Evening journal., 1915-04-05
New News Of Yesterday
Literary Earnings in the
Last Century
BY Holland.

81 have often thought that had Har-
riet Beecher Stowe been properly ad-
vised when making arrangements for
the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin
she would have had the prestige Of
having received larger amount of
money for single work than any
American author. man or woman, re-
ceived in the aggregate for all their
work, at least up to about 1875" said
the late Parke Goodwin TO me at Il
time when he was telling me some Of
his experiences as one of the editors
of Putnam's Magazine in the mid
years of the past century. Associated
with Mr.. Goodwin in the editorship
was George William Curtis.
Il have been told that Mrs. Stowe
was paid only small amount per
column for the story of Uncle Toms
Cabin as it appeared week by week
in newspaper published in Wash
iugtOn. She did not have good bust
ness advice when she made the ar
rangement for the publication in book
form. It may be that neither she nor
her publisher nor any publisher real
lied at the time what the enOrmity
OF the sales of the book we're TO be
No one thought of telling her to Sc
cure the dramatic rights in the book
H. never occurred to anybody that
these rights would be worth anything
yet, I suppose millions were made out
Of the production of Uncle Tom $
Cabin as a play. Not one penny OF
this did Mrs. Stowe ever receive.
while | am talking to you about
tie earnings of writer's I'm the United
States in the first seyenty-five years
of the nineteenth century it occurs
to me that l have seen it stated that
James Parton received the largest
money returns of any American au-
thor. Parton once told me that his
earnings on his writings averaged
about $1,000 >. year. That was a
large amount for the days when Par
ton became active as an author.
Washington Irving, | believe. re-
ceived more for his life of Washing
ton than for all his other writings
put together. but that was because nc
made a contract with the publisher fol
SO much money. part of which was
TO be paid in advance and part upor
| the completion of the work The
largest single sum ever paid up tC
/ that time for a story was paid by
Robert Bonner 10 Henry Ward Beech
er for the novel called Norwood
happened TO know that the lump sun
was S25.000, and ] doubt If any Amer
lean author up to that time ever gain
ed as much money as that for a sin
/ gle work.
Bonner earned more credit than h,
ever received for his encouragement
10 American authors. He paid liberalll
end in doing that set the standard
He once told me that he never made
q large payment for a book TO be pub
lished serially in his newspaper o.
even for a single article without real
izing in a little while that he NOR,
than got his money back. He paiC
Charles Dickens $4,000 for the Ameri
can rights of a short story, and tn,
publication of that story much NOR,
than paid Mr.. Bonner back again tn,
$4,000 that he expended.
"When / was editor of Putnam'l
| Magazine the money custOmarily paiC
/ for an article was So a magazine
page. Sometimes it was a little moro
than that The Harpers paid Thack-
cray considerably more than that fol
his serial story OF The Virginians.
but they didn't get their money bach
on this investment. for it was the
poorest of Thackeray's stories"
! Copyright. 1915. by f. ]. Edwards
All rights reserved.)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tel
'Iow New York City Made Seriou.
Blunder."