New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-18
ON BOOKS.
DEAN HoIE-TWO NEW EDITIONS OF SCOTT
TTNNYSON AND HIS PUBLISHERS AND
HIS PENSION-A "BRITICISM' FOR
Mr. BRANDER MATTHEWS.

about whom they are written. as for the persons
whom they describe refer to incidentally. Sucn
"A book-at least in Americans The Memoirs OF
Dean Hole b." His name will be familiar 20 few
people on the right side Of the Atlantic. lie haa
a reputation here; good one as an ecclosaslc
and better of the world, father. story
teller friend, and perhaps evel philosopher IL 49,
| imagine, the first time that dlgnltary OIL oio
Church has grouped his "reminiscences under such
hea is as CIicketels Gamblers Gardeners Shooters
and the like There are also 10 redress the pal
ance, Authors. Artists, Ecclesiastlcs' oNohiaiis'
Preachers; and Workingmen-meaning, perhaps the
hearers of the preachers. There are s'orleS o.
Tbackcray of the Duke Of Wellington; and of other
giants of those days He himself, this exceiiene
Dean. great huntsman before the Lord and in the
Shires. and upon hunting as we'll upon cricket
he writes with the knnwc ige OF an expert
practitioner and the enthusiasm Of convert
One gets an impression of an extraordinary brea1h
and fulness Of life There is no PuritanlSm on tno
one hand, and no laxness on the other lie BOOK
the liberty of being a man. and Of irAulg1ng his
natural tastes lust as if he had never taken orders
or pounded a pulpit Nor is that criticism; 1t
is a eulogy; both upon him and upon his book
The first Two volumes of Mr.. Andrew Langs cdi-
ton Of tbe Waverley Novels. called the Border
Edition have made their appearance; Mr. Ninmo
beino the pnblisher A rival edition is announced
at the same time by Mcssrs. Black, which they
c;risened the Dryburgh Edition, who hold the copy
riQht of certain notes and corrections OF the teAo
which they consider essential to accuracy ana
completeness They possess, in fact the Inter
leaved copy on which Scott made his last cofrec-
tions-a copy in twenty-five large octave volumes
On the strength of this an authorized leAV Is
promised Perhaps in the case OF writer so care
less of accuracy as Scott, this does not greatly
matter Mr.. Lang is himself SO careless that ne
ought to be congenial editor; genial he GER
tainy is.
II docs not appear from his Preface that he has
ebored the text very much, or found new na'eriii
Of any particular value lie is content TO reprint
the edition of 1S29-ls52. What he has aimed at
beyond this is to give the stOries-the word Is MI
Ianas-their historical setting, by stating the
circumstances in which they were composed ana
made their first appearance" He mas examiner
or at least has had permission to examine, twenty
four large volumes Of letters to-not by-Sir wal
ter, and some other manuscripts preserved az Ao-
botsford From these he frankly swns ne has
cleaned little "Lockhart left little for his sue
cessors TO do. and the more any one studies the
Abbotsford manuscripts the more must he admire
the industry and tact Of SCOTS bographcr." The
rew Of Scott What is new will be Of Mr. Lang
and Of tbe artists who illustrate the volumes for
him. Both this and the Drybursh Edition are Illus
trated but here Mr. Lang has an advantage. Messrs.
Blacks LIST of artists contains hardly wel-lsnown
name. In Mr. Lang's We have Sir John Mlllals,
Mr. r. W. Macbeth, the Frcnchman, MI al.
Lalanzo and Others Of eminence.
Roth publishers announce large-paper issues
Mr. Nimmo affrms that limited nuInoer WI"
hc printed That is probably equivalent to saying
that the number will be limited By the num-
Der of suhscribers, plus the estimated nuinoei
that he thinks likely to be dispoeed u
Ia tie general public. Messrs Black, however
fix a number; their largc-papcr edition VIII De
strictly limited to 800 copies. Neither peoge
il Of much avail to the buyer With an issue OF
300 comics no large-paper edition can ever BE-
come rare though an artificial scarcity will prob
ablv be created at the start-as it has been In
hundred other instances-it not by the publishers.
then by the speculative bookseller who is almost
as much the enemy Of mankind as the puoLsner
himself.
mean no reproach or imputation on the puo-
fisher or printer when ask what security has
the public that the edition will be limited 70
400 comics? The only efficient security IS the
printers The printers in This case MeSsrs. Clsrk.
of Edinburgh q very eminent firm. But Messrs
Clark have formerly declined to sign the guarantee
OH the flyleaf and it has been signed oy Tue
publisher or author, neither OF whom can oe IL
a position TO know. | assume that Messrs. OarH
are perfectly honest in their view and III ther
nracticn bnt wish they would explain why they
do not put their signature to the guarantee Ihey
might still further reaesure tile amateurs OIL THESE
exceptional issues if they would explain what
rrocautiops are adopted tc prevent surrepttious
ovcr-printing by workmen in their employ Inc
price charged for copies is very hgh, three u1!es
the price of an ordinary copy, ana the dlshohcSV
artisan. if there be one, may think the gam
worth the risk Numbering is very lnenicicht
safeguard They are far more exact ABOUT SUCH
matters in France than in England, but even IN
France have seen duplicate numbers once
had the pleasure of pointing them out 10 a DOCK
collier. who. to DO him justice, seemed In no
dogree surprised But the book-buy1ng puohc Is
credulous. and will, dare say, go on buying
Iorgc-naper editions 80 long as the fashion runs
that way.
arFro,isb bibloqraphcai monthly is responsible
for the statement that Messrs. Strahan, III thelr
time Maid Tennyson $4,000 year for the night
n publish such of his books as were Ill prih' az
tho date of the contract. On new poems acc'ro'
inc 10 the same authority, he received royalty
of 10 per cent IL may De uouo'eu ""e'H7i e,'','i
statement is correct HE yearly sum poia ~
Messrs Strahan was, accordlng 10 an au'hoiiV
v,bicb is probably better dian the one above
quoted, not So co., hut S2o'Ooo' AS Tor 'oNa'ty,
10 per cent is not what known and successful
ont.or would be likely TO accept 1t is what the
,osnectob,e publisher pays the comparatively dnr
known wlite,: sometimes lie pays him much more
T.nuyson's percentage would hardly be less than
"a per cent. and might bc ~ or 20; ror would
he even then receive such proportion OF the pfoh's
as is now beginning 10 he thought iair'
This is a subject-tl ere are also many othereC
OH which publishers susceptible, ana as no
body wishes to rouse anybody's susccptoiltles'
silence nav be best. / think, however, shouid
modify TIE statement ] made about Ieniysons
subsequent arrangement with Messrs. Macmillan