New-York tribune., 1876-08-07
ArTHORSHTP IN AMERICA.

iTTIORNHIP IN INEEitA.
More than one paragraph is at present going
the rounds of the Press, protesting to give thc
pecuniary status, and consequent necessity for
cxGa-litcrary work, of various American au-
thors. These statements have led to some
newspaper discussion of the question whether
literary labor is adequately rewarded IN TING
country. We find. on comparing the articles
which have thus far appeared, that they repre-
sent one or the other of two widely differing
views: Firstly, we have the fippant assertion
that material success always follows genuine
intellectual achievement, and if an author
cannot support himself by bis works
the fault lies in the latter not in
a public eager to recognize genius; and sec
ondly we have the admission that the stand
ard of appreciation among the mass of Amc1-
can readers is not yet sufficiently elevated to
make the best literary work i'll any degree re-
nuncratiyc. Much of what currently passes
for criticism is colorcd 10y one or the other ot
these views The former il alert to detect
faults or shortcomings, which IT charges di-
rcctly to the authors account: the latter Is
warm and genial, if sometimes Il little mdis-
criminatc in its commcndation. But hearty
and intelligent acceptance oi an authors place
in the economy of Nation Is something which
does not yet exist among lis.
The question whether authorship is rcmuncr-
ativc here cannot be answered by a simple
Yes or No. We must overlook the whole sub
icct from that base of nirthful. entertaining,
superficial litcratuTe which is adapted to the
Obvious taste of the day, up to the slender
apex of pure thought and Imagination which is
e.. II 'In ,I
and publisher in this country establishes the
fact that the lower and cheaper forms of
literature are best rewarded. and that the re-
suits steadily diminish as the author rises to
higher and more permanent achievement.
Examples thereof might be multiplied until
they embrace the whole literary history of the
United States. Mr. rockingham tells u.s. i'll his
"IIstoly of TransccndcntaliSn," that II years
ELAPSED before the first 800 copies of EmcrsOn'S
Mature the result of long and earnest
thought-werc purchased by the public. llaw
thornc toward the close of his life succeeded
in living from year 10 year on the proceeds OF
his immortal rOmanccS, but the author of st.
"Elmon is the only American writer of fiction
To whom Il publisher will pay $4,000 for
novel Oh receipt of the manuscript. Washington
Irving, one of the most brilliantly successful
of our authors received just $20i,0O0 for
more than fifty years of arduous literary labor
s. 900 u year. the wages of chief clerk!
Literature. the very blossom of the civiliza
tion of II, race, assuredly could not flourish on
our soil were il not that our best authors have
been lcgtimatcly born to their vocation, and
must follow it under whatever difficulties and
discouagcmcnts. Ours is the only civilized
nation IN which literary achievement is not
practically recognized by the Government.
There is not yet chair of American Literal
ture in any one of our Colleges or Universe
ties. The claims of IN author whose nature
demands the higher forms of expression are
prspcrly contested at the outset; but after
years of struggle have tried his intel
lcctual thcws and brought him the recOg-
milton of the few from whom he Graves it,
lac must content himself with the lattcr-for
il il about all the reward he will receive. The
usual fate Of him who s not so fortunate as
20 inherit a competence, or to find some form
of labor which allows him leisure enough for
his own studies il TO receive wise atlmoni-
tions as to his proper work on the one hand,
aud ON the other to be overwhelmed with the
Mss. of aspiring young ladies and gentlemen,
which he cannot praise with honesty nor crit
icse without giving oilense.
But when Emerson, who more than any
other author has exalted the character of our
Literature ahrOad-who is the rightful Chief
of the guild of American Authors--giyes his
life to his work, without a thought of pecu-
mary reward when Longfeilow and Whittier
sing for the repayment they find in the song
itself; when Lowell gives the same labor to
one of his Essays as would bring shower of
gold to the lawyer, physician, or merchant
no author need complain of scanty encourage
ment, grudsing recognition, or inadequate
recompense. No one, so far as we know, does
SO complain. The poet novelist, historian, or
critic by the grace of God finds his life in his
work, and cannot live without 1t. Perhaps
some grace may be lost. some conscious sense