Chapter II: Part 2

Little is known of the remuneration of authors until the days of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Before his time, literary men, as a rule, depended on the generosity of patrons for their means of support, and as an acknowledgment of their obligations, dedicated their works to them. The dedications were frequently made in most fulsome terms. The position of the writer was certainly a mean one; indeed, it might fitly be pronounced degrading; when he had exhausted his possibilities of patronage, he starved. It was Johnson--a giant in the world of letters--who broke through the objectionable custom, and taught the author to look to the reading public for support, and not to a wealthy patron. It is not until the days of Samuel Johnson that the subject of literary earnings is of much importance; yet we may with advantage glance at a few payments made prior to his age.

We do not know the amount Shakespeare received for his plays, but it is certain that his connection with the theatre in London in a few years realised for him a fortune, and, at a comparatively early age, enabled him to return to his own town, a man of independent means. Oldys, in one of his manuscripts, says that "Hamlet" was sold for L5; but he does not mention his authority for the statement. It appears, from a publication of Robert Greene's, in 1592, the price of a drama was twenty nobles, or about L6 13s. 4d. of current coin.

Small must have been the literary pay of Spenser, Butler, and Otway, since they feared to die for want of the simple necessaries of life. Milton sold "Paradise Lost" for L5 down, to be followed by L15 if a second and third large editions were required. The first edition consisted of 1,500 copies, and in two years 1,300 were sold. The balance was not disposed of until five years later. This powerful poem, when given to the world, met with some adverse criticism. The poet Waller wrote of it thus: "The old, blind schoolmaster, John Milton, hath published a tedious poem on the fall of man; if its length be not considered a merit, it hath no other." A greater poet than Waller--Dryden--recognised its merits, and said: "Undoubtedly, 'Paradise Lost' is one of the greatest, most noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced." Dryden wrote the following epigram referring to Homer, Virgil, and Milton:--

"Three poets--in three distant ages born--
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn;
The first in loftiness of thought surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of Nature could no further go;
To make a third, she joined the former two."

Milton's poem has been praised by the greatest critics, and it is still very much read. It appears in many forms, and the annual sale is extremely large. Routledge's popular edition sells at the rate of about a couple of thousand a year; and we suppose the sale of other editions is equally great.

Dryden arranged with Jacob Tonson, the famous bookseller and publisher, to write for him 10,000 verses, at sixpence per line. To make up the required number of lines, he threw in the "Epistle to his Cousin," and his celebrated "Ode to Music."

Gray only received L40 for the whole of his poems. He presented the copyright of his famous "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" to Dodsley, feeling that it was beneath the dignity of a gentleman to make money with his pen. The lucky publisher quite agreed with him, and cleared about a thousand pounds by the publication.

Pope's translation of "Homer" yielded him about L8,000. He was assisted in the work by William Broome, a scholar who was the author of a volume of verse. John Henley thus refers to the circumstance:--

"Pope came off clean with Homer; but they say,
Broome went before, and kindly swept the way."

Gay made L1,000 by his "Poems." He was paid L400 for the "Beggar's Opera," and for the second part, "Polly," L1,000. Rich, the theatrical manager, profited to a far greater extent from the "Beggar's Opera" than its author. The contemporary jest was that it made Gay rich, and Rich gay.

Dr. Johnson sold the copyright of Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield" for L60, and he thought that amount fairly represented the value of the work. "The great lexicographer," as Miss Pinkerton called him, placed no high value on the performance of his friend, but the publisher found in the "Vicar of Wakefield" a gold mine. Goldsmith was paid L21 for "The Traveller." It was the work that established his reputation. Before it appeared he was regarded as little better than a superior Grub Street hack. Johnson pronounced this the finest poem that had been written since the death of Pope. After having read it to the sister of Sir Joshua Reynolds, she said: "Well, I never more shall think Dr. Goldsmith ugly." The following are the prices Goldsmith obtained for others of his works:--"English Grammar," L5; the "History of Rome," in two volumes, 250 guineas; the "History of England," in four volumes, L500; the "History of Greece," L250; and the "History of the Earth and Animated Nature," in eight volumes, L850. "She stoops to Conquer" yielded between L400 and L500. Five shillings a couplet was paid for "The Deserted Village."

To cover the cost of his mother's funeral, Johnson wrote "Rasselas," and disposed of it for L100. He sold his "Lives of the Poets" for 200 guineas. The sum was considered liberal, but Johnson became so engrossed in his subject that he supplied much more than what was expected from him. It is believed that out of his work, in twenty-five years, the booksellers cleared L5,000. It is still a saleable book, and is to be found in every public and private library of any pretentions.

The sum of L700 was paid to Fielding for "Tom Jones," and for "Amelia," L1,000.

Very large amounts have been given for biographical works. Hayley received for his "Life of Cowper," L11,000; and Southey, L1,000 for his life of the same poet. The life of "William Wilberforce" was sold for L4,000; "Bishop Heber's Journals," for L5,000; "General Gordon's Diary," for L5,250; and the "Life of Hannah More," for L2,000.

