Aloys Senefelder. Mr. .Topeph Pennell will contribute examp'.es of, as he prefers to call it, the art of "poly-autography." He has often declared that the effects producible by an artist in lithography amount to a thorough vindication of the choice of those who use it.  ## p. 26 (#38) ############################################## 26 THE AUTHOR. Professor Mahaffy responded for Literature at the Royal Academy banquet. In the course of his reply he said that when he tried to personify the literature of the present day, he seemed to behold a middle-aged dame who had grown so enormously stout with constant cramming that her extremities were becoming flabby and cold, and we began to fear a degeneration at the heart. If one was really solicitous for the health of this personage, it was obvious that one must seek to diminish the quantity and improve the quality of her tissues. He could, he thought, recommend some drastic treatment by which some improve- ment might be effected in her health, but that was not the place to discuss medical prescrip- tions, still less to describe to that august assembly the probable action of these remedies upon the human frame. Colonel Sir George Sydenham Clarke has written a short history on the very important subject of Russian Sea Power. It will be brought out by Mr. Murray in a few days. Mr. Sidney Colvin expects to have his biography of Robert Louis Stevenson ready for publication in the autumn. A new volume of poetry by Mr. Henry Rose, author of "Summer Dreams," &c., will be pub- lished by Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co., entitled "Willow Vale." Mr. William Black's new Highland novel "Wild Eelin," will be published early in the autumn by Messrs. Sampson Low. It is being dramatised in New York, where, and in Edin- burgh, it has been running serially. "The Pride of Jennico," the romance by Agnes and Egerton Castle, is also being adapted for a New York stage. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [April 25 to May 23.—350 Books.] Abbott, T. K. Do this in Remembrance of Me." Should it iie '•Offer This"? 1/. Longman. Abney, W. de W. The Barnet Book of Photography. 1- Lund. Addis, W. E. (tr. and ed.). Documents of the Hexateuch. Vol.11. 10/6. Nutt. Adler, C, and Ramsay, A. Told In the Coffee-House: Turkish Tales. 3/- Macmilian. Aglcn, A. S. Lessons In Old Testament History. 4 6. Arnold. Agnew. P. L. A Bun Through "The Nibelung's Bing." 27- Bradbury. Alderson, E. A. H. With the Mounted Infantry and the Mashona- land Field Force, 1896. 10/6. Methuen. Allen, J. B. (ed.) Lives from Cornelius Nepos. 1'6 Frowde. Allen, W. O. B., and McOlure. E. History of the S.P.C.K., 1686-1896. 10,6 8.P.C.K. Andom, R. Side Slips: or Misadventures on a Bicycle. 1/6 Pearson. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 09 Issue 01 (June 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 09 Issue 01 (June 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-06-01-The-Author-9-1 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/318/1898-07-01-The-Author-9-2.pdf 84d6982286dd3a0c44156d3bf7f37cee 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) 1898-07-01 Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages Page range in volume 29–56 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980701 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin TTbe Hutbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. IX.—No. 2.] JULY i, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ^ Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. Ij^OE some years it has been the practioe to insert, in ! every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &o., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the trioks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the futnre to any one eolioitor or dootor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. HI. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the anthor's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objeoted that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. Ii 2  ## p. 30 (#42) ############################################## 3o THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. "T7WERY member has a right to ask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice Bought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any oost to the member. 2. Bemember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively bo far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Bemember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advanoing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communioate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to oome, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 1 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is passible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of oourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6*. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send thoir names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? ;»•<: LITERARY PROPERTY. 1.—Report of the Sub-Committee on the Proposals of the Booksellers' Associa- tion, Approved by the Committee. THE Sub-Committee for the consideration of the discount and other methods connected with the bookselling trade have had under their consideration a scheme which has been pre- pared by two or three booksellers, considered by the Booksellers' Association, and by one meeting  ## p. 31 (#43) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 3» (at least) of local booksellers, by whom it has been approved. The objects of the scheme are as follows :— (1) To give booksellers the same profit off all books (except educational books at 6*. and under) that they at present receive off 6*. novels; while the publishers are not asked to give better terms than they do at present. (2) To enable booksellers to charge more for credit than for cash. Scheme. I. Odd books to be abolished, and all looks to lie supplied at the average present terms. II. The invoiced price of each book to be the lowest cash price to the public. (This rule not necessarily to apply to books supplied in bulk to schools and School Boards.) Thus— (a) Net books would be invoiced at full pub- lished prices. (ft) Novels and similar non-net books at 6s. and under would be invoiced at 2 5 per cent. off published prices. (r) Non-net books above 6s. (on which the price to the public does not need to be "cut so fine ") would be invoiced at not more than 2d. in the i*. off published prices. III. A. minimum trade discount of 20 per cent. to be allowed at settlement to those booksellers icho agree not to sell books to the public below the invoiced price, and to them only. (In the case of educational books published at 6s. and under, the discount at settlement might be 15 per cent. instead of 20 per cent.). The settlement discount for prompt payment might be arranged by publishers and booksellers individually. A Specimen Invoice submitted with the "Scheme.'' Thus. To A. B. (Bookseller). "Tom Jones," a novel, 6s. 4*. 6d. Terms.—A trade discount of 20 per cent. will be allowed off this amount conditionally that the books are not sold beloio the invoiced price of 4s. 6d. Acceptance of goods to be deemed agreement. In addition, a settlement discount of 5 per cent. for prompt payment after the monthly statement is received.* The objects of this Scheme must commend themselves to all who are interested in the welfare • By the words "the books" is meant "this book " or "those books" included in the invoice. By "prompt pay- ment " is meant within a fortnight. of booksellers—i.e., to the author, the publisher, the printer, the paper-maker, the bookbinder, and the Press which receives the advertisements. All alike must be united in desiring to promote the welfare of the bookseller, on whom mainly depend the material interests of literature. Jn any scheme with the praiseworthy object of improving the position of the bookseller two points must be steadily borne in mind: (1) Freedom of contract; and (2) freedom of trade. Thus, it is necessary that the author, the publisher, and the bookseller must be free to contract with one another to produce and sell on whatever terms may be agreed upon. It is not rijrht, nor can it be tolerated, that any one of the three contracting parties shall seek to control the other two and make them bound in the general administration of their business. Thus, the plan recently proposed by the Pub- lishers' Association was objected to by the Sub- Committee on grounds which we need not here repeat at length. The two principal re 1 sons were the state of dependence to which the bookseller would be reduced—i.e., he would be forbidden the least freedom of dealing with his own while he would be condemned to bear on his own shoulders, as he does now, a greater share of risk than is borne by the publisher; and, secondly, the impossibility of carrying out the proposed coercion. It was also pointed out that the pro- posed relief to the bookseller meant at least an equal, if not a greater, increase of profit to the publisher, while nothing whatever was said as to any corresponding advantage that was to be offered to the author. I. The plan before us does not involve any coercion. (1) The author nead not adopt it. It is an individual offer controlled by the ordi- nary rules of trade. This fact is in its favour. (2) The publisher is free to offer his wares, subject to price and conditions. (3) The bookseller is free to accept or decline. II. The next point is that it recognises the 3<7. discount in the case of books in general literature published at 6s. and under. It should thus conciliate those discount book- sellers -who have so long and so earnestly pro- tested against any interference with their freedom of action. III. In the case of a book published at a higher price, it is proposed to let it be sold at a discount of 2d. in the shilling only. Many book- sellers contend that people who can afford to buy a book published at 24*. will not mind much  ## p. 32 (#44) ############################################## 32 THE AUTHOR. whether they get a discount of 2d. or yl.; i.e., whether they pay 18*. or 20*. for the book. IV. The proposal to abolish the " odd copy ": The reasons for this step commend themselves strongly to us. The present system gives a great advantage to booksellers who can afford to order 25 copies, which they get as 24; or 13, which they get as 12; or in some cases 7 copies, which they get a.« 6^. But it is only in the case of books in large demand that the bookseller can afford to order thirteen copies. In the case of highly priced books he cannot think of taking them except by ones and twos. Taking figures that have been supplied to us, the result is that the profit which he gets on, say, a 12s. book taken in single copies is no more than what he gets on a 6s. book. Again, we are assured that with the odd copy the profit on a 5s. book is not equal to that made on two books at 2s. 6d. And the profit on a "js. 6rf. book without the odd copy is no more than that on a 5*. book with the odd copy, and that on a 15*. book without the odd copy is less than on two books at ys. 6d. Now, with a uniform price, and without any odd copy at all, the profit would advance with the price and the bookseller would have a greater inducement to push the higher priced books. There is another argument against the odd copy. It is from the author's point of view. Although the odd copy is by no means a universal privilege to the bookseller—because, as we have said, he cannot afford to order thirteen at a time—some publishers are endeavouring to introduce in their royalty agreements the words "thirteen as twelve "—as if it was a sort of custom of the trade. This practice deprives the author, without the least right, of no less than 8 per cent. of his dues. The author is no party to an arrange- ment which, as booksellers contend, does more harm than good; and if the practice is continued he must refuse agreements when this fine is inflicted. With these considerations before us the Com- mittee are strongly in favour of the abolition of the "odd copy " altogether. V. In the opinion of your Committee the Scheme requires to be strengthened or altered by the addition of two important clauses. These are— (a) A time limit. It is only reasonable that a bookseller who has bought books under the conditions set forth above should be free after a certain time to sell at any price he pleases. The time limit will vary with different kinds of books. When a book appears in the clearance catalogues of Mudie or Smith, it might be necessary for a bookseller to reduce his price if h would sell the book at all. Your Com- mittee are not prepared to define a time limit for any classes of books, but they must call attention to the point as one on which the success of the method proposed must eventually depend. < (6) A method of letting booksellers have books on " sale or return." This was recommended by your Sub-Committee in their previous report. Kecent events have only made them stronger in the belief that such a plan must be brought into general operation. The number of books now published is so enormous, that no bookseller, however wealthy, can afford to buy and to offer for sale all the books which he would like to have in stock. The high- priced books he supplies as a rule only when they are ordered. Thus there are hundreds of books which are produced but not published. That is to say they are not offered to the public. Unless a book is offered to the public it cannot be said to be published. Or, to put it differently, we may define publication as "production, exhibition, and attempt to sell." The first is done by the printer; the second and third by the bookseller. If the bookseller cannot do his share, the book might as well not be produced at all. It is said that books on " sale or return" come home soiled and spoiled. Perhaps so; but not many. The proportion would be comparatively small. And, in any case, these books would have become remainder stock. If a book is a good book there would be but little risk. If it is a poor book the risk is not increased, because the remainder stock would in any case swallow the whole that was lost. And the great advantage remains that the local bookseller would be enabled to make a good show of all the books worth showing. It is for the publishers with the booksellers to devise the details of this system. But in a general adoption of the "sale or return" system the bookseller must have the freedom of choice. That is to say, he must not be bound to accept any quantity of rubbish that may be shovelled on to his shelves. It is the opinion of this Committee that the introduction of some general system of " sale or return" and the abolition of the " odd copy," are essential to the prosperity of the retail book- trade, and that if these general reforms are intro- duced, the terms of sale for each book should be matter of voluntary contract between publisher and booksellers, as suggested in the Scheme herein considered. By order of the Committee, G. Herbert Thring, Secretary.  ## p. 33 (#45) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 33 II.—1)eaft Form of suggested .Royalty Agreement between Author and Pub- lisher, DRAWN UP BY THE COUNCIL OF THE Publishers' Association and submitted to and approved by Mr. Joseph Walton, Q.C., and Mr. Arthur R. Ingpen. Royalty Agreement. Memorandum of Agreement made this day of between (hereinafter termed the Author) of the one part, and (hereinafter termed the Publisher) of the other part, whereby it is mutually agreed between the parties hereto for themselves and their respective executors, administrators, and assigns (or succes- sors, as the case may be), as follows:— 1. The Publisher shall at- his own risk and expense, and with due diligence, produce and publish the work at present intituled by and use his best endeavours to sell the name. 2. The Author guarantees to the Publisher that the said work is in no way whatever a violation of any existing copyright, and that it contains nothing of a libellous or scandalous character, and that he will indemnify the Publisher from all suits, claims and proceedings, damages, and costs which may be made, taken, or incurred by or against him on the ground that the work is an infringement of copyright, or contains anything libellous or scandalous. 3. The Publisher shall during thevlegal term of copyiight have the exclusive right of producing and publishing the work in the Inglish language throughout the world. The Publisher shall have the entire control of the publication and sale and terms of sale of the book, and the Author shall not during the continuance of this agree- ment (without the consent of the Publisher) publish any abridgment, translation, or dramatised version of the work. i- Comments by the Secretary of the Sociirra. Firstly, then, the parties to the agreement. "It is agreed for themselves, their respective administrators, executors, and assigns, or suc- cessors, as the case may be." It is the greatest mistake for an author Ui contract with the executors, administrators, and assigns, or successors of a publisher. The con- tract is between principal and agent, and is a personal contract, and should be maintained as a personal contract. Supposing an author were dealing with one of the best publishing houses in England, and the partners of that publishing house, lor some reason or other, desired to retire from the business; to clear up matters they might put up the contracts for sale by auction or otherwise. Under these circumstances an author might find the right to publish his work pur- chased by some enterprising tradesman, wh*i would bring it out in a manner and form which would be utterly repulsive to the author, and he would have no means of stopping him; and the 6ame thing might occur should a firm go bank- rupt. It is, therefore, a most dangerous thing W allow the agent who is dealing with the property to have a right to assign his agency. In Clause i the publisher undertakes to pro- duce the work with due diligence. These words, as far as they go, are satisfactory, but the clause is not nearly comprehensive enough. The follow- ing points are suggested for consideration: that a date ought to be fixed on or before which the book should be produced; that the form in which the edition is to appear should also be stated, and the price at which it is to be sold to the public. Clause 2 may, on the whole, be passed, with the single exception of the words "incurred by." It is fair as between the parties that the publisher should be protected from all suite against him, but there is no reason why the author should indemnify him from all expenses incurred by him, as he might incur unnecessary expenses without the sanction of the author. There ought, therefore, to be some words of limitation by which the author has a voice in any action taken by the publisher. Clause 3.—It is difficult to deal with Clause 3 without, in fact, re-drafting the whole of the agreement, but it should be pointed out that the rights which the author is expected to transfer by this agreement include the rights of production in. Tauchnitz form and in America. Such rights are generally left in the hands of an agent, and much better so than in the hands of publishers, for this reason—that a publisher does not,as a general rule, undertake the work of the literary agent; that lu*  ## p. 34 (#46) ############################################## 34 J HE AUTHOR. office is not to place literary work in other hands, but to produce literary work for the author; that work of this kind left in the hands of publishers is not likely to receive anything like the same atten- tion as it is if left in the hands of a literary agent; that the publisher is the only person who gains by having control of this work, and that the author loses by leaving it in his hands. It should be further pointed out that the publisher does not anywhere in the agreement undertake to secure the American copyright for the author, nor even to do his best to obtain it. It may pay an English publisher better to sell sheets or stereos to America, and pay the author a royalty, as per Clause 4 (d), " of per cent. of the net amount of the profits remaining after deducting all ex- penses relating thereto." It should be added, although no prices are stated in this agreement, that for this agency work, while the literary agent charges 10 per cent., the publisher actually asks from 30 to 50 per cent.; out of a large series of agreements in my hands from all sorts and conditions of publishers the lowest charge for this literary agency business has been 25 per cent., and this only in one case. The last part of the clause is extraordinary. It seems astounding that the author should not be allowed to deal with the translation and dramati- sation of his own work without the consent of the publisher. An author must be mad to part with his dramatic rights, perhaps more important than all the rest put together. With regard to the question of abridgment even, it is not fair that the author should be bound not to abridge the work unless the publisher is reciprocally bound not to obtain an abridgment or to run any other technical work which is likely to conflict with the author's. So far, this clause has been considered from the general point of view, but from the point of view of the writ-r of technical works, educational, medical, theological, &c., &c., the clause is still more disastrous. Under no circumstances should a writer of technical books hand over to his publisher so large a right of publication. It should be limited, especially as to the number of the edition, giving, if the author thinks fit, an equitable right to produce further editions. A technical writer must keep the command of his work, must be able, if necessary, to alter, amend, amplify. He cannot do this with a free hand if he does not keep undivided control. The publishers' answer will be: "But this is provided for by Clauses 5 and 7." But it is submitted that it is one thing for the author to have unfettered judgment, and another thing to be forced to revise at request of his publisher or sop his work arbitrarily revised by  ## p. 35 (#47) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 35 4. The Publisher agrees to pay the Author the following royalties, that is to say :— (a) A royalty of on the published price of all copies (13 being reckoned as 12 or 25 as 24, as the case may be) of the British edition sold beyond copies. (6) In the event of a cheaper edition being issued, a royalty of per cent. on the published price. (r) In the event of the Publisher disposing of copies or editions at a reduced rate for sale in the United States, or elsewhere, or as remainders, a royalty of per cent. of the amount realised by such sale. (d) In the event of the Publisher realising profits from the sale, with consent of the Author, of early sheets, serial or other rights, or plates for production of the work in the United States or elsewhere, or from claims for infringement of copy- right, a royalty of per cent. of the net amount of such profits remaining after deducting all expenses relating thereto. No royalties shall be paid on any copies given away for review or other purposes. VOL. IX. another. Whilst considering this question, it should be mentioned that one of the peculiarities of publishers' contracts is that in the case of technical works a clause is nearly always intro- duced conveying the copyright to the publisher. An agreement containing such a clause should never be signed by an author. Clause 4.—In Section (a) the royalty is to be paid thirteen copies as twelve or twenty-five as twenty-four. The alternative appears to be left wholly to the discretion of the publisher, who naturally will prefer to pay on thirteen as twelve. Royalties should never be calculated on this basis. All the royalty accounts put forward by the Authors' Society have been (wrongly) reckoned on the basis that the royalty is paid on every copy sold, it having been previously taken into account in the Cost of Production that the publisher had to sell thirteen for twelve to the booksellers. This they do not really do, except they sell in quantities, and a great many booksellers are unable to afford to buy in quantities; therefore, in taking the royalty to be paid as in Section (a), the publisher is not only profiting by the liberal estimates of the Society with regard to royalties, but is also endeavouring to take in an extra 8 per cent., and the extra amount on those copies, of which there are miny, sold in less numbers than twelve. This fact should also be made clear, that some of the older and more reliable firms have never put forward in their agreements a clause on this basis, but have always paid on every copy. The clause is also drafted that the royalty should be paid on all copies seld beyond a certain number. This seems to imply that no book can afford to have a royalty paid on it from the beginning. Of course this is not the case, but when such an agreement is placed before an author as an equitable agreement, these points of equity should be clearly explained. If the royalty is to be paid after the sale of a certain number (generally such a number whose sale will cover the cost of production), then the author must take care (1) that a number beyond the number specified is printed (2) that he gets a proportionately higher royalty for foregoing it so long—e.g., he must then get 50 per cent. of the trade price. All royalty agreements should further have the royalty increasing with the sale if they cannot bear a high royalty from the beginning. A royalty increasing with the sale is certainly a fair arrangement as between author and publisher. Section (b.)—The issue of a cheap edition appears under this section, as, indeed, under the drafting of the whole agreement, to lie entirely with the publisher. This is by no means a satisfactory arrangement. Here, again, there is  ## p. 36 (#48) ############################################## 36 THE AUTHOR. 5. The Author agrees to revise the first, and, if necessary, to edit and revise every subsequent edition of the work, and from time to time to supply any new matter that may be needful to keep the work up to date. 6. The Author agrees that all costs of correc- tions and alterations in the proof sheets exceeding no proposed increasing royalty according to the number of the cheap edition sold. Section (c).—It is a common thing for the author to receive a share of the nett amount realised by the sale of remainders, but royalties as a general rule are paid on the published price of the sale of the book in the United States. An author should not allow such a loose clause to be in any agreement with the words "copies or editions sold at a reduced rate should be subject to — per cent. of the amount realised on such sale." Who is to decide what is a reduced rate? There are many different methods of selling books to the trade; many of these might be called books sold at a reduced rate. Under these cir- cumstances it is unfair to the author to obtain a share merely of the amount realised. Royalties must be paid always on the published price, except in the case of a remainder. Section (c) therefore should allow a share of the amount realised on bond fide remainder sales. The rest should be altered. The case of re- mainder sales should be distinguished with great care from the sale of books at reduced prices; this clause cannot but tend to confuse the two issues. Section (d).—If the publisher is successful in doing the agency work stated in that section, it is fair that he should have 10 per cent. commis- sion on the returns, in accordance with the charges of all ordinary agents. He might also perhaps be fairly entitled to a 10 per cent. commission if he was mainly instrumental in recovering money for infringement of copyright. The balance would be paid to the author. The final section of Clause 4 is a little vague. Of course, no royalty ought to be paid to the author on copies given away by him or sent for review, but the words "other purposes" might cover a good deal more than this, and are insuffi- ciently precise. Clause 5.—The wording of the fifth clause is not very satisfactory. In the case of technical works, to which a clause like this specially refers, the publishers should in the first instance be only given a right to publish a limited number of copies, and the author might in equity give him the option of producing further editions, subject to certain limitations. Under those circumstances the right to revise would lie within the author's hands, as it should do with the creator of any work, who ought alone to have power to add or subtract from what he has already put before the world. This has all been explained when com- menting on Clause 3, but the principle is of such importance that it is worth while to repeat it. Clause 6.—The author is not safeguarded hero. Could it not be provided that periodically (say  ## p. 37 (#49) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 37 25 per cent. of the cost of composition shall be deducted from the royalties payable to him. 7. In the event of the Author neglecting to revise an edition after due notice shall have been given to him, or in the event of the Author being unable to do so by reason of death or otherwise, the expense of revising and preparing each such future edition for press shall be borne by the Author, and shall be deducted from the royalties payable to him. 8. During the continuance of this agreement, the copyright of the work shall be vested in the who may be registered as the proprietor thereof accordingly. 9. The Publisher shall make up the account annually to and deliver the same to the Author within months thereafter, an 1 pay the balance due to the Author on 10. If the Publisher shall at the end of three years from the date of publication, or at any time thereafter, give notice to the Author that in his opinion the demand for the work has ceased, or if the Publisher shall for sis months after the work is out of print decline or, after due notice, neglect to publish a new edition, then and in either of such cases this agreement shall termi- nate, and, on the determination of this agreement in the above or any other manner, the right to print and publish the work shall revert to the Author, and the Author, if not then registered, shall be entitled to be registered as the proprietor thereof, and to purchase from the Publisher forth- with the plates or moulds and engravings (if any) produced specially for the work, at half-cost of production, and whatever copies the Publisher may have on hand at cost of production, and if the Author does not within three months pur- chase and pay for the said plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, the Publisher may at any time thereafter dispose of such plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, or melt the plates, paying VOL. IX. weekly) during the printing the' author be informed of the cost of corrections? He must in any case be informed what is the cost of com- position, and what is the connection between corrections and shillings. Clause 7 might, under certain circumstances— that is if the publisher has purchased the copy- right—be inserted in an agreement, but in the present form of royalty agreement it should be struck out. There is no need for it. Its imprac- ticability with regard to technical writers during their lifetime has been explained. Clause 8.—There is no neud either for the insertion of Clause 8. The copyright is the author's, and must remain so. The clause is inserted evidently with the idea of the copyright being vested in the name of the publisher. This would be a mistake. Clause 9, the account clause, is so beautifully vague that it is hardly worth while to comment upon it, except to point out that it is a mistake to have accounts made up annually delivered three months after they are made up, with the amounts due payable three months after that,, making it possible for the publisher to retain the author's money for nearly eighteen months. This is a common account clause amongst publishers* and no doubt they find it exceedingly useful to have the control of the author's money for so long a period. The mere interest on such money would go a long way to pay the office expenses in a big office. But the inconvenience to the author, not to mention the danger of bankruptcy or similar contingencies to the firm, is very considerable. Clause 10.—The first part of Clause 10 is certainly necessary for the protection of the author, as it would be very awkward supposing the publisher refused to produce the book when the author had a certain market for it. If, how- ever, as in the case of some educational works,, the publisher desired still to maintain the control of the market, so as not to allow the author to republish a book in competition with one which the publisher had already before the public, it would be easy to evade the clause by having a few copies ready on hand. The latter part of the clause, however, could not possibly be equitable as between author and publisher. It is quite possible that the moulds and engravings might be so worn that they would not be worth half the cost of production, and the copies of the book that the publisher had on hand might not be worth the whole cost of production, as it is quite possible that they might have been damaged or otherwise defaced. If, therefore, the author refused to pur- chase the books at the cost of production on account of some damage that they had received, it e 2  ## p. 38 (#50) ############################################## 3S THE AUTHOR. to the Author in lieu of royalties per cent. of the net proceeds of such sale. 11. If any difference shall arise between the Author and the Publisher touching the meaning of this agreement, or the rights or liabilities of the parties thereunder, the same shall be referred to the arbitration of two persons (one to be named by each party) or their umpire, in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1889. 12. The term "Publisher" throughout this agreement shall be deemed to include the person or persons or company for the time being carrying on the business of the said under as well its present as any future style, and the benefit of this agreement shall betrausmissible accordingly. As witness the hands of the parties. would be possible for the author in reproducing the work with some other publisher to be under- sold. The author should have the option of taking over the stock aud plates at a valuation. The danger, however, is not a very large one, as if the book was in such a cond tion that the author dt sired to bring out a new edition and the publisher did not, it would most probably argue that the book had very nearly reached the end of its sale, in which case there would most probably be only a few copies on hand. The danger, how- ever, is one that should be guarded against. Clause 11 ought to be struck out, as, until a dispute arises, it is impossible to say whether it is a fit subject for arbitration; besides, arbitration is more expensive than an action at law. Clause 12 should on no account stand. It is most important, as explained when discussing the parties to this agreement, that the contract should be a personal contract, and this point should always bo before authors when signing agree- ments. They should under no circumstances allow such a cliuse to pass. This is a fair comment on the royalty agree- ment as it stands. Many suggestions might be made as to the insertion of various clauses, and the protection of the author on other points. But, as stated in the opening sentences, these are faults of omission, and the agreement has only been dealt with as regards the drafted clauses. It might be well to mention that some definite time should be fixed on, before which a publisher should not be allowed to make remainder sales. Draft Form of suggested Sharing Profits Agreement between Author and Pub- lisher, DRAWN UP BY THE COUNCIL OF THE Publishers' Association, and submitted to and approved by Mr. Joseph Walton, Q.C., and Mr. Arthur R. Ingpen. Sharing Profits Agreement. Memorandum of Agreement made the day of between (hereinafter termed the Author) of the one part and (hereinafter termed the Publisher) of the other part, whereby it is mutually agreed between the parties hereto for themselves and their respective executors, administrators, and assigns (or suc- cessors, as the case may be), as follows:— The second agreement is one which has to do with the division of profits. This system is always a bad one between author and publisher, as likely to lead to disputes on accounts, and as giving scope for a great many minor difficulties. An author should not, except under very extra- ordinary circumstances, enter into any agreement with a publisher for the sharing of profits. Under no condition ought he to enter into an agreement such as this, although the Publishers' Associa- tion has put it forward as equitable between the parties.  ## p. 39 (#51) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 39 1. The Publisher shall, at his own risk and expense, and with due diligence, produce and publish the work at present intituled by and use his best endeavours to sell the same. 2. The Author guarantees to the Publisher that the said work is in no way whatever a violation of any existing copyright, and that it contains nothing of a iibellous or scandalous character, and that he will indemnify the Publisher from all suits, claims, proceedings, damages, and costs which may be made, taken, or incurred by or against him on the ground that the work is an infringement of copyright, or contains anything libellous or scandalous. 