The Washington herald., 1907-09-29

If there are any signs Of coming hard
times in other commercial branches it
would seem that the book publishing busi-
ness is not to DO affected by them in any
way Book publishers declare that never
before have they been compelled 10 sup
ply so many large groups Of single books.
The reason given is that the public is so
generally prosperous that Il Is able 10
spend more money for reading and that
the publishers meyer before had so gen
erous a supply of good books to offer. It
is said by those publishers whose survey
Of the field Is broad that there are at
least ten books of fiction that viii reach
the 10000 class this season, 1 don't pro-
pose 10 mention the name Of any Of these,
as the six best sellers get enough free
advertising anyway The publishers cata-
lOgues show that this season there are to
be fewer novels By obscure writers and
more books by men and women OF estab-
lished reputation. There has been, too, a
marked effort 20 make books more cOmely
and worthy; elaborate covers adorn most
OF the new books Of the season. and many
Of them are 10 have colOred Illustrations.
This tendency toward what Mr.. WackfoTd
Squeers would call richness" has result
ed in Il rise In prices, and two well
known publishers are issuing their au-
tumn fiction at $40 volume instead Of
Sl.50, as heretofore.
What the result OF this viii be no one
can quite foresee. The general opinion
has been that the price of novels even at
$3.50 was already too high. Certainly
there have been a great many more novels
worth less than dollar than there have
been that were worth more If only there
We're some way 90 gauge the selling price
of a book by its intrinsic value, one might
cheerfuily pay $40 for a short story like
"The Christmas Carol and find himself
cheated II he paid but 81 for a modern
popular success. four or five times as long.
1t is not the merit Of the author for
which the reader is taxed. but the effort
Of the publisher, and though. Of course.
the needy author viii receive his small
percentage Of the increased valuation.
the lions share of that extra quarter Of
a dollar goes 10 the publisher.
The next volume i'm the new edition Of
Ibsen viii contain Emperor and Cali
lean" and will be published this month.
In the introduction the editor Mr.. VIII
lam Archer. says:
Two months later October l4-ls the poet is back
IN Dresden. and writes as follows % a new and
niuch-yalued friend, Mr. Edmund t0s5s: 4 am
working daily 40 Juauus Apostata. and
hope that I may meet with y0Ir approval ! am
putting into this book part OF my own spiritual
life what 7 depict have under other f0uEs, my
self gone through. and the historic theme ] have
chosen has also a much closer relation 10 the move
meuts ot our own time than one might az first sup
pose. I believe such relation 90 be indispensable
70 every modern treatment Il So remote a subject II
II is. as a poem. u arouse interest In d some
what later letter 10 Alr. Goa,e, ht says: 1 have
kept strictly % history. And yet I have rut
much self-anatomy into this book.
I have u0v brought together those uttsrauces q
Ibsen's which relate the external history Ci the
great double drama. and give us some insight into
the spiritual influences which inspired and shaped
H. We have seen that 40 the time of It's compile
ti0u, he confidently regarded IL as his masterpiece,
Il Is the habit Of many artists always think thaig
last work their best but there IS nothing 10 show
that this Of IhSen's f1ihles Moreover. even
toward the end oi his life. when the poet was
asked by Prof Schofcld Of Harvard, what work DE
considered his greatest. he replied. Emperor and
Galiesu-'
At the Public Library during the past
week the greatest call for books in the
nonfction class has been for Campbeils
New Theology" and for Bryants How
TO Tell Stories 70 Children" In fiction
WilIiamson's The Princess Virginia, %
and Mary Cholmondeley's Prisoners
have been IN especial demand. IN the
chiIdren's room Miss Alcotts Little
Women Barbour's The Crimson
Sweater" and Andersen's Fairy Tales
have been most frequently requested
The opening OF the school term has
brought with it greater demand fol
books on educational topics, and 50
there We're many calls for Monroe 8
History Of Education" and O'Shea's
Dynamic Factor in Education Books
on business were also largely called for
especially KeisteT's Accounting and
Auditing" and Chisholm's Handbook OF
Commercial Geography
Thackeray's grave has been the sub
ject of several letters in the London
Daily Telegraph, owing TO the fact that
one llttle-informed correspondent com
planned that the resting place of the nov
elist at East Barnet was in a neglected
condition That statement is false In two
particulars. Thackeray is not buried al
East Barnet, but at Kensal Green, and
his grave is not in a neglected condition
The confusion has arisen from the fact
that the nOvelist's grandfather whose
name was the same. was thought 10 be
buried at East Barnet, whereas he is in
TERED at Hadley. Even that tomb IS n
an excellent state Of preservation.
An interesting note on the reading pub
lie in Sweden appears in the London
Bookman. Writing from Stockholm, q
correspondent Of that journal says:
English authors are read here less than German
and French. and In the T8uclmitz editions chiefly
but there are Swedish transations at moderate
prices Of most q or popular noyests. a year oI
two ago there was a great Un on Mr. Kipling
books. and they are stl widely read. So the
works Of Lafcldio HearH.-I find Stevenson little
known, and ThackeTay little read Dickens is with
out doubt the popular English classic. The Swedes
are At the moment neglectng foreign literature com
paTUtively, and giving more encouragement % theil
authors. All the publishers now issue chap re
prints II Swedish classics and some recent and liv
ing writers have attained high circuations. Selma
Iagerof has Just been given the honorary degree
of IL D. by the University Of Cpsala-the frs;
Swedish woman 50 honored
Another Of the Coleridges has passed
away in the person of Mary Elizabeth
Coleridge, a grandniece Of the poet. In
her modest and unpretentious literary
career she gained an enviabIe reputation
among the best literary judges by her
novels. The King with Two Faces" p"
THE Fiery Dawn The Shadow on the
WALL and THE Lady on the Drawing
room Floor" She was a writer of verses
In sympathy with the Pre-Raphaelite
school, and she was active as a reviewer
The lady who publishes her books over
the name of Christopher Hare has shown
in her italian Srrldinc thot cba bac "a 6afy