New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-26
AUTHORS NOTIONS.

MR. EDMUND GOSSE AS PUBLISHERS
ADvOcATE-rHE GREAT AUTHORS AND
THEIR "UNBRIDLED GREEDINEss"
Mr. HALL CAME AND THE
CRITICS POPULARITY THE
TEST OF INERTIA CUES
TON OF JOURNALISM
IN IT'S RELATION
TO LITERATURE
London April 20.
Mr. Edmund Gosse. who ranks. l suppose
AMONG authors has taker up mis- parable against
authors and in behalf of the publisher. He spoke
at the booksellers Trade Dinner on SATURDAY
The booksellers in this case seem to be pup
fishers whose ancient name is booksellers, ana
one Of the eminent firm Of Longmans was III the
chair As authors are invited to the feast' IL De-
hoves them. 10 doubt. to be civil to their enter
tainers Mr. Gosse carried civility 10 the P''"'
-, heocu,ousress and beyond. He has reversed
tho r,odern v,ev The author Is no longer the
,,c,,,. r. is the innocent publisher who is the
victim. In Mr. Gosse's opinion. the great
authors by their unbridled greatness are h'i''s
the goose on which they all lived " 10 Is 'e
goose? The publisher or the pubic: MT Ios
metaphor = mixed and It is hard to say, ana
does not much matter. But who are the great
authors on whom the weight OF MI Gosses
censure falls? don't think we have lately hearu
Of any great writer who Ike the ia'e MI
Cassell the publisher. left behind MIN fortune
OF half million sterling
II the publisher, continues Mr.. Gosse' Is % en-
dure the authors squeezing he must squeeze the
hookseIIer and the bookseller must squeeze the
Cd
bic nublic, But how is the author to squeeze
the publisher? This again Mr.. Gosse omits 10
mention. The publisher is man OF business
generally very shrewd ard accomplished man
Of business The author is an author the
ruhrsber d,aws the contract and the author
signs it, The publisher sets up custom OF the
trade nv which words that appear to mean one
thing are made to mean another. And so on
Thanks to the authors Society. good many OF
those nraclices which by the lesser ana less re-
snectable publishers used to be carried on In the
dark have been dragged into the light OK day.
n an author signs away his rights blindfold. or
makes bad bargain without consulting the
Society which without fee. Is READY 10 SAFE
guard his interests. it Is his own taui'' IL we
are to believe Mr.. Gosse. there ought no" 10 DC
4 Publishers Society to protect the poor pup
rsher against the overreaching craft or the
grasping author.
II he rad given Instances we might nave
understood what he means. Had ne any IN
stances to give? Tennysor did not ruin Messrs
Macmillan and Tennyson was reckoned the oes'
man Of business in the guild. Macauay. with
his 10000 cheque. did rot ruin Me'srs' Long
mans The House Of Murray has survived the
cx,ortions of Byron. Messrs Smith Eioer
have not been Impoverished by Thackeray OF
browning or Mrs Humphry Ward, nor oid
Messrs Blackwood go into bankruptcy by rea-
son OF their heavy payments-they were heaVN
70 George Eliot. Two eminent authors got what
they could / suppose. from Messrs. chapman q
Hall. Dickens and Carlyle. and the firm OF Chap
man & Hall is stu fourishing firm VIII MT.
Gosse show us the publisher In poorhouse
whom he has in his minds eye?
O, all those who write books. the modern novel
ist ,s believed to get the largest share OF profit
from his publisher Which Of them has retired
rich, They make. some % them. good incomes.
hi, NJ fortunes accumulated by the writing OF
novels the number can be counted on less than the
nnR.rs OF one hand, and none OF the fortunes are
largo Dickens was the richest and OF Dickens 5
modest half million Of dollars. at least moiety
vas the result OF lccturng. not OF books. Thack-
cray died "A poor man. II you come down to mod
ern DAYS. the incomes OF successful ncvellsts are
derived In a large degree from serial publication
and from syndicates. Both the serial publications
and the syndcates thrive The most proihc OF
the novclists OF the day is. suppose. Mr. Marion
Crawford. and the very firm which supported
cheerfu!ly the exactions Of Tennyson finds itself
In n pos.,ion II bring out Mr.. Crawfords stories
one after the other at the rate Of three or four
year: more. for aught know. Mr.. Rider Hag-
CARDS books bring him, no doubt some money.
Is there anything 10 show that they do not bring
the publisher more? Is there. In fact, case on
record where a successful novelist has reaped a
reward from his success equal to that which has
accrued to the publisher?
don't 20 into the question whether he ought to
or not That is mixed question Of ethics and
business and some other things: which may on
some proper occasion be considered by Itself. The
facts are what we are concerned with here: and
English facts exclusively. for do not pretend to
discuss the relations between American authors
and American publishers. The late Mr. stevenson
IS reported to have left score or two OF thou
sands Of dollars VIII his pub ishers take the pub
lie into their confidence and say what their shar.
from his books was? | do not ask them 10. These
are 10 a great extent. private matters. though OF
constant public report and discussion. | suggest
II only In case the publishers accept Mr.. Gosse S
view of the great and greedy author. II they APP
peal for public sympathy the ground that the
author is squeezing them to death. then they
might fairly he asked To state their case. But
they do not and they will not They sometimes
cry out against the Authors Society; never. that
I heard Of. against any individual author as ex-
tortionate. II they did. the answer would &c that
the publisher can in every such case protect him.
self by the simple expcdicnt Of declining to publish
the book for which the author demands an exor-
bitant sum.
No doubt. this is taking Mr.. Gosse too seriously
and paying toe much attention to complaint
which. on the face OF 1t, is preposterous. Let us
turn to another performer at this same dinner.
Mr. Hall CaIne He attacks not the author but
the critic. and especially the newspaper critic
,chis urlter Is o vnced that authars