copyrights bequeathed to or anyhow ac-ed by either himself or his publisher. quired by them. We have also had good But in general the effect of this sort of and cheap editions of our own old Eng- understanding among the respectable part lish classics, mainly and chiefly because, of the bookselling body was favourable though the monopoly of them was abolished by law, the custom of the trade came in lieu of the privilege.

Till very lately, whenever the works of any great old English author began to be scarce in the market, some half-a-dozen eminent publishers met, and agreed to take on themselves conjointly, in shares, the risk and cost of a new edition. From their command of capital and the extent of their combined connections throughout the retail trade of the provinces, they could venture to undertake what, in the existing state of the law, no one house, however respectable, could have dreamt of-because no single firm could have been sure that some equally powerful rival would not be in the field on the same day or the next. Moreover, it is a fact highly honourable to the booksellers as a body of traders, that they were very slow to avail themselves, as against each other, of the legal decision of 1774. A strong feeling remained that the man who had run the hazards of a publication should not be early or rashly interfered with in the commercial management of his volumes. We have often seen this customary sort of monopoly grossly exaggerated as to the extent of its operation; it was never an unquestioned thing, and it was every now and then broken in upon; but a more frequent complaint, and (however hard particular cases might appear) a far more groundless one, was that it operated injuriously towards the class of authors. Sometimes, without doubt, the degree of advantage thus retained for a publisher's estate appeared to contrast painfully with the condition of an author, or the immediate descendants of an author, who had, from want of foresight or under pressure of poverty, disposed of his work before the value of even its legal copyright-of perhaps only fourteen years' durationhad been at all comprehended or suspected disgraceful to the legislature; but Oxford, Cambridge, and even Eton, &c., had influence enough to get all this secured to them by a special statute the year after the House of Lords put an end to the perpetuity claim of authors as to their own books! In 1775 parliament renewed to these powerful and wealthy corporations what it had in 1774 for ever abolished as to individual writers and their natural heirs or ordinary assignees. The Scotch universities, on their part, had exemptions from various taxes, on paper, &c., which gave them a practical perpetuity of copyright also, or advantages very nearly equivalent.

the Copyright Question,' by John Smith, LL.D., the It is stated, for example, in a MS. Essay on head of a very respectable old bookselling house in Glasgow, that at the sale of Mr. Creech's literary property in Edinburgh, in 1816-that is, twenty years after Burns's death, and consequently six years after, as the law then stood, there could have been any copyright in the last fragment of his poetry, the customary copyright of Burns's works was sold for exactly 4,1607.; and certainly this must himself never received more than, at the utmost, seem remarkable, when, as we all know, the poet 9001, for all his literary labours. Since we have alluded to Dr. Smith, we may observe that he was the first of his profession who petitioned the Comtion was alluded to with high praise by one whose mons in favour of Mr. Talfourd's bill; and his petipraise is worth something--Lord Mahon. We extract part of it :--

That your petitioner has for upwards of thirty years past exercised the profession of publisher and bookseller in this city, which profession had previously been carried on by his grandfather and father in the said city since the year 1751. That the question of copyright consequently became frequent. ly the subject of consideration to your petitioner, and that about twenty years ago he wrote an Essay claiming for authors the perpetuity of their own copyright, the argument of which was founded upon the established principles of law, equity, and and competence by the sale of books published or reason. That your petitioner has obtained estate sold by him, which property he has a right to entail or give in legacy for the benefit of his heirs, while the parties who have produced the works that have enriched him have no interest for their heirs by the present law of copyright in the property which they have solely constituted. That in many instances the limitation of the period of copyright by the present law deprives authors of distinguished talent which they exhausted their time and intellect, and and learning of adequate remuneration for works on by which they essentially promoted the virtue and happiness of mankind-That the reserve of copyright to authors who have survived the term of sale allowed by the present law has been highly beneficial to said authors, and ought equally to have been participated in by the heirs of authors who pre-deceased previous to the expiry of the period limited by the Act.-That if authors or their descendants were entitled to grant leases of their copyrights, it would be the interest of the lessee to provide accurate copies, and at prices adapted to the circumstances of all publishers.-That your petitioner craves that a clause may be inserted in the Bill before your Honourable House, providing that no au

thor can dispose of copyright at any one time for a longer period than twenty-one years, at the expiry of which period the copyright to revert to the author or his family.-That the present acknowledgment of works that were long neglected supports the propriety and equity of such a limitation.-That your peti tioner is decidedly of opinion that the cultivation of the national literature would be cherished and strengthened by the proposed extension of the term of copyright.'

