The Washington herald., 1909-01-24

According TO a dispatch from Loadon.
published tho other day, there are indics-
tons that England is at the close Of one
literary era and on the eve OF another
This conclusion was reached by a pub
! Usher who has been investigating recent
( sales Of books in England
He asserted that the English public no
longer asked merely 20 be amused He
claimed tia; the Prisoner OF Zenda"
school Of novel has lost interest. also
problem novels
All the signs Of a declining epoch are
here he maintained
And this view Is borne out BY what
men say who know the book trade in
Washington. According TO one OF them,
the ultra-romantic novel is quite dead.
Only a few years ago books dealing with
I occurrences in medieval times were
among the most popular with the public
Now. according TO the aforementioned
publisher. the public viii have none Of
them
Political Novels a Giut.
When he was asked whether lie noted
/ ing PUBLISHED and read just now. he said
that he saw q great glut Of books which
attempt 20 make a novel out OF q politi-
cal tract" Novels Of this sort, he point
ed out. were originally called into being
By the success Of The Honorable Peter
Sterling some years ago. But whereas
that success was due primarily 10 the
H. -, r-a Chr AZ
OF Peter Sterling himself as man, aside
from anything in the political side of the
book, the new books, or many OF them,
make the political side their principal
feature
Another man connected with a large
publishing and book selling house was in
Clined decidedly 10 apply what the Lon
don publisher said about the coming Of a
new literary era to this country, as well
as 10 England.
Readers Of books" he said, are be
coming interested more and more IN what
is good and losing interest in what is
merely trivial Although the best sellers
Of to-day sell just as widely, even more
widely IN some cases. than a few years
ago when they first began 10 command
immense sales. there IS much less chance
nowadays for the obscure novel. This is
due 10 overprodUCtiOn- Novels which a
few years ago were sure 20 sell q few
thousand copies, enough TO justify pub
fishers for putting them on the market,
now fall fat. Hence there are signs that
during the coming year this OverprOduc-
ton Of mediocre fiction viii be very much
curtailed From the lists OF several pub
fishers which I have already seen I feel
sure OF this
Another very hopefJs sign is the in
creased interest among readers in ne
moirs and essays. This year. there are
number Of books OF this kind on the mar
ket-several about Napoleon. for instance
which are selling remarkably well Peo-
pie really are reading this kind OF liter
.ature more and more
s. Then much interest has been shown OF
late in books OF travel Mrs. Wharton's
book about motoring in France and Rob
ert Hichens' Egypt have had excellent
sales
Standards Steady Sellers
In the London dispatch mention was
also made OF the sales at the present
time Of authors Ike Dickens and Thack-
cray. According to the London publish
or. both these authors are selling better
than ever in England Scott's vogue has
come 10 an end across the ocean. while
the books Of men Ike Stevenson and Kip
ling continue TO command a ready sale.
In this country the situation regarding
the above-named authors IS, according to
various sources OF information. very
similar to what II Is In England Dick
ems and Thackeray are exceedingly steady
sellers. Scott. according to one booksel-
Ter. is practically dead; but another main
tanned that there is a very steady demand
in this country for the works OF Sir Wal
ter. Stevenson is always good seller
IS for Kipling, one bookseller stated
that during the last two years there has
been q falling of In the sale Of Eipling