Jane Eyre 7 50 25


[Footnote 1: Copied from an article in the New York _Daily Times_.]

The difference, as we see, between the selling price in London and in New
York, of the first book in this list, is no less than eleven dollars, or
almost three times as much as the whole price of the American edition. To
what is this extraordinary difference to be attributed? To any excess in
the cost of paper or printing in London? Certainly not; for paper and
printers' labor are both cheaper there than here. Is it, then, to the
necessity for compensating the author? Certainly not; for there are in
this country fifty persons as fully competent as Mr. Brande for the
preparation of such a work, who would willingly do it for a dollar a copy,
calculating upon being paid out of a large sale. As the sale of books in
England is not large, it might be necessary to allow him two dollars each;
but even this would still leave nine dollars to be accounted for. Where
does all this go? Part of it to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, part to
the "Times," and other newspapers and journals that charge monopoly prices
for the privilege of advertising, and the balance to the booksellers who
"possess copyrights," and "sell their books at such exorbitant prices"
that they have driven the government to turn bookseller, with a view to
bring down prices; and these are the very men to whom it is now proposed
to grant unlimited control over the sale of all books produced abroad.

It will, perhaps, be said that the treaty contains a proviso that the
author shall sell his copyright to an American publisher, or shall himself
cause his book to be republished here. Such a proviso may be there, but
whether it is so, or not, no one knows, for every thing connected with
this effort to extend the Executive power is kept as profoundly secret as