3. The Publisher sLall, during the legal term of copyright, have the exclusive right of pro- ducing and publishing the work in the English language throughout the world. The Publisher shall have the entire control of the publication and sale and terms of sale of the book, and the Author shall not during the continuance of this Agree- ment (without the consent of the Publisher) pub- lish any abridgment, translation, or dramatised version of the work. 4. The net profits arising from the sale of the work and remaining after deduction of the expenses of production and publication, shall be divided into parts, of which part shall be paid to the Author and the remaining part shall belong to and be retained by the Publisher. 5. The expenses of production shall betaken to mean the actual cost of printing, paper, binding, illustrating, and advertising, and all incidental expenditure, and, where the Publisher produces the work wholly or in part on his own premises, such cost shall be calculated at current fair and reasonable trade charges. With regard to the parties to the agreement, and with regard to Clauses 1,2, and 3, the same remarks that have been made on the royalty agree- ment will hold good. The fact that the^ same clauses are inserted in the 'share profit agreement does not in any way alter the position. Clause 4.—With regard to Clause 4, which is the first clause which refers especially to this agreement, little can be said. How the profits should be divided is a matter of arrangement between the parties, and it is only possible there- fore to draft a general clause. Clause 5.—With regard to Clause 5, the author should make it essential that he should know approximately the cost of production of the book beforehand, so that it would be impossible for the publisher to charge what he has not paid. This is provided against where the publisher produces the work wholly or in part on his own premises; but supposing it is not produced wholly or in part on his own premises, the same danger of an excessive cost of production would have to be met. It is a curious point that amongst those pub- lishers who do produce printed work on their own premises the cost of production is generally higher than that of printers in the open market. When the author has obtained the cost of produc- tion, and knows, as he ought to know definitely in the agreement, at what price the book is to sell, he can, on a rough calculation, reason out what the profits are likely to accrue. He must also reckon in an amount to be spent on adver- tisements. It is important that he should have some control over the advertising, that he should have a veto on the amount spent and on  ## p. 40 (#52) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 6. The expenses of publication—viz., rent, rates, and taxes of offices, clerks, travellers, warehouse- men, porters, insurance, and bad debts—shall be fixed at per cent. on the gross receipts from the sale of the work. 7. In ascertaining the net profits of the work, all discounts and allowances received and allowed by the Publisher for cash payments or otherwise shall be brought into account and be credited or debited to the work. 8. The Publisher shall account at the customary trade terms for all copies sold, but, in cases where copies have been sold for export, or at rates below the customary trade terms, as remain- ders or otherwise, such copies shall lie accounted for at the price realised. which the advertisements are allowed to appear, so that he can, if necessary, prevent the publisher charging for advertisements in his own produc- tions ox for exchanges with other papers, which cost him nothing. One publisher in a profit- sharing agreement inserts a clause allowing half the cost for advertisements inserted in his own papers, but this ought not to be allowed, as the cost of mere print and paper is a mere trifle, and the publisher is therefore tempted to advertise largely in his own papers, when such expense will probably swallow up all the profits of the book which should go into the author's pocket. Clause 6 should be removed. It is right that all the expenses that can be shown to apply to a particular book should be charged against that book, but no other expenses, and it is absurd to take other expenses at per cent. of the gross receipts from the sale of the work, especially when the work has a large sale or is a high-priced book. Why, again, should the publisher alone among tradesmen charge for his office expenses? Why does he not allow the booksellers a percentage for their office expenses? Why does not the author receive a percentage for his? Clause 7 will of course stand. Clause 8 is a very disastrous clause. Even in the hands of an honourable publisher it could not be satisfactory. Books should, as a matter of fact, be accounted for at the prices sold and not at some arbitrary price as "the customary trade terms." Customary trade terms unfortunately vary immensely, and as the definition of " customary" is a thing without variation, it is impossible to apply the adjective to "trade terms." If books are sold in numbers they are sold thirteen as twelve. If they are not sold in numbers, they are sold at the full discount price less 10 per cent., or even sometimes 12^ per cent. When books are sold thirteen as twelve they are sometimes sold less 5 per cent., and at other times less 10 per cent. off the discount price. Again, they are not always sold on the discount price. I have examples before me of a 3*. 6d. book. Some of the sales were made at 2s. 4<f., thirteen as twelve, less 10 per cent.; others were sold at 2s. 6d., thirteen as twelve, less 12^ per cent. I have another example of a book at 16*., which sold at 10s., thirteen as twelve, less 5 per cent.; and again 10s., thirteen as twelve, less 10 per cent. The words "customary trade terms" are not the only difficulty in the clause. Who is to decide what are to be called "rates below the  ## p. 41 (#53) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 9. The Author agrees to revise the first, and, if necessary, to edit and revise every subsequent edition of the work, and from time to time to supply any new matter that may be needful to keep the work up to date. 10. The Author agrees to bear all costs of corrections and alterations in proof sheets exceed- ing 25 per cent. of the cost of composition, and such excess shall be deducted from his share of the net profits. 11. In the event of the Author neglecting to revise an edition after due notice shall have been given to him, or in the event of the Author being unable to do so by reason of death or otherwise, the expense of revising and preparing each such future edition for press shall be borne by the Author, and shall be deducted from his share of the net profits of the work. 12. Ihiring the continuance of this Agreement, the copyright of the work shall be vested in the who may be registered as the proprietor thereof accordingly. 13. The Publisher shall make up the account of profit and loss annually to and deliver the same to the Author within months thereafter, and the balance appearing in such account to be due to the Author shall be settled on. 14. If the Publisher shall, at the end of three years from the date of publication, or at any time thereafter, give notice to the Author that in his opinion the demand for the work has ceased, or if the Publisher shall for six months after the work is out of print decline or, after due notice, neglect to publish a new edition, then and in either of such cases this Agreement shall termi- nate, and, on the determination of this Agree- ment in the above or any other manner, the right to print and publish the work shall revert to the Author, who shall, if not then registered, be entitled to be registered as the proprietor thereof, and to purchase from the Publisher forthwith the plates or moulds, and engravings (if any) pro- duced specially for the work, at half-cost of pro- duction, and whatever copies the Publisher may have on hand at cost, and if the Author does not customary trade terms," seeing that trade terms vary so enormously? The clause is exceedingly unsatisfactory, and the only cure is for the pub- lisher to account for every copy of the book at the price at which his books must show that it was actually sold, and that he should not be allowed to sell it below a fixed price without an arrangement with the author. With regard, also, to this clause, the option of the sale at a reduced price is left entirely in the hands of the publisher. This should be with the consent of the author. Clauses 9 to 16 have all been dealt with in the article on the royalty agreement. Their situation in the half-profit agreement does not make it necessary to add anything to the remarks already made. The difficulty of allowing them to stand in the agreement has been fully set forth.  ## p. 42 (#54) ############################################## 42 THE AUTHOR within three months purchase and pay for the aid plates or moulds, engravings and copies, the Publisher may at any time thereafter dispose of such plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, or melt the plates, and the net proceeds of such sale shall be brought into the Publisher's account as part of the proceeds of sale of the work. 15. If any difference shall arise between the Author and the Publisher touching the meaning of this Agreement, or the rights or liabilities of the parties thereunder, the same shall be referred to the arbitration of two persons (one to be named by each party) or their umpire, in accord- ance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1889. 16. The term "Publisher" throughout this Agreement shall be deemed to include the person or persons or Company for the time being carry- ing on the business of the said under as well its present as any future style, and the benefit of this Agreement shall be transmissible accordingly. As witness the hands of the parties. Suggested Terms for Producing and Pub- lishing Books on Commission where the Production and Publication are placed in the Publisher's hands, drawn up and approved by the Council of the Pub- lishers' Association. Terms for Producing and Publishing Books on Commission where the Production and Publi- cation are placed in the Publisher's Hands. 1. A fee of shall be paid to the pub- lisher previous to opening an account for its production and publication. 1. The Publisher will supply the Author with estimates for the printing, and will charge a com- mission of per cent. on the trade prices for printing, paper, binding, advertising, and other disbursements, and reserve to himself the right to take the usual credit or the equivalent cash discount for cash payments, but no such discount shall exceed 75 per cent. The next agreement that comes under discus- sion is a commission agreement. It does not appear from the statement which is endorsed upon it to have been settled by counsel on behalf of the Association, although it appears to have been approved by the Council of the Association. The agreement is headed "Terms for produc- ing and publishing books on commission where the production and publication are placed in the publisher's hands." It would be impossible to approve the terms of this agreement on behalf of an author. In Clause 1 a fee is to be paid to the publisher previous to opening an account. A great deal, of course, would depend upon the amount of the fee asked for. If the fee was a reasonable one the clause might be passed. A fee of this kind, how- ever, has generally in publishers' agreements been subsequently deducted from the commission due to the publisher, but in this agreement no such course is put forward. In Clause 2 the publisher is going to hand in estimates to the author, and on these estimates he is to charge a percentage. This course makes the publisher's and author's interests in direct variance, for the higher the estimates the greater the publisher's percentage. From this point of view the clause is a bad one, quite apart from the right of the publisher to have a percentage on the cost of production at all in addition to all the other profits that he is going to make out of  ## p. 43 (#55) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 43 3. The Author or Proprietor shall, before the work is sent to press, pay the publisher a suffi- cient sum to meet the estimated charges for production and publication, including such a sum for advertising as the Author or Proprietor may deem desirable. The Publisher will charge a commission of per cent on the sales. 5. The Publisher shall account at the customary trade terms for all copies sold, but in cases where copies have been sold for export or at rates below the customary trade terms, as remainders or otherwise, such copies shall be accounted for at such lower prices. 6. The entire management of the production, publication, and sale of the work shall be in the hands of the Publisher. the book. Again, he is to be allowed to take 7! per cent-, discount for cash payments. This discount he will be able to obtain at once, as under Clause 3 the author is to pay the publisher a sum to cover the estimated cost of production before the work is sent to press. More than this, he is to pay for the advertisements at, the same time, when it is hardly possible that the cash will be needod for advertising until three or four months later at the ear lie it. To the end of Clause 2, therefore, the publisher makes in the way of profits a fee to begin with, a percentage on the cost of production, binding, and advertis- ing, it being to the publisher's interest to make these charges as high as possible, and a discount of i\ per cent. on the same items. This is a good beginning when the publisher is to have no risk whatever as regards the book, all expenses being covered by the author. In Clause 3 the author has to pay the sum as stated above before the work is sent to press. This clause could not be reasonable as between author and publisher. That the publisher should have some part of the payment down is quite fair if he was bound to produce the work by a certaiu date, but under the terms as put forward he might put off publication for a very long time, and, in the meautime, would have the use of the author's money. That the author should have to pay the whole sum is absurd. An equitable arrangement suggested would be one-third when the agreement is made, such agreement stating definitely the date on or before which the book should be published, the second third on the final delivery of the proofs, and the final amount on the publication of the book. By Clause 4 t he publisher charges a commission on the sales of the book. This is the general form by which a publisher obtains his profits on a commission book, and is the fairest form, the interests of the publisher and author being com- mensurate. The objections to Clause 5, with regard to customary trade terms, have been put forward in commenting on Clause 8 of the half-profit agree- ment. There is no need to repeat them. Clause 6 should not, on any account, stand in an agreement of this kind. The book is the author's. He pays for it entirely. He is, how- ever, not to have any voice with regard to the papers in which the book is to be advertised, with regard to the price of the book, and other important matters. All these are to be entirely in the hands of the publisher, who possibly might sell the book at such a published price that the author could not possibly be remunerated on his  ## p. 44 (#56) ############################################## 44 THE AUTHOR. 7. Accounts will be made up annually to and rendered within months after the date of making up, and the balance due paid on 8. The Publisher does not undertake to send out copies of the work on sale or return. 9. The Publisher will not be responsible for loss or damage by fire or in transit. 10. The Publisher will deliver the five copies required by Act of Parliament for the British Museum and Public Libraries. 11. The Author shall guarantee to the Pub- lisher that the said work is in no way whatever a violation of any existing copyright, and that it ■contains nothing of a libellous or scandalous character, and that he will indemnify the Pub- lisher from all suits, claims, procedings, damages, and costs which may be made, taken, or in- curred by or against him on the ground that the work is an infringement of copyright, or contains anything libellous or scandalous. 12. When the Publisher considers that the demand for the work has ceased, the unsold stock may be returned to the Author or Proprietor, or disposed of at the Publisher's discretion, after ,due notice of such intention has been given to the Author or his representatives. outlay. Further, if the published price was reasonable, the publisher might sell it at such a reduced rate that the author could not be remu- nerated, and the author would have no voice whatever in stopping such a proceeding. The objections to Clause 7 have been put forward with regard to Clause 9 of the royalty agreement. It is a pity that Clause 8 should be inserted, as the booksellers confess that with expensive books the chance of 6ale is considerably increased by an arrangement for books being forwarded "on sale or return," for the reason that they are unable to stock expensive books. Clauses 9 and 10 may stand, with the excep- tion of wilful neglect in the case of fire, &c. Clause 11 has been already commented on as Clause 2 in the royalty agreement. Clause 12 should not be drawn in the alterna- tive. Here the stock in hand belongs to the author, and is put in the hands of the publisher as his agent. The publisher, however, may either return the unsold stock to the author or dispose of it at his discretion, which is by no means fair to the author. If the author refused to receive the unsold stock when the demand for the work had ceased, then the publisher might have the right of disposing of it at his discretion, but the publisher should not have the right in the alter- native as the clause is at present drawn. Suggested Terms for Publishing Books on Commission where the Publication only is placed in the hands of the Publisher, deawn up and approved by the council of the Publishers' Association. Terms for Publishing Books on Commission where the Publication only is placed in the hands of the Publisher. 1. A fee of shall be paid to the Pub- lisher previous to opening an account for the publication of the work. The last agreement that the publishers put forward is the commission agreement, where the publication only is placed in the hands of the publisher. Like the last one, it does not appear to have been settled by counsel, but is only put forward as approved by the Council of the Pub- lishers' Association. There is very little further to be said on the agreement beyond what has already been said on the prior agreements, especially the last one. Clauses 1, 2, and 3 have already been dealt with.  ## p. 45 (#57) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 45 2. The Publisher will charge a commission of per cent. on the sales. 3. The Publisher shall account at the customary trade terms for all copies sold, but in cases where copies have been sold for export, or at rates below the customary trade terms, as remainders or otherwise, such copies shall be accounted for at such lower prices. 4. No other name but that of shall appear on the title-page as publisher of the work, which is to be sold only through his agency. A proof of the title-page shall be submitted to and approved by the Publisher before printing off. 5. The Publisher will, if desired, act as adver- tising agent for the Author, charging a commis- sion of per cent. on the actual amount expended. 6. The entire management of the publication and sale of the work shall be in the hands of the Publisher. 7. Accounts will be made up annually to and rendered within months after the date of making up, and the balance due paid on 8. The Publisher does not undertake to send out books on sale or return. 9. The Publisher will not be responsible for loss or damage by fire or in transit. 10. The Publisher will deliver the five copies required by Act of Parliament for the British Museum and Public Libraries. 11. The Author shall guarantee to the Pub- lisher that the said work is in no way whatever a violation of any existing copyright, and that it contains nothing of a libellous or scandalous character, and that he will indemnify the Pub- lisher from all suits, claims, proceedings, damages, and costs, which may be made, taken, or incurred by or against him on the ground that the work is an infringement of copyright, or contains any- thing libellous or scandalous. 12. When the Publisher considers that the demand for the work has ceased, the unsold stock may be returned to the author or disposed of at the Publisher's discretion, after due notice of such intention has been given to the Author or his representatives. Clause 4 is a reasonable clause as far as both publisher and author are concerned. Clause 5 is a difficult clause to deal with. It is certainly necessary that, if an author is publish- ing on commission, his books should be advertised in the list of the publisher who is acting for him. It is certain also that the publishers, owing to the large advertisements that they can send round to the papers, get a discount from the papers for advertisements. All discounts thus obtained by the publisher acting as an agent would be credited to the author, and the publisher's percentage reckoned against the lower amount. Clause 6 has been commented on, and the reasons have been put forward very strongly, why the whole management of the publication and sale of the work should not be in the hands of the publisher. The account Clause 7 has also been dealt with. It is only necessary to repeat that it is a bad one. It has been already demonstrated that Clause 8 is unsatisfactory. Clauses 9 and 10 are reasonable clauses, and might well be left, with the exception stated in the former agreement. Clause 11 has been commented on in the former agreement. Clause 12 has also been commented on in t last agreement. It appears that the publishers have not put forward any agreement between an author and themselves with regard to the purchase outright of the copyright, thinking, I suppose, that when  ## p. 46 (#58) ############################################## 46 THE AUTHOR the book is purchased outright they are sufficiently protected and the author also. This is a view that I find it impossible to hold. The publisher, for instance, should be protected against an abridgment. The author should be protected against the non-publication of his work, publication in an altered form, and publication without his name attached. The forms of agreement, therefore, as existing between author and publisher are in reality four:— 1. —Royalty Agreement. 2. —Profit Sharing Agreement. 3. —Agreement for Purchase Outright. 4. —Commission Agreement. (a) Where the publisher produces the book. (6) Where the book is placed in the publisher's hands already printed. It is to be hoped that before circularising thase agreements amongst the various publishing offices, the publishers will seriously consider them again from a fair and moderate point of view. From some points of view the agreements are much worse than those issuing from some of the better and more reliable publishing houses; but it must be stated that, from many points of view, they are better than the agreements which, we regret to say, publishers are now placing before authors which embody every advantage which it is possible for a publisher to acquire without taking into consideration at all the author's rights of dealing with his own property. G. Herbeet Thring, Secretary. The comments on the publishers' agreements drawn by the Secretary of the Society have been carefully considered by the Committee and indorsed by them, and are published in The Author by order of the Committee. G. H. T. FURTHER COMMENTS. SOME time ago, when it was mentioned at a meeting of the Committee that a Publishers' Association was in formation, the Chairman remarked that no more desirable thing could happen. He meant, I supposed, that the better kind among publishers would take the lead: that the practices of the other kinds would be strongly condemned and discountenanced: and that an honest endeavour would be made to put the rela- tions between themselves and the authors on a footing of principle and reason. It was also hoped by some that the practices—which some call fraud — of charging moneys which have not been paid away, and advertisements which have cost nothing: and of overstating—which in every case is a de- liberate LIE—the costs of printing, paper, bind- ing, &c., would be denounced with the plainness of speech which the subject and the good name of the trade demand. Some went so far as to suppose that, in cases where the publishers did not agree with the authors, some reason would be forthcoming; and all supposed, further, that the original demands of authors, put forward at the outset, and again and again repeated in these pages, would be at once recognised by any body of men who wish to be ranked as men of honour. They are these: (1.) We ask for common honesty in dealings. (2.) We ask for agreements that shall plainly set forth what the publisher proposes to take for his own trouble—say, his own trouble and risk, in the few cases where he incurs risk. (3.) We ask for books open to inspection. The last claim is one to which everyone having a share in any enterprise is entitled by common law. Perhaps, therefore, it should be withdrawn. Or, if it stands, it is only to remind both sides that it is a right. The Publishers' Association has not yet fulfilled these expectations. It has now, however, issued a set of " draft agreements," some of which have been approved by Counsel. They have been sent to Mr. Turing, whose comments upon them precede these remarks. The documents, in fact, with these comments, are of the highest importance to everybody concerned with the material well-being of literature: they concern the independence of literature: they concern its dignity and self- respect. If authors can be brought to consent to the degrading terms on which publishers in their collective wisdom, not as individual grabbers, propose in future to manage their affairs, they will rapidly sink back to the position as pub- lishers' hacks which, with a few exceptions, they formerly occupied. For it will be seen that the publishers propose to put the clock back and now lay claim to the whole of literary property—its entire management and nearly all the emolu- ments. A profession to be respected must be indepen- dent. Literature ought to be, and must be, independent. In order to attract the best.  ## p. 47 (#59) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 47 intellects there mu^t be material prospscts and prizes: there must be se'f-respect: there must be independence. Otherwise literature will become once more, as it was fifty years ago, a profession of contempt, honoured only in the persons of half a dozen leaders. And, as it was forty years ago, those who followed the profession of letters because the call was too strong to be neglected, will do so with increased bitterness and resent- ment in their hearts against the intolerable tyranny of the people who live by seizing on the brain work of ihe world and selling it, to their own sole profit and advantage. It has been shown over and over again in these pages, that in the matter of general literature, and setting aside great works, such as encyclo- paedias and dictionaries and so forth, the risk run by the publisher is in most cases either very small, viz., the difference between the first sub- scription and the cost of production: or it is nothing at al'. Thnt is to say, it cannot be too often repeated, that there are hundreds of writers in the various branches of literature whose works carry no risk whatever. In every branch, whether of science, art, belles lettres, history, educational books, poetry, fiction, theology, there are authors —they write nearly all the important books pro- duced—the proceeds of whose works are quite certain to exceed the cost of production. Of those writers whose works do carry risk, by far the greater number are made to pay for the pro- duction, and to pay, in most cases, largely in excess of their cost. In arguing, therefore, about the share due to the publisher we may consider the question of risk separately. What, then, do publishers actually do for the majority of books? They put them through a mechanical process. I have done it myself for something like forty books. My process involved spending a few minutes with a printer and a few minutes with a binder: arranging that they should be paid a certain time after the book was produced, in <rder to avoid paying any money except from the proceeds of the book. In most ,cases there was no money paid except from the proceeds. Yet some of these were books carrying risk, as most publishers would plead. And they cost nothing, because the proceeds covered the risks. Observe that I do not say that a publisher never runs risks. I say that as a matter of fact his risks are few and of very small amount— of even trivial amount—as a rule: and that he need not run risks unless he likes. But a great house—it will be objected—gives the author the benefit of his name. Is that a benefit? How is it, then, that so many successes are made with the name of new and quite small firms? The name of a firm on a title-page is worth exactly nothing to the general public: it carries no weight with the mass of readers: or, if any, then there are fifty houses which carry equal weight. The public cares nothing who publishes a book: of all tradesmen the publisher is the least regarded by the world. There is no single name on a title page, I repeat, which will commend a book to the general public more than any other name. With these considerations let us turn to the "Draft Agreements," and apply the test of a few figures. I. The Royalty Agreement. The agreement demands that the royalty should be paid on thirteen as twelve or on twenty-five as twenty-four, " as the case may be." What case F The publisher's interest, of course. Now, the book is not sold at either thirteen as twelve or twenty-five as twenty-four, except where the bookseller orders a dozen—a very rare occurrence. However, this claim means 8 per cent. in the publishers' pockets. When a deferred royalty has allowed the cost of production to be paid for, the author must have 50 per cent. of the price to the trade, that is to say, at least the half. That is evidently not intended by the agreement, or it would have been so stated. In case of sales to America, the publisher proposes to give the author a royalty. In other words, he claims what he calls publishers' rights for agents' work. Very well. Now let us see what the publisher may get on this agreement, and what he may give to the author. We assume a book which costs 150 to produce an edition of 3000 copies, including advertise- ments. It sells to the trade at an average of 3*. 6d. a copy. Under existing arrangements, what may the author make out of his work? The royalties are estimated at what is called a moderate figure, which gives more than half profits to the publisher. He may get a good price for his English serial right—say, .£400: a lower price for his American serial right—say .£200. Royalties on 3000 copies at 20 per cent., .£180: American royalties at 15 per cent. on 2000, say £90: continental rights, say .£50: translation rights, say £2 5 (these rights are generally nominal): dramatic rights if the book is successfully dramatised, some thou- sands—an unknown quantity. Without reckon- ing the last, which no publisher to my knowledge has ever before ventured to claim, the author, who you will observe is not put forward as one of the most successful, stands to make .£925 for his book, or .£525 in addition to the English serial rights.  ## p. 48 (#60) ############################################## 48 THE AUTHOR. The publisher, under these conditions, makes his profit of .£225 on the volume form—quite enough for the work he has done for it. What does the publisher propose to make under the new proposals? He has not, it must be owned, dared as yet to claim the English serial right. This omission has, I doubt not, made many honourable persons very sad. It is, indeed, truly wonderful that they did forget it. However, he gives the author a royalty, say, of a shilling a copy, which leaves himself .£225: he takes the American serial right and gives the author 10 per cent. royalty on it, leaving himself .£180: he takes the American royalties and gives the author a royalty on them, say of 10 per cent., leaving himself .£81 : in the same way he keeps .£45 out of the continental rights and .£22 out of the translation rights. In all the publisher apparently proposes to take .£553 for himself, and to give the author .£i86 instead of the .£525 which he now takes. Is it possible that any body of men can be brought to believe that any other body of men and women will consent to such wholesale plunder of their property? But this is not enough. They further demand the right of keeping all the money in their own hands for eighteen months before they pay the author! Will any other business man in any other line of business, give us his opinion on this and the other clauses of this brazen claim upon the property of others in return for a service of machinery? II. Let us nest take a Profit-sharing Agree- ment. The author ignorantly supposes that it means a share of profits. It does nothing of the kind. It means a share of the poor remnant when the publisher has laid his hand on everything to which he can make out a claim with or without the least regard to reason or principle. What is it he claims, however? 1. A percentage on the gross receipts for office expenses. Where are the author's office expenses? Where are the booksellers'? Now, the gross receipts may mean a large sum. Mr. Hall Caine's " Christian" is believed to have circulated 160,000 copies. The receipts were probably £2 8,000. Ten per cent. on this means .£2800. This seems a very large sum for the office expenses connected with one book only, and for a very limited period—say four months. One envies the immense salaries of the packers, all, probably, university men and members of West-end clubs. And one pictures the huge warehouses which were built at enormous cost to contain books of a circulation so enormous. But the circulation of this book is excep- tional. Very true. We must, however, always try a proposition by an extreme case. Thus, by this way of reckonining, if a book has no sale at all, it has cost nothing for office expenses: if it has a very small sale, say, of a 100 copies, bringing in .£20, the office expenses have been only £2. Now, it is a fact that a great many publishers do not keep their wares in their own houses, but at the binders', and I have never heard that they have offered to hand over the sums they claim for office expenses to the binders who really defray them. As in every other trade, his "office expenses" are part of the publisher's machinery. He places it at the service of the author: it is all, in most cases, that he does for the book: if he is to be paid for office expenses, so is the author: so, more than than either, is the bookseller. Now, if a be the cost of product;on and b the proceeds the publisher gets for him- self, he first gets 1 0 per cent. on b, that is —. Next he has the power of saying that the books were sold at " customary trade prices," that is at anything he pleases— he may quite safely pocket another 10 per cent on this item. For instance, if he gets 3*. l0d. as the general price for the trade, and 3*. 5*?. for special terms, he may call the "customary trade price," 3*. <-,d, and no one can prevent him. This would give him over 13 percent. He can overcharge the cost of production by what he pleases—say 10 per cent. if he is moderate—and he can make this 10 per cent. even 30 per cent. by charging adver- tisements which he has not paid for. Finally he can keep the money due to the author for eighteen months. How do we stand now? The publisher has taken ^- + A + —a = 2b + ?,a} from tljg returns of 10 10 10 10 the book. There remains b—a— 2^_*_ to be divided. 10 The author, therefore, would get —— 20 for his share of the property. If the book cost £100 and realised .£200, the author would net .£15 ; the publisher would get .£85.  ## p. 49 (#61) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 49 There is a half-profit system! And we have not counted the eighteen months' interest! III. A commission book. Here the victim thinks he has only to pay a commission on the sales. He will learn when the bills come in what the agreement means. The publisher takes (i) a fee—say, ,£i0: (2) a commission on the cost of production—why ?— say 15 per cent.—no amount is proposed. (3) dis- count up to 7§ per cent.—why? (4) the payment of the cost in full, and at once, though it will be three or four months before the book is ready, and six months before he has to pay the printer, so that he gets the use of the money for six months; (5) a commission on sales—say 15 per cent.; (6) permission to set down the sales at anything he pleases, since "customary trade prices " means nothing. This gives him perhaps another 10 per cent., perhaps more. Lastly, he keeps the author's money for eighteen months. You see this is not exactly taking a commission and so to be done with it. If we work it out taking a for the cost of pro- duction, b for the proceeds, and c for the fee: We find that the publisher takes, reckoning the interest at 5 per cent.: c + —5- a H 2- a + - — a + —i b + — 100 200 2 100 100 100 i.e. c + -1 a+ -5- a+ — 0+ JL b+ — 20 40 40 20 10 or , a + b c 4 4 The author will have for his share: b—a—c—a-±* = 3&—5« _c 4 4 Without reckoning the interest for the eighteen months, during which he is kept out of his money. At 5 per cent. this reduces his share and leaves him 37 36—5« _c 40 4 while it increases the publisher's, whose gains now stand at 496 + 250+1600 160 a wonderful fraction—one which raises the Pub- lisher's Association to the level of a Scientific Body. If we omit consideration of this interest, we shall find that, if a book cost £100 and realised £200, the fee being ,£i0, the author, on a com- mission of 15 per cent., which he fondly thought would give the publisher .£30, actually gives him .£85 and himself £15. This is a delightful outcome of commission publishing! There remains one more method, that of giving the publisher the books printed and bound. My advice in such a method, which ought to be a very good one, is not on any account to give it to any publisher who proposes to deal with it in the terms of this agreement. It is to be remarked that there is only one opening here for anything above the commission and that it is eagerly pounced upon. The publisher hopes to become an advertising agent, and to earn an honest penny in addition. It is very kind of him, but all that is required of him is to publish, which includes advertising, and since he will not even consider that this small service is paid for by his commission, the author had better take his work elsewhere. These figures show what is demanded, together with what the author at present receives. And I ask again whether any body of men can think it possible that any other body of men will consent to this wholesale seizure of their property, or will surrender the advantages they have already obtained? Will publishers refuse to grant any other terms? For my own part I should desire nothing better, because we could then proceed at once to create the new machinery which these agreements would force upon us. W. B. NOTES AND NEWS. WE are reminded from time to time of the opinions still held of an author in official circles as well as others. He is regarded as a person who has no property and no interest in any property. He is considered to be a ragged wretch who sits in a garret and produces property for his employer. It is not his property, and if there is any inquiry into it, he is not to be con- sulted. A striking example is before us. A committee of the House of Lords is sitting on the Law of Copyright. The sole creators of literary property are the authors. They are not necessarily the slaves of publishers: some of them retain their rights over their own property. They are not an ignorant and illiterate set of men; some of them are scholars, lawyers, students, historians. They are not all starvelings: some of them live in quite decent houses: some of them are members of the best clubs. What happens, however? The committee meet. The first person they call is a publisher: the second person they call is a publisher: the third person they call is a publisher. Up to the time of writing these remarks no author has been called at all. Perhaps none will ever be called. Could any- thing show more clearly the contempt for the  ## p. 50 (#62) ############################################## 5° THE AUTHOR. calling of letters that is still prevalent in certain quarters? _:_ The present number of The Author is of very great importance. It contains the report of the committee appointed to examine into the scheme of the Booksellers' Association and the draft agreements which the com- mittee of the Publishers' Association advance as representing their views of the situation as regards the author. With regard to the first scheme, it is put forward as a compromise. The booksellers are not called upon to enter into slavery; the discount system is practically allowed to remain where it was: the accursed "odd book" pretence is to be abolished: and there is to be a time limit, beyond which the price of a book will remain in the power of the bookseller: books are to be sent out on sale or return: and there is to be an extended system of "net" price to books over 6s. in price. These reforms are so simple, and so much to the advantage of all con- cerned, that they will probably be adopted without delay. If something is not done, and that quickly, the bookselling trade in this country will be practically killed. What will take its place? The railway stall'r But the railway stall can- not take the place of the bookseller's shop. It cannot contain any but the newest books: of serious and costly literature it can hardly show any. Without the shop, bookselling, properly so called, cannot live. Already the country booksellers are falling right and left. The condition of things concerns us all—readers as well as writers—we are all interested in keep- ing up the bookseller. Now, by the scheme pro- posed he will have the power of exhibiting all the best books: they will be sent to him on "sale or return." The author will be certain also of having his books exhibited. How will it affect the pub- lisher? At present he subscribes a book. Perhaps he subscribes 500 out of an edition of 1500. The rest do not, perhaps, get taken up at all. The book is subscribed by one or two at a time: a copy is sold, and the book is then forgotten. The copies which are left over are remainder stock: they are sold at a few pence each. By the new system the publisher would send out, say, 800 on " sale or return." A book which is exhibited would have a far better chance than a book which is not. When it was sold another copy would be sent; finally, perhaps, a1! would be gone except 300 or so, which would be returned—whether soiled or not would matter nothing, as they would be only remainder stock. There will be no odd copy, tut the publisher would still sell his took at the average price: his accounts would be greatly simplified: and he would be spared the tempta- tion of lying to the author, and pretending, as many do now, that all their books are sold at. "thirteen as twelve." Anything which removes the temptation of lying, and at the same time involves no loss of money, should be, and no doubt will be, gratefully welcomed. A notable article on "Literary Life in London" appeal's in the last number of the North American Review. The author is Mr. W. H. Rideing. To begin with, he knows something of his subject. Probably very few English writers could have written a better or a truer paper about it. There is very little esprit de corps, he says. He should have said, "as yet." Esprit de corps grows from the outside, not from the inside. When the profes- sion of let ers can show that its followers are entirely emancipated from the yoke of the pub- lishers, and can administer their own estates so that the world can understand that their's is not a dependent's work, nor a beggarly work: when the world sees that the national honours are as freely bestowed upon the men of letters as upon many other professions: then the modified con- tempt which still prevails will be changed into unmodified respect, and the men of letters them- selves will respect each other and their calling. It is pleasing to acknowledge that Mr. Rideing recognises that the improved position of the English author is due, not only to international copyright, but also to the "enlightenment which the Incorporated Society of Authors has afforded him as to the proper method of dealing with publishers." He is not right, however, in sup- posing that the improved position is confined to the novelist. Historians—essayists—all—stand in a better position than they did. The improve- ment is not only due to the two causes already mentioned, but also to the great increase in readers, tho increase in libraries, and the increased income of the classes which never used to buy. And this in the face of a decaying book- trade and a decreasing number of booksellers. He falls foul of the Literary Agent, whose business he thinks is simply to relieve the author of the conduct of his own affairs. This, however, involves a great deal. The agent prevents the author from being "bested" by superior know- ledge used for the purpose of deceiving him: and next, in the case of those writers who supply serials, the agent learns where there arc openings,  ## p. 51 (#63) ############################################## 1HE AUTHOR. 5« and the price which ought to be given for the work. But according to Mr. Kideing, his chief business is to create discord batween author and publisher, "and frequently he succeeds in doing it." "Create discord"! Why—when was there concord? When has there been anything but suspicion and jealousy and blind resentment ?" More than one strong house," he goes on, "rather than submit to his extortions and his impudence, has ceased to con- sider the work of the authors who are only acces- sible through him." I wonder what houses these are. I can quite understand a house to which, for very good reasons, a trustworthy and con- scientious agent will not take his author, pre- tending that the refusal comes from their side; but I have never yet discovered any publishing house which will refuse an author on terms which mean money. And, further, I have never learned that any agent has ever offered an author except on terms which do mean money. There is one more charge against the Agent:— The more manuscript he sells and the higher the price he obtains the larger are his own commissions. The young author in his hands who has made a success at the start is not allowed to choose his own time for further work and to prepare for it, but is urged and tempted to add book to book until he beoomes a diffuse and tedious hack, undesired by anybody, undesired even by the literary agent himself. An instance occurs to me. The young anthor was " boomed" so persistently that in order to fulfill his orders he had to lise at four in the morning, and then, sitting down with a typewriter before him and a phonograph at his elbow, he would carry along two stories at onoe. His first book was an instant success when it appeared a few years ago, but his last manusoiipt, delivered as "per invoice" in the words of the agent, his been rejected by thirteen different periodicals, and is at ill in the market. "As per invoice" expresses the agent's view of literature precisely. Now, really one is grateful to Mr. Eideing for an article which is in the main accurate in its details. But this instance—surely, surely, it was narrated in a publisher's back office—I know two back offices, at least, where such pretty stories are daily confected. In them the literary agent is regarded with a holy horror born of baffled intentions. Who is this author? What is his name? I know all the novelists, I believe, who can be described as having made a great success "a few years ago." Not one of them can be the hero of the phonograph and the typewriter. One thing more. "As per invoice" is a com- mercial expression. But the agent cannot be too commercial; he is like the publisher—he can- not lie too commercial. And, again, about this driving of the novelist. He need not be driven unless he pleases. It is his own fault if he his driven. A man who consents to ruin his powers and to destroy his reputation for the sake of a little immediate gain deserves no pity. He need not be driven. The weak point about the article is that it says nothing about the larger Literary Life outside that of the novelist. With a few exceptions the general standard of prosperity has immensely improved all along the line. The demand for, and the prizes for, the dramatist have increased a hundredfold—literally, a hundredfold. The historian: the essayist: the popular poet: the writer on science or on education: all have advanced in demand enormously during the last twenty years. The profession of the journalist has been almost cieated within the last fifty years: it is now a profession with many solid and valuable prizes—especially the prize of being editor to a great daily paper. Two kinds of books have either suffered loss in demand, or have not advanced in proportion to the increase of readers. One is the book of devotions — fifty years ago there were several books of Family Prayers which were comfortable pro- perties—the happy publisher who held one always used it himself morning and evening in order to lend reality to his sense of gratefulness. The other kind which has not advanced is the book of Critical Essays. On all other forms of literature a man may live—and live well. But he can no longer live by writing Family Prayers, and he has never been able to live by writing Critical Essays. Most of the readers of The Author are interested i a the history and preservation of the English language. If they are not, who should be? They will therefore make a note that the English Dialect Dictionary, Parts I.—VI. will be ready in December next. This most important is one which ought to be in every library. I would suggest that my readers should send to Professor J. Wright, Langdale House, Park Town, Oxford, for the papers and form of subscription, and that, if they cannot subscribe themselves, they will do their best to get the work placed in the nearest public library. The Authors' Club has added to its accommo- dation by two or three more rooms. It wanted wider space. It also wants more members, and I venture to recommend the claims of the Club upon our Society. It is a cheerful and sociable club: the members are mostly known to each other, and if not, are accessible and affable: the weekly dinners are an institution: the future of the Club is believed in: and it is an excellent thing that there should be one club, at least, in London  ## p. 52 (#64) ############################################## 5a THE AUTHOR. which should really belong to men of letters and no others. It is also, on the whole, a club of young men of letters. It is useful for such a man to belong to it: he will meet others of his own calling who can tell him all kinds of things which he would not find out for himself. It leads young men of letters to stand by each other and to rely on each other. Add to all this that the Club is carefully administered, and that everything is cheap as well as good. It has now been in existence for three or four years, and on the next year or two depends its future: whether it is to become a great fact in literature, or whether the attempt to combine our young men of the calling into a club of their own is to be set down as a failure. Since the Society goes on increasing the Club ought not to fail. Mr. Thring will be glad to give anybody further information. Walter Besant. BOOK TALE. SIR RICHARD TEMPLE is writing a chatty book on India, for publication in the autumn by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. It will contain illustrations from his own draw- ings, and will be ca led "A Bird's-Eye View of Picturesque India." Sir Richard began service in India in 1S48, and continued till 1880, his last appointment being Governor of Bombay. Miss Rose Kingsley, the daughter of Charles Kingsley, is preparing a handbook on French art, for publication through Messrs. Longmans. Mr. Richard Kerr has written a short popular account of Wireless Telegraphy for immediate issue by Messrs. Seeley. Professor Samuel Rawson Gardiner is writing a new monograph on Cromwell, which will be published, in view of the tercentenary of the birth of the Protector, in the spring of next year. It will be published by Messrs. Goupil and Co. in the same artistic series which already in- cludes "Mary Stuart," "Queen Elizabeth," and "Charles I." For this series also Mr. Andrew Lang is to write " The Young Pretender." Lord Ronald Gower is writing on Sir Thomas Lawrence for a new series of books dealing with famous British artists and their work, which will be published by Messrs. Goupil. Mr. G. W. Perris has written a short bio- graphical and critical account of Count Tolstoy and his work. It will be published by Mr. Unwin under the title, "Leo Tolstov, the Grand Mujik." Mr. Grant Allen is about to add " Venice" to his list of guide-books. It will be published, like the others, by Mr. Grant Richards, whose business, by the way, has been formed into a limited com- pany. Miss Dorothy Leighton is dramatising one of Mr. Allen's earlier novels. The Rev. C. Dudley Lampen's story of adven- ture, " The Queen of the Extinct Volcano," will be published in October by the S.P.C.K. The story deals with an extraordinary incident in the colonisation of the Marquesas Islands by the French, and relates the marvellous adventures of a medical man and an Oxford undergraduate amongst the cannibals who inhabit an extinct crater. Miss Eleanor Holmes is correcting the proofs of a new novel entitled "Life's Fitful Fever," to be issued almost immediately by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. Mr. John Warden Page is now correcting the proofs of a book entitled "In Russia without Russian." It is an account of a journey made by him in Russia alone, and with no knowledge of the language. He travelled from St. Peters- burg to Moscow, to Nijoi Novgovod in order to see the Great Fair, and about 400 versts up the Volga. The book is illustrated by sketches taken by the author, and is published by Bowering, of Plymouth, and by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. The price will be 3*. 6d. Mr. W. H. Dutton is writing a history of the collection of old-time boots and shoes which was exhibited some time ago by the Cordwainers' Company, of which he was warden. Among the foot-wear were sandals worn by Kean when he played in "Brutus" in 1818, and Wellington boots worn by Kemhle some years earlier, both of which trophies belong to Sir Henry Irving. The volume will contain thirty plates, and will be issued by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Mr. Reeves, the Agent-General for New Zealand, who wrote on that colony for the " Story of the Empire" series, is engaged upon a larger work of the same character. While it will be in the form of historical narrative, Mr. Reeves will bring together the experiences of a long period of active life in New Zealand. The book will be published in the autumn by Messrs. Horace Marshall and Son, under the title, " The Fortu- nate Isles: The Story of a Colony." Professor Foxwell has written an introduction for the translation of Dr. Anton Menger's work, "The Right to the Produce of Labour," which Messrs. Macmillan are about to publish in two volumes. Professor Lewis Campbell's Gifford Lectures, on " Religion in Greek Literature," delivered at St. Andrews a few years ago, are to be pub- lished shortly in a volume by Messrs. Macmillan.  ## p. 53 (#65) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 53 Mr. Pitt-Lewis, Q.C, is preparing for publica- tion a collection of curiosities connected with the law and legal literature. His book will be called "The Law's Museum," and Mr. John Long will publish it. Mr. Charles Williams, the well-known war correspondent, has edited a book of Soldiers' Songs for the March, the Camp, and the Barracks, which will be published immediately by Messrs. Routledge. Mr. W. G. Stillman has written the Italy yolume for the Cambridge Historical Series. He begins with Waterloo year. Dr. Brandes is writing a volume on modern Scandinavian literature for Mr. Heinemann's "Literatures of the World" Series. Canon Stanbridge, of York, has compiled a Book of Devotions for Messrs. Methuen's Library series. Mr. James Mortimer, who founded the London Figaro thirty years ago, has returned to the editorial chair of that journal, after an absence of fifteen years. Two volumes of a new and handsome edition— called the Winchester—of Jane Austen's works have been issued by Mr. Grant Richards during the past month. The printing is by Constable, of Edinburgh, and the same type is used as the "Edinburgh" Stevenson is printed with. The edition will consist of ten volumes. Novels by Mrs. W. K. Clifford and Mr. Edward H. Cooper will be issued soon by Messrs. Duck- worth. Mr. Fred. Whishaw has written'" A Russian Vagabond" for Messrs. Pearson's series of "Latter-day Stories." Mr. Walter Wood has finished a romance of love and war, called "Through Battle to Pro- motion," which will be published by Mr. James Bowden. "The Ambassador," the play by "John Oliver Hobbes," which was produced at the St. James's Theatre a month ago, is being published in a volume. A novel by Mrs. Croker, entitled "Pegey of the Bartons," will be published shortly from the house of Methuen. Two stories by Mrs. C. N. Williamson, entitled "Lady Mary of the Dark House" and "The House by the Lock," will be published by Mr. James Bowden. "John Strange Winter's" new long novel, which will be published immediately by Messrs. White, is called " The Price of a Wife." Mr. James M. Graham's romance " The Son of the Czar," formerly interdicted by the Russian censor, has now been permitted to circulate in that empire. Mrs. Sarah Graud will publish in the autumn, through Messrs. Horace Marshall and Son, a volume entitled "The Modern Man and Maid." Two of the essays which it will contain, namely, "On the Choice of a Wife " and "On the Choice of a Husband," appear in the July numbers of the Young Man and the Young Woman respec- tively. Miss Ella d'Arcy is issuing through Mr. Lane a new volume of short stories, entitled " Modern Instances." Mr. Hardy is engaged upon a new novel, but long before it comes out the public will get a volume of his short stories which have appeared in various periodicals. Dr. Richard Garnett, C.B., is about to retire, on a pension, from his post of Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum. Dr. Garnett entered the British Museum Library as an assistant in 1851, was appointed Superintendent of the Reading-room in 1875, and in 1890 succeeded to the position he is now relinquish- ing. A Civil List pension of .£200 per annum has been granted to Mr. William Ernest Henley. Dr. Beattie Crozier's pension under the same fund has been increased from .£50 to .£100 to assist him in his "History of Intellectual Development." Unfortunately, Dr. Crozier's sight is so seriously impaired that he has been compelled for the pre- sent to give up all reading and writing. Mr. Henley, too, fyas lately undergone an operation, which has been very successful. The sale of the Stansfield Library was con- cluded on June 15 at Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, and Hodge's auction rooms, and the total realised during the three days was .£2313. Among the lots were an important collection of MSS. of a genealogical, antiquarian, and historical character relating to the City of York, compiled by Mr. E. J. Walker, of Halifax, and known as the "Walker Collection," which brought .£105, and Thoresby's and Whitaker's Ducatus Leodiensis, or the Topography of the Ancient Towne and Parishe of Leeds, large paper, extra illustrated, and original water colour drawings, coats of arms emblazoned, 1816, which sold for .£170. "The Addenda to the Methods of Publishing" by G. Herbert Thring (secretary to the Society of Authors) is now completed and can be obtained at the Society's offices (price 2s.). This book, the tenth publication of the Authors' Society, con- tains a quantity of additional facts concerning publishing and publishers' agreements collected since the production of the " Methods" in 1891, with comments and advice. It does not in any way pretend to supplant " The Methods of Pub- lishing," but is merely supplementary to them.  ## p. 54 (#66) ############################################## 54 THE AUTHOR. Under the title of "Forgotten Truths," the Liberty Review Publishing Company is ipsuing, in a cheap form, a selection from the speeches and writings of Edmund Burke, with a biographical sketch by Mr. T. Dundas Pillans. Derek Vane, author of "The Three Daughters of Night," recently published by Messrs. Hutchin- son, is now writing a series of short dramatic stories for Table Talk, entitled " The Adventures of an Adventuress." Novels at sixpence. Rolf Boldrewood's Austra- lian romance, "Robbery under Arms," is the first volume of a series at this price to appear from Messrs. Macmillan, and will be followed, at monthly intervals, by Mr. A. E. W. Mason's "Morrice Buckler," Mr. Marion Crawford's "Mr. Isaacs," Mrs. Oliphant's "Kirsteen," Miss Charlotte Yonge's " Dove in the Eagle's Nest," and Mr. Marion Crawford's "A Roman Singer." The St. James's Gazette have re-published in the form of a shilling volume a collection of short f,tories by Mr. Archie Armstrong, under the title "Tales of the Temple and Elsewhere." QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. "Quern deua vult pordere domentat piins." ITHINK the saying must have been current in non-Greek reading circles earlier than your correspondents have traced it, for it is again and again repeated in Italian as a current saying by Gior. Villani in the early fourteenth century. I regret that I have not at the moment leisure to find one of the many passages in the "Cronica," but any of your correspondents who take sufficient interest in the question to devote a little time to the investigation will soon find one of them. P. H. W. CORRESPONDENCE. A GREAT quantity of correspondence is unavoidably held over till next month owing to the pressure on our space. THE BOOES OP THE MONTH. [May 24 to June 23.—324 Bookp.] Abbott, L. The Soul's Quest. 1/6. Bowden. Agnus, Orme. Countess Petrovskl. 1/- Ward and L. Alibutt, T. C. (ed.). A System of Medicine. By many writer*. Vol. 5. 25/- net. Macmillan. Andrews, William (ed). Bygone Hertfordshire 7/6. Andrews. Anonymous ("One Who ties Kept a Diary "j. Collections and Recollections. 16/- Smith and E. Anonymous. Memorials of a Young Soldkr, Lieutenant Glffard, Northamptonshire Regiment. 5/- Clowes. Anonymous. Some Philosophy of the Hermetics. 3/6. Paul. Argyll, Luke of. Whit is Science? 6rf. S.P.C.K. Arundtl, W. B. Ackworth Birds. 4,6. Gurnev and Jackson. Ashby, M. E. The Silver City and other Allegorl-s. J - Headlcy. Ashurst, F. Memoirs of a Young Surgeon. 1/6. Digby. Atlee, H. F. The Seatone of a Life. A novel. 6/- White. Badeau, A. Conspiracy: A Cuban Romance. 3/6. Warne. Bailey. L. H. The Pruning Book, 5/- net. Macmillan, Ball, C. R. The Faith in Out'lne. 1/6. S.P.C.K. Bangs, J. K. Ghosts I Have Met, and Some Others 2/. Harper. Barnes, A. S. Eton in the Olden Days. 1/- Robert Browning. Baiton, F. T. 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Gladly, moat Gladly, Xc. 3/6. Burns and O. Brough, W. Open Mints and Free Banking. 5/- Putnam. Brown, Anna R. What Is Worth While? 1/6. Bowden. Brown, F. R. Ave Victoria! Poem. 2/6. Colchester: Wright. Brown, A. 8., and Ramsay, M. M. The Island of Cuba. 6/- net. Gay. Bruce. J. R. B., and Broomfleld, R. i'. Handbook on tbe Law of Shipping and Marine Insurance. 10/6. Sweet and M. Bruce, Robert. Food Supply. 4/6. Griffin. Brunetiure, F. (tr. by D. N. Smith). Essays in French Literature. 7/8. Unwin. Buchan, J. The Pilgrim Fathers. Ncwdfgtte Prize Poem. 1/- net. Sim plan. Buchan, J. John Burnet of Barns. A Romance. 6/- Lane. Bucknmster, M. A. Elementary Architecture. 4/6 Frowde. Buckton, Catherine M. Comfort and Cleanliness. 2 - Longmans. Burchell. S. B, In the Dajs of King James. 6/- Gay. Burridge. J. 11. God's Prophetic Plan. 3/6. Marshall Brothers. Butler, N. M. The Meaning of Education and other Essays. 4 <i. Macmillan. Cambridge. Ada. Materf&mllias. 3/6. Ward and L. Campbell, D. 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Collcqoy and Song; or, Sport in the Leash of tbe Muses. 5/- Paul.  ## p. 55 (#67) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 55 Douglas, Theo. Behind a Mask. A Novel. 6/- Harper. Douglas. Theo. Windygap. 1/ Arrowsmith. Dovle, A. Conan. Songs of Action, $/- SniihandE. Driver, S. R. The Parallel Psalter. 6/- Frowde. Dudeney, Mrs. Henry E. Hagar of Homer to a. 6/- Pearson. Edmonds,Mrs. Jshsz Nutyard, Workman and Dreamer, 6,- Jarrold. Edwards, P. J. History of London Street improvements, lfi.W-1897. 17/6. P. S. King (for London County Council). Kgerton. George. The Wheel of God. 6/- Richard*. Ellas, N. (ed.) Moghuls of Central Asia: a History. English version. 10/6. Low. Farrow, F. R. Specifications, and How to Write Them. 3/6. Builder Office. FMler, T. C. Calculations in Hydraulic Engineering. Parti. 6/6 net. Longman. Field, Michael. The World at Auction. 13/- net Hacon and IE icketts Fielding, II. The Soul of a People. 14/- Ben Hoy". Firth, George. 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All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed either to tbe Advertisement Manager, The, Author Office, 4, Portugal-street, W.C.; or to the PubUsher (Hobaob Cox), Windsor House, Breams' buildings, E.G. 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. 09 Issue 02 (July 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 09 Issue 02 (July 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-07-01-The-Author-9-2 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/319/1898-08-01-The-Author-9-3.pdf cd700369b4a092545c05e057af71e5b9 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) 1898-08-01 Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages Page range in volume 57–80 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980801 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Tthe Butbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Tol. IX.—No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ^ Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOR some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this Case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both "idea. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers con also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will bo their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discount* shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author ma - rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. p 2  ## p. 58 (#70) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. |j> VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive Xli advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of hie business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is snch as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is snch that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society yon are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order ia which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, .sc. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending ont a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his oonduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' requested to note that the oost of binding has advanoed 1 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not inclnded any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. NOTICES. 111HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the I Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the oost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? FROM THE COMMITTEE. THE Chairman has resolved to postpone call- ing a meeting of the Council to consider the nature of the claims advanced in the draft agreements issued b_v the Publishers' Asso. ciation until October after the summer holidays.  ## p. 59 (#71) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 59 LITERARY PROPERTY. The Pttblishers' Draft Agreements. I. THE following letter has been received by the secretary from Sir Frederick Pol- lock :— "Dear Mr. Thring,—I was preparing an answer to your letter asking for opinions on the draft forms of agreement issued by the Pub- lishers' Association, when I saw the comments thereon in the current number of the Athenseum, a journal not suspected, I believe, of undue par- tiality to authors as against publishers. Those comments appear to me to suffice for the present. I feel bound to add that no draft at all like these forms has ever been proposed to me in practice, either on my own behalf or as acting for others. "I hope the Committee of the Society will not follow the mistake of the Publishers' Association utting forward other forms of its own, but rather obtain permission to publish, with the omission of names, examples of actual agree- ments which have been approved by the Com- mittee or the Secretary. "My own experience is that, with a reasonable amount of mutual trust, very simple forms are enough. "Yours sincerely, "F. Pollock." "13, Old-Square, Lincoln's-inn. "July 11, 1898." II. To the Editor of The Author. I have seen the draft contracts. Nothing that you, or The A uthor, or the whole Society has ever done to, or said about, the publisher will condemn him half as thoroughly as his own notions of fairness set forth for him, by his own lawyer, in his own way. Can one say more than that? Rudyard Kipling. Eottingdean, July 23, 1898. III. Every author in England should be deeply grateful to the Sub-Committee of the Authors' Society and " W. B." for their masterly exposure of the schemes of the Publishers' Association as set forth in certain draft agreements published at length in The Author of July 1. I have pub- lished books by almost every method provided for by these agreements, and can indorse the criti- cisms to which these agreements have been sub- jected. Many men reading these criticisms would no doubt say, "Ah! These are only fears of what may happen. Our good champions are timorous." But, as a matter of fact, authors by the score—I may say by the hundred—have already entered into such agreements, and have been, not to put too fine a point upon it, fleeced. A publisher of repute once said very candidly to an author who was sitting in his office, care- fully working out a form of agreement, " My dear Sir, it really doesn't matter how careful you are. If I want to swindle you I can." That being so, it seems to me that as those firms who are respon- sible for these draft agreements are evidently desirous of taking an unfair advantage of authors, we authors should know their names and care- fully avoid having any dealings with them. The time is rapidly coming when authors whose works have a monetary value will in self- defence combine together and publish without the assistance of the gentlemen who charge them 10 per cent. for office expenses, account only for twelve books out of every thirteen sold, do not account at all for "overs (copies printed on the additional sheets of paper found in every ream), and who, in "half-profit" agreements, make secret profits. More than one author of repute, commencing with the veteran novelist, Miss Braddon, has already given up the old publish- ing systems and embarked on the far simpler, and very much more satisfactory, method of sending MSS. to the printer, and the quires when printed to the binder, and placing the books when ready in the hands of a large distributing agent. This system leaves no possibility of fraud, unless the distributing agent took the very serious step of having a special edition of the book printed for himself, which is not very likely; the author knows what number of copies are printed and bound; he knows what they cost; he gets the advantage of all discounts, and he knows exactly what is sold. What method could be simpler? "What method could be more profitable to the author? There is much nonsense talked about the value of a publisher's name to a book. The publisher's name may aid the young beginner to the sale of 100 copies, for Messrs. Smith, Brown, Jones, and Robinson, unfortunate booksellers, who are perhaps greatly in debt to certain firms, can hardly refuse to take a copy or two when the traveller goes round and presses them upon him; but as regards the author who has made a name I do not believe the publisher's imprint is of the least assistance. If the public like a book, and want it, they buy it whoever may be the pub- lisher, and the booksellers are eager to stock books which they feel sure will sell. I would strongly advise authors to on no account enter into a publishing agreement based  ## p. 60 (#72) ############################################## 6o THE AUTHOR. on the half-profit system. This was very rightly termed by an honest publisher of my acquaintance "a swindle," and invariably works most unfairly against the author. If the author is supposed to pay half the cost and receive half the profits, he as a rule unwittingly pays more than half the costs, and the publisher takes more than half the profits under the various pleas of office expenses, advertising in his own magazines, and so forth. Even where the publisher pays all expenses, and agrees to give the author half profits, he fre- quently makes the book appear in his account so costly that no profits are shown even when several thousand copies have been sold. To sell a book outright is a satisfactory arrange- ment, but if the author has a large circle of readers his most profitable course is unquestionably to pro- duce the book himself, and distribute it to the trade through the usual channels. There is nothing to be said against the royalty system, if the royalty is sufficient, is paid on every copy sold, and if the publisher renders true returns of sales, which, it is to be feared, is not always the case. But as regards the half-profit system, let us have none of it; it is a trap, and nothing but a trap. Experience. IV. I have read the Draft Agreements with sheer amazement. Can it be possible that a body of men, one or two at least of whom have always been accepted as honourable and upright men, are daring enough to endorse what appears to the world at large as simply a scheme of intended plunder? The Author has been outspoken enough—too outspoken at times in my former opinion. We now understand that nothing that has ever appeared in these columns has been too strong for the facts of the case. In the whole history of trade I know of nothing so hopelessly bad, so inexcusably and phenomenally grasping. The author creates a property—big or little. The publisher claims practically the right to the whole of it. He reserves the right by these agreements to take all—all. Whatever the success of the book the publisher may simply, if he likes (by clauses which Mr. Thring has so ably taught us to understand), take over everything. Above all things, the claim to dramatic rights seems to me the most impudent. Why, the drama is not the novel: it is the same story, or part of the same story, treated in a wholly different manner. I have tried, but ineffectually, to find some apparent or imaginary justification for this last shameless grab. There is none. It is simply an impudent attempt. The publisher cannot pre- tend to have done anything with or for the drama. Why does he not claim the very desk on which the novel was written? Let us go on our own way. Let us, above all things, take care that the knowledge of these agreements and their unscrupulous greed, and their determination to enslave literature, be known far and wide. A Novelist. V. In the comments made last month upon the Publishers' Agreements one or two points were omitted. Thus it has long been a grievance that advertisements are charged for when nothing is paid: advertisements in publishers' own organs and in exchanges. Some people call this practice by very ugly names: all people agree in calling it a trick unworthy of any house which calls itself honourable. Not a single word is said in the draft agreements against the practice. It is true that in one clause (p. 39; it is stated that the "expenses of production shall be taken to mean the actual cost of . . . and advertising" . . . but it is not provided that there shall be an audit of accounts: nor is it provided that the " actual cost" does not mean what the pub- lisher chooses to call the cost of advertising in his own papers. The chief reason of this grievance is that the practice enables a rogue to swamp the book with advertisements. Thus, if he spends .