Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-05-05
BIG PAY FOR GREAT AUTHORS.
Literary Men Who Have Been Paid as
Rl3s High o. Ten Dollars q Liae-s
5fsJ@ Il $10O for alSOnnet. aga sf,
Grant Paid at the Rate Of Twenty Dol.
So lars a Line for His
3D., Memoirs.

4 ~ 81.
i # Memoirs. -.-..
i .osti-- ~..5 -. -. --.., .s...-.
Tennyson Paid $3.50 Line for Poe1
i ga Is & Money Paid to Mark
Twain. a1s -sa +sa
A British periodical has announced tha
the editor Of q high-class journal for boy
/ in America offered Mr. Gladstone $500 fo
an article Of ], 500 words, this being at th
rate Of about 81 par line. and that Nj
Gladstone had declined the offer. Man
publishers in this city, when shown the e1
tract, said they were lot at all surprises
that Mr.. Gladstone should have refuse,
to write for any such sum. Occupying a
he does the position of Prime Minister il
Engla md, the price offered seemed to b
! ridiculously low. The advantage of Mr.
Gladstones name as q contributor to tn
journal would have been worth the money
offered, even if he did not write line
Some of the publishers said that, lookin,
back on the past, it is really surprising te
/ find what large amounts of money hav,
been paid to writer's for desirable articles
HaEper's Magazine and the Nineteenth
Century have often paid more than SIC
per line for suitable writings by popular
authors. 1t is not an unusual thing to pav
800 for a sonnet of only fourteen lines. q
price nearly double that per line offered to
/ t ,e chief State officer OF the British crown.
More than 81 per line has been paid by
the owners OF magazines for several stories
running period Of perhaps an entire year,
II found readable, or possessing merit, or
written by person whose name would
give it popularity. Especially is this the
case in the matter of books written for q
special object or codnected with the his
.tcry OF the country. An instance may be
cited in reference to the recent work pub
'fIshed as
GEN. GRANTS MEMOIRS.
This embraces two volumes, and has
also, even at this early stage of the publi-
cation, given to the Generals widow a sum
equal to, even if it does not exceed $50
per lire, and may net her a much larger
amount. Miss Clevelands book is also
spoken OF as one which will realize to her
a proportionate amount of money as roy
alties far exceeding that offered to Mr.
Gladstone s,for the article alluded to in the
newspaper extract. During the early days
OF the New York Ledger, Mr.. Robert Bon
ner was noted for giving large sums of
money to authors whose names were con-
sidered of more value than the amount OF
printed matter which was the result OF
their pens. Many Of the writer's to whom
he paid what might appear to be almost
sums were then not. so well known
by name as Mr.. Gladstone is to-day; hut
they were prominent enough for Mr.. Bon
ner to desire that they should be recog-
nized as contributors to his periodical. On
one occasion he paid Mr.. Tennyson, row
Poet Laureate of England, the large sum
of $4,000 for poem which only made
twenty lines in that paper. This was at
she rate OF $3.50 line-a price that would
almost seem to be beyond the value OF any
written production.
DICKENS PAID SO LINE.
The same publisher, anxious to secure As
/ contributor the late Charles Dickens,
oaid him SIS, 900 for sketchy story which |
barely filled six columns in the Ledger. |
This WAS at about the rate OF $40 per he,
md although the sketch was not the equal |
II many Others which the author has had |
printed, with his name attached, in the |
English periodical All the Year Round, the !
money paid was not considered too much |
or the work of an author whose name had
become SO popular. Edward Everett was
as an exclusive writer for the same
periodical for one year at the rate OF $11O,- |
100. He was only required to furnish one
trticle each week. This contribution |
barely filled column when set up in the |
,old type OF that periodical. Rev. Henry |
Ward Beecher was paid $50, 900 for Nor |
wood. Mr.. Beecher at that time was q |
'ery popular preacher and his name in con-
lection with the work made it much de- |
ired by readers OF serial stories. Other |
ess popular writer's, whose names were not |
70 prominently before the public. were also |
,aid high prices for serials OF merit, ON con- |
lition that they should write exclusively |
,een engaged by serial story publishers,
merely for the purpose OF getting their |
lames associated with certain pe iodicals.
Although the exact sum paid the war gen. |
rails and naval officers who have been |
writing historical sketches of the late war |
n leading maga zine is not known, it j.
aid that all received far more per line for |
heir contributions than the generous
,ffer' made to Mr.. Gladstone. |
OTHER BIG SUMS.
Sunset Cox, just before he left for Turkey,
aid that he was to receive fifty cents a |
opy from the sale of his Three Decades OF |
Federal Legislation, and 5000 copies OF |
he work were ordered before it left the !
press. This gave Cox S12,5O for pocket |
money On his way to Turkey. Gen. Logan |
q reported az having said that he expected |
100, 900 from his book on the war, which !
8 still in press, and there seems no limit to |
he fortune hich the great man can now
make if he will only write book. Parson |
son says his fathers book |
brought him in 500, 900, and it also made |
nice little sum for George w. Childs, who |
published it. Alexander H. Stephens re-
eived fifty cents set for his hist ory OF the !
old before he died. Mr.. Stephens dictated |
most of the work, and S35, 900 was by no |
means bad pay for it. When William H. |
seward went round the world his adopted |
laughter Travelled with him. He dictated |
10 her from day to day his impressions of |
ravel, and when his book was published !
le turned all the profits, amounting to |
many thousands OF dollars, over to her. |
Bob combs had intended to write book |
IN the war, but a fire destroyed his |
material before he got ready to |
,ut it together. Joe. Johnston published |
'ome war "reminiscences. and Gen.
SDefuhu . MCulOub dIc huO"u 10 dll
1oing back little, we find that statesmen
md their papers did not fare SO we'll in the
past. Congress paid Thomas Jefferson only
I23, 900 for his whole library, which, he |
aid, had cost him twice that to collect, |
md Dolly Madison received only 100000
or the valuable papers OF President Mad |
son. Washington Irving, in his life of lit
.rary work. received about $25O,OOO,
while Prescott's income from his books was !
,nly S., ,OOOa year. Nathaniel Hawthorne's |
literary income was never over 81, 600 |
year, but Mark Twain to-day is said to |
nave received $4,000 from Huckleberry |
Finn, and Josh Billings got $25, 900 for his !
almanac. w. D. Howells now receives
s., 900 for ashortstory. Tennyson has an |
ncome Of $4,000 year from the works |
1e has published. The novel Romola paid |
ieolge Eliot $4,000, and Victor Hugo |
received $50, 900 for Les Miserables. One of |
The greatest American literary successes
vas Uncle Toms Cabin. Harriet Beecher |
Stowe sent to the publishers, eaying in her |
etter that she hoped it would bring her in |
enough to buy her new silk gown. Three |
hundred Thousand copies were sold in one