New-York tribune., 1905-07-12
LITERARY NOTES.

The relations OF authors and publishers may
sometimes be strained, but then, the other
hand. they are sometimes so charming that they
make it hard to believe that there is any wick
edness in the craft at all Witnes< the letter
from Dickens 10 f. N Evans his publisher.
which has just TO the hammer in London.
In the course OF it he says:
in an respects integible. explicit and plain. 1t
Is indeed glorious balance, and expanded my
breakfast this morning. Fifteen hundred pounds
Today, and the rest On the 10Th OF April
say that al our intercourse has been one of pleas
very happy il. / hope we shall never terminate
our business engagements until the printer in
set -Flnis" over our last binding in boards
10 take this opportunity of saying that i suppose
We arc TO consider our agreement terminated at
you and Bradbury in the time to consider
y,g gOu ToIIo pr%pose 20 SGsiGeI i t , OUT & i
awning you may % suggest: and @ TO conclude any
Dodd. Mead & Co. publish the second of
the four volumes in which Mr.. Luther s Liv-
tngston is TO complete his Auction Prices of
Books" This carries the record from Dickens
TO La Peyrere. who published at Paris in 164I
Relation du Greenland a copy OF which,
bound in morocco, sold in 1896 for little more
than 81. We have already described the excel
lent plan Of this book and the handsome form
IN which IT is printed. It is a model of biblio
graphical system and accuracy. II is interesting
70 glance at some OF the figures given Living
authors included. so that the collector of Mr..
Andrew Lang's works for example. may here
discover just what his treasures worth.
They would seem 10 be. the whole, profit
able investment. Indeed. some Of our contempt.
raries cut most imposing figure in the auction
room. A copy Of the first edition Of Mr.; Hew
lett's Earth Work Out of Tuscany sold
only two years ago for S23 and his Songs and
Meditations" brought at about the same time,
S1l. Mr.. Kipling has nearly four pages to him
self in this volume. and. he has been the most
conspicuous author in recent sales. they make
very interesting reading.
The Lahore edition Of Departmental Ditties'
published in 1856. fetched, in 1897, SOB 20
Since then the price has gone down, copy be-
ing sold as recently as October, 1903, for only
S21. The original edition of Letters Of Marque'
sold in 1887 for So 90 and in 1901 for 50 80
The slump" OF "Schoolboy Lyrics in four
years was from S675 to $65 The first ''plung-
ers' in Kipling stock must vince when they turn
these pages. Thomas Hardy's books have not
commanded very high prices, but they seem to
have kept their commercial value. The first edi-
tion of his first book. Desperate Remedies" sold
for S26 % in 1899, and for S5l % in 1902. The
copy Of Tess" which he presented to William
Morris fetched SD in 1898, and only S15 year
later.
In 1910 Edgar Allan Poe planning new
magazine In letter 10 his uncle. William Poe
OF Augusta, Ga. written in Philadelphia on Au-
gust -. he told his kinsman something Of his
purpose. From this document which Mr.. Will
lam Abbatt prints in his Magazine of History
we take the paragraphs relating to the scheme:
Herewith ] send you 4 prospectus Of my con-
templated Magazine / believe you know that my
connection with The Southern Messenger wac;
and my movements were, therefore much impeded-
$500 The dTrdserv vas Excessive the salary
s ne ne ro. sear ,oiI1d -;
reputation would be all / stood chance of
energies were wasted in the service Of an ilfer-
ate and vulgar although well meaning man. who
nor the will to reward them. For this reason
i & NM anS entese1 St nS lnfp ah b e %f
Genueman's Magazine writing occasionally for
my head above water regards money until a
good opportunity IshOuld arrived q establishing a
carry out my plans TO full completion and at the
. my exertions were TO my own advantage. L be-
lieye that the plans here speak Of and some Of
well devised and digested. and will meet with the
. eas % H. e eo1rn1,itS sbn',l5 T he he
to bring them fairly before the public, feel as
which actuates me know to be no ordinary OF
unworthy sentiment. and. knowing this. take
pride in earnestly soliciting your support and that
OF your brothers and friends. If fully succeed in
my purpose shall not fail TO produce some last
ing effect upon the growing literature of this
country, while / establish for myself individually
name which that country will not willingly let
die"
It is upon the South that ! chiefly rely for aid
In the undertaking and have every hope that /;
will not fan me in need. Yet the difficulties
which have TO overcome are great and 1 ac-
knowledge TO you that my prospects depend. very
much upon getting together subscription list
previously TO the first Of December. If by this day
] can obtain five hundred names, the work cannot
fail to proceed, and have fears for the result
The friendship you have always eVinced, the near
relationship which exists between us, and the kind
offer in your last letter. all warrant in hoping
that you will exert your whole influence for me in
Augusta VIII you oblige by acting my
agent for THE Penn Magazine" in your city, this
letter being your authority7 If am not mis-
taken, you already act in that capacity for The
Messenger
Owing TO false economy, ignorance or fraud,
many asphalt pavements fail to render the ser
vice expected OF them. Premature disintegration
occurs frequently that the idea Of using
asphalt at all is often regarded with suspicion,
not 10 say positive dstavOr. Nevertheless, a
few experts insist that il Is much the best ma
terial 10 use, though they are careful 10 qualify