Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-14
Lytton Visited Publisher.

Lord Lytton came to Leipzig to visit his
publisher and wrote him frequently in
,, the most familiar way.
Wilkie Collins dedicated one of his nov
els to the baron and wrote him frequent.
ly and freely.
The Fitch Of Bacon by Harrison
Ainsworth. which is charming story.
by the way. is also dedicated to the
baron, as many others are. Lord Bea-
consfleld, Mr.. Gladstone. Thomas Carlyle,
Lord Macaulay. John Forster, Washing
ton Irving. Anthony Trollope. Charles
Lever. Charles Reade. Robert Browning,
Lord Tennyson and indeed every English
author of note is represented in the col
lection. Referring to a report that ne
was contemplating change OF PUBLISH
ers. Mr.. Longfellow writes: The con-
the case of a woman who bought at auc-
ton a door plate with the name Thomp
son on it. thinking that her, daughter
might possibly marry person OF that
name.
For twenty-seven years the correspond
ence between Charles Lever and Baron
Tauchnitz continued: that with Lord Bea-
coEsfield stretches over forty years Lord
Macaulay's letters cover Twenty-Five
years. and in 1859 he writes: Il have al
ready received sao.OOo from Messrs.
Lcngmans for his History of EnglandD.
am ashamed to think how many better
writer's have toiled all their lives with
out making cne-f7fth nart of that sum-
One does not usually associate Thomas
Carlyle with compliments. but he &C
knowledges copy Of new publication
in 1865 by saying that ''the Tauchnitz
edition is perfect and far handler to read
ume,' and, speaking of his own books,
he says that his friends accept the Tauch-
nitz edition from him las distinguished
gift not attainable elsewhere
Some of Thackeray's letters are very
amusing. In 1855 he writes to say that
he had prosperous voyage to America.
although I have not quite reached the
sum of $JO0.O0h which the Allgemeine
Zeitung states to be the present amount
of my savings. Don't be afraid Of your
English. letter containing 6 is al
ways in pretty style"
Humor Of Thackeray.
In 1857 Thackeray writes that his en-
gagement with his British publisher
may deprive Germany Of the benefit Of
The Virginians. What queer state Of
things! What a loss to the German ma
tion!''
George Eliot's business was conducted
by G. H. Lewes. who frequently refers to
Mrs. Lewes. and thanks Baron Tauchnitz
for his kindness to her.
"Trilby" was one Of the most success
full books in the Tauchntz list OF four
thousand. and Mark Twain's were prob
ably read by more people than any other
in the series.
I tried to persuade Baron TauchnitZ to
tell me something about the comparative
popularity of his clients, but he was too
discreet to make any disclosures that
might give pleasure to one and mortiflca-
ton to another. Nor would he give me
any figures concerning the size Of the
editions for the same reason. Nobody
knows. outside of the counting room, how
many copies ofany volume are published
or how many are sold. With impartial
delicacy Baron Tauchnitz and Dr. Otto
recognize every author their list as
having equal merit, equal popularity and
equal success.
The stereotype plates of all the books
that have been published are preserved
and every scrap of paper that relates to
every volume in the catalogue of more
than four thousand numbers has its own
nest among the files. The original manu-
scripts never come to Leipzig. All the
TauchnitZ books are reprints Of success
full works that have been published else
where, either in England or the United
States, and a staff Of readers is con-
stantly employed sampling notable books
that appear in English ON both sides Of
the Atlantic. They submit recommends
tons to DR.. Otto. the active member of
the firm. who refers the same book to
another reader and If the judgment of
both correspond it is usually accepted
The next step is to correspond with the
author, or the publisher for what has
become known as "The Tauchnitz rights"