We do not at all adopt Dr. Smith's plan; but it is very agreeable to have to point to such a paper as coming, not from an author by profession, but s bookseller of large experience.

Already they are found in all directions. preparing against the storm, by turning their immediate superior command of resources to the production of those cheap books, those books for the people, by which alone, as they well see, the gain is henceforth to be realized-unless the law be remodelled as respects this department of business. Amidst this tumultuous rush

both to the public and to the really meri- tide was turned against high original litetorious author. The result of it was, that rature, and that their reclamations would the publisher of a good book might fairly be even less attended to than those of the calculate on having a longer interest in it author of 'Ion' and his brethren. Nor than the mere letter of the law guaran- were they mistaken! teed; it seemed therefore safe for him to print it in a careful manner, employing men of education to look after the text and it was his obvious interest to sell it cheap, because much more money comes of a large sale of a cheap book than a small sale of a dear one. But it was also a natural result of the system, that when a man had produced one book which the world pronounced to be good, his pub- to meet this universal demand for cheaplisher would deal with him on superior ness first, cheapness middle, cheapness terms as to subsequent undertakings. In other words, most good authors were to a certain extent partakers virtually in the beneficiary effect of this customary prolongation of copyrights; and all might hope to be so.

last-to what quarter shall we look for the determination to conduct a publishing business on that sort of footing which shall be serviceable to the carrying on and sustaining of the great labour of intellect? It seems to us very doubtful that But this whole system has of late been the supply of good accurate editions of disturbed to its foundation. The enor- old books, unless in some comparatively mous increased facility of printing, through rare cases, can be maintained. Look at the introduction of steam-power, and the the reprints of the American press-or enormous increased appetite for reading, the Belgian pirates-and say, on what have come together, and acted and re- grounds we are to expect a succession of acted on each other to such an extent, better things here, when the conventional that already, after the lapse of but a few system of protection for old copies shall years, we cannot be blind to the near con- have been utterly destroyed. But, at any summation of the inevitable revolution. rate, what has hitherto been a principal, The aggressive spirit of the age is visible though not legally fortified, motive in the everywhere-nowhere more than here. undertaking of such new publications as When so many privileges, possessing all cannot be expected to gratify public appethe sanction of law, were exposed to hour-tite on the instant, so as to excite a vast ly attacks so many overthrown at once, or after brief resistance-so many more reduced to a conscious imbecility and tottering uneasiness-what chance was there for a mere tenure of conventional usage to stand its ground in the face of such potent temptations?

Accordingly, the leading publishers of the kingdom, as soon as the real objects of Mr. Talfourd's movement were understood by them, petitioned, we believe without exception, in favour of his bill. They perceived plainly, that unless some change were made in the law, it could no longer be for their interest to risk their capital in great undertakings ;-and they saw-on we may be sure very ample reflection-no plan so feasible for prolonging their interest in adventures of that high class as the enactment of a law which should entitle the author to an assured prolongation of the usufruct of his work They probably were not very sanguine in their anticipations of the result of their petitions. They probably feared that the

demand and bring a large immediate incoming of money-that will be no more. As to what classes of new books are we to look for eagerness on the part of booksellers, except those which shall either promise a prodigious immediate demand on the part of the public, or infer but a very small demand on the part of the author?

There could be no chance for success in any attempt to procure for the publishers, as a separate class, a legal substitute for the customary protection that has received its death-blow. We do not see how, as regards the period of protection, they can be placed in a position more favourable to the great national interests at stake, otherwise than through and in the author; whose natural claim has in it a strength acknowledged of all candid men. In what precise manner the author's, and through him the bookseller's, interest might best be extended or increased, it is not our business to decide. We have the examples of France and

demanderait l'auteur. Que serait-ce, en effet, autre chose que de lui conférer le privilège d'extribuer franchement le monopole sur son ouvrage ploitation? Il vaudrat mieux mille fois lui atque d'arriver au même résultat par cette voie détournée.

