The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-20
QUOTATIONS IN THE
LITERARY MARKET
They Are, Is General Rule, Very Steadily
on the Ascent.
GOOD PRICES PAID TO AUTHORS
"Trilby" Has Brought Du Maurier
About 100000. Rates for Kip.
ling ind Other Stars. Whittier as a
Bargainer..The Outlook for Writers
Is Better Now Than Ever Before.

q view to ascertain how 1t stands with
the literary wage-earner in this coun-
try. The result was encouraging. The
Sun found as rule that prices for liter
ary work are steadily on the increase.
1T Is absolutely necessary" says the
Sun. Ito distinguish. as Brander Mat
thews recently said, between literature
and journalism. 1t Is also necessary to
distinguish between what may be called
freak prices. also prices due to corners
In the product, so to speak. and the reg
ular market rates. Thus the differences
between literature and journalism.
though easily found by one who looks,
Is not commonly made. 1t Is by no
means the contents Of monthly maga-
zine on the one hand and a
daily newspaper on the other, nor is 1t
found by comparing product
that is hound in boards and cloth
and sold for dollar and a half
with a conglomeration of acts hawked
on the streets at two cents copy. The
monthly magazines, said Mr.. Mat
thews. are often finer form of jour-
nalistic product-finer, on the whole,
because the producers have more time
for considering and completing their
work One may find-one always does
fnd--literature of more or less intrinsic
worth In the magazines, but there Is
rarely respectable newspaper offered
for sale Of which the same may not be
truthfully said.
Strictly speaking. literature, as 1t Is
understood In this market report, is the
written expression Of an original idea.
Ii Is a novel. a poem, or 4 message that
was in an author. and either birth or
death had to follow its conception.
Whether 1t be good or bad-civilized or
SAvARH--nanpnHg Il
circumstances of the author, whethe or
not the man be sent on an errand he is
too weak for by a path he cannot yet
hnd.' Mr.. HOwells once described Jour-
nalism very well when he complained
that twO-thirds Of the magazines are
made up Of material which, however ex-
eellent, is without literary quality =
poular science. politics, economics, and
the timely topics which will call con-
temporanics.' The article In which these
words appeared was an excellent piece
of cs'-journalism-bu it
appeared In Scribner's Magazine. The
Century company when 1t brought out
the Life Of Lincoln was not only print
ing contemporaries but 1t was getting
right good beat on its esteemed con-
temporaries.
SPECIAL PRICES.
And this statement leads naturally
to the matter of prices for the various
kinds of products of artists in letters,
for the Century company paid II table
price for its beat and it has since paid
notable price for one bit Of literature
pure and simple. Moreover. this Is a
good place to explain the difference be-
tween freak or phenomenal prica and
a market rate. The Century company
paid $4,000 for the Life of Lincoln It
Is no disparagement to the authors of
theirs was freak price. The authors
had information for sale that no one
else possessed. They had corner on
facts about Abrahm Lincoln, and the
public demand for these facts was so
great that a. high price would have
been paid for them even If told much
less gracefully than the authors told
them. The motive of the Century com-
pany in giving $4,000 for this beat was
precisely that of any enterprising
newspaper in buying exclusive news. 1t
Is not by any means an unheard-of Oc-
currence that the managing editor OF a
newspaper should pay 800 for ten
words of information and then spend
as much more in sending reporters to
verify the facts and get all there Is Of
it, OF course. there is nothing In ether
the $4,000 check or the 500 In cash TO
indicate the market value Of literature.
"On the other hand, novel Is now
running in the Century Magazine, un-
der the title of Sir George Tressady,
which was written by Mrs. Humphrey
Ward. 1t Is unquestionably literary
product, an original conception Of an
author. The price paid for the serial
right was $I1S000. This gives one a
start in the search for the market rates
Of literature, but no more. 1t certain
ly does not prove, however. that the
market Is firm and prices rising. On
the contrary, large as the sum may
seem at first thought it Is relatively
small: it Is much smaller than other
sums paid for the product Of other lit
cray workers. Thus Scott got $4,000
for WOODSTOCK while Moore got 5000
guineas for 'Lalla Rookh. Anthony
Trollope received in all $3oO.OOO for 'Nir-
gill Tom Moore got 9l5,OOO for his
Irish melodies. George Eliot did not get
less than $4,000 for any OF her novels
and one brought G15,O00, 1t Is said. Mr..
Howells once pointed out that these
old-time prices were worth al ieast oo
nor cent more to the recipient than the
same sum would be now, but this de-
nends on the point Of view. A man
could get more of some desirable things
in those days for a guinea than ne can
get now. but a deal less Of other things
ecually desira able-trevel. for instance.
However, the relative purchasing power
of a guinea Is a matter OF secondary
consideration to the artist. for the lea-
CON that the best things In life, that Is
the things that the artist considers pest'
go by favor only.
OTHER BIG BIDS.
"Howeyer, It is not necessary to go
hack TO the time Of Scott to find prices
exceeding that paid Mrs. Ward. Robert
Ronner. of the Ledger, paid Charles
Dickens $1,000 for Hunted Down, a
story Of 1000 words. 1t Is currently re,
ported that Charles Scrlbner's sons pala
s25, 900 for Sentimental Tommy. when
is now running in their magazine. AT
thur Scribner. when asked about this
rumor and further rumor that par
gain at $4,000 had been made Tor the
newt story by the same author, declined
either to affirm or deny. The great
success Of Sentimental Tommy prob
ably originated an exaggerated rumor.
but that higher prices have been paid
than what Mrs. Ward received need not
be doubted.
at is the common rule Of publishers
and it is a rule that is particularly rasp-.
ing to the writer with any instinct of
an artist in him-to pay by the yard; at
least by the thousand words. 1t was
with this rule in view that the fact OF
Charles Dickens receiving $1,000 for 1000
words was mentioned. Anthony Hope
refused, not long ago. an offer Of $3.50
for a short story. Here Is another
gauge of market rates. for a short
story means from 5000 to 1000 words.
1t Is fair to Mr.. Hope to say that he
was priced at 5000 thousand words.
THAT gives US the first intimation
that the market Is rising, for something
less than thre years ago October, 1889
Mr. Howells wrote that three American
men were commonly paid ut the rate of
500 q thousand words for their contrl-
buttons to the magazines, while one
woman received $3.50. Nationality has
nothing to do with prices, Of course, so
4 t,.ea t., xl,ak a.