The income of Scott was, perhaps, the largest ever made by authorship, yet he said that the pursuit of literature was a good walking-stick, but a bad crutch! His reputation was first made as a poet, and the following are particulars of his profits from poetry: "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," published in 1805, L769 6s.; "Ballads and Lyrical Pieces," published in 1806, L100; for "Marmion," published 1808, Messrs. Constable offered 1,000 guineas soon after the poem was begun. It proved a very profitable speculation to its publishers. During the first month after its appearance, 2,000 copies were sold, the price being 31s. 6d. the quarto volume. Next came the "Lady of the Lake" (1810), L2,100. This found even greater favour with the public than its predecessors, and with it Scott's poetical fame reached its zenith. A new poet who appeared on the scene, Byron, completely eclipsed Scott. Scott tried, with two more poems, to win back his lost place, as the popular poet of the period, and produced "Rokeby," and the "Bridal of Triermain;" the latter was issued anonymously, but both were failures. When Scott saw that his poetry did not attract many readers, he turned his thoughts and energy into another channel, and commenced his immortal novels. He had by him an unfinished story, the work of former years, which he completed, giving it to the world under the title of "Waverley." Constable offered L700 for the copyright--an amount deemed very large in those days for a novel to be published without the name of the author. Seven hundred sovereigns did not, however, satisfy Scott; he simply said, "It is too much if the work should prove a failure, and too little if it should be a success." It was a brilliant book, and entranced the reading world. Scott had now found his real vocation. He received for eleven novels, of three volumes each, and nine volumes of "Tales of My Landlord," the sum of L110,000. For one novel he was paid L10,000. Between November, 1825, and June, 1827, he earned L26,000--an amount representing L52 6s. 3d. per working day. From first to last, Sir Walter Scott made by his literary labours about L300,000.

Lord Byron's dealings with Mr. Murray were in every respect satisfactory, but this did not prevent the pleasure-loving lord from having a little joke at the expense of his publisher. He delighted Mr. Murray with a gift of a Bible, but the recipient's pleasure was fleeting, for on examining the book it was discovered that it contained a marginal correction. "Now Barabbas was a robber," was altered to "Now Barabbas was a publisher." This was a cruel stab, seeing that Byron had received for his poetry L19,340, and might have increased this sum if he had been more anxious about remuneration.

In Mrs. Oliphant's book on "William Blackwood and His Sons," a letter is quoted from Mr. Murray relating to the poet. "Lord Byron is a curious man," says Murray, "he gave me, as I told you, the copyright of his two poems, to be printed only in his works. I did not receive the last until Tuesday night. I was so delighted with it that even as I read it I sent him a draught for a thousand guineas. The two poems are altogether no more than twelve hundred and fifteen hundred lines, and will altogether sell for five and sixpence. But he returned the draught, saying that it was very liberal--much more than they were worth; that I was perfectly welcome to both poems to print in his (collected) works without cost or expectation, but that he did not think them equal to what they ought to be, and that he would not admit of their separate publication. I went yesterday, and he was rallying me upon my folly in offering so much that he dared to say I thought now I had a most lucky escape. 'To prove how much I think so, my lord,' said I 'do me the favour to accept this pocket book'--In which I had brought with me my draught, changed into two bank notes of L1,000 and L50; but he would not take it. But I am not in despair that he will yet allow their separate publication, which I must continue to urge for mine own honour."

Mr. Murray treated Crabbe in a most liberal manner. He paid for the "Tales of the Hall," and the copyright of his other poems, L3,000. It was given to the poet in bills, and we read that "Moore and Rogers earnestly advised him to deposit them, without delay, in some safe hands--but no; he must take them with him to Trowbridge, and show them to his son John. They would hardly believe his good luck at home, if they did not see the bills." On his way to Trowbridge, a friend at Salisbury, at whose house he rested (Mr. Everett, the banker), seeing that he carried his bills loosely in his waistcoat pocket, requested to be allowed to take charge of them; but Crabbe thankfully declined, saying that "There was no fear of his losing them, and he must show them to his son John."

Without seeing a line of Thomas Moore's "Lalla Rookh," Messrs. Longman undertook to pay L3,000 for it. The terms drawn up were simple, and read as follows: "That upon your giving into our hands a poem of yours, the length of 'Rokeby,' you shall receive from us the sum of L3,000. We also agree to the stipulation, that the few songs which you may introduce into the work shall be considered as reserved for your own selling."

His poem, of some 6,000 lines, was written in a lonely cottage in Derbyshire. Moore never tired of telling his friends that the stormy winter weather in the country helped him to imagine, by contrast, the bright and everlasting summers and glowing scenery of the East.

The work was a great success. The first edition was sold in almost fourteen days; within six months six editions had been called for. It is said that some parts of the poem were translated into Persian, a circumstance which caused Mr. Luttrell to write to the author in the following strain:--

"I'm told dear Moore, your lays are sung
(Can it be true, you lucky man?)
By moonlight, in the Persian tongue,
Along the streets of Ispahan."

Moore received considerable amounts for his "Irish Melodies." The mention of these call to mind a letter he penned to Mr. Power, his publisher, on November 12, 1812:--

"My dear Sir,--I have just got your letter, and have only time to say, that if you can let me have three or four pounds by return of post, you will oblige me. I would not have made this importunate demand on you, but I have foolishly let myself run dry without trying my other resources, and I have been the week past literally without one sixpence. Ever, with most sincere good will.--T.M."

Mr. Power promptly posted ten pounds to the poet. Said Moore, in the course of his reply, "The truth is, we have been kept on a visit at a house where we have been much longer than I wished or intended, and simply from not having a shilling in my pocket to give to the servants on going away. So I know you will forgive my teasing you.... You may laugh at my ridiculous distress in being kept to turtle eating and claret-drinking longer than I wish, and merely because I have not a shilling in my pocket,--but, however paradoxical it sounds, it is true."

