New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-01
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1. 1908.

Mr. CoSmo Hamilton wants to know why
English publishers shy at strength. IL they |
have had bad seasons of late he thinks, 1t Is
because owing to their 'old maidish fear, they
have driven novelists to the production of poor
stuff Authors are afraid to write of things
rs they are, and obliged to hedge one
OF the publishers promptly writes to The
Academy and Literature III which the inquiry |
3ppcared to state that he will go on his knees
from Bedford St to Waterloo Bridge and back
if Mr. Hamilton-or any other person-will
bring him Il really strong manuscript Now
the qualities of real strength" he adds, ARE
truth. BREADTH and gentleness; also the ability
If nccdfuD to touch things unSavory and yet
keen clean hands, When the strength OF
writer's jargon' begins to merely dream OF such
a standard, it is possible that the English pup
fishers IF nowadays may become less 'umld
We fear that the publisher has the better of the
argument. Mr.. Hamilton protests that by
strength he does not mean 'glOatinS and pro-
niscuouS excursions into the filthy, that he
means the sincere and honest treatment OF
subjects that may enter into the everyday life
Of interesting people, good, bad and lndlt-
fcrent' But ne seems to forget that this sin
cere and honest work constantly fails to give
the impression of truth, breadth, and gentle
ness" that, in u word, it lacks strength.
A letter from our Paris correspondent printed
on another page describes the lamentable CON
dtion Of the book trade in France. Sales are
falling rapidly. Why is it? In the Fort
nightly" NJ. Octave UZanne diScOurseS on the
subject, pointing out what he considers to be
The evil influences at present affecting The
Evolution OF Contemporary French Literature
Public taste, he maintains, has no longer any
definite trend. Authors write too much, and
10 in, burry To lOi
works. Criticism is in a bad way. The news
papers have sunk so low to demand as much
remunera ton for giving publicity to intellectual
work as for advertising manufactures, patent
medicines, and other goods. Every au-
thor is allowed to sing his own praises, every
publisher can insert his NarCisSus like prose in
the columns of any paper on payment of
fixed charge" Following on the Shiny trail of
this commercial quackery," and the vulgar in
triguing Of mediocre writer's came the DrcyfUS
affair. which drew one man Of letters after an
other from his Tour diroirc and created an at
mosphere in the highest degree inimical TO the
best interests of literature All this is very
amusing but NJ. Uzanne does not cut to the
bone. He denies that France is suffering from
a literary dccadence, insisting that lit would be
possible to pick out works Of first rate emf
hence and rare originality from the mass of
hooks published. But, though lie admits that,
Flaubert, Barley d'Aurevilly, Dumas fills,
Ecnan, Daudet and Edmond de Goncourt being
dead, the gods who still kept up the cult OF
the sovereign dignity of the profession and
the religion of the beautiful have departed he
fails to recognize the great central fact explain
ing the existing situation If, as he asserts, !
the literary event" is a thing Of the past in
Paris, it is because France possesses to-day no
great writer Of genius, no man of high magma
tive power, qualified to revive the traditions of
the giants of earlier times.
When a modern author publishes a new edi-
ton Of Of his books, or collects all his writ
Ings in a uniform set of volumes, the announce
mcnt is usually made that he has given his work
4 thorough revision. Sometimes he goes so far
materially to change the character of !
work. Shall a not do what he likes with |
his own? 1t would seem as though his rights /
in the matter were unqueStiOnable, yet we are
not surprised TO find writer in THE Daily !