The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-20

he would charge to write a sonnet OF
| a page and half. Harper size. Aid
rich grinned at the yardstick, but re-
piled that his price was a guinea a line.
he didn't write the page and half.
but he sent pOem-that is, something
that had not been written either to or
der or to measure-and got his guinea
line. Longfellow sold Hanging Of the
Crane for $4,000, or $50 q line, and Ten
nyson received $12 line for Revenge
At the office Of the Century, when Kip
lings poetry was mentioned. one who
was authorized to speak said that Kip
ling would undoubtedly demand and re-
ceive from $3.50 to $3.50. according to
length, for any poem he might write.
1t Is not so long since s25 was considered
very good price for very good poem
Of the magazine sort.
wHITTIER's DEAL.
"The best story of the prices of poetry
which the reporter heard was one Of
Whittier's dealings with the Harpers.
II was In the days when the lamented
Conant was editor Of Harper's Weekly.
Abbey had painted a picture entitled
The Expulsion of the Quakers from
Massachusetts, 1t was a work of art,
and that is all that need be said in
praise of 1t. Mr.. Conant. with the pic
ttlre in mind, wrote to Whittier to ask
him If the title of the picure could not
| INSPIRE accompanying verse. The poet
replied that he thought not. However,
Conant was not discouraged. He had
couple of the best prints that could be
produced made of the p's'sr AMI ssot
them to Whittier with a complimentary
letter and suggestion that perhaps
| sight of the work of art might inspire
where the cold title had not done so.
After a time came letter from Whit
;ny. ,,n1a. II ttx,n
| nets, now to be found in any edition OF
the poets work. But for the purposes
of this article the letter was Of more i'm
| portance than the poems 1t said Quot
| ed from memory: If thee does not
| feel disposed to pay one hundred dol
lars for each of these, please send them
back. for I can get that nearer home
He got the 5000 by return mail. Mr..
Whittier was an interesting man In
variety of ways.
"But it is by no means improbable
| that Mr.. Kipling would receive $3.50 for
| twenty-eisht lines. and nothing could
| show bull tendency in the market
more clearly than that statement.
However. the top price paid for poetry
| was when the Century company gave
Mr.. Tennyson (as he was them $1,000
| for two short poems for st. Nicholas.
"Of course,none will overlook the fact
| equation enters largely into the price
paid to a writer. That is to say, an
authors popularity influences the price
more than the intrinsic worth of the ar
ticle purchased. Thus, Hunted Down.
already mentioned, was by no means
among the better products of Dickens
pen. The Cosmopolitan recently offered
MIR. Gladstone dollar word for an ar
| ticle, but no one familiar, for instance,
| x,it hot Mr (y1oHctnna Nyrptp for the
North American Review. would say
that his writings were worth that. aside
from his fame as a man.
DU MAURIER'S PROFITS.
"The Harpers have not told anybody
what they will pay Du Maurier for his
next story. IT is for this reason. prob
ably, that the rumor is current that
$50, 900 Is the sum. Rumors are aston
ishingly common in the book trade
| astonishing, considering the reputation
of the craft for conservatism. Indeed,
one man told the reporter that the Mac
| millans had been making number OF
| 'plunges' recently, when one who was
authorized to speak for them said they
had not bought anything outright. and
that tewnty per cent. was the limit or
the royalty. However to get back to
Du Maurier. it was said by one in
position to know that he has received
| so far about 500, 900 for 'Trilby.' This
includes theatrical royalties, as we'll as
sums received for serial rights and roy
alties on books sold. But the bald
statement Of this sum is the least inter-
esting fact about Du Maurier's pay.
The Harpers after reading 'Trilby' made
him royalty offer for the book along
with another offer for serial rights and
another for the pictures. Du Maurier
wanted instead a lump sum, and named
his price-$10000 1t is said. The Har-
pers We're not very anxious to pay so
much. but they did it. Later when 1t
was found that the book had made a
hit-when 100000 copies or thereabouts
had been sold--the Harpers, although
| under neither legal nor moral obliga-
ttons to do so, figured up the sum which
| Du Maurier would have received had
he accepted their original royalty offer,
and found that he would have been s40,-
00O better Off. So they sent him a check
| for $4,000. 1t is suggested that this
check of all others ever used in litera-
ture Is the one best worth framing for a.
wall ornament in a club of artists in
| letters.
In view of the prices recently paid
1or current literature. it is worth re-
calling the fact that Robert Louis Stew
enson received but $1,000 for a serial he
sold to the S. S. Mcclure syndicate.
This Is not reflection on the syndicate
1t Is said to emphasize the fact that
intrinsic merit does not make the price.
UNKNOWN WRITER'S.
| !, The most satisfactory indication of
| tne state OF the market, however, is
round IN the quotations for the work of
the unknown writer. Here nothing is
considered but the work itself II has
often been said, but it ought to be re-
peated on every proper occasion, that
the publisher Is eager for good un-
| known. 1t Is worth while adding. as a
| hint to ambitious unknowns. an old
newspaper mot: "A good introduction
VIII carry, dinged poor story We
| nave ample proof that the unknown Ia
wanted In the price now paid as COM
| pared with what was paid only three
years ago when Mr.. Howells wrote that
they pay from five to six dollars thou
sand words for the work of the un-
known writer But every publisher of
magazines to whom the reporter talked.
said that no matter was rated at less
than SiO a thousand and very little is
rated below SIS. Instances in which
wholly unknown writer's have received
from Sl25 to SITS for short story a. 900
or 1000 words) are common enough. and
| It Is safe to say that If any reader of
the sun mas classic of that length, a.
tale shat can lift the reader out of his
chair he can get even $3.50 for it. 1t
ought not to worry the author of the
classic to think that Kipling would get
$3.50. maybe $1,000, for the same story,
because Mr.. Kipling's name is worth.
the difference as an advertisement to
the periodical.
| Passing from literature to what
Brander Matthews calls the journalistic
features OF magazines, 1t is found that
the price runs from SO to $50 thousand
words. The Century rarely, If ever,
pays less than $50 Scribner's not long
ago paid $40 thousand for a travel
sketch of no great merit. Prof. Shaler.
who writes about coral reefs and SUBJ