We read in Moore's journals, ten years later: "17th August, 1822.--Received to-day a letter from Brougham, enclosing one from Barnes (the editor of _The Times_), proposing that, as he is ill, I shall take his place for some time in writing the leading articles of that paper, the pay to be L100 a month. This is flattering. To be thought capable of wielding so powerful a political machine as _The Times_ newspaper is a tribute the more flattering (as is usually the case) from my feeling conscious that I do not deserve it." The next day he wrote and declined the offer.

Thomas Campbell received, at the age of 21 years, L60 for his "Pleasures of Hope," certainly a small amount for a fine poem, yet it gave him a name, and enabled him to obtain large sums for some very slight literary services. The publisher of his "Pleasures of Hope" did not treat him in a generous manner, and his conduct appears to have embittered his mind as will be gathered from the following anecdote. He was present at a party at a period when the actions of Bonaparte were most severely condemned. On being called upon for a toast, Campbell gave "The Health of Napoleon." This caused a great surprise to all the company, and an explanation was called for. "The only reason I have for proposing to honour Bonaparte," said he, "is that he had the virtue to shoot a bookseller." Palm, a bookseller, had recently been executed in Germany by order of the French chief.

It may here be mentioned that the copyright of the "Life of Bonaparte," by Sir Walter Scott, with some copies of the work, was sold for L18,000.

Successful school-books are often gold mines for the authors and publishers. The copyright of "Vyse's Spelling-Book" was sold for L2,000 and an annuity of L50 to the compiler.

The copyright of Rundell's "Domestic Cookery" realised a couple of thousand pounds, and many other works of this class have been extremely popular.

Very large sums have been paid for historical works. Hume received L700 a volume; and Smollett, for a catch-penny rival work, cleared L2,000. The money made by Henry is set down at L3,300. The booksellers, says Mr. Leslie Stephen, made L6,000 out of Robertson's "History of Scotland." He was paid for his "Charles V." the handsome sum of L4,500. Lingard's "History of England" is, without doubt, an able work, and for it the author was paid L4,683. The author's profits for the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by Gibbon, are put down at L10,000.

The foregoing are respectable figures, but they appear small when compared with the amounts paid to Lord Macaulay. On one occasion he had handed to him a cheque for L20,000, representing three-fourths of the net profits of his "History of England." A short time since, the following statement went the rounds of the newspaper press, respecting Mr. Justin McCarthy's popular work, the "History of Our Own Times." The book was offered to a well-known publishing firm, who agreed to purchase it for L600. On finding that the author was a Home Ruler, however, this firm asked to be allowed to withdraw from the contract. Mr. McCarthy, who was greatly annoyed at the suggestion that he might mutilate history to suit his own private or political views, then went to Messrs. Chatto and Windus, who at once agreed to publish the work for him on a basis of mutual profits. In the interval, the other firm reconsidered the situation, and asked to be allowed to revive the lapsed contract, but were too late, as the book had been placed in the hands of the second firm. The work won a flattering reception, and the author has, up to the present time, received several thousand pounds as his share of the profits.

In 1897 passed away Dr. Brewer, the compiler of a "Guide to Science," and other popular books. Shortly before his death, he told an interviewer that he offered the copyright of his "Guide to Science" to Mr. Thomas Jarrold for L50, but he declined the venture, saving he would pay a royalty of one penny in the shilling for every copy sold. It went through two editions in ten months, and then it was agreed to call 8,000 an edition, the royalty to be given half-yearly, but any number less than 1,000 to stand over to the next return. The largest half-yearly royalty was 19,000 copies (Midsummer, 1836). In 1842, Dr. Brewer offered Mr. Jarrold L2,000 for his half-share, which he declined. Soon after this, Messrs. Longman and Co. offered Dr. Brewer L300 per year for life for the copyright. He offered Mr. Jarrold L4,000 for his share, but he replied that he would not accept double that sum, in fact that he would not part with it at all.

According to a careful estimate, Charles Dickens received L10,000 a year from his works for five years, and died worth nearly L100,000. He made every penny from his writings and readings. We need scarcely repeat the well-known facts that "he not only lived in a very liberal style for over thirty years, keeping up a considerable establishment, and often travelling without regard to cost, but he brought up a large and expensive family."

Thackeray did not make large sums by his books, when we consider his undoubted genius and the high place he holds amongst the greatest authors. It is said that he never made more than L5,000 out of any of his novels. He received large sums for his lectures; indeed, the platform yielded him better returns than the publishers.

Eighty thousand pounds is the amount of Bulwer Lytton's earnings as a novelist. The remuneration he received, when his books first appeared, did not reach large figures, the sums usually ranging from L600 to L1,000, although his books were in great favour with lovers of fiction. When a collected edition of his novels was issued, the publishers paid liberally for the copyrights. The sale of Lytton's novels is very large; about 80,000 copies of the sixpenny edition, and some thousands of the three-shillings-and-sixpenny edition, are sold every year.

The Earl of Beaconsfield, it is said, received the largest amount ever paid in this country for a single novel. His last work, "Endymion," was sold for L12,000. He only produced one other successful story, and that was "Lothair." It is stated, on good authority, that these two novels have together brought more than double the sums realised for his other books, although inferior to some of his former writings. In his later years the public paid for the novelty of reading stories by a statesman, and not for the merits of his works. Some of his novels have recently been brought out in a shilling edition, but they have already lost the allurements of fiction, and are only read by students of politics, or persons curious as to the character of the author.

