Chapter II: Preface

THE following pages, as originally written, were planned to form a preliminary chapter, or general introduction, to a history of the origin and development of property in literature, a subject in which I have for some time interested myself. The progress of the history has, however, been so seriously hampered by engrossing business cares, and also by an increasing necessity for economizing eyesight, that the date of its completion remains very uncertain. I do not relinquish the hope of being able to place before the public (or at least of that small portion of the public which may be interested in the subject) at some future date, the work as first planned, which shall present a sketch of the development of property in literature from the invention of printing to the present day, but I have decided to publish in a separate volume this preliminary study of the literary conditions which obtained in ancient times.

In the stricter and more modern sense of the term, literary property stands for an ownership in a specific literary form given to certain ideas, for the right to control such particular form of expression of these ideas, and for the right to multiply and to dispose of copies of such form of expression. In this immaterial signification, the term literary property is practically synonymous with la _propriété intellectuelle_, or _das geistige Eigenthum_.

It is proper to say at the outset that in this sense of the term, no such thing as literary property can be said to have come into existence in ancient times, or in fact until some considerable period had elapsed after the invention of printing. The books first produced, after 1450, from the presses of Gutenberg and Fust and by their immediate successors, were the Latin versions of the Bible, editions of certain of the writings of Cicero and of other Latin authors, and a few other works which, if not all dating back to Classic periods, were, with hardly an exception, the works of writers who had been dead for many generations.

The editions printed of these books constituted for their owners, the printers, a property, which, as distinguished from their buildings and from their presses and type, might fairly enough be described as a “literary property.” It was, however, not until the publishers began to make arrangements to give compensation to contemporary writers for the preparation of original works, or for original editorial work associated with classic texts, and not until, in connection with such arrangements, the publishers succeeded in securing from the State authorities, in the shape of “privileges,” a formal recognition of their right to control the literary work thus produced, that literary property in the sense of intellectual property (_geistiges Eigenthum_), came into an assured and recognized, though still restricted existence.

Property of this kind, namely, in the form of a right, duly recognized by the State, to the control of an intellectual production, assuredly did not exist in Athens, in Alexandria, or in classic Rome. There is evidence, however, although often of a very fragmentary and inconclusive character, that in these cities and in other literary centres of the later classic world, there gradually came into existence a system or a practice under which authors secured some compensation for their labors.

Such compensation, doubtless at best but inconsiderable as it did not depend upon any legal right on the part of either author or publishers, must have varied very greatly according to the personality of the writer, the nature of the work, and the time and place of its production. The evidences or indications of payments being made to authors are mainly to be traced in scattered references in their own works. Such references are in the writings of the Greek authors, but infrequent, and in not a few instances the passages have been variously interpreted, so that it is difficult to base upon them any trustworthy conclusions.

It is only when we reach the Augustan age of Roman literature that we find, in the works of such authors as Cicero, Martial, Horace, Catullus, and a few others, a sufficient number of references upon which to base some theory at least as to the nature of the relations of the authors with their publishers, and also as to the publishing and bookselling methods of the time.

I have attempted, in this volume, to present a sketch of these “beginnings of literary property”--that is, to outline the gradual evolution of the idea that the producer of a literary work, the poet, ποιητής, the maker, is entitled to secure from the community not only such laurel-crown of fame as may be adjudged to his work, but also some material compensation proportioned as nearly as may be practicable to the extent of the service rendered by him.

I have prefixed to the study of literary and publishing undertakings in Athens, Alexandria, and Rome, in which cities definite relations between authors and their public can first be traced, some preliminary sketches concerning the beginnings of literature in Chaldea, Egypt, India, Persia, China, and Japan. I admit at once that descriptions of legendary, prehistoric, or semi-historic periods, are not directly pertinent to my main subject. I have decided to include them, however, at the risk of criticism on the ground both of (necessarily) superficial treatment and of lack of relevance, because it seemed to me that the character of the earliest literary ideals and of the legendary literary productions of a people formed an important factor in helping to develop its later literary conditions, and was not without influence upon the relations of authors with their public, when such relations finally began to take shape.

It is, for instance, a matter of very decided interest, in tracing the literary history of a nation, to ascertain whether the source and initiative of its earliest literature was the temple, the court, or the popular circles outside of temple or court; whether the first compositions were produced by the priests, or by annalists or poets working under the immediate incentive of the favor of the monarch, or whether, like the epics of Greece and the folk-songs of China, they came from authors among the people, and were addressed directly to popular sympathies and to popular ideals.

It will be noted that I take pains to speak of “authors” and “public,” rather than of “writers” and “readers,” because it is evident that there were literary productions in advance, and probably very far in advance, of the discovery or evolution of written characters, and also that long after the use of script by authors, the greater portion of the public in all ancient lands received their literature, not through their eyes, but through their ears,--not by reading the text, but by listening to reciters, story-tellers, and “rhapsodists.”