£20 on advertising it, he may, if he pleases, charge, in addition, say, .£3 a month in advertising it in his own magazines, and five times as much in adver- tising it in other magazines by exchange. So that his account might come in after a twelvemonth: £ s. d. Advertising 20 0 0 Do. in his own magazine 60 0 0 Do. in other magazines .. 180 0 0 260 0 0 This item would appear in a lump sum, without explanations. Of course so great a charge would be very unusual, but with the glorious experience before us who shall say what awaits us in the future? Another grievance not touched upon is the "correction" charge. It is commonly set down in ordinary agreements that the author shall be allowed so much a sheet. As he has no means of connecting money with corrections, he accepts, and very often pays the penalty in a large charge under this head. The new scheme makes matters worse. The author has to pay all charges for corrections exceeding 25 per cent. of the cost of composition. This is quite a new way of putting it, and leaves the author more muddled than ever. He does not know the cost of compo-  ## p. 61 (#73) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 61 sit ion: does not know how to connect corrections with that cost: he does not know what each correction may cost. Let us see what this may mean. Take the cost of composition at £2 10s. per sheet of 32 pp. That will probably appear in the account as .£3, because, when charges can be falsified with- out fear of detection, the baser kind will falsify them. The author is allowed 25 per cent., that is 15s. for corrections on each sheet of 32 pp. There are, say, ten sheets, or 320 pages. This makes £7 1 a*. It seems a handsome allowance, and if the book were typewritten first, it ought to be a great deal more than the author would want. But he knows nothing of what corrections mean: ]ierhaps he goes on altering, and improving, and running on, till he has run up a large bill, which in many cases is made a good deal larger still when the account comes in. W. B. VI. Will you allow me to call attention to a very important point in the Publishers' Agreements, namely, their silence on the question of advertise- ments. There is no trick more common or more in- defensible than that of charging for advertise- ments which are not paid for. For my own part I cannot read the draft agreements without feel- ing convinced that they have left the question open with deliberate intent to continue a practice denounced by the most distinguished lawyers. I have heard that one firm sweetly assures its customers that they only charge their authors half the tariff price for advertisements in their own organs. They say nothing, however, about exchanges. Nor do they say anything about the power which they keep in their own hands of advertising as largely as they please by displayed advertisement and whole pages in their own organs, or about exchanging as much as they please. I trust that the members of the Society are thoroughly alive to the enormity of these de- mands. Once Bitten, VII. I have sometimes thought that The Author was too hard upon publishers. I think so no longer. I am persuaded that you have never allowed a charge to be brought against them which is not fully justified by their own agreements, issued by their own Association, examined by their own counsel. What you have denounced in individual pub- lishers has been now accepted by themselves as true of publishers in association. They can no longer cry out upon The Author for exposing their tricks: they proclaim and confess their own greed—" We want all." Half profits, you show, may mean 85 per cent.; nay, it may mean anything more they please, because the percentages are kindly left open. A Member. VIII. [From the Athenseum, July 9.] The draft forms of agreement put forward by the Council of the Publishers' Association are not likely to meet with the approbation of authors; and it is difficult to suppose that their publica- tion is other than a mistake. One would almost think that they were a caricature by an em- bittered author of the demands of the typical publisher. The proposed royalty agreement hands over to the publisher all rights of produc- tion in the United States and the Continent, and deprives the author of his dramatic rights. He must not abridge his book, but the publisher may; and he is forbidden to revise it or alter it in any way except at the bidding of the publisher. The royalty is to be paid on thirteen as twelve, or twenty-five as twenty-four, at the discretion of the publisher! No author, we fancy, possessed of common sense would consent to such a bargain if he could help it, Then the agreement for sharing profits contains a clause that is quite inadmissible:— "The publisher shall account at the customary trade terms for all copies sold, but in cases where copies have been sold for export, or at rates below the customary trade terms, as remainders or other- wise, such copies shall be accounted for at the price realised." That is t < say, the publisher is to have the power of disposing, for any sum he may choose to name, of the joint property of himself and his temporary partner. The proposed agreement for publishing on commission is not so objectionable, but it, too, is unjust to the author, for it hands over to the publisher the entire managemeut of the sale of the book, although the author pays for it. No wonder Sir Walter Besant in The Author is jubilant. If the Association wished to convince men of letters generally that there is foundation for the hard things Sir Walter has said against the trade, it would hav,, been difficult to choose a more effectual method than the production of these agreements, which are supposed to be approved by the confederated publishers.  ## p. 62 (#74) ############################################## 62 7 HE AUTHOR. IX. [From the J'tiblishers' Circular, July 23.] As the result of a good deal of correspondence which has been going on of late between the Publishers' Association, the Booksellers' Associa- tion, the Authors' Society, &c., it was decided at the last meeting of the council of the Publishers' Association to invite representatives of the various bodies interested, including the Scotch associa- tions, to a conference, in the hope of being able to take a definite step in the direction of helping the lxioksellers. SCOTTISH BOOKSELLERS AND THE SOCIETY. THE booksellers of Scotland, following the example of those of the North of England, have organised themselves into an associa- tion. This was done at a meeting of the trade held in Edinburgh on June 28—Mr. Andrew Elliot, of that city, presiding. The following resolution was also adopted unanimously, on the motion of Mr. John Grant, Edinburgh, seconded by Mr. D. J. Knox (Smith and Sons), Glasgow :— That this meeting, having heard the Autboi a' report on the new scheme submitted by the Booksellers' Association, « ecords its gratification that the Aatbora' Society ban given its concent to it, accepts the scheme generally, and com- mends it to the favourable consideration of the Publishers' Association. THE CASE OF THE BOOKSELLERS. ri^HE serious condition of the bookselling I trade and the threatening extinction, by processes extremely painful, of the country bookseller must be again brought before the atten- tion of the readers of this journal. For it is the interest—the duty—of every man or woman of letters to keep the bookseller, if possible, in a flourishing and contented condition. Therefore, even at the risk of repetition, it is proposed to return to the subject in these columns. What is the present condition? Agricultural depression, which affects not only the country but all those towns which are outside the manufacturing dis- tricts, has been marked by a corresponding depres- sion in bookselling. Newsagents have started up everywhere selling cheap books as well as news- papers: drapers have made cheap books an attraction of their shops: the stores keep large supplies of books. The bookseller, who was formerly able to order every new book of import- ance, has ceased to supply himself with any but those books which he is tolerably certain to sell. He now offers "fancy" things, photographs, stationery, pens and pencils. If a solid book of high price is wanted he will get it, but he will order it at his risk and peril: he will not keep it. The author thinks, perhaps, that this deterioration of the bookseller matters nothing to him. It matters everything to him. There are three or four persons directly concerned with the production of a book: the author; the printer; the binder; the paper maker; and the bookseller. The pub- lisher, who is in most cases only the distributor, should have a much smaller interest than these four, who are all directly interested in the book. If the bookseller does not exhibit and offer the book to the public, how is it to get into circula- tion at all? But he cannot afford to order it. Therefore the author has no public. It is now actually true that out of the thousands of new books issued every year a great number never get upon the bookseller's shelves at all. That is to say, they are not published. Another danger now threatens the bookseller. At his best he formerly catered for an extremely limited class—the class with education, culture, and means, who treated a book as if they loved it. liked to see it well printed and handsomely bound, and were content to pay a large price for it. This feeling of exclusiveness and respectability gave the bookseller a sense of dignity and self-respect. The feeling lingers still, but it is now becoming harmful. The bookseller does not recognise cheap literature; he will have nothing to do with litera- ture for the people. Yet, unless the signs of the times are singularly deceptive, cheap literature will be upon us before long—in fact, I believe, before many months—and in an overwhelming flood. Certain popular books have been put out as an experiment by two or three publishers at very low prices. Some of these at 6d. have achieved an astonishing success, running, it is said, to 200,000 copies and more. The next step will be the issue of new books—not old books—at this low price. For my own part I think that cheap literature is loudly called for. The people have been reading scrappy penny journals long enough. They should be ready to take a step higher, and to buy and read good literature at 6d. The new books thus issued will of necessity, at first, be novels: the old books will be those which are already acknowledged to belong to the literature of the country; and as for those who now advocate the reduction of prices from 6s. to half- a-crown, they may shift their ground, and con- sider the reduction from 6*. to 6d. From the bookseller's point of view, the cheap literature will be at first disconcerting. Let him boldly throw himself into the movement when it begins. Let him, by means of circulars and in every possible way, make himself the bookseller  ## p. 63 (#75) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. of the whole people, not the few. He will continue to be always the bookseller of the few, because high-priced books must still be issued, and cheapness can only be introduced where popularity is possible. For the author there is the comfortable reflec- tion that, even if his book is reduced from 6*. to 6d., and his royalty from is. 3d. to a penny, 15,000 copies at the latter price will bring him in as much as a thousand at the former; and that 200,000 at the latter means 13,300 at the former —and unless he is in the front rank of popularity, he will not probably exceed this figure. Now, with an improved system of distribution, the cheap literature will make a bid for millions, not for thousands. It will also be possible to bring out a book at 6*. and after two years or so to produce a cheap sixpenny edition. What have the publishers proposed in the teeth of these changes? With all the signs before them of a demand for cheap literature and a supply of it, they propose to make the public pay more instead of less, and, on pretence of giving the booksellers relief, to put more into their own pockets. In the teeth of the competition going on they proposed to bind the unfortunate book- sellers by an iron and degrading slavery. They were to have no books at all, or books only at a prohibitory price, unless they obeyed the orders of the publisher, who forbade them to sell their own property at any price they pleased. In the teeth of the increasing poverty of the trade, they propose to maintain the system of forcing all the risks upon the booksellers. With the result that every year fewer books get the chance of being offered to the public. We have now, in conjunction with the Book- sellers' Association, adopted an alternative scheme which involves neither coercion nor slavery, but leaves contract free. It was given in the last number of The Author at length. It means simply as follows: 1. Books at 6s, and under to remain as at present. 2. If a publisher wishes to bring out a book at net price, and to make any special conditions with a bookseller, it is a question of contract for the book only. There is to be no tyrannical attempt at boycotting or "punishing" a bookseller who refuses. 3. Books are to be sent "on sale or return." 4. The " odd copy" is to be abolished, and one price is to be charged. This clause is as much in the interest of the author as the bookseller, because the publisher will now be relieved of the temptation to VOL. IX. pretend that all his arrangements are 13 as 12. These rules will, it is hoped, if they are accepted by the publishers or any of them, relieve the trade very materially. If they are not accepted, the Society must endeavour to devise some other way. Meantime the members are earnestly invited to consider the urgency of the case and the fact that the publishers are proposing to make things worse instead of better, and to suggest any expedient that may occur to them whereby the bookseller, and especially the country bookseller, may be assisted to make a livelihood by a trade which is indispensable to everybody connected with the production of literature. POPULAR TASTE IN BOOKS. WHAT is "the popular taste"? What is it going to be if, as is whispered, "new and original" work is brought to market at a popular price—a shilling or even sixpence per volume? This question is so much in the air just now, that I venture to take up a little space in The AutJwr with reminiscences of a personal ex-* perience which may throw some light on the subject. In 1886 a library for working men and women was established which, from its constitution and management, became as severe a test of the reception which writers who would cater for "the proletariate " must expect as anything could well be. This library lived and flourished for eight years, and then died simply because a large rate- supported free library took its place. It was situated in Hoxton, and its members were all residents in the neighbourhood or came from still poorer parts of East London. It was con- trolled by a committee of working men, elected annually by its subscribers, and was unconnected with any political party, Church, or social "move- ment." Those who joined it, and paid their sub- scriptions to its treasurer, did so, firstly, because they wanted to read; secondly, because they found that, if they desired to read a particular book, that work, if not already in the library, could be procured for them at short notice. This is the point upon which I wish to lay most stress. Out of the eight hundred volumes which the library gradually acquired, all but a very small number were chosen by the members without sug- gestion or hint from anyone as to what they ought to read. a  ## p. 64 (#76) ############################################## *4 THE AUTHOR. Of course the library had generous friends, to whose kindness, and faith in working men, its success was largely due. Through these gentlemen, as the number of the members increased, consignments of all works named by any member of the library came into its possession. Lists were handed to the bbrarian from time to time, were examined by the com- mittee, and passed on to the donors. Now and then some book was mentioned that could only be of very slight interest, and this was expunged from the list; but, during the whole eight years of the library's existence, there were not a score of these. Thus, month by month and year by year, was collected a library of a class which its members, if they could have afforded it, would have had in their own homes. I hold a catalogue of these works. All of them have been read, and well read. Many had to be renewed a number of times, so eagerly were they sought for. I will write down these favoured volumes in the order of their popularity: "Adam Bede," " West- ward Ho!" "The Golden Butterfly," "Lorna Doone," Green's "History of England," " David Copperfield," "Ready Money Mortiboy," "Jane Eyre," "Wives and Daughters." In fiction, the favourite authors were: Dickens, Scott, Besant, Dumas, Miss Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Mrs. Henry Wood, Bulwer Lytton, Ouida, Mrs. Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, Edna LyalL In history, Green and Macaulay naturally came first; but Stubbs's " Constitutional History " was chosen by a cabinet-maker, and read by many others. Carlyle was represented by the " Crom- well Letters" and "The French Revolution." In science, interest centred round Darwin. "The Origin of Species " and " Descent of Man" were chosen early in the day, and much read. The political economists studied Mill and Jevons, and Spencer and Ruskin were frequently out. There were biographies by Ainger, Morley, Leslie Stephen, Disraeli, and Saintsbury. Travels by Livingstone, Ballantyne, Sir Samuel Baker, Miss Bird, and Stanley. Prescott's "Conquests of Mexico and Peru were very popular. Motley's "Dutch Republic," Lord Beaconsfield's " Letters," "Progress and Poverty," all were there, with more "standard works" than I have space to name. And what of the members? There was a rule that no one might belong whose income exceeded two pounds a week. Few of the people reached such luxury. The elder men, our com- mitteemen and their friends, were mostly com- positors, cabinet-makers, painters, packers, ware- housemen, and porters. The younger ones, apprentices to cabinet work, upholstery, or piano- makers, printers' layers-on, and labourers of all kinds. There were afew shop assistants—but not many of these. The women were mostly work- girls, of the average Hoxton type, who, to the number of seventy, greeted the author of "The Children "of Gibeon"—one concert night—with a shrill "Melenda" cheer! Tie-makers, feather- curlers, box-makers, dressmakers, tailoresses— pale anaemic lasses, earning, on an average, i0s. to 12*. per week. One of them, representative of many, told me when she first came that Miss Braddon was the only author she had ever heard of. I gave her Miss Braddon until she tired of that food—and then, as an experiment, presented "Adam Bede." The result was astonishing. She was back in less than a week, all smiles. "I say, let's 'ave another of his books. I ain't ever read as good a tale before!" In the end, she said that "The Mill on the Floss" was her favourite Another girl told me that, until she joined the "Lib'ery," she always bought a penny novelette every week. She had never done so since. It may be said that the library was, after all, a very small affair. Undoubtedly. But I bold that in view of its quiet natural growth; the absence of artificial stimulus; and, above all, the entire freedom of its members to fill its shelves with almost any kind of literature they chose— the record I have given has a very important bearing on the future of the distribution of litera- ture in a cheap form. Depend upon it, the writers of the Penny Dreadful and the Shilling Shocker hold their own simply from the cheap- ness of their wares. Place good works within the reach of men and women who rarely have more than sixpence or a shilling to spare for a luxury, and the circulation of the works of those who write good English: who can depict real life: draw real characters: and who have thoughts and ideas worthy of expression—will utterly swamp and crowd out the noisome trash which flaunts in the little East-end book-shop windows to-day. Their circulation will rise from thousands to hundreds of thousands: from hundreds of thousands to millions. Brother authors—take courage! the "popular taste" is sound to the core. Arthur Paterson. THE PENSION LIST. IHE Pension List for the year has been published. It is as follows: I. LITERATURE. Rev. Canon Atkinson (Philologist), .£100. William Chatterton Coupland (Works on Philosophy), .£50.  ## p. 65 (#77) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 65 Dr. Beattie Crozier (Philosophical Re- searches), .£50. Rev. Canon Daniel Evans (Writings on Welsh Literature), .£100. Rev. J. Cunningham Geikie, D.D., .£50. (Dr. Geikie is well known as a writer on theological subjects. Among his books are "The Life and Words of Christ," and "Hours with the Bible.") William Ernest Henley (late editor of the National Observer and the New Review, joint-editor of The Centenary Burns; author of Poems, &c.), .£225. II. Literature by Connection. Mi<,s Janet Mary Oliphant (niece of Mrs. Oliphant), .£75. Mrs. Palmer (widow of the late Professor Arthur Palmer, classical scholar), .£100. Two daughters of the late Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, classical scholar, each .£25. The daughter of the late Richard Shilleto, classical scholar, .£50. III. Music. Mr. Joseph Robinson, for services to music in Ireland, .£50. IV. Art by Connection. Two daughters of the late Mr. George Waller, in consideration of his services to artistic education, each .£25. V. Science and Art. Dr. John James Wild, late artist and secretarv to the Challenger Expedition, .£50. VI. No connection with either Literature, Science, or Art, and therefore no right to appear in this list. The widow of one Colonial Governor and the four daughters of another. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Academy, I rejoice to see, quotes Mr. Turing's opinions on the publishers' draft agreements. It expresses, further, its regret at two statements made by myself. The first is to the effect that the British Public does not care two straws about the publisher. Well, I am sorry to advance an opinion or to make any assertion which is not as plain as an axiom. At the same time it is most true and certain that the public cares not one brass farthing for any publisher: that is to say, it looks at the book and the author, and carer, no more who is the publisher than it cares to find out who is the papermaker. The bookseller cares because he has to make terms with the publisher. The public cares nothing. In no other trade is there such an absolute indifference to the name. So that I cannot withdraw this statement. The other statement is concerned with the question of risk. I first, before making this statement, carefully separated encyclopaedias, great dictionaries, and works of a colossal kind. This separation was cut off the passage quoted by the Academy, so that I was made to talk nonsense. I thought the Bogey of Risk was laid. Let us try again. In general literature — namely, essays, history, biography, belles lettres, poetry, novels—there are hundreds of writers whose works carry no risk whatever, that is to say, they are certain to circulate enough to pay the cost of production with a margin of profit. That is the first fact. J£ a publisher takes an author who is not among this company he incurs risk—but he does this voluntarily. And very few publishers do. That is the second fact. Next, what is the risk, where any is incurred? The world, which fancies itself very clever, replies triumphantly, "Why, the cost of production, of course. Am I a fool?" Not a fool, but ignorant. The risk is the difference between the cost of production and the first subscription. Some houses send round a traveller to subscribe the book before it is printed. This gives them some idea of its chances. Thus, a book is sub- scribed—say—250 in town. That means a beginning, perhaps, with the country trade as well, of 500—never mind the figures, any other will do just as well to illustrate the method. Taking our old friend, the 6*. book which has cost, say, .£80—we have, say, a first subscription of .£87, which is more than the book costs to produce. If there is a subscription of 400 copies, the risk is the difference between .£80, the cost, and .£70, the subscription, or .£10. That is an immense risk, is it not? The Harmsworth Magazine may be taken as an indication of the increased (the widely-increased) demand for literature of a kind. While our shilling and half-crown magazines are crawling along with a circulation for the most part of a few thousands, this threepenny rival, splendidly illustrated and quite as well written as many of the dearer ones, steps straight into a circulation reckoned by hundreds of thousands. This is a great fact which should lead people who are not publishers, and are only interested in the advance of culture, to reflect a little. Those gentlemen, especially, who, from the commanding pinnacle of the club smoking-room, look round upon man-  ## p. 66 (#78) ############################################## 66 THE AUTHOR. kind and report that what they read is "truck" or "slush," should look at the success of this magazine and others nearly as cheap. The next great fact which concerns us from another point of view is the cheapness of production. Make every allowance that can be made for improved machinery: for working a lot of magazines and papers together: for cheapness of paper: for a great mass of advertisements: and yet the mystery remains how the paper can be produced at so small a cost. The third great fact is more important still. It is that cheap and good maga- zines will be followed by cheap and good litera- ture. We talk about books at 6s., and i0*. 6d., and so forth. We are, it seems to me, on the verge of the greatest revolution that the history of Literature has ever seen. Ever since I began to investigate and to understand the machinery and the spread of literature, I have become more and more convinced that the present system of providing dear books in small numbers, though it must continue with certain books, will be a small and an insignificant thing compared with the literature offered to the world at prices which seem impossible. Already popular books are brought out at sixpence and sold by the hundred thousand. They are all old books of which the copyrights belong to publishers. Why should they not be new books? (see p. 62). They must be offered for sale by newsvendors, at the stores, as well as the booksellers: the difficulty is that of distribution and advertisement. This difficulty will be got over by the three new firms who have taken possession of the outside mass; when it is got over by them other publishers will follow. From the author's point of view it should be far better to appeal to the general public than to the limited public. It is objected that he would have to " write down " to them. Not at all. The cheap books already offered to them, and eagerly taken up, at low prices, are not books " written down" to anybody. Let us see how a cheap book would affect the author. Take a popular author whose last book had a circulation of 12,000 copies for which he received a royalty of is. $d. a copy, or .£750. The same book issued at 6d. with a royalty for himself of 1 j<7. would give him .£750 by a sale of 144,000. But we are going to the millions. If 600,000 copies were taken he would make .£3125. Decidedly it would be to to the advantage of the author if only that ques- tion of distribution were settled. I mentioned last month the remarkable fact that the Committee of the House of Lords on Copyright had commenced their proceedings by calling before them a publisher: then a second publisher: then a third, and so on: and that there seemed no sign at all that this illustrious body had ever heard that there was such a thing as an author, or had any idea at all that copy- right was created by the author and was actually his own property. In this ignorance they were allowed to remain by the publishers, who all gave evidence on the tacit assumption—which none of the noble lords questioned—that copyright was their own in the nature of thiugs: their own property by right. A day or two after the para- graph appeared I found a summons lying on my table calling upon me to attend and give evidence that day at half-past two. It was then three, so that I could not go. It is hardly, I think, polite or considerate to call upon a man to give evidence on a most complicated and important subject at a minute's notice. Moreover, I am not myself a lawyer: I have never felt called upon to study copyright law: I hate law and law books: and I am not therefore com- petent to give evidence. We have had two sub- committees on copyright, but I have not been a member of either. In fact, the branch of the Society's work which has occupied all the time that I could afford to give, is that of the administration of literary property, not that of copyright law. Mr. Thring has attended the Committee, representing our sub-committee, and, I hope, has enabled the Committee to understand that copyright really does concern authors: that they are capable of comprehending the question: and that the opinion of the lawyers and scholars forming our sub-committee is quite as well worth hearing as that of the publishers, who speak as if copyright was their right. A correspondent sends me a paragraph calling attention, with some show of indignation, to the fact that if anyone posts a book to the United States of America there is an import duty of one-fourth its value, and that the duty must be paid before the book is delivered. It seems a pity that the law is so, but since that is the law there is no use in being angry. Free trade in books does not exist in this country: for instance, it is illegal to expose Tauchnitz books for sale. Shall we begin by altering our own laws? We could then call upon the States to alter theirs. One of the things which the Society could and should do would be to bring about the reconsidera- tion of the Resolutions which constituted the Civil Pension List. All that is wanted is the abolition of a single clause allowing the pensions to be bestowed upon persons outside the field of  ## p. 67 (#79) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 57 Literature, Science, and Art " who may be worthy of Her Majesty's bounty." The grant is not large, not more than <£i200 a year, and is by no means sufficient to meet the cases deserving of relief which are brought before the First Lord of the Treasury. No one wants to prevent outsiders from getting the help they want, one only desires to bind the Government to keep this fund entirely for the persons for whom it was founded. At present there is nothing to prevent the list from being filled up with "persons worthy of Her Majesty's bounty." It is, for instance, a common practice to place widows and daughters of colonial governors on the list. In that of the current year (see p. 64) there are the four daughters of one colonial governor and the widow of another. Cannot the Colonies, between them, create a pension list for the widows and daughters of their governors? And is it quite impossible for the governor of a colony to save a little money after twenty years of work on a salary ranging from .£2000 to £ 10,000? In another column appears one more letter on the great and crying grievance ,oi keeping MSS. offered to editors. For my own part I have always desired to recognise to the utmost the difficulties of an editor's position: the necessary keeping back of articles and papers already accepted. But there are limits. In the case before us the editor kept articles offered him for two years, fourteen months, eight months, and three months! There can be no possible excuse for such treatment of a contributor. What remedy is there? One, and one only. Writers will do nothing for themselves: they are so eager to be accepted, especially at the outset, that they will submit to anything and take any price that is offered. If, then, a contributor intimates that the MS. must be accepted and paid for within a certain time, he will probably have it returned unless the writer's name and the subject make it an important offer. The only remedy, therefore, is that the editors who do these things shall be known. If the writer of the letter will send me the correspondence in the .case I will publish his name and the name of the paper. Of course there is another remedy, but it qeems hardly worth while to mention it. I mean that editors should obey the simple rules of courtesy and good breeding. I have always found them, as regards myself, both courteous and kindly. But the letters which we have published in The Author show that there are many editors, especially of the smaller fry of magazines, who are neither one nor the other. Walter Besant. vol. IX. AFTER MANY DATS. A True Incident. IAM very sorry, Miss Carlisle; but I am afraid I cannot use that last story of yours. It is altogether too depressing. The public does not want sad stories. Life is sad enough as it is. No one likes to dwell on such incidents as you describe in—let me see, what do you call it ?