Wilkie Collins was paid for "Armadale" L5,000. Mr. James Payn recently received L1,000 for the rights of running one of his novels in the pages of a sixpenny magazine. This author tells rather a good story about the mode of payment for his novels. "It was," says Mr. Payn, "the custom with a very respectable firm of publishers, with whom I did business, to pay my cheques to the names of my immortal works, instead of to myself: and since it suited their convenience to do so, I never complained of it, though it sometimes put me in rather a false position when I presented my demands in person, as, for example, in the case of the 'Family Scapegrace.' When I came for the proceeds of 'Found Dead,' it was too much for the sense of professional propriety of the banker's clerk, who gravely observed: 'It is very fortunate, Sir, that this cheque is not payable to order, or it would have to be signed by your executors.'" Said Dickens, to whom Payn related the incident, "I should not like to have much money at a bank which keeps so clever a clerk as that."

Anthony Trollope worked hard to gain a footing in the literary world. His earlier manuscripts were frequently rejected. He tried to induce managers of theatres to accept his plays, but not one was ever produced. The first year's labour with the pen, and a very hard year's work too, only yielded L12. The next year the sum was still small, only amounting to L20, yet he did not despair. At last, the happy time came, and it was taken at the flood. It was in 1855 that he scored with "The Warden." From that time he was a man of mark; his works were in demand, and with ease he earned L1,000 a year, which soon increased to L2,000 and L3,000, and at the time of his death to about L4,000. The amounts paid for a few of his books are as follows: In 1850 was issued "La Vendee," and for it he got L20; twelve years later he was paid, for "Orley Farm," L3,135; in 1864 was published "Can You Forgive Her?" for which he received L3,525; and in the same year was issued "The Small House at Allington," for which he was paid L3,000. Amongst his other novels for which he received large sums may be mentioned "The Last Chronicles of Barset," L3,000; "Phineas Finn," L3,200; "He knew He was Right," L3,200. The last two were published in 1869. He was paid L3,000 for "The Way We Live Now." "More than nine-tenths of my literary work," writes Trollope, "has been done in the last twenty years, and during twelve of those years I followed another profession. I have never been a slave to this work, giving due time, if not more than due time, to the amusement I have loved. But I have been constant--and constancy of labour will conquer all difficulties." In twenty years he made by writing nearly L70,000. We cannot place Trollope in a high position amongst the greatest novelists, yet the monetary results of his literary labours must be regarded as extremely satisfactory.

Large sums of money were made by George Eliot, but we must not forget that she had some weary years to wait for the days of prosperity, and that the story of her life contains many records of disappointment after brave struggles. We read of her living in humble apartments in London; to earn a little money, which she much needed when she went to Switzerland in 1849, she tried to sell her books and globes. It was not until she was forty years of age that she established a reputation by the publication of "Adam Bede." She received in cash down, for the first sale of her book, some L40,000, or about L2,000 a year. George Eliot had a great objection to her novels appearing in serial form, and she sacrificed much money by not first publishing them in the magazines. Ouida had for a long time the same objection to her stories being published piecemeal in newspapers and periodicals. She now appears to have got over her prejudice in this matter, and consents to write for newspaper readers. It is generally believed amongst literary and journalistic men, that she is not a brilliant success as a newspaper novelist, yet Ouida's income as an author must be very great. The reader of the weekly paper in which fiction forms a feature is not educated up to her standard; authors like those engaged on the _Family Herald_ and similar journals are much more popular.

It is pleasing to state that Mr. John Ruskin has made large sums with his books, but not so much, we think, as his merits entitle him to receive.

We have seen it stated that by "Oceana," by no means a large volume, Mr. Froude cleared L10,000.

In the "Life of Longfellow," written by his brother, are a few particulars of his earnings. During 1825--the last year of his college course--he contributed poems to the United States _Literary Gazette_, and was paid one or two dollars a poem, the price depending on the length of the piece. He wrote, in 1840-1, "The Village Blacksmith," "Endymion," and "God's Acre," and was paid fifteen dollars each. When his fame was fully established, Mr. Bonner the publisher of the _New York Ledger_, paid him, for the right of publishing in that paper, 3,000 dollars for "The Hanging of the Crane."

Lord Tennyson received considerable sums for his poetry. He was paid L100 for the right of printing a short original poem in a monthly magazine. For his ballad, "The Revenge," in the _Nineteenth Century_, he received 300 guineas. It became known some time ago that his lordship did not deem L5,000 a year a sufficient sum for the exclusive right of publishing his works. He changed his publishers several times. He was regarded as a keen man of business, and it is said that he generally got the best of the bargain.

Money never tempted Robert Browning to contribute to the magazines. His poems always saw the light in book form.

Mr. J. Cuthbert Hadden, who has made a study of this subject, says the supply of verse to-day is greatly in excess of the demand, and so it happens that in many quarters poetry is not paid for at all. Most of the minor poets whose volumes come before the public have to bear the whole expense of production themselves, and only a very small number escape without considerable loss. In this connection an amusing story regarding James Russell Lowell--not quite a minor poet--may be quoted. The cost of publishing his first book was borne entirely by Mr. Lowell himself, the edition being a plain but substantial one of 500 copies. The author felt the usual pride in his achievement, and hoped for almost immediate fame. Unhappily, only a few copies of the work were sold. Soon after, a fire occurred in the publishing house where the volumes were stored, and they were destroyed. As the publisher carried a full insurance on the stock, Mr. Lowell was able to realise the full cash value on his venture, and he had the satisfaction of saying that the entire edition was exhausted.

