New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-21
THE ANCIENT BOOK TRADE.
4 STUDY OF THE ORIGINS OF LITERARY
PROPERTY.

AUTHORS MD THEIR .rrrIIc IL ~ NNcl len
crs rom The Earliest Times to the Invention 81
prlo;irc l,y Gorge Htv'n Putnam. ~. XVII
!o a''', g. p. Putnam SON.
There Is ono field which Mr.. Putnam dld not OK
,lore in his search for tine origins Of property IL
luer,r, production THO obs rvers ~ savag" cis-
..,s how. r.rhaus not So; furnished the ncc's-
s,-v material FOR fully trustworthy opinion i'Ht
Mis- Fletcher has noticed Among ih' Omaha IN
dams o practice ~ purchasing songs Tor r'f'""''
or family use from ,he poo, or song-n'k"F' SH''
a recognition Of property right IN W'rIs ana S""'S
ARRANGED in certain Way may characterize ot"tI
rude peoples as well as ihe omahas thr no''"" 'i
those indians may lie not unlike that cherished Joy
ancient nations I'm the few cases whore Mr. Putnam
has found among Thorn ruiin'niary meas OF literary
ownership. The protection OF the savage song CON-
poser lies in the fact that his git Is an unls''
one Tho purchasers mus; guard against each c;h'r
In the sale 80 copies. entire or fraSmrA''fN Oh INC
Book Of the Dead the Egyptian pFies' knew
tina, his hold on The ORIGINAL was strengthened by
st,norsti,ious reverence: and IL was ony from MN
or from one Of his prof ssion that copies could d"
bought. For. manlfegtly. copies made ny 'FH'''
would be devoid Of efficacy. II Is ihr ln'' renee
that the innumerable inclrtations OF 'halHA''h
lore were sold IN the sam" way. sine VAST NUM-
hers II them are purely personal The Omaha song
maker might adopt without change IN" threat "'
the Greek poet TheoGnis. - which Mr.. Putnam
alludes when make verses hereafter eNcmlIh"'
Theoenis 81 shall give n token with the words nor
shall thevng be unmatched. nor viii any tax" hnH
poetry when good Is at hand. For thus shall every
one say: This poem Is by Thtognis. the Megar'an
famed among all men IN the cities. N"f not Tor al
can sing ami wonder. for I"ns himself. rain
ing or shining docs not please everybody II" owl
IDENTIFY meant thnt people could take or leave MS
verses as they liked but that they must not expect
9, hove the Z? Vantage OF hts Conlus witaou, con
silarlnr his fame. In an equally rude. but WITH
an amplcr literary tradition. Hans sachs the c''-
bier poet OF Nuremberg. carried ort the plan when
Thoognis only threatened 20 adopt Both IN" an
tIouc ne. and he OF the Middle Ares were doubtless
more Jealous o. their rcpu,c than - th"!r incom"
from literature. The passage from Th"osns IS o'
intcros, the earliest instance In tho West ~ me
idea tina, there could be ownership In q literary
work l. was only gradually that the author cam"
u think % hls own rights aside from the lam"
which MS works gave him. The cynical Martial ~
Ncronian times o, Rome IS as Indifferent 'wir!
mere renown unaccomraniol by the cold cash as
any modern cp!-rammatlsi can b.. Yet thor" Is no
evidence that his hold on the publisher was any
thing more than the hope ~ Profits from future
work or fcnr OF dannge from his m'.!ci"ns WIZ
/ csmq Mr. Putnam lu;imaies that 4 part ~ Mr.
/ tails income was gained by what would now be-
7 called baclmaG. There certainly no 'luni"
means Of preventing such IN offence IN antiquity,
nor aside from protests Ike tha, ~ Theosnis vas
there ever any restraint on plac'arism. disc!pl"
~
the philosopher appears 10 have paid no attention
- the matter. Hut Plato was n rich man 80 Things
wen, in h.s dav and may have winkod ~ In" de-
vices Of q needy scholar
IA long as literature was the p1silme ~ those
who could afford H. H. evolution rs business must
have been slow Plato md Aristotle could afford
10 pqv high prices for the books they desired -
possess But as the ability to read became general
AMI lighter forms OF literature arose there came
an increase OF copyists. ana Of thos" who BOUGHT
anl sold books as a means OF livelihood. Tina; MI
private devices - this kind were slow In the Hell
Icnic world IL shown by the fact that the Alex
anGrlan Museum. the great book manufactory Of
later antiquity was practically royal institution.
Things must have improved greatly In Roman
t.m@s. for Martial IN IN c3g-am cit"d ny Mr.. Put
man, boasts that his verses are read in Britain.
The wcl-known aneclote OF the barbarinn general
who found "A deserted Roman camp filtered with
Indecent novels. while It betrays the tastes Of the
army shows also that the trades Of bookmaking
and book hanlllng must have been busy AMI impor-
tant Where thcre Is not sufficient business for
every conner the natural tendency Ia toward a re-
strctiOn OF trade to smaller number or hands II
IS here that the change from Creek 10 Roman
methods IS most marked Tn" whole cHor oi the
ptolcmes was TO secure n monopoly Of bool: manu-
featuring selling. lending and preservation for Alex
andria In this they were successful. The most
beneficial result appears TO have been nm Improve
mont in manuscripts due TO official oversight and
ccpt IA the case OF n few great poets. 10 private
cntcrprisc booksellers shops began to flourish ~
the scope OF literature widened. They became tho
moetnc-placc Of authors and OF others Interested
I'm books. The result was an enormous Increase In
the number OF copylss and proportionate decrease
IN the price single copies % books Editions were
large. too for the copies Of single work were
not raroy numbered by the thousand Wherever
civilization rcncrafcl buyers were 10 be found for
literary wares. Judging by the survivas In modern
times this Widespread buying was not ndiscri,l-
mate Meanwhile the average author had pro-
lection and the great author had no def nee except
the uOBuIarity which enabled him to bring to terms
publishers AMI readers who desired his work That
must have been the meaning Of IN" poets address
/ TO a reader who wants few more verses Il have
interest to pay on borrowed money" he eXcaims.
/ and nv BOYS want their meals every day If You
want verses. you must pay for them" Then. as
the money IS not produced. he adds: you don't
say a word: you trying TO cheat me; eood-by' -
That IS TO say work cannot h@ got out Of him for
nothing II was these i'npecCnious, needy men OF
genius class Of which Martial Is the most strik-
inr examine who first that what absorbed their
time and kept them from lucrative pursuits. even
though II were partially repaid by the mere de.
, / loh, /, gave TO them. mus; be worth something
also to Others. The peader In the courts Of law.
| tho writer % dramas. the happy So-lucky poet
.bou, town were naturally quicker this than
the nhosopher or the laborious historian. The for,
MGR classes mingled with other people who made
, their own living and they were no; slow TO see
the paraIll between literary labor and other kinds
OF labor But property In the results OF literary
labor in the form OF a right du.y recognized by
the state asstiredy did not exist In Athens. in Al
exandria or in classic Rome
From a remark in the preface 1t is to be inferred
e that Mr. Putnam has another edition Of his inter
e estng bool: in mind With that possibility In view
q II ia NOT amlss 10 say that some Of the classical
quotations. particularly those In Greek. need revi
D sion badly.