—' Dead Violets '? Why the very title is morbid! Dead violets delight no one; what we want is fair, fresh, sweet- smelling flowers." The speaker's looks accorded with his words. He was a man advanced in life, with hair tinged with grey and a forehead #hich showed more than a tendency to baldness; but he had as bright, open, and cheery a countenance as ever beamed from an editor's chair. He bore himself with the easy yet kindly dignity which denotes a prosperous career. "I am very sorry," the girl's lips trembled as she spoke, and it was all she could do to hold back the starting tears; "I will try to do better next time." . She was young, but her face had a worn and weary look. . There was the suggestion 'of a happier past in her somewhat shabby, though perfectly neat, mourning attire. She* had the appearance of one to whom dead violets might mean more than freshly gathered roses. The editor was not unconscious of the pathos of her expression, nor the tremor of her voice; but he was above all things a man of business, and he knew that melancholy stories did not pay. "That's right," he said, "let it be something cheerful, ending with the music of marriage bells. That is what our readers like. I am really afraid I must send that MS. back to you." "Very well—if it must be so." She acquiesced without a murmur, bade him good morning, and went on her way. He was sorry for her; but he was far from guessing how deep a wound he had inflicted. Edith Carlisle went down the long flight of stairs from the editorial sanctum, passed into the Strand, and was lost in the stream of human life ever flowing along its pavements. Of all the units that composed that stream, not one perhaps carried a heavier heart than hers. It was of the irony of life that the editor should bid her write a story which "ended with the music of marri- age bells" just when her own lone story had come to a disastrous termination. The sudden and unlooked-for death of her father had wrought a pitiful change in the cir- cumstances of Edith Carlisle's life. Tt left her  ## p. 68 (#80) ############################################## 68 THE AUTHOR. mother almost entirely dependent on her daughter's efforts for a maintenance. Edith found it incumbent on her to break off her engagement to a certain good-hearted but by no means prosperous young man. They bad parted as she believed for ever, and he had gone abroad; Edith devoted herself to the care of her mother, whose failing health caused her much anxiety. She had a daily teaching engagement, and when this was over she gave her spare time to the literary efforts which she had pursued with some slight success ere her father's death, and the con- sequent struggle for life, converted what had been a pure pleasure into a feverish attempt to produce that which would bring in money. The new motive did not yield the highest inspi- ration. Heartbroken at the loss of her lover, harassed by a thousand petty and humiliating cares, and depressed by her growing anxiety on her mother's account, Edith was not in a condition to conceive the bright fresh stories which delight editors. Yet never had she been more wishful for success. So much depended on her earning money. "Dead Violets " had been written with the eager hope that it might bring in a sum sufficient to afford her mother the fortnight at the sea-side which the doctor declared would do her more good than any medicine. Edith had written as her heart dictated, embodying in the tale somewhat of her own sad experience. She believed she had written it well. Certainly it was true to life. And now it appeared that it was too true to life! People must be amused with false pictures of impossible happiness. "Dead Violets" was "morbid" and " depressing." It was a grievous disappointment; but happily Edith had not confided her hopes to her mother, so she alone was disappointed. For a few days she looked for the return of her MS.; it did not come, and she soon forgot to expect it. She had no hope that the story would find acceptance in any other quarter. She regarded the sentence passed upon it by the editor of the Weekly Adviser, in which several of her stories had pre- viously appeared, as final. Had the MS. come back into her hands they would have committed it to the flames. So there was no summer holiday for Edith and her mother that year. Mrs. Carlisle's health failed rapidly in the hot close days, and ere the cooler weather set in she died. Edith's life was painfully lonely after her mother's death. She had lost all knowledge of her lover, and she had few friends. She sought relief in work. She worked harder than ever with her pen, and she worked to good purpose. She began to attain some literary success. Ten years passed by, and her position had considerably improved. She was on the staff of a popular magazine, and she- had written one or two books for girls which found a good sale. She had ceased to write for the Weekly Adviser. The cheery editor who did not like melancholy stories had gone over to the majority; she knew nothing of the man who had succeeded him. Great was her surprise, therefore, when she one day received through the post a roll of proofs in a wrapper bearing the name of that well-known weekly. "This is a mistake," she said to herself, as she unfolded the sheets; but as she glanced over the printing a name here and there caught her eye which struck her as strangely familiar. The thing was not new, though it seemed as vague and distant as a dreain. What could it mean? She turned to look for the title. "Dead Violets" met her eye. The story pronounced "too depressing," more than ten years before, had lain in the office of the Weekly Adviser ever since, and now, unearthed by some chance, had found favour with the new editor, and was set up in type. With strangely mingled feelings Edith read the story written so long before. Her heart was painfully thrilled by the memories it invoked. It seemed at once better and worse than she had deemed it in the old days. There were crudities of style, and a youthful exuberance of expression which jarred on her more cultured taste; but the story was alive. It was very sad—depressing, no doubt—btit yet a bit of real life, written with a throbbing heart, from the depths of her own experience. Her first impulse had been to write and forbid its publication; but on second thoughts she decided to let it appear with such slight im- provements as she could make on the proofs. The revision was painful work. She could not but think how much it would have meant to her had the story found acceptance when it was first submitted to an editor. Who could say? Her mother's life might have been prolonged—even saved, perhaps—had she been able at that time to command the sum which this story would bring her. But it was vain to dwell on that now. The story had been written for her mother's sake, and to her loved memory should its price be devoted Edith had never yet been able to place a suitable memorial above her mother's grave in the crowded London cemetery. For some time she had been slowly saving with this object in view; now this story would supply what was needed to make the amount sufficient. So, when the editor of the Weekly Adviser sent his cheque for six guineas, the money went to complete this fund, and in due time a simple granite cross marked the mound of earth so sacred to the author of "Dead Violets." The associations of that title were full of sadness for  ## p. 69 (#81) ############################################## THE AUTHOR 69 Edith, but she never blamed the editor who had rejected the story when fresh from her pen. He had acted for the best. He was bound to consult the pleasure of his readers and the interests of his paper. It was doubtless by accident that the MS. had never been returned to her. She could have had it had she cared to apply for it. The fact of her story's attaining publication after so many years was just one of those strange chances which continually attend the fortunes of a literary career. *>•«.; AFTER PUBLICATION—THE FATE OF A BOOK. IN the March number of The Author I found (1) a paragraph relating the troubles of a member of the Society whose reviews, although excellent, have failed to circulate his books; and (2) a sentence, cited from an article in the Fortnightly :—" I know one bookseller who, when he finds a eulogistic review of a new book, instantly cuts it out and displays it in a conspicuous manner. He tells me the system is a gratifying success." We have, in the foregoing, some suggestions and experiences which may help to throw some light on that mysterious period of a book's career—the period when, just hot from the press, it is as yet undetermined whether it will be a failure or success. Let us consider this subject under four heads: (1) The book and the reviewer, (2) the review and the public, (3) the book and the book- seller, (4) the book and the public. 1. The Book and the Reviewer.—It is evident that there must exist a great disparity between the careful and exhaustive, if not always unpre- judiced criticisms of the great quarterlies in their palmy days, and the hasty rule-of-thumb "notices" of the thousand and one journals wedging in a weekly or fortnightly "literary article" amongst columns of sporting, commer- cial, fashionable, and other "intelligence." In the latter case, literature is treated as one only, and by no means an exceedingly important one, of the many interests which a daily journal reflects, and the object is, no doubt, to give the reader an idea of what is "doing" in the world of letters, rather than to attempt seriously the work of instructive and discriminating criticism. It is of course true, and every author will admit it, that the views taken by reviewers are as various and as many as the actual number of minds concerned in writing the notices in ques- tion. The demerits cited by one, are considered "characteristic touches" by another. What one critic describes as " cheap sarcasm" another will call "profound psychological analysis," and so forth. There may be more than one reason for this. It is no doubt true, as the Editor of The Author has repeatedly pointed out, that no critic can afford to exercise reflective judgment on a work when the result of that judgment has to be condensed into a few lines, and remunerated accordingly. But, with every respect to reviewers as a class, it may be suggested that a great review can only proceed from a mind specially qualified by nature and by training for this particular work, and that to sum up the results of superior constructive ability intelligently, requires critical ability of 110 common order. These considerations lead us to inquire whether the function of the reviewer as now exercised does not require modification—whether, in fact, the whole system of literary notices might not be organised on an entirely different basis with advantage to all concerned. Granted that it is the object of the literary column in the great provincial journals and in the more important weeklies, to reflect the current, activity in the world of letters—to give, as we have said, an idea of what is " doing " in the way. of book production—it is clear that this end might be quite as effectually attained by making these columns the channels of a flowing stream of criticism derived from one or more deep artesian fountains, rather than, as at present, by attempt- ing an outpouring of not too drinkable water derived from more shallow wells, sunk on the premises. Less metaphorically, why should not the literary column, instead of attempting to reflect the whole world of books, confine itself to a summary, intelligently commented upon, of the said world as seen through the spectacles of the great critical journals? To the ordinary cultivated reader it would be far more provocative of interest in a particular book if, in his local journal, say the North of England Mercury, he should find short sum- maries of criticism on, say, "The Three Fishes, a Tale of Grammarye," culled from the Athenaeum, the Spectator, Literature, &c., &c., instead of merely the less valuable lucubrations of the local gentleman who "does" the reviews for that influential county organ. Possibly in nine cases out of ten the local gentleman in question would be by no means averse to the change himself. If he felt moved to dissent from the opinions of the greater lights, it would be open to him to prove them in the wrong. It would also be a light and pleasing exercise for him to discriminate between and enlarge upon the spectacle of the Olympians themselves, utterly at loggerheads over the moral  ## p. 70 (#82) ############################################## 7o THE AUTHOR. conduct of the "Fisher of Souls " in the above- mentioned romance. And what a weary waste of labour he would be relieved from, in no longer being compelled to frame platitudes about the worthless thoughts of commonplace people that, somehow or other, have got themselves introduced to the world as "characters" in a so-called novel. If this change were brought about there would, of course, still remain the burning question of the "canons of criticism"—those canons by which the Olympians themselves are to be guided, first, in determining if a new book be worthy of their attention; secondly, in weighing-up the statements, theories, or positions of the writer. Mr. Hannigan, in the March Author, has made a courageous attempt to formulate some of these, but as by his own admission the Waverley novels (including "Ivanhoe "?) fall short of his par- ticular standard, it is to be feared that his formula needs considerable amendment. Having regard to the complexity of human life, and in particular to the fact that progress in every department of human activity is the final result of a number of concurrent, heterogeneous, often conflicting influences, it is evident that no canon of criticism can hope to include all possible cases. In modern and present day matters it is probable that, even were such canon recognised, it would pass the limits of "the wit of man " to dispassionately apply it. We must, therefore, as heretofore, trust to the human element—to the reflections and judgments of the recognised critical authorities; and even these will assuredly often prove to be all wrong, because the human mind is not an infallible machine. . For the present, at any rate, we will not attempt to penetrate the mists that surround Olympus. We will imagine the review written, disseminated by means of the "literary column" to the half million interested in such matters, and served up with the coffee at the breakfast table. The ques- tion now becomes, "What is the effect?" - 2. The Review and the Public.—Each one of us has, no doubt, in his remembrance an instance, when, having read the " notice " of a book, a con- suming desire to have and handle that book has for a few hours possessed us. Our enthusiasm And curiosity during this brief phase has been raised, it may be, to a 10s. 6d. level, or it may be only to a 6s. pitch. But we have felt toler- ably certain that, if the much-desired volume were within reach, we should purchase it at all hazards, and in defiance of the whispers of prudence and economy. This is the first psychological moment in the history of the " review." When it has died away, unsatisfied, the review has passed stage one in its career of usefulness, and has entered on stage two, in which it is only fit for abstract, and repro- duction along with others. The later stage is perhaps a more lasting one. From a number of " notices " the juice or essence, not the bitter essence, but the sweet, is extracted, and the cumulative effect of pithy sentence upon pithy sentence, each followed by the name of some great piece amongst the heavy ordnance of literature, is no doubt very great. The wavering mind remembering its past and momentary enthusiasm over this particular work of genius, greedily responds to the tickling, the gentle stimulus of so many laudatory phrases, and arrives at a fixed determination, not necessarily to buy, but to "look out" for this book. This is psychological moment No. 2. Whether it bears fruit depends upon the accessibility of the work, and this brings us to— 3. The Book and the Bookseller.—-The "publi- cation" of a book is a very vague expression. Too often it means the languishing of the majority of the so-published volumes in the state of " quires" upon the shelves of an unromantic warehouse. Now, it is very clear that a book stands very much in the same light as any other manufactured article from the point of view of the person who has to sell it to the public. The first cry of the would-be purchaser is " samples "; the second, "samples "; the third, "samples." It is, of course, obvious that a book, however large, cannot very well be distributed in small gratis doses like, for instance, X.'s celebrated cocoa. And though it is no doubt true that the whole office of the "review" and the "notice" is to guide the public taste, yet we must not forget that X., too, has his "Press notices," his "testimonials," and other printed matter descriptive of the merits of his cocoa, and, in addition, does not disregard the uses of adver- tisement, but after all he relies upon |the gratis sample. In the opinion of the writer it is not so much the producing as the distributing system of the book trade that is out of gear. Publishers them- selves, those keen business men, seem helpless. They blame the author, they blame the bookseller, they groan over the discount system, they cry out at the burden of the review copy, they pro- phesy, they menace, but the end of all the stir is "much cry and little wool." The unsold "quires" lie limp and lonely upon the warehouse shelves, the bookseller puts a few copies of standard authors in his windows, and the pur- chaser bursting into his shop with enthusiasm, red-hot from a perusal of the "essence of review" above mentioned, is met with the cold and damping remark that "We haven't the  ## p. 71 (#83) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. book in stook, but we can get it." And, in not a few cases, out he goes again, never to return. This is not business; it is not even common sense. It is not encouraging trade, it is stifling its nascent struggles. And the result is per- petual recrimination and unrest. Let us now look at the whole matter from another stand- point. 4. The Booh and the Public.—Ah, this dear Public! How noble he is. So unlike a reviewer, unlike even a publisher. We may bully him to our heart's content, and he will like us all the better for it. Each of us feels that, could we but stand face to face with him, and gain his ear, he would extend the right hand of fellowship to us, in sheer admiration of our splendid thoughts. Faith, it is a strange spectacle, this poor, weary, jaded Public, ever seeking for some new thing, and all this galaxy of talent eager to woo his attention and charm him from his abject melan- choly. And between, the impalpable shadow of Destiny, the mocking spectral Fate that keeps him still with head on hand, writhing with ennui— whilst our own enthralling work, epic, comedy, or jeremiad, as the case may be, lies upon the shelves, chemically decomposing into grainless dust. It is easy to understand how a book may be a great success. Touching, even though only by accident, on the inmost fibres of the human heart, will do it, even though every canon of criticism, and every rule of grammar has been violated in the doing of it. Perhaps Mr. Vincent Heward (March Author, p. 269) has not inaptly put it, when he says " style and form are graceful adorn- ments, but what of the body they are to adorn?" Emotion communicates itself like Same. The reader that has been thrilled is eager that others shall experience like pleasure. And thus comes the great success. Merely intellectual satisfaction the reader is more continent of. He says "Clever chap that," but the world does not glow the brighter for a mere sparkle of the mind. Yet even if we recognise that there are many kinds of cleverness which merely stimulate superficially without turning the reader's nervous system into a red-hot furnace full of sympathetic flames, it is not easy to say why books of undoubted merit are often not merely "not very successful," but, on the con- trary, total and abject failures. It would seem that there must be a reason, and a remediable reason, for this, since it is idle to blame the public for neglecting a clever work, because the public's appetite for any sort of clever work is, there is plenty of evidence to show, insatiable. We have seen that a clever work addressed to the emotions, succeeds, because it is advertised by the public itself. It spreads like fever, like panic, or any sort of contagion—and then after a time a further influence comes into play—it becomes "fashionable." The obvious corollary is that works of merit (e.g„ those mentioned on.p. 260) which are total failures, are only total failures because, not being of the class that advertise themselves, they have not in reality been adver- tised at all. Or to speak with precision, they have not been brought before the public in a way that has any practical influence on the public. And this will still be true, if many scores of pounds have been spent in advertising, and if every journal in the kingdom has spoken favour- ably of the work. Enter any shop where a large trade is done in non-copyright books and cheap editions. Observe the purchasers. In nine cases out of ten the purchaser goes into the shop with a vague flavour in his mouth, a half-felt craving for some par- ticular class of mental stimulus. It may be adventure by sea, or by land, the mazy thread of a detective tale, a " society" story, and so on. He wanders round the well-filled shelves, peeping into this, reading a few pages, passing on to that, until at length he finds something to his taste, pays his money cheerfully, and goes out in feverish haste to make acquaintance with his new friends. The deduction is obvious. What is really required to give a stimulus to the profession of the author, to the business of the publisher, to the trade of the bookseller, is reorganisation of existing relationships. The following seem reasonable suggestions. It is not pretended that they are now offered for the first time. (1). Fewer reviews, but those few written by the best available men, bent,not upon "slashing" the author, nor expatiating to a disproportionate extent upon mannerisms and style, nor exhibit- ing encyclopaedic learning, but on viewing the constructive work of their contemporaries as part of the zeit-geist in a calm and philo- sophic way. (2.) The abolition, to a large extent, of the "notice," which at its best is a waste of energy and space. A short statement of the plot or purport of the commonplace and generally un- worthy book might be substituted. Such state- ment signifying neither praise nor blame. (3). The introduction of much closer and more sympathetic relationship between publishers as a body and booksellers as a body. This is, of course, a vague and trite remark, and looks at first sight suspiciously like a pious wish, but it is the real focus at which all the evolutionary  ## p. 72 (#84) ############################################## 1*. THE AUTHOR. forces at present working blindly in the world of books will presently be concentrated. We need not, however, discuss this from the point of view of the publisher; we will consider only what the author wants, whether he gets it directly or in- directly. In every large town there should be many, in every small town there should be one bookseller who is not merely a tradesman, but an expert— the guide, philosopher, and friend of the book buyer. In his shop should be found every book reviewed by the critical journals, sent there on "sale or return" by the publisher. Of course this does not apply to Editions de luxe or specially expensive works—only to the rank and file of books that will be purchased by the public at large. There, too, would be found copies of those less successful works, open to everyone's examina- tion; and it can hardly be argued that they would not be better disposed of in this way than decay- ing on- the warehouse shelves. An unsold re- mainder of 500 copies would go a long way dis- tributed amongst the chief booksellers of the kingdom. It is very certain that such shops, established as a recognised and flourishing institu- tion in every town, selling all kinds of printed matter, would become the happy hunting ground of the public in search of a book, and that the scandal of works of merit proving financially disastrous, as in the case of our unfortunate fellow member, would cease to press on our atten- tion. The Public, entering the shop, either to behold with his own eyes that clever work of which he has just read the advertised "essence of review," or, on the other hand, merely desirous of finding something suitable to his present mood, would scan eagerly not only the works of A., B., and C. —celebrated authors—but also of X., Y., and Z., coming men, who, however, have not yet arrived. And it is much more likely that he will invest in the scintillating wit of X., Y., and Z., after having had the opportunity of mentally measuring it, than that he should speculate in the work of an unknown name on the faith of an advertisement. Besides, to be told that the books of a particular writer are not " kept in stock" leads oue, uncon- sciously, to rank that writer as a second-rate one. The influence of fashion is often strongest where it is least visible. It would appear that the bookseller is de- serving of the tenderest care at the hands of the author. He is the advance-guard, the outpost of literature, and his position should be strengthened as far as possible. Enlisting his sympathies, the author has a thousand Argus-eyed auxiliaries working for him, pointing out his merits, holding him up to the omnivorous public as a person whose acquaintance (at the published price) it is desirable to cultivate. The idea may be Utopian, but like many Utopias it is a pleasant one to contemplate. N. C. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Civil List. IN the copy of The Author for July, which has just reached me, you do not mention the grant (the pension, rather) of .£20 a year which has been awarded me from the Civil List. As I owe it entirely to the action of the Society of Authors, who most generously signed a petition on my behalf, I think some acknowledgment should be made in The Author. I am deeply grateful to the Society for their kind interest, and for the effort they made to help me. I may have hoped for a more generous award, but that does not affect my lively sense of the sympathy that has been shown me by my fellow authors, which has touched me most deeply. I thank them—and I thank you—most heartily. Frances Marshall (Alan St. Aubyn). July 8. II.—The Struggle for Recognition. Do unknown authors, with touching faith in their own creations, and still more touching expectancy in regard to payment, truly realise the utter hopelessness, the dreary waste of time involved in sending out their literary samples to up-to-date editors or publishers' readers? Do they quite understand the appalling difficulties in the path of poverty, with a more than glutted market to meet—and poverty is always left to the sweet silence of solitude? To get a serial story accepted at, say, .£3 weekly in a penny paper is the most practical way of earning a pittance in fiction; but even here there are thousands ready to do the work for half, and to do it remarkably well. Besides, the relatives of the proprietor or editor are always delighted to offer their services, and to steal all the "plums " from any proffered manuscripts. It is almost invariably the rich author who succeeds—the man or woman with a good income, irrespective of any literary earnings. Money lavished on advertising can make the dullest seaside story the fashion, and hence create a run on it. It is the moneyed power behind a book that will make it " go." It is the greedy capitalist, without a literary instinct, commencing perhaps as some shrewd newspaper clerk, who through lucky chances and solid backers can buy up papers one after the other, and ruin their owners, like a huge serpent swallowing lesser ones.  ## p. 73 (#85) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 73 He commands the market. He may, and probably does, prefer twaddle, because he finds it sell, so he buys it and backed up by his capital it goes very well; it is so safe and everyone can of course understand, and be soothed or cheered by it. Does the poor and struggling author quite grasp these hard facts in an age of greed, of humbug, and of callous commercialism? It is easier to sell to twenty capitalists than to one. The wealthy authoress, reclining among her cushions in Worth's latest tea-gown, glittering in diamonds, and interviewed by a reporter awed into respect by her surroundings, has nothing to fear. Her books will sell because her money, position, and interest, can make them the fashion, and guileless reviewers have a singular faculty for appreciating these apparently hidden mys- teries. She appeals in some way to their inner consciousness. The illustrated interviews—the smart little pars—the advertisements—the large social connections—the money and the pushing publisher do the rest. It is precisely the same with the wealthy author. Let struggling aspi- rants moved by philosophic doubts ponder well over the injustice and indifference meted every- where to the poor. Annabel Gray. [The above, whose signature commands atten- tion, deals with the difficulties which beset the path of young writers. I would willingly believe that the picture is exaggerated. It is doubtless true that the difficulties are tremendous ; but does not the nature of the work—the magnitude of the prize, which is not, like the prize of trade, one of money only, but of honour, consideration, and respect—necessitate these difficulties? To write seems so easy: when one has written the product seems to the writer so beautiful: the success of so many seems so easily achieved: the literary value of successful work seems to the young writer so much below his own work: that not only is the editor bombarded and pelted with MSS., but the disappointment of the unsuccessful is keen beyond any other kind of disappoint- ment. It is bitter for the man with the red lamp to see his old friend of student days making his ten thousand a year as a consulting physician, but it is far more bitter for an aspirant to see the success of a work which in his own mind he ranks far below his own. I have always been of opinion that good work makes its own way. Even supposing that push and advertising can advance a book not worth advertising, there remains the question whether any fine piece of work can be named which has failed to make its mark any time during the last ten years. Again, it is true that there are thousands who can turn out MSS. resembling good work and for nothing or next to nothing; the fact remains that it is not really good work, and the journals which "go in" for cheapn- ss do not thrive by cheapness. The only remedy is patience. When people agree to con- sider writing as a kind of work that has to be paid for, like cabinet making, there will spring up some feeling as to sweating writers, just as there is about sweating needlewomen. Yet the sweat- ing will be carried on. Again, can it be said that MSS. are plundered of their contents '{ Such a thing might conceiv- ably take place and with impunity: but it must be very rare, if only on account of the vast masses of MSS. which are daily sent into the editor. Has Annabel Gray any facts in support of this suggestion? Then, is it the rich writer who suceeeds? I should say that it is the successful writer, as a rule, has nothing except the stimulus of poverty. Writers as a rule never do have anything to begin with. One need not quote examples of living men: of dead men we may mention Dickens, Leigh Hunt, Douglas Jerrold, Marryatt —none of them had anything to begin with. However, this is how it seems to Annabel Gray. —Ed.] c-=i III.—The Seamy Side. Do not your occasional contributors tell us too much about their grievances and too little about their success? All publishers arc not necessarily sharks, and some editors are distinctly human— as you, Sir, have frequently borne witness. I personally have had two good doses of disappoint- ment and disillusion—each one of which my candid friends have interpreted as Divine warn- ings that I should take Mr. Grant Allen's advice and buy a good broom and annex a vacant crossing, but I am bound to add that I agree with Mr. Coulson Kernahan, in his preface to "Sorrow and Song," that for kindness of heart men of letters have no equal. The gentlemen who write you frequently profess to be anxious to assist the young author. Would they not help him more effectually if they told him some of the good things that had happened to them? At present they seem to unite to quench your cheery optimism, and to make poor beginners like myself wonder whether any good thing can come to the producer from the world of books! Stanhope Sprigg. IV.—Hard Treatment in Australia. You may be interested to hear that cases of hardship to young writers occur in this new land similar to those published in your columns.  ## p. 74 (#86) ############################################## 74 THE AUTHOR. In the months of July and August of last year an advertisement appeared in the columns of the Bulletin, which you may know is the leading paper of its class in the colonies, to the effect that the Coolgardie Courier (W. A.) would give prizes of '' six, four, and two guineas for the three best original stories illustrative of life in Australasia," and, furthermore, that the pro- prietors of the paper would make a donation of one guinea to any tale published other than the prize winners. Satisfied that the advertisement signed by such a well-known proprietor was genuine, I entered MSS. of two stories for the competition, but from that time no further reference was made to it in any paper. I have obtained a file of the Coolgardie Courier from July of last year up to date, and find there is absolutely no mention of any com- petition in its columns. No stories whatever have appeared in it but those culled from English and other journals. I ascertained from the Bulletin office that the advertisement was a bond fide one, and then wrote to the Courier asking an explanation and for my MSS. The latter arrived this morning (in a very dilapidated condition), but no letter or memorandum accompanied it, so the why and wherefore of the business is still a mystery. I have also suffered this year at the hands of a Sydney newspaper, which published tales of mine in its December and January numbers and for which I am unable to get payment. I previously won a prize competition of this journal which was paid promptly enough. I have put the present matter into a solicitor's care, and would like to let you know result. Ada A. Kidgell. 39, Hunter-street, Sydney. V.—Proposed Journal tor Amateurs. Referring to your remarks on amateur produc- tions, are you not a little unjust to that unhappy individual? His work is sure to be weak and flabby, you say, and no one would care to read it. Consequently an amateur magazine must be a collection of drivel. Now, I understand an amateur to be a person who has not had the good luck to get his or her work accepted, and so the majority of our distinguished authors for some period of their lives came under that category. Their work was not worthless by any means. I have been told by a talented LL.D. of keen critical ability that my work is above the average of published novels, and, though I am afraid to believe him, I certainly consider it has redeemed itself from flabbiness. But, even if it were as good as your own, that fact would not insure its acceptance, seeing that there is scarcely room on the booksellers' shelves for the work of old hands. There is no earthly reason why an amateur who has been writing for some time should not be as good as the average professional, and if there is the faintest hope of his ever becoming known in the literary world, he must turn out something far superior to our usual literary fare. A few years ago I used to take in an amateur monthly which contained very good articles by Mary L. Pendred. This lady has since placed books on the market and figured in the Idler, and I should like to know whether she was "ashamed" of what she had done for the little amateur when she found herself on the giddy heights of professionalism. Inconnu. VI.—Stale MSS. Your correspondents complain of their MSS. being kept months for publication—or a year or two; but I think I can beat the record. One was six years old when it appeared, but the editor offered me a larger cheque in consequence. Two or three have been buried four years, and when printed T scarcely knew my own produc- tions. Certainly I felt then that I could have done better. As these were illustrated articles 5 per cent. interest for four years represents £2! MSS. ought to be paid on delivery, or else 4 or 5 per cent. charged for credit. A Patient Scribe. VII.—Personal. Nearly all the reviews of " The Actor-Manager" contain the statement that I am novelist, drama- tist, and actor in one: "Jack of all trades, and master of none" will probably be added soon. May I beg you to serve me by correcting the misapprehension? My experience as an actor was very brief, and I left the theatrical profes- sion when I was three-and-twenty. I am simply a novelist who has collaborated in two or three plays. If you would say so, I should be extremely grateful for your kindness. Leonard Merrick. National Liberal Club. VIII.—Reprints. Will some reader, well versed in the cautious ways of publishers, kindly inform me, with as little delay as possible, why it is that publishers persistently refuse to reprint books of general interest, chiefly because their original issue ran to only one  ## p. 75 (#87) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 75 edition of a limited number of copies, and was not brought well under the notice of the public? This was, at any rate, the reason given by several publishers who have had under con- sideration my book of travels in Cuba which appeared some years ago under the title of the "Pearl of the Antilles." It is, I believe, the only work dealing with social life in Cuba which has been written, and it was the result of five years' residence in the island; most of the time having been passed in the city of Santiago—the very centre of the pending hostilities between Spain and the United States. I was not only a resident at Santiago de Cuba, but I spent much more than a mauvais quatre d'heure inside that same Morro Castle at present being bombarded by the American fleet. One would have supposed that such experiences would be of some interest to readers of to-day, and that to a large majority they would appear fresh, or as if the book had never been written; the more so because the work has long since been out of print, and forgott-n by a limited number old enough to remember it. Moreover the volume, though rather extensively noticed by the Press at the time of its publication, was never pushed by my publishers, so that the public knew next to nothing of its existence. This is another reason given by the publishers of to-day in explanation of their refusal to take up a reprint—well revised and written up to date—of the "Pearl of the Antilles." They contend that if the book had been a financial success it would have run to another edition, and yet another. But they cannot be persuaded to believe that the subject of the book is of far more interest to-day than it was the other day, and that almost anything relating to Cuba just now, if well brought under the notice of the public, would perhaps receive attention. In addition to a careful revise, introducing new features, I have also offered to supply illustrations from sketches and designs in my possee-ion— some of the sketches having been done on the spot by myself. But in no single instance has any publisher " caught on " as yet to the idea. Walter Goodman, Oranienhof, Kreuznach, Germany. July 4, 1898. aia IX.