In the preparation of this brief record, which makes no claim to scholarly completeness, or to be anything more considerable than a sketch, I have found myself hampered by lack of adequate classical knowledge and by the lack of familiarity with the works of even the more important of the Greek and Roman writers. It is doubtless the case, therefore, that I have failed to discover or to utilize not a few passages and references that would have a bearing upon the subject; and I shall be under obligations to any scholarly reader who will take the trouble to call my attention to such omissions.

I have given, in a brief bibliography, the titles of the more important of the books upon the authority of which my sketch has been based. I desire, however, to express my special indebtedness to the following works, the full titles of which will be found in the bibliography: Clement’s _La Propriété Littéraire chez les Grecs et chez les Romains_, Schmitz’s _Schriftsteller in Athen_, Géraud’s _Les Livres dans l’Antiquité_, Birt’s _Das Antike Buchwesen_, Haenny’s _Schriftsteller und Buchhändler im alten Rom_, and Simcox’s _History of Latin Literature_.

As is indicated by the titles in the list of authorities cited, the writers who have given attention to the relations of authors of antiquity with their readers, have been almost exclusively German or French. I shall be well pleased if this brief study of mine may serve as a suggestion to some competent American or English scholar for the preparation in English of a comprehensive and final work on the subject.

G. H. P.

NEW YORK, November, 1893.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 1
1. PRELIMINARY 1
2. CHALDEA 5
3. EGYPT 10
4. CHINA 21
5. JAPAN 38
6. INDIA 43
7. PERSIA 47
8. JUDÆA 49

II. GREECE 54

III. ALEXANDRIA 127

IV. BOOK-TERMINOLOGY IN CLASSIC TIMES 149

V. ROME 163

VI. CONSTANTINOPLE 282

INDEX 297

PRINCIPAL WORKS REFERRED TO AS AUTHORITIES.

BARTHELÉMI, J. _The Travels of Anacharsis the Younger._ London, 1832.

BECKER, W. A. _Charicles, or Illustrations of the Private Life of the Ancient Greeks._ Trans. by F. METCALFE. 7th Edition. London, 1886.

---- _Gallus, or Roman Scenes of the Time of Augustus._ Trans. by F. METCALFE. 8th Edition. London, 1886.

BERGK, T. _Griechische Literatur Geschichte._ Leipzig, 1852.

BIRT, THEODOR. _Das Antike Buchwesen._ Berlin, 1882.

BREULIER, ADOLPHE. _Du Droit de Perpétuité de la Propriété Intellectuelle._ Paris, 1851.

BRUNS, C. G. _Die Testamente der Griechischen Philosophie._ 2 vols. Leipzig, 1872.

BUCHSENSCHUTZ. _Besitz und Erwerb im Griechischen Alterthum._ Leipzig, 1879.

BURSIAN, C. _Die Geographie Griechenlands._ München, 1882.

BURY, J. B. _A History of the Later Roman Empire._ 2 vols. London, 1889.

CAILLEMER. _La Propriété littéraire à Athènes._

CASSIODORUS. _The Letters of._ Translated, with an introduction, by THOMAS HODGKIN. London, 1886.

CATULLUS. Edited by RIESE. Leipzig, 1884.

---- Edited by ELLIS. Oxford, 1867.

CICERO. _Letters._ Edited by WATSON. London, 1852.

CLEMENT, PAUL. _Étude sur le Droit des Auteurs, Précédée d’une Dissertation sur la Propriété Littéraire chez les Grecs et chez les Romains._ Grenoble, 1867.

CRUTTWELL, C. T. C. _History of Roman Literature._ New York, 1887.

DAVIDSON, J. L. S. _The Life of Cicero._ New York and London, 1894. (From advance sheets.)

DONALDSON, J. W. _The Theatre of the Greeks._ 8th Edition. London, 1876.

_Encyclopædia Britannica._ 9th Edition. Edinburgh and New York, 1884-1892.

FREEMAN, E. A. _History of Federal Government._ 2d Edition. London, 1892.

FROMMANN, E. _Aufsätze zur Geschichte des Buchhandels im 16ten Jahrhundert._ Jena, 1876.

FRONTO. Edited by NABER. Leipzig, 1867.

GELLIUS, AULUS. _Noctes Atticæ._ Edited by HERTZ. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1865.

GÉRAUD, H. _Les Livres dans l’Antiquité._ Paris, 1840.

GIBBON, E. _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire._ American Edition. 6 vols. New York, 1889.

HAENNY, LOUIS. _Schriftsteller und Buchhändler im Alten Rom._ Leipzig, 1885.

HERODOTUS. _Histories of._ Trans. by RAWLINSON. 4 vols. New York, 1886.

HODGKIN, THOMAS. _Theodoric the Goth._ New York and London, 1890.

HORACE. Edited by MÜLLER. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1874.

