DECLINED WITH THANKS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1999, 30 April 1885, Page 4

DECLINED WITH THANKS.

It is .vi inteie->ting study to the reflect o.i the repeated uaily faihues of authoi ships in f lic persons of those wlio h.ivr eventuality climbed high up the ladder of lit.et.uy fame. Should an amateur have lus fiist contubuhon " declined with thanks," he at once thaws the conclusion th it ho is <m ill used individual, toij;etful e\ idf ntly of the tact that an editoi must undoubtedly ha\e a better knowlulg--th in lie wh \t aie the t iste> of his lepdi is, and wh it is mo<t likely to suit them heat The business ot the Litter is to sclet t the beat an.l moat suitable work, which he generally does, reginllea3 of peisonal considerations. Experienced writers, of couise, have better means of knowing what is exactly required, but novices need never fear that their conttibutiuus will be overlooked because they occupy an obamire position in life. Merit will always assert itself in the end li. ly, carelessness will soineti'iKs work wondeis A wntor Ins been known to have a paper i ejected by a scoio oi so of erlito. sin return, and tlifn, when cue fully re written, it w<n leadily accepted b} tin 1 editor who had biui the tkot t.) refuse it. Sometimes, however, through mistake, mint as well as incompetence rccufs rebuffs When the poet Camp bell suit one of hw best lyueal pieces to a provincial newspaper, he had tlie tnnititication to lead in its notices to correspondents that the lines weie not up to the standard of elegance iequired by thu editor of that ol)seiue piint ! Peril »ps fe.v wiiters aio butter known at the piesent time that Mr G. R. Sims, the author of the " Lights o' London ' and numerous other works. Yet it was not until during the last three or four years that he sprang mto fame. From his own confessions we leain how in his youth he sent his stones and essays right and left, until at length he came to the conclusion that there wan not an editor in the country who had not been "bothered" by him. But he was not to be daunted. He had confidence in his own piowesa, and decided to wait awhile. So he carefully put liis manuscripts away, and at the end of a year or two lead them again, touched them up, and then when he sent them away again they weie accepted. It is not generally known that many of the short stones he has published since he became famous were released fiom the confinement of Im boxes, where they had been stowed some ten or fifteen years i pievious. Every one cannot become aG. It. .Sims, but those aspiring young men who have their manuscripts declined with thanks we would advise to wait ami learn, and try again. To some persons it may be surpiising to leant that "John Gilpin," the far-re-nowued hero of bin lesque, was coldly received by the public on his first appearance. It was not till an actoi thought fit to recite the famous ride on the stage that the poem sprang into popularity. "Pickwick," the immortal, is said to have run a very nariow chance of being doomed to oblivion. The book was bought out in number*, which were written as they weie required for tinpress The public refused to buy the earlier ones ; and, to say the truth, they gave little promise of the ability that was displayed later on. The publishers, thinking they had entered into a losing speculation, were about to discontinue its further issue, when '• Sam VVeller" came on the scene, and introduced them to a veritable gold mine. At the outside of this hook the versatile author was heavily hadieapped. An eminent artist hod been employed to draw some ridiculous scenes illustrative of Cockney sportsmanship, m hich he was required to work into a story. After suppling a few of the first pictuies the artist died. His successor, instead of supplying the author with subjects, had his labours wisely confined to the illustration of the text. When Godwin submitted " Caleb Wil Hams," the work on which his J.une pnncipally ie«ts, to the judgment of another mau of letters he did all in his power to <h suade him from publishing it, saying Hint it would be the liiiu of his literary leputatibn. But for this book, as a matter of fict. he would now be foigotten, except as the father-in law of Shelley. With all our enlightenment in modem times, mistakes are frequently made in regard to books that will take, even by publifhers, who should be the best of judges. Would anyone believe that " .Self- Help," a book that has had an immense sale, as well as a vast influence for good, «aa at first refused because it was thought unlikely to pay the expense of printing ? The gentleman who is known to fame as Cutlibcrt Bede, in the course of a lectuie which he lately delivoied at Stafford on light liteiature, stated that the publisher of his book, " Veidant Gieen," told him that it would not pay for advertising, whereas, 170,000 copies have been sold. Lord Lytton's novel, " Pelham," might also be included in the rejected list. It was on the point of being returned to its author, when the publisher happened to take up the MS., and having read the first chapter, at once tcveised the verdict of his "reader." " ice Versn," a book which has p.i-sed through more than twenty editions in loss than twelve months, was rejected at least once, if not twice, befoie it *aw the light. Will C.irleton's " Over the Hill to the Poorhouse" was thrown into the waste-paper baaket, " The Fool's Errand " was refused by several publishers, and so was " Uncle Tom's Cabin," which was finally brought out at the earnest solicitation of the wife of its original publisher. Although Tlnckeray sent his " Vanity Fair" to evt ry place w li<tc it would have a ehanee of being accepted, he was obliged at last to have it printed at his own cost. Theie is something unaccountably stiangc in the fact that one of the fust writers of the nineteenth century should have a difficulty in getting his best known book introduced to the public, and still stranger, perhaps, the greatest work of the ccntui y, Carl} les " French Revolution," was rejected. Thackeray used to say, laughingly, that it wae amusing how little he earned when in his early days he wrote carefully, and how much he icceived for poor woik after he had acquired a name. Washington Irving, the American who created Rip Van V\ inkle, conld not find a publisher for his " Sketch Book" that would take the risk, and so it was pi in ted at his own expense. Cooper, his countryman, was equally unfortunate •vith his famous novel, "The Spy." He ■was an unknown author, and by Gifford's lulvici 1 the pnbliaher to whom he oflercrt the MS declined it. The reviewer had made a blunder, for as soon as the bouk appeared its success was instantaneous. "Jane Eyre" is sometimes stated to have gone a weary round of publishers, but tins i>> a mistake. The MS., that bor« ample tokens of having parsed through almost eveiy publishing house, to be declined by all, was "The Pro fessor," which, however, was probably the means of finding a lesting-place for the more famous woik. "The Professor" would only fill one volume, and, for reasons best known to themselves, the "trade" object to novels of less than two or three. Mtssis Smith, Elder .-Mid Co.'s "reader" discovered so much met it in the wandering M.S. of the one volume that it was returned to its unknown author, aceompuned by a polite note, saying they would bo happy to give then attention to a longer work by the sauw pen. "Jane Eyre" was vvntten in the meantime, and immediately forwarded by the courageous governess to the only place from w hich she had received any sympathy. Within a month it was piinted and introduced to the public. At first it was received somewhat hesitatingly, especially by the ciitics, who scarcely knew what to make of it. The public were not long in deciding for themselves. The authoress was famed before she was aware. " The Professor " vas afterwards brought out in the shadow of this fame, but not until after lier death. When it appeared the Satuiday Review md othei journals gave it a moie hearty welcome than they had

ovor accoided to the book \\ 'rob mule h?r famoufi. Them is muc'i in a name I'hc late Anthony Trollope, whose grains ,ue piohably ex,iyutiatc(i when it is !>aM In- iii.klp £100,000 l>y his writings, covihl lioyond doubt demand as much is £3000 f or \ no\el Yet in his oailicr jeais, In-fore lie became knonn to fame, had to ho content with a scoieas the result of n \ t-ai'a labour