Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-06

American serial rights of kim" he re-
ceived $25, 1000. Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle hit one of the highest marks
when he received 60 cents a word for
the American serial rights of his later
Sherlock Holmes" stories. This COM
pares amusingly with the rate Of 50
cent a word-received for his first and
generally considered best stories.
High prices for literary work began
practically with the great success OF
Sir Walter Scott The compensation
for his Life of Bonaparte" averaged
S165 for each day of work spent
upon 1t.
| Thackaray was offered $1,000 for
Henry Esmond" and he jumped at the
proposition Both Dickens and Hugo
made good money, but when Eugene
| Sue drew $4,000 for his Wandering
Jew"-a novel of probably upward Of
! SOC, 900 words-the literary world gasp
ed. Prices have risen steadily, with
| the increasing success of publishers
and the growth of magazines. No au-
thor, however. in all the history of
literature has ever made so much mon
ey for each actual word in a literary
product as will Commander Peary.
The eagerness of publishers for Com
mander Peary's forthcoming story. and
the exceptional price paid, mark one
thing signally. This is full apprecl-
alton of this mans work in his own
age. One cannot help comparing the
great price paid for this story with the
small sums for which many of the
worlds masterpieces were sold.
| DR.. Johnson, it will be remembered,
wrote his immortal "Rasselas" to pay
the funeral expenses Of his grand
mother. Milton sold his Paradise
Lost to a bookseller for $25. Poe's
Raven" brought him the grateful sum
of SIS. If these books were written to-
day, would they bring as high price
as Commander Peary's story? AL
though they would unqestionably net
their authors more than they did dur
ing their lifetime, they would hardly
bring this record price. For they were
works of imagination. The work of
Commander Peary, pure literature as
it will be, is the rarest and most ex-
ceptional of things written-the ro-
!
a worid-hero himself
Few of the worlds heroes, discover
ers, explorers and fighters were able to
tell their own tales.
Imagine what the world would give
today for the story of the long voyage
and discovery of Columbus as told by
himself. What an account 1t would be-
From a financial standpoint Column
bus own story would be invaluable
were a manuscript found today. Yet
this last and greatest of stories, more
teeming with adventure and hardship
than that of Columbus could have been
high as is the price-is cheap. 1t is
beyond a mere financial valuation.
Great Men Writing Their Own Stories
1t is no longer the custom for great
explorers. scientists and heroes to let
their stories go unwritten-for others
afterwards to write and mistell.
Heroes nowadays write their own
stories and they benefit proftably by
them.
Admiral Robley D. Evans, since his
retirement from the United States
navy a year ago. has become a very
successful author and lecturer. His
writings for Hamptons Magazine and
his books and his lecture engagements
bring him an annual income four times
as great as that paid him by Uncle
Sam when he took the battleships
around the Horn Admiral Evans is
now writing a series of articles on the
Panama canal which, it is said, will
bring him fame even greater than that
which he has won as a sailor