New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-05-24
Ibe Nemperk Gribn11e.
SUNDAY, MAY "A, 1903.

fiction and his affairs will continue to occupy
the attention of mankind Some new aspect
of him is always being turned to the world.
just now in England. it is the cost of his wares
that is being discussed with much s0le1nnty.
Whit is the ideal price to be put upon copy
of a new novel? The English publisher pumps
for six shings but one Of the craft has lately
arisen to observe that ANY one connected with
publishing can tell woful tale Of the dmin-
isbed sale of the six shilling novel" What
precisely is the woful tale? 'The average book
at this price scarcely sells at all outside OF
few libraries In the provinces its sale amounts
practically to nothing, the result being that
thousands upon thousands Of six shilling novels
are being thrown upon the market for a few
pence" The odd thing is that the expedient OF
cheapening the price Of a new novel at the
outset has not proved, as yet, the conclusive
answer to all doubts. The publisher aforesaid
notes that the experiment of issuing new nov
els at half 4 crown has been tried and that 1t
was only successful for a time" In short, no
one knows just what to do about this bitter
problem OF course the idea that the English
publishers should look to the quality OF their
fiction is beside the point, and we would not
press it for moment.
Apropos of questions of the book trade, we
may note an allusion in the London 'Bookman'
to the American publishers who have been max
ing their usual spring excursions into the Eng
lish market. 1t is said that in their forecast
Of the immediate outlook for books in this cOun-
t:.y they take account Of the effects Of the
recent panic and Of the fact that this is a
Presidential year. and yet, it is added, zone
hears that they have placed larger orders than
ever for British made books and certainly they
have competed vigorously for the Forthcoming
works of the more popular British authors"
The lists here certainly show every sign of
confident policy. We cannot recall spring sea-
son in recent years which has been marked by
the publication of so many books Of a serious
character We have had within the last few
weeks works like Mr.. Dasents "Delane" and
Mr. Howe's Life and Letters Of George Ban
croft" DR.. David Duncan's Life and Let
ters of Herbert Spencer has just been issued. |
The list Of purely literary studies like Professor
ThorndikeS Ira gedy' or Professor LOunSbury's |
STANDARD of Usage in English is exceptionally |
long and interesting. The quantity OF fc
ton. too, is larger than ever, and that there is
a market for it is shown by the unusual sales !
reported of M. ChurchilPs book. The
truth is that SO far as may judge from signs !
lying on the surface the American market Is |
in better shape than the English The writer !
in "eThe Bookman'' is probably unaware Of the |
fact that while continue to buy many Brit |
Sll-made books we are giving more attention |
than ever to the works Of our own authors. |
This especially applies where fiction is con-
cerned
Every author is supposed to have method" |!
of writing, and sooner or later he IS asked to |
permit a description of it to appear IN print ,
Commenting on this subject, ''rhe Sketch" re-
calls Mr.. Kiplng's laughing reputation Of the
idea that he had any fixed mode Of carrying
on his IabOrs. 81 have no method IN writing,
he said. 81 write when the fit takes me. What
method can any one possibly observe in literary
as difficult to prevent as it is at other times
to induce me to put pen to paper. I get hold
OF good idea, germ as it WERE and let It
simmer quietly in my mind for perhaps weeks,
and then suddenly sit down and write it out
1T seems that Mr.. kipling has horror Of sell
ing single line of his work before it is writ
ten He is quoted saying Work ordered
it often is, five years ahead, absolutely ap-
pals me. How can l tell what | shall be IN
the mood to write six months atead?'
1t is, of course much harder for a man of
genius to prophesy what his mood is going 20
be than il is for the ordinary literary Journey
to do The latter probably has no
moods Of the sort that would bear upon the
character of what he writes. But IN the mat
ter of method the journeyman and the genius
in the box. That is to say, it is
doubtful II more than half dozen writer's
out of a thousand, no matter what their
sources, are ever methodical as was, for