Prussia before us, and we may at least au même degré, de s'en remettre au prix que say that no other plan has as yet been suggested here, of which M. Renouard's treatise does not furnish abundant proof that it had been proposed, and explained, and very leisurely considered in both those countries, before they formed their actual codes.*

There is a party in France, in whose favour the eminent bookseller, Bossange, has written and published a pamphlet, according to whom the true wisdom would be to make the control over the press terminate with the author's life, but give his heir a right to be paid by any house that chose to print the book thereafter a per centage on the profits of their edition. During what number of years this right should be protected, they do not seem to be agreed. Such a right for ever was, as we have seen, the principle under the old Prussian law. It was found ex. tremely difficult to enforce even in that country, where the printers were few in comparison with ours, and all obliged to be (as is still the case even in France) registered and licensed. We are at a loss to conjecture how it could be rendered of practical avail here in the case of any book possessing remarkable attractions; surely, in such cases, the competitors would crush each other to nothing in the squeeze. But our readers may be willing to see how this question is disposed of by the principal French authority:

'Examinons les inconvéniens inhérens au mode de redevance considéré en lui-même.

Ce qui le rend inadmissible, c'est l'impossibilité d'une fixation régulière, et l'excessive difficulté de la perception.

Peut être, à force de soins, surmonterait-on les obstacles à la perception; mais, quant à la fixation de la redevance, le règlement en est impossible.

Cette fixation ne peut dépendre ni de la volonté arbitraire de l'auteur, ni de l'évaluation qui jugerait à propos de faire toute personne qui voudrait user du droit de copie. S'en rapporter à l'appréciation du débiteur de la redevance est une absurdité manifeste; mais il serait absurde,

'Demandera-t-on à la loi de déterminer une redevance fixe? mais quoi de plus injuste qu'une mesure fixe, rendue commune à des objets esle nombre des exemplaires, l'étendue du volume, sentiellement inégaux? Prendrait-on pour base cent ou cinq cents, ou mille exemplaires suffiront son prix de vente? mais il est des ouvrages dont à jamais à la consommation, tandis se débitent par dix et cent mille: mais l'étendue que d'autres du volume varie avec tous les caprices de la fabrication: mais le prix est plus variable encore. Sans parler des hausses et des baisses dont percilité des fictions dans les prix, et de l'impossisonne n'est maître, sans parler de l'extrême fabilité de les constater, ne sait-on pas que l'on fabrique des Télémaque à vingt sous, et d'autres, qui ne seront pas trop chers à cent ou deux cents francs? Avec le texte qui ne varie point, il faut parler du papier, des caractères d'impression, soires de gravure ou autres, objets tous variables des soins typographiques, des ornemens accesà l'infini. Si votre redevance a pour base une valeur proportionnelle, chaque Télémaque de deux cents francs produira, pour le seul droit de copie, plus que ne vaudra, dans l'autre édition, chaque exemplaire tout fabriqué; et cependant plus de valeur intrinsèque dans un cas que dans ce sera toujours le même texte qui n'aura pas l'autre.

'Resterait un dernier mode de fixation; il consisterait, en cas de désaccord entre le débiteur de la redevance et l'auteur, dans un règlement par experts, variable suivant les circonstances. Mais qui ne voit tous les frais, tous les délais, tous les procès auxquels chaque affaire donnerait lieu, pour n'être, la plupart du temps, que trés capricieusement décidée ?'-Renouard, vol. i., pp. 464, 465.

Lord Howick, in the course of one of the debates, alluded to M. Bossange's plan as worthy of consideration. He did mind, however, on the subject: except not appear to have at all made up his that no doubt some alteration is necessa "y; no doubt, under the existing statutes, too much advantage is given to the authors of ephemeral productions, over those whose works require deep research and deep thought.'*

We have already expressed a hope that whoever undertakes the drawing of a new Literary Property the same opinion with Lord Howick, and Sir John, now Lord Campbell, was of Bill may study the Prussian code in all its details. Mr. Buller, and almost all the educated It includes provisions which seem to answer most completely all the hackneyed objections about im- Whigs who spoke, that something must be peding the manufacture and improvement of school. done; but, as might not unnaturally occur books, books of extract, &c. &c. Perhaps some of with an attorney-general, he was for sight too liberal; but we are assured that in practice leaving the law as it stands, only giving they are found to work well, and though we need the Privy Council the power to extend not adopt one of them literally, without careful con

the regulations on these heads might seem at first

sideration, we believe their tenour in general would afford a valuable guidance.

* Mirror of Parliament for Feb. 4, 1840.

