NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 280, 7 August 1909, Page 9

NOTES.

,-.:■ The. first . "challenger" ~ to - , enter the field /against, the 6s.'novel'is, apparently, to bo.a hew ; novel at'2s;.:.lf,-.ihqweyer, therQ.'.is any- ' .thihg -in Mr.■ locke's,. figures- in ,the..'"Bdqk ; Monthly,-''■.there v is little likelihood • of. that : form of publication .ever being universalised, ■for: fiction. } Mr. Locko"says'/ that' lid pub-. Usher.'of-, such -a;: book could offer' a'larger, royalty,' than Ad. .As ;tlie royalty on a, 65., nbvdl; may :be Is.' '6d.,-. it; is plain that:, it would, require' a sale of 4500 copies of 'the cheaper form to. bring in as much as a sale of 1000 copies, does at present. - The author, accordinglyj: would suffer badly. - -Even if the royalty; were'' slightly' 1 larger- ; it would: yet. require'very large sales td niako, authorship 'profitable,'.'ls. there (asks the'' "Manchester'. .Guardian") any-probability ; of 'such sales?That depends on' thp-libraries- and'; the. vate purchased, and—accepting 'ike .'.usual estimate that of every hundred copies sold 80 go. to the : libraries • and only 'the remaining 20'.t0 the private purchaser—chiefly upon the , They,'however, are hotMikely'.to increasd I 'in number because' of: : the- change. Circulating • libraries are .sufficiently .■ numerous and oven, if they .wore enabled .to \ slightly'their: subscriptions'-it is. doubtful-, if ..there would be: a sufficient in-: crease .'of members.' to-jiiako it worth while.-: On-the.:other;'handi that private .purchasers Would be'multiplied is : a contention based on the _: theory;,that- there. are 1 heaps ;of. -people anxious to buy fiction deterred by the price.; .This; however, is' hardly tho case, and 1 ' :the.temporary voguo!of the'7,d. reprint does not. prove,it.: The ordinary'■'.reatter..wishes 'to 'read a .novel,.,aiid to keep it only.-if it lias ;made, an ' imprdssion. oii ; his, imagination or; poem's of permanent .worth.' He does- not' .wish to crowd his shelves:".with - " books to which, '..,' once' read," ..he'. knows lie will,- not rpturn;' ,:The ,25. : novel, accordingly,' will not prove a-'formidable competitor of'the novel' atV(3s. ..'■-. ,-:-.;.,::::./ -..-.. -... .<'■..'■"

;■;,.' Mr; .Bernard' Shaw: has by no .means, said I 'all-/hb' 'has to /'say-' about. the /censor who |ibanned; his', play,'■•'.'Tho'-Showirig up; of, Blanco ■Pbsiet." He.tbld the guests, of;tho Poets' ■Club' at ;a recent .dinner : that ..'what: was iyauted'.was .the-abolition of the Censor's office; and he went on to speak of himself: as /aMperson.iii .the: public bye:' "There is ,northing that I; repudiate so. energetically as :..the ; sort of view which . you' see of mo in the./newspapers. ...I, am, not. that .sort of person in the slightest degree.'l/am- a per--.sbri/who takes myself -with extreme serious/riess, and take the world seriously. It is not--very mucli'obliged to me,'but, nevertheless, I-tlo. I have always thought that the theatre Sri;; modern' times/is a -more' important'place /than'the Church, and I 'do' not see/why .'I 'should be prevented from -preachflig my sermons because: Mr. Redford does not approve of them; ■'There arc a great many people who imagine that I revel in this kind of thing. / I-do not do anything of the kind. It costs'.me too niaiiy solid thousands of' pounds, arid it-obstructs my work. It also seriously destroj'S the confiderico of a vei-y large number, of people in this country in my seriousness and good intentions. , That may seem a 'very,: good _ joke to yoif, but'l very strongly'object ,tb:it.". . •;./'.-