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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 2nd November 1885, Edition 1 of 1, Page 1118

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    • 188 Fi*eet Street : November 2, 1885.
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      F F!Iii8 The Publishers' Circular Nov. 2...

      f f ! iii 8 The Publishers' Circular Nov . 2 , 1885 ! j

      188 Fi*Eet Street : November 2, 1885.

      188 Fi * eet Street : November 2 , 1885 .

      Confess That It Is With An Anxiety We ^ ...

      confess that it is with an anxiety WE almost _ amounting — — — f * to awe that we have

      w — * i read ^ of a piratical attack upon the stronghold of Mr . Ruskin . The venerable philosopher

      and veteran critic has , in this country at least , made his position impregnable , not only

      against what he considers the mercenary onslaughts of publishers and booksellers , but

      also against the longings of humble book buy v ers . Mr . Rus ^ in ' s protection — , however ,

      is useless against the-attacks of adventurous I aliens .

      In a letter which appeared in the Times of October 27 Mr . ' Thomas J . Gullick

      remarked that he had been attracted to an auction-room in Old Bond Street by an

      advertisement which stated that a number of the works of Mr . Ruskin were to be sold there .

      Mr . Gullick says : — ' On obtaining a catalogue I found the

      works described thus— " Ruskin ' s Modern Painters 5 , Stones of "Venice 3 , and Seven

      Lamps of Architecture , " nine volumes forming the first lot . The next lot was identical ; and

      further on was a lot of ten volumes of other of " Ruskin ' s Works . " The three lots were

      tightly tied up , but ( after some opposition from an attendant ) I examined them , and

      found the whole to be American reprints , with the original plates of those illustrated ,

      reproduced either by some mechanical process or as inferior lithographs . '

      At the sale the writer of the letter protested that the works were 'American reprints only , ' to

      which the auctioneer replied , ' There are the books , you can see what they are for yourself . '

      A further remonstrance was , ' They are piracies . ' This declaration seems to have awakened a

      sense of danger in the mind of the auctioneer , for his reply was that the books were ' offered

      for not sale be sold mere . ' ly Mr to . satisf Grullick y a client ? s remonstrance , but would ,

      however , was not wholly successful , for a third lot was ' put up and knocked down

      without any comment whatever . ' If these are the actual facts of the case ,

      someone has Seen guilty , consciously or unconsciously , of a flagrant breach of British

      law . And we are glad to see that Messrs . Tarrant & Mackrell , Mr . Ruskin ' s solicitors ,

      have been fully alive to the importance of the subject , and to their own responsibilities in

      connection with the suppression of illegal sales of piratical editions of the great author ' s works .

      As side an o f examp the Atlanti le of what c with th done e w ork s o f other Mr .

      Ruskin , we quote the remarks of our Edinburgh , correspondent which appeared in our

      / jssue of 'August 1 . * While on the subject ¦ I AttAsZlrit ' ly ' iiKyif ' ' .. ' - - ' " .. ' ' ¦ ' . " ¦ ' " ¦ ¦ .. . '" ' ¦ - . ' ¦ ¦ -, ¦ ¦ ¦

      Confess That It Is With An Anxiety We ^ ...

      of Ruskin , it may interest your readers to know that a marvellous edition of the great

      art-critic ' s works is in course of publication in America . I have seen a sample volume

      printed on toned paper and exquisitely bound with bevelled boards , containing * * The Sevea

      Lamps , " "Lectures on Architecture , " "The Sjueeii Queen oi of the tile Air ^ ir , , " and ana . " Ethics JLLnics of or the tne Du uust st . "

      with 85 cents all ., or the 3 s . ori 7 d g . inal 1 9 woodcuts , sold for ,

      Mr . Ruskin in this matter cannot expect —probably he does not want—the sympathy

      that would be readily accorded to any writer who launched his books freely , so that they

      might float upon the sea of popularity and be found serviceable to his fellow-men . In

      connection with Mr . Ruskin the Americans are fortunate . It is his own less-favoured

      countrymen who suffer and become despondent if they wish even to read , not to speak of possessing ,

      these unapproachable books . Libraries in our times are certainly plentiful , but they do not

      answer all purposes . For example , the influence of libraries which can afford to keep

      Mr . Ruskin ' s books certainly does not penetrate to all quarters . It would almost appear

      that Mr . Ruskin has given strong practical support to an idea that the Republic of Letters

      has an aristocracy and that wealth and brains are indissolubly linked together . j

      » o *

      Ruskin Versus Robinson. — The Case Arisi...

      Ruskin versus Robinson . — The case arising — — — ¦ — - ^^*^^ m from - — , the — — above — — ¦ - - i h — -mentioned - ~— ^^¦ — i ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - ^¦ ^ —^ p ~ ^^™ ^— —^^ ^» ^^ b transaction ^^ r v ^ . «^»^^ * mm ^ m ^ r r ^^ ^ av ^ p ^^^ ^ r ^^— ™ ¦ - -

      came up for hearing before Mr . Justice Pearson on Friday , October 30 . Mr . Cozens Hardy , Q . C ., Mr . Bramwell Davis , and Mr .

      Wedderb Wedderburn urn appeared aDneared tor for the the p nlaintiff lain tin . , and and Mr . Northmore Lawrence for the defendant . The action resolved itself into a question of

      costs . plai ntiff , iving Mr . Justice judgment Pearson in favour said the of the

      position of Mr . Ruskin was well known in the this present country day ; he and was no fortunately — alive least at of

      , person all persons in the habit of selling bookscould pretend to be ignorant of Mr . Ruskin's

      eminence lish Jish except except as the JJeremv eremy most Taylor Tavlor eloquent . or or writer or of the the of value value

      Engof his copyright . He took , it that Messrs . Robinson au auctioneers ctioneers < fc or of Fisher Bond Jb > ond were btreet Street hig who who hly respectabl would would not e , noy

      willingly commit a breach of , the law ; but if they or tha did ^ , of either their throug agent h , they their were own carelessness responsible for that wan LVAA t of careIt Jkm was WK 9 said that t & before 'Vp'

      J ^\^ Mm v * AUU V Tf IV ^* A * \ zUVJi # . v v v UUJAMt ^ AAnp 1 # ^^ the injunction was ^^ obtained the p laintiff ' s solicitors Robinson & ought Fisher to and have to app hav lied e asked to them Messrs to .

      withdr . _ . ^^ aw the ^ A books ^» __ from the sale i ~ . His ^^ B ^ HI A | Lord ^^^^ - duty ship was of the not solicitors prepared being to say that of it w as th in e -

      tended did not s know ale on what the harm 21 , st micrht only , t are o do done so . the He

      ' . 'i ' i

  • Citation
    • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Nov. 2, 1885, page 1118, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_02111885/page/2/