—The Publication of Scientific Educa- tional Wokks. I should like to call your attention to a great disadvantage that the authors of scientific works that are intended for educational purposes labour under, viz., the excessive cost of advertisement. I have written three books and a large number of articles in the technical Press on the practical side of electrical engineering, that is to say, books designed for the use of mining, mechanical, and marine engineers, mechanics, plumbers, ifcc., who may have to deal with electrical apparatus but have no training, and to whom the text-books which appeal to trained electricians, crammed as they are with mathematics, would be absolutely useless. That there is a field for such books, and a large one, was proved by the fact that the first edition of my first book, consisting of 1250 copies, sold out in four months, and by the fact that this book is now w.;ll on its third edition, while the others have achieved nearly as great a success. It has also been proved in the usual way that most authors are acquainted with—I am constantly hearing of my books from all parts of the world. I have met working colliers away from their work, carrying my books in their pockets, just as one does any favourite author. I have nothing to complain of in my treatment by my publishers, except in this matter of adver- tisements. I believe that a very much larger number of my books would be sold if they were more advertised. There are probably immense numbers of mechanics, plumbers, &c., to whom the books would be of immense value, by enabling them to deal themselves with most of the troubles that beset electrical apparatus, and so improve their own position and save money for then- employers. These men do not buy my books simply because they have not heard of their existence, and when I complain to my publisher they say that they cannot afford to advertise more tban they do, the cost is so great in propor- tion to the returns. But the most striking feature of the case is, my publishers assure me, that, though my first book may presumably be regarded as a success, they have only recently made anything on it; and the principal reason given is the excessive cost of advertisements, though, as I have shown, those advertisements have failed to touch the great bulk of possible purchasers. The Society of Authors has already done a great deal for authors individually and collec- tively. Could it not attack the great injustice involved in this? Take any technical paper, and consider the amount paid to the authors employed on it as against the enormous sums received for the adver- tisements. The manufacturer and the merchant have numberless ways of bringing their wares before purchasers. The author has only one—the advertisement columns of the Press, after, of course, the review—the latter only taking place on each new edition. Is it not possible to induce proprietors of  ## p. 76 (#88) ############################################## 76 THE AUTHOR. papers to take advertisements of books at a lower rate, to give authors a better chance of getting their works known? It is said, in reply to this, that proprietors of papers would never surrender a portion of their profits. As nothing but increased postage rate prevents proprietors of papers from increasing their advertisement sheets ad infinitum, it may fairly be doubted if this is so; but, even if it is, why should they not? Publishers pursued the same grinding policy until the advent of the Authors' Society. What has been done with publishers might surely be done with the proprietors of papers. It should be remembered, too, that the authors referred to, providing they have really something to say, are doing a work of national importance. If this country is to hold its own in the com- mercial race with Germany and the United States, it can only be by the education of its artisans in the technical details of engineering apparatus, and no education can be so convenient as that which the artisan can carry in his pocket. Cardiff. Sydney F. Walker. X.—Editors and Contributors. As I have not been able to see The Author for this mouth I do not know what progress, if any, has been made with above subject, which is of even greater importance tn struggling writers than the subject of publishers' extortions is to their better- to-do brethren, and which cannot be regarded as settled, on Enskin's principle that nothing is settled until it is settled rightly. The reason I am addressing you now is to give you an account of the further conduct of the editor towards me concerning whom I complained in your May impression. When my letter appeired I cut it out, together with all the other matter on the same subject. and forwarded it to the editor in question, to whom I had been con- stantly writing previously, asking him to put in what. MSS. of mine he had in hand. He returned my inclosures with the simple comment. " Pray do not trouble to send such matter in future." On which I wrote him that I must have an answer as to what he intended to do in the matter of my MSS., some of which he had kept on hand upwards of twelve months. Someone on his behalf then sent me a note that the editor had gone awav for a holiday, but would answer my letter on his return. I accordingly patiently waited a month, during which nothing by me appeared in his paper, and then began to write to him again. He took no notice, despite the promise on his behalf, until last Thursday (July 14), when he sent me a letter in which he said that he had gone through all the MSS. of mine he had in hand, and found that he could use, "at the first opportunity," four which he named, one of which he had already kept fourteen months, another eight months, another three months, and another nearly two years. On receiving this communica- tion I wrote expressing satisfaction that some at least of my pieces were at length going to be used, and asking that the others he had in hand should be returned, one of them a tale sent him with stamped-addressed envelope nearly two years back. Instead of complying with my request he actually sent back the four MSS. only he had just contracted to use, marked with editorial notes and corrections, and now says in answer to my appeals that he derives warrant for so doing from my letter of July 15, which I have told him he has misinteqjreted. He obstinately refuses, however, to either insert my MSS. or give me any compensation for not doing so, despite the time he has kept them. Of course I can send them elsewhere after I' have re-copied them, but look at the injustice of the thing. I have written to the proprietors of the journal in question, but do not suppose I shall get any redress from them. Experto Crede. OBITUARY. MRS. ELIZABETH LYNN LINTON died on July 14, at Queen Anne's Mansions, London, where she had been staying for some time on a visit to a friend. About six weeks before she was taken ill with pleurisy; the complaint developing into double pneumonia. Mrs. Linton was in her 77th year. Born at Keswick in the days of the Lake Poets, the daughter of the Vicar of Crosthwaite, she came to London when she was twenty-three, and in the following year under the auspices of Walter Savage Landor her first book was published. This was "Amymone: a Romance of the Days of Pericles." She began to write about this time for the Morning Chronicle, and subsequently for the Morning Star; and her career in journalism thus begun was continued in the Daily News, Household Words, and All the Year Round. Journalism was, indeed, her employment for a few years after 1851, the year in which "Reali- ties" appeared. In all, Mrs. Linton was the author of some twenty books. Her method was one. of extreme painstaking, as an instance of which it has been recorded that she re-wrote each of her long stories with her own hand thrice,  ## p. 77 (#89) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 77 making emendations each time. Distinction came to her in 1872 by her powerful novel "The True History of Joseph Davidson," the hero of which is a Cornish carpenter who sets himself to live the life of Christ. "Patricia Kemball," which followed after an interval of two years, had a reception only little less distinguished. The book by which she is probably best known to-day is "The Girl of the Period," issued in 1883, a series of trenchant essays which had appeared in the Saturday Reriew, and which displayed Mrs. Linton in the character of a firm upholder of the sanctities of domestic life. She had no sympathy with what is commonly called the "new" woman—what Mrs. Linton herself called, in a series of essays upon them, the "shrieking sisterhood." Miss Lynn married in 1858 Mr. William James Linton, the engraver on wood, but it was not long before Mr. and Mrs. Linton separated on account of incompatibility of temper. The husband went to America where he lived to the age of eighty. Mrs. Linton was attached to London, in which she lived for fifty years. She retired a few years ago to Malvern. One of her last visits w as to the annual dinner of the Society of Authors nine weeks before her death. Her circle of friends was very large; she was a delightful talker, a charming letter writer; a sympathetic friend to many a struggling aspi- rant in literature. The remains of the deceased lady were cremated at Woking two days after her death. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. C^OULD any correspondent kindly tell me j where "Is the Church of England worth preserving?" an article by the late Mr. Gladstone, which appeared some fifteen years ago, I think, can be found? Also, what is the reference to an article on Corporate Reunion of the Church of England with the Church of Rome, by some Anglican dignitary, giving, I believe, an account of the consecration of three Anglican clergymen by Roman Catholic bishops r Spes. BOOK TALK. MR. F. J. JACKSON'S record of the recent Jackson-Harmsworth expedition to the polar regions will be published by Messrs. Harper in the autumn, in two volumes. A facsimile of the famous Rhind mathematical papyrus will be issued shortly by the British Museum. The papyrus deals with such subjects as the elements of geometrv and the theory of fractions, and was prepare! for publication by the late Dr. Samuel Birch several years ago. It has since been revised, and a special introduction has been written for it by Dr. Budge. "Practical Letters to Young Sea-fishers" is the title of a new book by Mr. John Bickerdyke, which Mr. Horace Cox, publisher of the Field, announces. In addition to sea-fishing as a sport, it deals with fishing-boats, boat-sailing, and life- saving at sea, and the restoration of the half drowned. The book is very fully illustrated by photographs of sea-fishing scenes taken by the author, sea-fishes drawn by a noted ichthyologist, the late Dr. Day, and the usual diagrams of tackle. Mr. Jerome K. Jerome's new book, a second series of "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow," will be published in a few days by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, entitled "Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow." The first series appeared twelve years ago. Early in the autumn season a memoir of Robert, Earl Nugent, the contemporary and friend of Pitt, Chesterfield, and Walpole, will be published by Mr. Heinemann. The writer is a member of the family, Mr. Claude Nugent, and a great amount of the earl's correspondence will be given, as well as illus- trations from pictures by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Kneller. Miss Nellie Farren is writing the storv of her life. Readers will remember the process of unautho- rised adaptation which a story by Mr. H. G. Wells recently underwent in order to suit a locality in the United States. Now it appears that somewhat similar treatment has been received by another English author, namely, Mr. H. O. Arnold Forster, M.P. His little book, "In a Conning Tower," which has gone through many editions, has been taken in hand by an "enterprising" firm in America. The narrative describes the possible course of an action between two modern British ironclads. In the American adaptation, names of American battleships are substituted, and the work is described as "by a noted expert." Mr. Henry James's new novel, " In the Cage," will appear from Messrs. Duckworth's in a few- days. Mr. E. F. Benson has written a society story, entitled "The Money Market," which will be Arrowsmith's Christmas Annual this year. Mr. J. K. Laughton is making steady progress with the life of the late Mr. Henry Reeve, the editor of the Edinburgh Review, which will pro-  ## p. 78 (#90) ############################################## 78 THE AUTHOR. bably be among the most important of this year's biographies. It will contain some vers-de-sodet6 written by Mr. Reeve in early life. Mr. Demetrius Boulger, whose large history of China has just been issu d in a cheaper edition, has examined the documents of the Congo State and the work carried on there, and the result will be a book entitled "The Congo State and the Growth of Civilisation in Central Africa." It will be published by Messrs. Thacker in the autumn. A volume that will be anticipated with much ioterest is " Letters by Benjamin Jowett," which Mr. Evelyn Abbott and Professor Lewis Campbell are preparing as a supplement to their " Life of the late Master of Balliol," which was issued by Mr. Murray last year. Mr. Clark Russell's new novel, " The Romance of a Midshipman," will be published on Oct. 5 by Mr. Unwin. A romance of lower London, by Mr. A. St. John Adcock, will be published shortly by Messrs. Skeffington. General McLeod Innes is writing the life of another gallant soldier, namely, the late General Sir Henry Havelock-Allan. Novels to be published in the autumn by Messrs Constable include " An Elusive Lover," by Virna Woods; "A Statesman's Chance," by Mr. J. F. Charles; and "The Modern Gospel," by Mrs. H. H. Penrose. With the July number of the Classical Review Mr. G. E. Marindin relinquished the post of editor, owing to pressure of other work. Dr. Postgate, of Cambridge, has accepted the editor- ship, and he will be assisted by Mr. A. Bernard Cook, of Trinity College, Cambridge. Mr. Marindin has edited the review for five years, having succeeded Professor Mayor. Mr. Walter Armstrong, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, is writing a book on the characteristics an < achievements of the painter Gainsborough, which will be published by Mr. Heinemann. Lord Ashbourne is writing a work entitled "Pitt: Some Chapters of his Life and 1 imes," which Messrs. Longman will issue in the autumn. "Foreign Courts and Foreign Homes " is the title of a work by "A. M. F." which is shortly to be published by Messrs. Longman. It deals with Hanoverian and French society under King Ernest and the Emperor Napoleon III., and contains a fund of anecdote. Mr. W. G. Collingwood is being assisted by Professor Jon Stefansson, of Copenhagen Univer- sity, the well-known Icelander, in preparing an elaborate volume on the topography and scenery of the Sagas, so far as they relate to Iceland. It will be illustrated by 200 water-colour drawings taken by Mr. Collingwood last year in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the Northern Seas. Professor Murison is writing the volume on Sir William Wallace for the Famous Scots Series. July witnessed the appearance of a threepenny popular monthly, entitled the Harmsworth Maga- zine. It is published by the well-known firm of Harmsworth. Considerable discussion has arisen upon the question of whether the newsagents can afford to sell it at the price it is offered to them. Messrs. W. H. Smith and Son declined to sell it on their bookstalls, and there has been a lengthy altercation between the two firms on this score. Mr. Harmsworth, the principal of the firm, says that the magazine can only be produced at the price becatise it is but "a small incident in an organisation controlling four daily journals and nearly thirty weekly periodicals; because we already possess and are now building printing machinery of an entirely novel and labour-saving nature." The following are among the novels which are announced for early publication: "God's Out- cast," by Mr. Silas K. Hocking (Warne); "A Girl of Grit," by Major Arthur Griffiths (Milne J; a novel by Mr. J. A. Barry (Macqueen); "A Lotus Flower," by Mr. J. Morgan de Groo (Blackwood); "The Secret of the King," by Mr. Charles Hannan; "The Pathway of the Gods," by Mrs. Mona Caird; •' The Laurel Walk," by Mrs. Molesworth (Isbister); and "The Queen's Cup," by Mr. G. A. Henty." "The Ways of a Widow," by Mrs. Lovett Cameron; and "Heart and Sword," by John Strange Winter, will be published by Messrs. White, who also have in preparation new stories by Mrs. Alexander and Miss Florence Warden. The Rev. Arthur Jenkinson, minister of the parish of Innellan, Argyllshire, has written a novel, in collaboration with his daughter, the scenes of which are laid in some of the wildest parts of the West Highlands. The story is entitled "Fiona Mclver: A Romance of the Western Isles," and will be published immediately by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. Miss Jeukinson, who is still very young, has already accomplished a considerable amount of literary work. The executive committee of the Stevenson Memorial now report that a fund of about .£1400 has been raited through local committees in New Zealand, the United States, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen. A mural  ## p. 79 (#91) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 79 monument in bronze will be placed in the Moray Aisle of St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh. It wiil be done by Mr. St. Gaudens, the American sculptor, who has studied Stevenson from the life. If the funds permit, it is also proposed to erect a handsome red granite seat upon some point on the Calton Hill, overlooking the Firth of Forth. Miss E. M. Cope is translating from the Nor- wegian a personal life of Marie Antoinette, written by Miss Clara Tschudi, who was recently presented by King Oscar with a gold medal in recognition of her historical researches. Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. will publish the book. Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, is writing a review of his Lifetime amongst the Dissenters, which will probably appear in the autumn. The proposed title of the book is "Paterson's Parish: A Book of Scenes, Thoughts, Dialogues, and Revelations." No publisher has yet been named. "Estrina," written by C. H. Malcolm, has just been published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. (2*. 6d.). A play entitled "Edgar Harissue," by Messrs. C. H. Malcolm and Arthur Grahame, was played at the Ladbroke Hall on Tuesday, July 19, and was much appreciated. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [June 24 to July 23.—217 Books.] Ames, J. S. Theory of Physics. 10/- Harper. Ames. J. S. and Bliss, W. J. A. A Manual of Experiments in Physics. 10/- Harper. Anderson, P. J Records of Marischal College and University, Aberdeen. 1593-1840. 21/- New Spalding Club. Andom, B Martha and I 3/6 Jarrold. Andrews, S. J. Christianity and Anti-Christianity in their Final Conflict. 9/- Putnam. Andrews, W. Literary Bywavs. 7/6. Andrews. Anonymous (An Inspector of Schools). Principles of Arithmetic. 3 6. McDougall. Anonymous. Conquest of Constantinople hy the Crusaders: A Song of Israel and Other Poems. 2/6 net. Paul. Anonymous (B. L. L.) Doctrine of Energy. 2/6 net. Paul. Anonymous. An Indictment of the Bishops. 1/- Church Association. Anonymous. History as Taught in India. 1/- T. G. Johnson. Armstrong, A. Tales of the Temple and Elsewhere. 1/- St. Sames's Gazette Office. Bailey, G. H. Metals and their Compounds. Part I. 1/6. Clive. Baskett, J. N. At You-alTs House. 6/- Macmillan. Raynee. Herbert. Ideals of the East. 5/- Sonnenschein. Relfort, Roland. The Colonial Cable Peril. 1/- R. Belfort. Bell. R S W. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 09 Issue 03 (August 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 09 Issue 03 (August 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-08-01-The-Author-9-3 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/320/1898-09-01-The-Author-9-4.pdf 99c5953586021c513ccef3cf403dc4f7 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) 1898-09-01 Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages Page range in volume 81–100 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980901 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin XL he Hutbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.') CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. IX.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Commnnioations and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOB some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notioes, &o., for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements TOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5-) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. HI. The royalty system. In this system, whieh has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both rides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objeoted that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will be their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those aooount books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements, and that all discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. i 2  ## p. 82 (#94) ############################################## 82 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. INVERT member has a right to ask for and to receive IU advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with oopyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudnlent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the oountry. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreement and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offera:—(1) To read and advise npon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action npon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communioate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously oommunioating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, Ac. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanoed 15 per cent." This clanse was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amonnt charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of frand; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to reoeive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing oan do more good to the Sooiety than to make The Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—The Publishers' Draft Agreements. fT^HE following expressions of opinion are S from various sources, in writing and com- municated by word of mouth, abridged and in full. I venture to invite the judgment of all our readers upon these model agreements, but put as briefly as possible. So far there has been complete unanimity of condemnation: with some there has been astonishment, and even a kind of dismay, at the discovery that nothing ever  ## p. 83 (#95) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 83 advanced in The Author or in the papers pub- lished by the Society has fallen so far short of the real truth. An opinion signed has, of course, far more weight than one that is anonymous. 1. I entirely agree with you as to the gross unfairness of the terms which you comment on in The Author as being those indorsed by the Publishers' Association. Only a very weak vessel could possibly be induced to subscribe them, but then the raison d'etre of our Society is precisely that this weaker vessel should be strengthened. That any author should give away his Tauch- nitz rights, American rights, and dramatic rights, in this wholesale way seems inconceivable, but I should have thought it equally inconceivable that any honourable body of men should have asked for such a sacrifice. If in the face of your exposure any author signs such terms, then he deserves his fate. A. Conan Doyle. TJndershaw, Hindhead, Haslemere. 11. I desire to call renewed attention, in addition to the points already raised, to a view of the subject that has not been received with the consideration which it deserves. It is this. The relations of author and publisher have been discussed repeatedly for the last fifteen years. During that time the position of the author and his extremely modest claims have been stated and re-stated over and over again. The latter simply ask for the same safeguards as exist in all other kinds of partnership, and it has been urged over and over again—(1) that the property belongs ,originally to the author: (2) that he has a right to know what any proposed agreement, except that for sale outright, means for either side: and (3) that on any form of profit-sharing agree- ment, including royalty, an audit of the books must be open to the author. Of course, as a matter of fact, it is open by common law, but this fact is studiously concealed. Now, not one of these claims is even noticed. What does this mean? It may mean (1) a resolu- tion to keep silence unless they are forced to speak: or (2) an impudent refusal to answer, or even to consider, the claims of an author: or (3) a real belief that the whole administration of literary property belongs to them as a right, and that they mean to do just what they please with it. But can they believe in this monstrous preten- sion? Can they really think that another man's property is to be treated exactly as they please for their own profit? Why — what is the present position? It is notorious that not a single author of any position in the literary world—not one—would consent to sign an agree- ment on these terms, so humorously styled "equitable"! This they must know perfectly well: they cannot choose but know it. No literary agent would dare to consent to such terms, not one: not even one who sells his clients to the publishers, would dare to accept such an agree- ment. Now since the publication of the meaning of the Cost of Production and the actual trade prices, the pecuniary position of the author has doubled in value. Yet our friends actually believe that we are going to sacrifice all the advance we have made, and to accept terms far more degrading to the author than ever were offered at any period, even the worst and lowest, in the history of literary folk. A. in. These terms by which publishers declare that it is " equitable " for them to have the power of pocketing as much of the profits as they please are the work of a committee which numbers on its body two names which have hitherto commanded general respect. I submit that Messrs. Long- man and Murray owe it to their historical and hereditary position as publishers to explain how they defend these claims, and to show what services they render to a book which can possibly entitle them to load the returns with percentages of whatever they please on every single item either of cost or of sale. They should also explain (1) why they leave themselves the right of charging for advertisements not paid for: (2) why they ignore the common law right of everybody to audit the accounts of his own property; and (3) why they claim office expenses for themselves which they deny to the bookseller and the author. B. IV. I beg to express the hope that the Society of Authors will not be drawn into the snare of arbitrating or submitting these questions to any form of argument. Arbitration means concession. Here there must be no concession. They are against the whole principles of the Society as set forth from the beginning. The only course, I submit, for the Society to follow is to reply by tearing up the documents and refusing even to argue upon them. C. v. I venture to hope that the question of office expenses will not be lost sight of. An agreement which claims for the publisher an allowance for office expenses which it does not allow the book- seller or the author is simply preposterous. The office expenses of the former are a great deal heavier in proportion than that of the publisher, while the author has office expenses sometimes  ## p. 84 (#96) ############################################## 84 THE AUTHOR. of a very heavy nature, especially in copying or typewriting work. D. VI. Has not the time come when the stronger writers should make a stand and insist on the insertion of certain clauses? For instance, the unpaid advertisements and the "exchanges ": the clause providing for an audit: the clause about office expenses. These should all be pro- vided for. It would surely be perfectly easy for the author to give instructions as to these points. There would not be the least difficulty in obtain- ing the concessions at once. I would suggest that the author should be provided with such an agreement by the Secretary, or that the literary agent should be instructed by the author to present an agreement in which such clauses and others should be inserted. The following seem to me the most im- portant: (i.) The right of audit must not be left to a common law right, but must be actually inserted in the agreement and acted upon. (2.) The advertisement plunder must be definitively stopped. (3.) Office expenses must be allowed, if at all, then for all parties concerned—say 2^ per cent. to author, publisher, and book- seller. Of course this allowance may not pay the office expenses, especially of the author. But the allowance will at least recognise them. (4.) The author if he pleases may have a veto on the papers used for advertising in. (5.) No percentages at all to be charged upon anything. And any discounts allowed must be entered in the accounts. Do you think that the publisher will refuse these terms to an author of repute 'i If so, let the author come to me, and I think I can show him a better way. E. VII. It is greatly to. be hoped that the publication of these agreements may hurry up the inevitable, namely, that publishing must become a business conducted on the same terms as all others: that of competition. So long as money is to be made out of selling the works of an author, people will be found to compete for his work, and to make, if they can, their own terms, screwing out of him as much work for as little pay as possible, and screwing out of the bookseller as much money as they can. This has always been going on under various pretences: risk, to begin with: friendship: bad times: awful expenses of pro- duction—we know the rest. Now that we know what these things really mean, we ought to be able to fight our battles for ourselves. But since authors are not great at conducting their own affairs, we have to call in an agent whose neart should be like the nether millstone for hardness. He will not drink champagne: he will not weep over bad times: he smiles at the " heavy cost: he will not admit the risk: he is inflexible about office expenses: and will not admit of friendship in business. The ways of business for all others are hard: the publishers for too many years have made their ways easy and tender for themselves. They are now entering upon paths that are gritty and ways that are thorny, like other men who buy and sell. F. II.—The Country Bookseller. Being away from home, and alone in a large provincial town of 140,000 people, I wanted something to read. I went out to look for a bookseller's shop, and tramped through the prin- cipal streets in search. I had almost given up my quest when I found one, and entered. "I think you must be the only bookseller in the town," said I. "I am the only real bookseller. There is one other, but he goes in for photographs, painted tambourines, and such like, as well as books." "Do you really mean to say that one bookseller is enough for the wants of a town of a hundred and forty thousand inhabitants?" I asked, astounded. "Yes, sir. That is the sad fact." "But even you are not what I call a bookseller. Where are the novels of the day?" He took me outside, and pointed proudly to a six-shilling book. "There is the novel of the hour," he said. And sure enough, in company with perhaps two dozen others, was the book; its name I will not mention. "Have you got ?" I asked. "No, sir, I'm afraid not." I had asked for a book which last year ran into, I think, 50,000 copies. No; with the exception of the few books in his window he had no other new literature. "I suppose," I said, "that the big draper up the street who is selling cheap reprints at four- pence ha'penny spoils your trade? "Not a bit, he answered. "The call for that stuff is going off; in fact, some of them can't sell the stock they've got." "Then do you sell many copies of six-shilling books?" "Well, no; unless there is a great talk of a book we sell very few. The price will have to come down to three shillings, and I think that  ## p. 85 (#97) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 85 will kill the libraries. They are the things that stop the sale of new books." I chose a cheap reprint, and went out to think over what I had seen and heard. A large and important provincial town, known the world over, with but one bond fide book- seller! One to 140,000! Under such circumstances, how is the unknown author to have a fair chance? Alan Oscar. III.—The Publishing Trade in Germany. Exclusive of specialist publications, 3477 political and advertising papers were issued in 1752 German centres last year, being at the rate of one per 12,092 inhabitants, or per 157 square kilometres, In Switzerland the proportion is one to 7581 inhabitants, or 107 square kilometres, while in Austria the corresponding figures are 72,290 and 1167. This is, no doubt, a conse- quence of the different legislation in these countries. Austria still retains the newspaper stamp. Germany has nine papers that appear more than twice daily, and 79 that appear twelve to thirteen times a week, 1185 six to seven times, and 1745 two to five times. The number of specialist publications is 3056. The export trade in German books amounted in 1896 to the value of about 62 million marks, and the import of foreign books to 20 millions. Austria-Hungary bought 28 million marks' worth, Switzerland (in millions 0f marks) 7.6, the United States 7.2, Russia 5.8, England 3.2, Holland 2.8, France 2, Belgium and Scandinavia 1.2, and Italy and Denmark 800,000 marks' worth. From Austria-Hungary Germany imported 7.2 million marks' worth of b0oks; from Switzerland, 3.2; from France, 3.8; from Holland and the United States, 1.6; from Russia, more than 700,000 marks' worth; and from England, 650,000 marks' worth. The small value of the books imported from England is evidently due t0 the fact that Tauchnitz and other German firms publish enormous numbers of English works.—Standard. IV.—The Internationale Liteea. TUEBEEICHTE. Those members of the Society of Authors who read German may be glad to be made acquainted with the fortnightly Internationale Litera- turberichte (Leipzig, Grimmaischer Steinweg, No. 2 ; quarterly subscription, 1.75 marks, annual ditto, including postage to England, 7.50 marks), the official organ of the " Deutscher Sehriftsteller- Verband," "Verein fur Massenverbreitung guter Schriften," "Litterarischen Vereine Minerva und Neue Klause," "Deutscher Shriftstellerinnen- buud," and of the " Deutscher Press Club zu New York." For some little time the periodical has been courteously forwarded to our offices by the editor, and we have much pleasure in recommend- ing it to the notice of our readers. Its contents are not merely official. Two or more articles on literary subjects of the day appear in each number, and in addition to these, very useful lists of new books in German, French, English, and Italian. Newly appearing German periodicals are also announced. In conclusion, some literary gossip, a few short notices of books, and (a feature interesting to book collectors) announce- ments of the latest catalogues published by the principal German secondhand booksellers make up a goodly amount of information in return for the very moderate price of the publication. V.—The Right to Destroy. Mr. D. F. Hannigan sends us the following letter, together with the post-card referred to. The latter simply says that the firm will be pleased to receive 4d. in stamps, to cover postage of the MS., " otherwise we must destroy it." The qu- s- tion is, whether they have the right to destroy a MS. under the circumstances. Of course it may be argued that an author cannot expect any house to keep a MS., after refusal, indefinitely, and then comes the question what to do if the author does not send stamps. The Editor, The Author.—Dear Sir,—I would like to know whether, when an author submits a MS. to a publisher, and omits to enclose stamps for return of the MS., the pub- lisher has a right to destroy the MS. I happen to be a barrister, and I was oertainly under the impression that the destruction or mutilation of MSS. without authority from the owner was a criminal offence. Early in January, 1897,1 submitted a MS., entitled " Tales of Witchcraft," to Mr. David Nutt. I intended, as I had heard from him that he did not see his way to undertake the publication at his own cost, to send him stamps for return. By inadvertence I neglected to do so. Judge of my astonishment at receiving from him a post-card (which I enclose) stating that, unless stamps were sent, he would destroy the MS. Has he any snch right by law ?—Yours faithfully, D. F. Hannioan. [Note by the Seceetary.—The answer to this paragraph seems to be quite clear. Mr. Nutt would have no right whatever to destroy the MS. If he did so destroy it he certainly would not be open to criminal proceedings, but the author could bring an action for damages. If, however, the author did not return the stamps the publishers of course might be free either to return the MS. postage not paid, or return it postage paid and sue the author (the latter would be a bad plan from the publishers' point of view) or retain it at his office until the author . hose to comply with his request.—G. Herbert Thring.]  ## p. 86 (#98) ############################################## 86 THE AUTHOR. VI.—The Book Trade with America. The book trade between the United Kingdom and the United Stites for the eleven months ending May 1897 was as follows: Exported from England, duty free" .£177,496 „ „ dutiable 167,076 Imported from the States during the same period 166,712 For the eleven months ending May, 1898: Exported from England, duty free .