The leading American novelists usually get L1,000 for a serial story in a magazine, and a similar sum when it is produced in book form. Bret Harte can command a thousand dollars for a single magazine article. Mrs. Grant received a cheque for L40,000 for her share of the first volume of General Grant's "Memoirs," and the whole of her share of the proceeds is put down at L100,000.

In closing, we must remind our readers that there are two sides to every picture, and that countless instances of bitter disappointment and death are recorded in the annals of literature. Only a few in the mighty army of writers come to the front and win fame and fortune.

"Declined with Thanks."

"Declined with thanks," is a phrase which often disappoints the aspirant in the wide field of literature. Works of the highest merit are frequently rejected by publishers; indeed, some of the most popular books in our language have gone the rounds of the trade without their merits being recognised. Frequently the authors, after repeated failures, have brought their works out at their own risk, and have thereby won fame and fortune. In works of fiction, perhaps the most notable example of a story which was offered to publisher after publisher only to be returned to its author, is that of "Robinson Crusoe." It was at last "Printed for W. Taylor, at the Ship in Paternoster Row, MDCCXIX." It proved a good speculation for the lucky publisher. He made a profit of one hundred thousand pounds out of the venture. Jane Austen's name stands high in the annals of English literature; yet she had a struggle to get her books published. She sold her "Northanger Abbey" to a Bath bookseller for the insignificant sum of ten pounds. The manuscript remained for some time in his possession without being printed, he fearing that if published it would prove a failure. He was, however, at length induced to issue it, and its merits caused it to be extensively read. Samuel Warren could not prevail upon a publisher to bring out his well-known book, "The Diary of a late Physician," and, much against his inclination, it was first given to the reading public as a serial in "Blackwood's Magazine." Thackeray wrote his great novel, "Vanity Fair," for "Colburn's Magazine"; it was refused by the publishers, who deemed it a work without interest. He tried to place it with several of the leading London firms who all declined it. He finally issued it in monthly parts, and by it his fame as a novelist was established.

It will surprise many to learn that the first volume of Hans Christian Andersen's "Fairy Tales" was declined by every publisher in Copenhagen. The book was brought out at the author's own cost, and the charming collection of stories gained for him world-wide renown. The Rev. James Beresford could not induce any publisher to pay twenty pounds for his amusing volume, entitled "The Miseries of Human Life." It was after some delay issued, and in twelve months passed through nine editions. A humorous notice by Sir Walter Scott in the "Edinburgh Review" doubtless did much to increase the circulation of the book. The handsome sum of five thousand pounds profit was cleared out of this happy venture. In an able work by a leading American critic, entitled "American Publishers and English Authors," it is stated that "'Jane Eyre' went the round of the publishing houses of London, but could not find a market until the daughter of a publisher accidentally discovered the manuscript in an iron safe, where it had been lying until it was mouldy. She saw the extraordinary merit of the novel, and induced her father to publish it." The foregoing statement is incorrect. As a matter of fact, the manuscript was sent by rail to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., on the 24th August, 1847, and by the 16th of October in the same year the firm issued the novel. According to Mrs. Gaskell's "Life of Charlotte Bronte," the future publishers of "Jane Eyre" were at once most favourably impressed with the book, and this is fully confirmed by the prompt publication of it. Respecting its reception by the firm, says Mrs. Gaskell, "the first reader of the manuscript was so powerfully struck by the character of the tale, that he reported his impression in very strong terms to Mr. Smith, who appears to have been much amused by the admiration excited. 'You seem to have been so much enchanted, that I do not know how to believe you,' he laughingly said. But when a second reader, in the person of a clear-headed Scotchman, not given to enthusiasm, had taken the manuscript home in the evening, and become so deeply interested in it as to sit up half the night to finish it, Mr. Smith's curiosity was sufficiently excited to prompt him to read it for himself; and great as were the praises which had been bestowed upon it, he found that they did not exceed the truth." The first novel Miss Bronte wrote was entitled "The Professor," which was submitted to numerous publishers without finding one to accept it. It was not issued until after the death of the gifted author, and is much inferior to her other books. Says Mrs. Gaskell, "Mr. Smith has told me a little circumstance connected with the reception of this manuscript, which seems indicative of no ordinary character. It came in a brown paper parcel to 65, Cornhill. Besides the address to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., there were on it those of other publishers to whom the tale had been sent, not obliterated, but simply scored through, so that Mr. Smith at once perceived the names of some of the houses in the trade to which the unlucky parcel had gone, without success."

Sterne could not find a bookseller who would pay fifty pounds for "Tristram Shandy," he therefore issued it on his own account, and it proved a saleable work, gaining for its author a front place amongst English humorists. Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was written as a serial for the "National Era," an anti-slavery journal published at Washington. It was next offered to Messrs. Jewett & Co., but their reader and critic pronounced it not a story of sufficient interest to be worth reproducing in book form. The wife of the latter strenuously insisted that it would meet with a favourable reception, and advised its publication. In a notice of Mrs. Stowe, it is stated that in four years 313,000 copies had been printed in the United States alone, probably as many more in Great Britain. Miss Warner's popular novel, "The Wide, Wide World," was declined by a leading New York publisher. It is said that several well-known houses refused to have anything to do with one of the most popular books of recent times, "Vice Versa"; even when in type, two American firms did not discover its worth, and rejected it.