---- _Odes and Epodes._ Edited by WICKHAM. London, 1874.

JEVONS, F. B. _History of Greek Literature._ New York, 1886.

JOHNSON, A. J. _The Universal Encyclopædia._ 8 vols. New York, 1884.

JUVENAL. Trans. by GIFFORD. London, 1852.

---- Edited by WEIDNER. Leipzig, 1873.

KAPP, FRIEDRICH. _Geschichte des Deutschen Buchhandels bis in das 17te Jahrhundert._ Leipzig, 1886.

KARPELES, GUSTAV. _Allgemeine Geschichte der Litteratur._ 12 parts. Berlin, 1890.

KLOSTERMANN, R. _Das Urheberrecht und das Verlagsrecht._ Berlin, 1871.

LAËRTIUS, DIOGENES. _De Vitis, Dogmatibus et Apothegen. Clar. Philos._ Edited by HÜBNER. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1831.

LAYARD, Sir A. H. _Nineveh and Babylon._ American Edition. New York, 1852.

LECKY, W. E. H. _A History of European Morals._ American Edition. 2 vols. New York.

LOUISY, M. P. _Le Livre, et les Arts qui s’y Rattachent._ Paris, 1886.

MAHAFFY, J. P. _Social Life in Greece from Homer to Menander._ 6th Edition. London, 1891.

---- _Greek Life and Thought, from the Age of Alexander to the Roman Conquest._ London, 1892.

---- _The Greek World under Roman Sway._ London, 1893.

MARTIAL. Edited by PALEY. London, 1875.

---- Edited by FRIEDLÄNDER. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1886.

MEINEKE, A. _Historia Comœdiæ Græcæ_ (in the _Comicorum Græc. Fragmenta_). Berlin, 1857.

MÜLLER, J. _Die Lustspiele des Aristophanes._ Leipzig, 1868.

MÜLLER, MAX. _History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature._ London, 1860.

OMAN, C. W. C. _The Story of the Byzantine Empire._ New York and London, 1892.

PLATO. _Works._ Trans. by JOWETT. 6 vols. Oxford, 1889.

PLAUTUS. Edited by FLECKEISEN. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1890.

PLINY. _Works._ Trans. by MELMOTH. 5 vols. London, 1878.

PLUTARCH’S _Lives_. Trans. by CLOUGH. 5 vols. Boston, 1878.

RAGOZIN, ZENAÏDE. _The Story of Chaldea._ New York, 1886.

---- _The Story of Assyria._ New York, 1887.

RAWLINSON, GEORGE. _History of Ancient Egypt._ 2 vols. New York, 1890.

RAWNSLEY, H. D. _Notes for the Nile, together with a Metrical Rendering of the Hymns of Ancient Egypt and of the Precepts of Ptah-Hotep._ London and New York, 1892.

_Records of the Past._ Edited by S. BIRCH. 12 vols. London, 1882.

RENOUARD, AUGUSTIN CHARLES. _Traité des Droits d’Auteurs._ 2 vols. Paris, 1838.

RITTER, H. _History of Ancient Philosophy_ (translation). 4 vols. Oxford, 1849.

ROMBERG, EDOUARD. _Études sur la Propriété Artistique et Littéraire._ Bruxelles, 1892.

ROZOIR, A. _Dictionnaire de la Conversation_, etc. Paris, 1838.

SCHAEFER, A. _Demosthenes und Seine Zeit._ 3 vols. Leipzig, 1858.

SCHÖLL, A. _Aufsätze zur Klass. Liter._ Berlin, 1884.

---- _Hist. Lit. Græc._ 3 vols. Berlin, 1886.

SCHMITZ, WM. _Schriftsteller und Buchhändler in Athen und im übrigen Griechenland._ Heidelberg, 1876.

SIMCOX, G. A. _History of Latin Literature._ 2 vols. London, 1883.

SMITH, GEORGE. _The Chaldean Account of Genesis._ London, 1880.

STATIUS. Edited by MÜLLER. Leipzig, 1871.

STRABO. _Works._ Edited by MEINEKE. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1866.

SUETONIUS. _Lives of the Twelve Cæsars._ Trans. by THOMSON. London, 1855.

SUIDAS. _Lexicon._ Edited by BRAUN. (Cited by Schmitz.) Leipzig, 1832.

WEHLE, J. H. _Das Buch, Technik der Schriftstellerei._ Leipzig, 1879.

WILLIAMS, S. WELLS. _The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Arts, Literature, etc., of the Chinese Empire._ Revised Edition. 2 vols., 8vo. New York, 1883.

XENOPHON. _Works._ Trans. by J. S. WATSON. 3 vols. London, 1862.

ZELLER, E. _Die Philosophie der Griechen._ 2 vols. Leipzig, 1872.

AUTHORS AND THEIR PUBLIC IN ANCIENT TIMES.