£118,678 „ dutiable 177,13 7 Imported from the States 154,839 These figures are quoted, with others showing the whole book trade of the States, in the Publishers' Circular from the New York Pub- lishers' Weekly. VII.—Amalgamation of Publishers. The firm of Bentley is absorbed by the firm of Macmillan. Whether the absorption will in any way advance the interests of literature or the position of literary people remains to be seen. Those who formerly rallied round Bentley will perhaps rally round Macmillan, and perhaps they will not. The papers have been giving the history of the Bentleys, which is interesting on account of the names which have been from time to time connected with them. Some of them have dwelt upon the honourable character of the late firm, a thing which one is always pleased to learn, especially if the assurance is based upon the evidence of the authors concerned. IN MEMORIAM.-E. LYNN LINTON. Reverberant in the van her trumpet blew; Tried Champion of the weak against the strong, For cause she loved, 'gainst cause she loathed as wrong. "Ever a fighter," her keen sword she drew, Eager to smite the ignoble thro' and thro', Bnt tenderest of the tender—Where the Song To shrine thy name for aje above the throng, O Woman sweet, and truest of the true! Now, where o'er Cumbria's crags grey mists are curl'd, No more with Thoughts illusive strivings vex't, No more by Life's enigma dread perplez't, She sleeps - her armour doffed, her banner furled: Brave worker in the vineyard of this world, Flash yet diviner influence from the next! C. A. Kelly. NOTES AND NEWS. IN another column will be found a note in which a writer complains of having to sign a docu- ment resigning his copyright. It is a very common trick to send a printed form of receipt which the author is expected to sign without per- ceiving that by doing so he has been trapped into resigning his copyright. In such a case as this the author only has to remember that he must put his pen thruugh the words which con- vey the forfeiture of copyright, and that he must substitute for them the words " Serial right only in England," or words to that effect. By this means he may preserve his property. The words are, generally, " for the whole rights of," &c. Of course, if the editor bargains beforehand for the copyright, it becomes then a simple question of acceptance or refusal. "The authors and writers of Great Britain are under lasting obligations to Sir Walter Besant. Under the title of The Aut/wr that gentleman publishes each month a journal that offers to the professional and amateur writer so able and con- vincing a proof of his superiority to the publisher that the entire guild could be readily pardored for rising and calling the editor blessed. In the June number of The Author (which is published, of course, in London) the ways of the grasping and mercenary publisher of books are laid bare in a dozen ways. The long-suffering writer is taught how vast a profit there always is in the publication of his work; he is shown how easily and consciencelessly he is robbed; he is implored not to dispose of anything so valuable as a virgin manuscript until he has secured a contract giving himself all the profits and the publishers nothing but deficits and debts. The Author should flourish amazingly. It doubtless does."—The Criterion (New York), July 23. The above was sent to me by three or four anonymous persons, acting independently, yet with one consent, all presumably anxious to con- vince me that a certain portion of the Press of New York still maintains its reputation. I do not know the paper—the Criterion—at all, save from the single number sent to me, which con- tains this remarkably truthful statement. The trick of it is to state a small portion of the truth sandwiched between other statements that not even Barnum could call truths. Thus The Author does really, as stated by the fabricator, lay bare the ways of the grasping and merce- nary publishers in as many ways as can be discovered—thanks to the committee of the  ## p. 87 (#99) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 87 Publishers' Association we have now learned a good many more than were previously suspected by most of us. But as the editor is not engaged in publisbing, there is no possible question of " superiority " to publishers. Again, the writer is nowhere taught by The Author " how vast a profit there always is in the publication of his work"—the word "always," instead of "may be," conveys the fabrication: he is shown how easily he is robbed: that is true: he is not implored to secure all the profits and "give the publisher all the deficits and debts ": that is a falsehood: nor is it possible, if you come to think of it, for the same book to have both profits and deficits. We are accustomed to this sort of thing in one or two of our own papers: it occurs in them when- ever the editor can be persuaded to slip in such a paragraph. But why does a New York paper go out of its way to invent stuff like this about a matter with which its readers can have no possible concern? And why this parade of misrepresen- tation over the management by English writers of their own property? It is not the first time that an American paper has offered a prayer to the Father of Fabrications, and obtained that prayer, for freedom of imagina- tion in speaking about me. In my humble person I have received several courtesies of the same pleasing kind from the same quarter. On another occasion in instance, a Boston paper of the baser sort informed its readers that I had for a whole twelvemonth been lecturing through the States "on Theosophy, accompanied by a lady who was not his wife." I do not know which was the more impudent charge. And another paper, whose name I forget, once informed its readers that, in certain writings or remarks of mine, I had been comparing myself with Thackeray, "to the great disadvantage of the latter!" Meantime The Author, and the Society which publishes it, are as prosperous as can be expected, and their friends the publishers have now condemned themselves in far plainer and harder language than The Author has ever used concerning them. No one must judge of America or the Ameri- cans by quotations or extracts from certain speci- mens.of their Press. It is quite possible to have troops of friends in the States, and yet to receive such tributes as these. In one sense the writers are impartial: like the sunshine and the rain they bless all alike, the small as well as the great. There are papers in our own country, I dare say, which are as bad as any in America, but we need not rake the gutters to find them. It must be remembered, when we speak of the American YOL, ix, Press, that it is not all like the Criterion and the other papers I have mentioned: that the leading articles: the "London Letters" and telegrams: and the columns of news in American papers do contain a great deal that is fair and appreciative, while it is critical, concerning our ways, our actions, and our people. It must also be remembered that the American point of view is not ours. Especi- ally have I observed this desire to be fair in their London Letter, which seems to me, so far as I have had the opportunity of reading it in Ameri- can papers, to be generally written in a spirit of which we have nothing to complain. Of course, I have not seen the London Letter, if there is one, of the New York Criterion. If one could venture to suggest anything to the editor of a London daily, I would ask him to think over the appoint- ment of an American journalist to write for his London columns a London Letter on English affairs as they seem to an American with friendly critical eyes. Such a letter would sometimes lead that editor's readerR to consider themselves. The Committee canmt be expected to trans- act any business of importance at this time of year. Nothing further, therefore, has been done with reference to the Draft Agreements of the Publishers' Association. I trust that something will be done, and I hope that the expression of opinion which will be found in another column will be continued. Above all, it is to be hoped that the leading and more successful writers, to whom no publisher would dare to present any one of their Draft Agreements, will consider their less successful brethren and make a public stand. It is not enough to say: "These Agreements make no difference to me, because I should never consent to them in my own case." It is necessary to take care that they should be offered to no one, and that the voice of condemnation should be loud and unmistakable. A line or two in a letter of Robert Browning's, written in the year 1868, makes one ask whether, in the year 1868, publishers hsld the same remarkable views about profits and their "equitable " share of them which they boldly advance thirty years afterwards? From my own recollection I am inclined to think that ths practice was the same, but that the profession was different. This is what Browning says of his new poem: "One "—that is, a publisher, only Browning calls him by his old-fashioned name, a "bookseller "—" sent to propose last week to publish it at his risk, giving me all the profits, and to pay me the whole in advance, 'for the incidental advantages of my name.'" Generous creature!" All the profits.' K  ## p. 88 (#100) ############################################# 88 THE AUTHOR. What could be more noble? And for himself? —nothing. Only the " incidental advantages " of the poet's name. Now, we have seen that the profits due to the author, based on the " equit- able " wisdom of the united publishers, mean— or that they may mean, because the more greatly daring may make them mean much less—15 per cent. of the real profits; the remaining 85 per cent. going to the publisher. This newly dis- covered result of equitable treatment of the ques- tion was no doubt pretty well known to the disinterested gentleman who proposed to give Browning all the profits. In another column will be found a little piece of literary history which will interest many. The Critic of New York having become a monthly instead of a weekly journal, there remains only the Dial of Chicago to represent literature and literature only. The fact is remarkable: we should not have expected Chicago to be a centre of American literary criticism: yet it is not only a centre of criticism, but it is becoming a centre of literary produc- tion. Chicago is not altogether, therefore, gone over to the making of money. Walter Besant. THE BACONIANS. WHILE it is obvious to all who have any considerable acquaintance with the writings of Bacon and Shakespeare, that the process of destroying the theorists' arguments, by detecting their logical inconsequence, is satis- factory, yet to those who cannot bring a knowledge of the two men's work and times to assist them it would prove less convincing than one more dependent upon tangible facts. From my expe- rience of Baconians, as they call themselves, I have little doubt that the conduct of their arguments is invariably defective, and I am always pleased to discover the fallacies; but there is much more enjoyment to be got out of giving the lie direct to their major premises. It is curious that this is so seldom done, seeing how difficult it appears to be for these people to speak the truth, and how many of their statements—and those, too, the most striking —admit of such contradiction. I think I shall make myself clear by one example out of the many I could give. From an article in the last December number of Pearson's Magazine, which a friend showed me with fear and trembling for the empire of Shakespeare, I gather that the "Promus argument" is still considered a strong- hold by Baconians, and is therefore proper for my purpose. It is roughly as follows: Baeon's "Promus " is a collection of some 1700 proverbs, words, turns of speech, &c., which are of frequent occurrence in Shakespeare's plays, but are not to be found in the literature of his period. Two men alone and independently cannot use hundreds of identical words, &c.; therefore, it is concluded, Bacon, who noted down the words, must have written the plays. Here it is possible, doubtless, to attack and destroy the minor premises and the con- clusion, but there is a simpler and more effective method of procedure, namely, to deny the truth of tin major. It is neither true that Shakespeare use.s the proverbs and expressions to any surprising extent, nor is it true that the words and turns of speech are confined to the "Promus" and the plays. The effort made by Mrs. Pott, who is the authority on this point, to establish Shakespeare's use of the "Promus" entries is for the most part frivolous, and her ignorance of sixteenth century literature incredible. At the end of her edition of the "Promus " is a list of about 6000 books read by her or other Baconians, with the intention of finding " Promus" entries, and a column of those they found is adjoined. What they did with their eyes while employed in the search goodness only knows, for in every case in which I have tested the result I have found them blind. Some- times, where they have marked down one or two, I have discovered as many as fifty to a hundred instances; and even their pet expressions, such as "good morrow" and "good night," I have found to be the commonest of common property. For proof, let your office boy compare the "Promus" with Caxton's "Reynard the Fox," Barnfield's "Poems," Chettle's " Patient Grissel," Heywood's "Fair Maid of the Exchange," and Lodge's "Rosalynd," which Mrs. Pott calls a play. I suspect my power to slaughter Baconians would last out a good deal longer than your patience in listening to the story of their deaths, but I will confine myself to saying that I believe the theory would come to a sudden termination if some well informed student of Elizabethan literature would take upon himself the examina- tion of the statements on which it is based—he would not need to trouble his head about the quality of the deductions drawn from them. H. P. Gilbert.  ## p. 89 (#101) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 89 !rHE ISSUE OF POPULAR COPYBIGETS. SIR GEORGE NEWNES presided at the first general meeting of the shareholders of Messrs. George Newnes, Limited, and in a speech on the "busy and prosperous year" which the firm had experienced he referred, among other subjects, to the large business they were doing in the issuing of popular works in parts. Some of the large eminent book-publishing houses had recognised that they (Messrs. Newnes) were specially able to do that successfully. He recalled the fact that Messrs. Constable, who gave .£10,000 for Dr. Nansen's copyright, came to them, and they accepted their proposal to publish Dr. Nansen's book in pamphlet form. It had been a wonderful success. Messrs. Bartholomew had brought them the "Citizen's Atlas," which was going wonderfully well in parts. The firm of John Murray had also come to them, and as soon as the holidays were over they should begin publishing in pamphlet form some of Mr. Murray's most popular copyrights, commencing with Du Chaillu's " Land of the Midnight Sun." STEVENSONIANA. f"|">HE additional volume in the collected Edin- I burgh edition of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson has just been published. Mr. Sidney Colvin writes a preface, and describes the book as "a medley, made up of items, some serious and some trifling." It contains a great deal of personal light upon the life of the late author, and subscribers will be pleased to receive so unexpectedly such an interesting book. The preface he wrote, but never printed, for his "Master of Ballantrae" is here; also "reflections and remarks on human life " ; and many other remnants in prose and verse. His ideal home was one that would have a little cosy room in warm colours, the sofas and floor thick with rich furs, and three shelves filled with "eternal books that never weary." Among these are Shake- speare, Moliere, Montaigne, Lamb, Sterne, De Musset's Comedies, the " Arabian Nights," George Borrow's "Bible in Spain," "The Pilgrim's Progress," "Guy Mannering," "Rob Roy," and "immortal Boswell, sole among biographers." In case of insomnia there should be within reach of the bed books of a " particular and dippable order "—" Pepys," the "Paston Letters," Burt's "Letters from the Highlands," and the " Newgate Calendar." At Davos Platz he made verses and drawings—reproduced in the volume—for the amusement of his stepson and himself. He also reviewed a thrilling little tale of his stepson's, called "Black Canyon; or, Wild Adventures in the Far West," in these terms:— A very remarkable work. Every page produces an effect. The end is as singular as the beginning. I never saw such a work before. There are "Moral Emblems" and "Moral Tales" in the book, among them this one describing the drawing of an explorer: The frozen peaks he once explored, But now he's dead and by the board. How better far at home to have stayed Attended by the parlour-maid, And warmed his knees before the fire Until the hour when folks retire! So if you would be spared to friends Do nothing but for business ends. And this is shot at the reader at the close of a description of a pirate: You also soan your life's horizon For all that you can clap your eyes on. Finally, we quote the following more serious verses from one of two lighthouse poems: The brilliant kernel of the night, The flaming ligbtroom circles me; I sit within a blaze of light Held high above the dusky sea. Far off the surf doth, break and roar Along bleak miles of moonlit shore, Where through the tides of tumbling wave Falls in an avalanche of foam, And drives its churned waters home Up many an undercliff and care. » « • • The night is over like a dream: The sea-birds cry and dip themselves; And in the early sunlight, steam The newly-bared and dripping shelves, Around whose verge the glassy wave With lisping wash is heard to lave; While, on the white tower lifted high, With yellow light in faded glass The oirclii g lenses flish and pass, And siokly shine against the sky. An entertaining letter of Stevenson's on the education of women, dated Nov. 1870, lately came into possession of Mr. Walter T. Spencer, the secondhand bookseller of New Oxford-street. It is written to a cousin. We extract the following sentences: You will probably know how nicely Women's Bights were reoeived by some of my fellow students the other day. The female medicals were hooted, hissed, and jostled till the police interfered. My views are very neutral. I quite believe that Miss and the rest of our fellow studentesses are the first of a noble army, pioneers, Columbuses, and all that sort of thing. But at the same time Miss is playing for the esteem of posterity. Soit, I give her posterity, but I won't marry either her or her fellows. Let posterity marry them. If posterity gets hold of this letter I shall probably be burnt in effigy by some Royal Female College of Surgeons of the future..  ## p. 90 (#102) ############################################# go THE AUTHOR. DE. BEANDES'S SHAKESPEAEE. AFTER reading the account Professor Brandes gives of Shakespeare, I am struck by the insistence with which he dwells on every biographical fact which it is possible or impossible to seize hold of with certainty, as a context to the study of Shakespeare's plays in sequence. He desires to prove that the plays are genuine, though there may be occasional foreign interpolations, and he ends the work by saying that his aim has teen to prove "not that thirty-six plays and several poems can be read in unconnected fashion, but that Shakespeare was a man who felt and thought, rejoiced and suffered, pondered, dreamed, and wrote poetry." When the professor visited Ann Hathaway's house at Shottery, near Stratford, and was shown with pride by a distant descendant of the Hathaway family the open Bible containing family names as well as other relics and portraits of Shakespeare, he tells us how he inquired of her whether she had read the plays. And on her replying, "Oh! / read my Bible," he assumes that if a descendant of that family can be thus ignorant, we have proof enough that poor Shakes- peare was afflicted with a most ignorant and unsympathetic wife and surroundings. This may or may not have been the case, and indeed Professor Brandes draws a tedious and gloomy picture of Shakespeare's last years at Stratford- on-Avon. Though his study of the plays is interesting, I would like to draw attention to the dillerent paneg>ric which we find in Heinrich Heine's "Miittchen and Frauen" (Notes on Shakespeare's Heroines), where he says :— "Shakespeare is as true to nature as he is faithful in delineating history. It is often said that he holds up a mirror to nature. This is not correct, as these words convey a wrong impression concerning the relations in which a poet stands to nature. .Nature is not reflected in the poet's mind; he is endowed with the innate capacity for representing nature, which representation is akin to the most faithful reflection; he comes into the world a world-wise man, and every part of the external world is immediately understood by him in its entirety when he awakens from the dreams of his childhood and attains to a knowledge of himself. For his mind bears an impress of the whole; he knows the ultimate reasons of all phenomena which to the ordinary mind appear problematic, and which to the ordinary investi- gator seem difficult if not impossible of solution. . . . Just as the mathematician can immediately explain the whole circle and its centre if he is shown the smallest part of a circle, so also the poet in the very act of contemplating the infinitesimal part of objective things realises the connection between this part and ail other things. He seems to know the circle of things and their centre, and sees things in their widest dimensions and to the inmost core. "But before the poet awakens to this marvellous comprehension, he must always be brought in contact with some portion of the objective world. This perception of a fragment of the phenomenal world is reached by means of his senses, and forms, as it were, the outward event determining those inward revelations of which his works are the result. And the greater the poet the more is our curiosity excited concerning those external occurrences which first called his works into being. We like to hunt up the actual facts of a poet's life. This curiosity is all the more foolish, as, according to what was previously stated, the importance of external occurrences bears no pro- portion to the importance of the creations emanat- ing from them. These occurrences may be, and usually are, as trivial and insignificant as the poet's life ordinarily is. I say trivial and insig- nificant, for I will not make use of sadder words. Poets present themselves to the world through the halo of their works, and, when looked at from afar, they dazzle us by their glory. Let us never inspect their lives too closely. We may compare them to those bright beacons shining athwart lawn and bower, which we take for the stars of the world—for diamonds and emeralds, costly jewels which king's children playing in the garden have hung on to the shrubs and then forgotten . . . for bright dewdrops which have rolled away into the high grass, and are now refreshing themselves in the cool night air, sparkling with joy until the approach of day, when the rosy dawn draws them back into herself. . . . Oh! let us not seek the track of these stars, jewels, and dewdrops by the light of day. In their stead we shall perceive a poor, discoloured worm, crawling miserably across our path— hateful to look upon, and yet which, owing to a curious feeling of pity, we refrain from crushing." Heine had no love for "critics," though his mind was eminently critical. But, though Professor Brandes has given the world a deeper critical study of Shakespeare's plays, I doubt whether we can read in it a higher appreciation of Shakespeare. Ida Benecke. i 8, Canfield-gardens, N.W.  ## p. 91 (#103) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 9« THE PASSING OF THE "CHAP-BOOK." rf^HE following circular has been sent out from | the office of the Dial, Chicago. It will be of interest to those who are concerned wiih American contemporary criticism. It is here abridged: "By arrangement with Messrs. Herbert S. Stone and Co., the owners of the Chap-Book, the subscription list, the name, and the goodwill of that publication have been purchased by the Dial, which will fill out all subscriptions. The last issue of the Chap-Book was that of July i. The magazine was first published on May 15, 1894, in Cambridge, Mass., by Messrs. Stone and Kimball, both members of which firm were then undergraduates in Harvard College. It was in form a small duodecimo pamphlet, issued semi- monthly, and was at first meant to be little more than an attractive kind of circular for advertising the books published by the firm. But its instant and somewhat unexpected popularity led its pub- lishers at once into an attempt to make the maga- zine an organ of the younger American writers, and a means of introducing to the public new and curious developments in foreign literatures. The Chap-Book was either praised as being up to date, or denounced as being ' decadent,' and had considerable vogue. Publications which were evidently imitations of it, both in form and spirit, sprang up in many quarters, and its editors have collected something like 150 of these curious ventures. "In October, 1894, the periodical was removed from Cambridge to Chicago, and since that date has been continuously issued from the latter city on the ist and 15th of every month. May 1, 1896, it was transferred by its original owners to the new publishing firm of Herbert S. Stone and Co. It has been edited from the start by Mr. Herbert S. Stone, with the assistance of Mr. Bliss Carman at the beginning, and of Mr. Harrison Garfield Rhodes during the last four years. In January, 1897, the Chap-Book was enlarged to quarto size, and introduced reviews of current literature as a prominent feature of its contents. This change brought with it a marked increase of dignity and authority; it became more serious than it had been, yet it did not cease to be enter- taining. Editorially it was conducted with inde- pendence and vigour, and occupied to a consider- able extent a field which it had made its own. 100 numbers were issued altogether, sixty-four in the smaller and thirty-six in the larger form. When purchased by the Dial four numbers of the ninth volume had appeared. The Chap-Book has had a distinguished list of contributors, in- cluding most of the poets, novelists, and essayists both of England and the United States, whose names are widely known to the reading public, and its pages have furnished forth the contents of several volumes of stories and essays. It has, in a word, done services both sturdy and valu- able in behalf of good literature, and made an honourable record for itself during the four years of its existence. "By this accession the Dial gains a new and important constituency. While features likely to increase its interest and value may be added, the journal will in the main adhere to the well-defined aims and principles which have governed it for nearly twenty years. But the absorption of the Chap-Book will give it a certain stimulus and a widened range, and the recent change of the Critic of New York from the form of a weekly paper to that of a monthly magazine will leave the Dial in practical possession of the field of dis- tinctively literary journalism in the United States. As long ago as 1892 Whittier called it ' the best and ablest literary paper in the country,' and competent critical opinion from many quarters has repeatedly confirmed this judgment." A PROPOSED BUREAU. ACORRESPONDENT, in another column, advocates the establishment of a literary bureau to which writers would send their papers and editors would apply in seaiv.h of papers. The difficulty of establishing such a bureau would be so great as to make it practically impossible. For, first, it would have to become recognised and used both by writers and editors. It would be necessary that both writers and editors should see their advantage iu adopting this method. As regards the writer he must be persuaded that he would have a better chance of getting his work taken by a bureau than by direct offer. Who should persuade him!' It might happen that he had two papers taken in one year before joining the bureau and only one in the year after joining it; then he would declare that the bureau was useless. Again, there are a dozen possible writers ou any subject: if one belongs to the bureau and eleven send in the old way to the editor, how is that one benefited, and why should the editor go to the bureau? If, however, to save himself trouble the editor should prefer the bureau the thing might be feasible. All these methods and complaints ignore the ground feature of the situation: viz., that the editor is absolute master of it.  ## p. 92 (#104) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. The only way to make such a bureau possible is to make editors see their advantage in it. Could something be attempted in the way of receiving names with credentials, &c., from mem- bers willing to furnish papers on certain subjects, and then to supply editors with the list, and with an offer to procure for them papers on these subjects at short notice and with- out fee? It might save editors trouble to have such a list ready to hand. It would, however, only be useful to them in the case of specialists: and again only in the case of those writers who possess special knowledge, but are not of such standing as to command a hearing and advanced terms. For instance, the unknown man who has lived in China, or the man who has travelled in China, or the man who has studied Chinese institutions and literature, might at the present moment be a very useful person for an editor, if he could get at him. But could our proposed bureau catch him? Again, if we had such a list it might be useful to any literary agent, with whom the Society could treat. But it would be of no use whatever to the man who was willing to write on any subject that offered. That man's only chance is to please an editor by his style and methods of treatment in a paper offered on the present system. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Fate of MSS., and a Literary Bureau. THE burden of complaint in many letters published in The Author is that editors keep MSS. intrusted to them for an in- definite time before returning or accepting them. Editors have been accused of discourtesy and rudeness by indignant writers. I am afraid, however, that all the strictures and advice possible will not move their obdurate hearts. Editors study themselves, and not their would-be contri- butors; in fact, they please themselves. My own experiences—extending over a decade of years—have told me that editors as a rule, in spite of those delusive words in italics, tee are always pleased to consider any MSS. sent us-~ seldom require any outside contributions. They have their own staff and troops of friends and relations whose work, if only near up to the mark, is more acceptable than that of a stranger. Some years ago, when a certain weekly paper was started, the editor asked me to write regularly for it. I am. sure the MSS.. he received from outsiders were better than mine, which he used because he knew me. Of course, editors may receive and use a paper on a subject which he may happen to want, but this is only a chance. Some time ago, when a certain magazine, which is still in existence, was about to appear, the editor's sanctum was literally piled with hundreds of MSS., which had been sent in on approval. One morning the editor instructed a clerk to return them all, when suddenly his glance alighted on one whose super- scription was very neatly written. He opened it, read it, liked it, and published it, and the lucky author afterwards wrote regularly for the magazine. The others, which had not been opened, were declined with thanks. I can vouch for this fact to prove how MSS. are not read, and how chance is often alone the arbiter of their destinies. I happened to call one day on a friendly sub- editor of a weekly journal. As we were talking, a MS. was delivered by the postman. My friend took it up, opened it, and handed it to me. "See what this is like," he said. Glancing at it, I discovered that it was in a literary friend's handwriting, which induced me to read it attentively. It was not bad; it was not good, but passable. Naturally, in my desire to help a fellow scribbler, I recommended it, and it was at once sent off to the printer in my hear- ing. Now, had I not been in the room at the time, I am certain that it would have been returned unread. I could multiply other instances in my experience if space afforded it. Now, all my remarks point to one conclusion, and this is the crux of the matter. There ought to be no need for any writer to send his work hap- hazard, broadcast, on the poor chance of accept- ance. Let there be a combination amongst writers to abandon this undignified practice, and let a literary bureau be formed by the Authors' Society where all MSS. can be sent to await the time when editors happening to want an article on a particular subject—a dialogue, poem, short story, or what not—will be forced to apply for their wants. Why need writers beg for recognition, and submit to the thousand and one annoyances, indignities, and disappointments consequent upon scattering their writings about? I have in a previous issue advocated the need and the uses of such a bureau, and I am ready at any time to formulate a plan of its modus operandi to any practical person who is ready to start and bring the idea to " a consummation devoutly to be wished." Isidore G. Ascher. 7, Bullingham-uiansions, Kensington, W.  ## p. 93 (#105) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 93 II.—The Futuee of the Short Story. When a writer has obtained or made his "public," he has obtained or made for himself a "quotation " in the market; he writes so many words and he expects to receive so many pence, shillings, or pounds. I have no quarrel with this arrangement naturally educed out of the laws of supply and demand. The publisher has appeared to me individually as a gentleman, the editor as courteous, the reviewer—well! in some cases, as a reviewer, in other cases as a pedal unconsciously receiving pressure from fashion or conventionality. The object of my letter, then, is not to air a grievance, but to examine conditions. I do not desire to abuse, but to direct attention to the future of the short story. We are told, on the authority of the publisher, that, save in the cases of an established reputa- tion, the public will not now buy volumes of short stories. The writer, then, must look for his reward from the journals to which he con- tributes, and with no significant hope of repro- duction in volume form. What do they offer? A varying publicity and a remuneration which oscillates between Mi0 and .£15. The latter sum is a round one. It is; but does it lead to an eventual quotation of the writer in the market? My experience is that it does not do so. And it appears to me to be uncommonly doubtful whether the short story writer, who may be provident as well as artistic, will think it worth his while in the future to introduce strong energy of originality and artistic finishinto compositions that go to dull shelves, leaving him again haggling for a remuneration varying from .£10 to .£15. Your opinion upon these points, sir, would doubtless be as interesting to the readers of The Author as they would be to A Countryman. [Surely a writer of short stories whose name is appended to all his work should make his clientele of people anxious to read him and really to buy journals in which that work appears. When his name is established competition begins. If his nume does not appear there can be, of course, no chance of advance.—Ed.] III.—Why "Disgeaceful " '( In an article in the Westminster Review (June) on poets and poetry, the writer says, "it is a deplorable fact that even those who are gifted by nature with poetic abilities, with a heart full of love, sympathy, and passionate emotions, are disgracefully trying their very best to suppress those feelings, to be carried away by them under the magic influence of materialism." Now, sir, this is in my opinion a pretty touch of genuine insight on the part of the writer, But what prompts the suppression of those feelings? Is it not merely that they don't bring bread and cheese? A man must live, and possibly has to help to keep others living, and those feelings have to be suppressed and replaced by others in consonance with materialistic occupa- tion in order that body and soul, or bodies and souls, may be kept together. You quoted in The Author some months ago from the Glasgow Herald a proposal for the endowment of poets by the State. I do not say that I should support such a scheme, but in the absence of any pro- v sion to enable true poets to develop themselves, I wish to protest against the reproach of "dis- gracefully." A. L. IV.— JoTJBNALISTIC ETIQUETTE. I beg to send you the following account of my experience at the hands of the editor of a certain newly-started "Society" paper, in the hope that it may prove a warning to other young writers. About four weeks ago I submitted to the editor in question some personal paragraphs, which he accepted, and asked me to send others. At the same time he expressed his willingness to consider any short stories I cared to submit. Accordingly I left two with him. The first batch of para- graphs having been published, 1 forwarded some more, together with a letter in which I asked, tasually, if any decision had been arrived at regarding the stories. This was not answered, and the paragraphs did not appear. The following week I sent a third batch, and inquired if the editor intended using any of the second lot. This brought me the following letter, signed by the sub-editor: Dear , You cannot be well versed in journaliatio etiquette if you do not know that editors never advise contributors whether they intend to use oopy submitted or not. I have charge of the short story department here, and I had put aside your stories for careful consideration later on, but as you are so incessantly worrying me for news about them, I simply have no alternative but to send them back to you, as I do now, with many tbanks. My editor, as far as I know, is not using your paragraphs, so that you have full liberty to submit them elsewhere. Several of them consist of re-written matter. Yours truly, (Signed) , Sub-editor. P.S.