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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 1st November 1890, Edition 1 of 1, Page 1406, HEN our last issue went to press the | W...

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    • COITTEITTS
    • St. Dunstan's House, E.C. | November 1, 1890. j
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      9 ; ^I I4o6 The Publishers' Circular Nov...

      9 ; ^ i I 4 o 6 The Publishers' Circular Nov . i , 18 90

      Coitteitts

      COITTEITTS

      Literary Intelligence 1406 I Books And R...

      LITERARY INTELLIGENCE 1406 i BOOKS AND RTTMOURS OP BOOKS 1407

      NOTES AND NEWS 1410 CONTINENTAL NOTES 1412 BOOKSELLERS OF TO-DAY . XIX

      MR . T . BURLEIGH 1414 LORD BEACONSFIELD' 1415 AN AUTHOR ON PUBLISHERS 1416

      BOOKSELLERS' PROVIDENT INSTITUTION 1417 TRADE CHANGES " . V 1417 IN MEMORIAM 1417

      THE LATE MR F . A . SUTTABY 1419 ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE SEASON 1419

      REVIEWS , < fcc 1421 INDEX TO BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT

      BRITAIN BETWEEN OCTOBER 16 & 31 H 2 G BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN FROM OCTOBER 16 TO 31 1428

      NEW BOOKS AND BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED .. 1435 . MISCELLANEOUS 1474 BUSINESS CARDS 1481

      BUSINESSES FOR SALE usa SITUATIONS WANTED ] 484 ASSISTANTS WANTED i 4 W

      BOOKS FOR SALE .. 1484 BOOKS WANTED TO PURCHASE U 85

      ™ " mm * ^ — ' "" " " '" " ¦ - ' ¦¦¦

      St. Dunstan's House, E.C. | November 1, 1890. J

      St . Dunstan ' s House , E . C . | November 1 , 1890 . j

      Hen Our Last Issue Went To Press The | W...

      HEN our last issue went to press the | Wcontroversy which arose out of Arch "

      deacon Farrar's speech at the Church Congress was still proceeding ; and as we had no desire

      to interfere until both sides should have spoken we made only a passing allusion to the

      matter . Now , however , the correspondence is closed and comment will be more

      appropriate . It will be remembered that , in condemning the commercial immorality of the

      country in general , Archdeacon Farrar specially singled out publishers as persons incorrigibly

      addic were t accused ed to ' of dishonourable being given to customs 4 sweat . ' They ' ;

      other reprehensible practices which effectually placed them outside the pale of respectab —ility .

      j * . a word , they were rogues « . Coming from such a quarter , from one having extensive

      relations with the trade , this was a serious charge . True , the Archdeacon subsequently

      explained that he had prefaced his remarks on dishonest publishing with the words * there

      are many publishers who are the soul of honour . ' Still the imputation lay on

      publishers as a class , and unless they could dispose of it promptly and successfully the public

      would not be slow to draw its own inferences . It was naturally supposed that Archdeacon

      Farrar was speaking out of the fullness of personal knowledge , and it therefore lay on

      the publishers who have issued his most important works to speak . Accordingly Messrs .

      Cassell & Co . published a statement of their dealings with Archdeacon Farrar , with the

      result that he who was so violent in his arraignment 4- ^ was left without a leg «—* to stand on .

      Messrs . Cossell ' s letter , which was printed in our last number , speaks for itself . It shows

      that not only has Archdeacon Farrar had 1 . -tii « r 4- « s » 4 * fWvm \\\ tk « vn 1 VIf * Vk /»«•<¦ lv » i + 4 lkn f- \\ t ± Una

      ¦ UOV 1 VV lAVUk «** KP |/ UWUaMVtO . IISUV MM » V Mm \ J AMMO * ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦

      been treated with a princely generosity which

      we think would have awakened in most writers such lively sentiments of gratitude as

      would have put charges of unjust dealing out of the question . But Archdeacon Farrar is

      not an ordinary author , and he has views of his own . What is his case ? With a large

      experience of publishers and of the worldhe undertook to do certain stipulated work upon ,

      certain stipulated terms , which he must have thought Liiuugiu equitable equitaoie , , or or , iit t is is to to be be presumed presumed , he he

      would not have accepted , them . The work , was performed so much to the

      satisfaction of his employers that they paid him the price agreed upon and some thousands of

      pounds more , to which , by every law that governs commerce , he was not entitled .

      Ordinarily this would be called generous conduct on the part of employers , but Archdeacon

      Farrar was not satisfied . He considered himself entitled to a further share of the profits . He had been given an inch and he wanted an

      ell . Let us suppose that the works which he wrote at the suggestion of Messrs . Cassell & Co .

      had failed , that the publishers had made a heavy loss : what would be thought of their

      ideas of business if they demanded that the agreement should be set aside , and that

      Archdeacon Farrar should bear his share of the loss ? Naturally he would object , he would fail t o

      see the equity of such a proposal . Yet his own demand is quite as absurd .

      Of course the quarrel could not be settled without the interference of the Society of

      Authors , and bo Mr . Besant comes valiantly to the assistance of the plundered Archdeacou .

      Mr . Besant ' s views on publishing are peculiar . He thinks for instance that publishers never

      make losses . We have never yet been able to discover a publisher who held the same opinion ,

      who , in fact , could not prove by figures that quite the opposite is the truth ; so thai the

  • Citation
    • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Nov. 1, 1890, page 1406, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01111890/page/4/