New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-17

.rother reason was gwen '"e o'oi way y!
=. uho has experience in the traue ana much
,noxledge Of those who write DOCKS Inc au-
KIN" - said IS as n rule. modest; too modest
% conduct his own affairs 10 Tue i"os' Pron'ao'e
.o,us,on He will not push his own wares.
1855 NOT understand how to bargain, nor
nc ,,,ov off one publisher against another.
~, IN use one proposal so as to secure n
In all these arts the literary agent is.
..,.h. % no EXPERT He deals with the pub
~ avon terms and is hampered by no
..,,,,.s &c 10 the value of what he has to sell.
| .o,uscript TO him IS like so many shares Of
,, or csrpoes of tea, to be sold to the highest
,,saor And he does in fact. said my friend.
better price for the author than the
author gets for himself.
..r,en in reality it Is the publisher and not
tho author who pays the agent his commits
son?"
"rbat Is so. and not only so but the pub
usber has 10 pay the agent for making him.
the publisher. pay more for book than. but
for the agent, he need have paid"
Let lis call it retrbution or, more civilly.
-es,oraton. The moneys the publisher OF the
mast ought to have handed over to the author
~ the past are now disbursed to the present
author by the publisher OF to-day. III the JUS
tce is not quite even handed. or the redistribu-
,on of property effected with strict accuracy. 1t
"a still better than nothing. And the agent
OHIO Is the instrument OF this justice" asked.
"does he make good living" The answer
wss astonishing zone of them at least makes
,9sOOO a year" From which infer that the
next census will show large Increase in the
number Of literary agents. Their worst fault
anpears TO be a tendency to beguile the author
into time contracts. The counsels Of the Au-
thors' Society are UNDECIDED and the unwary
writer OF books. relying on his agent and re-
1ocing in the hxty Of income secured to him
for a term of years. delivers himself bound
hand and foot TO the publisher That Is. he
agrees for a certain sum to coniide all his liter
airy productions for this term of years to one
publisher at fixed price II his value goes up
in the market. the publisher and not he profits
by the Increase. If 1t goes down-but 1t is NOT
with writers the wane that such contracts
are made Mr. Crockett was mentioned the
other day as one who had entered into
time bargain Of this kind. He is mortgaged to
his publisher down to the year 1900:-agrees to
write for him and for nobody else till the pres
ent century shall have expired. Whether Mr..
Crockett's popularity will last five years is
question to which only true prophet could
give true answer. There will probably always
be people who like to read fiction in the
Scottish tongue Scotland, however has
limited population. and is thrifty in its habits
Mr. Crockett's readers thus far are in good
part English and. dare say, American. He. at
any rate is so well satisfied with his position
that he has resigned his ministry and now de-
votes himself exclusively to novel writing for
his one publisher.
1t may be said that there is one class of
is pretty uniformly civil. American Dictionaries
of the American and English languages. They
have hardly any option. If they do not praise
American dictionaries. what dictionaries shall
they praise? There is Mr.. Murray's gigantic
New English Dictionary, no doubt but OF that
they can praise only instruments. Mr.. Murray
and his learned coadjutors are stu struggling
with the letter f. While they are in that stage
the second and final volume of Messrs. Funk &
Wagnall's Standard Dictionary makes its APP
pearance in England The first was published
/ think last year. and the whole work has been
completed within not much more than five
years The secret Of this expedition lies in the
liberal spending Of money. and in staff which
numbers about $50 editors and experts and
SPECIALISTS with 500 more readers '-competent
persons who read and deved in the vast mine of
English literature for quotations. The result is
completed work.-completed within time
which seems. when one looks at these two
volumes Of some 900 pages. incredibly short
The first volume was we'll received in Eng
land the second confirms the impression OF the
first. Many reviews Of both have appeared in
the best papers OF this country. There Is one
to-day in one Of those organs of opinion which.
as a rule, keeps its enthusiasm for things
American we'll in hand. The Standard Per-
haps the identity Of name conciliated its good
will or counterbalanced whatever prejudice 1t
may have against literary productions from the
other side of the Atlantic. Perhaps the collabo-
ration Of Professors Max Muller and Earle OF
Oxford and Jeff Of Cambridge convinced our some
times too critical friend that the book in which
they had a part must have pretensions to
scholarship. At any rate this severe reviewer
ceases in this case to be severe. He finds much
TO praise and not much to censure. except those
defects and mistakes which the best scholars
in America also censure. Dr. Funk, following
The Century" made the mistake Of adopting
what is called, but is not, American spelling.
He will not be surprised AND probably not
much distressed to find such vagaries as
center" traveller" "qunn" and the rest ridi-
cuIed abroad But he will be content with the
general Judgment on his book of which 1.-The
Standard" says that though not faultless II
scarcely challenges serious criticism: and In
skill Of arrangement. amplitude OF knowledge.
literary and scientific accuracy. it will take its
place by virtue of its merits as one or the best
and most authoritative works OF reference in
the English language" That is opinion which
frequent use Of this excellent Dictionary con-
FIRMS. q. W. ).