Some notable books in history, travels, poetry, and science have been "Declined with thanks." Both Murray and Longman were afraid to risk the publication of Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella," but Bentley brought out the book, and according to his statement it is the most successful work that he has published. A score of houses refused to publish "Eoethen." The author in despair handed his manuscript to one of the lesser known booksellers, and printed it at his own cost; it was extremely successful. After twenty-five editions of Buchan's "Domestic Medicine" had been sold, one thousand six hundred pounds was paid for the copyright, yet, strange to state, before it was published not a single firm in Edinburgh would pay a hundred pounds for it. Strahan, the King's printer, had offered to him the first volume of Blair's "Sermons," and, after a careful perusal, concluded that the work would not be one to find a ready sale. Dr. Johnson, however, came to the rescue, and with his eloquence induced Mr. Strahan to pay a hundred pounds for the copyright. It had a large circulation; for a second volume, three hundred pounds was the amount gladly paid, and for subsequent volumes six hundred pounds each.

Sir Richard Phillips rejected several famous books. It was to this bookseller and publisher that Robert Bloomfield offered the copyright of his "Farmer's Boy" in return for a dozen copies of the work when printed. He feared it would be a failure, and declined it. The poet issued it by subscription, and within three years 25,000 copies were sold. This publisher is said to have had offered to him Byron's early poems. He might have purchased the copyright of "Waverley" for thirty pounds, but declined it! He rejected other works which won favourable reception from the press and the public. It is only right to state that he gave to the world many valuable volumes, and that he was a man of decided literary ability. A paragraph went the rounds of the literary press after the death of Mr. J. H. Parker, the well-known Oxford publisher, stating that the copyright of Keble's "Christian Year" was offered to Joseph Parker for the sum of twenty pounds and refused. It was further stated that "during the forty years which followed the publication of this work nearly 400,000 copies were sold, and Mr. Keble's share of the profits amounted to fourteen thousand pounds, being one-fourth the retail price." The brothers Smith desired to sell for twenty pounds to Mr. Murray their celebrated "Rejected Addresses," but the great publisher declined the proposal with thanks. They resolved to bring out the book at their own risk. It hit the popular taste, and after sixteen editions had been sold, Mr. Murray paid for the copyright one hundred and thirty-one pounds. The poems yielded the authors over a thousand pounds.

Editors of newspapers and magazines have often made ludicrous blunders in rejecting poems of sterling merit. It is generally known that the editor of the _Greenock Advertiser_ expressed his regret that he could not insert in his newspaper one of Thomas Campbell's best poems on account of it not being quite up to his standard.

The Rev. Charles Wolfe submitted to the editor of a leading magazine his famous ode on "The Burial of Sir John Moore," but it was rejected in such a scornful manner as to cause the writer to hand it to the editor of _The Newry Telegraph_, an Ulster newspaper of no standing as a literary journal. It was published in 1817, in that obscure paper, with the initials of "C. W." It was reproduced in various publications, and attracted great attention. It is one of the best in our limited number of pieces of martial poetry.

Epigrams on Authors.

The epigram is of considerable antiquity. The Greeks placed on their monuments, statues, and tombs, short poetical inscriptions, written in a simple style, and it was from this practice that we derive the epigram. In the earlier examples we fail to find any traces of satire which is now its chief characteristic. The Romans were the first to give a satirical turn to this class of literature. Amongst the writers of Latin epigrams, Catullus and Martial occupy leading places. The French are, perhaps, the most gifted writers of epigrams. German epigrammatists have put into verse moral proverbs. Schiller and Goethe did not, however, follow the usual practice of their countrymen, but wrote many satirical epigrams, having great force. Many of our English poets have displayed a fine faculty of writing epigrams.

The birthplace of Homer is a disputed point, and has given rise to not a few essays and epigrams. Thomas Heywood, in one of his poetical publications, published in 1640, wrote:--

"Seven cities warr'd for Homer, being dead,
Who, living, had no roof to shroud his head."

Much in the same strain wrote Thomas Seward, a century and a half later:--

"Seven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead,
Through which the living Homer begg'd his bread."

The two writers have not stated fully the number of cities which claim to have given birth to Homer. The number is nearer twenty than seven. Pope, in his translation of Homer, was assisted by a poet named William Broome, a circumstance which prompted John Henley to pen the following:--

"Pope came off clean with Homer; but, they say,
Broome went before, and kindly swept the way."

Butler, the author of "Hudibras," was much neglected during his life. It is true that Charles II. and his courtiers read and were delighted with his poem, but they did not extend to him any patronage. The greater part of his days were passed in obscurity and poverty. He had been buried about forty years when a monument was placed in Westminster Abbey to his memory, by John Barber, a printer, and afterwards an Alderman and Lord Mayor of London. Samuel Wesley wrote on the memorial the following lines:--

"Whilst Butler, needy wretch! was yet alive,
No gen'rous patron would a dinner give;
See him, when starved to death, and turn'd to dust,
Presented with a monumental bust!
The poet's fate is here in emblem shown,--
He asked for bread, and he receiv'd a stone."

