The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-08-18

who ran the publishing company IN Boston which
was the predecessor of the Houghton Mifflin
company, wanted to print it in book form and
he offered the author the choice of two contracts,
either a straight 10 per cent royalty on the
profits or chance to share fifty-ffty in the
profits or losses the venture, the case
might be. Mrs. Stowe had absolutely knowl-
edge of affairs of this sort and she consulted a
friend, Philip Greeley, the congressman from the
Boston district. He unqualfedly advised her to
take the royalties offer. You'll be lucky if you
get enough out of the book to buy yourself a
silk Dress" he said. sit has very little
chance of success, being it is novel an
unpopular subject and by woman at that"
When "Unce Toms Cabin" was first printed
in book form 1t sold 10000 copies the first week
and 100000 in the first year. Half million cop
les had been distributed in the United States
alone in its first five years and 1t has been
translated into more than score of foreign
languages and dialects. The entire sale of the
book in the years since 1t was written have
ceeded 12,0O0000, about 100000 Of which never
paid any royalties to the author. being sold in
foreign countries before the establishment of in
ternational copyright law. The copyright, under
the then existing statute, expired a few years
previous to Mrs. Stoves death in the late eight
les. and the last few years of her life, when she
most In need of money she was deprived
of this source of income.
The first dramatization of the book was made
by George L. Aiken while the story was running
serially In the National Era. On September 2,
1852, Aiken's play had its premiere in the Mu-
scum at Troy N. Y. and from that time dates
the immense popularity of "Uncle Toms Cab
in." AS matter of fact this was. not the first
stage production of the show, but 1t the
first successful one.
certain Charles W. Taylor had also drama
tized the book and in August, 1852. month be-
fore the Troy production, he presented a play
running only an hour as one item the eve
ming bill at Purdys National theater In New
York City. But-fatal error The left both Topsy
and Little Eva out of his story so his play was
failure, being withdrawn after a Of only
II nights.
The Troy production was largely family af-
fair. The manager of the Troy museum. George
c. Howard. played both Uncle Tom" and "St.
Clare" His wife played both "Topsy" and
"Chloe." Mrs. Towards brother Charles Fox,
played both "Phineas Fletcher" and "Gumption
Cute. and Mrs. Fox played "Ophelia." George
L. Aiken, the dramatst and cousin of Howard,
doubled as SHELBY" and George Harris" and
his brother, Frank Aiken. played Marks" And
finally the part of Little Eva was played by
Cordelia Howard, the fouryear-old daughter of
the Howards who thus had the distinction often
claimed by others of being "the first Little Eva"
She played that role for eight years, then at
the age of twelve she left the stage never to re-
turn. In the year which marks definitely the
decline of the Tom shows. she still living at
the age of nearly eighty recluse who refused to
see anyone or to talk of her career 'the first
Little Eva"
The Towards production of the play. with
just seven people carrying the eleven roles.
an instantaneous success 1t not only carried the
country by storm but it crossed the Atlantic.
In 1853 curious English version of it. filled with
'Waal calculate" and similar supposed Yankee
isms. was produced at the Theater Royal in
Manchester England. Arthur Ruhl. writing in
the New York Herald Tribune. about the cur
rent revival reviews its early history as follows:
la Case de rOncle Tom Onkle Toms
Huette.' La Cabana del Tic Tomas-the thing
swept like prairie fire into every language in
the western world. 1t down into Africa It
self. devoured by the Armenians and other
Near Fasteners. and little Slavs. I'm a Russia
which still had its serfs, wept over 'Hata Dada
Toma or something that sounded more less
like that. Letters from everybody Of conse-
quence-from Macaulay. Dickens. Charles Kings
ley. statesmen and political leaders. the great
George Sand German pundits, even the hooking
Heine was stirred"
And Otis Skinner. who plays Uncle Tom" in
the revival. a role which he first played in 1878
In stock company at the Philadelphia Museum,
writing In the New York Times recently, con-
tributes this bit of history: