, 1875-01-10

ber Of compulsory presentation .,pies was fxeG
at eleven, forming heavy tax on expensive
books. OF lato years the number: hns, however
been reduced to i've.
The :. earliest men of letters" in Englant
were the drnmatists, but none in -Elizabeth's agt
derived much profit from their tnlblished works
James Howell, the author Of tho "Epistoln Ho
elianm," and Thomas Fuller, we RS among the
first book writer's who worked in the service o1
tho publishers. Before them, M thors OF nj ott
were men Of wealth, or sought tn cir reward TO,
a successful book in tho patronage Of the great
One of the earliest records Of The purchase o1
original work by printer. is tha. Of the copy.
right OF - Paradise Lost" which wsw bought by
Samuel Simmons ''for the present sum Of f5, and
IS more when 1900 copies Of the 1a'st impress
sion should be sold in retail. and the 1iko sum at
the end Of tho second md third editions, to be
allowed as aforesaid" The small quarto edition
Of the poem, IN Eplain binding, was sold for s
shil1ings, aud the first impression VAS seyer
years in selling, and had five new title-pages
meantime. Milton received tho second f5 in
1850, aud for the consideration Of ES his widow
rclinquished all claim on the copyright. This
s18 waa the sum total obtained by Milton and
his heirs for the great epic poem Of the modern
age.
The first eminent English publisher WAS Jacob
Tonson, who acquired fame and fortune By
printing aud selling the works Of Dryden. He
began business by vending secondhand books,
and gradually ventured into the issue of plays.
In conjunction with Levalle, he bought '' Troilus
and Cressida" for eco. bringing 1t out m 1879,
and was thence, until the death OF Dryden in
1900, the poets sole publisher. Tho connection
between tho two was, on the whole, aInicable
although Dryden was d dilatory writer, and
Tonson, of necessity, perpetual goad. Dry
dcn'e profits from his translation Of Homer were
some s1, 400 or Fl, 800. For his last work, ''The
Fables" he received 10000 guineas, with the
promise Of so more on the beginning Of the Sec
ond impression. Tonson has the credit OF Gre
ating popularity for "Paradise Lost, which
he Issued in several editions on the recommen-
dation Of Dryden,-and also Of rendering ShaE-
speare accessible to the public. Ho died in 1876,
worth $4,000.
Bernard Lintot acquired celebrity along with
prosperity as the publisher Of Pope. In lila he
purchased from the poet the translation OF the
Iiad, for which he gave altogether about e., 323.
The equivalent he returned for the Odyssey
amounted to nearly $4,000. Lintot Was An
adept in the art of managing critics, aB learn
in letter from Pope to the Earl OF Burlington,
wittly relating conversation had with the pub
Usher. II can silence the most formidable Of
them," WAS the boast OF Lintot.-t' the rich ones
for sheet apiece Of the blotted manuscript,
which costs me nothing; they'll SO about to
their acquaintances and pretend they had it
from the author, who submitted to their
correction; this has given some Of them
o{r hat ;r ff,av $o
be consulted with and dictated to az the top
critic Of the town. As for tho poor critics, TIL
give you one instance Of my management, by
Which you may guess at the rest: 4 lean man,
that looks like very great scholar. came to me
t'other day; he turned over your Homer, shook
his head, shrugged up his shoulders, and pished
at every line Of it. One would wonder says
he, at the strange presumption OF some men;
Homer is no such easy task, that every STRIPPING,
every versider--He was going on, when my
wife called TO dinner. Sir eaid ], will you
please to cat pioco Of beef with me-? sMr.
Lintot,' said be, L am sorry you should he at
the expense OF this great book I am really con-
cerned on your account Sir, am much
obliged to You; if you can dine upon pisce Of
beef, together with slice Of pudding tMr.
Lintot, I do not say but Mr. Pope, it he would
condeacend with men of Learning Sir; the
pudding is on the table, it you please to go:in.'
My critic complies, he comes to tasto Of your
poetry, and tells me- in the same breath that the
book is commendable, the pudding excellent"
Edmund CURL, 3 contemporary Of Lintot, &C.
quired an unenviab1e distinction among the
booksellers Of the period by his reckless disre-
gnrd Of tho LAWS governing the trade and OF the
simplest rights Of authors. Our author prefaces
considerable account Of his doings by the odd
remark that It is not little comforting to find
that the oblcquy with which his name has ever
been associated was really merited;" aad with
this we leave him. In the latter part Of the
seventeenth century, Thomas Guy became IA
NOUS as publisher Of Bibles. The privilege Of
rrinting tue Scriptures had been secured, since
Elizabeth's time to the Queen or Kings printer
and the universities, and the abuse OF the pre-
lor8ed monopoly Taz apparent in exorbitant
prices and gross careleRsness in Typography. In
the 1eigu Of Charles /. an edition Was issued in
which the word not Was omitted from
the seventh commandment; and in an edi-
ton Of 1858 one OF the sentences fall
ing from Chr1st's lips read: 81 Know "a
not that the unrighteous shall inherit the King
dom Of God3" But good Thomas Guy suffered
no errors in his impressions Of the Bible, aud
grow rich in the pursuit Of lucrative trade.
He expended his large fortune in gifts to pub
Lie charities.-among other things, founding
" Guys Hospital" and endo~ing various nlme-
houses and libraries.
The circumstance which strikes US most
forcibly in the life OF erratic John Dunton is his
sending to bis wife sixty letters in ono ship,
while absent from her in America. It il need
less to add that John Dunton was an author as
well as publisher. Along in the eighteenth
century, Samuel Richardson, ths fa.hcr Of the
English novel, hguros prominently among the
booksellers. In 1854, at the age Of 60, he was
chosen Master Of the Stationers' Company. and
the sole fear Of his friends, on his
elevation to the dignity, was, that he would
not .play the gourmand we'll" One Of
the earliest Of Johnsons publishers was Edward
Case, who establishe the Gentlen,an's Magazine.
the first in the long train Of English serials.
The initial number Was issued in 1881. Eighteen
years after, the first popular review was started
by Ralph Grif6ths. In its palmy days the Month
nE mi ffa 1io-