The daily gazette., 1876-03-09

the actual value OF the sketch or story
offered. Female writers are stronger
than the opposite sex in working up
sentiment and detail and this gives them
decided advantage i'll poplar fiction.
Men excel in the arrangement of plot,
bit, when it comes to elaboration, they
cannot compete with the literary sister
hood. This remark is not intended to 90
beyond the range of American writers of
the present time. Such authors as Scott,
Dickens, Bulwer, Thackary, Cooper and
Irving, are, of course, not included in
any comparison on the subject. But
magazine editors, who my be con-
sidered good authority, tell me that
women are now read more extensively
than men, and account for this on the
ground just mentioned-their superior
| tact in working up interest by present
ing every detail and playing cleverly on
| all the chords of sentiment. Outside OF
| fiction, women do not make much pro-
| gress, but within that charmed circle,
they now have matters pretty much to
themselves. If the female element were
eliminated from the authorship of light
literature in the United States, what re-
mained would probably not be more
than one-third of the whole.
BOOKS BY WOMEN.
All the large pu blishing houses of New
York have women in prominent places
on their lists of authors. Carleton & Co.,
however, lead the trade in this respect,
the publication of women's books being
almost a speciality with the firm. They
now publish for nearly all the successful
American novelists. Mrs. Wilson, Of
Mobile, who is still known as Augusta
Evans by nine-tenths of her readers,
J ranks first on their list, and is also first
in popularity among American authors.
Two of her books, ''Vashti " and " st.
J Elmo" have sold to the number of &C, 900
each, and are still in demand. Her latest
novel, Infelice," published few
900. Mrs. Wilson has written six stories
and the number of volumes sold up to
the present time is about 100000. Her
, income from copyright is not less than
$4,000 year. Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
has written sixteen books, which have
; sold to the extent of about SOC, 900 copies
= Two of these, both about twenty
years old, sell better now than they did
I when first published. Mrs. Holmes has
' a large and certain income from copy
I right, which enables her to visit Europe
. frequently and live in all the elegance
. she could desire. Marion Harland, fol
whom Carleton & Co. are also publishers
5 and whose books are among the most
Il popular of the time, is southern wo
c man by birth. She is the wife OF u cler.
s gyman, the Rev. Il Z. Terhune, and re.
: sides with her family over in Newark, n
r ~. Another writer who has come into
q prominence is Mrs. NJ. A. Fleming, She
- was scarcely known three years ago but
=. is now one of the most popular in light
J literature. Mrs. Fleming is q native o.
l. st. John, N. b., but has made her home
0 in Brooklyn and now resides there. The
= authorship of " Rutledge" was for sever
c al years a mystery, but has lately becom,
C quite well known. The book was writ
ten by Mrs Merriam Coles Harris, wifi
of New York lawyer, and the same lad.
has written several other stories, includ
10 ing "a Perfect Adonis," which have hat
q u very good sale. Julie p. Smith, autho
t, of "Widow Goldsmith's Daughter" "Tel
;. Old Maids" and several other popula
u novels published by Carleton, resides il
e Hartford, and enjoys copyright return
e which make her position pleasant ant
n comfortable. One of the best and mos
C promising of the female novelists is Mis-
d +. C. Fisher (''Christian Reid, south
: ern lady, residing in Salisbury, N. G. Th
" Appletons may be said to have brought
= 9 her out and she is advancing steadily il
D popular favor. These ladies and few
5 others who wrote long stories can max,
, a good deal of money with the pen, bu
3 the majority of writer's who figure in tn,
s list of contributors to magazines have
I, quite enough to do to keep the wolf from
b the door.