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m« »' >. « « « 4 A >^SJ • 1
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COITTEITTS
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LITERARY INTELLIGENCE H92 REVIEWS, &c 15...
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St. Dunstan's House, E.C. November 15, 1890.
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I an Academy. Probably the very first st...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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M« »' >. « « « 4 A >^Sj • 1
m « » ' > . « « « 4 A >^ SJ 1
1492 The rublishers " Circular Nov . l 89 o
Coitteitts
COITTEITTS
Literary Intelligence H92 Reviews, &C 15...
LITERARY INTELLIGENCE H 92 REVIEWS , & c 1501 EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 1493 INDEX TO BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT THE LATE MR . CHARLES EDWARD MUDIE 1493 BRITAIN BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1 & 15 1507
BOOKS AND RUMOURS OF BOOKS 1493 BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN PROM NOTES AND NEWS 1495 NOVEMBER 1 TO 15 151 ! CONTINENTAL NOTES 1497 AMERICAN NEW BOOKS 1519
THE REBELLION AT THE EQUATOR 1498 NEW BOOKS AND BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED .. 1523 LITERARY DEBUTS 1498 MISCELLANEOUS . 1536 THE PRINTING AND ALLIED TRADES .......... ., 1499 BUSINESS CARDS I 545
ARTIST AND AUTHOR 1499 ' BUSINESS FOR SALE 1546 THE AUTHOR OF ' THE BONDMAN' AT HOME ... . 1500 ! SITUATIONS WANTED ....... 1546 OLD ANGLING BOOKS ...,. 1501 ASSISTANTS WANTED im 6
IN MEMORIAM 1501 BOOKS FOR SALE ...... 1546 ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE SEASON 1501 BOOKS WANTED TO PURCHASE ..... 1547
St. Dunstan's House, E.C. November 15, 1890.
St . Dunstan ' s House , E . C . November 15 , 1890 .
I An Academy. Probably The Very First St...
I an Academy . Probably the very first step would
give umbrage , for it is not likely that even the very excellent committee suggested by Mr . j
Besant would give complete satisfaction . As business progressed , dissatisfaction would
become keener and be more loudly expressed . Forty immortals , let us say , would be elected . I
But there are many forties who live-by writing , i and fancy themselves possessed of genius and !
claims to immortality . What of them — ? The \ defects of human nature make it reasonable to
conclude that their souls would be filled with a bitterness and envy that would give rise
to such amenities as Isaac D'Israeli never dreamed of . Wich an Academy fairly estab- ,
lished , the time would be divided between in- ! triguing and calumniating . Under such cir- :
cums —for tances there , we would think be , publishers spicy books would without prosper ; ' !
number—but , we cannot help thinking that ll I letters would suffer . Literature , it is well to
remember , is not made up of the petty and the I personal , nor have the greatest authors done
their best work under the sheltering wing of an Academy . 1 s t
And whom should we have as Academicians \ Mr . Leslie Stephen foresaw a body composed
largely of prigs and old fogies . That is disconcerting . Mr . Lang thinks that only such
as have done their best work that is , such as , j in official capacities , would be superannuated \
as incapables would be admitted to the sacred | ranks of the immortals . The young , the
strong , the daring , the really effective forces ! in lvir letters would be excluded 4 dukes dukes . ' I see / saya
Mr . . Lan juang g prophetically prophetically , . * , , bishons bishops . , the the more imposing " society" journalists , judges , learned peers , sacred poets , masters of colleges ,
crowding in the academic halls and blackballing novelists and playwrights . ' The
favourites of the people , the men who write marrowy books , would have the door shut
contemptuously in their faces . Perhaps that would be proper . A wise man has said that a crowd is
WEEK or two ago there seemed to be a A reasonable probability that at no distant j , date England would be able to boast of
possessing an Academy of Letters modelled on that which yields our neighbours across the Channel
such frequent and lively entertainment . Mr . Besant , recognising the inability of the Society
of Authors to cope successfully with all the wrongs that beset the literary calling in this
evil age , thought that an Academy would afford additional , and perhaps more effectual , means
of furthering and protecting the interests of those professionally engaged in the production
of literature . The wish to have such help was natural , and we see in it an instance of Mr .
Besant ' s disinterestedness and zeal in the cause of letters . Indeed , we are always ready to
acknowledge the philanthropy of Mr . Besant ' s aims , though unhappily we do not always find
ourselves in a position to confirm his facts or uphold his judgment . In regard to the
proposed Academy we perceived the virtue of his intentions , and , since publishers were not
directly charged , had no cause to make any strenuous protest . But singularly enough ,
those whom Mr . Besant would benefit did not view his scheme with any enthusiastic approval ;
indeed , they have viewed it with distinct disapproval , being perhaps in this , as in
other matters , childishly incapable of understanding what is best for them . English men
of letters are not at all desirous of having an Academy . They are almost unanimous in
thinking that it could do little good , and would be pretty certain to do much harm . Having
cultivated peace these many years , they naturally have no wish to see elements of strife and
discord introduced into English literature . If it is fair to argue from what has been to what
may be , trouble might certainly be expected to follow close upon the founding of an institution
so arbitrary and exclusive in its tendencies as
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Citation
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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Nov. 15, 1890, page 1492, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15111890/page/4/
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