An epitaph similar in sentiment to the foregoing was placed by Horace Walpole over the remains of Theodore, King of Corsica, who, after many trials and disappointments, ended his life as a prisoner for debt in King's Bench, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Anne's, Westminster:--

"The grave, great teacher, to a level brings
Heroes and beggars, galley slaves and kings.
But Theodore this moral learn'd ere dead;
Fate pour'd its lesson on his living head;
Bestow'd a kingdom, and denied him bread."

The fourth Earl of Chesterfield, on seeing a whole-length portrait of Nash between the busts of Sir Isaac Newton and Pope in the rooms at Bath, wrote as follows:--

"Immortal Newton never spoke
More truth than here you'll find;
Nor Pope himself e'er penn'd a joke
More cruel on mankind.

The picture, plac'd the busts between,
Gives satire all its strength:
Wisdom and Wit are little seen,
But Folly at full length."

Stephen Duck's poetry and progress in life gave rise to some lively lines by the lampooners of the eighteenth century. He was an agricultural labourer, having a thirst for knowledge and some skill as a writer of verse. This humble and self-taught student was brought under the notice of Queen Caroline, who was much interested in his welfare, and pleased with his poetry; she granted him a pension of L30 a year. He was next made a yeoman of the guard, an appointment he did not long retain, for he was advanced to the position of a clergyman in the Church of England, and presented to the living of Byfleet, Surrey. It is to be feared that his education was not sufficiently liberal for a clerk in holy orders. Dean Swift assailed the poor poet as follows:--

"The thresher Duck could o'er the Queen prevail;
The proverb says 'No fence against a flail.'
From threshing corn he turns to thresh his brains,
For which Her Majesty allows him grains.
Though 'tis confess'd that those who ever saw
His poems, think them all not worth a straw.
Thrice happy Duck, employed in threshing stubble!
Thy toil is lessen'd and thy profits doubled."

The want of dignity displayed in the foregoing is unworthy of Swift, and the reply as follows made by Duck is certainly much to his credit:--

"You think it, censor, mighty strange
That, born a country clown,
I should my first profession change
And wear a chaplain's gown!
If virtue honours the low race
From which I was descended,
If vices your high birth disgrace
Who should be most commended?"

Duck wrote the epitaph for the tombstone over the remains of Joe Miller of mirthful memory. The following is a copy of the lines:--

"If humour, wit, and honesty could save
The hum'rous, witty, honest from the grave;
The grave had not so soon this tenant found
Whom honesty, and wit, and humour crowned.
Or could esteem and love preserve our breath,
And guard us longer from the stroke of death,
The stroke of death on him had later fell,
Whom all mankind esteem'd and lov'd so well."

The poet-preacher was advanced to the chaplaincy of a regiment of Dragoon Guards. Sad to relate, in the year 1756, in a fit of insanity, he took his own life.

During the Gordon riots on the 7th of January, 1780, Lord Mansfield's house in Bloomsbury Square was burnt, and in the flames perished his valuable library, which he commenced collecting when a lad at school. It included many valuable volumes and materials for memoirs of his times. Cowper thus wrote on the subject:--

"So then--the Vandals of our isle,
Sworn foes of sense and law,
Have burnt to dust a nobler pile
Than ever Roman saw!

And Murray sighs o'er Pope and Swift,
And many a treasure more,
The well-judged purchase, and the gift
That graced his letter'd store.

Their pages mangled, burnt, and torn,
The loss was his alone;
But ages yet to come shall mourn
The burning of his own."

A pleasing and playful epigram on Robert Bloomfield, the author of "The Farmer's Boy," was written by Henry Kirke White:--

"Bloomfield, thy happy omen'd name
Ensures continuance of thy fame;
Both sense and truth this verdict give,
While _fields_ shall _bloom_ thy name shall live."

The residences of Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge near the English Lakes suggested the title of lake poets, and of their works the Rev. Henry Townshend wrote:--

"They come from the lakes--an appropriate quarter
For poems diluted with plenty of water."

Surely Lord Holland was a little wide of the mark when he penned the following epigram, complaining that Southey did not write sufficient laureate poems; the fact is, he wrote too many to sustain his reputation as a poet:--

"Our Laureate Bob defrauds the King--
He takes his cash and will not sing;
Yet on he goes, I know not why,
Singing for us who do not buy."

In the _Diary_ of Thomas Moore, under date of September 4, 1825, it is stated: "Lord H. full of an epigram he had just written on Southey, which we all twisted and turned into various shapes; he is as happy as a boy during the operation. He suggests the following as the last couplet:--

"And for us, who will not buy,
Goes singing on eternally."

It has been truthfully observed that William Wordsworth "found poetry in the most common-place events of life, and described them in familiar language; he naturally contended that there was little real difference between poetry and prose." Byron thus rallies him on the theory:--

"The simple Wordsworth, framer of a lay
As soft as evening in his favourite May,
Who warns his friend, 'to shake off toil and trouble,
And quit his books, for fear of growing double;'
Who, both by precept and example, shows
That prose is verse, and verse is merely prose;
Convincing all, by demonstration plain,
Poetic souls delight in prose inane."

Theodore Hook produced some pungent verses; here is a slight example on Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound":--

"Shelley styles his new poem _Prometheus Unbound_,
And 'tis like to remain so while time circles round;
For surely an age would be spent in the finding
A reader so weak as to pay for the binding!"

Scott wrote a poem which was published in 1815, under the title of _The Field of Waterloo_, and prefaced it thus: "It may be some apology for the imperfections of this poem, that it was composed hastily, and during a short tour upon the Continent, where the author's labours were liable to frequent interruption; but its best apology is, that it was written for the purpose of assisting the Waterloo subscription."