—I have just shown this letter to my editor, who fully approves of it, and wishes me to add that one of the paragraphs you have submitted to him has already appeared in a recent number of the paper. This courteous letter contains several mis- statements. None of my paragraphs consisted of re-written matter. The expression "incessant  ## p. 94 (#106) ############################################# 94 THE AUTHOR. worrying" is totally unwarranted by the mere fact of my having on one occasion only casually alluded to the matter of a contribution being under the editor's consideration. My experience of " journalistic etiquette" may not be as profound as this gentleman's, but it has taught me that under no circumstances is an article published by a well-conducted paper without the contributor being advised before- hand. Finally, with regard to the allegation that I forwarded as original matter items obtained from his own paper, it is too absurd to suppose that any journalist would do such a thing. I obtained the item of news in question from a perfectly legitimate source, and was unaware it had appeared in print a day or two before I sub- mitted it. As I was absent from town, I commissioned a friend of mine to call at the office and demand from the editor an explanation of this letter, and the reasons which had led him to sanction it, as other letters I had previously received from him had been couched in most amiable terms. He refused point-blank to discuss the matter, although admitting that his subordinate's letter was written with his own knowledge and ap- proval. Yours, sadder and wiser, A Woman Writer. [Our correspondent is not quite accurate in her opinion that contributions to a paper are never inserted without the contributor being advised beforehand. There are circumstances in which it is impossible to wait while the contributor is advised. Generally, of course, a proof is the form by which the contributor is advised.—Ed.] V.—The Struggle for Recognition. May I be allowed to suggest, in reference to the editor's concluding remarks on " The Struggle for Recognition," that whereas in the time of Dickens and Marryat there were, say, fifty promising literary aspirants, there are now a thousand or more. It is the same in art of all kinds. Hence the keenness of competition and the necessity of money and interest in securing a hearing. The endless magazines that are floated, with very often their own staff of contributors, when, in the time of Dickens, journals were comparatively few and editors were less bombarded with copy, all tell in many ways against the literary aspirant and outsider. Then there are the various cliques and rings. What are the chances of the poor novelist? The public invari- ably rush after a name that is generally procured by preliminary puffs, beating the drum, and Press booms. The struggling outsider must be sweated, and think him sell highly honoured in securing i hat privilege, or he will starve. Annabel Gray. VI.—The Book and the Reviewer. On reading in The Author for August your remarks under the heading "The Book and" the Reviewer," I am tempted to bring under the notice of your readers an example of the un- satisfactory and slipshod way in which books are sometimes reviewed. As I am the author of the book in question, I will not (in order to avoid any appearance of wishing to advertise my own wares) give the name of the book; nor, with your permission, append my name to this letter; and shall, as f*r as possible, avoid saying anything by which the book can be recognised by those who have not read it. It is the history of a campaign in which I took part some thirty years ago, thrown into the form of a semi-political novel, embracing politics in one country and war in another, and when my tale is told I add a chapter entitled " L'Avenir," ventur- ing a prophecy as to what will occur in the near future when a Bourbon sits again on the throne of France, and describing the death of my hero as if that event had already occurred. Anyone reading the book with the slightest attention, and who possessed the smallest amount of historical knowledge, even if ignorant of the meaning of the words "L'Avenir," would perceive that the incidents recounted in the last chapter could not possibly as yet have happened. Before me lie at this moment a number of reviews of this book. The first I take up does not say a word as to its literary merits or de- merits, but deliberately, or perhaps carelessly, takes passages, which do not bear on each other, from different pages and strings them together as if they were consecutive and referred to the same person, which they do not, and then turns the whole into ridicule because the political views of the author do not agree with the politics of the newspaper in which this review appears. The second review I take up states that my hero violently checked " the vagaries of a drunken policeman," though there is no reference what- ever to a drunken policeman in the book. The third gives in inverted commas distorted quotations, substituting the reviewer's words for those of the author, and thereby totally altering the style. The fourth praises the book in the most exaggerated terms, and entirely above its deserts. This reviewer, I am given to understand, is a personal friend of the publisher,  ## p. 95 (#107) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 95 One review attacks the book in very vulgar and seemingly vindictive language. The reviewer being, I have reason to suspect, a man whom I took to task some time ago for a breach of literary etiquette. Two of these reviews—possibly written by the same individual, although appearing in publica- tions of diametrically opposite principles—state that my hero was killed in the presence of a certain personage who has now been dead for more than twenty years, while, as a matter of fact, I state that my hero still lives, and his death has yet to take place in " L'Avenir." By the irony of fate the publication which attacked my book the most violently now devotes a whole page to an advertisement quoting the opinions of other reviewers who bestow on it unqualified praise! A Member of the Authors' Society. VII. — From Magazine Publisher to Author. "Dear Sir,—We have at present in course of preparation a new serial dealing with dangers incurred and dangers escaped, and I am proposing to include in it a chapter on Australian bush- rangers and their ways, describing in a vivid and dramatic style a few of the more exciting cases of 'Hands up!' "The length of the chapter will be about 5000 words, and the fee I am authorised to offer for the copyright is ten pounds (.£i0). I should want the MS. by the end of the present month. "Will you kindly let me know whether you can undertake the MS. chapter? As the time is rather short an early answer will greatly oblige, "Yours faithfully, "The Editor." "I should be glad if you will treat this letter as confidential." Note.—Do Messrs. require this to be confidential because they are afraid their other .contributors would resent my having such mag- nificent prices for special knowledge, or can it be that they are ashamed of offering them? Author. VIII.—Proposed Journal for Amateurs. In reply to the question asked by " Inconnu," I am not in the least ashamed to own that I have several times contributed to amateur magazines (when I've had something to say which no editor wished to pay for), and that I believe in them. They have two virtues. In the first place they give the beginner an opportunity of trying his pin feathers, and seeing the difference between handwriting and print, showing how the former "boils down," and the value of knowing how to paragraph effectually; in the second place, they weed out immature talent from impotent conceit. They encourage the best and let the worst down gently. The Arts Monthly, edited by J. Hannaford Bennett, was the most successful amateur magazine I have known, often containing really good things and always entertaining. I wrote some articles in it which the late Mrs. Lynn Linton was good enough to praise as "capital work in the present and full of promise for the future" (I was quite unknown to her), and thus I received encouragement through its pages for which I shall always be grateful. My impres- sion is that if an amateur monthly could be started under able editorship, and with some capital behind, it might be made extremely educa- tional and financially successful; especially if criticism of its contents by esteemed authors could be arranged as a feature. This, I believe, has never been tried. The amateur magazine should not be amateurishly managed, as it generally is, but should be in the hands of well- qualified persons. "Inconnu" is right. Three of my novels have been published by well-known firms in England and America and one has been translated into German. I have now seldom any difficulty in selling what I consider to be my worst work —that upon which I expend least thought and pains; and I would advise any writer who wishes to get on rapidly not to cultivate style or attempt a psychological study of humanity. A cheap public likes wading into shallows, and abhors depths, judging from the stuff one sees on book- stalls. This leads me to the article by "N. C," and I want to learn where he thinks the country book- seller is going to put all those less successful works which at present" decay on warehouse shelves "'( A bookseller's shop is generally a stationer's shop, and there is never much room in it for books at all. If a third of the well-known authors were kept in stock no one would ever get in at the doors!" Pity 'tis, 'tis true." What is to be done? There seems to be no possible answer. Mary L. Pendered. IX.—The Seamy Side. I have often thought with Mr. Stanhope Sprigs (see August number) how rarely it is that we hear anything of the kindness and consideration of editors and publishers. May I be allowed to give a brief sketch of my experiences, which, how- ever, I did not think were at all unusual until I read the letters on the subject in The Author. I began to write before I was out of the school-  ## p. 96 (#108) ############################################# 96 THE A UTHOR. room, and never has any remuneration been sweeter to me than the modest i0*. paid for my first attempt—a contribution to Aunt Judy's Magazine. This was the opening of a journalistic career during which I have worked more or less regularly for between thirty and forty journals and magazines. Once only have I received my conge under circumstances other than the dis- continuance of the publication. In this one case a "new broom" in the shape of an editor promptly swept me out, but in the course of a few months I had the satisfaction of being recalled with equal promptitude after the depar- ture of my enemy. The MSS. lost during my years of work could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and throughout I have met with friendship and courtesy from every publisher and editor with whom I have been brought into con- stant communication. Once only have I had any serious difficulty in getting the promised jiay- ment for work done, and then, thanks to the Society, all came right in the end. I have been on the staff of three journals in particular for six, eight, and eleven years, to another I have been an occasional contributor for twenty years, and in neither case have I ever had the slightest difference of opinion with those in authority. In my "free-lancing" days editors did not lose, tear, or dog's-ear my copy, they did not smear or blot my drawings, or keep my contributions an un- reasonable time. I can lay claim to no genius, merely to business capacity and a love of work. I have never paid one farthing to get any of my writings printed or published. Friends tell me I cannot help being " lucky," having been born on a Sunday; but however this may be, certain it is, if the pessimism of other writers is to be believed in, that I am as fortunate an author (in a small way of business) as ever lived. My interest is as fresh in my work as it was when I first ventured in fear and trembling to send a MS. to one of the dreaded race of editors, but then—I am happy in being able to use my writing as a staff rather than a crutch. Ellen T. Masters. X.—Forfeiture of Copyright. Perhaps my recent experience re the uncer- tainty of publication in magazines may interest readers of The Author. Last autumn the "editress " of a penny weekly wrote saying if I cared to submit seven stories, about 1200 words each, she would consider them. I sent in a series of character sketches, and heard no more about them till, glancing at the journal for July 2,1 saw the first story. Five appeared week by week, till on July 23 the publishers sent me a cheque for A'1 17s. 6d., with a printed receipt to sign, by which I discovered I had forfeited my copyright without any terms having been offered or proofs sent to revise. They also enclosed a note saying they would retain the two last stories until the new editress decided whether they were to be inserted or not. Perhaps this is only the usual way of "doing business" in small journals, but it seems unfair to insist on an author resigning copyright after the publication of his MSS. without warning. The artistic effect of the series was quite spoilt by the alteration of their insertion, and probably people will have lost all interest in the characters by the time the remainder appear, if ever. E. L. Williams. BOOK TALE. AS our list of books in this number shows, August was a slack month. The holidays, the heat, and the general lull that inter- venes before the autumn season begins, all con- tributed to keep the output of books a very small one. A member of this Society has lost, no doubt through unintentional forgetfulness on the part of a borrower, vol. 1 of Capt. Gronow's Remini- scences aud Recollections. It contains the book- plate, a peculiar one, of the owner, who would be greatly obliged by the return of the volume to the Athenseum Club, Pall Mall. The event of the past month in the book- producing world has been the business change whereby the old publishing firm of Bentley becomes merged into that of Macmillan. Messrs. Barnicott and Pearce, Taunton, have just published an Index to Collinson's History of Somerset, edited by the Rev. F. W. Weaver, M.A., and the Rev. E. H. Bates, M.A., including a Supplemental Index (Alphabet and Ordinary) to all the armorial bearings mentioned in the work, contributed by Lieutenant-Colonel J R. Bramble, F.S.A. Only 500 copies printed, 20s. 6d. Large paper edition, of which only 25 copies are printed, 31s. (id. post free. Contains upwards of 30,000 references. "Songs of Somerset," by Joseph Heury Steven- son, M.A., Rector of Lympsham, and Treasurer and Prebendary of Wells Cathedral (6*. 6d., post free), will be published by the same firm. Messrs. Blackie will publish "The Skipper: the Story of an Old Sea-Dog," a new children's story, by Mrs. Edith E. Cutell, whose "Only a Guard-room Dog " is in a second edition.  ## p. 97 (#109) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 97 A small volume called "The Theft of the Princes," by F. Bayford Harrison, will be pub- lished in the autumn by the S.P.C.K. The story, which is historical, is that of a romantic adventure which happened to an ancestor of the Queen and of the late Prince Consort. As we mentioned in the June number, a third volume of the history of the Blackwood publishing house is to be published; that is, a volume sup- plementary to the two written by Mrs. Oliphant. With it the record will be brought down to com- paratively recent years. The book will come out in the autumn. Jan. 16 next will be the three hundredth anni- versary of the death of Edmund Spenser, which occurred in King-street, Westminster. Prince Demidoff, a well-known European sports- man, has written a book on Sport in the Caucasus, which Mr. Rowland Ward will publish in the autumn. Mr. Edward Carpenter in his new book "Angels'Wings" treats of painting, scuJpture, literature, and music in relation to the changes they have undergone through growth of the democratic idea. Nature and Realism; Tradition and Convention; Wagner; Beethoven and his Music; Whitman; the Art of Life—are some of the subjects of Mr. Carpenter's chapters. The book will be issued by Messrs. Swan Sonnen- schein. Mr. A. B. Rathbone spent fifteen years in the Malay Peninsula, and is writing a book to be called "Camping and Tramping in Malaya." Count Tolstoy has contributed to the New Aye a work which he apparently thinks will be his last message to the world. In his introduction to the opening chapters the author says: So that I am urged to what I do, not by wish for gain or fame, nor by any worldly considerations, but only by fear to fail in what is required from me by Him who has sent me into this world, to Whom I am hourly expecting to return. I, therefore, beg all those who shall read this to follow and understand my writing, putting aside, as I did, all worldly considerations, and, holding before them only that eternal Principle of trnth and right, by whose Will we have come into the world, whence, as beings in the body, we shall very soon disappear; without hurry or irritation, let them under- stand and judge what I say. If they disagree, let them correct me; not with contempt and hatred, but with pity and love. If they agree, let them remember that if I speak trnth, that trnth is not mine, but God's, and only casually part of it passes through me, just as it passes every one of us when we behold truth and transmit it to others. An edition of Ben Jonson's celebrated comedy, "Volpone; or the Foxe" is being published by Mr. Leonard Smithers, with a cover design, a frontispiece in line, and five initial letters, deco- rative and illustrative, reproduced from pencil drawings by the late Mr. Aubrey Beardsley. A reviewer in the Daily Chronicle the other day remarked on the number of misprints to be met with in books nowadays. "We notice these trifles," said the writer " because it seems to us that there is a growing tendency towards careless proof-reading in some of our best printing offices. We could name more than one series of popular reprints at present on the market which are rendered almost valueless to the student by their abounding errors of the press." Mrs. Alathea Weil has written a work of Italian history, "The Romance of the House of Savoy," which is to be published in two volumes by Messrs. Putnam. "Legends of the Saints," in original verse, by the Rev. G. R. Woodward, of St. Barnabas Church, Pimlico, will be published shortly by Messrs. Kegan Paul. The next volume in the Gadshill edition of Dickens, published by Messre. Chapman and Hall, will contain " Hard Times," " A Holiday Romance," "Hunted Down," and " George Silver- man's Explanation," with new illustrations by Mr. Maurice Greiffenhagen. An edition of the "Rowley Poems" of Chatterton has been prepared by Mr. Robert Steele, and will be published by Messrs. Hacon and Ricketts. The text is founded on the first edition by Tyrwhitt in 1777, compared with the firsts of previously printed poems, and with such of the reputed originals as exist. Miss Hewlett, of the C.E.Z.N.S., for many years superintendent of St. Catherine's Hospital, Amritsar, in the Panjab, and well known in this country as a gifted speaker on missionary topics, has in the press a new work entitled, "They shall see His Face: Stories of God's Grace in Work among the Blind and others in India." The book will be uniform with the author's previous works, " Daughters of the King," " The Wellspring of Immortality," " None of Self," &c., and will be illustrated with thirteen full-page illustrations from original photographs. Its publishers will be Messrs. Alden and Co., of the Boeardo Press, Oxford, and its price will be 3s. 6d. Mr. Robert Cromie's new story, originally called "The Uncharted Island," has been changed, the title having been claimed by another author. This affords another instance of the present unsatisfactory method of regis- tering book names. Mr. Cromie's story will now be published with the name, " The Lost Liner." A chatty volume of light essays, with the rather curious title of "Nothing Personal," will be issued by Messrs. J. Baker and Son in their Square series of is. books in September. It is  ## p. 98 (#110) ############################################# 98 THE AUTHOR. by Ralph Harold Bretherton, a West of England journalist. Mr. Thomas Hardy's new volume of collected stories, and Mr. William Black's new romance of the Highlands, are among early publications. The latter, however, will appear first. The story of "Wild Eelin" is exceedingly romantic, and has a very tragic and (to the reader) unexpected ending. Mr. Grant Allen's new story is about a Tyrolese peasant who becomes a great singer, and the novelist has given it the title of " Linnet." Mr. Grant Richards will publish it very soon. Venice is the subject of the next volume in Mr. Allen's series of Guide Books. It will be out this month. The biography of the late Duchess of Teck may not now appear until next spring. It is being written by Mr. C. Kinlock Cooke, and is based on the private diaries and letters of the Duchess. Mr. Murray is publisher. Mr. Edwin A. Pratt has written a biography of Mrs. Gladstone, entitled "Catherine Glad- stone: Her Life, Good Works, and Political Efforts." He has done it with the approval of the family. Mr. Pratt is already the author of "Pioneer Women in Victoria's Reign." Messrs. Sampson Low will issue the new book imme- diately. A volume of poems by Sir. W. B. Yeats and one by Mr. Henry Newbolt are promised for this autumn. Mr. Andrew Balfour, author of a historical romance which appeared a year ago, called "By Stroke of Sword," is bringing out a new romance of the 1715 Rebellion. Mr. W. Pett Ridge's story " Mord Em'ly " has run its course in To-Day, and will be published in volume form this month (Pearson). It is about a South London girl's early life. Mr. Felix Moscheles is bringing out a second instalment of his reminiscences. The first was principally about the late George Du Maurier. In the forthcoming book Mr. Moscheles will go back to his boyhood in England and Germany. His father was a distinguished musician, and Mendelssohn was one of the figures in his circle. Another artist who is writing reminiscences is Mr. G. A. Storey. He knew Dickens and many other interesting people. Paris and Spain are as open books to him. His work—with, of course, pictures — will be called "Sketches from Memory." Australian bush stories, by Mr. William S. Walker, under the title of "When the Mopoke Calls," will be published in a volume by Mr. John Long. Mr. Walker is an Australian, and nephew to Rolf Boldrewood. London life is the theme of Mr. G. B. Burgin's new book, to be published shortly by Messrs. Pearson. "Settled out of Court " is the title. A new serial by Mr. Burgin is being published, which is called "The Hermits of Gray's Inn," and tells of a band of old schoolfellows, who, being jilted, vowed to cut off their lives from feminine influences. There is a defaulter, how- ever; he marries and is cast out, and on his death-bed he works out a scheme for the redemp- tion of his old friends. Professor Dill, of Queen's College, Belfast, has completed an account of Roman society during the last century of the Western Empire. It will be published during the autumn by Messrs. Mac- millan. Mr. Herbert Fisher, Fellow and Tutor of New College, Oxford, has also finished, after labouring at it for some years, a work dealing with the Mediaeval Empire, and the same firm will publish it. "Joan the Curate" is the title of Miss Florence Warden's new novel, which Messrs. Chatto and Windus will have ready on the 15th. Sixpenny editions are extending to boys' books. This month Messrs. Sampson Low will bring out Mr. Henty's "Jack Archer: a Tale of the Crimea," and Mr. Kingston's "With Axe and Rifle," at the popular price. Novels about to appear include the following: —"A Tragedy in Marble," by Mr. Adam Lilburn; "The Church of Humanity," by Mr. David Christie Murray; "The Sireu's Web," a romance of London society, by Annie Thomas; and "Mrs. Carmichael's Goddesses," by Sarah Tytler, all to come from Chatto and Windus. "A Drama in Sunshine," by Mr. Horace A. Vachell; "Michael Gargrave," by Mrs. Riddell; and " Off the High Road," by Miss Eleanor C. Price, will be published by Messrs. Bentley. A new edition of FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is to be issued by Messrs. Macmillan, with decorations by Mr. W. B. Macdougall. There is still much knock- ing at Messrs. Macmillan's door for a cheap edition of the classic, such as the United States possesses two or three times over. Many poor lovers of the Persian poet turn envious eyes to the realms of book piracy. Mr. Richard Marsh's novel, "Ada Vernham, Actress," will be published by Mr. John Long this month. "P. P. C." is the title of Mrs. B. M. Croker's new novel, which Messrs. Chatto will publish. It has run serially in the weekly edition of the Times.  ## p. 99 (#111) ############################################# THE AUTHOR. 99 A work on the native tribes of Central Austra- lia is shortly to appear, from the pens of Pro- fessor Baldwin Spencer, of the University of Melbourne, and Mr. F. J. Gillen, special magis- trate and sub-inspector of the aborigines of South Australia. Messrs. Macmillan are the publishers. Miss Kingsley, the traveller, is preparing her expected volume of " West African Studies" for publication by Messrs. Macmillan. Sir Walter Besant's articles on South London, which have run in the Pall Mall Magazine for a number of months, will be published shortly in a volume, with considerable additions and many illustrations, by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. Dr. G. H. Oarwin, the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge, is publishing a new book through Mr. Murray, entitled "The Tides and Kindred Phenomena." Professor Ridgeway, of Cambridge, has written a work entitled "The Early Age of Greece." which is almost ready. Natural history is again engaging the pen of Mr. Richard Kearton. It will be written in a '•popular" vein. Mr. Kearton was in the Shetland Isles lately, and, with his brother, succeeded in finding and photographing a rara avis—the great skua. The last pair of phalarope, or wading birds, had, however, been shot just before Mr. Kearton's visit. A novel laid in Parma during the insurrec- tionary days of 1831 was left in manuscript by the late Antonio Gallenga of the Times. The author's own reminiscences contribute to the story, which Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. are to bring out. Mr. Savage Lindor's record of his interesting and awful experiences in Thibet, in two volumes, published by Mr. Heinemann, may be out next month. A collected edition of Tennyson's works is pro- jected by Messrs. Macmillan. Each volume will be I2.v. 6rf. net, and there are to be a dozen. A thousand copies will be printed for England. The volumes will appear at the rate of one per mouth, beginning October. The house to which Shelley went in Wales, and where he received Harriet Westbrook's doleful letters, is reported to be on the eve of disappear- ing. It is called Cwm Elan, and its situation is the Elan Valley, from which Birmingham is drawing its new water supply. Literary associa- tions, therefore, are once more being swept away by the heavy hand of the engineer. Mr. A. G. Bradley has written the text for a volume on "Highways and Byways of North Wales," which will be illustrated by Mr. Joseph Pennell and Mr. Hugh Thompson. The pub- lishers of it, Messrs. Macmillan, have also in preparation volumes dealing in a similar style with Yorkshire and the North of Ireland. The Dome will be converted from a quarterly to a monthly magazine on Oct. 1. Among the contributors to the next number are Mr. Stephen Phillips, Mr. W. B. Yeats, and Mr. Lawrence Binvon. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [July 25 to August 23.—165 Books.] Ac Ia ml, Sir H. W. Medical Missions in their Relation to Oxford. 1/- Frowde-. Alan-a-dale. Friend and Foe: Story of a Methodist Soldier. 1/6. Kelly. Anonymous. The Chamberlain Birthday Rook. 16. Arrowsmith. Anonymous. Quern's English (?) Up to Date, 1'- Epicun- Office^ Anonymous (author of " For Love of Marjone ''). Sweotbrier. 1/6. Stevens- Anonymous (A. S.) Women of Sacred History. 3/6. Skefflng'on. Anonymous (Mother and Daughter). Gleanings of Cookery. 2/6 net. iJax. Ashworth, J. R. Introductory Course of Practical Chemistry and Electricity. 2/6 net. Whittaker. Beale, D.; Soulaby, L.; Dove, J. F. Work and Play in Girls' Schools. 7/6 Longmans. Begeer. B. W. The Metallurgy of Gold on the Rand. 5/ net. Low. Bernaul, J, H., and Atkinson, Professor (eds.) The Irish Liber Hymnorum. The Henry Bradshaw Society. Berry, Grace I. Iscah: a Tale for the Times. 3/6 net. Banks. Bingham, 0. Jingle*, Jokes, and Funny folks. 1 - Nister. Bird, Charles. A School Geography. 2 6 net Whittaker. Blashill, T. Lessons from Kire and Panic. I/- Brit. Fire Prev. Committee. Bollinger. 0. Atlas and Essentials of Pathological Anatomy. 2"i/- Bs Illier&. Boulenger, G. A. The T*illess Batrachians of Europe. Part. II. The Ray Society. Bowman, Anne. The New Cookery Book. 1/6. Routledge. Braddon. M. E. In High Places. 6/- Hutchinson. Brown, Horatio F. (ed.) Calendar of State Papers and MSS. rela- ting to English Affairs preserved in the Archives of Venice. Vol. IX. 1592-1603. Eyre and Spottiswoodo. Burden, Sir He nry The Effects of the Diamond Jubllee on the Resources of Voluntary Churities. I/- Seiontitlc Press. Burleigh, Bennet. Sirdar and Khalifa. l>/6 Chapman. Butler, Dom. C. Lau&iac History of Palladius. 7/6 net. Clay. Cameron, Mrs. Lovett The Ways of a Widow. 6/- White. Cantab. Cuba. Nemesis: a Poem. 1/- net. Simpkin. Carter, Letitia, A Life's Victory. 3/6. Partridge. Cary, 0. The Man who Feared God for Nought 2/- Stock. Caws, L. 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Collins's Translation of Kautzsch's edition of Gesenlus' Hebrow Grammar. 21/- Frowde. Croker, B. M. Peggy of the Bartons.' 6/- Methuen. Crook, James W. German Wage Theories. 4/- P S. King. Cuthbertson, E. J, Tennyson: the Story of his Life. 1 - Chambers.  ## p. 100 (#112) ############################################ :oo THE AUTHOR. Darwin, L. iQuestions to be considered by Indian Currency Com- mittee. 1/- Stanford. Davidson, Lillias C. Hints to Lady Travellers. 1/- net. Iliffe. Daw, W. H. The Care of Consumptives. 1/- Scientific Press. D'Esterre-Keeling, Elsa. The Queen's Serf. 67- Unwin. Dibdin, W. J. The Purification of Sewage and Water. 21/- net. Sanitary Publishing Co Dilworth, W J. A New Sequel to Euclid. Part L 1 - Blackie. Dobree. L. E stories on the Rosary. Part II. 1 '6, Longmina. Drybrough. T. B. Polo. 15 - net Vinton. Eagleson, J. G. Digest or Australian Mining Cases. 40/- Sweet. Earwaker, the late J. P. History of the uhureh and ('arish of St Mar.-on-the-Hill, Chester. Printed by Love and Wyman. Fair lie, J. A. Centralization of administration in N. Y St*te. 4- P. S. King. Ford, Paul Leicester. The Story of an untold Love. 6/- Constable Praser-Mackintosh, C An Account of the Confederation of Clan Chattan, Its Kith and Kin Glasgow: John Macbay. .Gadow, H. A Classification of Vertebrata, Recent and Extinct 3 6 net. Black. Gallon, Tom Dicky Monteith: a Love Story. 6 - Hutchinson. Garvice, 0, Just a Girl. 3/6 Bowden. Gibbf, L. R. (ed.) "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" 1 -6. Arnold. Gladden, Washington. England and America 6d. Clarke. Glasgow, G. R. Doctor Dicky, and other Stories. 1 - Nister. Gould, G. M. A Pocket Medic*I Dictionary. 2/6 net. Lewis Graham, R. H. C. Aurora La Cujinl. 5/ - net. Smlthers Gras, Fe*lix (tr. by C. A. Janvier). The Terror. 3,6. Heinemann. Greenwood G. (ed.) A Selection of the Letters of the late John Walter Lea. with memoir. 7/6. Church Printing Co. Griffith, G. The Destined Maid. 6- White. Griffiths, Arthur. A Girl of Grit 2,6. Milne. Hardy, W J. (ed.) Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, Mav l6'Kl—Oct 1691. Preserved in Public Record Office. Eyro and Spottiswoode. Harris, Reader. The Case Against Atheism. 1 - H. Marshall. Harrison, A. H. Christ and Our Own Time 2/6. Skeffington. Hawkins, Battie. New Wine: New Bottles, 6- Digby. Hayward, H. (ed.) Bismarck. By a Fellow Student 1 - Dean. Hellyer. M. Maud. Idylls. 2/6. Digby. Heron, E. and H. Tammers' Duel 2,6 Pearson. Hocking, Silas K. The Culture of Manhood. 1 - H. Marshall Holmes, Eleanor. Life's Fitful Fever. 6/- Hurst. Hope, Anthony. Rupert of Uentzau 6/- Arrowsmith. Hoyer, M.A. Little Miss Bo-peep, •fcc. 1/- Nister. Hudson, A, A., and Inman. A. The Law of Light and Air. 6/- F. N. Wilson. Hume, F. The Clock Struck One. 3/6. Warne. Hyndraan, H. Francis. Radiation. (Electromagnetic). 6/- Sonnenpcheln. Inglis, H. R. G. Contour Road Book of England: South-East Division. 2'-net Gall, lnnes, J. J. McL. Sir Henry Lawrence, the Pacificator. 3/6. FYowde. James, Henry. In the Cage 3/6. Duckworth. Janleot, Dr. J. Health-Giving Waters. (Of Pougues). 3/6. Bli*s. Jeaffreson, H. H. The Holy Eucharist. 2/6. Skeffington. Jen kin son, A. and Emile J. Fiona Mclver. 6/- Hutchinson. Jerome, J. K. Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. 6/- Hurst. Jocelyn, Mrs. Miss Rayburn's Diamonds. 6/- White. Johns, O. H W. (ed.) Assyrian Deeds and Documents Recording the Transfer of Property, Ac., chieHy of the 7th Century M.C. Vol. I. Cuneiform Texts. 21 net Bell. Johnston, M. C. The Justice of the Peace; Digest of Cases reported during 1893—1897 inclusive 7/6. Shaw. Jones, H. M. Asepsis and Antisepsis in Abdominal Surgery and Gynaecology. 3/ net. Bailliere. Kenyon E. 0. The Cave by the Waterfall, Ac.. 2 - S. S. Union. Kerr, Richard. Wireless Telegraphy. 1/6. Seeley. Lacey, T. A. Liturgical Interpolations, (Alcuin Club Tract). 3/- Longmans. Lahmann, Dr. H. Natural Hygiene. 4/6. , Sonnenschein. Lee, 0. A. J. Among British Birds in their Nesting Haunts. Part 12. 10 6 net. Douglas. Legge, T. M., and Sessions, H. Cattle Tuberculosis. 2 6 net Batllure. Loftie, W. J. Kensington Palace. Farmer and Sons. Lyde. L. W. Geography of the British Isles. 1/- net Black. Lydekker, R. The Deer of All Hands. 1M/- Rowland Ward. Macllwalne, H. C. Dinkinbar. 0/- Constable. McLean, D. H., and Grenfell, W. H. Rowing, Punting and Punts. 1/- Lawrence. Macleod, H. D. Indian Currency. 2,6 net. Longmans. Mailing, Matilda (tr. by A. Molboe). A Romance of the First Consul. 6/- Heiremann. Manders, H. The Ferment Treatment of Cancer and Tuberculosis. 10/6. Bebman. Markham, C. Handbook to Foreign Hall Marks on Gold and Silver Plate. Hj- Gibblngs. Marryat. Florence, and others. Summer Holidays: Stories and Sketches. 1/- Greening. Mayer, S. The Law of Agricultural Holdings, 5/- Waterlow. Middleton, J. G. The X Rays : Their Use in Medical and Surgical Practice. 1/- Simpkin. Miles, W. Off your Bikes! 1/- B. E. Taylor. 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The Church Towers of Somerset. Parts IV. and V. 12/6 each Bristol: Frnst and Reed Ranjitsinhji, Prince. With Stoddart's Team in Australia. 2- Bowden. Roundell, Mrs. Practical Cookery Book. 7/6 net Bickers. Russell, Henry P. Cyril Westward. Art and Book Co. Salisbury, Bishop of. Considerations on Public Worship and on th^ Ministry of Penitence. 1- Longmans. Sanderson, Edgar. The British Empire in the 19lh Ccnturv. Vol. VI. »/- "Blackie. Sengavent. Katieballe's Voyage. 2/6. Marshall and Russell. Sheldon, C. M. In His Steps": What would Jesus Do V 3/6. Allenson. Simms, G. E. Butterflies, Moths, and Caterpillars. 1 - Dean. Smith, F. H. Caleb West, Master Diver. 6/- Constable. Speight, H. Chronicles and Stories of Old Bingley. Stock. Standing Percy Cross (ed.) Cricketers'Birthday Book. 2- Dent. Storr. Francis (ed.). Selections from Tatne. 1/6. Blackie Symons, G. J.,ana Wallis, H. S. British iainfali. 1897. 10.- Stanford. Thackeray, W. M. 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Sir Thomas Browne: An Appreciation. 2 - Oli piiant. Willey, Arthur. Zoological Results based on Material from New Britain, New Guinea, Loyalty Islands, and elsewhere. 12/6. Clay. Williams, D. Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. 10/6. Cassell. Williams, T. R. Belief and Life: Sermons. 3/6. H. Marshall. Williamson, Mrs. C. N. Lady Mary of the Dark House. 6'- Hutchinson. Wilson, W. A. God Planted a Garden. 1/6. Marshall Bros. Wilson, Dr. Andrew. The Light Side of Science. 2/6. Bowden. Woods, Virna. An Elusive Lover. 3/6. Constable. THE AUTHOR." SCALE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. £4 0 3 0 1 10 - 0 15 o 0 7 S per inch 0 6 n per 2000 3 0 o Reductions made for a Series of Six or Twelve Insertions. All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to the Advertisement Manages, The Author Office, 4, Portugal-street, W.O. Front Page Other Pages Half of a Page Quarter of a Page Eighth of a Page Single Column Advertisements Bills for Insertion 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. 09 Issue 04 (September 1898) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 09 Issue 04 (September 1898) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1898-09-01-The-Author-9-4 publications The Author