PROSE MASTERPIECES AND MR. RUSKIN.
I To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 SIR,—In your journal for March 7th appeared a discriminating review of our set of "Prose Masterpieces from the Modern Essayists," an English edition of which has recently been issued, under arrangement with ourselves, by Messrs. Bickers and Son. Your reviewer very naturally takes exception to the fact that the collection contains no paper from Ruskin; and we are very ready to admit that no series of modern essayists -can claim to be fairly representative in which place has not been found for a specimen of the work of this master of English prose. Our Editor desires us to explain, however, that he had selected for the series Mr. Ruskin's characteristic essay," Work," but was obliged to abandon the plan of using this, because the author absolutely declined to come into any relations with an American publisher.
It is proper for us to say that the several essays (excepting only one or two belonging to a past generation) have been published under arrangement with the authors or their representalives, payment having been made whenever suggested.
Mr. Ruskin, however, because, under the much-to-be-regretted absence of an international copyright, he had received unsatisfactory treatment at the hands of some publishing house on this side of the Atlantic, took the ground that he would have dealings with no American house whatever,—not even with one which had for half a century worked persistently for the largest possible measure of international copyright. We submit that it would be as reasonable for a leading American author, on the ground of unauthorised reprinting by certain unscrupulous British houses, to decline to do business with Messrs. Murray or Macmillan.
The American publishers who are giving effort to the task of bringing about an international copyright, and who, in the absence of such copyright, are doing what may be practicable to secure for English authors some return from the American market, have, we think, a right to expect that, instead of being indiscriminately labelled as " pirates," their hands may be upheld by the English authors, whose interests they are endeavouring to further.—We are, &c.,
New York and London. G. P. PUTNAM'S Sons.
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