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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 15th November 1887, Edition 1 of 1, Page 1370, OOaSTTBaiTTS I

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    • OOaSTTBaiTTS I
    • St. Dunstan's House, E.C.: November 15, 1887.
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      I3ro The Publishers' Circular Nov. 15,18...

      i 3 ro The Publishers' Circular Nov . 15 , 1887 I

      Ooasttbaitts I

      OOaSTTBaiTTS I

      Literary Intelligence 1370—1382 Austral,...

      LITERARY INTELLIGENCE 1370—1382 AUSTRAL , AFRICA ..... 1371 , 1372

      IMPORTANT NEW EDITIONS OP SHAK- r SPEARE 1372 , 1373 THEIR MAJESTIES' SERVANTS 1373

      NOTES AND NEWS 1373 , 1374 AMERICAN NEWS AND NOTES 1374 CONTINENTAL NOTES 1 1375

      SALE JOTTINGS 1375 , 137 tJ TRADE CHANGES 1376 OBITUARY . is 7 G 1377

      A FIERCE ATTACK ON ANCIENT BOOK- | SELLERS ... t , 1377—1379

      MAGAZINES FOR THE MONTH 1379

      REVIEWS , & C . 1379—1382 I INDEX TO BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT I

      BRITAIN BETWEENNOYEMBER 1 AND 15 . 1382 -i 385 I BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN I FROM NOVEMBER 1 TO 15 .... i . 1385—1392 I

      AMERICAN NEW BOOKS 1392 , 1393 I ALMANACS AND DIARIES 14041407 I 3 ^

      STEW ^ BOOKS AND BOOKLATELY PUB- I USHED 1394—H 09 I MISCELLANEOUS 1410—1417 1

      BUSINES 3 CARDS 1414—1416 I ASSISTANTS WANTED 1417 1 WANT SITUATIONS 1417 I

      BOOKS FOR SALE i 417 I

      BOOKS WANTED TO PURCHASE 1418—1423 I

      St. Dunstan's House, E.C.: November 15, 1887.

      St . Dunstan ' s House , E . C .: November 15 , 1887 .

      It Seems A Pity That The Subject Called ...

      IT seems a pity that the subject called ' Grievances between Authors and

      Pubj lishers' should be again revived as it has been by the appearance of a volume bearing that title .

      The deliberations oij the Incorporated Society of Authors in March last merely gave life to a

      nine daysV wonder . Excepting Mr . Besant , the prime promoter of the wonder , no author

      of great repute took occasion to ventilate the grievances of the craft . * Owen Meredith '

      touched the subject with delicacy and with the ' hesitation which springs from

      non-acquaintance , practically , with the grievances under discussion . No other great names , so far

      as we remember , were * incorporated . ' And to many it was a matter for surprise that no

      prominent author spoke on the other side , for the number of men of letters and press

      writers who maintain pleasant and just relations with publishers is considerable , and they

      would instantly repel the notion of unfair dealing . But the trouble , perhaps , did not assume

      the importance that would demand the public utterance of their thoughts and experience .

      The fact is that the immense flood of new books which continuously flows before the

      public makes authorship one of the most difficult occupations , if the work is intended to

      be financially remunerative . Newspapers are blamed for destroying , or at least checking ,

      the public taste for book-reading ; but , be this as it may , there . can be no , question that ,

      amidst the enormous host of literary workers , many of them disappointed and irritable

      through failure in other branches of professional life , it is still talent , for genius is rare ,

      that commands success . Books which utterly fail often , though not always , deserve their fate .

      After all , the public is the author ' s customer , but the experience of publishers , which has

      been attained by long and zealous work , is I essential in bringing books before the public . I-

      . Literally there are no great ' Grievances

      between Authors and Publishers . ' Some of the experiences of publishers in their relations

      with authors would form very entertaining reading , but publishers generously refrain from

      writing the stories of their calamities . The conference of March last raised no controversy

      at all . Mr . Besant fired his shell , but it proved to be empty . The only result was that the

      chief publishers rallied and disputed his right to assume a hostile attitude without

      provocation . Their temperate remonstrances indeed showed that the whole agitation in Willis ' s

      Rooms might have been directed into some other channel . Mr . Besant mentions the names

      of only one or two of the publishers who replied to his remarks , and says he forgets the others .

      It may be well to repeat the names of those we remember rememoer :: — —Messrs iviessrs . . Jientley Bentlev & <& Sons Sons . Messrs Messrs ..

      W . Blackwood & Sons , Messrs . Longmans , & Co ., Messrs . Sampson Low , Marston & Co .

      , Messrs . Macmillan & Co ., Mr . John Murray , Messrs . Smith , Elder & Co ., and Messrs . Ward

      & Downey . Various other letters from good authorities appeared anonymously .

      We repeat the opinion that it is a pity that this book should have been published . It

      contains little that is new beyond a letter from the spirited and practised pen of Mr .

      A . F . Tuer . Mr . Besant ' s published threat of new disclosures has therefore fallen very

      flat , for the book contains nothing of the sort . It may ¦ , however , prove a handy

      reference-book for r ' Incorporated r . M . Authors 7 afford-, ing them some of the reading usually called

      ' entertaining and instructive . '

      •<>• Mr. Darwin's Life.—In Connection Wi...

      •<>• Mr . Darwin ' s Life . —In connection with the recentlpublished anticipatory notice of

      this book , the y following letter appeared in the Times of the 8 th inst . — 'To the Editor of

      the Times . Sir , —In the Pall Mall Gazette of review November of the 5 appeared 4 ' Life and what Letters purports of to Charles be a

      A U T J . W f I VA VAAVf JU ^ J . JL ^ - ' ( bJLXVA JLJV 3 UVJSA . O VJM . Vll <** * " Darwin . " The reviewers' copies of this work

  • Citation
    • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Nov. 15, 1887, page 1370, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15111887/page/4/