This plea did not disarm hostile criticism. Thomas, Lord Erskine, expressed himself as follows:--

"On Waterloo's ensanguined plain
Lie tens of thousands of the slain;
But none by sabre or by shot
Fell half so flat as Walter Scott."

Wrote Thomas Moore in his _Diary_: "I have read _Walter_-loo. The battle murdered many, and _he_ has murdered the battle; 'tis sad stuff."

The Earl of Carlisle wrote a sixpenny pamphlet advocating small theatres; and on the day it was issued the newspapers contained the announcement that he had given a large subscription to a public fund, a circumstance which formed the theme of the following epigram by his cousin, Lord Byron:

"Carlisle subscribes a thousand pounds
Out of his rich domains;
And for sixpence circles round
The product of his brains:
'Tis thus the difference you may hit
Between his fortune and his wit."

Byron made his unhappy marriage the subject of at least three epigrams. Here are two of them as follows:--

ON HIS WEDDING-DAY.

"Here's a happy new year! But with reason
I beg you'll permit me to say--
Wish me many returns of the season,
But as few as you please of the day."

At a later period he wrote--

"This day, of all our days, has done
The worst for _me_ and _you_:
'Tis just six years since we were _one_,
And five since we were _two_."

Lord Byron's friend, Thomas Moore, wrote many excellent epigrams, and not a few were penned about him. He published his first volume of poems under the name of Thomas Little. It is stated that a lady found a copy of the book under the pillow of her maid's bed, and wrote on it in pencil:--

"You read _Little_, I guess;
I wish you'd read _less_."

The servant was equal to her mistress, and wrote:--

"I read Little before,
Now I mean to read _Moore_."

Lord Byron wrote the following in 1811 on Moore's farcical opera:--

"Good plays are scarce;
So Moore writes farce;
The poet's fame grows brittle--
We knew before
That Little's Moore,
But now 'tis Moore that's Little."

Respecting Moore's duel with Lord Jeffrey, Theodore Hook composed the following lines:--

"When Anacreon would fight, as the poets have said,
A reverse he displayed in his vapour,
For while all his poems were loaded with lead,
His pistols were loaded with paper.

For excuses, Anacreon old custom may thank,
Such salvo he should not abuse;
For the cartridge, by rule, is always made blank
That is fired away at _Reviews_."

"Moore is here called Anacreon," says W. Davenport Adams, "in allusion to his translations from that poet." The duel was owing to an article in the _Edinburgh Review_, which Moore thought proper to resent by challenging the editor. The combatants were, however, arrested on the ground, and conveyed to Bow Street, where the pistols were found to contain merely a charge of powder, the balls having in some way disappeared. Byron alludes to the circumstance in _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_:--

"When Little's leadless pistol met his eye,
And Bow Street myrmidons stood laughing by."

After this strange encounter, the poet and critic were firm friends.

Slips of the pen have given rise to some smart epigrammatic corrections. Albert Smith wrote in an album as follows:--

"Mont Blanc is the Monarch of Mountains,
They crown'd him long ago;
But who they got to put it on
Nobody seems to know."
ALBERT SMITH.

Thackeray was successfully solicited to contribute to the same book, and wrote under the fore-going:--

A HUMBLE SUGGESTION.

"I know that Albert wrote in a hurry,
To criticize I scarce presume;
But methinks that Lindley Murray,
Instead of _who_ had written _whom_."
W. M. THACKERAY.

Samuel Warren on one occasion made a slip in writing in an album, misquoting Moore, writing "glory's throb" instead of "glory's thrill." The mistake formed the subject of the following impromptu lines by Mr. Digby Seymour:--

"Warren, thy memory was poor
The Irish bard to rob,
Had you remembered Tommy Moore,
Glory would 'thrill,' not 'throb.'"

The vanity of Mr. Warren was unusually largely developed, and gave rise to a number of amusing anecdotes. Sir George Rose thus refers to his weakness:--

"Samuel Warren, though able, yet vainest of men,
Could he guide with discretion his tongue and his pen,
His course would be clear for--'Ten Thousand a Year;'
But limited else be a brief--'Now and Then.'"

For a long period Mr. Warren was the Recorder for Hull. Mr. Thompson, the Town Clerk, was a gentleman of cultivated literary tastes, and able to compose a neat epigram. He wrote the following:--

"Our Recorder, Sam Warren, from all that I hear,
Is one of the kindest of men,
For a friend he presents with 'Ten Thousand a Year,'
And adds to the gift 'Now and Then.'"

Mr. William Harrison Ainsworth, the romance writer, was very unpopular with the contributors of _Punch_, and many were the satires on him in its pages. Colburn published a magazine, in which many of Ainsworth's novels appeared, and this gave rise to the following epigram:--

"Says Ainsworth to Colburn:
'A plan in my pate is
To give my romance as
A supplement gratis.'

"Says Colburn to Ainsworth:
''Twill do very nicely,
For that will be charging
Its value precisely.'"

In early manhood, Edwin Paxton Hood called upon Bulwer Lytton without any introduction. The servant told him that his master could not be seen. On receiving the intimation, Hood took out of his pocket pencil and paper, and wrote as follows:--

"A son of song, to fame unknown,
Stands waiting in your hall below;
Your footman tells him to begone;
Say, mighty Bulwer, shall he go?"