The great stream will be lost in a delta of ditches; and that would be a disgrace. which all the bleaching agents in Manchester could never wipe out.

the author's privilege, as they now can a patentee's, on special cause of grievance and hardship shown. Our objections to this are many. For one thing, we are far from sure that the Privy Council, not- We have declined offering any scheme withstanding the splendid elements that for a new bill as to the extension of copybody includes, could supply a proper right: but we are clearly of opinion that regularly-working tribunal; secondly, nothing can be done that would really there would always be a suspicion that promote the interest of good authors, ungovernment or party favour had inter- less it should also directly tend to keep vened; and thirdly, not to go any farther, up the character of our publishing trade. why should any author be called on to And we may here say a word on another present himself as, in his own opinion, novelty most injurious to this honourable entitled to a special measure of protec- profession-the publishers who still do tion ? The more clear his deserts, the produce books of their own, and limit not more would be his reluctance to stand in their views to the watch of expiring copythat invidious attitude before those claim-rights; and this is a grievance which ing to be his peers. In fact, we strongly exists only in the non-enforcement of the suspect that this, like another scheme existing law-we mean the constant inwhich some of the Radical pamphleteers troduction of foreign impressions of Engare so generous as to propose, that of a lish works still under statutory protection. new Academy, with settled pensions for The same evil operates elsewhere—the different classes of merit, would end in a French booksellers are robbed in this way nest of jobs. These seem to be about the by the pirates of Belgium and Switzerland worst shapes in which the old plan of to a prodigious extent; and, we are sorry patronage could be attempted to be revived. to say, we have looked in vain for any It is something, however, to have such contradiction of a statement which lately persons as these, high and low, on our ran the round of the European journals, side, in allowing that there is a clear ne- to the effect that King Leopold had in his cessity for doing something which shall own royal person urged on the thieves of hold out higher inducements to the un- his Brussels press the wisdom and prodertaking of really high and noble tasks priety of extending their field of industry in science and in literature. If nothing by laying the holders of German copybe done, it is pretty obvious that one re- rights also under systematic contribution sult, not likely to be contemplated with to their respectable exchequer. The sea particular satisfaction by the democratical renders our protection against smuggling levelling spirit of our times, must ensue. generally more easy than can be hoped Mr. Macaulay serenely tells us, that we for in the case of countries having a long cannot look for literature to the rich and conterminous line of frontier; but the noble. The desire of distinction may Custom-house allows every English traprompt to labour, but generally, in a veller from the Continent to bring home country with institutions like ours, this with him one copy, for his personal use, desire among men born to wealth and of each of as many foreign-printed Engstation takes a political direction.' We have always had, and we certainly have now, a fair proportion of our supply from the most fortunate classes of society; but Mr. Macaulay states the general fact accurately. Unless something be done, how. ever, we shall have none to look to but the first-born of the Egyptians. Literary and scientific eminence must become a prize reserved for the exclusive ambition of the rich. No able man, who has not inherited the means of pecuniary independence, will devote himself to any work involving the necessity of much costly preparation of any sort, and then much time in the execution. The already sufficiently developed tendency will become, year after year, more marked in its effects.

lish books as he chooses; and this opens the door for illicit importation on a scale which does interfere very seriously already, and must do so more and more every year, with the just profit of the English author and publisher. Before a new book by an author of any considerable reputation in the lighter branches, or of really high and established name in any department, has been on the London counter for a week, it is reprinted at Brussels and Paris-badly and inaccurately, but very cheaply-and in a month every meretricious little lounging-place called a Library in our coast-towns, and by and by all over the interior, can be supplied with as many copies of the pirate's volumes as there is any demand

for among such customers as theirs. The | 110) when about to notice Mr. Macaulay's speech London publishers find it impossible to of Feb. 5, 1841. We felt that these observaresist effectually this continual invasion tions ought to be considered apart from anything of their rights; in fact, they have of late abandoned all thought of resistance; and such is the audacity inspired by the experience of impunity, that if our reader '12th April, 1838. will refer to the catalogues stitched up instant a petition against Sergeant Talfourd's 'Sir,-Having read in your paper of the 7th with the number of Bentley's Miscellany' Copyright Bill from the compositors, pressmen, for this month, he will see very modern and others employed in the town of Kendal, to English books openly advertised for sale, be presented to the House of Commons by the with the inviting blazon of French Im-representative of that place, I am induced to pression.'