The sun., 1919-03-23
Riley's Poem Yield
ing at Rate of $500
a Word illustrates
Changes in Con-
ditions Since Mil
ton Received G1O
for His paradise
Lost"


called artistic" persuasions
three authors excused themselves the |
other evening from the group that had |
gathered about the fire on the ground
that there was still work TO be done on
then income tax returns. The very
modern diversion led to talk about the
changed conditions that the years had
brought about, tho financial misery of
the poor scribe of old whose name has
always been associated with London's
Grub street, the fl0 that Milton re-
ceived for Paradise Lost" the $50 that
Henry Murger was paid for his
"scenes of the Life of Bohemia" the
wretched recompense that had been
the lot of Poe. and. by way of contrast.
tho rich rewards that have been reaped
by the "best-selling kings" of the pres
ent generation.
DO you know" asked a man whose
official position was that of a literary
adviser to publishing house, what
purely literary composition has Welded
the most magnificent return when
judged by the number Of words?"
A dozen names of authors and titles
were quickly suggested. but each guess
was met by negative shake of the
head.
Five Hundred Dollars n Word.
The work in question was verse
And there is a saying that verse does
not pay. Alfred Tennyson made n
pay. to his own satisfaction. and nj
times TO the ruin of his publisher.
Rudyar6 Einlipr-
good many years. But not even the
price that Tennyson exacted from an
American editor for the use of Gross
ing the Bar" is to be compared to the
sums that James Whitcomb Riley de-
lived from IAN Old Sweetheart Of
Mine Year after year that poem an
peared in some new form from which
the author drew further royalty. Be-
fore Riley died he had been paid for
An Old Sweetheart of Mine" at a
rate ct approximately $500 a word"
Literature never boasted a practi-
toner more systematic than Antbonv
Trollope, and Trollope. writing at the
end of his career, left a record of his
labor and its earnings that is for rigid
bookkeeping without parallel in the
history of the craft. IN twenty years
near 10000 pounds, a result I regard
IS comfortable but not magnificent"
That is the rhetorical summing up.
Elsewhere he was careful to present
the exact figures. There We're sixty
eight thousand, nine hundred and thir-
ty-nine pounds, seventeen shillings and
nve pence. The five pence gives veri-
similitude to an otherwise bald and
unconvincing enumeration.
The greatest amount which Trollope
received for any one novel was three
thousand five hundred and twenty five
pounds. which was the price paid for
Can You Forgive Herr" In 1854. In
addition the same year yielded him
three thousand pounds from THE
Small House at Abingdon" Only
slightly less were the returns from
1867 and 1869. During twelve of the
twenty years he was also following
another profession, but such was his
industry and system that he was able
10 record that he had published much
more than twice as much as Carlyle
end considerably more than Voltaire
even including the latter's letters.
Scott and Dickens.
ems the popularity of Trollope was
only mediocre. At time when the
purchasing power of money was fully
double what it is at present Scott was
in the habit of receiving eight thou
sand pounds for a single volume.
Stately Abbotsford exists to bear wit
ness to a prosperity that he owed SOLE
~ to the magic of his pen. Costing a
20 -.
maintain. His own tastes We're simple
enough, but not the tastes Of the group
oil henchmen that surrounded him to
share the hospitality of the spacious
home. Even at that SCOTS surplus
profits were SO large that he was
tempted to indulge in outside specula-
ton. The resulting disaster he re-
trieved by literary labor alone. 1t is
a matter OF record that in the two
years between January. 1928. and jan
vary. 1923, he earned for his creditors
nearly forty Thousand pounds.
1t might not be discreet togo ihtS
too great detail in an examination OF
the expenditures of Charles Dickens
His estate at his death amounted, in
round figures to 100000. Probably In
The course OF thirty years activity he
naQ edTHeu lHIct eAAoS
Not to be ignored are the returns
from his appearance on the lecture
platform, especially in America Three
, thousand, two hundred and ninety
eight dollars were the receipts Of a
single night in New York. and $3.45f
of a night in Boston. The amount
taken at four Brooklyn readings was
SlI,12S. Strictly speaking, these were
pen earnings, for it was not the rather
overdressed Englishman with the ring
lets that people paid to see. but the
author of David Copperfield."
or Dickens making his 10000 q
year" Thackeray, before the days Of
VANITY Fair" when he was hack re-
ceiying scant recognition and made
quate payment. used to speak with g
certain peevish but not unnatura
envy. His own period of money win
ming on a substantial scale was brief
he was close on forty when VANITY
Fair" turned the, tide of his fortune
and he died at two and fifty, yet III
was able to live in a manner tina
suited his extravagant tastes. to frivo
many valuable days at Kew or Rich
mond, to contemplate diplomatic
career in which he would have played
with sealing wax as an underling a
washington. to build fine house, anC
10 leave to his daughters an amour